Shut-in Magician - Chapter 51
Chapter 051: The Encounter with Reigdole and the Eatery
Reigdole knew that the café would be opening soon and so he snuck into the kitchen for the trial products. But he was caught by his father and received a good scolding.
Shiu protected him because he felt sorry for him.
“He’s still a kid,” he tried to meditate between the two. The person who’d said that was Shiu, who was the same age as Reigdole, and Vaniru made a sour face.
“If a kid like you says that, then I’ll be troubled!”
Come to think of it, that’s true, Shiu smiled wryly.
“…… This kid was born with a lot of MP, and his mother spoiled him because she worried that he might die soon. He also neglects his studies and always acts like this. How will you live at the magic academy from next year if you continue to act like this?”
“Hah,” he sighed.
Even though he acted like that, Shiu knew that he loved his son. He looked at Reigdole with affection.
Be that as it may, no child knows how dear he is to his parents.
Reigdole couldn’t see Vaniru’s expression and even if he could, he probably didn’t notice. Children were like that after all.
Shiu felt sorry for Reigdole who could only hear the scolding and was looking downhearted.
“But it’s thanks to his abilities that he was able to enrol in the magic academy, right?”
“Yes, well, you’re right. However, his admission was decided by his MP and magic attribute and not his actual knowledge.”
Speaking of which, the exam was easy.
“I can just study from now on, can’t I? I’m still only 12. I’ve reached the age where I don’t have to worry about my body. I’m finally standing at the same place as everyone else. Isn’t it fine if I have a slow start?”
“….. I wonder.”
“I have 17 year old acquaintances who wasn’t very good at arithmetic. They also went to school. It took only 2 months for them to learn how to calculate and do mental arithmetic. They have no problems exchanging money between Adol, Derrita and Rocal now.”
“In 2 months?”
“Yes. The 12 year old girls will be able to do mental arithmetic soon too.”
Vaniru looked pensive, then he raised his face and stared at Shiu.
“By any chance, are you the one teaching them?” He asked. Shiu nodded frankly. Ah, he saw Vaniru’s complacent smile by the time he’d noticed.
“I don’t know. By all means, won’t you watch over this kid’s studies?”
“…… Erm.”
“Of course, we’ll do it whenever it’s convenient for you. I’ll also give you proper compensation as a tutor.”
He was relentlessly looking at Shiu with eyes that said, “Please, I’m begging you,” and Shiu looked at the downhearted boy once again. He agreed.
After that, he taught Reigdole once every two to three days.
The timing might have been perfect because Emina and Aqela probably didn’t require study groups anymore, so that was done with.
The study meeting was carried out at Reigdole’s house.
His father had said that Reigdole would probably try to cut corners if his family wasn’t around.
Reigdole certainly tried to make excuses to get away from the study meeting at first, but Shiu found him to be a good and refreshing boy after he’d spoken to him.
It was just that he was in his rebellious stage and acted strangely because he didn’t know whether to be happy or lost at being released from his parent’s overprotectiveness.
He might have been testing their love for him.
Shiu earnestly explained to Reigdole how fleeting life was for children who had a lot of MP, and Reigdole was finally able to understand the change in his parent’s attitudes. Shiu was glad that Reigdole was aware that his parents being strict with him was also because they loved him.
Reigdole announced that he would be going home and reluctantly parted ways with Shiu.
Shiu found it amusing and funny the person himself didn’t know that there would be a party celebrating his admittance into school.
He was also invited, but he’d refused.
He was curious about Doran’s eatery since it would be opened from today onwards.
So he trotted to the end of the central district, where the eatery was located with his uniform on.
They had decided to call the eatery, ‘Oryza,’ since it also meant rice.
It was already past lunch time, but there were still people lining up outside.
A good aroma drifted about outside of the eatery. It was nice.
He went to the side, peeked in the window and saw that Doran and Riella were busy at work. They’d also hired two housewives from the neighbourhood to help. They weren’t used to this job, but they quickly served everyone.
Yay, he made a fist.
He didn’t take Feles with him into the eatery, but instead tied him to a place that was visible from the side window.
He cast purification on himself just in case.
“Ah, Shiu-kun! You came?!”
“Yes. You look busy, shall I help out?”
“Yes, but…”
He laughed and rolled up his sleeves while Riella was lost.
“I’m used to it. I can wash dishes, or whatever you want.”
“…… Thanks.”
He gave a potion to her and made her drink it since she was at the peak of her fatigue.
She looked surprised as she became energetic again. She quickly urged him with her eyes and he started working on the accumulated dishes.
The eatery finally closed for a while after the big rush at lunch.
“Shiu-kun, sorry we got you to help us out. But you really saved us…… I didn’t think it would turn out like you said it would.”
“That’s why I said it, right? That you’d need help in the kitchen too.”
“Hah…… You’re right. But, I didn’t think I would.”
Shiu had told them over and over again that they definitely couldn’t run out of ingredients, so there was still a lot left.
However, hiring people was tough, and they were anxious about whether people would actually show up, so they decided to take turns working in the kitchen.
Doran went to the Merchant Guild during the break so that he could hire someone new as fast as possible.
Meanwhile, Shiu and Riella prepared for dinner.
In fact, Riella was supposed to serve the customers by herself.
They were probably really anxious about whether the customers would come or not.
However, Shiu and Vaniru insisted that the customers would definitely come because of the place and advertisement.
The two in question were only half-convinced.
Shiu was the person who’d decided that the housewives are the ones who would be waitresses. Even Vaniru was surprised at that.
Because, people usually ask for young women who have waitressing experience from the Merchant or Domestic Guild.
But, Shiu recommended that Doran and Riella make proper new year greetings in the neighbourhood, while at the same time, finding people who could ‘introduce them to someone who could work during the day or night only.’
He also told them that age didn’t matter.
Then, housewives who wanted to earn pocket money came.
Even if they didn’t have any experiences working as a waitress, they had the experience of a housewife, so they noticed small things.
And, they also had connections, so they could introduce the couple to people who want to help out at the eatery. Even if they couldn’t work here, they could introduce the couple to someone who could.
And the best thing was that no one would complain even if they worked here for a short period of time because it was only pocket money.
Eateries like Doran’s only needed people to work in the day and at night, so they didn’t need to restrict the workers’ time.
And it was difficult to hire people for a short amount of time through the Merchant or Domestic Guilds.
Jobs that require a short amount of time were probably regarded as sudden and referred to the Adventurer Guild, but he didn’t think that adventurers’ would be able to serve people.
In addition, the biggest reason for all this was because young women might quit straight away. In particular, they tend to refuse food stores that weren’t cafes or restaurants.
In fact, most of the customers in Oryza Eatery were men. They mainly served meat dishes, so there were a lot of adventurers and it would be extremely tough for young women to keep working at Oryza.
Doran and Vaniru were both surprised to hear his explanation.
“Small eatery’s also don’t hire people because of this and keep it as a family business. But, by doing so they can’t rest and end up collapsing. As a result, the eatery also goes bankrupt. Therefore, it’s necessary to hire people for the sake of managing a healthy shop. This is called the right person for the right position.”
Shiu explained as if he’d read it from a book.
Advertising was easy. He had made a request at the Adventurer Guild. 『If you come to the pre-opening, which lasts for three days, and write about your impressions of the shop and the taste of the food then lunch is free』.
He got the merchants to spread rumours about the eatery at the marketplace and even talked to Vaniru’s acquaintances.
He also handed out leaflets while doing his rank 10 requests. Of course, he only handed it out at the places that looked like he could, and people mostly took them. He’d even included a discount voucher in the leaflet.
Then finally, he asked the housewives, who helped out, to talk about the eatery. On that very day, he made a pipe to carry the aroma of the eatery onto the roads (centred on the salty-sweet sauce). The pipe could be opened and closed, so the couple closed it when it wasn’t needed.
In this perfect situation, it would have been more difficult for customers not to come. And of course, he was confident in the taste.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: HSM
