479 - - Four hundred seventy-seven. - I'll see you.

After staying up all night mixing curry, I returned to the inn feeling drowsy and full, but the smell of curry on my clothes had caught the attention of Bell and his friends. I convinced them to take a walk with me at night, but curry at night too. .......

".................."

The silence in the room hurts.

The sound of the ventilation air that I asked Sylphy to use for the room was very loud, since I couldn't carry out a curry terror in Toruku's newly renovated inn.

When I woke up at noon to feed lunch to Belle and her friends, and when Sylphy and Sara came back and it was almost dinner time, Belle and her friends, who were in high spirits expecting dinner, were silent as they stared at the ...... curry rice.

As I understood from Pete's reaction, the appearance of curry has a strong impact in a bad way.

Not only Belle and her friends, but also Sarah and her contracted spirits are staring at the curry and keeping silent.

I've developed a sweet curry for Belle and her friends, so the taste should be fine, but how can I get them to eat it from here?

I've never seen Belle and her friends' faces like this before.

"Hmm?　What's wrong?　Oh, look at you. Even my dad was surprised."

Oh, Gina has made a good-natured breakthrough into this strange atmosphere.

I see, since Sara and the others are the only ones who can see them, they don't notice the strange atmosphere of the other little ones.

Oh, they just start eating without any explanation. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, and I appreciate it if you show it to me through your actions.

"Well, it's really delicious. Bread was good, but it's also good with rice.

Gina eats her curry with a crunchy mouth while attracting the eyes of the entire room. I envy her mental strength.

"Yuta, do you like this?"

Belle asks me a question when she sees that Gina is eating without any problem. Before I know it, she's squeezing the spoon so tightly that I think she'll eat it with just one more push.

"Yeah. It's called curry, and I like it a lot."

I'm a little tired of it now, though.

"If Yuta likes it, I like it too!"

Belle sticks the spoon she is holding into the curry with great vigor, and takes it into her mouth with a sigh.

This exchange with Belle is like a déjà vu. I think we had a similar conversation at the time of chocolate.

...... was great. After Belle took a bite of the curry, she was so excited and excited about the taste of the curry that she made a big fuss, then Rain and others ate it and made a big fuss, then Fukuchan and others made a big fuss, and finally Sara and others ate it and made a big fuss. The whole room was a chaos.

The potential of curry is great, even if it's not finished yet. Even the sleeping faces of Belle and the others look happy.

"So, Sylphy didn't react well, but the curry didn't suit your palate?"

They finished their meal, but they weren't overjoyed, so I'm curious.

"It was good enough for me to eat it again. But I'm not a child to make a fuss with the belles.

...... I'm smart enough not to tell you that I get as excited and rowdy as the Belles when I'm drinking. I don't think for a second that you've been quiet because you created a black history a while ago.

"Well, that's good to know. Oh, yeah. How were you and Marie?　If you didn't talk to me as soon as you got back, you weren't in trouble, right?"

It's not like we didn't have time to talk, since we had to curried immediately after Sylphy's return.

"Oh, those girls. They were conspicuous, but they had a lot of guards.　I did a quick check of King's Landing just to be sure, but I didn't hear of any plans to attack Marie."

I don't want to listen to Sylphy when he says he stands out in a subtle way. If he has a lot of guards, it means he is in danger, right?

Also, you say "King's Landing" easily, but it requires a lot of labor, which is not so fashionable for human beings.

"Well, what kind of things did you do to stand out?"

"They used to hold tea parties for the ladies of the middle class, lower class, and wealthy merchants."

Tea party is a classy thing where people spend elegant time drinking tea, herbal tea, etc., in a graceful way, right?　It seems to be a normal thing for upper class people to do, and I don't understand why it is so conspicuous.

"Why is a tea party conspicuous?"

"I've been told behind my back that a merchant's daughter is getting too carried away to throw a big tea party for the nobles and wealthy merchants. The size of the party and the guests are not appropriate for her size.

Marie, it sounds like you're really putting on a show. The stakes are high, but it seems you're willing to grow even if the stakes are high. That's bound to make some enemies.

"Can you tell me what you got from the tea party?"

I feel like I'm going to get a stomach ache, but I'm indebted to Marie and Sonia, and I'd like to have some information.

......The following is a summary of what Sylphy told me.

The medicine made from the rejuvenating herb is very effective, and you can feel your skin rejuvenated by several years just by soaking it in your skin once.

Most of the medicines made in the labyrinthine city are given to the state or sold, and the medicines are consumed by the royal family and the upper class nobles, and even the middle class nobles rarely come to the labyrinth city.

The Pollius Trading Company, which has a monopoly on the purchase of rejuvenating herbs, has a certain amount of medicines in stock.

Marie's tea parties are very popular. It is said that the ladies of the nobility, who are usually difficult to invite, are eagerly accepting the invitations.

She demonstrates the effects of the potion in front of the gathered ladies. She also asks the ladies of higher rank to confirm the effects of the potion.

After making them realize the effectiveness of the medicine, Marie bluntly declares that the Pollius Chamber of Commerce will sell the rejuvenating herb medicine to their customers on a preferential basis. She said that she was trying to be indirect, but from Sylphy's point of view, she couldn't hide it.

"You mean you are planning to attract wealthy people in the middle and lower class rather than those in the top and upper class, don't you?"

"I don't know that much about business, but I think that's probably true."

The top and upper echelons are pampered with gifts and sales, and the main target is the wealthy below them.

The main target is the wealthy people below them. They probably intend to expand their business in the capital by offering rare and hard-to-find goods here.

"This kind of blatant approach will make the other merchant associations hate us, won't it?"

It feels like stepping into someone else's house.

"I'm sure they won't like it. I think that's why they added more guards.　And you've been talking to some of the merchants' associations. They said they would be happy to share their medicine with you and would like to have a good relationship with you in the future.

Do you choose which business associations to ally with, without intending to make enemies with all of them?

I'm not familiar with the world of business, but in Japan, if you want a monopoly company to sell you a product that they have a monopoly on,...... you have to buy other products as well?　

......That's it. That's a no-no.

"Why are you safe, Marie and the kids?"

When they were working on the dragon material, they were strong but did not want to antagonize the people around them, so why are they so strong this time?　If the nobles and wealthy merchants perceive you as an eyesore, they will crush you, won't they?　

As a man, I can understand that beauty-related businesses can play a strong hand against women. But it is not good to overdo it. People who think money is more important than beauty will come to kill you.

"Yuta destroyed the Marquise de Galli, and the King has forbidden me to touch him."

"I'm involved?　Even merchants?"

Yes, I did a lot of work in King's Landing, but on the surface, it's not my fault. Aside from the nobles who were notified by the king, I don't think I have any influence over the merchants.

"Yuta is the only one who can get the rejuvenating herb in the labyrinth. Marie has a monopoly on the business with Yuta. If Yuta stops selling rejuvenation plants to Marie, he will make enemies with high ranking women. If he had access to information and the brains to understand the information, he wouldn't mess with Marie so carelessly."

"I see. ......"

So the escort is a countermeasure against unintelligent people who can't get information.

But ...... it seems that my influence was greater than I thought.

And it seems that Marie is taking full advantage of my influence.

"I guess I need to have a talk with Marie-san."

I don't mind if they use me a little bit, but I don't like it when they use me so much that I become conspicuous in King's Landing.

"Why don't you just change the trading company you use?"

Sylphy smiles and says scary things. If you do that, the Pollius Chamber of Commerce will get into trouble.

"I won't go that far, it's too much trouble to establish a relationship with a new trading company. I think it's enough to leave a message with the Pollius Chamber of Commerce on the way back and have a good talk with them the next time I see them."

Maybe Marie-san is taking advantage of my behavior pattern to calculate that she won't be caught even if I act flamboyantly in King's Landing.

After nailing me to the wall, reducing the quantity of wholesale goods would be a sufficient penalty. Especially, if you reduce the number of rejuvenating plants, the effect should be great.

I'll add to the message that I'm in a bit of a bad mood. Until the next time I visit them, they will be too anxious to get on with their work. After all, I am the chicken that lays the golden eggs for Marie.

......I was worried about Marie and her family at first, so I asked Sylphy to check on them, but as it turns out, Marie's misdeeds?　I ended up exposing and penalizing him.

It's an unexpected outcome for me, but I guess it's going to be an unexpected outcome for Marie, too.

Oh well. Soy sauce and miso are waiting for me when I get home. Let's forget about the trouble until we come to the labyrinth city next time and think of new dishes to make.

I can't make a real Japanese dish, but I'd like to make a home-style dish.