CH 33

First day of the shaved ice stall.

One shaved ice finally sells, but Ginjiro and Harry have made a big mistake.

After getting reminded by a male customer, they wrote three copper coins on a piece of paper and placed it in a conspicuous place.

Harry said that this paper and pen were great, but Ginjiro wanted to concentrate on the shaved ice, so he just brushed it off.

It was summer and hot, and although there were few pedestrians, people passing in front of us were surprised to see the ice.

I was asked if they could touch it, but I refused because it is a food product.

I told them the price was 3 coppers, but they refused, saying they had no idea what shaved ice was and didn’t want to pay 3 coppers for something they didn’t even know what it was.

But when I told the customer that they could cool off at table with roof there, a male customer reluctantly bought the shaved ice.

In this heat, everyone wants to cool off, right?

I was asked to put all the syrups on it, so I put a little bit of all three kinds on the saved ice.

After that, shaved ice began to sell, albeit a little.

The customer who had put all the syrups on his shaved ice came back and bought some more shaved ice.

Arigatoo gozaimasu!

—

“Ginjiro!”

Someone called from distance, when I looked, I saw Elvis walking up to me.

Next to him is the florist’s daughter.

Of course, she was wearing that necklace made of power stones.

“I bought these meat skewers from stall over there. They are delicious, so have them for lunch.”

Indeed, it was almost noon and I was getting hungry.

A lot has happened because of that necklace, but Elvis is a man who cares about other people’s.

I make shaved ice for Elvis and the florist’s daughter and then take a seat at the table, leaving the stall to Harry.

“Thanks for the meat skewers, Elvis.”

Still freshly made and warm. It was not very salty, but the herbs were tasty.

As I was munching on the meat skewers, Elvis asked me if I had any problems.

I told him that Harry’s had no apron so he was getting wet, which Elvis said he would provide me some apron if I stopped by his place today.

Breaks up with Elvis and replaces Harry as storekeeper.

I poured Harry a Cola and handed him a meat skewer, and Edel, the fruit stall boy, handed me a lemon.

When I made Cola with ice for Edel and handed it to him with the cut lemon, the Granny was beside me before I knew it, so I had no choice but to make Cola for her.

I gave the old lady a Cola and she said she would give me something in return.

She gave me a watermelon, saying it would be troublesome to take it back home.

I was honestly happy because I had not eaten a watermelon yet this summer.

I made a bucket of ice water and put the watermelon in it to cool it off.

Then, the old lady put four cucumbers in the bucket.

“I usually cool my cucumbers with well water, they taste great when cooled ~”

It sure is.

Chilled cucumbers with miso, oh I want to drink ale.

Huh? Maybe the fact that it’s ale and not beer is a sign that I’ve become accustomed to another world?

Ginjiro realizes a new self he never had before and is a little happy.

As I was thinking about this, a group of kids from the orphanage came running.

Behind them, I spot Sebastian, the butler, and Sophia, who today is wearing a light pink dress and a large straw hat.

The sisters in charge of the orphanage are frantically chasing after the running children.

“Ginjiro, I’m here.”

Sophia poses with her hands folded behind her back.

I feel a little embarrassed after yesterday, but Sophia still looks dignified and unchanged.

“Thanks for coming.”

When I told her so, the Granny next to me put an extra cucumber in the bucket of ice, saying that it was for the pretty girl.

The kids kept asking “What are you doing?”.

I told them I was selling shaved ice, but they started “Cola” chorus.

Apparently, after treated to a Cola the last time, they couldn’t forget the taste.

“Today’s cola is more luxurious than the last time.”

Ginjiro agitates the children and tells them to sit at the tables and wait.

They are kids and they are not good at sitting and waiting.

There were some kids running around, but they all quieted down when I told them they had to be good or I wouldn’t let them have a Cola.

I bought two lemons from Edel, the fruit stall.

He said he didn’t want the money, but I gave him one copper coin.

Because if he didn’t making any sales, he would get scolded when he went back.

Hand over the rock ice in plastic cups to Harry and ask him to pour cola for everyone.

Ginjiro quickly sliced the lemon and put it in the cola.

I ran out of cola, so I took out another plastic bottle, and the old lady took a seat at the table, wondering if I would get one too if there were still some left.

The old lady said she opened a stall to buy clothes for her grandchildren, so I guess she likes children.

She is a kind and nice old lady, Ginjiro thought.

In the end, I made Cola for everyone and also for the old lady and Edel, and we all drank it together.

Harry took a break and Ginjiro cut up the watermelon and cucumbers that the old lady had given him earlier.

“I got a watermelon from this grandma. If you put this salt on it, it will become sweeter. Just add a little bit, or ask the elders.”

As Ginjiro, it was an obvious thing to say, but apparently there was no concept of salt on watermelons, and even that Sebastian was surprised.

When I told them to shake this vial about two shakes, the children immediately tried it out.

I heard them say “yummy” so it must be ok.

Sweeter? Like life?

Cut up the cucumbers I got and put them on a plate.

I took miso out of the item box and mixed it with mayonnaise.

I really wanted to add some shichimi pepper, but decided not to because I was going to give it to the kids.

I also prepared toothpicks and brought them to the table, and the chilled cucumbers were a big hit.

The children wanted to eat more, so I went to the old lady and bought cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and cabbage.

The old lady said she didn’t want the money, but she accepted it when I told her to use it to buy clothes for her grandchildren.

I don’t know why, but the old lady’s vegetables are so sweet and tasty.

They are overgrown and unevenly shaped, but they taste so rich and delicious that I was actually planning to buy some personally later.

The vegetables are cut and placed in a bucket of ice water.

The kids try to get the vegetables in the bucket and are surprised at how cold the water is.

Sophia also puts her hand in and laughs with the kids about how nice it feels.

As expected, crowd was gathering as the place was noisy with a large number of people.

There was a customer who wanted to drink cola, but I told him that cola is not for sale and declined.

Can I eat the vegetables that you are cooking right now? I looked at the old lady and she said it was fine.

Ginjiro bought the vegetables, but he thought it might be good for business, so he told the old lady that if the customer enjoyed the vegetables, the customer should pay the old lady.

The vegetables are quickly chilled in ice water and placed on a platter.

I really wanted to serve them in a glass as a fancy vegetable stick, but I didn’t have that much time, so I gave up.

I mix a large amount of miso paste and mayonnaise to make another dip.

According to Sister, the kids didn’t eat many vegetables, but they all seem to enjoy them.

She was excited to feed them this way, as she grows the same vegetables in the orphanage’s fields.

The previous customer who was crunching the vegetable sticks repeatedly said it was delicious.

Other customers also asked for vegetable sticks.

When I asked the customer how much he would be willing to pay for a vegetable stick, he replied that he would be willing to pay about three coppers.　

These cold vegetables are delicious, but these vegetable with this brown dip is terribly tasty.

He raved about it, saying he had never eaten anything like it.

I looked at the old lady and she nodded, now is the time.

Take the vegetables that can be eaten raw from the old lady, cut them and put them in the bucket of ice water.

Of course, one bucket was not enough, so I took out another bucket from the item box to make ice water.

I was a little impatient, so I put the vegetables in the expensive wine cooler, but it’s fun, so I can’t help it.

The vegetables sold, but not the fruit, so I made a suggestion to Edel.

“I’ll lend you this bucket of ice water, so put some fruit in it and chill it. You might make a profit if you cut the chilled fruit and sell it.”

Edel must have understood that this is his chance.

Add apples, grapes, cherries and pears to the ice water.

Instruct Harry to put the vegetable sticks into the plastic cups used for cola.

But first, put the dip in and then the veggies on top of that.

Four radishes and cucumbers, two carrots, and the rest cabbage.

If they run out of dip, they will complain, so I tell them that they can ask for extra dip.

Since we were short on manpower, I asked Sophia and Sebastian to pack vegetables as well.

I wondered if a young lady Sophia could do it, but she said it would be no problem since she is an active volunteer and does the soup kitchen.

The sisters seemed to be busy taking care of the children, but Harry and I were a bit bussy.

Well, I asked the old lady to help the sister take care of the kids, so I guess it will be okay.

Before I knew it, customers were lining up waiting for vegetable sticks.

Because there is a line in a place with few people, customers who see it from afar also gather.

Now that packing vegetables finished, Ginjiro decides to help out at Edel’s fruit stall.

Cut the apples and pears into bite-sized pieces and place the fruits on the ice cubes.

Prick it with a toothpick to make it ready to eat.

I don’t know the price, so I’ll leave it to Edel.

Grapes are chilled by the bunch, and they are in a state ready to be eaten.

After a while, the vegetable sticks were sold out and the line went to Edel’s stall.

Anyway, I chilled the fruit, cut it and arranged it on the ice.

All the vegetables for the vegetable sticks were sold out, but there were still some watermelons, so the old lady started selling them cold.

Oh, that salt is …… well, it’s fun.

Time-wise, it was only about an hour of busyness, but all of Edel’s fruit was sold out, and we were finally free of this bustling activity.

Incidentally, the orphans were very active in picking up trash, so cleanup was easy.

They were placed in a large trash can made by master, and then Ginjiro could use the trash can function of the item box to dispose of the contents of the trash.

I say goodbye to Sophia and the others, saying I will thank them next time.

For the old lady, she sold enough vegetable sticks for fifty people, so that’s 150 coppers.

She also sold a few other vegetables, and she was smiling because she made a lot of sales from the chilled watermelons.

Edel, the fruit stall, looked like he had done a great job.

It was only natural, since all the fruit he had brought was sold.

Moreover, since the fruit was cut up and sold, the unit price was higher than if it had been sold as usual.

Two people tell me they will pay for the ice, but I tell them it’s okay because I had fun and learned a lot.

The old lady’s son came to pick her up and I said goodbye to her.

The son was surprised to see that the vegetables were almost sold out.

The old lady asked me if I would come again tomorrow.　I told her I would be back.

I asked Edel, the fruit seller, if he would come again tomorrow. He said he had planned to come only today, but he had sold so many that as soon as he returned home, he would ask if he could open another stall tomorrow.

He returned with the empty crates on his big cart.

I asked him if he needed help, since he had such a big cart to pull with his small body, but he thanked me saying it was fine.

Edel is great. I’m sure he will be a good merchant someday.