CH 202

Chapter 202 : Sales Girl

Nicola and I were following Ester, who was pulling the cart with jars of beef stew, walking down the street leading to the village square.

The road was rough. There were a lot of pebbles and stones lying around. Pulling a cart full of heavy luggage could be very hard, but Ester didn’t look struggling at all. She seemed to be used to doing this every morning.

I was also pushing the cart from behind to make sure it didn’t fall but I didn’t feel like I was helping much. Still, I would feel a bit uncomfortable if I was doing nothing while Ester was pulling the cart.

By the way, Nicola was only putting her hand on the cart. She knew that she wouldn’t help much so she didn’t want to waste her energy.

After walking for a while, we reached the village square.

It was empty when we passed this place a while ago but now it’s full of people.

「Alright. Mark, Nicola, let’s get ready!」(Ester)

As soon as we stopped, Ester took out the folding table from the cart. I hurriedly helped her set it up.

When I looked around, I noticed that it was the same spot where I met Ester the day before yesterday. Apparently, she always sets up the stall here.

As soon as we finished setting up the table and arranging the pots and the boxes of pizza on it, the customers started lining up.

Our first customer was a middle-aged man who seemed to be a human. He was carrying a big basket filled with various things on his back.

「Good morning, Ester. Hmm, today’s menu is beef stew, I see. By the way, why are the boy and the girl from Celine’s place with you?」(man)

「Good morning, Bazma-san. Mark and Nicola are helping my family for a while starting today.」(Ester)

「I see. I’m glad you found some workers.」(Bazma)

「Do you want me to fill up your pot as usual?」(Ester)

「Yes, please.」(Bazma)

The man called Bazma handed a double-handled pot he was holding to Ester, and then Ester handed it to me.

「Mark, can you fill it with beef stew? I want to pick some items from him for the exchange.」(Ester)

I replied to her with a nod.

Ester then turned her gaze to the basket on Bazma’s back.

「Take everything you need.」(Bazma)

As he said that, Bazma crouched down so that Ester could take the items she wanted from his basket.

「Hmm… If I remember correctly, Dad said that we need this and… some of these.」(Ester)

Ester took some onions and some other vegetables and then showed them to Bazma.

Bazma then nodded to her, telling her that he agreed with this exchange.

In the meantime, I was done filling his pot with stew beef. I then handed it to him.

「Thank you, boy. Good luck. Ester, I’ll come again.」(Bazma)

「Thank you!」(Ester)

That was our first satisfied customer, but there were still a lot of customers waiting for their beef stew.

Ester was in charge of choosing and receiving items from the customers as payment for their beef stew while Nicola and I were in charge of serving the beef stew and cutting up the pizza.

Well, to be precise, I was the one dealing with the beef stew and the pizza while Nicola was only handing them to the customers.

Nicola looked like the one with the least amount of work, but Ester said that she was doing a great job in attracting customers.

In fact, some customers seemed to come to see Nicola.

「Ojou-chan, you’re the girl who Celine brought to this village, right?」(old man)

「Un! That’s me!」(Nicola)

「Hoho~ You remind me of my granddaughter when she was a child.」(old man)

「Do I~? Here’s your beef stew!」(Nicola)

「Thank you. And here are some sweets for your smile.」(old man)

「Whoaa~ Thank you, oji-chan!」(Nicola)

Hee… She got sweets in exchange for her smile, huh?

I almost forgot because I knew her real personality but she seems to be the cutest girl in the town of Fatia.

I wonder if there will be customers who give me sweets…

N-No, no. I’m not a child… Well, I’m a child, but I’m not. I don’t care about sweets. It’s not that I’m jealous of her or anything, okay?

――――――

When the number of customers coming to our stall began to decrease, I saw a familiar figure approaching us.

「Ara~ Seems like you guys are doing your best to help Ester. Good morning, everyone~」(Celine)

It was Celine. She was pulling a cart that was loaded with a few barrels of Eclain’s homemade wine. There was also a bag with bread and sausages that seemed to be obtained by exchanging her wine with other people.

「Un! I’m doing my best!」(Nicola)

「Good morning, Celine」(Mark)

「Celine, welcome~!」(Ester)

「Let’s see what you guys have today~ Hmm… Beef stew and… Eh? Pizza? Ester, you rarely serve pizza, right?」(Celine)

Ester picked up a box of pizza and showed the pizza to Celine.

「Yup. But we got a lot of cheese from Dorgma-san the other day. Look! I was the one who put the cheese on these pizzas!」(Ester)

I know that cheese is very good but I think she put too much of it on the pizzas…

「Ara~ Look at that thick layer of cheese! Wonderful~ Alright then, I’ll have some pizzas and the beef stew, please.」(Celine)

「Right away.」(Mark)

「Ah, hold on, Mark.」(Celine)

When I was about to prepare Celine’s order, she stopped me.

「You will eat lunch at my place, right? Then you don’t have to prepare the container. Can you just put them in your Item Box?」(Celine)

「Ah, I see. Alright.」(Mark)

So, we’re going to eat this beef stew for lunch, huh? That’s great!

Ahh~ I can’t wait. This delicious fragrance is stimulating my appetite while I’m working.

「By the way, Mark, since you live in a new house, don’t you have anything you want to buy here?」(Celine)

「Something I want to buy? Hmm…」(Mark)

Now that she mentions it, my house is almost empty. Nicola even scolded me, saying that it was like a prison cell.

I want to go around and see other stalls but I’m still working.

「Mark, you can go now if you want. Nicola, you too. The rush hour is over, so I can handle the rest myself.」(Ester)

「Eh? But…」(Mark)

「Don’t worry about me.」(Ester)

Ester replied and smiled gently at me. I think I should accept her kind offer here.

「Alright then.」(Mark)

「Ah, but… Umm…」(Ester)

Now she put her hand on her chest and looked away shyly for some reason.

「Can we play together later?」(Ester)

「Of course. But there’s something I need to do after lunch, so can you come afternoon?」(Mark)

「Okay~!」(Ester)

「Alright then, we’re going now. See you later.」(Mark)

「Ester-chan, see you later!」(Nicola)

「Un! See you later~!」(Ester)

Nicola and I waved our hands to Ester and left with Celine.

As soon as we left her, the next customer came.

I’m a bit worried but it’s not as busy as a while ago, so I think she will be able to handle everything by herself.