CH 76.1

The next day, my wife and I spent the morning walking around Torquiva with our daughter.

On our way to the main street, we saw a huge crowd gathered at the headquarters of the Magical Schenker Group, where we had stopped by yesterday.

Are they running a soup kitchen or something?

「What a crowd」

「Right」

「That’s just a bunch of people who came to ask for manpower.」

「Why? Do you also work as a manpower arranger?」

「Sort of. Since the meat factory was built, the number of people who can be dispatched has decreased and because of that, they had to fight for manpower everyday.」

「Fuuhhh, it is strange why can’t they just find manpower in the neighborhood. Why can’t they just find some farmers or some adventurers? 」

「Our business is run under the banner of the long established Schenker family so it would be very difficult for someone else to try that kind of business. 」

「I guess so.」

-0-

After walking for a while, we arrived at a stylish little coffee shop painted in green and white.

Tables and chairs were set up outside the store where men and women, dressed up in not normal clothes, were chatting amiably.

I wondered if it was really okay for people like me and my wife, who were dressed like country bumpkins, to go into such a restaurant.

「Come on, come on, why are you acting like that? This is owned by the Schenker family too.」

「Wait a minute, how can we enter an amazing place like this while wearing clothes like these?」

「I agree」

My wife and I looked at each other and smiled wryly but in the end, our daughter pulled us by hand saying “it’s okay” and entered the store.

Even though it was daytime, the restaurant was lit up by magic lamps and the interior was calm and quiet.

Most of the customers are wearing elegant clothes but compared to the outside, they are in the normal category. Thank god.

My wife and I would not be so out of place here.

「Opika, welcome.」

「Good morning」

The waitress, who greeted my daughter in a friendly manner as if they knew each other, was dressed as if she had just stepped out of an opera.

What kind of restaurant is this?

This is something I’ve never seen in my entire life.

「Three breakfast meal please, and….would you like coffee or tea for drinks?」

「I think I’ll have tea.」

「Then, mother will have coffee like me.」

「So, two coffees and 1 tea」

「Yes, please.」

Our daughter finished her order smoothly and took out a bundle of papers from the item rack by her seat.

I wonder what that is. There are fine characters all over the place.

「Opika, what’s that?」

「Ah, it’s a newspaper my friend runs. It’s just a bunch of gossip but it comes out once a week.」

「Ah, newspaper.」

「I didn’t know Opika could read such a difficult thing.」

I looked around and saw that all the customers who were alone were eating while reading the newspaper.

At least it means that all the customers who can come to this restaurant are educated or they seem to have a high threshold.

I also somehow picked up the item rack and found unfamiliar words and small pictures on the front page.

They were all expensive dishes I had never heard of.

Even the breakfast we had just ordered was already at the price of a proper dinner at a normal restaurant.

I wondered if it was okay for my daughter to go to a place like this.

Maybe the prices are different depending on your earnings…..I know I shouldn’t even be thinking about it but I can’t help but worry.

「Does it say something interesting?」

「Well, they’ve started working on the expansion of the outer wall of Torquiva. It looks like they’ve got a lot of people coming in.」

「Heh, the City of Hanaiera last expanded ten years before you were born.」

「Yeah! That time, I also worked there to pile bricks. Ah, right, at the site, one day, when I went to work in the morning haze….」

「I’ve heard that story a thousand times～, you thought it was the foreman but when you approached, it turned out to be a blood eyed monkey.」

「Right. We all ran out screaming. Thank goodness the adventurers came right away…..」