Volume 19 - CH 13

Anton, a merchant was given a letter of intent from the King of Grand Sword.

However, even if I were to do this for the sake of convenience, I was a little concerned about whether I could compete with popular stores for the main feature of the product.

「Aahh! Did Your Majesty Alec doesn't like cheesecake by any chance?」

Anton seemed to have misunderstood my uncomfortable reaction.

「No, that's not it. In fact, I just ate a piece of cheesecake a while ago.」

「Oh, that's too bad. I'm very sorry about that. I'll serve you on another occasion.」

「No, no, no. I'm still hungry. Let me eat it」

As I expected, the guards had forks that could be used as weapons, and they handed them to me.

And normally, when someone from another country brings in food, they wouldn't hand it directly to the king.

But poison doesn't work on me, you know, because I have 【Poison Resistance Lv5】.

The other day at the party, the nobleman who insisted on offering me wine said, "That's impossible, Alec, why don't you die!?" So I quickly caught him in a [turtle shell bondage] and sent him for interrogation.

I cut it off with my fork and took a bite.

「Hmph!?」

「Your Majesty! Eei, you! What have you served the King!」

The guards drew their swords.

「Eeekkk!」

「Wait, I was just surprised by the taste. It's not poisonous. I'm sure you've heard resistant to poison.」

「I'm sorry, sir.」

「But still, ......」

I gazed at the cheesecake on my plate.

In addition to the aroma and sweetness of the brandy, the richness and acidity of the cheese create an exquisite taste.

That's it, the one I had at the popular restaurant over there was a fake.

That's how good this one was.

「How was it ......」

Anton asked me, somewhat anxiously.

「You passed!」

「Ohhhh! Thank you very much.」

「Yeah. I'll give you the permit, and you can open your store as you like. Well, you don't need a permit in this country.」

「Yes, thank you very much.」

「But there's another place that opened today that serves the same cheesecake. Well, this cheesecake is better than that restaurant.」

「Th-that can't be, the name of the cake is .......」

Anton turned pale.

「Hmm? I believe it was the Hero King Cake.」

「No way. ...... I was one step too late. ......!

Anton dropped to his knees, frustrated.

「What do you mean? A cake from that place is not the enemy of your cake.」

「No, actually, the Hero King Cake was named by His Majesty King Caius.」

「Oh. Ehh?」

I thought it sounded like something Caius would do, but that would be a strange thing to say.

「Does that store have anything to do with you?」

「No, sir, not at all. To tell you the truth, the name of the product was used without permission in another country, and I protested against it, but they wouldn't let me deal with it at all, saying, "The early bird gets the worm".」

「Hmmm, but I don't think that name could have come up with anything other than Caius' idea. ......」

「Yes, I asked his Majesty, but he said he had never heard of such a store. ...... The maids who wear masks are our original way of serving customers, and the way we do it is exactly the same.」

「That's ......」

It would be hard to find such a strange way of serving customers in a restaurant that only serves pastries.

I can only assume that someone who visited Anton's restaurant once took the idea right out of it.

「Yes, His Majesty said that they probably took advantage of our popularity and cheated. That's why I hurriedly made arrangements to set up stores in the surrounding countries before they made the first move.」

「I see, so that's the situation. Don't worry. There's no need to insist on being the first to win. I'll shut down that store.」

「Ooooh!」

The first to win is not something you can do by copying your opponent.

It is only worthwhile if you are the first to invent something original.

It's okay to be the second inventor, but it's not okay to be a complete imitator, and I don't like it when people don't respect their predecessors.

Product names (brands) are there for customers to identify.

It's a scam to cheat it.

「Guards! Call Lancelot!」

「Ha! Right away!」

As expected, the【Zantetsuken】is probably not going to come into play, but I thought I should handle this situation properly, so I decided to send out the big shot.

「Your Majesty, I've heard about this. It seems that some recalcitrant people have opened a store under a false name, and I will take a platoon to detain all of them immediately.」

Lancelot, who had also arrived, said with a face full of enthusiasm.

「Umu. I'll go and observe for a bit.」

It's exhilarating to see the stores of people who do crazy things go under.

The misfortune of the wicked is a sweet taste.

The sound of military boots echoed as the fully armed troops began to move toward Nottoli's store, located in a prime location on the main street.

Passersby looked at us nervously, wondering what was going on, and then quickly cleared the way.

「Darling!」

「Saki?」

「Yeah, I was also a little curious about this store, so I did some investigate it. It's run by a guy named Nottoli, and he's actually ......」

「You're talking about a product that was ripped off from Caius Naming.」

「Oh, so you already knew about it, or else Lancelot wouldn't be here.」

「That's what I'm talking about. Well, let's see how they'll make an excuse.」

「Well. I'm sure he'll come up with some lame excuse like, "Anton's the one who's at fault!"」

If you try to get into that kind of argument, I'm going to jump your head immediately.

"Nottoli's", which was already sold out and closed, also noticed something strange outside and a clerk came out.

「O-owner, we're in trouble!」

The maid shopkeeper had removed her mask, but it was mistake.

That mask seems to have the effect of making even an ugly maid think that maybe she's beautiful.

「What's going on, it's so loud. Ueghh, S-soldier!?」

A small fat man came out and made me squirm...was this Nottoli?

「You're the one in charge of this store?」

Lancelot says in a fierce voice.

「Y-Yes, that's right, but ...... What in the world is going on here? I don't intend to evade taxes.」

「Hmph, you're so shameless. You've already guessed it, haven't you? The King of Grandsword named the Hero King Cake, and despite protests, this Lancelot will not tolerate those who cheat on the name of the product, saying, "The early bird gets the worm".」

「I-I'm sorry, sir! We will change the name of the product immediately and give it to you.」

「That's not the case! The name you stole will be returned.」

「Yes.......I'll give it back.」

「All right, we're going to interrogate you, so I'll have you to come. Hang the rope. All of you!」

「N-No way! I've already returned the name!」

「The money you made from your deceptive name was supposed to be the rightful owner's money. It's not a matter of just returning the name of the product.」

As expected of Lancelot, you have a firm grasp of the problem.

Nottoli nodded, but did he really think he wouldn't get reprisal for his unethical ways?

Well, I'll let him reflect on the rest in jail.