The Delivery Business and the Northern Market
Do you know about Columbus’s egg?
Columbus, who cracked the end of a boiled egg to make it stand upright.
People protested after seeing the scene, saying, "Anyone could do that!" but the fact that no one had thought of such a simple method until Columbus tried it holds quite a lot of significance.
The woman who thought of food delivery after watching the mail carriage leave was no different.
It was about twisting the common sense that food should naturally be cooked and eaten in the kitchen.
Those who create and lead new markets are, in the end, the people who overturn the "obvious thoughts" that everyone else has.
"Honey, we have some lamb left over, right? And mushrooms too."
"I have some lamb left, but not many mushrooms... Why? Does our third one want to eat meat?"
The woman's husband touched her belly, which was now showing clear signs of pregnancy, and grinned broadly.
Smack!
"It's not that I want to eat it, it's for business! Now, hurry up and go pick some mushrooms."
"Business?"
"I have a plan, so just hurry!"
"?"
The husband, though puzzled, quickly ran to the house, grabbed a basket, and prepared to go pick mushrooms.
He had never lost out by listening to his wife so far, so even though he wondered what kind of business she was suddenly talking about, he did as he was told.
"Melania. Is the baby growing well? Are you going to return to the kitchen after the baby is born?"
"Then who would raise the youngest? Anyway, you came at a good time!"
Right on cue, a former colleague—an assistant cook working in the Lord's castle kitchen—approached her in a friendly manner.
"Spread a rumor for me."
"A rumor? What kind of rumor?"
"So, here's the thing—."
Perhaps the baby in her womb realized that its mother was excited about starting a new job, as she felt an early movement. Indeed, the best prenatal care is for the mother to be happy.
A few days later.
Aiden, who was still buried in piles of reports in his office—though humming a tune—felt a sense of incongruity.
'What is it?'
Something was different from usual.
What could it be?
'The amount of paperwork is about the same as usual. No special incidents have occurred. But why does it feel different from usual?'
Aiden even put down his pen, pondering to grasp the source of his unease.
Scratch, scratch-.
The office was filled only with the sound of Jamie and Kalisa's pens racing across the paper.
A scene no different from usual—
'—Wait, no it isn't.'
He looked at the window, and the sun was high in the sky.
"What is this? Are you not going to eat?"
The source of the incongruity was none other than Jamie.
To think he was still focused on his paperwork without preparing to go down for lunch, even though it was almost time.
Of course, since he didn't win his position as adjutant in a poker game, his work performance was A-grade, but he had a personal conviction to never let anything interfere with his meal times, so he usually made sure to eat lunch like clockwork.
Therefore, it was only natural that it was strange to see him working his pen so diligently even now, when lunch time was almost over.
"...So you've finally realized the beauty of the sandwich!"
"What are you talking about, Administrative Officer? Why would you say such a terrible thing?"
"......"
At Jamie's unhesitating rebuttal, a vein momentarily bulged on Aiden's forehead.
It was as if he were saying not to insult his palate. What was wrong with a sandwich?
"Then what is it? Are you on a diet?"
"Ahey. Are you going to keep saying terrible things?"
He shuddered again. He even put down his pen and flexed his angry arm muscles.
Looking at that, it really seemed that body type was genetic.
'That guy, he works overtime with me every day, so when does he even exercise?'
It even seemed like he had gotten slightly bigger than when they first met. He claimed it was because he was eating meat well, but who knows.
Anyway.
"Then why aren't you going down for lunch? It's way past the time you should have gone to the cafeteria."
"Hehe. I'm having a special meal today."
"A special meal? You, kid. If you made an unreasonable request to the busy kitchen staff, cancel it right now—."
"Ay, it's not like that. What do you take me for?"
Then he added, barely audibly, "Is there anyone else besides you, Administrative Officer, who gets special treatment from the chef?"
Of course, Aiden pretended not to hear. Receiving a sandwich could be considered a special meal in a way, after all.
Still, he couldn't give it up.
'The room construction in the cafeteria isn't even finished yet. It's uncomfortable for both of us if I go down there.'
Besides, if he looked at reports during the time it took to go back and forth, he could easily read dozens of pages.
Knock, knock-.
While Aiden was briefly lost in his praise of sandwiches, a knock sounded at the office door.
"Ah, I guess they're here! Hehe!"
As if he had been waiting, Jamie jumped out of his chair.
"Delivery is here!"
When the door opened, a man with a gentle impression, whom he had never seen before, set down a wooden bowl wrapped in a cloth from a large wooden box.
"Please give it here. Ah, here's the money."
"Thank you! Please order again next time!"
"......?"
Kalisa blinked, wondering what that was, as it was a sight she had never seen before. Aiden also blinked, as the sight was quite familiar.
"It's still piping hot!"
Jamie sat at the table, holding the wooden bowl. With his mouth stretched from ear to ear, he unwrapped the cloth, and a savory, comforting smell spread through the office.
Inside the bowl were dumplings smaller than a child's fist.
It was a kind of home-cooked meal that Northerners often ate, consisting of about 80 percent various meats, including lamb. The remaining 20 percent was filled with potatoes, cabbage, or beans.
The dough seemed a bit thick, but it was seasoned salty, had a good texture, and was usually made to be filling even without rice.
"Hot, hot! Hoo-ooh!"
Jamie, who had put a piping hot dumpling in his mouth, puffed steam and shivered.
"The juice is just—! Kuh!"
Gulp-.
It was a mukbang (eating broadcast) that made even Aiden, who didn't have much of an appetite, salivate. If that wasn't a talent, what was?
"Would you like to try one?"
"Is that okay?"
"I can't give you many. Kalisa, I'll give you one too, so come here quickly."
"...Then just one bite."
Kalisa also approached as if she had been waiting and accepted a dumpling.
"Ugh!"
"Oh."
As she took a bite, the meat juice instantly filled her mouth. Piping hot, greasy, and bursting with umami—the juice.
"They started delivery yesterday, and it's causing a stir among the officials right now. I bet at least twenty bowls were delivered today, right?"
Jamie, the greatest socialite of the leadership, began to provide an explanation that no one had asked for. He thought that if he didn't inform him like this, it would take a long time for his superior to learn about this excellent and innovative way of selling food.
"You know Melania, who used to work in the Lord's castle kitchen?"
"The one who quit a while ago?"
"Yes. These dumplings are exactly what Melania made best. Since it became a public cafeteria, the cost of ingredients became unbearable, and it was difficult to make dumplings one by one, so we hadn't been able to eat them for a long time."
"Right, and so?"
"Suddenly, for some reason, Melania's husband took orders from the officials heading to work in front of the Lord's castle yesterday morning. And then, he delivered them like this just in time for lunch."
"Oh?"
"There were people who missed Melania's dumplings, and there were also people who placed orders half-doubtingly to congratulate her on her third pregnancy, so quite a few people bought them right away yesterday. But since they were delivered piping hot as if they were freshly made, the orders increased much more today. Well, everyone receives enough salary to buy a lunch. Hehe."
In a world without phones or the internet, he thought it was a somewhat primitive method of delivery.
'Not bad.'
Aiden smiled with satisfaction, thinking it was quite impressive. He thought about how the adaptability of the common people was truly terrifying.
Things that he thought wouldn't work until the government set the stage were being applied by civilians as soon as they encountered the concept of mail delivery.
'Taking orders in front of the Lord's castle, where the officials are gathered, is also quite clever.'
Still, since ordering and buying food wouldn't be familiar to the general territory residents yet, the target selection was also outstanding.
"Still, I can't have delivery people wandering around inside the Lord's castle. There's the issue of office security. From tomorrow, arrange for those who placed orders to come directly to the door to receive them."
"Yes."
"And will you place an order for me tomorrow too?"
"You're not going to eat your sandwich?"
"A resident has started a new business, so I should encourage them a bit."
Although Aiden maintained a formal tone with everyone except his direct subordinates, he did not forget his position. He was well aware that the general residents considered him half-lord.
'So if it becomes known that I ordered and ate it, even people who weren't interested will open their wallets.'
Even in the 21st century, where everyone is equal, a restaurant visited by a celebrity goes viral in an instant. If it had the title of food that the Lord himself sought out and ate in this society where a class system exists?
It was only natural that the business would do well.
"There might be a few more residents jumping into food delivery in the future. Perhaps we might finally see proper shops?"
Jamie immediately grasped the core of the matter. Indeed, although his whole body was covered in muscles like a weapon, his essence seemed to be that of a civil official.
"Oh my, thank you for your hard work!"
The Northern market day, which had now become familiar. The market, held once every fifteen days, was becoming an indispensable place for Northerners.
"Inspection finished. The cart goes over there."
"Yes, I know. Thank you."
A man who had pulled his cart from a distant village was quite confident in the goods he had brought this time. Even to his untrained eyes, the fabric made from thread spun by the village women seemed well-dyed, so demand would surely overflow.
'If this sells well, they said we could buy some books for the village.'
If there were books bought for common use in the village, perhaps children who studied hard would emerge among the next generation to become officials.
'If he becomes an official of the Lord's castle, my son might also be called "Sir".'
Wanting one's child to live more comfortably than oneself is the aspiration of all parents, regardless of time or place.
The man first stopped by the trading post to check the price of the dyed cloth. He had to check how much the trading post would pay if it didn't sell at the market.
"This isn't bad..."
The price was quite good. Since it was slightly more expensive than the price the village chief and the village women had strongly requested, he could more than achieve his target value even if he sold everything to the trading post.
Heh-.
The man's lips curled up on their own. He could now enjoy the market, having shaken off the worries that had been weighing on one corner of his heart.
"Heave-ho."
After coming out of the trading post and displaying his goods in the assigned spot, a merchant approached and began to haggle before long. It seemed that merchants visited the North quite often now.
Although the North was thought of as a place only for fur, since they had made up their minds to create a market and gather surplus goods, there were still things that could pique the interest of merchants.
Of course, fur and monster byproducts were still the mainstays, and other goods were attractive because they were cheap due to lower labor costs compared to other regions.
"Oh my..."
The man, who had finished haggling with the merchant, felt drained, but—
'But I did it...!'
He had achieved the feat of selling off half of the stock he had brought. Now, if he returned to the village, he would be treated like a hero for a while.
"Maybe I should go buy some gifts for the family later."
The man, muttering to himself, felt like the situation, which had completely changed in just two seasons, was like a dream.
"Hello!"
A child, who came up to about his waist, smiled brightly and greeted the man, who had been immersed in joy.
"...Are you here to buy this?"
"Hehe. That's not it, I'm taking orders for this."
"Orders?"
"You have to eat, right? Here. We have chicken stew that's appetizing with lots of tomatoes, and if you order it with bread, we'll give you a little jam too!"
"......?"
Children who went around taking delivery orders had appeared at the market. To repeat, it was children.