The Cat's Perfect Terms (1): The First Day's Earnings
“Whew…”
It had already grown dark outside.
What a challenging day this had been.
In the morning, I had gone to the mercenary guild.
At lunchtime, I had simply struck up conversations along the street.
In the evening, I had approached people at the train station.
I had spoken to every sub-human I passed and tried to drum up business.
I wasn’t particularly shy by nature, but even so, it wasn’t as easy as I thought. Most sub-humans carried a strong sense of caution.
After hearing “no” dozens of times, I had started to feel a little dizzy myself.
But the key to sales was confidence.
I had pulled myself together and kept pressing on.
I had observed them closely and selected the right words to convince them.
Truly, it had felt as though I had needed ten bodies for a single day.
“…Some of them seemed to enjoy it…”
The Myojok I had met at the start.
The other Beastmen I had run into at lunch.
The Dwarves I had spotted at the train station.
I had received decent responses from them all.
But I hadn’t been fully confident yet.
“…I wonder how many came…”
A faint tremor had run through me.
There was no one here, right?
As long as at least one showed up, we would succeed.
With that thought, I had cautiously opened the inn door.
“Welcome! Where to— Oh, Kyle-nim!”
The first person I saw was Chloe.
The moment she spotted me, she came rushing over.
“Oh, why are you only coming now!”
“It took longer than I expected. But what’s this…?”
After answering, I had taken a look around the inn.
The view was nothing like the usual.
“Could you take orders, please!”
“We haven’t served anything yet.”
“When is the beer coming?!”
Chaotic noise greeted me first.
It was as if I had walked into the middle of a market.
Every table was packed with guests.
“This… is it all?”
Just as I was about to ask what was going on, Chloe had grabbed my hand and pulled me along.
After moving in a daze, we had ended up in the kitchen.
“Help my father quickly! The orders are overwhelming!”
In the kitchen, the owner was sweating profusely while preparing multiple dishes at once. Stacks of plates towered beside him like a mountain.
Oh no.
I’d better start with the dishes first.
***
“The Rancho Leaf Tea you ordered, two servings.”
“Eh, I didn’t order this.”
“Because the orders were so packed, I’m treating you to a complimentary serving.”
“So it’s free?”
“Yes!”
Once the dishes were done, I had immediately moved on to serving.
Since the food was piling up, I had rushed to prepare the service items as well. Long-term reputation mattered more than short-term profit.
“Here! Two more Black Ore Mountain Draft beers!”
“Yes!”
A gruff voice had boomed from the table at the back.
The Dwarves I had seen at lunch.
They were chugging beer with flushed faces.
That was when—
“Hey! Where’s the owner!”
Someone suddenly shouted.
A grey-bearded Dwarf.
The owner had startled and nearly dropped the plates in the kitchen, but I had calmed him and taken his place.
“Yes, what can I do for you?”
“Er…!”
The Dwarf had let out a belch and asked.
“Where exactly did you get that beer?”
“We make it ourselves.”
“Wh-what?!”
He had looked shocked and said.
“Really?”
“Didn’t I tell you earlier? We really make it by hand.”
“Whaaaaat? Are you by chance related to a Dwarf?”
“No, that’s not the case.”
Whether it was the alcohol or the lack of prejudice, I wasn’t sure.
In any case, since the customer seemed satisfied, I felt good about it too.
“Wow, how did you make it so good?”
“We skipped some steps because we made it in a hurry, but isn’t it fine?”
“That’s more than enough!”
“Thank you.”
“Honestly, it’s not exactly the flavor of the south, but I never thought I’d get to taste beer like this here!”
We had been fortunate.
If we followed the original method, it would have taken over four weeks to make beer. Especially the southern Dwarf style, it would have been impossible in eight weeks. We had used every magical shortcut to accelerate it.
The experiments I had done for the academy festival had been a big help.
It was a trial run to make fake beer and liquor.
—So, how is it now?
—Hmm… It still feels a little lacking…
—Really? Then try this too.
—Wait a second. How many servings did you prepare?
A truly rewarding memory.
At that time, our shop had recorded the highest sales in the neighborhood.
It had been quite profitable for pocket money.
“Gahahaha! You really capture the taste of the homeland! I feel great—care to join me for a drink?”
“Hah. It’s truly wonderful. What an honor.”
The grey-bearded Dwarf had passed me a beer.
I had gulped it down in one go.
“Huuuuh…”
Busy with work and serving, I had no choice but to drink too. I would normally have refused, but knowing Dwarf culture, I couldn’t.
I had thought of it as a kind of service and shared a little small talk before heading back to my seat.
There was so much to do.
At that moment, a voice called out from the entrance.
“Kyle-nim! Please come over for a moment!”
Looking back, Chloe stood with a troubled face.
“Due to the customers outside, I got flustered and couldn’t turn the sign. There are already people waiting out there—what do we do? Should we just turn them away?”
It seemed like this was the first time this had happened to her. She looked panicked.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected this either.
Why were so many people coming all at once?
…First, let’s deal with the issue.
“No. It’s our mistake, so we can’t just send them away. Just give me a moment.”
Glimpsing outside, about six people were waiting.
One Myojok. Three Dwarves. Two other Beastmen.
Seeing their numbers, I had made my decision.
“Go and bring them one packed serving of Rancho Leaf Tea and four special snacks for sub-humans.”
“Yes, yes!”
Once she was gone, I had stood in front of them.
“I’m sorry. What should we do? We’re completely full at the moment…”
“What?!”
The Myojok in front had answered irritably.
“You made us waste our time!”
“I’m sorry, but please wait just a moment.”
“Why?”
On cue, Chloe had come back with the tea.
She had handed it to the Myojok.
“This is Rancho Leaf Tea. Please drink it.”
“…Hah, fine.”
“If you come again, we’ll give you a fifty-percent discount on everything. Could you tell me your name?”
With that, the Myojok had written down his name and left.
His tail was wagging. He seemed a little less annoyed.
Next,
“You two, please have this as well. And if you tell me your names, I’ll remember them.”
“Oh, thank you!”
The bright and cheerful Beastman women had accepted the snacks without issue and left.
They had said they didn’t want anything, but since it was the first day, I had wanted to leave a good impression. In truth, it wasn’t expensive.
Anyway.
Now, the only ones left were the Dwarves…
They were glaring at me with stern faces.
“Are you perhaps looking for lodging?”
“No! We came because you have that handmade beer!”
They were clearly angry.
Hmm… This one might be tricky.
But upon closer look at their faces, I had remembered something. These must be the Dwarves I had met on the street during lunchtime?
This would be simple.
“Are you perhaps planning to sit with the others?”
“What? With humans?”
They had sneered.
“Having humans who don’t even know the beer’s taste sit with us? No way!”
“No, there are some Dwarves inside.”
“…Others are there?”
I had led them to the inner table.
If my memory was correct, these customers had a connection with the Dwarves over there.
As expected, when we arrived, one of the seated Dwarves had startled.
It was the grey-bearded Dwarf from before.
“Eh, you…!”
Then the Dwarf who had just arrived shouted.
“Herald! Why are you here!”
“Wait a second. Calm down! I’ll explain everything.”
“The human who said he wouldn’t drink the beer you made earlier, who came here first and is already drinking, is you?”
“Ah, no, that’s not it…”
The cheerful laugh from earlier was gone; he now looked deflated.
At that moment, I had gently intervened.
“These guests don’t have seats and can’t enter. Would you mind joining them?”
The grey-bearded Dwarf had quickly answered.
“Yes! Sit down! Sit and talk.”
“…You’ll buy the beer.”
“Got it. Got it.”
In this way, we had resolved the full-house issue.
Since it was the first day, there had been many small problems.
We had had no choice but to handle them on the fly.
Anyway, after resolving everything, I had let out a sigh of relief.
Then I had glanced around briefly.
Myojok and Dwarves. Other Beastmen too.
Truly, so many had gathered.
‘…Should I expand the building?’
While lost in thought,
A voice had called out from far away.
“Could you take orders, please!”
“Yes, coming right up!”
I had had no choice but to move again.
…There really was no time to rest.
***
3:30 AM.
Everyone had gone to bed.
We had finally cleared all the tables and prepared everything for tomorrow. It had been an exhausting day.
But still,
the reason I hadn’t gone to sleep yet…
“…So this is the money we earned in just one day?”
Chloe had stared with wide eyes and asked, unable to believe it.
One gold coin.
Three silver coins.
Seventeen copper coins.
Enough for a four-person family to live on for an entire month or more.
We had earned that much in a single day.