12. Keep Being Stubborn~ If We Don't Sell, That's It~

Silbi's academy enrollment application and dorm essentials shopping took up a few more days.

Thanks to that, the money I'd gotten from the count was down to just about 100 gold.

Who'd have thought I'd one day relate to the saying that raising kids eats money—without even being married.

Fresh memories flooded back of how baffled I'd been in middle school when my after-school convenience store night shift wages couldn't cover my academy tuition, leaving me to live off cup ramen.

"In the end, I've gotta go out and make more money again."

Easier said than done. Running a shop aggressively wasn't my style, but ripping off the rich for a big haul sure wasn't easy either.

Just what the hell had the original Grid been up to that he could even sell a railgun?

I was supplying top-quality bulgogi seasoning every day, but the skill proficiency had only crawled up 4% since the obesity treatment.

This damn skill—did it value satisfaction way too highly?

Life sure wasn't easy.

It was a cheat skill and all, but if I'd dropped here with nothing, I might've starved to death.

"Alright, time to hit the market for some research. Get back to basics."

I'd gotten complacent just because my back wasn't hurting and my stomach was full. Only about two weeks until the academy term started.

The day the original protagonist would visit the shop wasn't far off.

I could ignore it and live my life, but I planned to at least follow through on what the original Grid had done.

"I can probably handle the first visit somehow, but anything after that? Not in this state."

I'd ended up here because I loved the original story—rewriting it to my taste was out of the question.

So far, I'd only gotten tangled up with characters who had minor or no roles in the original. That was by design.

Yeah, pure coincidence. Sure.

The sun was setting, but my wandering thoughts showed no sign of stopping, so I left my room.

I headed to the third floor, to the room where Silbi was staying.

She'd started sleeping separately there yesterday, in a room freed up because a noble staying for the bulgogi had hit the jackpot early.

"What is it?"

Silbi, with her messy bedhead, eyed me through sleep-hazed eyes.

She'd been sleeping, huh.

"Heading out. I'll be back for dinner, so handle lunch yourself."

"Yeah."

"Eat properly—no skipping meals just to sleep."

"Yeah."

With that, she shut the door again. Cool as ever.

Living together, I'd learned Silbi slept a ton.

Dragging a kid like that around from morning to night for enrollment prep these past few days...

She must've felt like today was her free day.

Alright then. Market research—let's go.

Stepping out of the Owl's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Nest Inn, I saw lines already forming thick from the morning. How was this an off-season inn?

The secret? Bulgogi seasoning, plain and simple.

You seeing this, ancestors? K-food's rising status from another world.

"30 silver a plate, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right? And they've got money to burn."

Cost breakdown: seasoning at 2 silver, meat and sides maybe 1 silver tops.

Even with labor, food cost barely hit 10%—an insanely profitable menu when folks couldn't eat ten bowls a day as staples.

Plus, extra raffle tickets for stays kept rooms full. People came for tickets, stayed for food—bonus.

Iris was milking that one seasoning for all it was worth, every angle covered.

Sword Saint, swordsmanship department head, and business genius. No wonder the original story relegated her to final-boss status—too OP otherwise, I guessed.

"Not my gig anyway."

As I admired the line and turned toward the Adventurer's Guild Academy Branch,

"The Owl's Nest Inn must stop its bulgogi monopoly! Stop it!"

"Stop it! Stop it!"

What the hell?

A group with picket signs approached from afar, heading for the inn. Wait—that guy in the corner was the bookstore owner?

"Restaurants closing down! Other inns empty! Owl's Nest Inn, reveal the recipe!"

"Reveal it! Reveal it!"

Ah, got it.

The protesters were folks from the Academy Shopping District.

"Unmanaged lines! Interfering with other shops!"

"Interfering! Interfering!"

Up front: restaurant and inn owners. Fanning out: other non-overlapping shopkeepers.

"Looks like their stomachs are really hurting."

Obvious without looking.

Inns would gripe that bulgogi stole their nonexistent guests.

Restaurants would blame it for their sales drop.

Term start would've kept everyone busy, but off-season? Sales hurt everywhere.

Normally Iris would handle it—no need for me to butt in.

But demanding recipe sharing and sales halt? That's crossing the line.

Managing lines or bundling stays? Fair-ish complaints. Kinda forced, but whatever.

Why stop supply when there's demand? In capitalist society, why?

But this was a shopping district. Symbiosis with other merchants created synergy, so harmony was ideal.

If they'd stuck ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to that, Iris might've considered it.

But the rest? Over the line.

You sell tasty food, so our places suffer—stop selling? Even seafood markets don't weigh like that.

Clear agitation. "All merchants think alike—what can you do?"

But as a mere supplier, nothing for me to do.

Iris wouldn't settle it till closing anyway—beyond the inn manager's paygrade.

Maybe drop a casual word to the manager tonight.

I dodged the approaching protesters and headed to the guild, avoiding the inn.

No way they knew I supplied the seasoning, but no need to get tangled unlucky-like.

Not much to harvest at the Adventurer's Guild.

No quests screaming for my items.

As I said before, not pure fantasy or medieval—most stuff was covered.

A few caught my eye, but needed higher skill levels.

I passed the bustling line and entered the inn.

"Welcome back, Grid sir."

"Yeah. Did Silbi eat lunch?"

"She ordered room service—said to leave it at the door."

The manager looked extra tired today.

Looked like the merchant guild had given him real grief.

As usual, I stocked the seasoning in the warehouse, then hit the front desk.

"Heard a ruckus outside this morning when I headed out—something happen?"

Playing dumb, though I knew.

"Sigh... It's a headache. Too sensitive to discuss here—I'll let you know when Iris arrives."

"Got it."

Ate dinner with Silbi, browsed the catalog for sellable goods, then got the call and headed to Iris's office.

"Sales halt? Recipe reveal? Those crazy bastards?!"

Shouting hit me before I even knocked.

Sword Saint's voice was no joke.

*knock knock* "It's Grid. Coming in."

"Oh, come on in, Grid!"

Iris with veins bulging on her forehead, manager sweating bullets and flustered.

"Don't know the details, but heard there's trouble."

"Right! Arrogant humans! Acting like they own the place!"

One wrong word and she'd demolish the district.

"Iris, calm down first... I'll explain, Grid sir."

Dissolve lines, stop room bundling, share bulgogi recipe.

Sales halt did feel over the line, yeah.

Manager's rundown matched expectations.

If unmet, daily protests and condemnation posters at the inn.

"As you know, surrounding atmosphere affects guest satisfaction."

Yeah, yeah. Who'd stay with protesters outside?

"Can't flatly refuse—tricky spot."

"But sharing the bulgogi recipe? Impossible."

Iris was right. It was my seasoning magic.

They could approximate with Eastern soy sauce equivalents, but it'd cost nearly 1 gold.

I sold cheap—not easy to replicate.

"That's the issue. Even compromising, no recipe means no deal."

At this point, they were openly after the recipe.

"Term starts in two weeks—can't wait, so they charge? Outrageous! Even dragged in unrelated owners?"

Bookstore guy got roped in, huh. No way the "buy three, get one free" guy sided with those villains.

"Begged us to stay open off-season so academy visitors hit the district—and now this?!"

Ah, that explained it. Some reason they had to keep inns open off-season.

Nobles with academy business don't come solo. Four or five with retinue.

Owl's Nest too pricey for servants/squires. So where do they eat and crash?

Other inns and eateries—trickle-down effect.

They'd begged years ago not to close.

Mood changes entering vs. leaving the bathroom, they say. Bellies really full now.

"Frankly, bulgogi profits more than cover off-season losses—with plenty left."

Veins still there, but Iris explained calmly.

"But sympathy has limits. This crossed it! Can't comply anyway!" *Crack.*

Her fountain pen shattered in her grip.

Push more and the office furniture would all "break."

Time for my solution.

"Then go with the sales halt."

"Pardon?"

"Grid sir, what—?"

"They made recipe sharing priority one. Impossible, right?"

Can't sell what ain't for sale. Hand over 10 bottles? Yeah, they'd love that.

"Instead, do this."

I explained why halt sales, and follow-up handling. Convinced them.

You started it.

Next morning, guests at the inn got thunderbolt news.

"What?! No more bulgogi?!"

"I dreamed of gold ingots! It was my turn today!"

"Nooo! Proxy raffle ticket gigs were my pocket money!"

People grew confused reading the wall poster.

Why suddenly? Selling fine yesterday...

As confusion settled, eyes locked on the first line: 'Academy Shopping District Merchant Guild'.

Turning from the poster, they all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shared one furious destination.

Three days later.

The Academy Shopping District felt emptier than usual.

Unlike days with some foot traffic, it was like passage was banned—no one passed through.

Same time. Merchant guild office.

"You said if we followed your lead, we'd get that recipe! Now even our regulars are gone!"

"Think it's just restaurants and inns? No one's at my shop—outrageous!"

"How to survive two weeks like this?! People come next week—if still like this, you taking responsibility?!"

Angry shouts and jeers targeted one man: Frank, owner of Pig's Plate Restaurant.

"You all agreed at first! Now results suck and you turn on me?!"

Frank yelled back shamelessly.

"Hans! You said keeping inns open off-season was easy—this would be too!"

"Don't frame the innocent! Who said that?!"

"James, you too! Recipe gets us multiples the profit!"

"Yeah, but who expected Owl's Nest to pull this?!"

Allied interests pushed the agenda, but the district lost customers—collateral for other owners too.

"If this drags, even term start won't guarantee profits!"

"Apologize now—pretend it never happened!"

The building filled with voices, quieting only after a good while.

*

That evening.

"Grid sir. Merchants from the guild are here, as you predicted."

"Yeah, on my way."

Finally, what was coming had arrived.