I'll Install a Teleport Gate Here Just for Me

Lunch service was nearly over.

"Welcome."

"Huh? An elf?"

A startled voice sounded from the door as Andrea stepped out to greet a customer.

I knew that voice.

Pretty much every regular knew by now that an elf worked here.

I looked up to see a red-haired woman stepping through the doorway.

Camilla Wagon. Head of the Golden Wagon Merchant Group.

Two attendants, a man and a woman, trailed behind her.

"What's this? Why is there an elf here?"

Dressed in an outfit that was both strikingly luxurious and built for movement, she looked the elf up and down, her amber eyes flaring with something between surprise and indignation.

"First time seeing an elf?"

"Excuse me?"

Andrea forced the words out through a service-industry smile.

Her mouth was smiling. Her tone carried absolutely zero warmth.

Deja vu.

—Proprietor, are you a racist?

Andrea's voice echoed up from that first meeting, the same ice-cold flatness she'd aimed at me. She'd gotten a lot more personable since then, but right now that edge was back.

"Andrea, ease up. She's an important guest."

"An important guest?"

Andrea glanced back at me, then gave Camilla another once-over.

"She doesn't look like one."

"Cheeky elf."

"Better than a human who throws her money around."

"So you do know who I am."

"Even elves keep up with basic current events."

"I like that. Which means elves know my name too, doesn't it? Fufu."

Camilla's lips curled upward and she strode into the restaurant with perfect composure.

"Ahem. Lucas. It's been a while. Almost two months, is it?"

"What brings you here?"

A month and a half ago she'd ridden back to the capital loaded down with Chadol Doenjang-jjigae and Tuu meat sets. Now here she was again.

"I meant to come sooner. I'd planned to head straight back after I finished in the capital, but things kept piling up."

Every eye in the restaurant had pulled toward her.

Nobody in this territory didn't know Camilla Wagon of the Golden Wagon by now.

She'd made that much of a commotion on her last visit.

She was the walking reason this place had gone through a full-blown Doenjang-jjigae boom.

After her last trip, the whole place had practically reeked of fermented soybean paste for a week.

The craze ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had cooled a little since then, but for a while half the populace was mainlining Chadol Doenjang-jjigae solely on her recommendation.

Though once we ran out of Tuu brisket and had to swap in regular beef, the hype died fast.

People in this empire still had strong feelings about Doenjang, it seemed. Divisive stuff.

Camilla was the anomaly.

Almost nobody loved the stuff the way she did.

At any rate, between the scene she'd caused and the formal trade deal she'd struck with Viscount Britten himself, there wasn't a soul in the viscount's lands who could claim they hadn't heard of her.

"Hmm, no more Doenjang smell hanging in the air. Did everyone's tastes change?"

"Doenjang-jjigae was always a divisive menu item, even back in the knight order."

"Was it? That surprises me. I thought it was incredible. Though that may simply be because you were the one who made it for me."

She smiled, easy and bright, and settled into the table closest to the open kitchen.

"I took supplies back with me—Doenjang, Tuu meat, all of it—and do you know, no matter which top-tier chef I handed them to, it never tasted the way yours did. So I gave up trying and came back."

She crossed her legs, tilted her gaze up at me, and placed her order with an air of utter nonchalance.

"I'll have the Chadol Doenjang."

"We're out of Tuu, so I'd have to use regular beef. Is that acceptable?"

"Is it? Then just give me Doenjang-jjigae. With the tofu set."

"Understood."

I took the order, then added a preemptive strike for good measure.

"I should say this now: if you've come to drag me back to the capital again, I'm going to respectfully decline in advance."

"Relax. I'm not in the habit of dragging people who don't want to go."

"Is that so?"

"Of course it is. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'm not that rigid."

"Then you really only came for the food?"

"Not only that."

Camilla hummed a little tune.

Something about that hum put me on edge.

"First, I'm hungry. Can we do the meal first?"

"I'll have it out shortly."

I retreated into the kitchen.

One glance at Andrea was all it took.

She fetched the tofu without a word while I got the Doenjang-jjigae going at speed.

We'd reached the point where we could read each other's cues with nothing more than eye contact.

Bubble-bubble.

Into the bubbling Doenjang broth went the wild Pog front leg Andrea had hunted a few days back, along with zucchini, mushrooms, tofu, green onion, and regular onion.

I used the same cut to make Kimchi-jeyuk on the side and sliced fresh white tofu next to it.

Jeyuk-dubu-kimchi and Doenjang-jjigae.

Camilla's favorite set.

The savory stew smell prickled my nose as I loaded three earthenware pots and the banchan onto a tray.

"Your Doenjang-jjigae and Jeyuk-dubu-kimchi."

Andrea took the tray and arranged three servings at Camilla's table.

"You haven't lost your touch."

Camilla smiled down at the stew and picked up her spoon.

"Mmm~. Delicious."

One spoonful of Doenjang-jjigae and her face filled with satisfaction.

"This is a different meat."

"Wild Pog. Hunted not long ago."

"It's wonderful. Tuu, wild Pog—every time I come here, I get to taste something new. I like that."

She tucked a steaming piece of white tofu into her mouth together with a bite of rice, and her cheeks rounded.

"Delishious. Hmm~."

The exclamation slipped out while her mouth was still full—she didn't even seem to notice.

I pulled a chair from the next table, sat across from her, and asked:

"So did you come straight from the capital? I was under the impression it takes nearly a month to make the round trip by carriage."

"No. I was swamped—adapting your bulletin-board idea for our stores, locking down the Tuu supply chain, clearing out the backlog. I only set out from the capital five days ago. You wouldn't believe how rough the trip was."

Wait.

"Five days?"

"Yes."

"How...?"

"I had a single-person teleport installed up to Lilyan."

"......Excuse me?"

"Why the face? You know as well as I do how little it costs to put in a single-person teleport. We're not talking a cargo gate or a multi-person array here."

She wasn't wrong that building one didn't take long.

The real obstacles were construction cost and upkeep.

A teleport gate required pricey magic stones and a framework built from magically conductive ore. On top of that, you needed a mage who understood gate principles on permanent standby, plus a fresh mana stone swapped in once a week. Unless you were a fairly established noble house, keeping even one gate running would stretch you thin.

That was exactly why neither the imperial household nor the Golden Wagon had bothered to install a teleport gate this far into the empire's south.

There simply wasn't anything down here valuable enough to justify the cost.

"You installed a teleport? Last time you were adamant there was no reason to..."

"Ah, well, a reason came up."

Chew-chew.

She answered through a mouthful of stew and shot me a grin.

"......."

"You're not actually asking because you don't know, are you?"

Camilla, smiling at me.

Don't tell me.

"You installed it... to come here?"

"Exactly. I set it up all the way to Lilyan myself. Plenty of mages in Lilyan, so that end wasn't a problem, but..."

Crunch!

She bit into a crisp piece of fresh kimchi and kept talking.

"Wouldn't you know it, the Britten territory doesn't have any mages or dwarves to speak of. So I had to make the trip in person. I'm here to install ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a single-person gate at this end as well."

"You're serious?"

"Absolutely. Though it'll take a little while—I need to bring in the materials and the workers."

This time, she piled soy-sauce-soaked chives onto a piece of tofu and lifted it with her chopsticks.

Camilla's shoulders curled inward in a little shudder of joy as she smiled.

"Haa, this white, soft, tender tofu... it's so good. Freshly made today, right?"

"Correct."

"Fufu, I approve. Don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worry about the soybeans or the other ingredients. I'll keep supplying you with the highest quality."

"That won't be necessary. We can source everything except the beans locally."

No matter how good the ingredients, quality drops if distribution drags on too long.

Local procurement was always preferable.

Fresh ingredients made fresh food.

"Well then..."

This was a problem.

I'd fled the capital specifically to stay off Princess Diana's radar, and now Camilla was announcing she'd build a direct gate linking my restaurant to the capital.

"If you're thinking about running again the way you did from the knight order, I'd advise against it. The only reason I accepted your refusal to become my personal chef was so I could still eat your cooking—like this."

"I didn't open this restaurant to become famous, Lady Camilla."

"I know. And I know exactly what you're worried about. I won't tell anyone else."

"You won't?"

"Obviously."

Was that even possible?

Camilla hadn't installed a teleport here out of goodwill. She'd done it because she saw an economic opportunity.

Not just so she could pop in and eat Dubu-kimchi.

"I can see you don't believe me."

"Of course I don't. Camilla Wagon installing a teleport here tells me she's determined there's value beyond that."

"Sharp as ever."

Camilla smiled.

"You're too good to waste as just a chef, Roman."

She licked her lips, scraped up the last of the Doenjang broth, and went on.

"For a while, I intend to monopolize this location. I'm not telling anyone until I've made it completely my territory. Even afterward, only a very select handful of people will be using it."

"......."

"I don't want so many customers flooding in that my favorite spot gets overrun and I can't get a meal."

That "very select handful" had better not include Princess Diana.

"I won't bring Princess Diana."

Camilla said it as if she'd read my mind, and I looked at her.

"You thought I hadn't noticed? You came here to get away from that woman."

"......."

"Just how badly did she exploit a talent like you? With judgment like that, does she honestly think she can become the next emperor? Honestly."

I put on my best calm face and denied it.

"That's not what this is."

"Oh, there's no point playing that card with me now. I know the score. She doesn't, obviously. Hoo... if it'd been me, I'd have treated you like something precious. Such a shame. A waste."

Finished with her grumbling, Camilla snapped her fingers toward her attendant.

"Anyway, don't worry. This single-person teleport is for me and me alone. Other customers will have to teleport as far as Lilyan and ride the rest of the way."

"Can I trust that?"

"I'm a merchant. My entire livelihood rests on trust. This isn't the kind of situation where I'd lie."

The attendant stepped forward at her signal and presented a slip of white paper.

A promissory note.

"Take it."

"What is this?"

"I told you I adapted your bulletin-board idea. This is your cut. I'll be sending you a share of the increased profits from here on."

"......."

Two thousand two hundred gold.

At about a hundred thousand won per gold, that was a lump sum of two hundred twenty million won—in this world's money, a hefty bag.

"That's ten percent of the net revenue increase since we changed the boards. We're still testing, only twenty stores so far. Won't be huge money right away, but after a month of watching the numbers, the concept's a breakthrough—if we roll it out to every branch, it'll pour in. And once a proper tourism district takes root around here, the income's only going up."

"You sound very confident this place will become a tourist destination."

"Of course I am. You've got a definite draw right here."

Camilla grinned.

Truthfully, none of what she was proposing was bad for me.

A gate linking this place to the capital.

Profit sharing from the board system.

And if the area really turned into a tourism district the way she predicted, the restaurant might grow beyond anything I'd imagined.

There was just one thing.

I'd run all the way out here to avoid the future where Princess Diana became emperor.

Ten months from now, once she was crowned and the story began playing out the way I remembered it from the novel, I needed to be as far outside her field of vision as possible.

This was too dangerous a tightrope to walk.

But if I turned Camilla down now?

That would bring a different kind of trouble, and plenty of it.

"Trust me. I'll keep that Diana girl from latching onto you."

I had to trust her.

Right now she was one of the very few people who could go toe-to-toe with a not-yet-crowned Diana.

But once Diana was crowned?

I'd deal with that when it happened.

That was when it happened.

"Male! Male!"

The door slammed open and Veronia charged straight at Camilla.

"Kyaak! Wh-what—!"

"Male! It's a male! Male smell! Heuung!"

Veronia buried her face between Camilla's breasts and sniffed furiously.

Right.

This.

Veronia going into heat over Doenjang.

I'd forgotten.

I'd gotten careless, assuming she wouldn't show up until after lunch service was completely done.

"Heuung, smells so good."

"Kyaaaak! Wh-what are you doing?! Get off!"

"Sniff-sniff-sniff! Why does a male have such big breasts? Weird. But doesn't matter. Smells good. So good."

I scrambled over, grabbed Veronia around the waist, and heaved her back before she could start stripping Camilla's clothes off right then and there.

"Veronia! Snap out of it!"

I put mana behind my voice. That got her thrashing to stop, and her eyes found mine.

"Lu... Lucas? What—? The last thing I remember, I saw that woman smiling at the entrance, and then..."

Some awareness had crept back. She looked at me with dull, foggy eyes and spoke in a dazed murmur.

Camilla, her outfit disastrously rumpled and dusted with wolf fur, let out a long exhale and fixed Veronia with a hard stare.

"You're the one who vanished from Lilyan, aren't you?"