The Flying Emporium

Not long after, Severin stored all the ready baked-bread inside the store’s inventory and made his way over to the main store. While crossing the small distance, some adventurers spotted him. Some of which were busy training, while others were sitting together in small groups in the outdoor area of the would-be café. Severin exchanged greetings and some short pleasantries with the latter group before informing them that today’s first batch of bread was ready to be sold. Apparently, this was what they had been waiting for and, without first notifying their guildmates, closely followed behind Severin. He didn’t bother telling them that from tomorrow onwards, their first come first serve approach would be useless. They would learn about that soon enough.

Indeed, when they entered the store, he saw Emily explaining something to a repeatedly nodding Markus. The two of them were surrounded by a small group of adventurers who listened in from the sides; apparently, these people had the same idea as the people following Severin from outside and wanted to get their hands on the freshly baked bread before anyone else.

Realizing that something more or less important was being discussed, the group behind him quickly joined up with the others. Severin also walked over to the counter, but since he already knew the contents of the discussion, he didn’t hurry. There was no need for him to interrupt, either. He exchanged a few nonverbal greetings and remained silent.

“…per person!”

“What? Why only two?” Emily’s words were clearly met with displeasure, but Markus immediately intervened; not just because of last time’s incident, but because this limitation wasn’t nearly as big a deal as his subordinate had made it out to be.

“Calm yourself,” Markus reprimanded. “It doesn’t really make a difference.”

“But…”

Markus didn’t let himself be interrupted and continued, “Think about it. How often did you manage to get a hold of more than two? And then what did you do with them? Eat them all by yourself? Most of you can’t even fully utilize all three varieties, anyway.”

The woman began to grumble but didn’t refute him. The one time she had managed to snatch away two extras, she ended up handing them out to two of her mates who had already headed out for the day before Severin was even awake.

As if Markus had read her thoughts, he continued, “If no one forgets to make their order, there is no need for you guys to share amongst yourselves. If anything, I suspect this measure will result in more items overall, not less. At least it guarantees that everyone ends up with the one that’s right for them. And what are you going to do with any surplus, then?”

The obvious answer to that question would be ‘store it for later’. But as it turned out, this wasn’t really an option. At least not to the extent everyone had expected.

Originally, everyone had ignored the part of the tooltip that said, ‘Durable for up to one week if stored in a cool and dry place.’ No one believed that once stored inside one’s inventory, the bread would still turn bad.

It did. Very much to Mylana’s excitement and everyone else’s frustration and bewilderment.

After Markus’s rough analysis of the situation, the adventurers seemed to relax a little. But not completely. There was still the issue concerning the promised new product.

From what they had learned so far, they feared it would be even less durable than the bread; perhaps not even storable at all. And only to be served during a very limited timeframe each day. No one dared to complain, but Severin was able to accurately read their expressions.

“It’s only for the time being.” He assured while exchanging a meaningful look with Markus. “As soon as I manage to hire some help, we will extend our opening hours. And by then, I’m sure we have some other new dishes to offer as well.” Severin didn’t think he promised too much by saying that; most importantly, his words had the desired effect and diverted the group’s attention.

No one was in the mood to fight for the bread anymore this morning; especially not with an officer present. Instead, everyone who hadn’t done so already placed their orders and started to discuss potential food buffs.

Severin received more than just a handful of inquiries in that regard, but could only offer a stiff smile in response.

Emily was the only one so far who had tasted the new dish and who might be able to answer their questions and satisfy their curiosity. However, since stuffing her face some time had already passed and looking out for some strengthening buff had never been something she was on the lookout for. Without everyone else’s comments, she probably still wouldn’t be aware of the bread’s effects on her health pool.

Until midday break, things went by rather uneventfully, if busy.

Besides their usual job of crafting potions, elixirs, and a handful of weapon oils, Emily and her boss took a considerable amount of orders and had to deal with a distracting barrage of questions, not allowing for any time to have a somewhat confidential conversation. So, when it was finally time for Emily to rest, Severin still asked her to spare him some time.

“Mind joining me for a bit in the kitchen while I prepare the food? Got some things to discuss with you.” The girl seemed torn, but Severin knew she ultimately wouldn’t refuse him. Because of that, he quickly decided to make it up to her and added before she could answer him, “I’ll prepare you another bowl of the salad.”

“You’re the best!”

Severin laughed at her immediate response. “Can’t let my hardworking [Employees] go hungry now, can I?” Hunger, for her, was already a thing of the past, but the girl still nodded subconsciously and followed Severin towards the kitchen.

Not unlike in the morning, Severin was about to make a single bowl of salad for Emily. Only after feeding Emily would he start preparing the dough needed for the sixty-odd loaves of bread that had been ordered earlier. Only then would he make the fresh salads for his paying customers.

“Aren’t you eating?” Emily couldn’t understand why anyone would turn down food. Especially not if it was so tasty and pretty looking.

“Hmm. Fine. Why not?” Even Severin couldn’t deny that the salad was looking quite appetizing. The pleasant smell of the herbs did the rest to convince him. Under Emily’s impatient gaze, he quickly whipped up another portion of salad that was roughly half the size of the first; she almost regretted her suggestion as it further delayed everything.

Gulp

“Finally!” She could barely keep herself together. “I swear it’s worth every single gold coin. You won’t regret it. Thanks again.” After that, her head seemed to disappear into the oversized bowl.

“???”