Volume 3 Behind the Scenes 2.2
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Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes
「How’s business, dood?」
「At the moment, the seasoning you sell us is part of the new menu, which has rave reviews. Everything is going quite well.」
「The only problem might be that the effects of the seasoning won’t last for long.」
「Yeah, we dunno.」
「We can bring over Ortem vegetables and the like, but we gotta be careful, else the farmers near Wulls’re gonna hate us, dood.」
The forest giants casually said something rather severe. The agricultural products from Ortem Village competed at a fairly high rate with the farms around Wulls. Currently, the items most anticipated to be at a set demand were rice and a fraction of monster ingredients, but try bringing in anything else on a wide scale and the tolerance for their business might very well end.
In actuality, even if Foeldan’s group sold out their crops on a wide scale near Wulls, the farms and businesses in that area would hardly be overwhelmed in any way. It was just that they were wary of any conspicuous groups like theirs making their way in and selling things.
Even if there was plenty to go around, even if there was demand for it, you couldn’t just sell to people who wanted it. That was the difficult aspect to business.
「And I get it, I really do, but y’know…」
「It’s because things are going so well that I worry, yeah.」
「But I really don’t think it’s an issue if you sell crops that aren’t really in circulation……」
The restaurant owners were also desperate to survive. Once new condiments became taken for granted, there was a need to search for some sort of solution.
「The only thing I think ain’t in circulation right now is lars wheat ‘n that’s ‘bout it.」
「Lars wheat？」
「They’re usin’ the name “rice” to refer to the lars wheat they put in their specials.」
「……Oh, so you do have something!」
Once the restaurant owners realized what they meant they looked at Foeldan’s group with expectant eyes. Foeldan gave them a wry smile as he calculated the amount in his head. The amount needed for the harbor plus the samples to distribute in this area and the people needed to cook the food.
「……We’ll go back ‘n talk a bit. You’d all be troubled if we brought in crops ye don’t even know how to cook, right？」
「Yeah, true.」
「Wait a bit, but don’t expect nothin’.」
Foeldan said as he went off, carrying a half barrel of miso on his shoulders. The soy sauce was already sold out.
And so on this day Foeldan and his group went to the eastern markets for their last business.
「Oh, you came to sell today too？」
「Yup, but the soy sauce sold out.」
Foeldan said as he repsonded to the merchant whose house frontage he always borrowed, entering to sell the remaining one-third of the miso. But by this time, their objective had all but been completed, so he simply sold the rest and left it at that.
Foeldan’s group had come here selling miso and soy sauce because they wanted marine products, especially kelp and fish for dried sardines. There was no need to be greedy. Normally all they needed to do was trade with the fishermen, but there was only one reason as to why they had traveled all the way here to sell items: because Hiroshi’s group had asked them to.
Now that their miso and soy sauce had been distributed to the high class shops in the center marketplace, Azuma Workshop wanted to try and deliver miso from Ortem Village to the marketplaces and restaurants in the north, south, east, and west. But unfortunately, Ortem Village hadn’t been able to produce that much, only able to subtract the amount the village used and sell so many barrels per day. So they were spreading out the market to the east district, the area of which Hiroshi’s group was all too familiar with.
「Old man, get me some miso please～」
「How much ye want？」
「Whatever I can buy with this money.」
「Aight.」
A boy about Lime’s age took out a container and handed him two copper tirols. The giant accepted it and put a little more volume in the serving than usual for him.
「Here ye go, take care and get home safely.」
「Thanks old man～！」
The forest giant watched the girl (who was a regular for miso) and then the other customers filed in one by one. It hadn’t been that long since he had set up business here, but he had already become a familiar face in this area as he sold miso and soy sauce.
「Thirty tirols’ worth please.」
「How much do I have with this container after levelling it out？」
「Only miso today? What about soy sauce?」
As customer after customer threw orders or questions at him, Foeldan piled up the rest of the miso from the barrel and announced the end.
「We’re all out for today, eh.」
「Sorry doods.」
「Oh my.」
「How unfortunate. You’ll be here tomorrow too, right?」
「We intend to, dood.」
「Then I would be really happy if you could just reserve a bit for me tomorrow.」
The customers commented disappointingly and left. Foeldan simply didn’t have much to sell this time, so no one got angry or confronted him.
「Alright, let’s go do some shoppin’ ourselves eh? But first, the usual.」
「Here you are. Thanks for your continued patronage.」
Foeldan bought some roasted nuts and almonds in place of a venue fee, chewing on them as he finished cleaning up. Then he hoisted the empty barrel on his back and walked off nonchalantly. And so the day’s business in Wulls had ended.
「That’s what we got for today, dood.」
「How d’ye eat this here fish？」
「Ye can grill it with salt ‘n soy sauce, or ye can stew it and it tastes good.」
「Think we could cut this boar meat into light pieces ‘n dunk it in da miso?」
「That sounds good too, dood.」
Early afternoon, Ortem Village. The representatives of each district were excitedly appraising the food products that Foeldan and his crews had bought. Of course, having everyone gather in one place would cause the situation to go out of control, so first they decided who from which district would be allocated certain amounts.
「We need ‘bout five hundred fish.」
「We need three hundred fish ‘n three blocks o’that meat o’er there.」
「We’re gonna research dat fruit o’er there a bit. Hundred pieces for purposes unrelated to eatin’, please.」
After equally splitting the kelp and small fish for the dashi, more and more people began asking for things. Foeldan followed their orders and and loaded item after item into trucks that carried supplies to each area.
「Oh yeah, Foeldan. Can I have a moment？」
「Whatcha want？」
「Ye ever seen this before？」
The elf that stopped Foeldan brought out mochi wrapped in a green paste.
「……Walnut mochi? I never had mochi so I ain’t never seen it. I ain’t never seen that paste either dood.」
「Ye think I’d get my money’s worth for this？」
「I’ll ask around tomorrow, eh.」
「Aight. I’ll make five ‘undred portions.」
Ortem’s unique walnut mochi began to show quite a bit of promise, bringing a new dish into Wulls. Even though other places attempted the same thing later on, due to an issue in quality of walnut or rice they were never quite as famous as the Ortem brand, which set in as the best kind.
And so in this way, Ortem Village continued to contribute to Wulls’ food culture without even realizing the inevitable outcome.
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