3 bar menu

Chapter 165 Part 2

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Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”

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And the stage goes to the west.
Passing the Royal capital, Awoke, and move to Landbarn.
A small red-light district. In a brothel located around the middle part of that district, a man is being whipped right now.
Not long after, the man puts on his clothes and walks to the next room.

「How did you like it?」

The middle-aged man who was waiting for him asks with a serious expression.
He is the concierge of this brothel, “Shrimp Field”.
He was appointed by the new owner standing in front of him and was in charge of managing the store.

「…..Not bad. Okay, I’ll permit the start of this menu」

A tall, hunchback and slender man.
He said in a voice without intonation while fixing his disheveled clothes.
He has an eerie voice that makes the listener feel uneasy, but what he said makes the middle-aged concierge’s eyes shine nevertheless.

「Thank you very much!」

There are three brothels in Landbarn.
Divided into high class, middle class, and lower class, and Shrimp field falls in the middle class category.
However, in recent years, their customers have been robbed by high-class stores with safe and high-quality products and low-class stores with low-priced services, and they have fallen into financial difficulty.
There, the savior that appeared before him is the man with a gloomy atmosphere in front of him.

「『Sin and Punishment』 started in the Royal capital. If you want to make it a signature menu in this store, you have to pay them」

The owner who fled at night and creditors who keep coming after him. The middle-aged concierge, who had locked the door and held his head in the lobby, jumped at those words.

(But, 『Sin and Punishment』 huh….)

He heard from travelers and merchants. But he doesn’t know the details.
The new owner makes a dark voice before the troubled middle-aged concierge.

「I’ll handle the cost. Go to the royal capital and check it with your eyes and your body」

A flame of passion that lit behind the cold eyes. Realizing its existence, the middle-aged concierge breath was taken away.

(This man is serious. He’s seriously trying to establish 『Sin and Punishment』in Landbarn)

The middle-aged concierge, who has made up his mind, hurriedly heads to the Royal capital.
After he bought a cure injury potion with the money he had deposited, he went around the red-light district and continuously got whips and abuses in the stores from its opening to its closing time.

(That effort has now come to fruition)

He brought back the techniques he learned to the store and passed them on to the women here.
However, the joy that is too novel is too difficult to convey to them. Many women disliked it, ended up quitting, and the group became much smaller.
However, after overcoming those difficulties, Landbarn’s first, or even the world’s first, 『Sin and Punishment Specialty Store』 was finally born here.

(The owners check was the strictest)

Even just now, the owner went to confirm it by himself.
And he finally gave a passing score. The middle-aged concierge feels confidence flowing in him.
However, the owner’s words were calm.

「This is only the start. There shouldn’t be that many customers right off the bat」

But we don’t need to rush. The owner said and continued.

「The main role of this store is Enlightenment」

「Enlightenment?」

The middle-aged concierge repeated the unfamiliar word.

「This shop is a single light that floats in the dark night. It illuminates the feet of people who are ignorant and ambiguous and blind」

The middle-aged concierge didn’t seem to understand what he meant but nodded for the time being.
The owner’s figure is like a man that’s looking at a bad situation with a calm look.

「This isn’t something that will quickly end. It will be a big cultural evolution that will last for ten or even a hundred years into the future. And now, we’re at the time of its beginning」

The middle-aged concierge is quite surprised inside.
The owner has never been so talkative. It wasn’t shown on his face, but he seems pretty happy and satisfied.

「Don’t worry about money. Don’t worry about rumors. Be confident and keep doing what you need to do」

The middle-aged concierge bows deeply to those words.
Shinigami, the owner of the store and a famous pilot of the Empire, walks on the street in a good mood.

「Kuku…」

His occasional laughter made the passerby turn their face away from him.
Why was the Grim Reaper in Landbarn? It is to protect the empire from the Ghost Knight.
He and his A-class Knight are one of the empire’s most elite combatants.
The emperor’s anxiety, the worries of the Margrave, and the request from the Grim Reaper himself combined, he was stationed there.

(However… being high in status is also inconvenient)

I think back right after I came.
Although I came closer, going to the Royal capital itself is difficult. His position is different from travelers and merchants.

(If I can’t go, then I just have to open it by myself)

Fortunately, the place to study it is nearby.
However, the Grim reaper doesn’t have any know-how to start a business. He was quite troubled about it.

(But fate sure is a strangest thing)

When he was wondering about what to do, he happened to hear the story of Shrimp Field.
He immediately visited the place and bought the brothel that was on the verge of collapse.
And he made the sensible concierge learn 『Sin and Punishment』, and leads to this day.

(Money is surprisingly useful)

One of the best pilots in the Empire and a world ranker on the bed.
High salary from the country, bounty paid every time he achieved military merits. Furthermore, the income of the Grim reaper, such as the prize money obtained at a tournament, is enormous.
However, to spend it, not only does he live alone in barracks, he doesn’t have any sort of hobbies or whatsoever.
An indifferent person. On that note, the Grim reaper’s account balance amount is so large even for a merchant.

(Oi, look at those wounds)

(Is that from battle? Training? Or perhaps from developing a new technique?)

The people whispering to each other.
Their guess is not wrong. It was certainly a battle, so it was a training. And he was also preparing to breathe new life into the red-light district of Landbarn.

(He even went that far to push himself huh?)

A part of the reason why the Grim reaper continues to be a top-notch pilot after seeing the proof of his efforts. They felt like they could understand that.
The Grim reaper moves into the bathhouse and takes a shower without worrying about the gazes from the surroundings.
All those scars. Imagining the pain, the frontier knight members dip their bodies into the bathtub.

(Fufu…hahaha…)

Hidden in the steam, no one can see the expression of the Grim reaper reflected in the mirror.
The frontier knights would have been frightened if they could see it. The grim reaper’s face was distorted with joy.
The pain caused by fresh wounds from experiencing 『Sin and punishment』. It reminded him when he did the play with Explosive onee-san.
As expected from an upper class person. Average person wouldn’t understand that feeling.

(Oi, there it is)

(It’s certainly as what I heard huh)

Another group comes in.
They pretended to be innocent, but their eyes were blatantly directed at the Grim reaper’s crotch.
The scars running on the body of the god of death surprised him like it did to the member of the frontier knights, but his eyes were nailed to it and didn’t budge.
Because the death scythe responded a little to the pain from bathing.

「We’re going ahead~」

The members of the frontier knights hurried to the dressing room while greeting the Grim reaper.
The group that has just appeared in the bathhouse are the members of Rose Knights.
After witnessing the Grim reaper heading to the bathhouse, they contacted each other, and rushed in.

(Oi oi, look at that length and curve)

(It’s as awesome as always)

One of them whistled in a low voice.

(Hey, why don’t you go and try to talk to him. Show us your courage man)

(Quit it man)

Their voice, which speaks in whispers, is muted by the sound of the shower and does not reach the Grim reaper.
But even if he heard it, he wouldn’t really care. If he got attacked, he just have to kick their ass, just like when he faced a duo in the Imperial capital.
A few days later.
Shrimp Field, a store specializing in 『Sin and punishment』, has also released its new menu.
Since they didn’t advertise it, the number of customers is still small.
Even so, there are people curious of new things that came to the store. They had heard that 『Sin and punishment』 is a hot topic in the Royal capital.

「What the hell is this menu!? Don’t fuck with me!!」

But they didn’t visit the store knowing what『Sin and punishment』 was.
After receiving treatment they didn’t expect, they got angry and left the store.
They then spread their complaints and dissatisfaction around, further dropping Shrimp field’s patronage.

(This is fine)

The Grim reaper calmly nods to the middle-aged concierge who came to report the number of customers.

(The store sifts through the customers as the customers judges the store)

Only those who stay need to remain. The Grim reaper thought.
A hobby shop where income and expenditure doesn’t matter and can be ignored. It is a management policy that is only possible because he is the owner.
Such is the ever hard-headed Grim reaper.
Then some days have passed. His persistent way of thinking has gradually begun to pay off.
A few rough stones left on the sieve. They frequent Shrimp field and began to hone themselves.

(Who knows? Someday a jewel might be born in this store)

The Grim reaper laughs eerily as he imagines such a future.

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