The net profit I’d earned running the café was roughly 100 million.
Aside from that, advertising fees, broadcast appearance fees, agency consignment fees, and so on came to a little over 600 million in total.
And as the finishing touch, there was even the 300 million in activity funds sponsored by Jewelry Academy.
This was my pre-tax income over four days.
First, I voiced the part I found most questionable out loud—
“Why is business doing so well?”
I had definitely taken Amber’s advice and slapped on prices several times higher than the original sales amounts, so wasn’t it only natural for customers to flock in on the first day and then gradually dwindle?
But instead, perhaps it had caught the eye of the nobles, customers never stopped coming, and now it was even considered a point of pride for Jewelry Academy.
“One, ten, hundred, thousand… Ah, counting numbers is hard. Please count it yourself.”
I decided to brew coffee for Amber, who was counting bills in a somewhat inefficient manner.
Just how much coffee had I served over these past four days? Trying to remember only made my head hurt.
“Ah, thanks. There’s cake too.”
“Let’s count the money later. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.”
For the first time in a while, I was reminded of one of this world’s drawbacks. Since card culture hadn’t developed, everyone used cash.
At least sums in the hundreds of millions were handled with checks or bank transfers, but the cash profits from running the café had to be counted by hand.
“…Anyway.”
I looked at the bundles of money piled up in front of me and thought.
‘With this much, couldn’t I leave the Silver Order and still make a living?’
Looking at it like this, it didn’t seem like there was any need to throw myself into danger. Even if I handed half of it over to the Silver Order, I could easily last ten years.
‘No, I do have about 1.5 billion in debt from smashing those security robots, though.’
Even if I offered up all this money, I’d still be 500 million short. Just how much money had they poured into those tin cans?
When I said I’d pay back 1 billion, Citrine waved her hands and stopped me, saying she had no intention of squeezing money out of her subordinate.
So in the end, this money became mine to pocket, but…
“It’s still weird no matter how I think about it. I jacked up the prices so much, so why are people just buying it without question?”
“Hmm, isn’t it because you put as much effort into the desserts and interior as the amount you raised the prices, senior?”
“Well, that’s…”
Since the prices looked shameless no matter how I saw them, I’d put extra care into each dessert instead, spared no expense on the decorations, and placed plants here and there to create a calm atmosphere inside the shop.
On top of that, I arranged built-in sofas throughout the place, maintaining a spacious sense of openness while also ensuring privacy for conversations.
“…Wouldn’t it actually be stranger if it didn’t make money?”
Now that she mentioned it, at some point I had found myself absorbed in decorating the shop.
“Even so, 1 billion is weird. Even after taxes, I made more than 900 million.”
“I know. That’s about three months of my salary, maybe?”
Setting aside her unintentional humblebrag, 1 billion in this world and 1 billion won did not have the same value. If I had to convert it, it was probably around 400 million won.
“What am I supposed to spend this on?”
“Save it for your wedding. It’ll cost a lot.”
“I don’t have anyone to marry.”
In any case, even with those small efforts, earning this much money was still bizarre enough.
How was it that I, nothing more than a mere café owner, had been able to earn such an astronomical profit?
The reason was none other than that woman, Brilliant Aste Diamond.
***
Three days ago, on the monumental day the Silver Order opened its first shop in Jewelry Academia.
In order to reduce the number of customers as much as possible, I began shaking out the ants.
By opening the shop during class hours so no one could do an opening run.
“I won… just as planned.”
A miraculous customer count of zero. There wasn’t even any sign that anyone had sniffed it out.
‘Still, one must never let one’s guard down.’
I assumed there wouldn’t be many people who would skip class just to come to the shop, but it was still too early to feel relieved.
—Jingle!
No sooner had I thought that than the sound of a bell rang out, announcing someone’s entrance.
‘So they came after all.’
According to what I’d heard yesterday, it seemed that those with excellent grades were granted the benefit of being exempt from certain classes.
How they used that time was up to them. Whether they devised their own magic, studied ahead or reviewed, or even rested, the school basically did not interfere.
If so, it wouldn’t be strange for a student to come during class hours.
‘Though once they see the prices, they’ll lose all desire to come again.’
Still, they were my memorable first customers. I decided to greet them here with heartfelt hospitality.
“Hello, Jade!”
Someone I didn’t want to welcome had arrived.
“Huff, huff… Ravi. You didn’t have to run like that…”
“But I wanted to be first. Sophia, you ended up following me too.”
I handed wet towels to the two girls who sat down in chairs, panting.
Ravi and Sophia. Had it been a while since I’d seen them face-to-face?
Especially Ravi—I’d managed to erase her from my mind for a while since she’d gone all the way to the other side of the Earth these past few days to receive an award.
‘So my peaceful life ends here.’
Since I’d opened a shop at the school this girl attended, it was only natural that we’d run into each other more often.
Lapis must have known that and ordered me to keep an eye on her.
“More importantly, Ravi, you really were close with Mr. Jade.”
“Sophia, you’re one to talk. Didn’t you meet him alone in town last time?”
Now that I thought about it, this was my first time dealing with two magical girls at once. Sophia had been coming to the shop behind Ravi’s back, but had she told her everything now?
“Hmm. It feels more refined than before.”
Sophia changed the topic to the atmosphere of the shop and said that.
“The previous place was underground. Now that it gets sunlight, the whole place feels brighter.”
“It definitely had a slightly gloomy image before!”
Personally, I didn’t think that was bad either, but basking elegantly in sunlight was certainly a special experience.
“Oh my, the prices have gone up quite a bit compared to before. Though perhaps they were simply too cheap previously.”
“Hm?”
Sophia picked up the menu, and rather than being shocked by the outrageous prices, she expressed that they were reasonable.
Why was she accepting it on her own? Wasn’t this normally the part where she was supposed to be disappointed?
Come to think of it, I had heard that Sophia’s family was a noble house that had amassed considerable wealth, strict as they were.
In that case, perhaps it was understandable if her sense of money was a little broken.
“Then two of those, please. For dessert, we’ll have the brown sugar ice cream.”
After they finished ordering, I checked their expressions and returned to the counter lined with machines to begin preparing.
‘Honestly, I did want to have a serious conversation with Ravi at least once.’
To find out the details of why she had intentionally pushed such a large amount of mana onto me.
‘And I’m also bothered by that fate of mine Lapis mentioned.’
My body was one that could die at any moment without it being strange. At the very least, I’d feel more at ease if I knew the truth before going.
I’d find an opportunity and ask her to make time. She didn’t seem to be avoiding me, after all.
And while I was brewing coffee and carrying on a bit of idle chatter with the two of them—
“I was looking forward to it since yesterday. After all, it’s my first time seeing Jade open a shop at this school.”
“What?”
If it had been any other time, it would have been nothing more than a simple slip of the tongue that I’d let pass, but the oddly awkward and unpleasant phrasing made me feel strange for a moment.
“…Of course it’s the first time. When would I ever have had a reason to come here before?”
“Ah, I misspoke. Please just ignore it!”
Ravi corrected herself with a bright smile.
And yet, for some reason, those words kept bothering me.
Clack—!
After a little while, someone shoved the café door open roughly and entered.
“Aaaah! I was sure I’d be the first customer, but someone’s already here!”
There stood a pair of huge breasts.
I misspoke. Brilliant Something Diamond was standing there.
‘Still as noisy as ever.’
She immediately spotted me, strode over, and placed a hand on her chest.
“Now then, I’ve specially come again today! The coffee and cake I had yesterday were delicious too, but honestly, those two weren’t nearly enough to satisfy me!”
“I get it, so sit down first.”
Once Diamond settled into a suitable seat, the two sitting nearby noticed her and greeted her.
“Oh my, Miss Brilliant. Have you been well?”
“Hello, Lady Dia!”
“Sophia and Ravi. You two were here as well.”
After exchanging brief greetings, they immediately turned their heads away as if they had no intention of interfering any further.
It seemed they weren’t particularly close. Perhaps they were merely on speaking terms as honor students.
“So, what’s your order?”
I handed her a wet towel and took her order, and the answer I got was—
“Hmm… Then every kind of coffee and all the desserts!”
Did I hear that wrong?
“You’re going to eat all that by yourself?”
“It’s fine! I even skipped dinner yesterday for today!”
That wasn’t an amount you could handle just by skipping one meal. She’d quickly get sick of the sweetness and stop eating.
‘Making all of that is going to be a job in itself…’
It couldn’t be helped. Since it had come to this, should I guide her into leaving as much as possible and damage the shop’s reputation?
***
Thirty minutes later.
I couldn’t hide my astonishment as I watched the big-breasted food fighter.
“Yum, yum… This tart? thing is delicious too!”
‘Does everything she eats go straight to her chest?’
The radiant face of the girl who had polished off every plate somehow annoyed me.
“I like it! I want to bring this shop into my household too!”
“…Just hurry up and pay.”
When I glanced back, at some point several students who had finished class had gathered and were capturing the scene on their smartphones.
Thinking about it now, I should have stopped it then. At the very least, I should have made sure the rumor that the next head of Brilliant had praised my shop stayed only within the school.
Because I didn’t, the very next day, men in black suits showed up and set down a briefcase full of money.