After finishing a meal of the Topliya, perfectly recreated from memories.
Frau had composed herself and returned to her original demeanor.
Perhaps because of the Topliya she had just eaten,
the amount of cold mana seeping from her body had sharply decreased.
Even though she possessed the skill to control mana on her own,
the Topliya devised by the Ice Witch still gave her comfort.
“Satisfied? Or are you going to come at me next?”
After confirming her bowl was completely clean,
I asked, half-jokingly, partly to break the somber atmosphere.
“Honestly, I’m surprised… I thought it was an empty boast that you’d make anything the customer wants.”
“This is a shop that operates with its fair share of sincerity, too.”
“Thank you. As promised, I’ll pay one million Lira.”
Frau took out a purse from her travel bag.
A heavy pouch of gold coins containing one million Lira…
At a glance, it appeared to be the promised amount.
“It wasn’t worth staking such an enormous sum to eat.”
Though she had been the one to propose the condition first,
no matter how I looked at it, one million Lira felt like far too much for a meal.
In any case, I had no financial difficulties,
so it wouldn’t have mattered whether I accepted the full million or not.
I was content as long as I received fair compensation for the ingredients, my effort, and the food I had served.
“Where did you get such a large sum? Did you save it while traveling?”
“Some of it came from selling my master’s house and what I gathered myself.”
“…Does your master have a proper grave?”
“Yeah… there is one, at least…”
Judging by Frau’s expression, it didn’t seem to be a very good grave.
Well, she had believed her master abused her for her whole life,
so even with complicated emotions, she probably hadn’t paid much attention to the funeral.
“I’ll only take 100,000 Lira for the meal. That is more than sufficient compensation for this order.”
“But…”
“I’m only taking fair compensation for the menu I provided. It doesn’t feel good if it’s too excessive, either.”
After counting out only 100,000 Lira worth of gold coins from the purse Frau handed me,
I returned the rest.
Then I spoke to Frau again.
“You can use it to finish what you couldn’t do after returning home, or spend it for your new future.”
Frau hesitated for a moment, then put the gold pouch back in her travel bag.
And before leaving the shop, she turned to me in the kitchen.
“Um…”
“If you ever crave the Topliya of memories again, come back. I’ll make it cheaper for you next time.”
“…Thank you.”
Frau bowed deeply, nearly ninety degrees, in gratitude.
Then, with a face that somehow looked relieved, she left the shop.
* * *
After resolving Frau’s order.
The gourmet restaurant Slow returned to its previously leisurely routine.
“Owner~ Owner~ What’s for dinner tonight?”
The seaweed ghost Aris was now attached to the shop as if it were completely natural.
Even though the condition was practically exploitative—extending her labor period by ten days for each dinner—
Aris insisted on asking me for a meal every evening without a care.
“Hey… have you completely given up on passing on?”
“But if I eat here every evening, I can never repay you!”
“If I forgave all your debt and let you go right now, would you pass on?”
“Th-that would be a problem! There are still so many foods I haven’t tried, and…”
Aris panicked at my half-joking remark, not knowing what to do.
Well, the truth was that extending her working period in lieu of food costs was all just a formality anyway.
After all, Aris could remain in this world only because she was using my mana.
She herself seemed satisfied with this life before she knew it,
and when there were no customers, I passed the time playing with Aris to stave off boredom, so it was fine either way.
“Even so, it’s still the same—no customers even after promoting.”
“Why don’t you try advertising one more time!”
“It’s probably because the operating style is too unfamiliar.”
I was sitting with my legs stretched out across two chairs, still worrying about running the shop.
After completely changing the operating style, I had also circulated promotions in nearby cities,
but customers still showed no sign of coming.
However, the promotion wasn’t entirely meaningless.
If I hadn’t done it, Frau would never have found this place.
A shop that makes any dish the customer desires…
Even in my previous life, such a unique restaurant operating style had not existed.
There were things like omakase or fine dining,
but those still operated within the menu the chef had designed.
Well, there was no need to think too hastily.
I could simply study cooking in my spare time.
It wasn’t as if no customers had come after seeing the promotional materials,
and the new style of management hadn’t even started that long ago.
“Ah, Owner! Someone seems to be outside!”
Just then, Aris shouted to me after seeing something outside the restaurant window.
“A customer…?”
“I don’t think so. They’re just leaving?”
“Were they wearing a hat with feathers?”
“Yes! They only stood in front of the shop for a moment before leaving.”
Aah, is it already time for that?
People who travel the continent wearing feathered hats.
They were the delivery workers of the capital’s finest media company.
Because I had opened a shop far from the cities,
I was bound to be out of touch with the world’s affairs, so I had subscribed intentionally.
However, requesting delivery to such a remote place required paying a considerable subscription fee.
Even so, I maintained the subscription at a price more than ten times the normal rate.
Receiving news from the Early Bird Newspaper was worth that much.
“If you go out, there should be a mailbox in front of the shop. Go get the newspaper from there.”
“Ah, yes!”
Aris dashed out of the shop.
After a short while, she returned holding a rolled-up newspaper in her arms.
“So that person was a newspaper delivery worker~”
“Yeah, I had requested special delivery from the Early Bird Newspaper. You need to know what’s going on in the world.”
“Can I read it too when you’re done?”
“After I finish first.”
Aris handed me the newspaper with a somewhat excited look.
For a ghost, having an interest in worldly affairs is strange indeed.
“Let’s see…”
Sitting comfortably with my legs propped up on a footstool again, I unfolded the newspaper.
The Early Bird Newspaper contained various news from across the continent.
It served not only to convey information about the world,
but also as quite an entertaining diversion to relieve a boring daily life.
[Trade ship sailing western route sinks in sudden Kraken attack; blame game between trading company and shipping company intensifies]
It seemed the sinking of a trade ship due to a monster attack had sparked a fight over responsibility.
When such incidents occurred, someone had to bear the losses,
so it was common for parties to dispute who was more at fault.
[Abyssal Rift sealed for almost two years; no chance of reopening?]
“They sure publish editorials on this topic regularly.”
The Abyssal Rift…
It was the last job I had carried out as an adventurer.
At the time, the Rift had half-opened, and there had been chaos with people crying that the world would end.
Pseudo-religions preaching doomsday had sprung up across the territories,
and people committing crimes had also surged, claiming the world was ending anyway so it didn’t matter.
In the end, after all the hardships we endured, we succeeded in sealing it,
but perhaps because the shock had been so great, the newspapers still published editorials on the possibility of the Abyssal Rift reopening.
Naturally, our party, which had succeeded in sealing the Abyssal Rift, became heroes of the continent.
I had heard that a statue commemorating our party’s achievement had probably been erected somewhere in the capital.
We had also received an enormous amount of reward money…
Because of that, my former comrade Irit and the rest of the party were still heroes and celebrities in the capital.
Except for me.
Having planned my retirement as an adventurer long ago, I hated unnecessary attention,
so I had asked the party members at the time to say that they had sealed the Abyssal Rift without me.
Of course, I had received a share of the reward money through my comrades,
but most people in the capital didn’t know I had been in the party that accomplished that great feat.
Since I already had a reputation as an archmage, enough to cause troublesome incidents,
I had thought that if the image of a world-saving hero were added on top of that, a peaceful retirement would be impossible.
“Hey~ hey~ Isn’t there any interesting news?”
As I was reading the newspaper slowly, Aris came up beside me and started pestering.
“You can read it later too.”
“Maybe news of my obituary or something…”
“Even if you are a ghost, how can you say such things?”
“Uuu~ I’m curious~”
You don’t seem like a particularly famous or great person; it’s not as if an obituary would be published for you.
With that thought, I turned my eyes back to the newspaper.
[Marriage negotiations between House Hildenburg and House Enstark successful]
[Bride is reportedly Lady Rosalia, known as the ‘Doll Princess’ of House Hildenburg]
“Hoo…”
It seemed children of two famous families with territories were marrying.
This was a common occurrence on the continent, so it wasn’t particularly unusual,
but what caught my interest was the lady of House Hildenburg, the bride’s side.
“‘Doll Princess,’ huh…”
Below the article, there was a portrait that seemed to be modeled after Lady Rosalia.
A drawing so incredibly skilled it felt almost like a photograph.
“She’s breathtakingly beautiful even in a portrait. Does someone this beautiful actually exist…?”
The beauty of the Doll Princess printed in the newspaper was surreal.
An appearance like a flawlessly sculpted doll.
I hadn’t been particularly interested in women,
but if she was this beautiful, even I felt like I wanted to see her in person at least once.
* * *