Chapter 528 Waiting with Bated Breath

“Yaaawwwnn~~~”

Ahhh~~~

Now this was a proper holiday~~

A nice peaceful holiday~~

Yesterday, after that tension-filled trip at the Adventurer’s Guild, we had a ‘good job’ party in the evening with my servants.

The main dish of the dinner party, by popular request from the Gluttonous Quartet, was… Karaage.

I was totally judging them, but I served the Karaage anyway since it goes well with alcohol and the kids loved it. In fact, I don’t need to fry anything last night, thanks to all the frying I did back at that awful dungeon. Instead of serving the usual bird meat Karaage, I served up plenty of deep-fried Big Bite Turtle and deep-fried Sea Serpent.

Naturally, a holiday won’t feel like a holiday without a drinking session, so I prepared plenty of beer and whiskey for the adults, as well as juice and cola for those who could not drink.

Aiya and Teresa brought their own dishes to the table too, and together, we put up a luxurious dining table suitable for a banquet.

At first, everyone was a little hesitant when I revealed that some of the Karaage was made from Big Bite Turtle meat, but after our brave Lotte took the first bite and chewed with an enraptured look on her face, the rest also tried a bit and suddenly, the large pile of Big Bite Turtle Karaage just dwindled before my very eyes.

As for the Sea Serpent Karaage, the former Adventurers were making the usual noises about how ‘we are just slaves’ and that ‘such luxuries are above slaves!’ but I soon rea.s.sured them, enough to convince them to eat without reservations.

Well, there were still some reservations, but it was all explained away with ‘well, that’s because it’s Mukouda-san….’

I felt like I should be a little offended by that remark, but decided to overlook the matter. Whatever, they are my servants, so it is up to me how I wanted to treat them, right? Anyway, aside from that little crisis, nothing else of note happen and the banquet proceeded smoothly.

[1] “Anything happened while I was away?” I asked the people at the table in general.

“Well… nothing much really…”

“Just…”

“Orders from Lamberts have been coming in by a lot,”

“Oh? Do you need more…”

“No, no, not at all. We have enough stock, we just don’t have enough people to transfer the things. I mean, if we all devote our time to it, it could be done, but general household ch.o.r.es and garden care would be delayed a bit…”

The servants looked a little shame-faced at that, but I quickly rea.s.sure them that I don’t blame them in the least. It can’t be helped after all.

“I’ll think of something,” I promised. “For now, let us eat, drink and enjoy ourselves~~”

Even after the kids were sent to bed, the adults continued our drinking session until well past midnight…

“Fuahhhh~~~”

I promised to think about the issue, but it all came down to a lack of workers, so… while I could purchase some people right away, they won’t have a place to stay since the extra houses have not been constructed yet.

Once the land had been cleared, I immediately Bruno-san about constructing the new buildings but it looked like he won’t be able to start the job right away…

Without the extra s.p.a.ce, I can’t hire more people, so the idea to get more people would be put on hold until I hear from him again.

For now though…

“Shall I go and see Lambert-san?”

“Nu, are you going to that leather store? I shall go with you.”

“I wish to go and see that place as well.”

“”Me too! Me too!”

“”Sui wants to go too~~””

I frowned at them, “Why are you all so enthusiastic about visiting Lambert-san? Are you trying to get me to buy you food or something?”

Three out of four of the Quartet turned away. Sui bounced in place, yelling something about ‘eating lots~~’.

I sighed, “Well? Shall we go?”

Thus, off we go. Myself and my familiars, towards Lambert’s shop.

At Lamberts, I was greeted by Lambert-san and Marie-san who eagerly stood at the front of their store, they looked very happy to see me.

“Well, well~ Mukouda-sama has finally returned to us~~ Come here, come here~~” Marie-san said with a beam on her face.

She pulled me into the store and more or less herded me towards the room in the back even as Lambert-san watched us with a wry smile.

Inside the very familiar back room, I sat facing the beaming smiles of Lambert-san and Marie-san across a table filled with expensive tableware and steaming tea.

By the way, Fer and the rest of the gang were waiting outside the store, so I don’t know why they even bother to come with me for this trip.

“Our soaps and shampoo have been selling very well, we have so many orders coming in that people have to book in advance, hohoho~”

“Ah, yes, I noticed that you have a lot of female customers outside…”

[2] “Demand certainly exceeds supply~ Ahem, therefore, Mukouda-sama, we’d like to discuss a little matter with you…”

“If it’s about increasing supply, I’m afraid we are still understaffed at the moment…” more money could be made, but I refuse to allow the business to turn into something like a ‘[3] black’ company.

“Oh, no, no, no, of course not, I would never!” said Marie-san. “Naturally, I’d be grateful if the stocks could increase, [2] but I understand the difficulties involved. Little Costi told us all about it.”

“I see, that’s good…”

“What I truly wish to discuss, is this…”

Marie-san touched a beautifully crafted box on the table.

Hm? How come I didn’t notice it just now? Wait, it looked kind of familiar…

“This is…”

“Indeed! The face cream I received from Mukouda-sam~!” Marie-san was practically sparkling as she cried, “A most wonderful product indeed! I applied this to my face after was.h.i.+ng as instructed and the next day, my skin was all smooth and glossy!”

Beside her, Lambert-san sighed. He looked… defeated?

“Compared to 10 years ago, nay, even back in my teens, my skin had never been so radiant! The fine lines that had been acc.u.mulating year after year much to my dismay have miraculously disappeared. I can no longer live without this cream!”

I felt a little bad for staring so hard at another man’s wife, but, her skin was indeed very plump and glossy looking.

[2] “Therefore, I implore you, Mukouda-sama~ Allow us to sell this Face Cream!”

Geh…

“M-marie-san, your face… it’s a little…”

“Mukouda-san, I also implore you…” said Lambert-san, his eyes were s.h.i.+ny with desperate tears. “Please allow us to sell this product. [2] I… I had been approached by… a marchioness who saw Marie and, well, other n.o.ble women and young ladies for this… Face Cream… the one who is the most insistent was the Countess …”

“By Countess, do you mean…” I stammered.

[2] “Countess of Langridge, our supporter…”

“… …” ah, the Count with the unfortunate hair issue. I had received help from this n.o.bleman before and… well, while my servants do have their hands full for now, it is difficult to decline the Lamberts…

They were also being pressured by important people and… I have difficulty looking directly at those moist pleading eyes…

“I supposed, I could prepare a limited amount. About 100 only…”

“Kyaa–!! Truly?! Mukouda-sama~~ thank you~! Thank you, so much~~!!”

“Thank you so much, Mukouda-san,” Lambert-san sobbed.

Haahhh…

“Anyway, I-I’ll also look into the staffing issue, and would increase our supply soon…” I finished weakly.

Marie-san let out another ‘kyaa–!!’ as she threw her arms around Lambert-san.

For some reason, even though I have not completed my business with the Lamberts yet, I was already exhausted…

Eguchi Ren: The story with the Lamberts will continue in the next chapter.

Gumihou: These two are so sweet, but please don’t show your affection so openly in front of single dogs.

[1] Switch from narrative to dialogue form.

[2] ‘Negotiation’ skills for Lambert and Marie not quite up to par, so adjusted it

[3] ‘Black’ company – evil companies that exploits their workers

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