A flash of surprise flittered across Kit’s face as he looked at the total sales for the day. The market stall had made twice the profit his restaurant made! Kit didn’t know if this was because today was the opening day or if this would continue to be the case in the future.
No wonder he felt so drained! He had been doing twice the amount of work he usually did! Kit started to fret about the recruitment ad, if he couldn’t find any staff to replace him in the kitchen, would he have to continue to stay in Fairweather town?
Kit shook his head, this wouldn’t be feasible, if no applicants showed up then he would have to consider a different plan of action, like closing the stall earlier. He decided to wait and see what happened tomorrow, if no one turned up he would talk with Bree about what to do with the market stall.
Kit looked at today’s total earnings for the market stall with a smile,
270 x Red blooming Purple tail turtle soup
210 x Black spotted velvet frog’s legs.
311 x Wallowing blue poison.
634 x Red velvet lake pasta.
1,089 x Sweet Meadow beer.
1,408 x Spartan Fire rum.
3,670x Lucky sticky candy apples.
Spartan Fire market stall total sales: 3 gold, 740 silver and 725 bronze crowns.
Total Spartan Fire Restaurant funds: 210 gold, 665 silver and 736 bronze crowns.
A warm sense of accomplishment filled his chest staring at the screen. It looked like things were heading in the right direction for him to find some financial stability in the game. With two streams of income, he might soon be able to cover his real world bills each month!
Kit felt giddy at the thought of meeting the payments for the gaming capsule. It had always been in the back of his mind that one day soon he would have to stop playing and find a job in the real world.
Leaving this world would be heartbreaking, he wanted to do all he could to stay. If he could clear the obstacle of his monthly bills, then he could work on his next goal of getting his sister to play CAL. This would mean he would have to intensify his efforts, not only for his restaurant, but the expansion of Spartan Fire.
Opening the stall in Fairweather town really hit home how small Spartan Fire was. If he wanted to increase the patronage to his restaurant, then he would have to increase the size of Spartan Fire. He would also need to expand the size of his restaurant so he could accommodate more customers inside.
To fit more customers, he needed to promote his restaurant to a one star. Kit felt the drive to get back to Spartan Fire increase, he still had some things to do before he could accomplish his restaurant promotion.
His restaurant was going to be the main income source in the future. Although the market stall raked in more money at the moment, this wouldn’t always be the case. The market stall was limited on the amount of staff that could work inside, the restaurant with expansion could hold more employees thus generate more profits.
Bree interrupted his thoughts by nudging his shoulder. “Kit dear how did we do on our first day?”
Kit shut down the menu and focused on Bree with a smile. “Bree today was a big success! We made double the profit the restaurant makes!” Bree eyes widened and her expression froze. “Haha Bree, your expression is priceless!”
Bree finally came out of her shock. “Kit that is fantastic! I’m not surprised though, your food is amazing!”
A round of congratulations followed from the other employees. “Thankyou! It wouldn’t have been possible without everyone’s help.” Kit looked at the faces in the room, he felt like they needed a reward for working so hard.
He thought about what he could give them, then an idea struck him. With an increase to the profits, he could offer an increase in wages! He decided to not only increase the wages for the staff at the market stall but also in his restaurant.
He had been wanting to do this for a while. He wasn’t happy with the current low wage of each employee.
At the moment, he felt like he was paying them a pittance. Each of his employees was only being paid 105 bronze crowns a week, with 14 staff in total that was 1 silver and 470 bronze crowns he was paying in weekly wages.
Then he remembered that Bree would no longer be staying at the boarding house so her wage would have to be changed because board was no longer an available option. She would be getting two wage increases!
Kit became excited to see how his employees would react to his reward. He couldn’t wait to see their happy faces. “As a reward for everyone’s help, I think it is time to increase your wages!”
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Silence descended, Kit’s smile grew. He had managed to stun everyone in the room! “How does a 20 bronze crown daily increase sound!” Kit felt proud that he could more than double their daily wage.
As he was basking in the feeling of being able to increase his employees’ finances, Bree finally spoke. “Kit, are you out of your mind!” Bree placed her hands on her hips and started shaking a finger at him. “Even if you want to raise our wages, that is too much! Did you forget that you are about to hire more staff? Not just for the market stall but also for your restaurant!”
Kit felt a moment of shock at being admonished by Bree. He hadn’t forgotten about the increase to his staff, his restaurant should have double the employees when he got back. But even with the extra staff he could afford the increase to the daily wage.
He had calculated the total weekly wages to roughly be around 7 silver crowns a week with the increase to staff, that was still more than affordable for Kit. It wouldn’t even make a dent in his profits, especially with the addition of the market stall.
“Bree, I did the calculations before I offered the increase, I‘m not that silly. I wouldn’t offer something I would have to take back.” Kit knew Bree wasn’t really scolding him, she was just concerned. He could tell by the worry clear on her face.
It made him feel that Bree really did think of him like family because she was so apprehensive his reward. “Kit, I know you want to reward us, but this is too much. You already treat us like family and give us a fair wage. How could we let you pay us more?” Bree sounded exasperated as she spoke.
Kit was sure not many people had experienced what was happening to him right now. Who in their right mind would refuse an increase to there income?
Kit smiled brightly at Bree. “It’s because I think of you all as family that I want to do this, so don’t refuse. I want the best for you all, just like you do for me.”
Bree started to rapidly blink her eyes, Kit could see water pooling behind her lashes. Kit gave Bree a moment to get herself together. Blue walked over to Bree and gave her a tight hug. “Mom, we can just work extra hard for Kit!”
Kit watched as Bree clenched her fist then started to nod. “Yes, we will work extra hard!”
Kit could only helplessly smile, he really had a good bunch of employees. He hoped the new batch would be just as good as the ones he already had. Now that the new wages were settled, Kit decided it was time to prep for tomorrow before they left.
If tomorrow was anything like today, they would need to fully restock the time freeze storage selves before they left. Once the task was completed, the group headed back to the Inn for a good night’s rest, to be ready to do it all again tomorrow.
Kit woke early the next morning as he was about to leave his room a tapping sounded. Kit opened the door to see a neatly dressed Kettle. “Good morning, Kettle.”
“Morning Kit, do you need me at the market stall today or can I go back to the town hall. I still need to train my replacement.” Kettle inquired.
Yesterday Kettle had been busy organising the promotions for the market stall, so he hadn’t been physically in the building. They had managed yesterday without the man and hopefully Kit would get some nibbles on the recruitment ad today.
“I don’t think you will be needed today, Kettle.” Kit waved the man off and went to grab some breakfast before heading over to the market stall. When he arrived, there was a small crowd outside just like yesterday.
Kit smiled seeing the enthusiastic crowd, it looked like today would also be busy. As he walked over to the metal plate to open his stall, a voice stopped him. “Excuse me, do you know who will be holding the interviews today?”
A young man with bright red hair and freckles looked eagerly at Kit. A moment of surprise flashed over Kit, then a wide smile broke out on his face, his first nibble on the advertisement had appeared. “That would be me.” Kit opened the door for his staff then motioned for the red haired man to follow him inside.
What shocked Kit was that a group of people behind the young man also came into the store. “Apologies everyone, it’s not time to open yet. We will be open in an hour.” Kit put on an apologetic expression as he spoke.
A lady with warm brown eyes stepped forwards to speak. “We are all here for the interviews.” Kit’s brows shot up, he wasn’t expecting so many responses to the recruitment advertisement.
“Oh right! Welcome, I’m Kit the owner of the market stall.” Kit smiled at the group and suppressed a spike of anxiety. He hadn’t expected so many applicants. Kit sucked in a breath and thought about how to conduct the interviews.
He decided it would be best to split them into two groups. One group for cooking and one for serving. He asked the people who wanted to be servers to head over to Milk and Blue, he then took the rest into the kitchen area.
Five people followed him into the kitchen, the redhaired young man was amongst them.
“Today’s interview will be more of a practical exercise, I would like you to cook me a meal. You can ask Bree to purchase the items you need from the refrigerator or storage cupboard.” Kit liked his idea from yesterday, so he stuck with it. He would see what their skills were like instead of asking questions.
Kit watched as the group of people stood there exchanging worried glances with each other. Then the red haired youth opened his mouth. “Chef Kit, I don’t know any stats meals.” There was disappointment written all over the young man’s face as he spoke.
Kit had already assumed this would be the case. If any of them had created a stats dish they wouldn’t need to apply for a job here, they could make a living selling their creations.
“You don’t need to make a stats meal, any old meal you are good at cooking will do.” The five face immediately brightened at his words. Then the five people rushed over to a startled Bree.
Soon different smells wafted in the stall, Kit assessed their skills as they worked from the customer area. Kit and Bree had been pushed out of the kitchen due to the limited space.
Kit became impressed with the people that had turned up, not one of the five people looked incompetent. This gave Kit a dilemma, he didn’t need five chefs. The five chefs currently in the kitchen were to many for the small space.
At most there could be three chefs in the kitchen area at a time. He already had two chefs, Bree and Camembert, so that would mean that one of the people to come today would leave disappointed.
The more he watched them work the more frustrated Kit became, he couldn’t fault any of them on their skills! Kit started chewing on his lip “Bree can you see anyone that falls behind the others?” Bree shook her head.
Kit decided to wait and see what the taste of the dishes were like before he made a decision. He hoped that that would make things easier in sorting who to let go out of the group. As he waited for the meals, he turned his head to see what Milka and Blue were doing with the other group.