SC1 17.1 – A Deal
From a far I saw Kazuyori was sweeping the terrace. Her grumpy face was grumpier than usual. Maybe it was because her plan to generate money using Yunno and Yui didn’t go according to her wish.
As soon as I entered the front yard, she immediately came over to me. When she saw I brought harvest fewer than usual, she immediately creased her brows.
“How can you bring home only two pheasant and three hare?”
“It’s better than nothing,” I replied.
“You don’t sell some of the harvests in secret, do you?”
“Mother, you will immediately discover it if I sell the harvest secretly. Until then, don’t throw baseless accusation at me, especially when I’m very tired from the hunt.”
I then handed over the harvest and Kazuyori accepted it while giving me a grumpy look. After that, I went to take a bath and have breakfast with the rest of the household.
No one talking about yesterday incident, so I pretended I didn’t know about it. They just ate their food as usual, except Yuko. She looked very gloomy and asked me if I can talk with her later, but I said I had no time and she didn’t pressed me further.
After the unpleasant breakfast, I carried out my plan to prevent the leak. With ease, I hypnotized Kazuyori to hand over the notes she got from Yui, and then I altered her memory and everyone else who had read the recipe, ensuring they couldn’t remember the detail about the recipe.
After that, I left the house, finding a quiet place and changed my appearance to Warrior Deitoro before going straight to Rokube. Then, as I walked I fell into ponder.
Last night I calmly agreed to Kato’s request, but this morning, after I realized I had no clue why Kato want us to legalize our relationship, I instantly got a chill in my nape.
Unfortunately, it was too late to go back on my words. Not to mention, before I realized it I already arrived at Rokube Civil Affair and Administration Hall. After letting out a sigh I entered the hall and sat in waiting bench. It was not crowded, so I didn’t have to wait for long before one of the clerks call me.
As I sat in front of her the clerk asked me, “What I can do for you, Ser Warrior?”
“I want to register my marriage,” I replied as I handed over the marriage registration document.
After giving the document a quick check the clerk asked me another question, “Is Ms. Kato also a warrior?”
“She is.”
After adding some notes on the main form, the clerk then checked the attachment and said, “You have performed marriage vow in main temple and received blessing from head priest personally. Your registration form also has no issue. So, just pay the registration fee and it’s pretty much done.”
“Understood,” I said as I paid the registration fee.
After that, the clerk legalized the marriage document and issued the marriage certificate. Honestly, I never thought the process would be that simple. Well, it was a good thing that the registration went smoothly. It’s just that it was still greatly bothered my mind that I had no clue about Kato’s expectation.
It was impossible she has no expectation from the legalization of our relationship. The problem was, even if now we were officially a married couple, I would still consider our relationship as an act. I had no intention to go further no matter how long we would stay together. If one day it disappointed her, thing could get very ugly. Silver Fox Warrior, especially the female, was famous for their persistent in holding grudge and doing crazy thing whenever they felt to.
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‘Damn it. I hope Kato doesn’t have that kind of expectation from me,’ I muttered in silent.
Then, I just exited the hall when Warrior Konno stopped me. “Warrior Deitoro, if you have time, Owner Tokuma wishes to meet you.”
“I have lot of times right now,” I casually said.
“Please follow me then.”
Wasting no time, I followed Warrior Konno.
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Sotora was not located in the main street of Rokube Town. It was not even in the second street. This giant store was located in a relatively short third street. However, Owner Tokuma had bought all stores in this street and put some renovation effort on them.
Therefore, this short third street was very neat, clean, and became the best shopping street in the town. People then called this street as Sotora Street. Without telling me anything, Warrior Konno brought me to an empty store in this street. It was three stores away from Sotora, and as far as I remembered it was an excellent eatery previously.
It had 11 tables 4 chairs each, along with a u-shaped counter table with 10 chairs in total. The counter had no stove or preparation table, but my Essence Pulse detected a huge spatial storage on it. As for the back room, it was fully being used as a place to wash the dish and bathroom. It was also clearly visible that the store had just received a light renovation.
I had to admit this store was quite excellent, both its interior and location. Every cook had a dream to have their own store. I was not exception, and this store made my heart drooling like an idiot. Unfortunately, it would take a few years before I could spare some money to set up my own store, and it would not as good as this one.
Then, I was casually checking the counter table when an old man suddenly entered the store and walked straight to me. Despite his age and white hair, he still possessed vigorous bearing. In a glance I could tell he was a not ordinary Level 5 warrior.
“Warrior Deitoro, thank you for taking your time to meet me,” The old man politely said as soon as he arrived before me. “My name is Tokuma Yagawa, the owner of Sotora, nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Warrior Tokuma.”
“I have left both martial world and official affairs, so please just call me Owner Tokuma.”
I nodded and said, “As you wish.”
After giving me a smile Owner Tokuma asked, “What do you think about this store?”
“It’s located in the best shopping street in the town. With good menu, it will thrive,” I casually replied. “But if you try to offer it to me, I’m afraid I have to decline. I have no money to rent it.”
“What about cooperation?” Owner Tokuma calmly asked.
“What kind of cooperation?” I curiously asked.
“Provide low-tier menu for this store in the day, and drinking snack in the evening.”
“Eatery in the day, and tavern in the evening,” I said in low voice. “That’s a nice set up and nice offer.”
“Do you accept it?”
“Why not?” After a short pause I added, “But, may I know why the previous cook left such a good store.”
“I plan to open a few mid-tier eateries in Toba Mie, and he will handle one of them?”
“I see,” I said as I recalled Toba Mie would soon become a port that connected two continents. It was a nice gold mine if a cook knew how to handle it. “He gets a better deal.”
After giving me a deep gaze for a moment Owner Tokuma said, “If you want to compete for a spot to handle mid-tier store in Toba Mie, I don’t mind to put you in. I have two stores that the set up and cook is not fixed yet.”
“I appreciate the offer, truly, but no,” I firmly replied. “I gladly take the offer to provide low-tier menu for this store.”
“Okay,” Owner Tokuma happily said. “The minimum table of menu before we can open this store is, three noodles dishes, five rice dishes, five non-alcoholic beverages, and six drinking snacks.
I have approved your soy sauce oyster noodle and rice-bowl dishes you sent me a few days ago. Once I approve the rest, please provide 500 portions of each menu, and we can open the store.”
“What about the alcoholic beverage?” I curiously asked.
“I will provide it, but I need to taste your drinking snack before I can decide the best alcohol pairing.”
“Okay.”
Owner Tokuma then put over a document as he said, “This is the last six months sales record from the previous cook. It will help you a lot when you design your menu.”
“Have you decided the store name?” I asked as I took the document.
“This store will represent your cooking, so please name it. And in case you don’t want your real name to be known, please decide the cook name that we will put in the table of menu.” As he gave me another bundle of document Owner Tokuma added, “And this is the draft for our contract, please study it while you prepare the menu. Once we reach final agreement, we will legalize it.”
“Okay.”
I happily received the draft. Then, after some small talk I left the store with big smile in my face. Having a store that represents their cooking was a dream for every cook. I was no exception. It was not my own store, but it still made me so damn happy.
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