Chapter 32: Food Stall Opening

“Let’s go!”

After breakfast, Harry and I headed to the morning market.

It was before the first bell had rang, but there were already many different food stalls lined up.

“This area is for eating and drinking, so let’s find an open spot.”

It’s kind of crowded.

It’s good that there are many people, but there are also many stalls.

We found a space at the far end of the cathedral square where there was less traffic, so Harry and I decided to set up our stall there.

“At the moment, before the summer festival, there are a lot of tourists. Therefore, there are a lot of stalls, and if you’re not a regular, you won’t get a good spot.”

Certainly Harry is right.

I look at my neighbor and see a Granny selling vegetables, looking bored and absentminded.

The stall next door on the right has a boy unpacking a crate of fruit.

Let’s get started soon.

Ginjiro takes out a stall from the item box and sets a long table, chairs, and a large trash can in front of the stall.

“You have a really big magic bag. I envy you.”

Granny at the vegetable stall spoke to me, I guess to kill some time.

“I have been in Mainz recently, and I was thinking of opening a food stall from today. Is this a vegetable stall, Grandma?”

“That’s right. My son and I work in the fields. I wanted to buy clothes for my grandson, so I opened a stall, but business is difficult.”

The Granny looks troubled as she sits in her little chair.

Carrots, potatoes, radishes, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers, and other vegetables freshly picked this morning.

When I told her they looked delicious, she gave me a carrot.

I took the skin off with a knife and take a bite .

“This is very sweet and delicious.”

I tell her honestly. She said she is good at growing vegetables, but even if she produces delicious vegetables, the prices are same with the other stall, and if the shape and size irregular, they are priced cheaply.

“What are you guys selling?”

The Granny asked me, but it was difficult to explain, so I decided to prepare shaved ice as a thank-you for the carrot.

As I was shaving the ice with the shaved ice machine, the fruit stall boy next to me was very curious, so I decided to give him shaved ice too.

“What flavor would you like? We have strawberry flavor, melon flavor, and … regular syrup.”

Ginjiro’s favorite flavor is Blue Hawaii, but when asked what flavor, he could not explain well.

There is no Hawaii in another world.

I’m not even sure if Blue Hawaii is a Hawaiian flavor.

“May I have strawberry flavor?”

“I am Melon!”

Pour syrup they requested and give them shaved ice.

The Granny eats the shaved ice, saying that she feels like an aristocrat.

The boy at the fruit stall also shouts how delicious it is, and gives me an apple for treating him to such an extravagant and sweet treat.

〜An hour later~

“I’m bored…”

I set up a shaved ice stall with great enthusiasm, but it did not sell at all.

I can guarantee the taste as long they want to try it, but there are so few people passing by, and somehow those who do stop tilt their heads and walk pass.

The fruit stall boy next door shouts and calls out for customers, but he is not selling very well.

It was hot and I was thirsty, so I bought a lemon from the fruit stall boy and made a lemon-infused Cola.

As I was thinking, “After all, this is the best way to drink Cola,” the fruit stall boy kept glancing at me.

I offered him a Cola, and the vegetable stall granny who suddenly beside me also asked for one, so I made another one for her.

“It’s sizzling, sweet and delicious.”

The Granny seems like Cola.

The boy at the fruit stall also says it tastes good.

A man happened to pass by and asked if he could try it.

I thought about refusing since it wasn’t for sale, but he was somewhat friendly and the timing was right, so I decided to offer it to him.

“Please sit there and have a drink. There is a roof so you can cool off. When you finish your drink, please throw it in the trash can there.”

The man seemed happy when I told him so.

The boy at the fruit stall was very grateful and thanked Ginjiro and Harry for their generosity.

He is a good boy and since he was free, we talked with him and found out that he was training at a fruit stall. The fruit store owner told him to do a fruit stall to learn about business.

Both Ginjiro and Harry almost cried when they heard that he started working at the fruit store because he wanted to give his mother delicious fruit to eat.

His name is Edel. Go for it, Edel!

After a while, the man finishes his Cola and comes over to me.

“Is that drink really not for sale?”

He likes Cola, but this is a shaved ice stall.

When I told him it was not for sale, he asked me, “So what are you selling?” He was very insistent.

“What is it?”　I told him that I was selling shaved ice, and he asked me what it was and how much it cost.

As Harry and I look at each other and wonder what to do, the Granny tells the man that it is delicious and that he should order it.

I tell him that it is three copper coins and he orders shaved ice, so I take the money and take an ice block from the item box and set it in the shaved ice machine.

Harry shaves the ice, and the man exclaims, “Oh!”

“We have strawberry syrup, melon syrup, and …regular syrup.”

The man chose the melon flavor, so I serve it with melon syrup.

The man took a bite on the spot and said this was delicious.

Harry and I rejoice as the shaved ice finally sells.

“I couldn’t figure out what this stall was selling. Ice is rare, so you should show it off. You should also write down the prices so that people know how much it costs.”

I was taken aback when the man gave me advice.

Certainly, customers wouldn’t know the price.

There is a sign for shaved ice, but it is in Japanese, so people over here can’t read it.

The ice was also kept in an item box to prevent it from melting since there were no customers.

I can understand why customers who passed by would tilt their heads and walk away.

Business is difficult, but that’s why it’s fun.

Ginjiro and Harry thanked the male customer and re-set the stall with the ice and price placed where they could be seen.