novelraw Chapter 76 : Granfen (9)
Chapter 76 : Granfen (9)
Granfen (9)
Talking about production volume, and price,
After roughly discussing this and that,
"This is a huge opportunity for our shop to grow!"
Harper shouted with confidence.
"Ohh. Is that so."
Of course, he wasn't really listening.
A boss is someone who gives faith to his subordinates,
And once they receive that trust, they should simply answer with results.
"Proceed!"
"Leave it to me!"
Plerine also said it would be fine as long as the other party was not the Gilfin merchant guild.
Moreover, unlike Plerine and me, Harper had never met the Gilfin guys,
And since his appearance was similar to the people of the northern region, there was no sense of alienation.
'Even still, I need to hire the mercenaries even more rigorously than planned.'
It never hurts to be careful,
And I can't skimp on money when it comes to protecting someone as talented as Harper.
As the festival's eve drew to its close—
"Dear customers, sorryyy. We're closing now."
Clara, with her signature cuteness, began ushering the customers out.
"What, already? Other stalls are still going strong! Let us drink a bit more!"
"We're busy from dawn tomorrow. Please understand~"
Clara's coquettishness was grating, but
Anyway, the customers left, smiling wryly,
〈 Customer – Rick Benon recognizes your service. 〉
〈 You have gained 1 'Recognition'. 〉
She even racked up points, so I decided to leave her be.
'Plerine never gave service points before.'
Sometimes Clara glanced at me sharply from the side,
But it didn't matter since I would scold her as soon as we got back to the shop after work.
"?"
At that moment, a familiar voice was lamenting, almost crying.
"Squad Leader! You can't!!"
It was Ruth, my former sandbag from bootcamp and Ralph's squad member.
He looked quite drunk, his face beet-red as he whimpered nonstop.
"Really, why did it happen this way?! My small and precious squad leader Ralph?"
Sitting across from him, Ralph was giving a wry smile.
"Bullshit. You didn't say a word until now, is this how you really feel?! Enough, stop drinking."
Ralph grabbed the drinks on the table and downed them all at once.
'A guy with zero sword talent but a real gift for drinking.'
Thinking this, I approached them and spoke.
"I'm sorry, customers. We're closing now."
"Oh, it's you."
"If you're done, please head out quietly."
"You cocky brat. Win a cooking contest and suddenly life's easy, huh?"
While I was exchanging banter with Ralph,
Ruth turned his head, looked at me, and shouted.
"Ian, so it was you! Did you hear the rumor too?! About tomorrow's departure ceremony?"
Ruth stared at me with puffy eyes,
But I hadn't heard any such rumor.
I'd been busy preparing for the cooking competition.
"As you know, I've been secluded in training. Haven't heard anything, really."
Ruth spoke as if frustrated.
"No! Our squad leader—."
"Ruth."
"!"
"Stop."
At Ralph's serious tone, Ruth immediately clamped his mouth shut, but then blurted out,
"Ah, damn it! Seriously!!"
Ruth finally jumped up from his seat, stormed away, then suddenly collapsed.
"......"
Ruth lay face-first in the dirt, not moving.
Ralph sighed and stood up.
"And that's supposed to be a Duchy soldier. Jeez."
With a wry smile, Ralph approached Ruth,
And, seeing how busy he was, I said to him,
"See you at the ceremony tomorrow."
"Yeah. Try not to slack off."
Ralph slung the unconscious Ruth over his shoulder and walked away.
As I watched them go, I recalled Ruth's words.
'Was there some rumor about the departure ceremony? What could it be?'
Because I'd been preparing for the cooking contest, I hadn't taken regular customers,
And the officers, wary of the battalion commander, didn't spread any info.
'Even Jeros and Ralph didn't say much about it.'
But gathering the info I'd heard during the festival's eve tonight—
'The soldiers have been talking that there'll be an announcement about unit reorganization.'
Due to the third company commander's coma and loss of troops from the spirit stone quarry attack,
And with the Legion's Special Investigator position vacant as well.
As a commander, they should resolve this ASAP,
But for some reason, the battalion commander kept putting off the reorganization.
'And yet, they say he'll do this all at the departure ceremony.'
No one knows what's going on in that old man's head,
But because of this, all the soldier customers at the eve festival were discussing the same thing.
Most likely, the new third company commander would be—
'Probably Jeros.'
That's because there was a big event last week.
A duel of honor between the battalion commander and Jeros.
Cha-chang, Cha-cha-chang!
Despite a busy schedule, I made time to watch their duel—
― What is this?
Words escaped my mouth before I realized it.
A proper fight between two fourth-ranks was on another level.
The fight, where sword energy flared from both swordsmen, belonged to a wholly different dimension.
Pabababat! Keo-reok! Kwa-jik!
The training ground became utterly trashed from their battle,
Yet, amazingly, neither looked the least bit tired.
Who would win, truly?
I was on edge, sweating with anticipation, but the result was anticlimactic.
― I lost. Kukuk.
Jeros suddenly conceded.
It was disheartening, but no one disparaged Jeros.
Not just the officers—
The 4th-rank company commander Hank had a thoroughly crumpled expression.
Even Lantz seemed barely able to keep his face straight.
'Their fight was just that special.'
Funnily enough, nobody knew why Jeros and the battalion commander dueled.
Most assumed Jeros must have tried to refuse the battalion commander's order.
'With that incident and now the reorganization, everyone's expecting Jeros to be the next third company commander.'
But personally, I thought there was no chance of Jeros becoming company commander.
After all, it was the battalion commander who told me to keep an eye on Jeros.
As long as he doubted and was wary of Jeros, he wouldn't give him a commander's post.
Well, maybe it's all pointless speculation.
'I'll find out anyway at the ceremony tomorrow morning.'
Turning these thoughts over, I circled the festival square and returned,
To find most of the street stalls already packed up.
As expected of my excellent employees.
"Well, I'll be off then."
With a bow, Clara walked off in the direction of the Wyvern Tail's stall.
I guessed she hadn't quite come to her senses yet, so I quietly told Plerine,
"Go grab her."
Thud. Flop.
Stone-faced, Plerine picked up Clara from the ground and tossed her onto a cart.
'Uh. I didn't go quite this far...'
Meanwhile, Naba smiled in satisfaction,
"As expected of you, junior. Very neat work."
Clap, clap, clap. He applauded.
Clara's future worried me, but what could I do? She brought it on herself.
"Eh! Where is this?!"
Clara let out a cry as she woke up startled the moment we arrived at the shop.
"Perfect timing. Kids are cleaning up, so help out quickly."
Clara pouted but ended up heading into the kitchen.
With her joining in, we were able to tidy up the stall's equipment in no time.
Cleanup done, cleaning complete, ahh.
Truly, she's remarkable when it comes to work.
"Since the work is finished perfectly, I'll be off now— Ahem."
Clara hurriedly clamped her mouth shut.
Our expressions must have been a bit fierce.
"Then... can I sleep at Wyvern Tail and just come to work here from there?"
She asked tearfully, but there's no way I'd fall for such an act.
"You think that's possible?"
You're kidnapped.
*
The day of the departure ceremony dawned, and the officers came by.
As usual, it was for breakfast.
Unlike usual, though, sergeant Pab's face was unusually grim.
'He's another guy being mentioned as a likely company commander.'
No wonder he went so hard preparing for the cooking contest.
Was he trying to curry favor with the battalion commander?
"Haha. It was delicious again today, Ian."
But then the old man starts randomly calling me "Ian".
Thanks to that, Hank's glares became even more fierce.
"Let's meet at the departure ceremony. Hoho."
After the battalion commander and the officers left, we quickly finished cleaning up.
Normally, I'd serve regular customers now, but I decided to rest today.
I needed to go to the ceremony anyway,
"You've all worked hard through the cooking contest, so take today off. Also, I have something to say. Ahem."
The employees looked bewildered, and it felt awkward to try something I never did, so I gave an awkward cough. Focus.
"Everyone! It's March, and the weather's warming up. Thanks to the cooking contest, our Happiness Gukbap is still alive and thriving. Now, I want to introduce a new system!"
I'd thought of it after the minor Demon Realm raid, but only now was I putting it into action.
"Plerine. Step forward."
Plerine stood in front of me, looking puzzled.
"From now on, every month, I will select an 'Employee of the Month'."
I took a brooch from my pocket and showed it to everyone.
In my handwriting on a round wooden brooch, the words 'Employee of the Month' were clearly visible.
"For March, the Employee of the Month is Plerine! Let's give her a round of applause!"
The surprised crew burst into claps.
Naba's eyes burned with frustration.
"Thank you, boss. This actually makes me happy."
Plerine gave a rare smile and stuck out her chest.
'Was just planning to hand it over, but now I have to pin it myself, huh.'
As carefully and delicately as I could, I managed to pin the brooch.
And then, an unexpected sound rang out.
Dding.
〈 You have granted Plerine 'Employee of the Month'. 〉
〈 Plerine's buff effect rate has increased. 〉
〈 Plerine's rank has risen by one tier. 〉
My hair stood on end.
'Something like this was possible?!'
A cheap wooden brooch raised not only my employee's buff effectiveness but their rank too?
And Plerine's rank had already been SSSR, now it went up again?
Unbearable curiosity.
I had to open the [Inn] tab right away!
"Ye—"
Couldn't even finish the word "-nn."
Because Plerine, standing before me, started to lean.
"Plerine?"
Even when I called, Plerine's body fell, back-first, toward the floor.
"Plerine!"
Crash!
I caught Plerine's head as she collapsed heavily and shouted.
"What's wrong with you?! Get a hold of yourself!"
No answer. Even slapping her cheeks, nothing changed.
I quickly pressed my ear to her left chest.
Thump, thump.
Fortunately, her heartbeat was normal.
Breathing normal too.
"Is... is she unconscious?"
I nodded at Harper's question.
"Wow. Did she pass out from being too happy?"
Clara snarked, and Naba gave her a solid kick to the shin.
But why did Plerine faint out of nowhere?
'It must be because of the system.'
The timing was just too perfect.
Did leveling up an employee make them pass out?
Just as I thought about opening the system window—
The shop door flew open and someone entered.
"Knew you'd still be here."
Big-jaw Ralph.
"You should be out there now—hm? What is all this?"
Ralph stopped, sizing up our grim mood.
"Is that the blind woman lying on the ground?"
"She suddenly fainted."
"Why?"
"No idea, just all of a sudden. She seems fine otherwise."
In a flash, Ralph came over and looked Plerine over, then declared,
"She's just asleep. Breathing, pulse, complexion—all fine, you see?"
It was as he said, and I knew it too.
I was just briefly flustered by the timing.
"Anyway, Ian. Leave the lady to the staff and get to the ceremony. You're not a commander; you should be there and getting ready."
He was right, so I nodded.
If this fainting was system-related, Plerine would wake up without any harm.
I pulled myself together and gave instructions.
"Harper, carry Plerine to her room and lay her down."
"Yes, boss. We'll handle things, so please go ahead."
"I'm counting on you."
"Let's go, Ian!"
I ran as fast as I could, following Ralph.
'Man, that guy really moves lightly now.'
It was obvious Ralph had eaten the Fragment of the Firmament,
And it rankled me a bit that I could barely keep up.
We dashed like arrows and arrived at the square.
Yesterday's cooking contest stage had become the ceremony platform today.
There were no civilians where the street stalls had been.
All soldiers except a minimal guard force had gathered here.
'Roughly five hundred, wasn't it?'
Every one of them holding a weapon, lined up by company for the ceremony.
And my spot...
'Damn. I really stand out.'
As the battalion commander's personal cook, I wasn't in any company, so I had to stand with the Special Investigators.
But the number of Investigators here was—
'Only four?'
Guess that's what you expect of the Special Investigators, always busy with spy activities and the commander's errands,
But it meant I stuck out even more.
"See you later, Ian."
Ralph patted my back and left.
Almost immediately, the battalion commander strode to the front of the stage.
Chak chak!
The soldiers snapped to a salute.
"I swear by steel!"
The square rang out with the declaration.
"Loyalty shines on you all."
The battalion commander held the salute much longer than usual,
And only released the pose after a long time. Chak chak.
That familiar vague smile,
But today his gaze was much more solemn than his usual self.
"In fifteen days, we'll go to the frontline again. But this winter brought many grave tidings."
There was not a single soldier here who didn't know what "grave tidings" meant.
"I have agonized again and again as to how to overcome this crisis. That's why it took so long to fill the vacancies, and I've finally made my decision."
As the announcement for the long-awaited unit reorganization came, it felt as if the air turned heavy.
Perhaps everyone but me was nervous.
"I am certain this decision will end our war."
As the battalion commander stopped speaking, a deep silence filled the square, and his gaze shifted toward Jeros among the guards.
"I will announce it. The next commander to lead Third Company in place of Devanne is..."
Was it really Jeros?
All the while, that squinty-eyed bastard was wearing his trademark sly grin.
"Nagel Ralph."
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Nice, congrats Big-jaw Ralph!
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】