“Now, let’s hold the first meeting to decide the food stall menu!”
Wow. Clap Clap Clap Clap.
Everyone applauded, livening up at Floria’s declaration.
As expected of someone who had been the ruler of a country, Floria’s declaration had a proper air about it.
Kousuke felt like telling her not to waste her talents on something like this, but unfortunately, he wasn’t present.
Currently in the Lounge Space were the women who usually handled management, along with Eri, who would be the main cook for the food stall, and Mitsuki, who would teach her.
Kousuke (and Kouhi) weren’t here because they weren’t being excluded.
Floria, who had been asked by Eri and Mitsuki about the food stall menu, had impulsively suggested a meeting. It just so happened that Kousuke was away on a tour of the floors at the time.
Ten minutes had passed since Floria’s declaration.
It was more like a girls’ gathering, with conversations jumping all over the place.
However, it was commendable that they were still staying on track with the main issue of deciding the main menu.
Mitsuki, who had been watching them from the side, decided it was probably time and tossed in a bombshell.
“How about curry?”
At that single remark, the members who had been freely throwing out various opinions stopped dead.
“Can you make it?”
Mitsuki felt the gazes of everyone gathered were daunting, but she didn’t voice it. Even for Mitsuki, the gazes of a group of women concerned with food were terrifying.
“If you’re asking if it’s possible, then yes, it is. It’ll be a bit tough on Eri… But once she gets used to it, it’ll be alright. Probably.”
Eri made a pained expression partway through, but Mitsuki smiled reassuringly.
Mitsuki decided to overlook how Eri’s face twitched at the last remark.
Floria nodded once, while crossing her arms.
“Hmm. If you can make curry, I have no objections… What does everyone else think?”
“No objections!”
Floria looked satisfied with everyone’s unanimous reply.
“Alright. Then the main dish is decided as curry.”
“Main?”
Mia tilted her head in reaction to Floria’s words. Her expression clearly asked if she had something else planned.
Seeing Mia’s face, Floria nodded broadly as if pretending not to notice.
“Indeed. I believe curry alone would be enough to make a profit. After all, the purpose of this venture is to spread Kousuke’s hometown cuisine throughout Razek Amamiya. Wouldn’t it be good to add some side dishes while we’re at it?”
“Fried chicken!”
Mia immediately responded to Floria’s proposal.
“I see. In that case, wouldn’t croquettes be good too?”
“For the men, perhaps something like hamburgers would be suitable.”
Following Mia, Shurein and Silvia joined in. Incidentally, the three of them deliberately suggested items that could be sold individually. If there were popular items besides the main curry, the food stall’s popularity would increase on its own. The more attention it received, the easier it would be to achieve the original goal.
With the three opinions out, all eyes turned back to Mitsuki.
“Hmm. While fried chicken and croquettes are fine, I think we should pass on hamburgers for now?”
Floria asked, “And why is that? Is it a cooking problem?”
Mitsuki shook her head.
“That’s partly it, but wouldn’t you rather serve hamburgers separately?”
Mitsuki’s words, which could have drawn complaints from some for questioning the fried chicken and croquettes, made the others ponder.
“Are you thinking of… offering various kinds of sauces?”
Mia opened her mouth tentatively, as if a thought had occurred to her.
“That’s right. It would take some time to prepare too many different sauces at once.”
“Hmm, I see. So that’s how it is. …And considering Eri, who will actually be doing the cooking, having about two items initially seems about right.”
“That’s true as well.”
Eri let out a quiet, relieved sigh during Floria and Mitsuki’s conversation.
Silvia noticed Eri and said, “Eri, I understand you may feel pressured in your position, but you don’t need to overthink it.”
“Ah, that’s right. After all, even if we fail, it’s not a huge problem.”
Floria didn’t consider failure at all, but she emphasized it deliberately to ease Eri’s tension.
“Indeed. And for the initial period, Mitsuki-dono has agreed to provide support. You should just enjoy cooking as you normally do.”
One reason Eri remained as the manager of the Lily Shrine, even as a slave, was because her love for cooking allowed her to learn new recipes from Mitsuki. Considering that, it was not wrong to say that Eri was the most suitable person for this task.
“Y-yes!”
Eri still replied with a trembling voice, her tension visibly unreleased. The others offered a bitter smile but said nothing more. They figured she would get used to it eventually, given her personality. Trying to comfort her further at this meeting might even be counterproductive.
Deciding not to dwell on Eri any longer, Floria turned to Mitsuki to confirm another matter.
“We’ll be making the products at the mansion on the Fifth Floor, but is there anything lacking?”
“Hmm. Since we’re just making preparations for the food stall, why not renovate the kitchen entirely? Or perhaps build a new one in the garden?”
The original plan was to have the cooking done at home rather than at the food stall itself. This would make it easier to add more items later.
“Hmm. I considered that too, but wouldn’t that delay the opening of the food stall?”
“You won’t be selling too many items until the initial menu is established, will you? In that case, wouldn’t a home kitchen suffice for now?”
“Ah, I see. So that’s what you mean.”
Floria nodded, convinced by the suggestion to prepare large stoves and the like now, thinking about the future.
“That’s certainly something we need to consider… But the question is how involved we should be.”
This venture was, after all, about spreading Kousuke’s hometown cuisine within Razek Amamiya. If the goal were to monopolize sales, expanding the scale would be the usual approach, but no one present was thinking that far ahead. They were even considering revealing the recipes if asked for a trade. Of course, they intended to retain the rights to prevent monopolization.
While discussing the equipment for making products, Shurein suddenly looked as if she remembered something.
“Speaking of which, what about the food stall itself? Do we have any leads on acquiring one?”
“Not specifically yet. However, if we prod Schmidt a bit, I’m sure he’d be happy to arrange a new one for us?”
Schmidt, whose eyes lit up every time Kousuke (and the others) started something new, would surely be enthusiastic if they approached him.
“That’s true.”
Shurein nodded with a wry smile, easily picturing Schmidt bustling around excitedly.
Incidentally, Schmidt, upon hearing about this from Floria, managed to procure the requested food stall within three days, though how he did it remained a mystery.
I felt like writing about the food stall, so the story will continue for a bit longer lol.
However, I haven’t really found a place for Kousuke to appear yet. (´・ω・`)
