The town became noisy with the sound of bells from all over.
“It’s quite noisy outside,” Kent said to Marie as he tidied up the bread workshop.
“What could have happened?” Marie asked, sounding puzzled.
“Marie, Older brother! It’s a fire!” Rachel burst into the bread workshop, her face flustered. The commotion was apparently due to a fire that had broken out somewhere. Hearing this, they needed to confirm the origin of the fire and prepare for evacuation if necessary.
“Akane, do you know where the fire is coming from?”
“Hmm, I don’t know, but it sounds like it’s far from here, so I don’t think the fire will reach us,” Akane replied.
Kent felt a little relieved at her words.
“We’ve found the source of the fire. It’s coming from the Flour Union’s warehouse,” an out-of-breath Caro announced, having apparently gone to investigate.
“What’s kept in the Flour Union’s warehouse?” Kent asked.
“Mostly flour and other ingredients needed for bread making, I believe,” Marie answered.
Now that they knew there was no need to evacuate, they couldn’t just stop working. After finishing tidying up the workshop, everyone gathered at the dining space of the shop.
“Next to the warehouse is the Flour Union’s office, where they hold their meetings. I’m worried if it’s been affected,” Marie said, her brow furrowed with concern. If the warehouse was burning, it was possible that the stored goods would be affected. The lack of information was worrying.
The fire apparently burned all night. The warehouse was completely destroyed, and the surrounding buildings were also impacted. The Flour Union’s office was also burned down, leaving them unable to conduct their business.
The next morning, they received word from the Flour Union about an emergency meeting. Marie headed out. Since their office was destroyed, they needed a new venue, and the bakery where Rachel used to work was designated as the temporary location. That bakery had a spacious dining area, which was apparently suitable for meetings.
Since it was their day off, Kent and his companions were at home. Rachel had also come to Kent’s house for breakfast.
“Kent, this is quite a predicament,” Caro said, her eyebrows drawn together.
“Indeed. Marie looked quite worried too,” Kent replied.
While it was perhaps inappropriate, Kent found Caro’s expression a little endearing. Rachel, standing beside him, also seemed captivated by Caro’s unusual expression.
“Older brother, Older sister, breakfast is ready,” a voice announced. Plates were served, each with a dark, unappetizing-looking concoction. It was Catherine’s homemade breakfast. Though its appearance was questionable, its taste was quite good.
“Thank you, Catherine. Let’s eat then.”
“We will begin our meal.”
While feeling a bit apologetic towards Marie, who was at the meeting, the four of them ate breakfast and then spent their time leisurely. After a while, Marie returned.
“I’m back,” she announced.
“Welcome back, Marie. How was the meeting?” Kent asked.
Marie looked exhausted as she explained, “Well, it turns out all the flour stored in the warehouse was lost in the fire. And when they tried to procure replacements, they discovered that flour isn’t used for much besides bread making. So, the town’s merchants had already sold nearly all their stock to the Flour Union. They have no reserves, and there’s no prospect of getting more until the autumn harvest. Furthermore, the amount lost was flour that the Flour Union had purchased, enough to last until this autumn. Replacing it would require a massive amount of money, and they don’t have the funds to import it from outside the town. Therefore, the Union can’t do anything further. For now, each store has been asked to secure their own ingredients.”
“For the time being, this shop has enough ingredients for about a week,” Marie continued. “But acquiring more beyond that looks difficult. It’s fine for shops with some established procurement routes, but most shops, including ours, have no other suppliers besides the Flour Union.”
This bakery had about a week’s worth of flour. It turned out that most other bakeries were also just before their usual procurement timing, meaning most of them would run out of ingredients within the week.
“By the way, do they know the cause of the fire?” Kent asked, trying to change the somber mood.
“They haven’t caught the culprit yet, but it seems to have been arson,” Marie replied.
“Perhaps someone held a grudge against the Flour Union, or it was a spree killer… though if it was the latter, they would have set other fires too, wouldn’t they?” Kent mused based on Marie’s words.
The two-day holiday passed in a flash, and Monday arrived. It was time to get back to work. As Kent and his companions prepared to leave, a long line had already formed in front of Marie’s Bakery.
“Excuse me, there’s still quite a while until opening. What’s going on?” Kent asked a regular customer standing in line.
“Oh, it’s Kent. Are you selling bread today?” the man replied.
“We plan to sell as usual,” Kent clarified.
“That’s good to hear. You see, due to the recent fire, there’s a shortage of ingredients, and the price of bread has skyrocketed. We’re all here looking for the cheapest place. Some shops ran out of ingredients yesterday and stopped selling. I’m one of those waiting in line, you know.”
“I see. We’ll be opening at the scheduled time today, so please wait until then.”
With that, Kent and the others went inside the shop.
“Kent, this is incredible,” Caro said, peeking outside.
“Kent, should we reduce the amount we bake to conserve ingredients?” Marie asked him.
“No, let’s proceed as usual,” Kent replied.
“Understood. At this rate, we might not have enough ingredients for a week, but let’s do our best.”
With that, they each went to their stations to prepare for opening. Once the preparations were complete and opening time arrived, the long line that had formed before opening led to an unusual number of bread items selling out. Even with the ovens working at full capacity, the rate at which customers purchased the bread was overwhelmingly faster than the rate at which it was baked.
“This is a bit tough…”
“It is. But we have no choice.”
To save time on fermentation, they incorporated instant dry yeast and worked in parallel to speed up production. They managed to clear the line that had formed before opening, but customers continued to arrive one after another. They didn’t have enough staff to also manage the dining space, so they decided to close it for the day and focus solely on selling bread.
“It’s almost time for school,” Caro told Kent and Rachel.
With the rush over and the dining space closed, the shop could manage even without Kent and the others. Leaving the rest to them, Kent and his companions headed for school.
At school, the talk was also dominated by the rising prices and shortages of bread.
“Good morning, Kent,” a female student in the next seat greeted him, a rare occurrence. Kent returned the greeting.
“The price of bread has really gone up, and it’s causing quite a commotion in town,” she said.
“Is that so? How much has it increased?” Kent asked. Having been at home during the holiday, he was unaware of the situation. He was curious and asked the student next to him for details.
“It’s about three to five times the original price… At this price, commoners like us won’t be able to afford to eat bread,” she explained.
Kent had anticipated some price increases, but this magnitude surprised him. Incidentally, Marie’s Bakery was selling at its usual price. He now understood why there were so many customers that morning.
“Perhaps you haven’t eaten bread?” Kent inquired.
“I couldn’t buy any yesterday, so I ate something else. I probably won’t be able to eat bread for a while,” the female student replied.
“The cafeteria also serves bread. I hope they haven’t raised their prices too,” she said worriedly.
During lunchtime, Kent observed his classmates. Those who had bought bread from Marie’s Bakery seemed to be going about their day as usual. However, most students who usually brought bread from other bakeries had either reduced the amount they brought or couldn’t bring any at all.
“Hey, the cafeteria hasn’t raised their prices!” a male student shouted as he rushed into the classroom.
“What?!” his classmates exclaimed.
Hearing the news, the classmates rushed towards the cafeteria.
“Kent, this has become quite something,” Josette said, approaching him.
“It can’t be helped, as ingredients have become scarce and prices have risen across the board,” Kent replied.
“Are you all right at your place?” Josette asked, her voice filled with concern.
“For now, we have enough ingredients for the week. And even if we run out, we have a trump card… However, there’s something that’s bothering me,” Kent said.
“Everyone is waiting, so let’s move somewhere else,” Josette said, taking Kent’s hand, and they headed towards their usual spot behind the school building. Caro and Rachel were already there, sitting on a bench and chatting amiably.
“We’re here.”
“Sorry for the delay.”
“You’re late, Older brother!”
“Kent, Josette-sama, welcome back. You’ve both worked hard.”
As usual, the four of them sat on the bench and began eating their respective lunches. After finishing their meals and transitioning into conversation mode, Josette asked, “Kent, about what you said earlier, what is it that’s bothering you?”
Explaining to Caro and Rachel, who were still trying to grasp the situation, Kent began to speak.
“Firstly, the fact that the fire at the Flour Union’s warehouse was arson. Secondly, there are a few stores that don’t go through the Flour Union for their flour procurement. And thirdly, the price of bread has risen too quickly. These are the points that are bothering me.”
“Brother, this smells like a case!” Rachel exclaimed, mimicking a dramatic line from a TV show.
“Actually, it’s quite easy to procure bread ingredients using a terminal. So, our shop won’t have to close due to a lack of ingredients. However, I do feel it would be best to flush out the instigator,” Kent said.
“That’s true. If Marie’s Bakery continues to sell bread at its usual price, the culprit might feel threatened and take some sort of action against us,” Josette agreed.
“It’s possible that the arson at this particular time was calculated, targeting the period when most bakeries have low stock. This means they must have some way of knowing that information. Therefore, if we continue selling for more than a week, the culprit might grow suspicious of us,” Kent speculated.
“It seems we need to do a little investigating,” Josette said.
“Older brother, this is getting interesting!”
“I will help Kent as much as I can,” Caro added.
Thus, the four of them decided to begin an investigation into the matter.
