I decided to start the investigation, but several days passed without me being able to do anything due to my busy work schedule. Today is Friday, but there is a notice posted in front of Marie’s Bakery, announcing that it is temporarily closed today.
“We’ve run out of ingredients…”
Marie said as she baked bread in the bread workshop for delivery to the school cafeteria. The flour, which was thought to be enough for a week, ran out sooner than expected because sales at other stores had stopped one after another, and sales continued at the original price without changes. They are now using the remaining ingredients to make bread for the school cafeteria.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to operate as usual starting next week. I think it would be good for you to take this extended break and relax, Marie.”
Kent said to Marie. Since there were no sales at the store today, Emily was cleaning the store, and Caro, Catherine, and Rachel were all relaxing at Kent’s house. Kent and Marie were also baking less bread than usual, so they didn’t wake up early and started working around their usual opening time.
It was time for school, so Kent headed to school with Caro and Rachel.
“Older brother, the investigation starts today. I’m a little excited.”
“Kent, let’s do our best to find the culprit.”
Rachel and Caro seemed very eager. News that Marie’s Bakery had stopped sales had spread among the students. Because of this, many students were unable to prepare lunch today.
“Good morning, Kent.”
“Good morning.”
When Kent arrived at the classroom, a female student in the next seat greeted him. This had become a daily routine lately.
“Yesterday, the bakery that was selling at reasonable prices without raising them ran out of ingredients and will be closed for a while.”
The female student said to Kent with disappointment. Needless to say, the bakery was Marie’s Bakery. While other stores had raised their prices across the board, this bakery had maintained its regular prices until the very end.
“My mother said it was a shame because we could only get bread within our budget.”
“Are there any other stores still selling bread?”
“Well, it seems like there are four stores selling in town. But the prices are unbelievably high, and I don’t think anyone but aristocrats or wealthy people can afford them.”
Kent obtained valuable information. He then asked the female student for the locations of those stores. There are about 20 bakeries in this town, and all of them are affiliated with the Flour Union. Kent thought that these four stores probably had a route to obtain wheat without going through the union.
It was lunchtime, and most students seemed to have headed to the school cafeteria. There had been a prior notification that the school cafeteria would operate as usual. It was cheaper to use the school cafeteria than to buy one of the newly expensive loaves of bread. Moreover, the school cafeteria’s menu included bread. Since it came with bread and was cheaper than even one expensive loaf, the cafeteria was overflowing with students who decided to splurge and eat there. Kent had supplied enough for this increased demand and didn’t expect to run out.
“So, the four stores we’re investigating today are these.”
They had their lunch in their usual spot behind the school building and were having their daily meeting, Kent, Caro, Josette, and Rachel. They made plans for their afternoon after school, but time ran out, and they all headed to their respective classrooms for their afternoon classes.
“Kent, class is finally over. What are you doing this weekend?”
As class ended, the female student in the next seat spoke to him.
“I haven’t decided yet. Why?”
“Um… well, if it’s okay with you…”
As Kent looked at the fidgeting female student who seemed to want to say something, a voice called out from behind him.
“Kent, shall we go?”
Josette called out to him. Upon realizing it was Josette, the female student’s demeanor changed.
“I’m sorry. I have to go now…”
Saying that, she hastily packed her belongings and left the classroom.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Who knows?”
Josette and Kent watched her hurry away. They met up with Caro and Rachel along the way and headed into town.
“Speaking of which, isn’t this the first time the four of us have come to town together? I’m starting to have fun.”
“Now that you mention it, you’re right. We always eat lunch together, but this feels fresh.”
Rachel and Josette were chatting happily. Beside them, Caro asked Josette worriedly.
“Lady Josette, are you sure it’s okay to go without any attendants?”
Caro voiced her concern about a Duke’s daughter walking around without attendants.
“Kent will protect me if anything happens.”
“Me?”
Frankly, Kent didn’t know how well he could fight. In worlds with magic and swords, there might be skills that determine combat power, but unfortunately, no such settings seem to exist. Of course, he wasn’t carrying any weapons, so dealing with anything might be difficult.
“It’s a joke. I have guards nearby, so please don’t worry.”
Saying that, Josette waved her hand, and a woman standing a short distance away turned to them. Seeing this, everyone, including Kent, felt relieved.
“Um, is this the first store?”
“It looks so run down.”
They arrived at the first store, but Rachel’s immediate comment was how run down it was. It looked less like it had aged and more like it had been vandalized. Unfortunately, it seemed closed. They decided to talk to one of the shopkeepers who was tidying up inside.
“Excuse me.”
“Welcome. You’ve come for bread, haven’t you? I’m sorry, but as you can see, we can’t sell anything right now.”
The shopkeeper replied.
“What happened? It looks like it was broken into.”
“A while ago, some rough-looking people came and trashed the place before leaving. It’s ruined our business.”
“Is that so? That’s very unfortunate. Do you have any idea who those people were?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Incidentally, this store wasn’t purchasing flour from the Flour Union, was it?”
Kent felt bad for interrupting the busy shopkeeper but got to the point.
“You know a lot. My family runs a farm, so we get our supplies from them. We still have ingredients, and once we’re done cleaning up, I think we can reopen. Please come back then.”
“I’m sorry to bother you while you’re busy. We’ll visit again when you reopen.”
With that, Kent left the store.
“This store is white, I guess.”
“Indeed, it’s white.”
Kent and Rachel said in unison.
“Um, what does ‘white’ mean in this context?”
“I was wondering about that too.”
Josette and Caro asked.
“Don’t you use that term here? ‘White’ means not the culprit. The opposite is ‘black’.”
“Is that so? I learned something new today.”
“I learned something too.”
The two seemed convinced when Rachel explained.
“Well then, next is the second store.”
The second store was about the same size as Marie’s Bakery before its renovation. There was a line to enter the store, so the four of them joined the end of the queue. The customers in line were not ordinary commoners, but rather seemingly well-off commoners or people who appeared to be working for someone. As the line moved, it was Kent and his group’s turn. Stepping inside, Kent felt a sense of nostalgia.
“Come to think of it, Marie’s place was like this before I worked on it.”
“Is that so? I don’t know about that time, but it’s quite plain.”
Josette commented on Kent’s remark. Of course, they were speaking in voices inaudible to the store staff.
The merchandise consisted of only one type of flat bread.
“It’s really expensive…”
Rachel said as she looked at the price. One loaf cost 700G, ten times the price of a loaf from Marie’s Bakery. To eat their fill, it would cost a considerable amount of money.
“I’ll take four, please.”
Josette stepped forward to buy the bread. Kent and his companions, now earning a decent salary, could afford it. However, Josette insisted on paying for it all, saying she would cover the cost this time.
They bought the bread and went to a spot a little distance away to try it.
“It’s not very good…”
“I agree…”
“Once you get used to Marie’s taste, this is a bit…”
“I used to be able to eat this without thinking about it…”
The four of them had the same opinion, though they expressed it differently. Their overall conclusion was that it was not tasty.
They went to the third store, purchased bread similarly, and sampled it away from the premises.
“It’s about the same as the previous store.”
“I agree…”
“It’s strange how similar the taste is, with no distinct characteristics.”
“The ingredients seem the same too.”
The price was the same as the second store and the scale was similar. While waiting in line at the store, they happened to speak with a regular customer who told them that the second store was run by brothers and was part of the same chain. They sourced their flour from a merchant they were acquainted with.
“Let’s put these two stores on hold for now. They could go either way.”
Kent stated his frank opinion. Then, the four of them headed to the fourth store.
Upon arriving in front of the fourth store, all four of them said the same thing in unison.
“Black.”
The store had a pretentious facade, trying too hard to appear high-class, which was a bit pathetic. The four of them joined the long queue to enter and waited their turn. After a while, they were led inside.
“Welcome. What kind of bread would you like today?”
The interior was beautifully decorated, filled with various unknown vases and paintings. At first glance, one might not think it was a bakery at all. Since the clerk asked what they would like, it seemed the store offered multiple types of bread.
“Um, this is my first time here, but what kinds of bread do you have?”
“Well… our jam bread is quite popular. The margarine bread is also popular. Of course, we have regular bread as well.”
The young woman at the counter explained politely. There were several kinds of jam bread, and they even offered margarine bread. However, the prices were outrageously high. A jam or margarine bread was 1800G, and a regular loaf was 1200G. It was by no means an amount a commoner could afford. Yet, all around them, the bread was selling like hotcakes. The customers were likely wealthy.
“In that case, I’ll take one of each.”
“Thank you.”
Josette told the clerk. At Marie’s Bakery, you could get change from 1000G, but at this store, the total came to over 10,000G. Josette paid the money and received the products, and the four of them went outside the store.
“Let’s try them right away.”
Josette said as she took out the bread they had just purchased. The bread was wrapped in paper, presumably with the store’s logo. Inside, two flat, slightly small pieces of bread were layered with jam or margarine spread between them. The regular bread was a flat loaf slightly larger than that.
“I see, so they’re sandwiched like a hamburger.”
Kent picked up one of the jam breads and examined it.
“Older brother, this jam is from our store, isn’t it?”
At Rachel’s words, Kent took a bite of the jam bread.
“Indeed, it’s the same taste.”
Upon hearing this, Josette and Caro also tried it.
“It really is the same taste.”
“The margarine tastes the same too. But it doesn’t seem to pair well with the bread.”
Thanks to the jam and margarine, it wasn’t bad… but because the bread wasn’t good, it didn’t reach a level of deliciousness due to synergy.
“But, that’s strange… The jam and margarine we sell are not available anywhere else, so how did they get them if our store is closed?”
“That’s true. They can’t make jam or margarine bread without access to the ingredients.”
While the four of them were deducing, they observed the store. Despite the high prices, the bread was selling incredibly fast. The jam and margarine breads sold out, and after some more time, the regular bread also sold out.
The sun had not yet set, but it seemed they were closing the store. A short while later, a carriage stopped in front of the store, and a middle-aged, stout man got out.
“That’s Baron Kroizei.”
“Judging by the name, he sounds suspicious.”
“Older brother, don’t say strange things. You’ll make me laugh.”
Caro seemed to know him. They watched as he was guided inside the store by a clerk.
“Now, if we can overhear their conversation, I think we might get some information. What should we do?”
“Older brother, to listen to conversations, we need a bug, right?”
As Kent was contemplating, Rachel offered a suggestion.
“It’s effective, but how do we set it up? We don’t have much time.”
Baron Kroizei had just entered the store, but they hadn’t prepared a listening device beforehand, so there was no time to go and set one up. Kent thought for a moment and came up with a plan.
He immediately took out his terminal and ordered one drone, an IC recorder, and some other small items. Although it was a toy from a Home Center and not very high-performance, it would be fine for transporting a light IC recorder. It also had a camera, so they should be able to grasp the building’s structure from the controller.
He attached the IC recorder to the drone, pressed the record button, and flew the drone. After confirming the location of Baron Kroizei’s room, he placed the IC recorder near the window and then retrieved the drone.
“Amazing. It’s flying.”
“It’s strange. It looks like it’s floating in mid-air.”
“I hope this works out…”
“Older brother, you’re a good pilot.”
“Well, I guess.”
Josette and Caro were amazed by the drone, which they had never seen before. Rachel praised Kent’s skillful piloting, and he felt a little pleased to be complimented.
“Kent, please don’t proceed with these two alone. What is this flying object?”
“Yes, it makes me feel left out.”
Josette and Caro voiced their dissatisfaction.
“Um, this is called a drone. You can fly it freely using this controller. And it can transport light objects, like I just did. But it’s a toy, so it can’t fly for very long. Also, as an extra feature, there’s a camera attached, and the image from it is displayed on this controller.”
Saying that, he pointed the camera at Josette, and her face appeared on the small monitor of the controller.
“It’s amazing. It’s like magic, a mysterious thing. Is it difficult to fly?”
“It’s easy. But if the drone gets too far away, you lose control and it falls.”
“Could you lend it to me next time?”
“Of course, you can.”
“Older brother, lend it to me too!”
Josette seemed very curious and made a promise with Kent to borrow it.
“Baron Kroizei has come out.”
The three of them were engrossed in conversation, but Caro, who had been keeping watch, alerted them. Baron Kroizei got into his carriage and left. After confirming that the store clerks who saw him off had gone back inside, they sent the drone out again to retrieve the IC recorder. The IC recorder had a strap made of wire, and they intended to hook it with a hook attached to the drone and lift it up to bring it back. There was a time lag in sending the video to the monitor, so it was difficult, but they managed to retrieve it.
Kent stopped the recording on the retrieved IC recorder and put it in his uniform pocket. Then, holding the drone, the four of them returned to Kent’s house.
