“Hahaha, I’m in so much pain from laughing too much,” Josette exclaimed.
“Young lady, you’re laughing too much,” a maid giggled.
Josette and her maids were laughing heartily inside the carriage. Josette felt like she was playing a little prank and was enjoying it.
The golden beckoning cat that Josette had given to Etsigoya had a trick up its sleeve. It contained a built-in wireless microphone and a large-capacity battery pack, all wired together. By placing it in the drawing room, it would serve as a listening device. Since the built-in battery for the microphone could only last about half a day, a battery pack was added to increase the power capacity for longer use. A receiver to pick up the microphone’s audio and a long-recording IC recorder were already set up outside the store, so the situation inside would be monitored by swapping out the IC recorders.
Josette returned to her mansion and then switched to a regular carriage, the one she usually drove to Kent’s house, and headed for Marie’s Bakery.
“Kent, I’ve delivered the items you asked for,” Josette reported to Kent when she returned to Marie’s Bakery.
“Thank you, Josette.”
“With this, Etsigoya’s conversations should be an open book. I hope we can lure him in successfully.”
“Indeed. I never imagined I’d come up with such a plan. Seeing Etsigoya’s transformation was so amusing…”
Kent was taking a break in the dining space after finishing the distribution of flour. It was a simple job of just carrying flour from the back, but it was physical labor, and Kent was tired.
“From now on, I’ll have our shop order delivery from a supplier…” Kent vowed to himself. However, the words slipped out aloud. Rachel looked at him as if to say, “This is why you’re my older brother…” By this time, Kent, all the staff, and Josette had gathered in the dining space. Kent sat down again and addressed everyone.
“Everyone, thank you for your hard work. The flour distribution is finished, and I believe some of the shops that prepared quickly have already resumed selling bread. Starting tomorrow, we will also resume bread production and plan to deal a blow to Etsigoya’s bakery. However, since other bakeries are now making bread similar to ours, sales will inevitably decrease. For the time being, we won’t be making any significant changes, as it will also serve as a break from recent overwork. Let’s take it easy.”
In fact, flour sales had increased dramatically. Flour was a precious commodity in this world, but in Kent’s former world, it wasn’t that expensive. By selling it at the market price of this world, the profit from the difference amounted to a considerable sum. In reality, even without working, income exceeding previous sales should come in regularly until autumn. Kent knew Marie was working excessively hard, so he chose to rest.
“Tomorrow, we will launch a counter-offensive, including the shops that couldn’t reopen today. I expect Etsigoya to make some move. We need to be careful and pay close attention to their actions.”
Kent issued this warning and decided to disband for the day.
The next morning, they began their activities before sunrise. From today, Kent would not help at the bakery but head to Etsigoya’s bakery. After checking the battery capacity of the installed receiver, he collected the IC recorder, replaced it with a new one, and returned home. Then, he began analyzing the audio data to check for any important information. This task was quite tedious. Silent parts could be canceled out, but it seemed the drawing room was being used quite a bit, with various people coming and going.
The necessary information they gathered was that the thieves sent to Marie’s Bakery had all been caught, but because multiple intermediaries were used when hiring the thieves, their own involvement couldn’t be traced back to them, which they could discern from the conversation. No other significant information was found. It appeared that, at the time the IC recorder was collected, Etsigoya was unaware that other bakeries had resumed selling bread.
Kent spent time noting down the time and content of the conversations until it was time to go to school.
Meanwhile, at Marie’s Bakery, preparations for opening were underway as they made bread using the ingredients Kent had provided.
“Marie, I’ll take the baked bread to the display,” Caro said.
“Please do, Caro,” Marie replied.
She efficiently carried the freshly baked bread to the storefront one after another. Since Kent wasn’t there today, the speed of production was slower than before. While still busy, there was a slight sense of ease in the work.
“Well then, shall we open the shop?”
“Please do, Rachel.”
Marie responded to Rachel, who came to confirm the opening time. The opening time arrived. Just as Kent had said yesterday, the customer line was significantly shorter compared to the post-fire crowd, and even slightly reduced compared to before. This was because people who wanted plain, fluffy bread could now buy it at nearby bakeries without having to travel to Marie’s Bakery.
Since there was a sufficient amount of bread displayed in the store, Marie stopped production for the storefront and began making bread for delivery to the school cafeteria. Catherine and Emily were in charge of the storefront, while Caro and Rachel helped with bread making. Just as all the bread for the cafeteria was baked, it was time for Caro and Rachel to go to school.
“Kent, we’re going to school!” Caro called out to Kent when she returned to his house.
“I’m coming!”
Kent finished getting ready and joined Caro and Rachel. The three of them then headed to school.
Upon arriving at school, the three went to their respective classrooms.
“Good morning, Kent,” a female student in the adjacent seat greeted him.
“Good morning.”
“Look! The bakery near my house has started selling fluffy bread. I was worried about the bread prices at one point, but they’ve resumed sales, the prices have returned to normal, and I was surprised that the bread they’re selling has changed to fluffy bread.” The student said this while showing the bread she had apparently purchased that morning for her lunch.
“That’s good to hear. But is this all you’re having for lunch today?”
“Yes. We don’t have much money…”
Kent could empathize, as he had a similar diet in the past. (I remember surviving on mayonnaise alone back then.) He recalled a time shortly before and felt a sense of nostalgia.
Then, classes began, and it was time for lunch.
“So, has anything changed?” At their usual meeting spot behind the school building, Kent, Caro, Josette, and Rachel asked about the day’s findings.
“As of this morning, there haven’t been any particular developments. Just reports of the thieves being caught,” Kent relayed the results of his analysis of the conversations at Etsigoya.
“Is that so? I’m a little disappointed,” Josette said with a hint of regret.
“Still, Older Brother, you worked hard today.”
Normally, lunch would consist only of bread, but today, a sheet was spread on the ground, and the four of them sat around a tiered bento box placed in the center. Since the audio analysis mainly involved listening through headphones for any important conversations, Kent’s hands were free, and he had the time to make bentos. He had made them, partly to pass the time, and they turned out to be quite extravagant.
The bento box had three tiers: one filled with nori-rolled onigiri, one with meat items like sausages and fried chicken, and grilled fish, and a third tier with vegetables and desserts. The four of them took small portions of each dish.
“Kent, here’s your tea,” Caro offered.
“Thank you, Caro.”
Caro refilled Kent’s tea.
“Bread is good, but things like this are nice too,” Josette commented cheerfully.
“Most of it is frozen, though,” Kent replied, careful not to reveal his delight at Josette’s happy mood.
After school, Kent and the others headed home. Caro and Rachel went home to work at the bakery, but Kent went to Etsigoya’s bakery to swap the IC recorder and then returned home. He then performed audio analysis work, similar to the morning.
Etsigoya’s bakery was in an uproar, a complete contrast to yesterday. News had spread that other bakeries, which had been closed yesterday, had resumed operations, causing a near-total absence of customers. Moreover, the bread they sold was the so-called fluffy bread. Etsigoya’s bakery, which only sold flat bread, couldn’t compete. With prices more than ten times higher than other stores, there was no way to win.
“How did this happen?”
“Y-yes… Apparently, Marie’s Bakery acquired a large amount of flour from somewhere and sold it at the previous wholesale price. They seem to have also shared their bread-making techniques, leading other shops to start selling fluffy bread.”
“That damned bakery again!”
Kent, who had been listening to the conversation between Etsigoya and his employees, could tell from Etsigoya’s tone that he was extremely angry. He continued the audio analysis, searching for any further useful information.
