Well, well…
And after that, after that.
While teaching Kirika the ropes, Mimi and Momo, Manager and I were practically running around taking care of the register, restocking shelves, and just generally swamped.
The customers… as dawn broke, a larger group than expected arrived!
At first, passersby, merchants, and even the little cat-eared folk just stopped and watched from a distance.
Then Radcliff and his group bought bentos and started a little skit in front of the store, saying, “This convenience store bento is delicious, delicious”…
The travelers, who always provide security along the road and are familiar faces, saw Radcliff and his group happily buying and eating delicious-looking food, so they became curious and started shopping too.
However, the momentum was beyond expectations… one person turned into ten, twenty… thirty.
In no time, the store became so crowded that it felt small, as busy as peak season.
I stopped counting the cumulative number of customers after 100.
With only Manager and myself effectively able to work, it was about to become a killingly busy situation.
But Kirika learned her job faster than I expected and started delegating tasks to Mimi and Momo, so by lunchtime, the line at the register wasn’t circling the store anymore.
The reason for this congestion was that all the passing travelers began to linger in the area, attracting more people.
In short, everyone who passed through this road and came to this convenience store stopped moving.
It was like a kind of crowd-induced traffic jam…
From around 3 PM, fewer new people arrived, and the customer flow calmed down, giving Manager and me a moment to breathe.
Still, this cat-eared and cat-tailed beastkin body… it’s clearly tougher than my original human body.
I was darting around like a spinning top, standing for almost half a day without much rest, yet I still felt like I had plenty of energy.
It felt like I’d returned to my teens or twenties… this is great!
Naturally, Manager and the other girls were running around without showing any signs of fatigue.
Eventually, I got tired too, so I lay down on the grass outside the store.
Since I didn’t even have time to eat lunch, I was awkwardly munching on a meat bun.
In this jungle-like area… I was worried about bugs and ants, but Radcliff and his group were just sitting cross-legged on the ground, and they said they just brushed off any bugs that climbed on them.
Also, the area around the convenience store had become a clearing of sorts.
Because so many people had gathered, Radcliff and the travelers voluntarily helped each other, clearing away the trees and weeds around the store to create the open space.
Well, there are still stumps and the ground is uneven, but it should settle after it rains, and the airflow has improved, so it’s very appreciated.
Incidentally, Kirika, sensing an opportunity now that she’d learned all her tasks, suggested that Manager and I take a short break, and we happily accepted.
Manager was lying down next to me, stretched out, eating a fried chicken stick. It seems she really liked the fried chicken.
Eating while lying down might be bad manners… but eating while resting my body… I think it’s efficient?
Incidentally, it’s almost evening now.
I had placed our orders last night, so the lunchtime delivery arrived as scheduled.
The driver for lunch was not Wakako, but an unfamiliar young male driver.
As usual, he just said, “No need to be particular about the details…” and left with an exceptionally bright smile.
Incidentally, deliveries are scheduled three times a day.
Around 6 AM, 2 PM, and 10 PM.
However, the order quantities were based on the previous store’s forecasts, so it’s all over the place now.
For now, the items that sell like crazy are selling out, but the items that don’t sell are piling up.
Specifically, bentos, bread, onigiri, and hot snacks sold in huge quantities.
Alcohol and tobacco were also very popular.
Drinks, cup noodles, snacks, and sweets weren’t selling as well.
Well, it seems the reason was simply that these things don’t exist in this world, and people are hesitant to try unfamiliar items.
It’s also likely that people didn’t have time to explain each product, and items that gained popularity through word-of-mouth among customers sold disproportionately well.
From the afternoon onwards, those who had developed a taste for the alcohol started buying in bulk, and it seemed like drinking parties were starting to form.
It appears these people intend to spend the night here.
However, for long journeys, the basic routine is to start early in the morning, finish the day’s travel by early afternoon, prepare for camping, eat after dark, and then sleep while taking turns on watch.
For foot travel, the actual walking time is only about 5-6 hours… the rest of the time is spent cooking at the campsite, eating, and sleeping.
Therefore, the daily travel distance is limited to about 20 km… a leisurely pace.
A non-stop march for a whole day is not done unless it’s wartime in the military… and even then, night marches are out of the question.
It’s not impossible, but about half the soldiers would get injured, lost, or collapse from exhaustion.
After all, walking is done on your own two feet, so getting injured or sick from overexertion can be life-threatening.
Even when using carriages or pack animals, they are living creatures, and you can’t push them too hard… that’s why people travel at a leisurely pace with plenty of time… that’s how it is.
If you find a town or village with delicious food and a comfortable place to rest, you might stay there for a while… it’s a truly slow life.
The men having drinking parties were also joining other groups, starting bartering, and exchanging information about our products, like “that was delicious,” or “what do you recommend?”
There seem to be many merchants, so maybe I should join them later with a bottle of alcohol and conduct surveys or ask for advice.
Incidentally, the customer base was surprisingly normal.
Apparently, there is a temple nearby dedicated to a goddess of light called Raterum, and for some reason, her followers had been visiting as a group for several days following some divine revelation.
And just as that group was leaving, they discovered this convenience store, and they all became customers… that seems to be the situation.
Perhaps because it was a grueling pilgrimage after a journey with women and children, everyone bought things with joy, and it seemed they were planning to camp here tonight.
Incidentally, when such a group travels, they have many expenses, so merchants accompany them, or travelers tag along for safety reasons, joining the group… for these reasons, the group had grown to about 200 people.
That’s why more people than usual gathered here.
Thanks to that, our convenience store surroundings have become like a high-season campground or Everest Base Camp.
Still, it feels like things have gone a little too perfectly… don’t you think?
In fact, some members of the pilgrimage group seemed to have heard a divine revelation from the goddess.
Apparently, last night they received another revelation saying a great shop had opened, so it would be good to stop by on your way back tomorrow… or something like that.
Hmm… given the situation, that Raterum might be the white thing Manager was talking about…
I don’t really understand what she wants us to do, but… is the advertisement a form of apology?
Incidentally, since pricing things was becoming a hassle, I decided to try using the barcode scanner on the register, and it displayed the local price, so I decided to sell them at that price.
However, sometimes other merchants or Kirika would advise me that the price was too low, and I would adjust it.
For some reason, things like potato chips are priced at 5 copper coins, and people don’t seem to mind, saying they are rare and worth that much. They even said that beer should be priced around 10 copper coins.
Radcliff and his group seemed to realize they were being overcharged for their bentos, but since they were accustomed to Kirika, they just gave a wry smile… he’s so dapper and gentlemanly.
A man among men… what a handsome dog-eared guy.
Incidentally, since Radcliff and his group turned it into a festival-like atmosphere, they also imposed entry restrictions on the store, and with a large number of groups camping nearby, they agreed to stay here for a while and provide security.
However, Kirika seemed to take advantage of this, making them do tasks like restocking shelves and guiding the horse-drawn carriages.
“Fuuuuh! Master… that was a lot, wasn’t it? Manager is really tired too.”
Manager got up and smiled brightly.
There was a stray piece of fried chicken on her cheek, so I brushed it off, and she gave me a radiant smile again.
What a cute child… really.
“Yeah… wow, you’re amazing, Manager! You understood what to do without me even having to teach you anything, which was a huge help.”
I also got up and stretched my arms wide… even though I only lay down for a bit, my fatigue was completely gone.
I lamented about not having any cheats, but considering this sturdy body, isn’t it already a cheat?
Yeah, hooray for cat ears!
Incidentally, Manager was a top-tier recruit, someone who proactively moved without being told, like a seasoned veteran part-timer.
Her performance was on par with the former part-time leader Wakako, or even a high-rank dispatch warrior directly from Headquarters! Wonderful!
“Nya-ha-ha! Manager has always been watching Master et al. work! I always wanted to help, nya…!”
Saying that, she bumped her head against my shoulder… *thump*.
A cat’s expression of affection… a mysterious headbutt.
This just proves they are cats.
If you want, you can even lick me like you usually do.
Incidentally, the claim that people only walk 5-6 hours a day on foot is actually true.
Travel in the Edo period was generally like that, and people who do long-distance hiking often have a similar pace.
You shouldn’t push yourself on long walking trips.
Walking for one day and still feeling like you can walk more is just right.
Incidentally, there are stories of the Roman Empire or Napoleon covering 100km a day on foot… but those are quite exceptional cases.
In reality, if an organization can advance more than 6km a day, it’s considered excellent.
Being able to cover distances of 20km or 30km puts them in the elite category.
