"Sorry to keep you waiting. Tonight's dinner is gukbap."

"What is gukbap?"

"To put it simply, it's a dish of soup and rice."

In Korean barbecue restaurants, you often find dishes like galbi gukbap. "Galbi" refers to short ribs, while "guk" means soup, and "bap" means rice in Korean. In other words, it's a dish combining short ribs, soup, and rice.

"Hmm, it smells so good! Looks like there's a lot of stuff in it."

"Yep, I used instant egg soup, wakame rice, and mixed in some meat and vegetables."

After a hectic week of starting sales for new products, I managed to get through it, and today I’m enjoying a leisurely day off. Thinking about the busy days starting again tomorrow is a bit of a downer.

...Yeah, in this world, most shops are either open every day or have only one day off a week, but I’m really glad I decided to make my shop a two-day-off-a-week business. Having two days off makes a huge difference compared to just one.

"Whoa! This is delicious!"

"Yeah, who would've thought that soup and rice would taste like this together!"

"The combination of soup and rice is pretty nice, right? Oh, and I also have a slightly spicy seasoning here, so you can try adding it for an extra kick."

The dish is made with instant egg soup and freeze-dried wakame rice. While many gukbap dishes tend to be spicy, I personally prefer the non-spicy versions.

Thanks to being able to purchase instant soups, freeze-dried rice, and stick-shaped noodles, the variety of meals I can prepare has increased dramatically. Lately, I've been having fun experimenting with different combinations to recreate dishes from my original world.

Lilia always enjoys the food with a happy smile, and Lange has been helping out at the outdoor shop this week, so he’s been eating here too. Seeing the two of them savor my cooking makes me pretty happy as well.

"Phew~ That was delicious. I feel a bit sad thinking that I won’t get to eat your food from tomorrow, Tetsuya..."

Lange is leaving for another town tomorrow morning. Personally, I’ll miss having him around since he can chill drinks with magic, and besides, meals are always better enjoyed with more people.

"I'm glad to hear that. You’ve been a great help this week, Lange. I’ll prepare some meals to store in your inventory magic and give you some stick-shaped noodles and other stuff before you leave."

"Thanks, I appreciate it!"

As expected, the new products—stick-shaped noodles and nutritional food—were incredibly popular, and we had quite a lot of customers. Having Lange around was a lifesaver this week. Even though he said it was his first time doing customer service, he adapted quickly, probably thanks to his previous experience. ...Still, how old is Lange, anyway?

"You’re launching new products again the week after next, right? If you’d like, I can help out again."

"Really? If you’re around, Lange, that’d be a huge help."

"Indeed. It’s always hectic right after launching new products. Having Lange here makes things much easier."

Next week might be calmer compared to this one, but as soon as we launch new products, customers will start lining up again. Having Lange around, like this week, would be a great help.

"Sure, I don’t mind. I actually found the shop work pretty interesting. Maybe I’ll split my time between adventurer jobs and helping out here for a while."

Wow, that’d really be a big help. But is that okay? I paid Lange the same as the others for helping out at the outdoor shop this week, but compared to what a B-rank adventurer earns, it must be peanuts...

"Also, I’ve got a date planned with a girl I met this week here in town next week!"

"......"

...Yep, Lange is just Lange. He doesn’t seem to care much about money and only takes on jobs he’s interested in. In a way, that’s what makes him a typical adventurer.

...And no, I’m not jealous of him getting to go on a date with a girl or anything. Just a tiny bit, maybe.

"This week will be busier than last week since Lange isn’t here, but let’s give it our best!"

"Got it!"

"Yeah!"

"Yes!"

And so, a new week begins. With Lange gone, it’s bound to be busier than last week. There are still plenty of customers lining up to buy stick-shaped noodles and nutritional food, so we’ll need to work hard.

To compensate for being one person short, we decided to reduce the number of staff organizing the line outside the shop. Regular customers already know how the line works, so it should be fine.

When one person enters the shop, the next customer outside simply steps in. This way, there’s no need for someone to guide them. Let’s work hard this week!

"Thank you very much!"

We safely sent off the last customer of the week. As expected, a lot of people came to buy the new products—stick-shaped noodles and nutritional food. While there were some minor disputes among customers waiting in line outside, there weren’t any major issues, and the week ended without trouble.

With Lange gone, things were definitely busier. However, thanks to the improved outdoor shop abilities, I can now purchase products like stick-shaped noodles and nutritional food, which are bound to remain popular.

Next week, we’ll launch new products and start selling the copied maps through the Adventurers’ Guild. It looks like it’s going to be another busy week.