"Ah, that was some good shopping. I'll be back again!"

"Thank you very much!"

With the last customer of the day seen off by the three of us, I flipped the sign at the entrance from "Open" to "Closed."

"Ahhh, I'm so tired!"

"I can't move anymore…"

"Fia's exhaustion is understandable, but Tetsuya, shouldn't you work on building up your stamina a bit more?"

Unlike us, Lilia still seemed energetic. Back in my original world, I thought I had decent stamina, but I clearly wasn't prepared for this much physical labor. Stocking shelves and attending to customers takes a lot out of you.

"You're right; I should have prepared better… Anyway, thank you both so much for today! Thanks to your hard work, we got through this all-important first day of the shop!"

"Yeah, I'm glad everything went smoothly. But I have to say, running a shop is more challenging than taking on adventuring jobs. Interacting with customers while keeping guard isn't easy, especially with just one arm."

"No, Lilia, your customer service was flawless. You're always polite and composed, and you handled everything perfectly. Balancing that with security duties? That’s top-notch!"

"I-Is that so? Then I'm relieved."

"Ugh… I just caused problems for you, Tetsuya… I’m sorry for all my mistakes today."

"Fia, you were great too! It's only natural to make mistakes on such a busy day. What matters is that you learn from them and improve little by little. By the end of the day, you had things down perfectly, and your interactions with customers were excellent!"

"R-Really?"

"Absolutely. You smiled and answered customer questions kindly. You two really made a difference today. Things will probably stay busy for a little while, but it should calm down in a week or so. I hope you can bear with it until then."

"Got it! Fia will do her best!"

"Yes, I’ll give it my all too!"

I was truly grateful to have them with me. Though today was hectic and we kept customers waiting at times, I expected things to settle down soon. If not, I might need to hire one or two more employees.

"But still, Tetsuya, you’re incredible! Despite the rush, you stayed calm and handled every little problem. I’m impressed by how you managed it all."

"Yeah! Even when Fia made a mistake with the change, Tetsuya noticed right away, even while helping another customer. It’s amazing!"

"…Unfortunately, I have my experience in the corporate world back in my original world to thank for that. Not that I’d ever feel grateful for it!"

It’s a bitter truth that my time working for a soul-sucking company actually prepared me for this. Corporate jobs teach you to stay composed, multitask, and tackle problems quickly. But I’ll never thank that black company for anything!

"Anyway, thanks again for your hard work, you two! Oh, speaking of which, the Guildmaster Rizac gave us some premium ingredients as a shop-opening gift. Let’s have that together—I'm starving after such a long day!"

"Fia’s stomach is empty too!"

Although it was still early evening, my stomach was already growling. We’d only had a light lunch, and the day’s work had burned through all my energy.

The bouquet of flowers we received as a gift from Roya and the others was arranged in vases and displayed near the shop entrance. The meat Rizac brought was already upstairs, waiting to be cooked. I’d have to thank them properly later.

"So, what kind of ingredients did the Guildmaster bring?"

"Let’s see… I think he said it was Danama Bear meat. Apparently, he hunted it himself."

"Danama Bear meat? That’s a highly prized ingredient! It’s not something you can find around here. He must have gone far afield to bring it back."

"Really? I’ll need to express my gratitude next time. He also mentioned that thanks to our compasses, fewer adventurers are getting lost in the forest."

"That makes sense. With a compass, adventurers are less likely to lose their way. The Adventurers' Guild must really appreciate your shop."

"I’m glad I could help people like Roya and his team, even a little. Speaking of them, they also gave us a lovely bouquet to celebrate the opening. I plan to thank them properly and ask how they’re finding the products they’ve bought from us."

"Good idea. As an ex-adventurer myself, I can say their insights as active adventurers will be invaluable."

"Exactly. So next time, we’ll invite them—"

Grrrrr

"Hyaaa!"

Fia’s stomach growled loudly, cutting me off mid-sentence. Right, as important as reflecting on the day and planning ahead is, filling our bellies comes first.

"Sorry, sorry. Anyway, great job today, both of you! We didn’t get to eat much at lunch, so let’s start with a good meal!"