“Sorry to trouble you both on your day off.”

“Not at all, Mr. Tetsuya. If anything, we should apologize for always getting treated to your delicious food.”

“We’re always being taken care of, so if it's helping out like this, just say the word.”

The day after temporarily closing the shop, I came to the market this morning with Angel and Dolph to do some shopping. Everyone already had their hands full with the many ingredients we bought at the market.

“Still, it's been quite some time since you two started helping out at the shop. I remember when we first opened, every day was insanely busy. Brings back memories.”

Of course, Lilia was with us as well, accompanying us as a guard while we shopped.

“Yeah, I get really nostalgic thinking about the time we used to sell compasses at the food stalls. When we finally got the shop up and running, it was just crazy busy. You two really helped us a lot by coming to work at the shop.”

Back then, even though we had few products and not many customers, it was just me, Fia, and Lilia, so we were really swamped. After the outdoor shop started being accepted by beginner adventurers, I hired Dolph, and then I was able to hire Angel. That was a huge help.

“We were the lucky ones, getting hired at your place. And for Angel too—Mr. Tetsuya, I'm truly grateful.”

“Yes. And I'm really sorry for all the trouble I caused you and Miss Lilia back then. I’m also very thankful.”

“You really saved us back when Angel was being stalked. If I’d been more reliable, I wouldn’t have caused so much trouble for everyone...”

“As long as we both feel that way, it’s all good. Let’s keep working well together from here on.”

Thanks to those two good-looking employees joining, we also started getting a lot of customers who came just to see them.

And Dolph, thanks to his “training,” was able to stay calm even when Angel served male customers. At first, he would glare daggers at them... yeah, that was rough.

...Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to that stalker guy? In this world, I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up doing hard labor in a mine. Well, he brought it on himself, so I don't really care.

“Alright, that should be enough food. Let’s head out of town.”

We walked around the market buying vegetables, meat, fish, and other ingredients together. These weren’t for the trip to the royal capital in two days, but for a barbecue we were having today by the riverside just outside Al-Flare.

“Tetsuya, I’m starving already!”

“Big brother Tetsuya, I’ve got everything ready!”

“Thanks for waiting. Oh, the fire’s already started. In that case, let’s start grilling the stuff that cooks fast.”

We arrived at the same place where we had our last group barbecue. Lange and the others had already brought over tables and chairs using storage magic and had everything set up.

It was still before noon, and the rest of the group wasn’t scheduled to arrive for a while, but it should be fine to start grilling and eating the easy stuff first. That’s one of the perks of being part of the prep team.

“Thank you for coming today, Ms. Rea.”

“No, thank you for inviting me.”

Fia’s mother, Ms. Rea, was here with us today as well.

Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to join us for the upcoming trip to the royal capital in two days. Well, for ordinary people, it’s not easy to take one or two weeks off work. I wish this world had summer and winter vacations too.

“Thank you all for coming today. Thanks to everyone’s help, we were able to move the outdoor shop to a larger location. I’ll be counting on you all going forward. Now, cheers!”

“““Cheers!”””

Glasses clinked together, and everyone downed their drinks. No need for a long speech on an occasion like this, but I had to at least say this much—it’s thanks to everyone that I was able to come to this world and run a big store.

“Pwah~ that’s good stuff!”

This time too, Rizac and Gregor brought some fancy alcohol and juice, and Lange chilled them with his magic. It's definitely better than the stuff I usually drink.

“Oh wow, this is delicious!”

“Yes, it really is!”

Today’s barbecue guests included our shop employees who had joined last time, Roya and the others, Miss Ferry and Miss Berna, the two from the Adventurers’ Guild, Albera from the inn, and our neighbors Mr. Brymon and Mrs. Madlet.

We’d given them notice well in advance, so they arranged their days off to coincide with today.

“It’s going to feel lonely without you, Mr. Tetsuya…”

“Yes, truly…”

“We’re still living in the same town, so feel free to drop by. We have these little get-togethers now and then—please come by again if you have the time.”

Though the new shop will be a bit farther away than the current one, we’re still in the same town, so we’ll definitely meet again soon. And since their pickled vegetables are super tasty, I’ll be bringing some yokan and dropping in from time to time.