Chapter 47
Chapter 47
The next day was hectic.
The New Year’s Imperial Ball would begin in two weeks.
From that time on, even though I came to the capital to sell ice cream, I had to pay attention to the imperial events.
And from then on, I needed to focus not only on street sales, but also on promotion centered around the nobility.
For that reason, I didn’t have much time.
“Hello, miss!”
“Are you really going to sell ice cream?”
That’s why I was setting up an ice cream stand on the street, wrapped in a long magician’s robe.
I crudely drew an ice cream picture on a wooden sign and took out the pre-baked waffles.
Two children stood next to me, fidgeting and starting to talk.
“Why are you wearing a robe today?”
“Because I’m too pretty, and it might cause a commotion.”
“Isn’t it good if people talk about you?”
“Not right now.”
It was already rumored here and there that Irina Seike was working with Luwin.
If I were seen selling ice cream on the street, Luwin would surely be criticized too.
At least until things were somewhat settled, Luwin shouldn’t be involved.
That’s why I was wearing this robe.
The robe was a magician’s robe given to me by Luka.
Perhaps because it was enchanted, it was pleasantly warm.
I drew an ice cream picture on the stand along with the price of 3 jurang each, then crossed it out in red and wrote ‘Free!’
After that, I returned to my spot.
[Isn’t that too cheap?]
‘It’s the first time. And we’re not officially selling yet.’
I planned to set the price later when I started full-scale activities.
Since I hadn’t properly sourced the ingredients yet, it was impossible to calculate the cost.
‘And today, since it’s the first day, I’ll give them out for free.’
I first handed each of the children an ice cream waffle.
They awkwardly accepted the ice cream, not knowing how to eat it at first.
But soon they got the hang of it and started devouring the crispy waffle along with the ice cream.
“Miss Irina… is this really okay?”
“Yeah, there aren’t many customers.”
And of course, not a single customer came.
[Irina, is this really okay…?]
It seemed no one was interested in this new ice cream dessert.
I wondered if I should have set up the stand more professionally.
“Would you like to try some ice cream? It’s a newly developed ice cream waffle. A high-class dessert.”
“Hello, would you like to try an ice cream waffle?”
Only after I started forcibly handing out freshly made ice cream waffles to people on the street did I manage to “sell” about ten.
[You didn’t even sell them!]
‘Hmph.’
[Is our Irina going to fail again like this?]
‘Everyone’s so mean. No one takes them even when I’m giving them out for free.’
I had been so confident when I was pestering Apple earlier.
What should I do now?
I started to worry, holding my head in my hands under the robe, making a ‘hmm’ sound.
“Um, Miss Irina.”
“Yes? What is it, Yuri?”
“Well, since this is near the theater, there usually aren’t many people in the morning, but it gets busier in the evening.”
He stuttered as he tried to comfort me, who was looking dejected.
I burst out laughing at the sight of this young child trying to console me.
“Is that so? That’s a relief then.”
Yen Kavitz seemed to be running around trying to promote in various places, but he wasn’t having much success.
Yuri glanced at Yen once and then whispered to me.
“There’s still some time until evening. Would it be okay if I touched up the stand a bit?”
“The stand?”
“Yes!”
I looked back at my crude stand.
It was just a plain wooden table with a long pole extending upwards from the tabletop, where a sign was attached.
The sign was left blank as I didn’t have the time or ability to decorate it.
Whatever Yuri did would probably be better than the current state.
“If you do that, I’d be grateful.”
So Yuri started working on the entire stand, including the sign and the standing sign, splashing paint here and there.
Next to him were a few unsold newspapers.
‘I’ll have to pay for those newspapers.’
While I left the sign to Yuri, I went back to forcibly handing out ice cream waffles to people on the street.
“Hello, sir. Have you ever tried ice cream?”
“…No.”
“Would you like to try some then? This cook from the north has successfully developed ‘ice cream’ using special ingredients only found in the north.”
At first, people were perplexed, but when Yen Kavitz smoothly appeared and started talking to them, they would eat it pleasantly and disappear down the street.
He was so good with words that he could charm men by appealing to their masculinity, and he flattered women by calling them “lady” this and “lady” that.
“Would you ladies like to try some ice cream as smooth as your fair skin?”
“Oh my.”
“It’s made with milk cream, so it’s very smooth. When you bite into it with the warm, crispy waffle, the combination is exquisite.”
He truly had a natural talent.
“Yen, you said you didn’t have anywhere to work, right?”
“Haha. Are you going to hire me?”
“Yes. Want to work with me?”
Yen Kavitz grinned and picked up a tray with five vanilla ice cream waffles lined up.
“You’ve only given out about fifty for free so far. Can you really afford to hire me?”
And it wasn’t even sales, just free distribution.
Then he approached a group of academy students in uniforms not far away.
“…”
When Yen spoke to them, I could hear the laughter of the academy students, who were mostly from noble and wealthy families.
They each gladly took an ice cream waffle.
Even as they ate, they chatted with Yen, and it looked quite enjoyable.
“See? I’m pretty amazing.”
“It seems so.”
“Can you really afford to hire me with just this much?”
“Hmm.”
As I was pondering for a moment, I heard the familiar ‘ding’ of a system notification.
[SYSTEM | The quest ‘Hire Minion 2’ has arrived.]
[SYSTEM | The ‘Hire Minion 2’ quest is linked to the ‘Ice Cream Selling Girl’ quest.]
[‘Hire Minion 2’
Yen Kavitz, the best hawker with a natural talent for attracting people’s attention.
He is a living legend of the Fahir District newspaper company.
If you hire him, selling ice cream doesn’t seem like it would be too difficult.
Of course, Irina will need to lay a good foundation.
To hire ‘Yen Kavitz’, you need steady sales from the ‘Ice Cream Waffle’ street stall.
Let’s try to achieve daily sales of 1,000 jurang by selling ice cream at the street stall.
Reward: Minion 2]
The ‘Ice Cream Selling Girl’ quest was about trying to earn ‘10,000 jurang’ by selling ice cream.
“Then if I earn enough to satisfy you, will you work with me?”
“Yes. There’s no reason not to.”
He turned his gaze to Yuri, who was busy drawing.
Yuri’s work-in-progress looked very plausible.
The sign painted in vibrant pink and yellow with a large, appetizing ice cream drawing on top looked like it would catch the eye even from a distance.
“It seems my dear little brother has completely fallen for the lady.”
Saying that, he sighed deeply and shook his head.
It seems ‘Minion 1’ is not Yen Kavitz, but Yuri.
I turned my attention back to Yuri’s work.
In just a short time, the quality of Yuri’s work had improved significantly.
Even without adding any particularly complex techniques, he had created an effective sign with color and simplified lines.
“He’s incredibly talented.”
“If anything, you should hire him instead of me. Rather than me.”
“I’m already planning to hire Yuri.”
He’s already my minion recognized by the system, after all.
“Um, miss… I finished it like this because time was short, but what do you think?”
As soon as we hung the colorful sign on the stand with the help of the system, I saw fireworks going off above. It was a system effect.
[SYSTEM | Congratulations on opening ‘Irina Seike’s’ first store!]
[SYSTEM | With the store opening effect, ‘Store Skills’ have been unlocked in addition to ‘Irina Seike’s’ personal skills.]
“Wow…”
[Haa, Irina, how is it?]
[These are the skills we’ve been preparing for a long time.]
“Really…”
It’s really crude.
Just how many skills are there?
Now, just opening my system window showed all sorts of functions, skills, and quests stuck all over it.
It felt like looking at a game that had failed miserably in its planning, adding necessary features here and there while operating the game.
‘To think I’d be transmigrated into such a failed game.’
[What do you mean, a failed game…!]
‘Failed game.’
[Take that back!]
‘Failed.’
[Hey!]
Still, since they said they’d give me skills, I decided to accept them with a ‘Thank you~’.
‘I’ll look at the detailed functions later. I need to praise my cute Minion 1 to boost his morale.’
Pushing the system window far away, the first thing I did was to put an ice cream waffle in the hand of Yuri, who was looking up at me with a tense face.
“Our Yuri! You’re really talented! Have you ever learned to draw like this somewhere?”
“No…”
“Then how are you so good at it? This is real talent! Starting from this color combination to the simple line drawings.”
Yuri completely erased his anxious look and started eating the ice cream with a ‘hehe’ smile.
As I wiped the ice cream smeared on his cheek, he lowered his head and answered.
“It’s quite rough because I didn’t have much time…”
“It’s already amazing!”
“I’ll complete it more perfectly by tomorrow!”
“This is just a temporary stand, it seems too wasteful…”
It was a stand that we’d use for two weeks at the shortest, two months at the longest, and moreover, it wasn’t even being done in Luwin’s name but anonymously, so it felt a bit wasteful.
It was literally just a place to gauge how the public would receive the ice cream, which is why it was prepared so hastily.
Yuri shook his head at my words.
“I’m doing it because I enjoy it…!”
“If Yuri takes charge of it, I’d be very grateful. Can I ask you to do it then?”
“Yes!”
As I was calculating the cost of the newspapers and decorating the stand, Yen approached me.
“The play is about to end.”
“Oh, is it?”
“Customers will pour out, so please prepare lots of ice cream.”
So I started churning out ‘ice cream waffles’ like an ice cream factory, and as Yen said, not long after, people started pouring out of the theater.
The ice cream sales (?) performance was…
“It looks promising!”
It was incredible.
