Chapter 48

Chapter 48

The people coming from the theater were generally in a generous mood.

So it wasn’t surprising that they became interested in the colorful stand they encountered right after leaving the theater, and that this interest led to ice cream purchases.

The ice cream was a huge hit, even though it had only been a day.

Of course, this could have been because it was free. 

But it wasn’t just that; many people asked about the name of this new dessert called “ice cream,” how it was made, and where else they could get it.

“You’re planning to sell the ice cream for 3 jurang, right?”

“Yes, for now.”

“I’ve told people who asked where they could get it and why it’s free that we’ll start selling it for 3 jurang from tomorrow.”

As expected of Yen Kavitz. 

My future Minion 2. 

I’m proud.

I was very… pleased with him, as he made judgments and acted on them without needing to be told.

[It seems like working with Yen would make things much easier.]

[In the long run, we might be able to entrust him with a large part of the business.]

Those are things we’ll have to see, but I’m considering them positively as well.

“People seemed… very interested in the new dessert.”

Yen muttered, seeming a bit surprised.

“Even though it’s just a cheap dessert given out for free on the street, nobles and wealthy people, everyone showed interest.”

Oh. 

It would be quite troublesome if only they showed interest. 

I grabbed him and asked.

“What? Only nobles? What about the commoners? How were the ordinary people?”

“Those… those people naturally liked it too. Adults and children alike seemed very interested.”

That’s a relief. 

Then my mysterious cold dessert had a high probability of appealing to all classes.

Satisfied with today’s harvest, I turned my attention to Yuri. 

Yuri was hovering around the stand he had made, touching this and that as if regretful.

“Yuri.”

“Yes?”

To the child who turned around startled, I took out a pouch from my pocket.

It was money I had retrieved through the system.

“You did a great job today. This includes payment for the stand and sign you made today, your labor, and the cost of the newspapers you should have sold today.”

“Th-thank you.”

Yuri looked at me for a while before finally reaching out to take the money pouch. 

He opened his eyes wide, seemingly surprised by its weight.

Alright, the kid is taken care of. 

Now back to Yen Kavitz. 

I turned my attention to my second minion.

He was looking at me with a slightly ambiguous expression.

Despite being much younger than me, and even having less than me who had gone bankrupt, he seemed to be testing me.

“Yen.”

“…Yes.”

“Are you busy tomorrow?”

“Well…”

Yen Kavitz took a step back at first. 

I liked his composure, even though we both knew he had nothing going on.

This type of person usually ends up being beneficial if you keep them around.

“I’m going to start selling directly from tomorrow. 

Want to help?”

“What about the pay?”

“From 1 PM to 10:30 PM. You can adjust your hours freely within that time. The daily wage is 200 jurang.”

Yen inadvertently let out an “Oh” of admiration, as if the amount was better than he expected. He quickly managed his expression to erase any sign that he had shown he liked it.

“That’s too little.”

‘I saw right through you, minion.’

I laughed “Haha” and immediately followed up.

“Then 100 jurang.”

“What?”

He seemed flustered by the suddenly slashed amount.

[Gasp, 100 jurang for ten hours of work…! Hmm. Not bad for the cost of living here.]

[Right. It’s not great, but it’s not bad either.]

And it would be much better than his original newspaper selling job. 

After all, selling something on the street is the same.

However, perhaps because he liked the amount I initially offered, he seemed unable to get his bearings.

“What, you don’t like it?”

“It’s not that.”

“I heard you barely made 50 jurang selling newspapers all day.”

At my words, Yen Kavitz seemed to get upset.

“Look, even if you’re a noble, Miss Irina…”

“The daily wage is 100 jurang. Plus, I’ll give you 3 jurang for every ten sold.”

Yen looked up at me with a slightly blank face, as if he couldn’t follow my words.

The meaning of 3 jurang for every ten meant 30 jurang for 100, 90 jurang for 300.

Just looking at Yen’s expression, I could see his brain working hard.

“That’s not a lot of money.”

“Think about it carefully, Yen.”

“Yes.”

“If you sell 300, that’s 90 jurang.”

It’s only 10 jurang less than the 200 jurang I had initially offered.

Yen rebutted my answer with a choked voice.

“There’s no guarantee that I’ll sell 300.”

Yen Kavitz, on the first day when no one had heard about it, practically distributed almost 300 by himself.

And it wasn’t just handing them out; he sold them while promoting how mysterious and amazing this ice cream dessert was, and that it would be sold for 3 jurang from tomorrow.

“Then do you want to work for just 200 jurang?”

“What?”

“You might sell 1,000 in a day, or you might only sell ten. No one knows.”

I could see him swallowing hard.

“If you sell 1,000, you can get an additional 300 jurang.”

“…”

“You choose. Whether you want to receive a flat 200 jurang daily wage, or 100 jurang plus extra based on your sales.”

I could see Yen pondering hard. 

While waiting for his answer, Yuri, who had been quietly watching our conversation, scurried over to me.

“Um, Miss Irina?”

“What is it, Yuri?”

“This is too much money. I didn’t do that much work…”

I stroked Yuri’s brown hair speckled with blond strands. 

As I stroked his hair, I was a bit surprised.

[Why, why?]

‘…It’s clean.’

Although it wasn’t managed with good cosmetics or anything, there were clear signs of effort to maintain cleanliness.

“No, Yuri. If you hadn’t decorated it so beautifully, no one would have paid attention.”

“But this is too much…”

Yuri, not knowing what to do, seemed to make a decision and grabbed me, saying:

“Then, can I decorate that stand a bit more?”

“It’s already pretty enough, isn’t it?”

“I can make it even prettier! If I just have a bit more time, I can make it much prettier!”

“Then, will you do that?”

I took out some coins from my pocket and dropped them into the child’s hand.

“This is for materials. I’ll give you plenty, so if there’s any left over, buy something delicious to eat.”

“But this is really fine…”

“No. Do your best to make it. Understood?”

Although the system has given me Yuri as ‘Minion 1’, I think I’ll need to decide what to do after seeing what he makes tomorrow.

‘Anyway, design is part of effective marketing.’

[You’ve found a designer, our Irina.]

‘It’s one of the core aspects of branding.’

I was right to come to the capital. 

Humming a tune, I turned to Yen, who still seemed to be pondering.

“Yen, are you still thinking about it?”

“…”

“I heard you sold 10,000 newspapers by yourself.”

If he sells 10,000 ice creams by himself, that’s 3,000 jurang.

Unlike Yuri’s, Yen’s hair was patchy brown, seemingly unwashed properly.

I heard they were living together, though.

‘Yen seems to be a much better person than he appears.’

I could guess that Yen had been sacrificing himself to raise his brother, who wasn’t even related by blood.

‘…’

[Our Irina is weak to this kind of thing.]

[This is bad, this is bad.]

Yen, as if he had made some decision, boldly proposed:

“It might be presumptuous, but I’d like to add one condition.”

“Oh, I like that kind of presumption.”

“If I… if I perform to your satisfaction, please hire me.”

I blinked.

“I’m already hiring you, aren’t I?”

Yen shook his head.

“You’re not going to sell ice cream for long, right?”

“No, I’m going to sell it for a long time.”

“You’re not going to sell it here for long, right?”

“Well, that’s true.”

He looked a bit anxious.

“So, please hire me regardless of where you open an ice cream shop in the future.”

Yen Kavitz was truly remarkable. 

And I liked him.

Even if he didn’t perform to my satisfaction, I’d be willing to take him along.

‘I really like him.’

[You like him?]

‘Yes. He’s got guts. To work with me, you need that kind of courage.’

I much preferred someone with such a strong backbone over someone who was always conscious of nobility and such, following etiquette and formalities.

[Why?]

‘Because the path I’m going to take will be unprecedented.’

Back when I was seriously growing the Seike Winery, I was a ‘strange’ person to everyone.

In the end, the people who stayed by my side until the end all had strong opinions of their own and were free from formalities and rules.

Even if they sometimes paid attention to formalities and rules, they were people who supported the ‘strange’ me and chose to become strange along with me.

[That’s right, our Irina is correct.]

‘Honestly, I don’t think I’m right. It’s not a matter of right or wrong in the first place.’

[…Can’t you just say it is?]

[That’s what we mean.]

I smiled slightly. 

Yen seemed to find my reaction a bit strange and took a step back.

‘I’m not sure if I’m right. But I’m certain that I will succeed.’

When presenting the proposition that ‘Irina Seike has been transmigrated into a game from 21st century Earth’, my greatest asset is not that I know the contents of the original work.

My greatest asset is that I come from a world where capitalism rules and the class system has been abolished.

‘That’s what will make me different from ordinary people.’

[Hmm, not our existence?]

‘No.’

I stopped my conversation with the system and extended my hand to Yen, who looked a bit tense. 

He seemed a bit flustered by my action. 

I grasped his hand for a handshake and said:

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

And so, I ended up temporarily employing both Yen and Yuri.