by SOW
Goods need to be well made in order to sell. But effective sales technique is also necessary.
“Welcome to our bread stand! Please, have a look! We’re proud of every item for sale!♪”
Sven’s manner, which seemed almost like singing and dancing, attracted customers. She was an excellent salesperson. Within one hour, most of the bread was gone.
“I would say the results were most satisfactory!”
But her facial expression wasn’t victorious.
“Huh? You’re less pleased than I expected.”
“I would have expected no less from Master’s bread!”
Jacob was surprised.
“I wish that were all there was to this, but there’s more.”
It was too soon to fully judge the results.
“Those customers took bread home to eat, but there’s no point if they don’t want to buy more. People will gather once or twice just out of curiosity. What’s important is winning repeat customers.”
In order to make money from low-priced items, they had to snag regular patrons.
“We need to do this a few more times. So for our second visit, we’ll—”
“Why? Are you coming here again?”
An overweight man pushed forward from behind.
“You set up shop right in front of my store and it’s flourishing!”
The man was the owner of a general store just behind their booth.
“Huh? Do you want me to pay you some kind of fee?”
Sven frowned as she asked, but she removed her wallet from a pocket.
“I can’t offer much, but...”
She couldn’t afford to stir up trouble when they were still testing the waters. When it came to street sales, she expected the locals to make demands.
“No, no, no... That’s not what I meant.”
The man’s reaction was not what Sven had expected.
“Just gimme some bread. Here’s money for it.”
The man handed over a few copper coins as he picked up one of the leftover breads and began scarfing it down.
“This really does taste good! You must’ve used fine flour and put effort into baking it. I bet the person who made this is a very serious baker. You shouldn’t sell this so cheaply. What is this? Charity?”
After gobbling down the bread, the shop owner guffawed.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
The man didn’t seem hostile, but Sven was suspicious.
“Well... if you’re comin’ back to sell more, why don’t you do it in front of my shop again?”
“Huh?”
This was a surprisingly good deal for Tockerbrot.
“Can we? Won’t we interfere with your business?”
“No, I should say not!”
The man smiled toothily as he answered Jacob’s question.
“After people buy fine bread, they’ll want tea, coffee and milk! And sausage, ham and bacon are good ideas, too! And butter and jam are essential!”
“Oh, I see...”
Sven finally understood the man’s motive. His general store also sold food. The owner wanted Sven to lure the customers, which would generate profits for his store.
“If a pretty girl like you stands in front of my shop, I’ll make money just from the customers who spill over from your crowd. In fact, a fair number of customers waltzed into my shop just now!”
“You’re a skilled businessman.”
“In return, I won’t ask you to pay nothin’.”
“Hmm...”
Sven put her hand to her mouth and pondered the man’s suggestion.
When an outsider opens a business, sooner or later conflicts arise with the locals. If, however, they had a local store on their side from the beginning, they might avoid that risk.
“If you want, I could sell your bread in my store. And that’d turn a decent profit!”
“Oh!”
Yet another good deal!
“That’s an intriguing offer. Shall we discuss it in detail?”
“Yeah, good idea. Come on in. I’ll put on some tea for you!”
At last, Sven smiled back. In fine spirits, the man beckoned them into his store.
It appeared that this recon-in-force op would prove more fruitful for Tockerbrot than expected.
Meanwhile, back at Tockerbrot...
“Th-Thank you!”
Milly, left behind at the bakery, was seeing off a customer.
After three months of grueling training by Sven, she was almost capable of respectable customer service, but today something else was making her nervous.
“Tee-hee! You sure do look the part!”
“Urgh... Don’t tease me, Marlene!”
Milly looked embarrassed as she replied to Marlene, a nun from the church atop the hill where Milly lived.
“I’m not teasing. I helped here a few times, but you’re doing much better than I did!”
Since Sven and Jacob were away, Milly was the only one left to handle customer service. But since Milly was only 14 years old, Marlene had come to lend support.
“You should be proud of yourself. You’re working hard.”
Marlene’s sweet smile was less like that of a woman of God than it was of a proud big sister praising her younger sibling.
“Tee-hee!”
Milly was a little embarrassed. Her customer service wasn’t as polished as Sven’s, but her attitude showed dedication, and so far that appealed to the customers.
“Good job, you two. Sorry to leave you alone.”
Lud appeared from the back room. He held a tray bearing a fresh-baked pastry.
“A pie? That smells to-die-for!”
Milly’s eyes glistened at the sweet-and-sour smell of sugar and fruit.
“Yeah. I just baked a lemon pie. Want to taste it?”
“Y-Yes!”
Milly nodded her head vigorously at this unexpected treat.
“Well then, I’ll make tea. Where are the tea leaves?”
As Marlene reached for the tea on the shelf behind Lud, she pressed herself against the wall, obviously trying not to get too close to Lud.
“M-Marlene? What’s wrong?”
Lud was confused at the nun’s unusual behavior.
“Well, um... Sven said...”
Marlene had taken a liking to Lud, and although Lud hadn’t noticed, Sven had. Sven didn’t want Marlene getting any closer to her beloved master than necessary, and had given her specific boundaries.
“Sven told me to keep a one-meter distance from you.”
“What?!”
Lud didn’t know how to respond and looked bewildered.
“W-Well... shall we have tea anyway?”
For a change of pace, they decided to sit at one of the tables in the food court as they enjoyed teatime.
“Y-Yummy! S-Simply yummy!”
Milly’s eyes popped wide and she let out a delighted yelp after just one bite of the fresh lemon pie.
“This is really delicious!”
After she had taken a bite, Marlene marveled at the taste.
“Good. I’m glad you like it.”
“Y-You...”
Milly let out a cry, her mouth trembling as she pointed at Lud, who appeared happy that they liked the pie he had baked.
“Are you a wizard?!”
“Huh?”
Lud’s lemon pie was so delicious that Milly, who didn’t have much of a vocabulary, blurted out the absurd question in her excitement.
“I’m surprised... Lud, you’re even a master pie baker!”
“Well, there’s more to it than skill.” Lud blushed as he answered Marlene.
Bread and pie use the same flour. What differentiates them is that bread uses yeast to make it rise. But the process and ingredients of bread and pies are similar, so bakeries often sell both.
“Hey, Milly! Come here!”
Lud gestured to Milly, who was shoveling the pie in her mouth. He showed her a small wooden crate that was sitting
in the back of the shop.
“What’s this?”
“This is a refrigerator.”
Lud explained to Milly as he opened the double doors.
There was a chunk of ice on the upper shelf and a puff pastry on the lower shelf.
“When you make a pie, you knead butter into the dough. When you bake it, the butter in the dough boils, creating layers of air. That’s how it gets so crisp. In order to do that, the butter in the dough must stay solid until you put it in the oven. Therefore, it’s crucial to keep it cold in a refrigerator. In addition to the temperature of the oven, the temperature during preparation also affects how food tastes. Remember that.”
“O-Okay!”
Lud had baked the pie as a snack for the two of them because they were helping out in the bakery, but also as an occasion for teaching Milly.
“Anyway, it’s so delicious that the town will be famous for it!” Marlene said this from a dutiful distance of one meter.
“That’s what I want, but there’s a problem.”
“What is it?”
“Like I said, in order to make a good pie, I need a refrigerator, but this one has limitations.”
Lud had placed a chunk of ice on the upper shelf to chill the air in the box he called a refrigerator. It certainly wasn’t ideal for business use. He had just put it together so he could bake the pie to thank his friends.
“An electric refrigerator would be best, but they’re too expensive for our shop.”
During the Great War, the military had invented an electric refrigerator that circulated refrigerant under high pressure and ran on electricity. The development of a refrigeration system had been an urgent need for preserving food and medicine, and to prevent explosive shells from igniting during increases in atmospheric temperature. That technology had found commercial use before the end of the Great War. Factories, shops and some private individuals owned refrigerators, but they were still expensive.
“Oh... That’s too bad. That pie blew away my taste buds!”
Milly’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
“That’s all right. I’m happy that you two liked it. I should bake another one for Sven and Jacob.”
“Too bad...”
Milly mumbled this again. She wanted more people to taste the delicious pie this kind man baked. Doing so would even put a smile on someone who looked as scary as the devil himself.
“Ooh! A customer!”
Marlene reacted to the sound of a cling-clang from the bell affixed to the shop entrance.
“Oops! Then I’ll duck into the back!”
Lud hurried back to the oven so he wouldn’t frighten the customer.
“Oh, hello... aren’t you Charlotte, Jacob’s mother?”
“Hm?”
Lud stopped when he heard what Marlene had said to the customer.
Lud and Sven lived at Tockerbrot. Along with the oven room, the bakery occupied most of the space, which left little room for a living area. Sven slept in the attic, and Lud’s room was only big enough for a bed and small writing desk. When they had added to the building, they had created an office where two people could sit and chat.
Lud showed Jacob’s mother into that room.
“Sorry the room is so cramped.”
“Not at all. I apologize for showing up unexpectedly.”
Jacob’s mother was undoubtedly pretty, but a mysterious shadow surrounded her.
“Please, have some.”
Lud offered her a piece of the lemon pie and tea.
“Thank you. I enjoy the bread my son brings home. It’s delicious.”
“Th-Thank you!”
This was Lud’s first time meeting Charlotte. He had visited the repair shop owned by Jacob’s family to have an old truck fixed, but he had never seen Charlotte there. Her father, Jacob’s grandfather, hated Wiltian soldiers, so he hid Charlotte in the back of the house.
“You look kinder than I had heard.”
“Huh?!”
Lud gave a cry of surprise at Charlotte for saying this after seeing his face.
“Is something the matter?”
“No... It’s just no one has ever told me that.”
Lud’s frame was larger than average, even for Wiltians, who were known for being physically imposing. He had fierce eyes, and sported a big scar on his left cheek. Between his size and his stern, frightening face, he was overwhelming enough to make even an adult flee. There were those who said being a baker was a poor disguise. Sven was the only one who hadn’t been frightened of him when they first met, but in many ways she was an exception.
“I saw lots of scary men in my old occupation. Besides, people with kind faces often hide something awful behind them.”
Charlotte’s words were heavy with experience.
“Did my son tell you my former profession?”
“Um...” Lud hesitated.
“Yes, he did.”
He admitted it since he was a bad liar and would never be able to keep up the pretense.
“I was a prostitute during the Great War.”
She had worked as a licensed prostitute for Wiltia at a brothel managed by the government. A nation providing a brothel for soldiers is a disturbing idea. However, some believed it was necessary to prevent the spread of sexual diseases and assaults on civilians.
A hundred years ago, the Lion Emperor traveled with two thousand prostitutes to service his one million soldiers.
“Jacob was conceived by one of my customers.”
The emotion in Charlotte’s voice was impossible to read, but Lud felt it was wrong to pretend to understand what she went through. Charlotte appeared older than Lud but too young to be Jacob’s mother. She must have been only 16 or 17 years when the Great War started. What hardship had she experienced at that age? It was perhaps more difficult than the hell Lud had lived through after returning from the war.
“That was hard for my son. The color of his hair and eyes are different from my father’s and mine. People looked at him with curiosity.”
Charlotte had wavy black hair. By contrast, Jacob had the typical Wiltian blond hair and blue eyes.
“He had trouble making friends... As his mother, that saddened me. But...”
Charlotte bowed deeply while sitting in the chair.
“It appears that everyone at this shop has treated him with kindness. Thank you.”
“N-No... Stop! Jacob is an incredible help to me!”
Flustered, Lud urged her to raise her head.
He wasn’t exaggerating. The year before Sven came, Jacob had been a regular customer when others treated Lud, an outsider, with suspicion. The age difference hadn’t mattered. Jacob had been Lud’s first friend in town.
“But my father caused trouble for you... I couldn’t stop that either...”
“Let’s forget about that.”
Jacob’s grandfather had cooperated with the terrorists, who were living secretly in Organbaelz a few months ago. His motive was the grudge he held over the shunning of his daughter. His hatred for Wiltia had driven the old man mad.
“How is he doing?”
After the incident, Lud had worked as hard as he could to conceal their treacherous actions, which could have earned them the charge of treason. To do so, Lud used the influence of his heroic status as Silver Wolf, even though he hated to boast of his fame. And Lud helped not just because it was his friend’s family. It was because he believed that he and other Wiltians had caused the past suffering of Charlotte and Jacob’s grandfather.
“Since that incident, my father has aged greatly. He barely works now. The factory is not just closed, it’s practically bankrupt.”
“Oh, it is?”
Perhaps Jacob’s grandfather had shut his heart after receiving aid from someone he hated. Lud was sad that he had been unable to help in the end.
“We have to make a living, but it’s hard for me to find a job here. My father would prefer for me not to work and there is a rift between the townsfolk
and me.”
Charlotte looked forlorn as she explained. Her past was a public secret among the adults in town. People sometimes treated her with contempt, and some men gave her evil looks. Therefore, Charlotte mostly stayed in the house, which was why Lud was only meeting her now, even though he had lived in town for over a year. Marlene had met Charlotte before, and since Marlene was a woman and a servant of God, Charlotte was less uncomfortable around her.
“But if I go to Saupunkt, the town near here, I could work hard and make a living for Jacob and my father.”
“Do you mean you’re moving out?”
“Yes, next month. So I have a favor to ask. I know Jacob won’t like it, but can you convince him? Please?”
After saying that, she bowed once more.
After Jacob’s mother left, Lud stayed in his office, thinking for a while.
“That means Jacob is going to move out.”
Marlene had entered. Charlotte hadn’t touched the lemon pie or the tea on the office table. Marlene picked up some cold tea and had a sip.
“Were you listening?”
“Yes, but don’t worry. Milly is in the other room. It’s too early to tell her anything.”
The walls of the office were thin. Conversations inside the office were audible to anyone standing just outside the door. Marlene knew that, so she had purposely moved Milly away to prevent her from hearing about Charlotte’s private matters.
“This is... my fault.”
Marlene was almost crying, and her voice trembled. She had persuaded Jacob’s grandfather to cooperate with the terrorists.
“That’s not true. Just forget about that.” Lud repeated what he had said earlier to Charlotte.
“The neighboring town, huh?”
With Lud’s old truck, it would only take one hour to Saupunkt. This wouldn’t be good-bye forever. If they wanted to, they would be able to see each other anytime. But, it would be sad not to have his friend stop by after school so Lud could enjoy his cheerful chatter.
Back in Saupunkt...
“This town is busier than Organbaelz...”
