I Was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but That World Is at Peace (WN)

Chapter 2449 - Requested Item ⑦

I arrived at Kaori-san’s shop using my teleportation magic tool and was let in through the back door. Since the shop was closed today, Kaori-san was in casual clothes, wearing an outfit she had bought back in the Hydra Kingdom.

[Sorry for coming on your day off.]

[No, it’s actually better that it’s a day off. You don’t have to worry about opening hours, so we have plenty of time…… But what brings you here all of a sudden?]

[Ah, well, actually, I managed to get the thing we talked about before, so I brought it right away…… Here it is.]

[Whoa, m- matsutake!]

When I pulled out the wooden box labeled “Matsutake”, Kaori-san’s eyes lit up. After all, she had been the one to first bring it up, and she had probably been longing for matsutake.

[And these are really good matsutake…… Ah, they’re Spearmush here, right? But you can tell just from their size and aroma that they’re top quality.]

[Yes, I tried one earlier, and it was really delicious. So, well, I brought these for Kaori-san……]

[Thank you! I’m happy, but is 10 of them okay?]

[Well, actually, I wanted to consult with you about that……]

[U- Unn?]

As Kaori-san looked at me with a slightly puzzled look on her face, I explained my conversation with Lanza-san and told her that I had nearly 10,000 Spearmush mushrooms on hand, and asked if she could stock them in her shop.

[……I- I see…… 10,000 certainly is insane. Definitely, no individual could consume that many, so having them sold wholesale could work. And having them in my shop…… hmmm…… that could actually be a good idea.]

[Do you think it’s doable?]

[Recently, my shop has become more well-known and we have more customers, but many are tourists. They want something nice to eat as a souvenir of their trip, so I’ve been thinking of adding a few pricier set meals. Spearmush is a rare and high-end mushroom even in this world, so I think there’s a good chance it would sell.]

[I see. Indeed, if people come to Friendship City Hikari and try Otherworld Cuisine, many might be willing to splurge a bit.]

Kaori-san’s set meals are relatively inexpensive, with the most expensive one under 20R. That’s great because it offers affordable, delicious meals, but having a high-end option would also give customers more choices.

Since Kaori-san now has a large-capacity magic box, she has room to expand her menu, which is a plus. Overall, the response regarding the Spearmush was very positive.

[Matsutake rice, matsutake soup, matsutake chawanmushi, grilled matsutake…… a full matsutake set could be nice. We also have the good seasonings from Neun-san and rice from Raz-sama, so it should be a delicious set…… Oh, but first, I need to ask the wholesale price…… Kaito-kun, if you were to supply my shop, what price would you sell them at?]

[H- Hmm, let’s see…… errr…… maybe 100R for 100 mushrooms……?]

[That’s way too cheap! Isn’t that only 1R per mushroom!!! That price won’t work! Spearmush is a luxury mushroom, and if you offer it at that price, it would be problematic for me!]

[W- Well, I guess so but…… I actually paid Lanza-san 100R per mushroom, which makes it 10,000R…… just one gold coin for 100 mushrooms. And I got 9,900 freebie mushrooms…… So if you look at the ratio, it comes out to 100 mushrooms for 100R……]

[Ah, I see. From your perspective, Kaito-kun, the effective cost per mushroom is 1R, so it makes sense you’d hesitate to set a high wholesale price.]

That’s right, it was just as Kaori-san said…… expressed in Japanese yen, one Spearmush would be 10,000 yen, but I only paid 100,000 yen for mushrooms worth 10 million yen, making the effective cost per mushroom about 100 yen…… So setting a price appropriate for a luxury mushroom feels a bit awkward.

[……Hmm…… then how about we do it on consignment?]

[Consignment?]

[The idea is, I’d take a bulk of Spearmush and sell it as set meals. Then we split the revenue from those sets 50/50.]

[I see……]

[Considering these mushrooms are hard to get for anyone other than Kaito-kun, it might be fair for you to take a bigger share. But if we start arguing about shares, you might bring up the effort for cooking and selling…… So let’s just keep it simple and split profits half and half. How about that?]

[That makes sense. That way, both of us can be satisfied…… Okay, can we go ahead with that?]

[Unn! Leave them to me!]

Thanks to Kaori-san’s suggestion, we settled on the plan where I would supply the Spearmush, she would cook and sell them, and we’d split the profits evenly.

[Then, should I hand over about a thousand mushrooms for now?]

[That’s too many. We don’t even know how well they’ll sell yet, so let’s start with a hundred. Once those sell, we can do the next batch.]

[Understood.]

[Is that everything regarding the Spearmush, Kaito-kun? Then…… errr…… I actually have a favor to ask of you as well……]

Although the Spearmush matter was settled, it seemed Kaori-san had something she wanted to discuss with me too, opening her mouth with a somewhat serious expression.

<Afterword>

? ? ? : [With the Spirits’ affection being racked up, the question is———–who will be the first to make it…… in other words, who will become Kaito-san’s girlfriend first? So, Love Expert Serious-senpai, who do you see as the most likely candidate?]

Serious-senpai : [Who the heck’s a love expert!? I’m the embodiment of seriousness! The serious of the serious! There’s no way I’m a love expert!!!]

? ? ? : [Ah, yeah, yeah. So?]

Serious-senpai : [……For now, let’s assume all the Spirits have extremely high affection for Kaito. For example, Camellia or Ariel should have very high affection for him, but whether romantic flags are actually set? That’s a bit uncertain. I mean, their affection is very strong, so given some trigger, things could quickly turn that way, but at the moment, I don’t see things turning out like that yet…… With that in mind, the three I’m watching closely in terms of danger are Lillywood, Rosemary, and Jutia.]

? ? ? : [Oh? And why is that?]

Serious-senpai : [First, Lillywood has been with Kaito the longest among the Spirits and has gone through a lot of events together. It’s just, Lillywood herself seems not to fully understand romantic feelings. She spent a long time thinking of herself as just a tree, and she’s quite stoic, focusing only on work and not much on personal preferences, so she doesn’t really grasp romantic emotions. However, she does seem happy being seen as a woman by Kaito and sometimes struggles with her own impulsive actions. So the feelings are budding, but for now it’s an unfamiliar sensation for her. That means that with some trigger, the relationship could progress very quickly.]

? ? ? : [That’s a surprisingly detailed explanation……]

Serious-senpai : [Next, Rosemary has extremely high affection for Kaito and does have romantic feelings, but I think she doesn’t realize it herself. At this point, if Kaito were to confess, she’d probably accept immediately due to her high affection. But she’s naturally shy, inexperienced with social interactions, and even with those she trusts, like Camellia, her sense of distance can get messed up, so she’s not aware of her romantic feelings. If you asked her how she feels about Kaito, she’d probably say “she loves him” without hesitation, but she doesn’t realize that includes romantic love…… With this type, once Rosemary becomes aware of her feelings, the relationship could progress.]

? ? ? : [……And Jutia?]

Serious-senpai : [Jutia, on the other hand, is quite self-aware. From her words and actions, it’s almost certain she likes Kaito romantically, and she knows it herself. But because of her personality, she expresses affection straightforwardly and cheerfully, so Kaito probably doesn’t realize her feelings are romantic. Also, she’s not in a rush and doesn’t seem intent on advancing things quickly. It’s like she enjoys being close to Kaito, hoping slowly that he notices her feelings, taking a long-term, relaxed approach. So in her case, unless Kaito realizes that her actions mean love, not just like, it will take time to develop. But if he does notice, Jutia would express her feelings straightforwardly, and things would likely progress smoothly.]

? ? ? : [Fumu fumu…… No, isn’t that clearly establishing yourself as a love expert?]

Serious-senpai : [No! I am the embodiment of seriousness!!!]