"Yay!" (Mile)
Fluffy, fluffy, fluffy... poof!!
"The building is done!" (Mile)
A small hut was created by Mile's_ earth magic in a corner of the garden a short distance from the orphanage building.
Although it was earth magic, the completed hut was made of rock-like material, just like the portable bathroom and toilet fortress.
And it's not just a shed—one wall facing the garden had an opening for sales.
...Yes, it was a booth for selling fried foods, with cooking taking place inside the hut.
It was made of rock and was far enough away from the orphanage that even if something happened, the orphanage would not burn down.
"Yay!"
Fluffy, fluffy, fluffy...thump!
"I've also built a stove, a counter, shelves to display the cooked food on, and lots of other things!" (Mile)
"Banza~i!!" (Children)
The director and other adults were stunned, but the children were having fun and laughing.
As expected, it seemed a bit harsh for those with common sense.
"Next, I’ll use magic to repair the old kettle that had a hole in it and was no longer in use, and attach it to the stove. It’s a bit of a hassle to have to use a small pot or ladle to scoop out the oil when it’s time to change it, but compared to the disaster that would occur if it were to tip over, that’s within the tolerable range, right?" (Mile)
The adults nodded in agreement.
The reason it was a kettle instead of a pot was so that it could be fitted snugly into the stove and secured in place. Safety first.
And Mile, a regular at the orphanage (here), knew that there was an old kettle with a hole in it stored in the storeroom, so she decided to use magic to repair it and use it.
No matter how broken it was, the poor people at the orphanage seemed unable to throw away the metal pot.
Mile, a former Japanese, could understand that feeling well.
...It's the "Waste not, want not" spirit.
Another way to say it was poverty.
And not only for frying, but also for making lard from orc's back fat.
Here too, she used earth magic to create a stove, just like the one for frying.
"Oh, we don't have enough kettles!" (Mile)
Yes, of course, a pot or kettle was needed to make lard, and here too, a kettle was preferable to prevent accidents.
"…I’ll use the old one for lard. I’ll get the one for frying somewhere…" (Mile)
If it were Mile, she could get something with a hole somewhere or buy a used one cheaply and repair it. So, she decided to arrange that later.
Mile also built several smaller stoves for cooking other dishes and made various fine adjustments after consulting with the adults.
Just in case, this was in case they ended up serving other side dishes in addition to the main fried food. Of course, they were also planning to serve tea and hot water, so they would need a spare stove.
"Okay, everything's pretty much ready except for another kettle, some pots, some containers, and some ingredients. So, the opening will be next week..." (Mile)
There were enough orcs in her item box to sell.
...Yes, that's right, she was stocking them up and sell little by little...
Since there were many other ingredients as well, all that left was to gather the missing cooking utensils and then teach the children how to cook.
And also, the proposal there...
A few days later, Mile had already launched a fried food shop called "I Can Fry."
The location was in a corner of the orphanage garden, a little distance from the center of the royal capital.
The employees were orphans themselves, supported by adults involved in running the orphanage and volunteers.
Although they were called support, they were there to watch over the children to make sure there were no dangers when using fire and oil, and to make sure that no one would think they were children and make unreasonable demands or default on their payments, or worse, try to steal their earnings. Basically, they had told the children to do the work in the store by themselves.
This was to help the children develop a sense of independence, give them self-confidence, and help them develop their personalities, so that they would have an idea of what they would be like after they left the orphanage.
The director and other adults there also agreed to Mile's proposal.
"Oh, oh, they're doing a great job. The girls from the 'Storage Girls Squad' were advertising it, so I came!"
Saying that, the five men entered the orphanage garden and took their seats.
Afterwards, several other groups arrived, including women.
Naturally, the majority of them were Hunter Parties, along with a few low-ranking soldiers and street thugs.
The thugs didn't seem to have any bad intentions and had just come as normal customers, and were chatting in good spirits with their companions.
Was it because Mile and her group had advertised it, was it because they felt motivated to help out the orphanage a little, or was it because they simply wanted to try the dishes that Mile, who was known to be a good cook, had invented?
Among the hunters, soldiers, and thugs, there were some who were orphans.
And they never knew when their children might become orphans and ended up in the care of an orphanage.
Therefore, the number of people committing crimes against the orphanage was by no means large.
...Well, anyway, no matter who came or what their intentions were, the fact remained that a customer had come.
The children acting as waiters immediately came running over with menus.
Here, customers could buy their own food and drinks, or order and had the children brought to them.
In this case, the menu stated that although it was not mandatory, children would be happy if they gave them a tip.
The tip was only equivalent to 20 to 30 yen in Japanese yen.
This meant you wouldn't have to get up to buy food or drinks while enjoying a chat and meal.
The children were overjoyed and grateful for the small amount of money, and they muttered, "Maybe with this, we can eat a little more..." as they gazed longingly at the wealthy customer who gave them the tip.
For the low-ranking Hunters, it had an effect like a drug.
The next time you ordered, the tip amount would increase.
The only things the children provided were food, tea, and hot and cold water.
However, that alone would only lead to dissatisfaction among customers.
After all, most of the food served was deep-fried. It was only natural that they would ask for alcohol.
However, there were many problems with getting children to sell alcohol.
Selling and serving alcohol required permission from the commercial guild, and if they went that far, it went beyond the realm of just earning a modest amount for the orphanage's operating expenses.
So Mile came up with the idea of asking the bar owner to open a branch.
If it was a branch run by the owner of a local bar, the merchant guild wouldn't have any problems and would only need one employee.
There's no problem as the children would be working as waitresses.
And there were great benefits to having this as a joint sales outlet with a branch of a bar.
This meant that customers would stop getting into weird situations with store staffs or causing trouble and destroying the store.
Usually, even the most outlawed people wouldn't harm those connected to the bar and wouldn't wreck anything on the premises. At most, they'd tease a waitress or break a chair or table in a fight, and then paid for the damages later. Unless the bartender declared them exempt from liability due to force majeure.
...The reason was that if they harmed the store's employees or caused major damage to the store, the store would go out of business.
They had ruined the comfortable place where they could eat and drink, and because of that, other Hunters, members of the mercenary guild, soldiers, and ordinary citizens all hated them, which caused all sorts of trouble.
Therefore, fights in bars were kept to a certain level of discretion, and causing damage to the establishment was strictly forbidden.
If, like in a western movie, chairs, tables, barrels, and bottles were smashed every time a bar opened, the waitresses were assaulted, and the bar owner was shot dead, the establishment would quickly go out of business, and no one would ever think of opening a new one.
So only a foolish youngster would do something like that, and usually they would be beaten up quickly by the old timers, had their compensation money taken from their purse, and then be kicked out.
...And soon the first order was about to be delivered to the table...
Author's Note
Today, March 30th (Tuesday), the first volume of the book "The Saint Wants Overtime Pay" will be released. (^^)/