Published: August 2, 2025
Today, five chapters are posted simultaneously.
This story is chapter four.
"Is this about right?"
In the break room of the shop, chilled like a freezer by the barrier and water magic, I gazed at the row of ice sculptures.
"Hmm... yeah."
Everything seems fine. To confirm, I called someone over.
"Mr. Prenance, the ice sculptures are completed. Please check them."
When I visited the dorm room that had been opened up as a dressing room, he came out dressed in a simple outfit: a pure white robe with both top and bottom, open at the front. The only decoration was gold thread embroidery on the chest. Though it looked like it would show dirt easily, the outfit was spotless, and with his silver hair and handsome face, he gave off a mysterious aura...
"Here they are."
"Oh..."
Unbothered by the extremely cold room—meant to prevent the sculptures from melting—he examined the sculptures from every angle.
"A pair of birds, a plate piled with fruit, a running beast, and my harp. All as ordered."
Tonight’s main performance centers on the story of a traveler who defeated a beast that terrified people and then tamed it. The sculptures were created to match that theme.
The pedestals were wooden. To make moving them to the stage easier, we used the ones prepared by the troupe.
"Will the installation go as planned?"
"Yes. After the next performance, we should be able to bring them in ourselves. Sorry for the sudden request."
"No problem. It’s all for a good stage."
"Heh heh... We shall perform arts that will not be overshadowed by stage decorations," he said with a confident smile.
After going over some details with him, he returned to the dressing room, and I went back to the food stall.
"Good work. Do you need help anywhere?"
"Manager, could you wash the dishes for Ribbon Noodles?"
"Got it!"
Leaves from plants suitable for wrapping food are commonly used in this country, especially at stalls. But since they aren’t good for liquid items, we also use wooden tableware.
One of the madams helping out, Mary, has a husband who is a woodworker and kindly prepared them for us. After eating, customers return all used tableware to the stall’s return window, where staff separate trash from dishes.
"We’re collecting dishes and trash!"
"Got it!"
Carrying the bags sorted and packed, I headed inside the laundry service.
The return window is just for sorting. After all, we have professionals who clean the dirty dishes.
"Alright, here we go."
Though the items were different than usual, the cleaner slime handled business as normal. I left the trash for the basement scavenger and returned to find the dishwashing already done. I carried the cleaned dishes back to the stall. Since the dishes were pre-sorted, it was straightforward to just place them on the clean dish rack.
"Next, please!"
"Okay!"
The number of customers was huge. Because products sold nonstop, used dishes kept piling up.
"...This is intense."
As I shuttled dishes back and forth, the line seemed to have grown.
"Mr. Calm! Should we organize the line?"
"Yes, please!"
Calm usually wore neat clothes with tidy hair, but due to the heat and the rush, he'd taken off his jacket and tied up his messy hair with a bandana, fully transformed into a stall guy.
It was a rare sight. That just meant how busy it was.
"Lord Ryoma!"
"Oh, Mr. Serge. We just met earlier."
"You seem busy. I have someone free on my side; if you like—"
"That would be a great help!"
Thankfully, they lent us some help. We set up ropes to organize the line.
"There you are! Manager!"
"Yes!? What’s up?"
"Someone who just went to the restroom said the toilet water is almost gone."
"Toilet water... Ah, the handwashing water! Got it! I’ll fix it right away!"
I explained the situation to the helper and briefly stepped away.
"Excuse me, I’m from management. Pardon me... Good."
It would be a quick fix. Actually, it didn’t seem broken.
Since there was no running water here, we pre-filled a large container inside with water drawn from a storage tank. When water is dipped out with a bucket, that amount is automatically replenished—but currently, the container was only half full.