Chapter 276: Let’s Preview the Shop!

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Next up were the foundation and plumbing works. Sahad and I excelled at public works. I pulled out the trees with a plop (in reality they were shred apart with their roots creaking and cracking), Sahad used his earth magic to dig up the soil, and Sword took all of it and dumped it somewhere. Then, the requested craftsmen did the plumbing as instructed by me.

When the foundation was done, we assembled the shop like a plastic model. And because a crowd gradually assembled, we cordoned off the construction site with ropes and forbade any trespassing.

Sword, Plana, Sahad, and the craftsmen diligently assembled the shop, resulting in the whole construction finishing after three days.

＊

“WOOOW! This rocks!! Thank you so much, Lady Indra!” Bennyboy thanked me exaggeratedly while being extremely moved.

Damsel Scarlet was excitedly taking photos with her tablet. Oh, Mr. Amato was doing the same. But, look, you’ve already seen it assembled at our base, haven’t you?

The craftsmen were also all excited, looking all over the place.

“Lining up the shop’s merchandise and such might be next, but…before that…”

I cast a fleeting glance at Sword. Sword laughed at me and retrieved something from his magic bag.

“…It’s a 【billboard】 made by Indra n’ me. If you put it up, everyone will know that it’s your store, right?”

As soon as Sword held up the billboard with its writing of 『Benjamin’s Store』, Bennyboy broke out in tears. After hanging it up over the door with Sword and me, Bennyboy looked up to it while sobbing.

＊

Now then, things have been finished here, but he probably has things to prepare from now on. Right now, his hired employees seem to be heading this way together with 【Pale Moon of Dawn】, who had been in another town. It sounds like they’re also going to deliver the merchandise at the same time.

“I think they’re gonna arrive anytime soon.”

Come to think of it…

Remembering something, I asked, “Do you have “opening ceremonies”…unveiling parties when finishing the construction of a building…in this world?”

Damsel Scarlet and Bennyboy looked at each other.”

“…Basically, no. Some people do it after remodeling their mansions in the capital, but…remodeling is done relatively seldomly to begin with, so you can pretty much say no such ceremonies are held.”

So, in other words, nobles occasionally do it, but since they do it very rarely, it’s actually close to non-existent.

“I was never invited to a party because a shop has finished its construction either,” Bennyboy added.

I thought this might be the case, but now I know for sure.

“Well, okay then. ――However, as you you’re probably anticipating, this place is very likely going to become a 『tourist attraction』. In the beginning, many customers and most likely burglars are going to flood this store to take a look at the goods and the building itself. It’d be best for you to only accept regular customers at first. Otherwise, the store will get rushed and wrecked.”

“I understand!”

Bennyboy answered with a crisp and sharp expression. That was unusual, considering how he was a frivolous playboy.

Well, I guess it only makes sense that he’d hate to have his own store ruined as early as the opening day.

“If you are inconvenienced in some way, feel like using something, or have a demand, feel free to voice it. Large-scale renovations or reconstructions are naturally out of the question, but if it looks like something I can handle on the fly, I’ll humor you.”

“Thank you!” Bennyboy thanked me seriously, not with his usual frivolous, casual manner.

＊

We broadly checked the interior, too. Open racks adorned the walls, and since those were mobile shelves, you could arrange them as desired. In addition to the floating lanterns, we had hung up a chandelier in the center of the ceiling. It emitted an aura of high-class within a fantasy setting.

“Those lanterns are beautiful… They give the whole room an oriental flair,” said Damsel Scarlet while pointing at once of the yellow, bobbing, round lanterns.

“Mmh. Then I’ll give you some as a souvenir, I guess. I can also make them into “revolving lanterns,” if you prefer,” I offered while being in a good mood from all her praise.

Damsel Scarlet tilted her head, “Revolving lanterns?”

I signaled a rotation by turning a finger around in the air.

“It’s the sort of lantern with shadow figures. If you light the lantern up, the heat will trigger an updraft, causing the shadow figures inside to revolve. I remember how my grandparents out in the sticks had such a lantern. Playing around with that delighted my young, childish mind quite a lot. I recall that I found it very fairy-tale-like when the lantern revolved whenever I got back home in summer.”

I told Damsel Scarlet, but the one with the sparkling eyes was Sword.

Casting a sharp glare at him, I made it clear. “…This is a toy that can even be made by kids, you know? It uses a natural phenomenon which doesn’t even require any magic tools or some nifty devices,”

“That means you can easily make it, no?”

I had my own argument turned against me.

Mr. Amato also knew about revolving lanterns.

“Oh! Now that you mention it! I think I know what you’re talking about! I believe our family out in the boons had the same! Lady Indra, please make it for us since it’s so nostalgic!”

Plana and Sahad stared at me with their eyes sparkling, too.

……

Since it looked like I had no choice, I got Plana and Sahad to help me and made a revolving lantern. It was a simple type with an oil lamp in the center. Once you lit its fire, the shadow figures within started to revolve.

“….What’s the idea of you making me create stuff like this without even taking a look at the interior of the store after we went out of our way to build it?”

Everyone was super excited about the revolving lantern, but that thing doesn’t matter at all, does it!? Let’s check the store instead!

＊

After a quarrel, Damsel Scarlet secured the revolving lantern for herself while Sword basically begged me to make one for him as well later on. I soothed him by repeatedly agreeing to his pleas, finally resuming the tour of the store.

Okay, time to continue from where we left off.

Suddenly, Damsel Scarlet turned her sight upwards, asking, “There are shelves all the way up there, but how are you going to place or retrieve things from there?”

The big pillars extending even to the second floor actually were trick shelves which had elaborate engravings applied to them.

“They come with ladders that are hidden inside so that the customers won’t see them. I built them with the premise that no heavy or fragile stuff would be placed on their shelves. As long as you don’t try the limits of the shelves’ weight allowance, you can get things from up there easily. Also, you can have a horb pick them up for you by asking.”

A certain extent of inconveniences for playing some tricks has to be allowed!

＊

We went up to the second floor. It had the ambiance of a loft. You could look out on the lower floor, the atrium ceiling, and the floating lanterns from the railing.

“Whoa, it’s pretty high up,” exclaimed Mr. Amato while leaning over the railing.

I don’t think he’d die since he’s a brave, but it’s going to hurt if he falls down from here.

“The space up here is around half of what’s available on the first floor. You’re free to decide what you place here. Well, I think it’d be best to avoid heavy stuff. I mean, the customers would likely find it tough to carry the goods down from the second floor, too.”

“You’re right. I’ll think about it for a bit,” Bennyboy answered while looking around him.

＊

“…Oh? It still goes further up?” Damsel Scarlet asked after discovering a staircase leading up to the next floor.

Once we got onto the third floor, everyone raised their voices in admiration and astonishment, probably because of the lack of things up here or the design which overflowed with a sense of liberty.

With the ceiling made in the style of ground glass, this place was bright by nature. Moreover, I added many windows, too.

“The first floor was built as a storehouse, but I think you can use the third floor for the same. However, since the ceiling is close-by, this place might be ill-suited as storage, seeing how bright it is up here.”

Goods would bleach out when exposed to sunlight for an extended period of time.

Damsel Scarlet looked up to the ceiling in a daze while commenting, “I want to drink a tea over here…”

You can turn on lights during days with fairly bad weather, but basically this place’s illumination relies on the sky. I guess it’s only natural for her to think so.

“Ah, I can relate to that. It’s got the atmosphere of a restaurant on the roof of a department store!” Mr. Amato added.

…Hmm? I think the nuance here might be slightly different, though?

Mr. Amato probably thought so after looking down through the window on the other side at the scenery below.

I turned around and continued the topic while facing Bennyboy.

“――Or so you hear. If you’re going to sell tea as well, I think this place would be perfect to provide black tea. However, if you don’t hire people capable of brewing tea expertly, you’ll be scorned and belittled by the nobles.”

“Yeah, I know. For the time being, I’ll include it in my considerations,” said Bennyboy, brooding.

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