The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 257 Evil Boss Nigel (6) - Sticker Bread "Hey, you there. That thing you just hid behind you, bring it forward." "Wh-what are you talking about? What did I hide? How dare you accuse an innocent person, ack, aaack! Gurgle!" "It seems you can't understand words." Princess Fariza of Shurabasti definitely kept the words she had spoken. She selected several sturdy ones from among her three-digit number of attendants and sent them to Nigel, and they physically blocked all the various minor disturbances that arose from running the shop. No one was willing to attempt theft or troublemaking in front of guards with sturdy builds and swords at their waists, and merchants who heard rumors that Princess Fariza was behind Nigel also canceled their plans to pressure him. Bullying one rootless outsider was completely different from antagonizing a guest of the Baharah Family, the rulers of this land. "Amazing, Master. All the commotion has completely disappeared!" Noa marveled. When she first heard about using the Baharah Family, rulers of this land, as backing, her worries had been as large as a mountain, but her master had really made his words reality as if it were nothing. "...Hmm. I don't understand. In a hot desert, in a region that enjoys drinking coffee, shouldn't iced americano be popular? Why isn't it selling?" However, contrary to Noa's praise, her master didn't seem to be in a very good mood. This was because the cold qahwa (which her master called Iced Americano) that he had tried to sell as a set menu with tumblers had no popularity at all. If only Fariza had given it a harsh review, he would have dismissed it as just her taste, but the qahwa he sold afterward in bottles similar to sports drinks also had no popularity. "Noa, do you also think it tastes that bad? That thing?" "......" She avoided his gaze without saying anything. Honestly, the beverage that Nigel had tried to sell was, even for her to drink, close to muddy-tasting black water. Especially since traditional qahwa in this region was a beverage where various spices were added and the explosive-like aroma was enjoyed in a piping hot state, 'cold qahwa' itself seemed to feel very foreign to the locals. "B-but sales of sports drinks actually increased! They didn't know before, but compared to qahwa, they realized this was like a goddess..." "Quiet." "Yes, sir." While Noa rolled her eyes around, Nigel leaned back on the sofa and fell into thought. And after a while, his eyes glinted coldly. "Right, coffee itself isn't selling because it's being viewed as a standalone item. It would be better if I put out something to eat with it." "Something to eat together... do you mean that bread we eat?" "That would match well enough, but it would be better to have variety. Wait a moment." After saying that, Nigel brought over a large cardboard box and poured its contents onto the table. Along with the distinctive rustling sound of plastic, a nutty yet sweet fragrance tickled Noa's nose. Noa, who confirmed their identity, opened her mouth wide and couldn't help but marvel. "Wow, woww...." They were bread. However, they were something on a completely different level from the black, hard bread that Noa usually knew. Round and flat bread like a full moon with fruit-shaped jelly embedded in the center, bread with bumpy cookie-like things stuck to the surface, bread completely wrapped in black paper packaging inside plastic wrapping, bread with cream spread on it and rolled up into a roll. Besides these, so many diverse breads were each showing off their presence on the table. To Noa who was swallowing her saliva, Nigel said: "Telling you to taste all of this would be a bit like bullying, so just pick a few and try them. The rest can be given to the guard friends..." "No!! I can eat them!! I'll eat them all!! Please let me eat!!" "A-alright." Faced with Noa's terrifying enthusiasm, Nigel broke out in a slight cold sweat. He wanted to ask if her weight would be okay after eating all of that, but even if the other party was a slave, if he carelessly said such words, he felt like he'd be suffocated by a pillow in his sleep. Well, she had been quite thin when he bought her, and she was quite active, so he had no choice but to believe it would be fine. Leaving Nigel, who had entered 'let her enjoy it' mode, alone, Noa selected bread that looked like a rolled-up robe that aroused curiosity from its very appearance. With hand movements that had become quite familiar, she tore off the plastic wrapping and bit into the bread, and an amazingly sweet yet strangely refreshing flavor filled her mouth and nose. The most intense 'sweetness' Noa knew was dried dates, but this bread, while less sweet than that, absolutely didn't fall behind in impact. Above all, this fluffy yet moist texture. The softness and moisture that felt like putting clouds in her mouth and chewing was something that couldn't be found in ordinary desert bread. While earnestly eating bread with cream sticking to her lips. Something that had been inside the plastic packaging fell onto the table with a thud. Noa picked it up and examined it from various angles. 'A... picture?' At first glance, it was a precise picture drawn on a very small piece of paper. The subject drawn was presumably something like a turtle, but unlike the turtles Noa knew, it was standing on two legs and had quite strange body proportions. "M-Master. A picture came out of the bread. Here it is." Noa placed the small picture on her palm and respectfully held it out with both hands. Even to her, who had no expertise in art, it looked like a picture that had tremendous effort put into it. But Nigel casually took it and immediately used his fingernail to scrape off the picture. Seeing the picture being torn off from the paper with a ripping sound, Noa unconsciously made a "hic" sound. "This is called a sticker. You attach it to flat surfaces like this." Nigel showed her how to stick the picture on his forearm and peel it off, then handed the picture to Noa as if telling her to try it too. Noa tried sticking the picture on the back of her hand with slightly trembling fingertips, and the sensation was very fascinating. "Originally I was going to just sell various types of bread as they came to mind, but honestly that would probably conflict with existing bakers. So we're targeting a different customer base." "Targeting differently means...?" "Not ordinary meal bread, but selling expensively for the wealthy." Commoners usually buy bread from outside. Not only is it difficult to have a proper oven at home, but in the desert, fuel prices are terrifying. In contrast, the wealthy who have a certain amount of wealth and status have dedicated ovens inside their estates and have professional cooks bake bread. Naturally, the latter are bound to be more concerned about taste and quality. The former have to worry about survival before considering taste. "Well, plastic-packaged bread would have various limitations compared to the warmth and flavor that only freshly baked bread has... but if we say we're also giving interesting pictures, wouldn't they eat it out of curiosity if nothing else? Right?" "I... suppose so?" Noa had no choice but to give an ambiguous answer. In her opinion, bread of this quality would completely overwhelm most foods, warmth or whatever, but since she had never eaten the 'bread that wealthy people eat' that Nigel spoke of, a definite assertion was impossible. In the end, Noa decided to do her best. First, eat everything and then make an evaluation! "It's just as you said, Master! Definitely, eating it with these sweet breads here makes this cold qahwa match very well!" "Right? Once you get used to it, you won't need to have dessert with it, but at first you start that way." "But it also goes well with hot qahwa! No, this side seems to taste a bit better...?" "Shouldn't cold things be more popular in hot places? Isn't it normal to crave ice cream when you sweat!" Nigel, who was making statements that would quite anger any people who believed in fighting fire with fire, didn't know. What kind of situation those pictures, which they had lightly treated as mere 'bonuses' given with bread, would cause. Acts done with an empty mind usually turned out that way. *** A shop that was quite interesting, but not worth paying much attention to. That was the evaluation that Nigel's shop received among the wealthy of Shurabasti. Of course, the 'bottle' containing the sports drink was truly amazing (the drink itself was amazing in a different sense). The energy bars also had quite decent taste. But that was about it. The bottle's storage capacity and durability were certainly admirable, but the wealthy didn't need to worry about such things anyway. If dishes broke, they could just buy new ones, and maintenance could be left to servants, so why would they worry about a single container? The structure that allowed you to see through completely was quite interesting, but since everyone had them, their value as collectibles was lacking. Energy bars were the same. While travelers arduously crossing the desert might stake their lives on food weight and nutritional value, for the wealthy who rarely went to dangerous places using their own bodies, these weren't very important factors. Of course, they had their own taste so they were worth enjoying as an occasional delicacy, but if you asked whether they had such an enchanting taste that they couldn't be obtained elsewhere, they weren't at that level. The precious item called a 'tumbler' that was offered to Princess Fariza was coveted, but if you touched it wrong you'd be marked by the princess, so it was pie in the sky anyway. Therefore, the wealthy did not have much interest in Nigel's store, nor were they enthusiastic about it like the peddlers were. And that indifference was completely shattered along with the bread packages released one day. Specifically, by the small pictures inside them, smaller than the palm of a hand. "Damn it! Another carp! This damn carp keeps coming out without getting boring!!" "You dirty mouse-like thing!! I don't need you!!" "What's this pink and cute thing? It's one I've never seen before?" "What? A new specimen? Sell it to me right now!! I'll put out gold coins!!" First, let it be said that the stickers on the bread that Nigel created were not in a very complete state. Nigel's ability was, after all, reproduction. Localizing the names and numbers attached to the stickers into the local language was impossible, so Nigel just implemented only the pictures on the stickers and completely removed the name and number parts. After all, when implementing packaging before, he had removed all the trademark-like pictures too. In the same context. Naturally, those who bought the bread had no idea what names the beings in these pictures had, what stories they contained, or anything like that. From the beginning, Nigel's thinking was extremely complacent, something like 'if there are reasonably interesting pictures, they'll buy a little more bread.' "But these pictures, while it's fascinating that they're very precise and can be stuck and peeled off here and there, aren't they a bit bizarre? Where in the world is there a lizard with a burning tail?" "Why wouldn't there be? Don't you know about salamanders?" "Huh?" And people who didn't receive the official story began interpreting and talking about those pictures on their own. Culturally speaking, it was a natural phenomenon. "So these pictures here are depicting beings from various legends and folk tales, right?" "Right! This turtle standing on two legs is a divine being symbolizing wisdom and longevity, and that burning lizard is the flame spirit salamander!" "Aha, so that's why they were drawn in such an exaggerated and bizarre art style. It was to capture that otherworldliness and fantastical properties!" "Indeed, the artist's true intentions can be felt! How much anguish must have been poured into each of these small pictures!" At this point, bread was secondary. Of course, the bread itself was also evaluated as sufficiently delicious, but there was a limit to how much bread one person could eat at once. Moreover, many of the breads Nigel sold contained things like cream, so they weren't the type that could be stored for long in the desert's humid environment. Why would travelers choose completely dry and hard bread with no moisture when packing bread? Because that lasts longer. The wealthy bought bread in bunches, ate only one or two themselves, distributed all the remaining bread to their servants, and then diligently collected only the stickers. This was because talking about and speculating on what each sticker's picture motif was had become a trend among the wealthy, so if you didn't collect them, you couldn't join the conversation. "Master! This is amazing!! Even though we're selling bread for silver coins, we can't sell because we're out of stock!! Even the previous products weren't like this!!" "...What about the cold qahwa?" "......" Noa averted her gaze. Nigel acknowledged defeat. (E/N: The demon king of ice is dead! Long live the desert heroes!) (E/N²: I have no idea why I wrote the previous note)