C63
"Golden Star?"
"Should we sign up?"
"I think it will be fun."
As they showed interest, an employee waiting at the exit approached and explained how to register as regular customers.
"If you create a membership card with your name and signature written on it, you will be registered as an Armand member immediately."
Because Armand's logo was so beautiful, the coupon book also looked attractive, and the women immediately said they wanted to sign up as members.
As the employee unfolded the finely folded parchment paper, there was a piece of paper with twelve blank star-shaped spaces.
The employee stamped two seals with the Armand logo on the blank space.
"I sincerely congratulate you on becoming a Purple member. If you fill in all the remaining spaces, you will be promoted to a Silver member and receive a small gift."
"Oh? Wait a minute, I'm number 76!"
"No way, I'm member number 77!"
The eyes of the ladies standing in the middle widened like fire.
"Congratulations on your first membership event and your first victory!"
When the employee applauded, the inside of the café fell silent for a while, and then it became noisy.
"I won a gift!"
"Are you really giving a gift?"
People who were near the fountain soon rushed to see.
The manager came personally and handed over the member ID badge for number 77 and a pure gold star-shaped accessory in a luxurious purple box.
"I'm so lucky! I can't believe it. No wonder, I had a good dream today."
The lady was so excited that she cried.
As word spread, more customers began to register as members.
"The new menu gave two stamps."
The membership event also played a clever role in promoting the new smoothie menu.
Moreover, even if they don't win, if they receive two stamps, it will arouse the desire to complete all the remaining blank spaces.
In addition, since it was an event that gave pure gold, it was favored by people all over the Empire, and Armand didn't know that the theme would explode every day from the first day.
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Give a winning benefit to new members.
The newly opened store was an event to enjoy.
"If you hold such an event in a standard store, it will only increase the desires of regular customers."
Creating membership cards and encouraging them to collect stamps is also a basic marketing technique to attract regular customers.
"By the way, the smoothie should sell well."
The money earned from selling a smoothie was more than when selling a combo.
This is because seasonal fruits are cheap, and good tea leaves are always expensive.
"There's a lot left, so if it sells well, it will be a really excellent menu."
I was fortunate to have this menu.
Belreck, as one of the top geniuses, created a blender that exceeded my expectations.
He must have thought it was a truly cruel tool.
The blender he made had a low-level rotation power and a destructive power that would sharpen bones.
"The efficiency is really good. There's nothing to say about durability."
Satisfied, with hope that the smoothie will work well for the people of the empire, I got out of the carriage.
Today, I had to go to the Tower for a seminar to increase the monthly formula fee.
"Oh, before that, I have to attend the Epsilon club meeting."
The "Mana Research Club" of the Fifth Princess.
When I thought about the club, I felt intrigued and amazed.
The Fifth Princess, myself, and a member who couldn't even show her nose.
It consists of only three people, but how can it be presented as a club?
I felt like there was some strange contract.
I hate going there.
Every time I remembered it, my steps became heavier, as if weight was hanging from my ankles.
I didn't know because I didn't go to the men's lounge, but the women's lounge of Epsilon had a terrifying and strange atmosphere.
This was due to the realistically shaped spherical jointed dolls lined up on the wall.
The moment I entered the women's lounge, I felt the dolls staring at me, sending a chill down my spine.
There were even dolls that could blink.
I'm very weak when it comes to ghosts.
"I heard there's a puppeteer among the six executive members of Epsilon, but..."
I heard that puppeteers are people who move dolls by injecting mana into threads, and high-level puppeteers are talented enough to guide the dolls like an army.
In the past, they were in charge of the human wave strategy in war and were considered a very rare occupational group.
This is because the barrier to entry is high as it requires dexterity and mana control skills, which are close to magic skills.
Well, that's all well and good, but why do you have to display the dolls in the lounge?
This is something you can do at home.
"When will the fifth princess arrive?"
"Princess Deborah!"
As I trembled among the dolls, the princess entered the lounge with a happy expression, accompanied by the maids she was always with.
"Princess. She has arrived."
I quickly approached her, feeling relieved without realizing it.
"Oh! I didn't expect the princess to be happy to see me. As expected, you liked the welcome banner I ordered."
I had to feel embarrassed because welcome banners were hung not only on the social club bulletin boards but also everywhere on the academy campus.
"No way, it's not still going around, is it?"
I felt even sadder because there was no one else but the Emperor and the Crown Prince who could remove the banners ordered directly by the Fifth Princess.
Thank you for your kindness, but it's too much...
"I was thinking if it was a trend to write a phrase on a banner and hang it here and there, but I beat the trend. Ha ha."
She smiled cheerfully as if she was pleased.
"...Thank you for taking care of me."
"I'm also glad you like it. By the way, I heard you will soon publish a new thesis at the Tower, and I'm looking forward to it."
After exchanging a few words about current events with her, I began studying a thesis related to mana.
While reading the thesis that had recently become a hot topic at the Tower, the doll in the back started making a rattling sound.
"That's creepy!"
The Fifth Princess frowned and clicked her tongue.
"You're concentrating, but it seems like the doll is bothering you."
The Fifth Princess interpreted my fearful expression as annoyance.
"I'm fine."
"Oh, I don't know how long Michelle will keep those creepy dolls in this lounge."
As expected, I wasn't the only one who found it eerie.
"Oh, I didn't introduce Michelle Granber properly. She's one of the executive members of Epsilon and, as you can see, she's a puppeteer who makes dolls, but she's a bit off."
"Bit off?"
"She belongs to my club and runs another club."
The Fifth Princess complained with a disgruntled face.
It seems the doll maker was the only other member of this mana research club.
"She seems like another fourth-dimensional person... No, let's not think too negatively."
Marquis Granber is the commander of the Imperial Army.
It means I have a good connection and point of contact.
Several times I've been right because I get along well with famous people in the central social world.
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Michelle Granber, a puppeteer, has been running a gourmet club for a long time and has been quite famous in the Empire as a discerning gourmet.
In addition to making dolls, food was her only hobby.
She has compiled a list of delicious shops and distributed it to the people around her, and recently, she has been writing a thesis related to food culture seriously.
"Shall we go to the new dessert shop today?"
Armand.
She was keeping a point to go.
As she imagined the delicious cake, her sunken eyes came to life.
"Why are there so many people?"
Well.
At the start of the opening, many customers crowded out of curiosity.
In particular, I heard that the promotion was a bit noisy here.
But what are Thierry and Guillaume doing there?
Faces that belong at the racetrack or the gambling house were in the dessert shop, and Michelle's suspicious eyes passed over them.
"It's the 1,091st. It was really impressive."
"I told you to wait in line for exactly 10 minutes."
"When did you do that?!"
Michelle watched the backs of the two who were disappearing from afar, looking around with a sense of suspicion.
Somehow, it seems like a noisy event.
Certainly, the promotion seems fun and good.
People seemed very happy.
However, it was all an unnecessary matter; taste is what matters most in the end.
"The line is still long. What should I do?"
Even so, it hasn't been long since she came out, but it was a shame to go back.
The weather was nice too.
She held a doll in the waiting line and spent some time sitting in front of the fountain in the square.
Seeing a doll in line instead of a person, customers were startled for a moment, and then soon whispered that it was Granber's eldest daughter.
The sunlight beat down on her pale face, which had been confined to a small room all week and had only touched dolls.
