C73
A pearl that led the sword star Diery into the mud, and the shining star who obtained third place in the jousting tournament. While personally exploring the hot topic, Oryx Mirkain, the Duke of Seymour was surprised and secretly delighted.
"You've brought quite a useful one. He looks tough as well. He'll be a strong shield behind Seymour."
I quickly responded to my father's words.
"For Oryx's talent to shine and become an official knight, the Knights of Seymour should be dur... No, I would like you to train him systematically."
"Of course. I'm thinking of making him a knight who fits Seymour to the bone."
A challenging journey awaits you.
I felt a little sorry, but I hoped Oryx would become a full-fledged knight who could deal with Auras as soon as possible to watch my back.
"I wanted to repay Princess Deborah's grace, but I received an even greater grace."
It is said that Oryx was not resentful of me even though he was in the midst of rigorous training.
After not being able to showcase his talents due to his ugly brother's inferiority complex in that remote territory, Oryx, who was suffering as the nameless knight after arriving in the capital, repeatedly thanked me after being moved by the systematic aura knight training of Seymour.
"It seems like the Princess brought a Monster, not a human."
"I'm trying to intimidate that monster, but what the hell did the princess bring home...?"
Furthermore, even the commander of the Seymour Knights seemed amazed by Oryx's extraordinary power.
"I hope he becomes an official knight who can deal with the aura as soon as possible."
After stopping by the barracks where the Seymour knights were staying, I walked slowly towards the annex while watching Oryx wield a 2-meter lance like a small stick.
"A completely unexpected stroke of luck arrived."
I only sponsored the players to promote isotonic drinks and takeout food, so it caught me by surprise.
"Well, the electrolyte components are effective for dehydration symptoms."
After the jousting tournament, Armand launched an isotonic drink called "Super Aid."
It is sold as Lemonade Aid and Cherry Aid and has also become a link to functional drinks that will be sold later.
Super Aid is for quickly quenching thirst.
And the coffee is for enhancing concentration and brain activation.
It's part of the overall coffee-selling landscape.
"Coffee. It was good. If you package it nicely, you might be able to sell it."
Even the Master, who used to say it was bitter and tasteless, seemed to use coffee frequently when he had to handle many requests.
He said that drinking the black devil's brew makes you feel like you're floating and you can do twice the work quickly.
"When should coffee be launched...?"
Armand is settling in and taking its place, and I don't think it's time for the bitter and hostile coffee to appear just yet.
"The shortage of baristas is also a big problem."
However, through the jousting tournament, commercial items called "Takeout Food" and "Isotonic Drink" were introduced to the people.
"It was really lucky that the imperial family allowed me to bring drinks to the arena."
The clock tower played a very important role in winning this job.
Due to the success in attracting an expensive and useful facility called the Clock Tower without spending a cent, the management office received much praise from their superiors and was highly appreciated by Armand.
Recently, the Armand Children's Foundation was established, making it seem more solid and trustworthy.
"Mmm. Is there any effect?"
[Sales after the match].
I opened the sales receipt inside the Maisond cake box without thinking much and doubted what my eyes were seeing.
Did I really sell this much?
The result was a great success.
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After the jousting tournament, Armand was often talked about.
The cup with the Armand logo was exposed to a large number of spectators, and a plausible story was added.
"Oryx, who seemed to collapse under the scorching sun at any moment, refreshed himself and became more active after drinking the beverage and achieved great success."
An acquaintance of an acquaintance of Oryx's acquaintance chatted enthusiastically.
"He says the match was very desperate. That drink gave Oryx his last chance to become an official knight."
People like dramatic stories.
The success story of the nameless knight, who no one had noticed before, was a narrative that everyone enjoyed.
"Now Oryx is being treated well in Seymour, isn't he?"
"I've heard rumors that his skills are improving tremendously day by day. Even those snobby Seymour knights are amazed."
"Hmm! Let's go quickly. What did Oryx drink to cause this commotion?"
The men who had been chatting headed to Armand, looking at the group in official knight uniforms gathered in front of the East Gate fountain.
Each of them was holding a glass.
"Is this the drink you had in the joust? I was looking forward to it, but it's tasteless. The flavor is subtle too."
"It's mild, but doesn't it feel refreshing?"
"I don't know what it is, but it goes down well with my throat."
"You have to drink it when you're struggling to get a dramatic effect. How could it be Super Aid for no reason? When I drank this beverage under the scorching sun, it felt like I had stumbled upon an oasis."
The isotonic drinks left a deep impression on the knights who attended the jousting tournament.
There were some knights who walked past Armand with their colleagues, reminiscing about their feelings at that time, and others drank isotonic beverages when they felt exhausted after their training.
"This is the rumored..."
"That's right."
As word-of-mouth spread that famous knights often visited this shop, even those who came from afar felt good after drinking the same beverages as them.
It was similar to the fact that when a celebrity visited as a regular customer, the shop hit the jackpot in popularity.
Furthermore, handsome and well-built knights provided great visual appeal to the main customers, the ladies.
Entertainment companies aren't installing cafés on the first floor of office buildings for nothing.
The window seats on the second floor were definitely a warm place where the knights looked good.
The area around Armand's fountains and the East Gate Fountain was crowded with people day after day, leading to a large number of visitors.
Additionally, the demand for takeout food was high due to the warm weather, and net profit nearly doubled in an instant because the isotonic drinks were inexpensive.
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"What? Why did Naria's sales drop by half?!"
Bruno, who ran dessert shops and a variety of stores at the academy's main gate, became furious as soon as he saw Naria's recent sales decline.
"Damn it. If this continues, I won't be able to reach the profits I promised to Duke Sereig."
As a middle-ranking noble, he was a vassal of the Sereig Duke's family and, by paying a large sum of money every month, was under the protection of Duke Sereig.
It was also a fee to fill the duke's back pocket by secretly diverting funds from the imperial family.
As running a family was expensive, Duke Sereig cared quite a bit about Bruno, who had good business skills.
However, the duke's trust was based on the premise that Bruno would bring in a lot of gold coins.
Bruno had no choice but to get angry when Naria's sales, which had the highest sales among the stores operated at the West Gate, slowed down.
"What is the reason? Why aren't you responding faster?"
"Keuk!"
The manager of Naria, who was hit by the ashtray thrown by Bruno, opened his mouth with a sad expression, holding his bleeding forehead.
"That... As we continued to competitively lower the price of our fixed menu, sales may have increased, but the net profit is not high.
The discount rate is high, but in fact, the sales volume didn't increase much.
The aristocrats they were targeting were not those who simply liked cheap things.
Rather, they thought it was vulgar to openly compete for discounts.
Additionally, as the price was reduced, there was an issue with quality.
To cover the daily sales demanded by Bruno, the store manager had no choice but to reduce the amount of tea leaves per cup, and finicky customers stopped showing up like ghosts when they noticed that the taste was no longer the same as before.
However, Naria's store owner was not insightful enough to see through the characteristics of these large target groups.
"So? Is that it?"
"Somehow... I think one of the reasons is that Armand has attracted customers to the other side of the Academy."
"That damn shop...! I don't know who's running it, but they're quite extraordinary."
Bruno slammed the desk with his hand wearing a gold ring.
