Freshwater Fish (3)

“Right? This is the restaurant I highly recommend. Eat up!”

Only then did Honta start eating his meal.

Demilly felt a sense of incongruity. She thought that Honta’s expressions and actions were completely different from what she saw in the capital.

“Ah, I need to go to the restroom.”

Honta hurriedly left while eating, and Demilly started eating alone.

Then she felt the gaze of the man from earlier.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“Oh, no. Is that delicious? The fish.”

“Yes? Oh, yes. It’s delicious. Is this the fish I’ve only heard about? It’s my first time in a restaurant that sells this.”

“Oh, really?”

The man’s face brightened up instantly.

Seeing this, El started another conversation and asked Demilly,

“By the way, you’re the owner of Honta’s store, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“He said he went to the capital with you. Did things go well?”

“Yes, the business went well, but…”

Demilly’s face darkened again.

“Honta seemed very worried. He wanted to take good care of you but didn’t know how since he’s never been to the capital… He even said he couldn’t sleep well because of it.”

“Really? He said that?”

“Yes, in the atmosphere of the restaurant, people often share such stories over drinks.”

“He… said that…?”

“Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing. He suddenly made mistakes, wandered around alone, and didn’t sleep at all on the way here.”

“Honta did?”

El shook his head in disbelief.

“Come to think of it, he said he wanted to repay you during the trip to the capital. He wandered around alone looking for a good place to take you to, but by the time he returned, you were already asleep. Maybe there was a misunderstanding. I think Honta couldn’t sleep properly throughout the journey since it was his first time leaving Greek City.”

“Really?”

Hmm, hearing El’s words, Demilly suddenly had a hunch. If that’s true, it means all her assumptions were wrong?

“Yes, he was very eager to serve you properly. Maybe his enthusiasm caused the trouble. Please talk it over. When Honta returns, I’ll bring some drinks out.”

El smiled gently.

Demilly nodded without realizing it.

“You saw that, right?”

After closing time, I asked the sweetfish old man, who had been observing the customers from the bar table.

“Yes, I did. I was right after all. It was delicious. It was, but…”

“Yes, that’s it. It didn’t sell because people didn’t know about it. Emphasize its health benefits and especially its mild flavor. Many people will like it. It’s easier to digest for older people compared to meat.”

“Could it really be so?”

The sweetfish old man scratched his white hair and bowed his head, looking like he really hoped it would be true.

“I’ve never had anyone even look at it all this time, so I’m not confident.”

“You saw the good reactions at the restaurant, right? I’ll help you, so don’t worry. Just prepare enough fish by tomorrow noon. If it doesn’t sell, I’ll buy everything you’ve prepared. But that won’t happen.”

Yes, if my prediction is wrong and it doesn’t sell, I’ll just store it in the time-stop storage and use it in the restaurant.

Introducing today’s sales assistants.

The first assistant is, of course, Rurin. And the second is Sereina.

Honestly, there’s no one in this city as idle as these two dragons. I dragged them out to exploit their labor.

And the third is Elena.

Since it’s right in front of the clinic, she can return if there are patients.

Honestly, we don’t need the two dragons, but we need someone trustworthy to testify about how healthy the fish is, so Elena is essential.

In modern times, some people avoid fish because of sea pollution, but that’s not an issue in this world.

This fish is rich in high-quality protein, essential amino acids, calcium, magnesium, and various minerals, and it’s low-fat, making it excellent for preventing adult diseases.

The goal is to catch the eyes and ears of ordinary citizens who come out to buy dinner ingredients.

“Now, leave it to me today. Just take the money when customers pay.”

“Alright then.”

The sweetfish old man nodded with a still bewildered face.

And I started grilling the sweetfish.

It’s a common sales method in modern supermarkets, but it’s a method no one thinks of in this world.

My strategy is to sell through tastings. Just stuffing a bucket with live fish and selling them wouldn’t attract any attention from people who don’t know about them.

I started by setting up the charcoal grill the same way I did before.

Since the smell spreading too much can cause complaints, I discreetly set up a protective barrier around the area, then skewered the sweetfish and placed them near the fire.

Then they cook. Look at the sight of the sweetfish grilling over the charcoal.

Passersby started glancing this way. No one had stopped yet, but they definitely looked over as they passed by.

In other words, there was a reaction.

From here on, it’s important.

“Alright, Rurin.”

I handed the whole sweetfish to Rurin. Dragged out of bed, she was confused at first, but when she saw the sweetfish grilling deliciously, she crouched down, drooling, and accepted it with a look of pure joy.

“Why eat here?”

“Fool, can’t you see why?”

Then Sereina answered for me, crossing her arms.

“Why would I notice? It’s annoying.”

But Rurin completely ignored Sereina’s sarcasm.

“Rurin.”

I handed a sweetfish skewer to Sereina, who was about to get angry, and pointed around for Rurin.

“Don’t worry about anything else, just eat comfortably. You’re hungry, right?”

“Well, I’m hungry, so okay.”

She nodded and bit into the sweetfish.

Crunch!

And with another bite, the sweetfish disappeared in an instant.

“Good, but could you eat a bit slower? Slower than now.”

“What, why…?”

“The purpose isn’t to eat, but to show.”

“Ugh? What’s that about! Don’t play around with food!”

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

I gave her another sweetfish, emphasizing to eat slowly this time.

Anyway, thanks to that, people started gathering. Just like now.

“Excuse me, I’ve been watching for a while. What exactly is this?”

“It’s a fish ingredient. It’s mild, contains many healthy components, and especially, unlike meat… No, before that, it’s delicious!”

I almost went into unnecessary details but handed the sweetfish to the lady who looked like a housewife who had come closer.

“Come on! Everyone else, come over. Try it first!”

“What kind of taste is this? It’s different and nice.”

“Yes, that’s right. This is a fish they said can be eaten that comes only from the sea!”

I continued explaining while showing the live fish, and as people gathered, others curious also started gathering.

“But, this… It definitely tastes good, but how do you cook it? It looks very difficult.”

One of the housewives who seemed to have come to buy dinner ingredients said that, and I immediately denied it.

“No, look at our employee eating it.”

Nom nom.

Rurin was happily eating the fish. From head to tail. Bones and all.

The sweetfish went from head to half in one bite, then disappeared with another bite. As I said, Rurin was doing it a bit slower.

It’s somehow funny to see her pretending to eat slowly.

“Just take it home and grill it. Just season it well with salt.”

“Oh my, really?”

“It looks easy to cook. I didn’t have any side dishes to prepare, so please wrap one up for me.”

“Sure, as many as you want. Go over there and learn how to prepare it.”

I pointed to the sweetfish old man and said that.

Curiosity attracts people, and as more people gather, a crowd mentality forms.

“Alright, we don’t have much. It’ll be gone soon.”

Curiosity about the intriguing ingredient is satisfied with tastings, and declaring that it will soon be sold out stimulates the most basic human instinct to not miss out.

The sales go smoothly.

“You, I’m full now… How long do I have to keep eating?”

In the meantime, our big eater malfunctioned, and I looked at Sereina.

“What, what? What! I can’t eat that much…”

“Come here until Rurin digests. Red Dragon.”

“Nooooo!”

I dragged the Red Dragon and handed over the sweetfish. The tasting event continued like that.

The sweetfish old man was shedding tears of joy. Considering the proportion of fish in the human diet, things should go smoothly from now on.

In the middle of selling sweetfish.

During break time.

“Hey, kid.”

“There are old folks, but no kids.”

Rurin replied firmly to Sereina’s question.

“Kid, stop joking and get some water. The Great Red Dragon is thirsty.”

“R-r-right now! Can’t you see I’m resting!”

Rurin got annoyed at Sereina’s nonsense and didn’t forget to throw the towel she was holding.

Splat!

The towel hit Sereina’s face.

“It suits you. Hehehe.”

Then she got up quickly as if to escape.

“You, you! Come here and clean this up and apologize right now, or you’ll regret it.”

“Why would I regret it? You’re talking nonsense.”

“Why, are you going to sneak into the corner again and peek at El while spitting out beer?”

“H-how did you know that? Damn Red thing!”

“Hehehe, since Elena isn’t here today, I can give you some helpful advice?”

For Sereina, the record of El and Rurin’s love is very important. You could call it an observation log. So she wanted to bring about change, either for better or worse. Watching without change was very boring.

“Help? I don’t need that. I’d rather die than get help from you, Red.”

“Oh, really? Looks like you didn’t follow any of the advice I gave you during the bath last time?”

“That’s because…”

Rurin’s voice started to shrink at Sereina’s firm question.

“I didn’t do it because I didn’t think following your advice would change anything.”

“Then live like that forever.”

As Sereina shrugged with the towel still on her face, Rurin’s eyes began to move.

That’s true. She wanted to get closer to El and be loved more by El, but nothing was changing.

The happiest memory was being kissed on the forehead when she was summoned to another dimension.

How much time has passed since then? There hadn’t been a kiss again. These days, even a hug was difficult.

“Uh, uh… Why is there a towel here?”

Rurin quietly came back to Sereina and removed the towel from her face.

“I’m thirsty, remember?”

“Oh, why is there a cup of water here?”

Then she went to get water from beside the grilling sweetfish. It was water set out for the tasting customers.

“Fine, I’ll tell you why you’re being foolish since you brought me water. I definitely told you last time that the problem is you always rush at him, didn’t I?”

“I rush at him because I like him, what else should I do?”

“You need to assert your presence. If you mean little to El, nothing will happen. Hoho.”

“Wh-what? That can’t be! We are!”

“Ah, calm down. You have your coming-of-age ceremony soon, right? You need to go through the ceremony quickly to lose that childish smell.”

“That’s true. But it’s a bother.”

“That’s not it, you should use it as an opportunity. Fool.”

Sereina poked Rurin’s forehead and started to smile victoriously. Rurin’s anger reached its peak, but she couldn’t help but calm down at the mention of an opportunity.