Eight large shadows stretched out along the courtyard as the sun poured down from above. They were a monument to the great victory of the mushroom faction, the parasols of the Food Court. Back in the other world, I was part of the bamboo shoot faction, though.
“Looks like we made it in time, somehow.”
The sky-blue parasols stood over tables covered with white tablecloths, and grey fabric covered the ground. All of these were brand new. It was an extravagance that we could afford precisely because six different companies provided the capital. At our last meeting, we ended up deciding that each company would increase their investment by 30 percent.
From my personal perspective, this looked closer to a restaurant terrace than a food court. Not that I ever had anything to do with such restaurants in that world.
Standing in the center of the circle of eight tables, I could see the crests of each company by the first story windows of the school building. It seems they desperately tried to hide the fact that these were all storerooms.
Apparently, all the construction and such was done with the assistance of each member’s households. I guess that was to be expected of silver companies; they really did have significant skill in making such preparations. To us, this was our grand stage, but the rumors being spread by the students watching us get everything prepared in a frenzy were just the best. From a self-preservation perspective, of course.
That said, Dargan, who took charge of the construction, was left with a bitter smile after it all finished, though.
I looked up at the clear skies. We were blessed with great weather. So we were now fully prepared to make use of our locational advantage. All that was left...
“Sir? They’ve begun preparations for the food.” Mia called out to me.
Yup, all that was left was the essential merchandise.
I went with Mia towards the gathering place of all the cooking assistants. Just to the side of our eight tables, we set up a place where the one-plate lunch could be arranged using the food prepared by each company.
“This is the model. Do use it as reference material as best you can,” Plura said as he drew a thin line using a pale-yellow sauce and traced a pattern around the food placed on the plate.
The one-plate lunch that I originally proposed had changed completely. The colors and traits of each individual dish were made to stand out more, and the tastes harmonized even better. For example, Plura’s mousse used to be donut-shaped, but now it was split in two pieces and lined up next to each other in alternate arrangements. This was apparently done so that it didn’t overlap with the shape of a container. The vegetable aspic had zested junos skin in it, and they even mixed in some junos juice with the cheese kneaded into the pudding.
This was all completely out of my hands. When it came to practical work experience, they were far more talented than I was. And though it was somewhat shameful, as the manager of the Food Court Firm, I was quite thankful that I could concentrate entirely on guaranteeing our security and the general trend of the Food Court as a whole.
“Jacob and Remy will come in the afternoon it seems,” Mia reported.
“I see. Well, their main job only starts tomorrow.”
I looked at the two buildings and the gazebos surrounding the Food Court on three sides. The Carlest umbrella companies used the school building to create luxurious wide-open spaces to use as their shops.
Apparently, the gazebos were being used to host tea parties for the nobles where they would be waited on by merchants marketing their own goods. This wasn’t any sort of direct competition for us.
Looking at this magnificent box which surrounded us on all sides, it practically looked like a military encampment that we went through the trouble of making in the middle of a castle.
Just moments ago, I saw two siblings pointing at us and laughing from the second story windows. Keep it up, that’s what we need. It’s out of the question if you’re not acting careless.
“Morning, Weinder. Here you go, Mia. It’s what you asked for,” Lilka said as she came up to us.
“Thanks.”
“So, why exactly do you need to know the trends on popular accessories?”
“Trade secret.”
“I wasn’t asking you, Weinder.”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Et tu, Mia?”
“Despite putting on the airs of a schemer, Ricardo is rather bad at keeping secrets, so I have to be the one to keep such things under wraps.”
“Huh... I kinda get it, I guess? Umm, I’ll go into the details now. Also, Shirley had some questions about the finances...”
Lilka, Mia, and Shirley began discussing the finances as well as our marketing drive. On this note, Lilka was settled on as the chief of reception while Shirley ended up as Mia’s assistant.
I then headed towards the elegant white tent set to the side of the Food Court.
“It looks a lot better than I thought it would.”
Claudia greeted me at the entrance of the tent. With this sword wielding knight standing in front of the tent, it really did give off the feeling of a military encampment. Now, as for our commander...
“Good morning, Princess Alfina.”
“Good morning. How are the preparations coming along?”
“Everything is progressing smoothly so far.”
Alfina half stood to her feet as Louisa held her back. Just earlier, she made her rounds to each shop as the supervisor of the courtyard to give them her greetings, leaving everyone in a rush to do more. It did help move things along since we were already in a rush, and it did also seem to raise morale.
“Is it really alright for me not to do anything?”
“Just being here is the greatest form of support you can provide,” I replied to the princess as she elegantly seated herself back in her chair.
In a sense, this here was the poster girl for our Food Court.