CH 282

We Ate At The Food Stalls

“Hmm…ggg…gulp… Delicious! It is nice to eat such things occasionally.”

“Yes… Here, Leo.”

“Wuff!”

After leaving Mr. Kalis’s store, I walked down the main street with Mr. Ekenhart.

About half of the people that passed by were surprised when they saw Leo. Some would even run away. But the others did not seem to mind.

Though, somee looked at Leo reverently… Maybe they were the people who had touched Leo when we first came to Ractos?

As we had been here several times before, I was happy to see that some people were used to her now.

Because Leo would not attack anyone, and was not someone who should be feared.

As we walked down the street, Mr. Ekenhart became interested in the meat that was being cooked in the food stalls.

Well, it was really Leo who was the most interested.

The meat was grilled on the spot and handed to you. It appeared to be beef with a special sauce, and was incredibly delicious.

I bought three so that we could each have some… I blew on Leo’s to cool it off and then removed them from the skewer before she ate it.

I didn’t know if it was still the case, but dogs had sensitive tongues like cats, and the skewer could be dangerous… Though, Leo was probably smart enough to eat it properly.

“While it is good to have your own cook, such casual dining has its charms…”

Mr. Ekenhart mused as he looked at the line of stalls.

“Have you eaten in such places before?”

“Well… A very long time ago. When Claire was about this high…no, maybe smaller.”

“When she was a child then.”

Mr. Ekenhart smiled as he seemed to be reminiscing about the past.

As the head of his house now, he had to travel with escorts. But I suppose this was before that time.

I had wondered if Ms. Claire only had escorts because she was a lady, but it seemed that it was normal for Mr. Ekenhart as well.

“By the way, Mr. Takumi. How do you feel about Anneliese?”

“Are you trying to talk about relationships again?”

“No, indeed not! Uh, mister… I’ll take three of those!”

Mr. Ekenhart suddenly started to talk about Ms. Anne.

And considering what had been on his mind while on the road, I was a little exasperated. But he insisted that this was different.

But then he stopped at a food stall and ordered more food.

“Oh, this looks good too… So, Mr. Takumi. About Anneliese… What do you think? In terms of personality and her mind?”

“Is that chicken..? Yes, it does look good. Ms. Anne is… We were able to talk once and… Does my opinion really matter?”

“Yes, I’d like to hear it… Hmm… This is delicious!”

“Thank you!”

Apparently, Mr. Ekenhart wanted to hear my opinion on Ms. Anne.

After accepting the chicken, Mr. Ekenhart paid and then ate it immediately before turning back to me.

The old man at the stall looked pleased to have his food praised so loudly as he handed me the other two.

As for what I thought about Ms. Anne… It’s not like we knew each other that well… But I told Mr. Ekenhart my impression after talking to her in her room.

“Well… I don’t know if it is normal for nobles to do that, but she seems to have spent too much time by herself. …Hmm. Yes, it is quite delicious. Here, Leo.”

“Wuff-wuff!”

I answered as I ate the chicken.

It was flavored with salt and was also delicious.

As Leo was looking at me and wagging her tail, I gave her some as well.

“Alone, eh? I wouldn’t say it is normal as a noble…”

“Well, what I mean is…she thinks a lot about being in the privileged class. That’s why she was able to make that marriage proposal out of nowhere.”

“I see. Indeed, sometimes daughters of nobles will marry into other families. As noblewomen can inherit, it is not too common… But, it depends on their parents, I suppose. If the marriage is advantageous, they will likely marry into the other family, regardless if they get along or not.”

“Yes, I suppose it wouldn’t happen a lot… I understand that.”

It had been like that in Japan.

Well, not when I was there…but a long time ago.

“Because she thinks like that, and is too used to being by herself, she gets these crazy ideas all of a sudden… Is what I thought. She does not value any interactions with other people… And does not think about what is inside of others…”

“Hmmm… Yes, I get the same impression from her. Well, it is all the fault of her father, Barsler…”

“You think so?”

“Yes. Count Barsler….decades before I became the duke…he failed in one of his businesses. Well, it is not a rare thing to happen among nobles. And as long as he didn’t live extravagantly, he could live well enough off the taxes he collected. In the first place, a lot of people who are born nobles do not understand business. They think that they can sell anything because of who they are… And they usually have ridiculous prices.”

“Well…it is no surprise that he failed then.”

In general it, was a balance between supply and demand of the products.

If there was no demand, then it would not sell. And if you wanted to sell it at a high price, then you had to restrict the supply and increase the demand.

But if you ignored all of that and simply sold it at a high price, then it would not sell.

You had to sell things at the appropriate price and not fixate on high profits, or your business would not succeed.

Because consumers could be very severe.

“And he became frantic to make up for those failures, but only repeated those mistakes…”

“That’s a bad environment.”

“Yes. Eventually, he started using the tax money for these failing businesses as well. That’s how desperate he was. I think that is why he liked Anneliese’s suggestion, regardless of the harm it would cause others.”