"I've heard that you've held little taste tests with acquaintances?" Azul interrupted and quietly sent Jade to escort the worker to the gates of the school, "I wonder if you wouldn't mind having me drop by every now and then."
Hearing this, Lotus shrugged, "Why not? I've been experimenting for a while, so I was hoping for inputs from other people."
"That's why you invited others to come for a tea party?" Azul looked to her in confusion.
"A tea party?" Lotus raised a brow, "I'm afraid my little tea time is not fit to be considered a party that Heartslabyul pulls off, but yes. I'm trying to recreate some old recipes and learn some new ones. It's been a long time since I last cooked. So, with Grim being a glutton, I thought I'd give it a go again with those new style of cuisines. Would you care to give me some imputs as well in the future?"
"Give you my opinion?"
Saying this, Lotus watched as Azul gave her a look of surprise and deep confusion. That was when Willow realized what was going on with this guy's mind. She laughed a loud and said, "I've made it clear to you a long time ago, but I won't beat around the bushes and all the formality. I've only kept my little tea time with some friends. I never extend it further to just any students or else, I'd start having them pay for their meals. As you can see, I'm just by myself, so how can I dare run a resturant the way you can? I can't. At the same time, I don't just let anyone eat the food I make, so how can I compete with you in this field? So, let me make this clear. I do not wish to compete with your dorm in business management. This is your domain. I just want to live simply and undisturbed away from the fight of finance. My reason for asking you over is for you to give me your honest opinion. The harsher it is, the better."
They looked to her in surprise as she said all of this without flinching and finished lightly, "If you do have the time, please stop by in the evening to try out the snacks I've made. If you don't want to, then that's fine as well. I'm not here to force anyone to begin with. All I do is hand out invitations."
"Eh? Azul thinks Angler fish as a business rival? No way..." Floyd shook his head in disbelief.
Ren looked to Azul in confusion as he finally understood what was happening before him. Did Azul really make a rival out of Lotus just because of the little tea parties she holds? But, that's just ridiculous!
It wasn't how Lotus thought that Azul was thinking too much of challenging him, but how Azul actually saw Lotus to be capable of competing against his business! Although he had good connections with some of the members of the dorms due to his studies and classes, he would rather stand by his friends than to allow these acquaintances to go pick on them!
"Dorm leader Azul, Lotus is only holding small tasting sessions for some friends. Even if he does try to compete, there is only him, the supervisor and a magic beast in Ramshackle dorm. With the condition that the dorm is in, it will be impossible to start business like this, even with the help of the headmaster." Ren spoke up calmly, "As you're experienced in running a business, you should understand what it takes to run a business. He doesn't have the requirement to help him open a resturant."
"That..." Azul thought to himself carefully. After all, if it wasn't this guy, then who was it that's snagging his customers?
Lotus saw this and heaved a heavy sigh before walking over to the table and took a piece of napkin and her pen. After scribbling on it for a while, she returned and handed the napkin to him as she said, "These are the people I've invited over since the start of these tea times. Just how many percent would it affect your business if these people came to visit Ramshackle dorm?"
Azul looked over the names in surprise, "These are the people that came over to Ramshackle dorm?"
"Of course, they are." Lotus snorted, "I only allow those that I personally invited or they bring in people with them into the dorm. I never allow people I don't personally invite over thoughtlessly! The mess that would create later on would be too much for me to handle when I don't have a license."
Looking over the list of people, Azul was surprised to come across a few names he hadn't expected, but, seeing how close she and Ren are, it should make some sense to him. Seeing this, he decided to accept her words and agreed with her. This small amount of people really isn't enough to cause a dent in his business. He frowned bitterly in confusion but smiled to her later, "It seems that I've troubled the two of you in the end."
"There's no trouble." Lotus shook her head back with a smile, "You're only trying to protect your business, after all. But, it's troubling if Mostro Lounge encounters trouble in the future. You must've confided with Jade about this, right?"
"Actually," Azul shook his head, "I didn't tell him or Floyd about it. It was only my assumption recently, so I had no time to convey this to them."
"You should." Lotus responded with a wide smile, "I mean, shouldn't there have been some things that has caught the twin's attention? Anything unusual or maybe somethings Floyd found too bothersome to look into?"
"Huh?" Floyd looked to them in confusion as the conversation turned to him and his sibling, "Me?"
"Gabriel told me this before." Lotus brought up to Azul, "How attentive the twins are to their surroundings or that it was strange how there have been people a few people that would come and just buy the same drink over and over again in one sitting these past few days."
"Gabriel?" Azul looked to her in confusion before recalling his name on the napkin, "Isn't that someone from the first year? We had him manage the bar, didn't we? Why would he...?"
Lotus laughed with a small smile, "He looked very annoyed that day saying how he was unable to do anything when they talked bad about him or the other dorm members. He spent the remainder of the day studying with me for a bit, though it was complaints about unruly customers and being rather depressed. I sent him back to the dorm after with a drink. Though he didn't say much things regarding business, it would be better to keep an eye on things cause I have a feeling he'd send one of those people into the dorm's tank one of these days."
"Ah, so that's why he's been having trouble greeting the customers!"
They looked over to find Jade returning from the trip with a relieved smile as he noted to them, "I had seen him showing up with awkward smile these past few days before the start of Winter break."
"How long has he been like this?"
"Since the end of the last exam." Jade responded with a look of concern, "As for those people..."
"Three third year students and a lackey first year." Lotus finished with a sigh, "I've already looked into who was bothering him. They were a third year from Scarabia, and two third years from Savanaclaw. The first year lackey is from Heartslabyul."
Hearing this, Azul was surprised and looked to her with a look of intimidation, "How did you-?"
Lotus shrugged with a small laugh, "I have my ways just as everyone else does naturally. Moreover, it's not easy to anger Gabriel, so I definitely want to know who had the capabilities to make him upset. Last I need is Gabriel to be expelled from this school."
"Aren't they still our customers?" Azul frowned with a slight worry before sighing in disappointment and responding, "Perhaps I thought too highly of him..."
Lotus shrugged, "You still have another year and a half here before you leave school during Senior year. Gabriel is still a first year, so he has room to grow. There will also be more candidates for your position next year too. But really, I suggest you look to someone else as your successor next year."
"Putting that aside..." Azul looked to her with an annoyed look as he continued, "These people are still our customers so we naturally have to be... hospitable to them."
Lotus smiled wide when she heard this. Azul turned to her in deep thoughts before adding curiosly, "However, you gave us quite a number of important intel."
Lotus sneered, "Like I said, if someone actually manages to anger Gabriel to that extent, I naturally want to 'know' who it is. However, if you're going to catch the culprit, I may as well just give my price early and give you something as my payments. Well? Are they enough, then?"