"This tastes so good!" a customer cheered, eating delightfully. The whole deli café was filled with numerous commoner families, ordering food and eating heartily.
"Wow, we've got a full house," Arthur commented, gazing at everyone enjoying their meals. After their first commoner customer, more commoners walked inside to eat.
The whole deli café became a bustling hub.
One week passed, and Stephen read the report regarding the deli café. Soon they were racking up numerous coins. However, it also created a problem: there were still some nobles who were disgusted at the thought of eating with commoners.
To address this, Stephen designated a time in the morning, from 8 to 12, during which only nobles would be served, while from 1 to 7, the café would cater exclusively to commoners.
Stephen was pleased with the overall production of the deli café. The store was thriving, the soap production had sold out, and prices were soaring. Even Stephen was slowly filling the treasury.
It had only been a week, but the deli café was already filled with numerous customers. Thus, Stephen assigned Arthur to open another shop in the marquis territory.
Arthur was also diligent in his work, as he immediately began to reconstruct the new store according to the same blueprints.
He had already sent a family to the marquis territory. The soaps had become prized possessions, and many nobles purchased them.
While in Stephen's territory. Everyone was now free of dust on their faces. Stephen implemented daily bathing, along with soap.
The soap could be used for cleaning both the body and the hair. As a result, everyone walking around the streets had hair and skin that shone brilliantly.
He also introduced basic health practices, such as washing hands before eating. Signs reminding people to wash their hands were placed in each city, and he even asked his town criers to spread the information in the towns.
But Stephen was not done yet. Although everything seemed to be in order, he needed more—he needed more money!
Stephen tasked Tristan to oversee the introduction of another product: lip balms. Since the production processes for lip balms and candles were the same, it wouldn't pose a problem. However, Stephen designated another area to be the cosmetic department.
Stephen contemplated the cosmetic department, realizing it would be a significant deal for numerous people, especially women.
The second item he decided to procure would be lotions. He had already given the instructions and would visit the shop occasionally while they were underway with the lotion creation.
The production of metal pens had also increased since Stephen brought more people to work. The Metal Pen's had also become sought out, many wanting to buy, thus Stephen had to increase the manufactured items.
He had also assigned a new task to Emeric to create a new product: magnifying glasses. Production was at an all-time high since everyone was busy working.
Next was the clothing line; he introduced a garment called a hoodie. At first, everyone was confused, but they quickly began creating it.
Stephen moved from one place to another, ensuring everything was developing perfectly.
Roch and Jocelyn had also started the harvest, bringing in fresh new vegetables and fruits. Because of this abundant harvest, everyone was blessed.
"Maybe it's time to start a festival," Stephen thought. The coins were slowly pouring in; the economy wasn't in the best state, but it was beginning to revitalize with life.
After careful consideration, Stephen realized it would be more feasible to start a festival.
The city would host one after last year's drought and economic decline.
Stephen knew they had to go all out, considering this would be a festive day. Thus, he announced to the whole city that a festival was about to commence in celebration.
Upon hearing this news, everyone cheered. They had never hosted a festival after a year of troubles.
Thus, the festival preparations began.
Stephen picked a few people who had previously worked as vendors and created a three-person team from each sector.
He was already devising a plan.
The news spread far and wide; some in the outer villages of the territory cheered upon hearing about the festival, excited to visit relatives or tour the city.
Because of this, Stephen became busy as well. His mother, Veronica, was also helping with the decorations.
Veronica, with Emeric's assistance, began decorating, each making plans to make the whole city vibrant.
While Stephen conversed with the townsfolk, teaching them about new innovations to sell at the upcoming festival, he was pleased to see everyone listening carefully to every word he spoke.
Many had smiles and even admiration while he spoke, and he wondered how much his prestige among the people had developed.
Unbeknownst to him, everyone's hearts were already captivated by him.
---
"Work was so hard!" Kale, Layla's husband, groaned. He glanced at his wife, who was busy holding an abacus.
At first, he was shocked to hear that his wife was managing one of the shops, referred to as 'departments' by their lord.
Since they were both uneducated in many aspects, they knew basic numbers, but their knowledge was limited.
Still, he cheered for his wife, and now, a month had passed since she took on the job. What he could say was that all was well. He even heard some praises from his friends about his wife.
Instead of being jealous of his wife's success, this made Kale want to work even harder for their children.
When the lord made teams of three for a new business endeavor, he quickly signed up.
He glanced at the paper, unable to understand any of the words, shrugged, and kissed his wife on the cheek.
"Oh, you're home already?" Layla asked, her eyes showing that she had been working hard.
"Yep! I bought some of the food that the lord let us keep. It's a bit burnt," Kale said, sighing. "Are the kids already asleep?" he asked, earning a nod from Layla. "What time is it? I thought I came home early..."
"It's past 8. You know the kids' bedtime is at seven. I've already fed them, though we can have that food for tomorrow," Layla said, gazing back at her work.
"Is everything good with work?" Kale asked.
"Yes, we're currently in production with two new items to be sold: lip balm and lotion," Layla replied. "What about you? How was the training?"
"Good, I burnt my hand, but it's fine. The others were busy practicing as well," Kale replied. "Anyways, I'll be going to bed first. Don't stay up too late, okay?"
Layla smiled. "I'll sleep in a few moments. I have to finish this," she replied. After her husband left for sleep, Layla returned to her work.
Although she was overworked, especially with the new products, she had to place the ingredient orders and keep the production line running smoothly. She had no time to waste.
She knew she shouldn't let down the count who had given her such a position among many. She had to show her best.
It wasn't only Layla who was busy. Lydia was too, staying up late making preparations for the upcoming festival. They also had to sell new clothing items.
They were tasked with creating hoodies, but there were some other items they needed to create, albeit smaller, which still held value: fingerless gloves and beanies.
Lydia rubbed her eyes and yawned but continued her work.
Manuel was also overworked, as he was now managing the blacksmiths, silversmiths, goldsmiths, woodworkers, glassblowers, and leatherworkers.
The count had given them tasks, such as hair clips and puzzles. The great problem was the puzzles; they had to create small pieces, which even they found to be challenging.
Even the blacksmiths, silversmiths, goldsmiths, glassblowers, and leatherworkers, who had no specialty in those aspects, had to assist the woodworkers.
Manuel silently cried, "If it weren't for this job, I would have already played with my granddaughter."
Emeric, who was dealing with the rest of the workers—such as potters, tanners, carpenters, coopers, tinkers, and masons—was also not free.
The carpenters were tasked with creating wooden stalls, and those without specialties had to help. He was also tasked with overseeing the festival decorations alongside the lord's mother.
Tristan was similarly busy, barely getting any sleep. He was still overseeing Layla and Lydia, but the lord had assigned him another task: overseeing the ingredients for the stalls and much more.
It was evident that everyone in charge of a department was slowly withering from exhaustion. But even so, everyone seemed to be working hard. It was because of one thing: they didn't want to disappoint the count who had trusted them with their tasks.
Thus, even working late was barely enough for them, as everyone had to prepare for the upcoming festival.
Even Stephen was stressed out inside his office, the table was filled with numerous documents. "This is killing me..." He sighed, he was even re-thinking if he should continue with the festival.
But, he knew that at these times the people needed to have some fun. Especially after everything that had happened. Stephen raised his head and forced his eyes to open, as he continued with the paperwork.