On my way to the Yamada store, I had gone over the events in my mind and scolded myself for how I went about dealing with that person. If they could notice when someone using stealth was nearby or had some equipment that could resist dark magic, I would have been in trouble. I needed to make sure I didn't underestimate my opponents again in the future, or I might not have one.

When I walked into the store, I remembered to purchase the seasonings that I had the clerk prepare for me earlier. After stowing them away in my item box, I asked her to let Alma know that I had come back. While I waited, I looked around the store some more and found a few more things I wished to purchase, either because I couldn't get them in Gale or because they were cheaper. Once again, I asked the clerk to prepare them for me.

I was led directly back to the kitchen where Alma was already waiting for me with the fluffy bread I had requested. Noticing that the gratin was almost done, I quickly got to work cutting the bread into makeshift buns, slicing some onion, tomato, and cheese, then frying the burgers. While doing so, I turned the oven to broil to brown the cheese on top and started building the buns.

When the burgers were almost done, I sprinkled some salt and pepper over them, before placing some sliced cheese over them and putting a lid on the pan. I prepared enough buns for each of the burgers, and once the cheese was melted, I moved them onto the prepared buns. I then pulled the gratin out of the oven to let it cool down, before completing the burgers by adding mustard to one of each kind, then slicing all of the burgers into quarters.

I also had the ketchup out so they could add some to a bite, to see how it would taste with both condiments. I then offered for Alma and the two chefs to try the burgers while the gratin cooled down.

"It will take a little bit for the gratin to cool down enough to serve and eat, in the meantime, please try these burgers. These burgers are just beef, while the other two are mixed with pork, I added a little cheese to all of them though it is not necessary." I gestured towards the burgers and explained.

The 3 of them looked at the quartered burgers and back at me without making a move toward them, which caused me to remember that finger food is not common. "Right, I forgot to mention that this is made to be able to eat on the go, so you can just pick it up and eat it," I explained while demonstrating by picking one up and biting into it, enjoying every moment of it.

Seeing me, they each grabbed a quarter of the same one I did to try it. While they were doing that, I grabbed the ketchup to dab some on my second bite. We were all fully immersed in eating the burgers, with them trying it with the ketchup in the same way I had. We spent a few minutes, not saying anything, just savoring the food, before I said the gratin had probably cooled enough to serve.

"I'm quite looking forward to this other dish as well, but these burgers are absolutely delicious, I would like to purchase the recipe and start having them served today," Alma said with a ravenous look in her eye.

It may be a bit late to be thinking about this, but there are many beastkin that thoroughly enjoy meat, perhaps that is why food culture hasn't evolved much beyond seasoning. Alma is a fox beastkin I think, but I don't want to seem rude by asking since some are sensitive about their ancestry.

"Burgers are great because they can be made in a basic way which is good for a food stall, or you can have optional toppings and such to make it more restaurant quality. Also, while I didn't do so this time so that you can get the flavor of the base dish, you can add meat and/or other vegetables into the gratin. You can also make it more of a seasonal or regional dish, by adding local ingredients available at that time of year." I informed them while getting help to plate the gratin.

"I see, so both of these dishes can be easily changed to create a new flavor, making it seem like a different dish each time. What a wonderful concept." She seemed quite happy to hear that.

"While that is true, there are limitations. For instance, pumpkin would not taste very good in a gratin, though there are probably some who would like it. Also, this isn't a new concept, it's just that people haven't paid much attention to it before. The soup we commonly eat for dinner changes throughout the year based on which ingredients are available, different regions would use different ingredients as well.

A soup made in an area near the ocean would likely use fish often, while a mountainous territory would use a lot of poultry and pork, and the northern cold territories wouldn't have many vegetables beyond root vegetables. All of these people still call it soup or stew though, it just has different ingredients, changing the flavor." I said, giving a plausible explanation for how I thought of this.

Saying that caused everyone's eyes to go wide, which wasn't surprising in the least. I had just remarked how they had already been using this method their entire lives without realizing it. Having understood things only one particular way their entire life, made it impossible to view it from another angle without external aid.

"I don't know why I never thought of this, I feel a bit ashamed," Alma said in shock, with the other 2 nodding their heads solemnly.

"You shouldn't be so shocked about it, you grew up with things only being that way. It's often said that kids question reality, while adults are more accepting of it. That is why you weren't able to take the method of how soup changes based on what's available, and apply it to other dishes. You had accepted that was just how things are done. Now, eat while it is still warm." I consoled them before quickly pressing them to move on.

Remembering that they are there for taste testing, they quickly tried the gratin, blowing on the still-hot inner parts to cool it down.

"Mmm~ this is also delicious. Though, I think it could use something more." She seemed lost in thought trying to figure out what would be good to add.

"Personally, I like adding garlic to the sauce to give it some more flavor or cooking the onions until they brown before adding them in. An easy method to enhance the flavor though is to add some ground black pepper to it." I said while sprinkling some black pepper over mine, causing them to try it as well.

"Yes, the pepper does help add to the flavor. While I wouldn't make just this for a meal, I wouldn't mind eating it alongside something else." Alma seemed to guess its intended purpose.

"Right, this is supposed to be a side dish to a meat dish, perhaps with a refreshing salad or soup on the side, depending on if it is a cold day or hot day," I replied, confirming her thoughts.

After finishing lunch, I made some herbal tea and pulled out my small pot of Royal Honey. I offered everyone the tea and honey, saying that it would help after eating such a heavy meal.

"This is quite refreshing, what kind of tea is it?" Alma apparently liked the tea.

"It's pretty standard herbal tea, the only thing different would probably be the Royal Honey," I answered casually.

"Royal Honey?! Why would you serve something so expensive, so casually?!" She reacted more than I expected.

"It's the only honey I have, and I have plenty more of it too, so don't worry about it," I said while shrugging, causing her eyes to go wide.

"Plenty more? How much more are we talking about? Enough to sell some of it?" She immediately switched into her merchant mode when she heard I had plenty more.

"Just yesterday, I sold 3 of this size to the duke, and I still have a few more of these on me," I said while pulling out the same large-size jar I sold to the duke.

After Alma eventually calmed down, I agreed to sell her 3 large jars of it, just like with the duke. We then moved back to the reception room from earlier, where we negotiated the sale of the salad dressing, potato fries (with extra for the cooking method), ketchup, mustard, burgers, and gratin. I made quite a bit, but I didn't press for more money because I wanted food variety to increase faster.

Having the payment transferred to my guild account, I said goodbye to Alma, before heading back out to the store portion of the building. I looked around the store to make sure there wasn't anything else I wanted before purchasing what I had the clerk set aside for me the second time. Then after stowing everything away in my item box, I left the store to wander around some more.

After walking around for about an hour, I found a strange store called Aiden's Oddities. Though the place seemed desolate, I felt the urge to check it out simply because it didn't subscribe to the norm. Inside the store, there were all sorts of things piled everywhere, I didn't see anyone, and received no answer when I called out upon entering. I began walking around while using detailed appraisal on everything, the place really lived up to its name.

I slowly made my way further into the store, and eventually made it to the back counter, having found multiple things of interest on my way. There, I found a dwarf, passed out cold on the counter, snoring rhythmically, completely unaware of the world. I tried waking him up by calling out 'excuse me', but it seemed like I had a better chance of waking the dead with that method. After trying a few more methods, I ended up using magic to dump some water on his face.

After he spat, sputtered, and coughed for a while, he eventually started yelling in what I assumed was the old dwarven language. It took him a while to calm down, but eventually, he calmed down enough to notice me standing there staring at him.

"Who're ye, and wot do ye want?" I was beginning to understand why nobody else was in his store.

"My name's Cero, I was wanting to buy some things and ask a few questions, but you were asleep and not waking up, hence the water. If you want to sleep and not sell anything, maybe you should lock the door and not leave the open sign out there." I answered with a bit of exasperation.

"Gahahaha! Nobody even comes in muh store, forget buying anythin'." He laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"If you don't want to sell anything, why do you keep this place open?" Confused, I asked him that.

"I just like seein' new things, I keep 'er open so more will be brought to me." His answer caused me to be dumbfounded.

"I understand wanting to see new things, but having a store without intending to sell anything seems ridiculous to me. I can't fathom why you would pay the merchant's guild fees if you only intend to buy, not sell." I said with a hint of judgment in my voice, thinking this guy wasn't too smart.

"Bah, I ne'er said I wouldn't sell anythin'. Just said that no one buys anythin'. Gahahaha!" He laughed again, and I started to get annoyed.

"I said in the very beginning that I wanted to buy. If you are just going to waste my time though, I'll leave." I said, more than a little bit snippy in my response.

"Eh? Yer buyin'? Why didn't ye say so?! Come, wot is it ye want? I'll give ye a good deal. Oh right, muh name's Aiden, just call me that." He all of a sudden became jovial.

I felt that dealing with him would just give me a headache, so I asked only the bare minimum of questions, bought what I wanted, and got out as fast as I could. The best thing I was able to get was cocoa pods, which apparently came from the kingdom to the south, across the river. From what I read, it has a warmer climate with a lot of undisturbed nature. A country that has mostly a beastkin population and is ruled by beastkin.

I was a bit bored of walking around and doubted I would find any place as interesting as the one I just left, so I started walking back toward the inn. It seems I had walked pretty far from the inn, and it took over half an hour to walk back. When I got there, I asked if anyone had left a message or anything for me, but there wasn't. I also asked and found out that both Jay and Livia had left and not returned yet, so I went to my room to read.

Keeping up presence detection while reading, I paid attention to any presences I was familiar with, while also checking if there were any more trying to hide. After reading for a bit, I went out to the back courtyard to work out a bit because I wasn't getting enough exercise since coming here. While I was in the middle of my workout, I felt Livia's presence nearing the inn, so I stopped and headed into the inn.

By the time I walked to the front of the inn, Livia had already arrived and was quick to notice me. She signaled for me to follow her as she continued walking in, apparently not wanting to speak in a public area. I followed her to her room, which had a living room and doors leading to what I assumed was a bedroom and bathroom, high-class rooms are quite different from normal rooms. While looking around, I remembered what we were likely to discuss and set up a sound barrier.

"I set up a sound barrier, so there is no chance of anyone listening in." I went ahead and informed her outright as she led me to take a seat.

"That makes things easier. I just got back from meeting with the duke about your proposal after getting a summons from him earlier. I have a lot I want to say and ask about regarding that, but first I should state that while I was there, he received a notice that a spy following you was captured. Though I did not hear the results of the questioning, I was told that you capture them, is that true?" She didn't sound angry but obviously would not tolerate any deception.

"Yes, after questioning the vice Guildmaster of the adventurer's guild, I confirmed that the duke's spy was also nearby before sneaking up behind the unknown spy and using dark magic to put them to sleep. After having the duke's spy take him away, I went back to what I was doing, but I also reflected on my actions, and realized I should have called for help from the duke's spy before acting." I replied, not hiding anything.

"I see, was it an adventurer like you previously thought?" She continued without batting an eye.

"I can't be sure because I didn't want to stay out in the open and search them, nor could I question them in such a situation, but most likely he was. He was wearing light armor that is typical of an adventurer scout and had a self-defense dagger that wasn't hidden like a typical spy. Either it was the adventurer's guild watching me, or it was a scout for a bandit group. Most likely the former though." I didn't hesitate to tell her my conclusion.

"Hah… I was hoping you were just overthinking things, I didn't expect the guild to fall so far." She sighed heavily in disappointment.

"Unfortunately I gave the vice Guildmaster an easy out, but he didn't take it. I thought it was possible he sent someone as a way to protect me, given the information that I had given him, but he completely denied it. He should have asked the Gale branch about me before doing anything, but if he had, he would not have sent someone to keep an eye on me. At this point, whatever happens to him is up to fate." I replied with a shrug.

*Sigh* "This will negatively impact relations between our guilds, as well as between them and the duke." She seemed to be worried about the potential fallout.

"I don't think the problem will be that large spread, the Guildmaster is currently out of town, and I could tell that Otto, the vice Guildmaster, made the decision himself. The other staff seemed to be avoiding him as much as possible as well, so I doubt he is well-liked there. I can pretty much guarantee that Otto is going to be arrested though. What did you want to know about my city proposal?" I decided to move the conversation along.

"Right, we should deal with what is important first. How long do you believe it will take to build the city addition, and how long before it is operational? How many jobs do you think this will create?" She started firing off questions, obviously not yet sure whether to back my proposal or not.

"The build time depends on how much they are willing to spend on labor, how many workers can be gathered, how many mages are used during construction, and how many dwarf artisans and magic tool craftsmen are gathered for the construction of the arenas. Once it's built, I believe it can be operational in as little as a month, if the duke follows my plan and can entice other nobles to show up on a specific day.

As far as jobs go, outside of the construction itself, it will need food carts, restaurants, one or two general stores, specialty stores, and staff for the arenas, including security, maintenance, ticket sellers, and perhaps a few seasonal bards. In total, around a thousand permanent jobs will likely be needed for the new district, with another 2 thousand or so from mid-spring to mid-fall." I did my best to be as specific as possible with my answers.

"Hmm, that's more than I expected, is there something I'm missing? It sounded like this was going to be centered around entertainment and not require too many workers." I could understand her confusion on this part.

"It is possible that some of the details were overlooked originally, and therefore were not passed down. One of the arenas is going to be an indoor arena, so it can be used year-round without issue, because of this, it would be necessary to have housing for the people that work in that district. As I'm sure you understand, as long as people are living in an area, it is necessary to have places for these people to shop and live their lives year-round as well.

Even in the off-season, this district would be the perfect place to hold travelers, migrant workers, and such. It's not like I would propose a plan that would negatively affect merchants and other workers for half of the year. The indoor arena would be a good place to rent out for large conferences, demonstrations, experiments, and perhaps even an indoor bazaar as well." I replied, explaining the discrepancy between her understanding and my numbers.

"I see, so rather than being open seasonally, it is more apt to say that its primary use changes seasonally. That is something we could work with, I think." She nodded to herself as she spoke.

"If done right, those who are normally not busy during a specific season can find work in that district. There's a lot of potential for the district, especially during the off-season, it just depends on the people in charge to utilize it properly. I simply prepared a plan that fit my needs while leaving as much potential as possible. I also suggested an indoor stage that could be used for plays, music, and other performances, that is up to the duke though." I finished with that, so she would understand more about the potential of the district.

"Alright, final question, the duke seemed to be hiding something about these arenas, what is he hiding?" She asked even though it didn't sound like she expected an answer.

"I can guess what he was hiding, but if he decided to hide it, he probably intends to keep it confidential. Therefore, I will have to ask for forgiveness, but until I know if it's okay for me to answer, I will withhold answering." I replied with an awkward smile.

"I figured as much, as long as it isn't something that affects the merchant's guild, I won't bother asking again." It seemed that Livia didn't expect me to answer.

"It should not affect the merchants guild, except perhaps more profits for you to tax, and some additional hired labor," I replied reassuringly, at which point there was a knock at the door. "It's the person from downstairs at the door."

"Alright, I'll get it, can you drop the barrier?" She said while standing up.

"Done, and I don't sense anyone else out there," I replied.

She went and answered the door, speaking to the gentleman from downstairs before turning to me.

"It seems there is someone sent by the duke here to see you. They are waiting downstairs in the lobby." She repeated what the gentleman from the inn told her.

"Alright, sorry to end the discussion so abruptly. I'll head down now." I replied, standing up and turning towards the door.