New chapter of Reincarnated Hero is out! (6/10 chapters)

 

 

I’m Not So Simple As to Be Lured by Food

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

“So then, Leon-san, regarding the location of your food stall…” (Organizer)

It seemed that the participants did not have the right to decide their stall locations. However, where one set up his store was a very important factor.

“Ah…” (Organizer)

“What’s wrong?” (Leon)

“It’s, the fifth area…” (Organizer)

“The fifth area?” (Leon)

Apparently, there were five areas in total, from the first to the fifth.

“The fifth area is the farthest east part of the town…” (Organizer)

“Is there some problem?” (Leon)

Since their tone was clearly hesitant, Leon decided to ask directly.

“Y-yes. The fifth area is very close to the poorest district in town…” (Organizer)

“The poorest district?” (Leon)

“You could call it a slum. Because of that, tourists rarely come, and it’s an area where sales tend not to grow.” (Organizer)

Moreover, the area around the slum itself was not very wealthy, so there were simply few people who spent money. For that such a big disadvantage, no one had ever won the championship from the fifth area, and there had been only a few prize winners from there.

“…For first-time participants without any track record, they are often assigned to the fifth area. B-but please don’t get discouraged. If you do well this time, you might be able to open a stall in a better area next time!” (Organizer)

Encouraged like that, Leon finished the guidance necessary for entering the main tournament and decided to go visit the fifth area for now.

“I see, it really doesn’t seem like a wealthy area.” (Leon)

As one would go further east, the more the buildings and the clothing of the people passing by looked shabby. At first glance, Barbara looked quite prosperous, but it seemed they could not escape the gap in wealth. Still, many people there appeared to live in proper houses, and there were not many homeless people. Considering that a hundred years ago many had lost their villages due to the invasion of the Demon King’s army, and simple tents had lined the outskirts of the city, this was much better.

“Here it is.” (Leon)

The fifth area was a plaza. The tournament organizers had already started setting up stalls, and a festival-like atmosphere was beginning to spread. It looked reasonably well maintained, giving a cleaner impression than expected.

“Well, it’s no use complaining about the location. I’ll do all I can.” (Leon)

The rice curry, which passed the preliminary exam, was certainly a combination never seen before, with freshness and impact. However, Leon intended to further improve it. Additionally…

“Since it’s a food stall, I want to let customers choose toppings as they like. That way, customers who come once might want to try other kinds next time and become repeat customers.” (Leon)

 

—

 

Before he knew it, the day of the gourmet tournament had come. The number of participating stores this time was an astonishing 200.  Among them, the fifth area where Leon was had 40 stalls in total, arranged around the plaza. All areas started sales at the same time, from 10 a.m. Leon had already perfectly finished all preparations and quietly waited for the time.

“Are you two ready?” (Leon)

“Yes!” (Arc/Iris)

The twins serving as sales helpers were full of energy. He promised them that if they did their best, he would let them eat as much curry as they wanted as a reward. He had dressed them in cute and maid outfits with frills. Apparently, this style had recently become popular as uniforms in Barbara’s food establishments, so he was following the trend. Seeing the young twins working hard as sales helpers in those outfits would likely tempt some customers.

“Why must even I do this?” (Meltera)

Meltera protested, wearing the same outfit.

“You’re free anyway, right? I’ll give you curry later too.” (Leon)

“I-I’m not so simple as to be lured by food, unlike those twins! Slurp.” (Meltera)

Though she said that, Merutera looked like she was about to drool.

“I want to wear cute clothes too~” (Sylvia)

Sylvia said enviously. Using her psychic powers, she could make it look like she was wearing clothes, but to anyone other than Leon, it just looked like clothes floating in midair. Meanwhile, the sales start time had arrived.

“…There aren’t many people.” (Leon)

Good smells of cooking were coming from all directions, but the plaza where the tournament was held still had only a few scattered people. Popular stores were said to have lines forming even before sales began, but the fifth area was an unpopular area after all, and not a single stall had a line. Even ten minutes after the start, some stalls still had no customers. Leon’s stall was one of them.

The first customer finally arrived after twenty minutes had passed since the start. A middle-aged man around 40 years old.

“Welcome.” (Leon)

“Is a kid doing this?” (Man)

“Yes. But I’m confident in the taste.” (Leon)

“This is… curry? It certainly smells delicious. Alright then, I’ll take a plate.” (Man)

“Thank you very much.” (Leon)

Leon scooped rice onto a plate and poured plenty of curry on top.

“Huh? Isn’t it supposed to be eaten by dipping bread?” (Man)

“No, you eat it with rice using a spoon. It’s tasty.” (Leon)

“That’s a novel way to eat it… but I guess this way there’s no worry about getting your hands dirty.” (Man)

“That’s right.” (Leon)

Eating curry by dipping bread wasn’t very suitable for a food stall like that. With bread, one had to eat with hands, and needed two plates, one for the curry and one for the bread. With that Rice Curry, they could eat with a spoon, and one plate was enough.

“Let me try…” (Man)

The man widened his eyes as soon as he took a bite.

“!? I-it’s delicious!?” (Man)

 

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(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)