Chapter : 22
Gulp—
Meno’s throat swallowed with relief.
Her eyes widened more and more as she tasted the drink.
“Whoa!”
Jumping up from her chair, Meno drank again and again, savoring the drink as if she couldn’t believe it.
Then, staring at the empty glass, she blushed and shouted at me.
“E-Eani-nim! What kind of fruit is this?! I’ve never tasted a fruit this refreshing yet perfectly sweet without being overwhelming!”
“Hehe, you like it, don’t you?”
With a casual gesture, Celine quickly brought over the Redive she had prepared in advance.
“Here, this is a new fruit we discovered in Tadivna. Its name is Redive. I want to make it a specialty that can only be tasted here in Tadivna.”
The drink you just had was simply Redive juice diluted with water.
At my words, Meno couldn’t hold back and eagerly grabbed the neatly cut Redive pieces with her bare hands and ate them.
Retiz, who had finished her drink, quietly followed Meno’s example and ate some fruit as well.
“This is unbelievable! Inspiration! I’m getting inspired—!”
Meno shouted with the brightest expression I had ever seen on her face.
“So, if I work under you, Eani-nim, does that mean developing recipes for this fruit will be my responsibility?!”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll sign the contract right now! Immediately!”
Contrasting with her normally calm demeanor, Meno’s butt wiggled excitedly.
It seemed like she wanted to dash to the kitchen right this instant after encountering such inspiring ingredients.
“When can I start?! A month?! A week?! Tomorrow?! Today?! If you just let me use the kitchen, I can start immediately!”
Her fiery words made me genuinely laugh.
Meno’s pure passion was delightful.
‘If I had known she’d react this well, I should’ve given her Redive sooner.’
Meanwhile, Retiz, who had been eating Redive in a trance, suddenly snapped back to reality.
“Gah, Vice Head Chef! Wait a moment!”
Retiz fumbled a little and unfolded a neatly folded paper from her arms.
“Look! We still have so many questions we haven’t asked! The other restaurant ladies said we absolutely must get all the answers!”
Hearing that, Celine quietly approached Retiz and took the question list from her hands.
“I’ll deliver this for you!”
“Ah!”
“It’s a trivial matter for our Eani-nim anyway!”
Saying that, Celine scurried over and handed me the list of questions.
Her eyes sparkled with admiration as she looked at me.
‘Oh my~.’
Celine was never the type to betray me.
Instead, her reason for following me was very clear.
‘She wanted to secure her place well and become the next head maid of the Duke of Seind’s household, right~?’
Thus, her loyalty to me wasn’t particularly strong… but looking at those eyes, it seemed I had unintentionally earned some points with her as well.
‘An unexpected bonus.’
Celine’s goodwill… well, it’s better than nothing.
I glanced over the list of questions from the restaurant staff Celine brought and said:
“Are you really going to become the head chef of our resort restaurant?”
“Yes! I’ve made up my mind!”
Those who introduce good ingredients are never bad people!
At Meno’s confident declaration, I turned my gaze to Retiz beside me.
“This paper Retiz brought contains all the inquiries from the Quend Hotel restaurant staff, right?”
“Yes, yes! That’s correct!”
“Then there’s no problem.”
The questions I skimmed through were, in a way, earnest requests:
Separate changing rooms for women, women’s restrooms not too far away, allowing women to wear pants while working—
Things that are considered normal freedoms and rights today were exactly what women here desired.
‘I suppose… the reason Quend Hotel is so popular with female employees is that it meets these basic conditions.’
In other words, other places outside Quend Hotel didn’t even satisfy these basics…
Every time I hear things like this, I realize just how harsh the times were here.
With a bittersweet feeling, I folded the paper neatly.
“Tell them not to worry and to come to our resort.”
“Eh?”
“We’re ready to welcome you anytime.”
‘Bittersweet, but… isn’t this an opportunity for me~?’
If I could provide a work environment similar to Earth’s, my resort would have unprecedented welfare in the empire.
At my words, Retiz’s mouth dropped open.
“So… you’re approving everything written on this paper?”
“I said, don’t worry about such trivial things.”
“Gah! Thank you! Thank you!”
“Eani-nim! I’m also grateful! I’ll definitely raise the restaurant’s standards and make it a pride of the resort!”
I nodded with a smile at Retiz and Meno’s reactions.
Then, satisfied, I spoke to Celine:
“Take these two to Bellin. I’ll be waiting in the first-floor parlor with the detailed contract.”
“Yes, Eani-nim!”
Celine smiled. Meno smiled. Retiz smiled.
The new, cheerful woman happily left for the parlor.
Watching her, I sipped the remaining drink as Elin quietly approached.
“Eani-nim. The report you requested from the Crow Information Guild has arrived.”
‘Perfect timing.’
The Crow Information Guild.
It was known as a source where information from across the empire—and even the continent—circulated, and in the original story, its accuracy was highly reliable.
‘Well, it’s run secretly by the Duke of Seind, so that makes sense.’
By the way, only carefully selected members could request information from this guild.
And I was the top VIP among the VIPs recently accepted by the Duke of Seind.
‘And I can request information for free, without paying a single coin~.’
Humming a tune, I examined the report Elin handed me.
I had asked the Crow guild for detailed information on Meno, Retiz, and other Quend Hotel restaurant staff.
Not just their experience and qualifications, but also their family and personal matters—I requested everything.
‘They’ll be working under me, so I need to know this much.’
My resort would provide a working environment and conditions unprecedented in the empire.
Inevitably, there would be people who would see my resort as a thorn in their side.
If those people deliberately tried to sabotage the resort, it would certainly be a headache.
‘Before, my half-brother hid industrial spies in my company, and I had to deal with a big mess.’
Moreover, this was an era with almost no CCTV or recording technology.
So from the beginning, I had to manage staff very strictly.
‘Later hires will likely be introduced through these restaurant staff anyway—.’
As I went through the information one by one, I noticed something interesting.
“Meno’s husband is an architect?”
I had been planning to meet various staff, but the key personnel I needed was right beside me.
‘Then I can move the plan forward and execute it sooner~.’
I immediately instructed Elin to bring the construction catalog for the mage tower.
It seemed that the delayed vacation I had been enjoying on this island was coming to an end.
“Welcome back, Eani-nim!”
Bellin approached me, slightly excited.
“Welcome~ Did you meet Meno’s husband and the workers?”
“Yes! Everyone is full of enthusiasm!”
“Good.”
As soon as Meno signed the employment contract, I asked if she knew any construction workers.
As expected, Meno introduced her husband.
Coincidentally, her husband already had quite a favorable impression of me.
‘He was angry that his wife was unfairly dismissed, but I scouted her with much better conditions than Quend Hotel.’
So he accepted my request immediately, leaving everything else aside.
He even insisted on doing the work for free, saying he couldn’t charge a fee to his benefactor.
Like Meno, her husband seemed to be a rather straightforward person.
‘It’s good that things are going smoothly, but…’
One downside is that I can’t meet Meno’s husband in person.
This was all thanks to some foolish man who would cause a scene the moment I met another man.
