Isekai Nonbiri Nouka

The angels were flying in a beautiful formation over the winter sky of the village.

As always, their formation was flawless.

This must be what they call perfect coordination.

But how were they keeping track of each other’s positions without moving their heads?

…They could tell through the movement of the wind and their general sense?

Reginleif, who was guarding beside me, explained.

I see.

So, they could do something like that.

「If they couldn’t, they wouldn’t be able to respond to attacks from the ground」

Reginleif said that and hurled a spear with incredible force toward the angels above.

I thought it might hit, but the angels dodged it cleanly.

Oh.

The spear continued in a long arc and fell into the forest.

Their formation broke a little when they dodged, but it was corrected right away.

She must have thrown it believing they would avoid it, but that was still dangerous.

「I aimed the one who was not letting her guard down, so it is fine. That should tighten the focus of the ones who were not」

The ones who disrupted the formation were the ones who had been letting their guard downs.

Well, I should avoid saying who it was.

For now, we needed to retrieve the spear.

「That is also fine」

Three angels separated from the formation and headed to where the spear probably landed.

They were the ones who had disrupted the formation.

The one leading the formation was Raz Maria, Gran Maria’s mother.

So, she also knew exactly who had dropped their guard.

「Yes. Even in familiar skies, this is the Forest of Death. It is not a place where one should relax」

Hmm.

She was right, but I still wished they could relax a little while in the village.

Constant tension was not good.

「Correction. They must not relax while flying」

That was true.

I completely agree.

-0-

A group of civil servant girls had gathered in one of the large meeting rooms of my mansion in the village.

For them, winter was like a relaxed holiday season where they could let their guard down, yet some of them felt uneasy if they were not working.

The ones here today were exactly that type.

I wanted them to rest when they could, but forcing someone who wished to work to take a break was its own problem.

Well, Frau oversaw civil servant girls as a whole, including their health, so I would trust her judgment.

「Thank you for coming, Village Chief」

Today’s topic was one of their duties, the investigation and analysis of Village Five.

This was their midterm report meeting.

I had left matters of Village Five to Youko, but analysis from a different angle was necessary.

I would listen here and, if there were no issues, they would continue their investigation.

In the end, I would deliver the report and recommendations to Youko or Village Five.

I sat in the seat prepared for me, tea was set in front of me, and the report meeting began.

「Then, from my team. This concerns cake sales in Village Five」

Cake sales in Village Five.

The Patisserie Fairy Fairy acted as the production workshop, and they sold cakes from a mobile stall as they moved around… and the sales were incredible.

I knew they would sell.

We had started selling because there had been strong demand.

But the fact that sales far exceeded our pre-sale estimates was a problem.

Even if it was beyond expectations in a good way, it still meant our predictions had been way off.

Civil servant girls must have thought the same.

They had investigated why the forecast had failed.

「To state the conclusion, it is because of women and children」

So, it was popular with women and children?

But cakes had been sold in the first place because that was the group who had asked for them…

「It seems to be connected to lifestyle habits」

Lifestyle habits?

What exactly about it?

「Um, not only in the Demon King’s Kingdom but in most ordinary households, people do not eat out. Meals are something done at home」

That seemed to be true.

Those who had families ate at home far more often than they ate out.

Eating out was something done by those without families, who wanted to avoid the trouble of cooking.

「However, in Village Five and Shashaato City, more and more places began offering tempting meals, so even those with families started eating out more often」

Yeah, that made sense.

Ah, I see.

Those who worked outside had more chances to eat out, but those who stayed home or children had far fewer chances.

「Yes. However, Village Five is a very safe place, so women and children have more opportunities to eat out」

So that was why the cakes sold more than expected.

「No. There is one more factor involved」

?

「Women and children have more chances to eat out, but not all of them」

W-well, that was true.

「It seems that those who eat out, despite having women or children at home, buy cake as a souvenir for them」

Ah…

Eating out had become more appealing.

The number of people eating out had increased.

As a result, cake sold well as a souvenir for those who could not go out.

「Yes. For ordinary households, cake is not cheap, but it is extremely popular with women and children. There are even cases where someone angered their wife but was forgiven because they brought home cake」

I see.

But in that case, would these sales continue?

Or was this only temporary?

「I also spoke with Rorone-san, the acting manager of the Patisserie Fairy Fairy, and she said sales would dip a little from here, but she wanted to maintain them by releasing new products」

Hmm.

New products were not bad.

But I should tell Rorone that releasing something new once every half year was enough.

If she forced herself to release too many new items, only the first one would sell.

I wanted her to focus on creating flavors people would love for a long time.

「Please leave the tastings for new items to us. Also, we will adjust our future projections to place more weight on the souvenir factor」

Right.

We had included souvenirs in previous estimates, but had not considered them a major element.

Now that we understood why our forecast had been so far off, I felt relieved.

「No. This does not mean we have found all the causes for the failed prediction」

Ah, right.

This was only one factor.

「There may be other possibilities, so our team will continue the investigation」

All right. Keep up the good work.

「Yes. Also, this is a suggestion that came up during our investigation」

What was it?

「It concerns meals for children who eat out. Food stalls allow flexible portions, but restaurants generally serve full-sized meals…」

Would the portion be too big for children?

「Yes. We were wondering if the stores connected to you, Village Chief, could prepare smaller portions for children. If your stores start offering kids’ menus, other shops will likely follow」

Ah… I see.

Hmm.

We already have large servings, and for giants and other large-bodied species, we even added extra-large servings.

But we had never prepared small portions for children.

We simply had not expected children to come.

Could we handle this?

The stores connected to me were Kuro and Yuki, Café Blue (Bronze Café), Korin’s Sweet Hall, Niz Alcomeat, and the Noodle Shop Britoa.

There was also Marla in Shashaato City, which mainly served curry, and my occasionally opened ramen stall.

There were quite a few now.

Hmm, Café Blue and Niz Alcomeat did not have a child-type customer base, so they could be excluded.

My late-night ramen stall also did not need consideration.

Korin’s Sweet Hall was retail only, so also irrelevant.

Kuro and Yuki was a café.

It offered sweets and tea, so there were not large portions to begin with, and kids’ menus might not be necessary…

「They’ve started serving a red noodle dish called napolitan」

…Sorry.

I taught them that.

「They also had katsudon」

Sorry.

I taught them that too.

We should consider kids’ portions for Kuro and Yuki.

Then there was Noodle Shop Britoa.

…

Could we do children’s ramen?

Mini ramen?

No, half-size ramen?

Considering how ramen was made, half-size portions would create a lot of waste.

It would also strain profits.

This needed discussion with the Britoa staff.

As for Marla, offering smaller portions of curry shouldn’t be an issue.

We’d just need to decide on pricing and dedicated plates.

Well, I shouldn’t decide alone. I’d discuss it with the acting managers, Marcos and Paula.

-0-

So, the shop that would need to seriously consider small portions for children was Kuro and Yuki.

But I could not decide that on my own.

I would discuss it with Kinesta, the acting manager of Kuro and Yuki.

「Village Chief. Regarding the kids’ menu at Kuro and Yuki, how about the plate meal you once served to the children in Big Tree Village?」

The plate meal for the children?

Ah, the kids’ lunch set.

「Yes. The children were especially happy with it」

That was true… but that thing took a huge amount of work.

Because it required arranging several different dishes on one plate.

When we prepared the kids’ lunch set, almost all the oni maid staff who could move were involved.

「Wasn’t that because the adults who saw the kids’ lunch set also wanted one?」

You all wanted one too, didn’t you?

「It was delicious」

「It was nice having so many different dishes」

「The pudding dessert was the best」

That pudding was actually meant to be the dessert for the next day.

Pudding could not be prepared quickly.

Still… if it was prepared ahead of time and limited in quantity, it might work?

Hmm.

I would consider it, but they should not expect too much.

「Okaaay」

That concluded the discussion about children’s small-portion menus.

Next group.

Go ahead.

-0-

The midterm report meeting for Village Five, conducted by the civil servant girls, continued with reasonable seriousness.

-0-

Reginleif 「It is dangerous to aim at someone who is off guard, so I will throw it away from them…… ei」

Targeted Angel 「I was surprised. I was surprised. I was surprised」

Raz Maria 「Think of it as praise. And those who were careless, go retrieve the spear」

Angels who let their guards down 「S-sorryー」

-0-

Civil Servant Girl A「Our group is looking into the women’s gatherings attended by the mothers and grandmothers of the powerful nobles of the Demon King’s Kingdom」

Civil Servant Girl B「We were played with completely」

Civil Servant Girl C「All our methods were seen through」

Civil Servant Girl D「We will consider countermeasures」

-0-

Frau 「The ones who want to work are mostly those who came later. The original members are……」

Rozalind 「You should rest when you can」

Crakasse 「Let us relax」

Roaju 「We will be overwhelmed with work once spring comes anyway」

Rasshashi 「Everyone, I brought the new cake」

Original Group 「Yay」