"What is this 'Sales Promotion' you speak of.”

"You only know one kind of bread… Then, I'll enlighten you."

Mia didn't know what that phrase meant and because she suspected Tom of being a Noble, she could only imagine it as some wisdom she didn't know.

When Hikaru walked through the doorway, her fingers twitched as if she wanted to grab him and not let him go but she managed to restrain herself.

***

When Hikaru's adventurer clone left, the smaller pieces of that clone were released into the wild for scouting. The recon data gave back analysis of many different insects, animals, plants, rocks and even soil. The air was also examined.

The pieces of clones themselves contained a "relatively moderate" amount of biomass, this meant there was enough even for the pieces to split into more clones.

The most common morphology for the clones was practical, being spider legged and small. Some will morph into slime, worms, birds, and even a weird arm-like sludge with eyeballs that uses muscle contraction to move across the ground.

Once they consumed and took forms of the local wildlife, they would use the most suitable form to blend in.

Clay and mud were very easy to obtain. The clones could split and carry the raw materials back to Hikaru. However, besides rock and wood, Hikaru could easily absorb multiple layers of different ground material through his feet and mix his clay by controlling the mixture blend and moisture content.

The oven in their cabin was clay ceramics, inexpensive compared to brick or stone ovens. Hikaru replicated their oven inside his body. His arm stretched outward just above the cart and morphed into a fleshy square. The flesh pulled back and revealed the stove.

Certain that the state Mia was in gave her zero awareness, he didn't waste time processing the wheat by hand but simply absorbed them into his body, and processed them all into the final form. This meant that pre-fermentation, mixing and kneading, first proof/bulk fermentation, yeast adding and egg adding except for baking was done.

The eggs and yeast used weren't from their meagre supplies.

It was easier to produce them after analysing the proteins and fungi cell structures (yeast) than to perform the mechanical processing action in his body. Organic material production is much easier than inorganic production, like pure metals.

Hikaru couldn't replicate atomic metals, something like that requires changing the atomic number (protons) of one element to another. He was close to doing something like that in his world but he needed massive amounts of energy to imitate and use a complete particle accelerator.

So most valuable inorganic substances he had to harvest himself.

Hikaru noticed that in their process of making bread, two steps were missing compared to bread making in his world. Adding tension to shape the bread and "scoring". It was normal for bread to almost look deformed like an ugly picnic chocolate bar. No bread shape was the same.

Hikaru gave them all a uniform shape, all looking like the "one best pick from the batch".

A web of flesh burst out from his chest and swallowed the cart.

He traversed the 2-hour walk to the village in 30 seconds but stopped a distance away to not bring the dust clouds over.

He took out the cart with the dough and oven on it and wheeled it over with the handles behind his back. Within the village, the hooligans "spotted" him and came over to drive the cart for him.

"Ahh!? Tom?"

Rick was surprised that Hikaru came back with a cart and oven in it.

Hikaru explained to Rick that he wanted him to run their bread store for them from now on.

"The oven…"

"Is it not obvious? The scent of freshly baked bread is enticing is it not?"

"Indeed, Master Tom, that's not an issue…"

An oven out in the open in a simple shack in a small village with no fences… It's risky having apples out in the open where thieves steal in the blink of an eye and what invites more danger than dangling meat in front of a predator?

"Your worries are weightless, these men will be watching over your activities."

"Ahh- Thank you, Master."

'Uhh aren't these guys going to get in trouble with their boss? He beat them into submission but he can't simply take over. In the underworld, there's always a handler who controls his minions and an even bigger one who controls that in the shadows. Does he think he can control them? What a fool's errand. This is only temporary. He'll get himself killed within a week.'

"Master…"

"Hmm?"

"Should we split the profits?"

Despite the situation that Rick is in, almost instinctively, his businessman habits kicked in. Although he didn't dare to even ask for a tenth of the profits so he asked whether he should get any.

"What you make through your store is all yours. However, this bread store will be owned by Kate, Mia and myself so all profits go to me. I will instead hire you as a manager."

"Manager?"

In small stalls and 'businesses', there are usually just owners and clerks, there wouldn't be any managerial positions in villages and even inns and restaurants in small towns are normally run by owners. For a small village hick in the outback like Rick, he wouldn't be familiar with the job description even if he's heard of the word.

Usually in businesses where there are managers, it's usually when the owner wouldn't have the time to run it like for example Nobles, Royals or rich merchants etc.

"Yes, it's a position where you are hired to be responsible for controlling or administering an organization or group of staff. You almost have all the powers of an owner but only within the system that I create for you."

"Sy-System?"

"Yes, I plan to expand this bread store and so there will be many operations to implement in the future. When I introduce those systems, you cannot change the prices of them unless given permission."

"Yes... I understand Master."

'This young man… Is too ambitious. I would be laughing in his face if it weren't for those eyes of his…'

Hikaru could read his thoughts as if the man's diary was in front of him but he ignored the thoughts of ordinary people.

"Instead of a cut, you will be paid 1 silver each day as long as sales are sufficient. Once we expand to other villages and towns, you may get a pay rise depending on your performance."

"One Silver!? M-master are you sure?"

"Yes."

For a commoner like Rick, earning 1 silver each day in profit, not revenue is something a low to mid-tier merchant can hope for. That's about 3.5 gold coins per year.

1 copper coin could buy an Appa fruit. 10-12 for a shirt. 6-15 for cheap cutlery, cups and plates. Around 1-5 silver coins for varying pieces of leather armour and equipment. 5-10 copper coins to stay in a room at the cheapest inn for the night including or excluding breakfast or dinner etc. 3-10 copper coins for some meals or drinks at a bar.

Anyone who earns 1 silver a day is one of the richest people in villages even compared to the village elder.

1 silver is 100 copper coins and a bread roll would cost 4 copper coins. They would need to sell 25 bread rolls to pay him in pure revenue and that wasn't break-even because of the cost of materials and living and the time and energy into growing and harvesting wheat…

For a small village like this, to make enough profits while paying him 1 silver just from bread alone would require a much higher number of sales in one day. Something that would be worth 3 normal days…

'What is he thinking! Too naive!'

"But Master… We'll need to increase our sales to make up that much…"

"We'll be running a sales promotion."

"Sales promotion?? Forgive me my master, but I don't know what is this 'Sales Promotion' you speak of."

"I'll demonstrate."