[6] Chapter 04: The Battle of Bolsburn

The next morning, before dawn...

Morning comes early to a bakery.

If the baker doesn't complete the preparations to allow the dough to rise by dawn, he won't be able to line the shelves with his bread by opening hour.

Therefore, since times of old, the baker must rise before the first cockcrow.

"Yawwwn. I'm sleepy."

Tockerbrot was no exception. Jacob was now living there, so he too rose early and helped in the shop.

"Milly aren't you sleepy? You even have to commute here."

"To be honest, it was hard at first, but I've gotten used to it."

Jacob and the shop apprentice, Milly, were bringing in the day's flour from the storage area outside.

There was still a little time before sunrise.

The light had yet to appear, but the color of the sky was changing from black to indigo.

"In the east, people say demons appear around this time of day."

"That's ridiculous! You're a child, but don't say such silly things."

Milly was having none of Jacob's chitchat.

"What do you mean? We're around the same age!"

"You're not 11 yet. I'm 14. I'm much older than you!"

There was only three-year difference between them, but even though Milly was just an apprentice, she had a job, whereas Jacob was an unemployed dependent.

Nonetheless, Milly was still childish, and demonstrated her immaturity by insisting on this slight difference in their ages.

"Hm?"

They heard a noise from somewhere.

"What's that noise?"

The approach of a great rumbling sound caused the ground to shake.

"No way... Could that really be a demon?"

Pale, Milly stared out at the street.

A line of shining eyes was roaring toward them.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lud was at the oven.

"Bread is a living thing."

Long ago, he had heard that from a town baker who was no longer alive.

Baking bread was not just about mixing ingredients in specific amounts and kneading for a certain amount of time.

It was a challenge that involved considerations such as the quality of the flour, the fineness of the salt and the pH level of the water.

The humidity level, air temperature, environment, and even the season, all determined how the yeast fermented.

A baker's skill rested on attending to those elements, as well as the ability to bake to the same degree of quality every time. That skill separated the excellent baker from the merely adequate.

For Lud, this time of the morning required the most concentration and would determine the success of the day ahead.

"Good!"

Just before he set about the challenge before him, Jacob interrupted.

"There's a problem, Lud!!"

"Waah!!"

The tense thread of Lud's focus snapped.

"What is it, Jacob? I told you not to come inside the oven room!"

"I didn't!"

Jacob's feet were planted right outside the threshold of the room.

"Anyway, something's wrong! Out front!"

"Out front? Has something happened?"

Pulled by Jacob, whose face was overcome with distress, Lud went outside.

There, Milly stood in shock at the sight before her.

"Wh-What's all this?"

Lud's eyes widened.

There was an ordinary house adjacent to Tockerbrot.

The owner worked in the office at the mine. He and his wife had two daughters. The mother appeared to enjoy gardening and had placed small potted plants around the one-story house.

But now, many trucks were parked in front of the house and workers were disembarking from the truck beds as if they were soldiers.

"All right, everyone! Get to work!"

At this command, all the workers applied mattocks and hammers to the walls of the house and rapidly began tearing it down.

"Wh-What are you doing?!"

The one giving commands was Poracho, the thug who hurt his wrist yesterday when he punched Lud.

"Heh heh heh..."

Poracho laughed when he saw Lud, as if he found something hilarious.

"Don't worry. No one lives in this house anymore. Mr. Shylock blew a wad to buy this whole plot of land!"

"He bought it?"

Forcing the family to clear out so quickly defied common sense.

It was hard to imagine how much money Shylock must have paid to make the family accept immediate eviction.

But that wasn't the only problem.

Why was he destroying the house he had just bought?

"This is your fault, baker! You made Mr. Shylock angry!"

"What...?"

Lud had no idea what their intentions were. But he noticed with surprise that some of the trucks were carrying something besides workers.

"Those are..."

"Oh, you recognize those? After all, you are an ex-soldier! Heh heh heh!"

As if finding this funny, Poracho laughed.

"Lud, what's the matter? What are those?"

Uneasy, Jacob asked Lud from his hiding place in the shadows.

"Those are portable architectural materials for use in battle."

Sven answered instead of Lud. She had also come outside after sensing something unusual.

"In the recent Great War, constructing camps for field battles was important."

Protracted field battles placed soldiers under great stress.

Buildings were necessary for storing weapons and materials, as well as for treating injured soldiers.

"These were developed for that purpose. By separating architectural materials into parts and simplifying the method of assembly, and experienced army engineer could build a house in less than a half a day."

The resulting structures were bulletproof but couldn't withstand shelling. Nonetheless, they allowed for command posts at a close but safe distance from battle.

According to one story, an engineer from the East had developed these materials, inspired by the tale of a general long ago who built a castle overnight in front of an enemy force.

"This is a simple-assembly shop that Billions Trading developed based on that technology. As long as there's ground to build on, we can raise a shop anywhere in one day."

Poracho explained proudly.

"Build a shop? What are you talking about?"

"We're opening here today! We're building Bakery Billions!"

Poracho said this as if showing off a favorite magic trick to Lud, who still didn't grasp what they were doing.

"Bakery? You're building a bakery?!"

"That's right, baker! I told you, you got Mr. Shylock steamed! The might of Billions Trading is gonna crush your shop!"

Shylock's spiteful plan involved quickly setting up a rival shop to interfere with Tockerbrot's business.

"So much expense and hard work for harassment!"

How much had Shylock paid to buy the land and gather trucks for transporting the materials and workers in one night?

"He should have spent his money on something else."

Lud, who was usually in financial straits, found this so stunning that he was speechless.

"It shows how strongly Mr. Shylock wants to take the boy home."

"Stop messing around!"

Jacob screamed angrily at Poracho's words.

"I'm not going to do what the old man says! What does he want from me?!"

"That's... He wants you to inherit Billions Trading, the company he established. Mr. Shylock ain't immortal!"

"I'm telling you, I refuse! If he needs an heir how about you?"

To Jacob, Shylock's demand was nothing but a selfish ego trip and a nuisance.

"Not happening, boy. Someone like me could never take over Mr. Shylock's most precious possession. You shouldn't even joke about that."

"What the ...?"

Jacob was confused.

Poracho had acted like a cheap underling ever since they first met two days ago, but now Jacob saw something sad in his eyes.

"That's enough for now, Master, let's go back. We have a busy day ahead."

Sven coolly wrapped up the situation as if there were no more to say.

"They won't be able to open their shop today no matter what. On the contrary, look at the number of workers they have. We can count on more sales than usual for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We should prepare more bread than usual."

Sven said this in front of Poracho, who was less a business rival than a disruptor of Tockerbrot's business.

"D-Don't you understand?! If you bring the boy and apologize, Mr. Shylock'll forgive you!"

"Huh? Do you think using the power of money to launch competitive warfare can topple my beloved master's castle? If so, you're solely mistaken!"

Poracho had intimated that they should surrender, but Sven's cool reply was unconcerned.

"Sooner or later, you will suffer a decisive defeat and run away with your tails between your legs! So prepare yourselves for defeat and disappointment!"

"Wh-What?!"

Sven's unshakable confidence was panicking the attacking force.

"Well, everyone, let's head back inside. See ya!"

With raucous laughter, Sven led Lud and the others back into the shop.

And then...

"What a disaster!"

As soon as she entered the shop, Sven gripped her head in a panic.

"What?! I thought you had some kind of plan for overcoming this!!"

"No! Since time untold, the brute force of material warfare has been the worst!"

Her answer to Jacob's question was laced with anger.

In a way, material warfare was the ultimate fighting strategy.

It ignored the individual qualities of each soldier and accepted damages in order to push forward with numbers and power.

The August Federation favored this method. It forcefully drafted village farmers and sent them by rail to the front line without any training, and with as little weaponry as possible, and then ordered them to "Charge!"

Of course, their opponents killed these soldiers one after another, but their numbers were overwhelming. By sending in such a vast number of soldiers, they were able to push back the front line.

If Wiltia had not developed the Hunter Units with each one able to trample one thousand soldiers, the red flag of the August Federation would be flying in the Royal Capital of Berun right now.

"All we can do right now is bluff to cover our fear and... "

Sven began jotting notes on the memo pad she kept in the pocket of her apron.

"Jacob, could you assemble these things right away?"

"What are they? Aluminum plates and sugar... Huh?!"

The note contained a list of drugs and solvents that Jacob recognized.

"Those are the ingredients for making bombs with common items."

"What are you planning?!"

The only way left open was to eliminate the enemy. That was the best solution this skillful waitress, in all her wisdom, could come up with.

"Umm..."

Lud was rather calm compared to the other two.

He held his hand to his mouth in deep thought.

"H-Hey, you..."

Milly pulled on his sleeves worriedly.

"Is the shop in trouble? If so, I don't need any pay, I'll do my best, so..."

Milly, who was completely inexperienced and frightened, tried to help.

Her comment communicated her desperate worry over the situation.

"Huh? Uh, no no... It'll be fine."

With a gentle expression, Lud patted her head.

"Anyway, Milly, I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it? I'll do anything!"

"Thanks. After dawn, will you bring Marlene here?"

Meanwhile, Sven and Jacob were pacing around behind them in a panic.

* * *

A few hours later...

In a hotel room in Saupunkt where Shylock was staying...

The country town of Organbaelz only had simple, inexpensive hotels where the merchants who visited from time to time stayed. Shylock had no choice but to book a room some distance away.

Even though it was the best room to be had in Saupunkt, to Shylock, the hotel was a mere hovel.

"We'll be able to open the shop tomorrow."

Faran, the younger of the two thugs, updated Shylock, who was sitting on the sofa and running his eyes over all the newspapers published in Wiltia.

"It's just that the woman at the shop, the one who is sheltering the boy, acted oddly confident."

"Harrumph!"

Upon hearing his underling's report and noting some worrisome elements. Shylock didn't move even one eyebrow-he just snorted. "That is no more than a ridiculous bluff! The owner and staff of that shop may be eccentric, but their products and prices aren't so special. It's a perfectly good bakery, just like any other."

Yesterday, Shylock had closely examined the shop as he left, memorizing the prices and characteristics of the bread, which were written on the shelves.

He had tasted the boule he brought back, and while he admitted that it had been baked with care, that was all.

"Let's see... Hold a sale as soon as we open. One bread for one krant!"

A krant was the lowest unit of currency used in Wiltia and Pelfe.

"We'll continue the opening sale for a month. If they can't generate profits in that time, it'll be a huge blow to their shop."

For a small shop like Tockerbrot, even one day of lower profits would indeed be a huge blow.

If that continued for a month, it would be ruinous.

And now they were in debt to the bank.

If their sales fell, the bank would stop funding and they wouldn't even have working capital.

"After that, I'll put pressure on the mine and schools that they have contracts with. This won't take a month. I can destroy them in a fortnight!"

There was a reason that this man had the nickname Greedy Shylock.

When he opened a new business, he had a record of destroying his competitors and taking them over, thereby growing his own business.

Neither Lud nor Sven could come close to him in business management.

Shylock chuckled in satisfaction at his assured victory.

The phone rang.

"Yeah? What is it?"

Faran answered the call for his boss.

"Huh? A nun? Why's she here? To conclude a war treaty? What's that?"

"What is the matter?"

Shylock questioned his subordinate about the call.

"Um, that bakery is sending a messenger to conclude a war treaty."

"What?"

Shylock frowned at this nonsense.

A little later...

Marlene, a nun from the church atop the hill, entered Shylock's hotel room.

"You haven't come here to pester me for money for those in need? Are you in league with that baker?"

"No, I am only a woman of God who lives in Organbaelz."

Marlene tried to be as friendly as she could, but her smile was slightly stiff and uncomfortable.

"I come to you as a neutral party, a fair and faithful servant of God. I am a messenger from the owner of Tockerbrot."

Milly was the only staff member of Tockerbrot who had not met Shylock.

Therefore, Shylock didn't know about Marlene, who was Milly's guardian.

Lud had sent Marlene under the guise of a neutral messenger.

Marlene had been hesitant to go.

"I don't want to visit such a frightening man. If you make an enemy of him, there's no telling what he'll do!"

She had said with a look of revulsion.

But Milly reminded Marlene that it was for Lud, who Marlene had a crush on, so she could not refuse.

"Tockerbrot suggests that you settle this competition quickly since it'll be a lot of trouble."

"Huh?"

Shylock's exclamation sounded irritable.

Marlene felt cold sweat on hear back at the sound of his voice.

"Your shop... Bakery Billions opens tomorrow. They want to compete to see whose profits will be higher one week from tomorrow. If you win, they will give you Jacob."

"You must be joking."

Shylock's voice was soft but deep.

Marlene was proud of herself for not screaming "Yiiiiikes!" and running away.

"Why should I follow rules made by an opponent who will go bankrupt even if I do nothing? Furthermore, the fact that they're suggesting this now is an admission of eventual defeat. I'm under no obligation to obey."

Shylock spoke with incredible ferocity. It was so forceful that any other young woman would have cried, or even fainted.

However, Marlene wasn't just a young woman or a virtuous nun.

Lud hadn't sent her because he expected Shylock to listen to her as a servant of God.

She had once been a terrorist.

Marlene had hidden in Organbaelz for years, cooperating with the August Federation, an enemy nation, and neither Lud nor Sven-an ex-soldier and ex-Hunter Unit-had even noticed.

She had since reformed, but the children at the church, including Milly, did not know her past.

Marlene could exercise great courage when necessary.

"Are you sure?"

Marlene maintained her smile as she questioned Shylock.

"If you destroy Tockerbrot according to you current strategy, what do you think those two will do? They'll take Jacob and flee Organbaelz. They'll take him somewhere where you can't find him."

"Urgh..."

Slight frustration showed on Shylock's face.

Fall for it! Fall for it! Fall for it!

Marlene continued.

"I'm sure you know that those two are not like ordinary people."

"......."

The ridicule in Shylock's eyes disappeared. He was losing his confidence.

Now Marlene took her gamble.

"If Lud Langart, a former soldier, were to get serious, he just might escape your grasp. Yes... just like your son."

"-!!!"

Marlene felt as if the air in the room had turned into violent waves.

Shylock's anger was overflowing.

His son's escape, years ago, was an extremely sensitive matter.

As risky as it may be, it's sometimes necessary to goad an opponent by touching on raw and difficult subjects.

"But if you win under their conditions, Jacob will

come to you of his own free will."

Marlene spoke again to drive the point home.

If he continued on his present course, Shylock would win the battle but lose the war, and lose Jacob, which was his primary objective.

Once again, he would taste the sadness that was still an open wound: the loss of a family member.

"........."

The room fell into silence that lasted only a few seconds but felt forever to Marlene.

"Let me hear the details."

Later, Shylock accepted the war treaty Marlene offered on behalf of Tockerbrot.

* * *

A few more hours later...

"That was so scary!!"

After that success of her negotiation. Marlene was facedown at a table in the Tockerbrot food court, trembling as she remembered Shylock's fierce expression, which was burned into her mind.

"Thank you, Marlene! Thank you!"

"Good job, Marlene! Would you like something to drink?"

Both Jacob and Milly praised her daring effort.

"Now perhaps we can just hang in here!"

The war treaty stipulated that the shop that posted the most profits after one week of sales would be the winner.

If Tockerbrot won, Shylock would leave quietly, and if Tockerbrot lost, he would leave with Jacob.

By limiting the struggle to one week, Tockerbrot would avoid the worst-case scenario, in which the shop would go bankrupt.

Their opponent was ready to destroy Tockerbrot, so this was significant progress.

The treaty also included a prohibition against disrupting one another's business activities.

Simply put, the treaty forbade violence between staff, destructive acts toward each other's shops, and disruption of supply routes to prevent the other from acquiring ingredients.

It could be said that these conditions were a considerable improvement over the disadvantageous situation that had existed before.

"Hey, Sven? Did I do well?"

Although feeling great fatigue, Marlene looked at Sven with a victorious face.

"Yes, I have to admit that you did."

Sven answered with a bitter look, aware that she should admit that Marlene had succeeded brilliantly, even though Marlene was still her rival.

"Then will you withdraw your rule?"

The rule was that Marlene would stay one meter away from Lud.

"Ugh! About that..."

"I obeyed because I owed you, but haven't I paid you back a little?"

Marlene laughed with a wicked look on her face.

"Wh-What an evil nun you are!"

Sven's shoulders shook with frustration, but there was no room for refusal.

"Good job, Marlene. Thank you very much."

With awful timing, Lud appeared from the back room.

"Oh, Lud! I was so scared! But I did my best for Jacob and for you!"

Marlene quickly stood and snuggled close to Lud.

"Th-Thank you... Really... Um, aren't you standing a little close?"

"No, this is totally fine!"

Marlene was so close that he could feel her breath. She pushed her breasts, so much bigger than Sven's, against Lud's arm.

"Grrraaahhh!"

Seeing this, Sven screamed out in anger, frustration and jealousy.

"Sven... Um, I know how you feel, but you're scary!"

Jacob teased Sven, who looked as angry as a demon in a child's nightmare.

"But, Lud... will things be okay now? You'll save the shop, but Jacob might..."

Marlene was still attached to Lud as she asked this.

They succeeded in establishing a war treaty, but it only earned them a fight with a better chance of survival. It didn't neutralize the overwhelming financial power of Billions Trading.

Tockerbrot was still at a disadvantage.

"Yeah... I might never beat him as a businessman, but at least we've brought him down to the level of a baker."

Lud's face now showed a small but real hope of winning.

* * *

The next day, Bakery Billions launched a major offensive.

"Welcome, welcome! We're Bakery Billions! Bakery Billions! Opening today! We're here to deliver the highest quality bread to the people of Organbaelz!"

In front of the shop, musicians were playing instruments, skimpily-clad dancers were singing and dancing, and a clown on stilts was handing out balloons to children.

Fliers were scattered about, and fireworks sparkled in the air.

Bakery Billions launched its opening sale with more flare and clamor than even the annual harvest festival in Organbaelz.

The townspeople, who had little to entertain them in the countryside, gathered around for the festivity.

A crowd had already formed and some, who had misunderstood the situation, had set out their own stalls.

"What the heck is that?!"

Sven, who was watching from inside Tockerbort, shouted in anger.

"How did they prepare all that so quickly?!"

Shylock hadn't just bought land and thrown up a store.

He must have spent an enormous amount of money to entice new customers.

"Nonetheless, I have to say that you're foolish, Shylock! If you spend so much on advertising, you'll be in the red even if you do sell more bread!!"

"No, personnel and advertising costs don't count."

Lud pointed this out to Sven, who let out a cry and almost fell down.

"D-Darn him! Shylock must have added that condition to improve his chances!"

"No, I suggested that."

"Say whaaah?!"

Sven had assumed it was Shylock's ploy, and when she found out that it was Lud's idea, she almost fell down again. No, this time she did fall.

"Are you all right, Sven?"

"Don't worry about me! Why did you suggest such a thing?!"

In business, personnel and advertising expenses can be considerable.

In some cases, they could amount to more than production costs.

Removing the marketing costs from the accounting meant that Billions, which possessed enormous capital strength, might as well have lined up a million guns that would never run out of bullets.

"On the other hand, we spend very little on staff. Or, maybe I shouldn't say that."

After all, Milly received minimum wage as a trainee under the labor laws of Wiltia, Jacob was working without pay to earn his board, and Sven simply refused to take any pay.

"Also, they just started a new shop, but we've been here a while. Our circumstances are different."

"Master, have you ever heard about the king of Sojo?"

A long time ago, the king of the small nation of Sojo told himself, "It would be unfair to the opponent if we attacked now," and he waited while the enemy crossed the river, thereby passing up the perfect opportunity to attack. As a result, he lost the battle.

"They have an overwhelming advantage. Why would you forfeit what little advantage we have?!"

Lud was Sven's beloved master and she admired him from the bottom of her heart.

If Lud so wished, she would smile as she ripped from her breast the rezanium reactor that was the equivalent of her heart.

However, from the viewpoint of a former combat weapon, any action that forfeited victory was beyond comprehension.

"Bcause if we hadn't allowed him at least that much, Shylock would have complained about the provisions of the treaty."

Lud wasn't simply abiding by the principle of the fair play.

He held the war treaty Shylock had agreed to-an agreement with a list of rules for their sales battle.

Lud and Shylock were each in possession of a copy bearing their signatures.

"Provisions... What are you talking about?"

Sven looked back over each of the ten seconds.

"Hm? What's this?"

After reading a particular provision, Sven finally understood what Lud intended.

At the same time, she realized keenly that she would never have thought of such a strategy.

She almost had a heart but she couldn't have come up with it.

"Master... Are you serious about this?"

"Yes. It has been about a year and a half since I opened this bakery. After all that, if I were to beat out a newly-opened competitor by relying on the power of money, then that would be the end. I enter this challenge prepared to close up shop!"

Lud's face as he said this brought back memories to Sven.

It was the face he had often made when they were at war.

It was the face of a man entering deadly combat.

"Hmm!"

"Huh? What is it, Sven?"

"N-No, um, nothing!"

She was too embarrassed to tell him that she was gazing with love at the dignified face of her master.

"Well, shall we see how this goes for a bit? I'll cut the amount I bake, and I'll focus on simple breads like baguettes and boules."

Thus, the first day ended in complete defeat for Tockerbrot.

* * *

On the second day...

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!♪ Would you love some delicious bread?! We're Bakery Billions!♪"

Again today, there were musicians and other performers in front of Billions, and many customers had gathered.

A long line had formed before a cluster of pretty employees.

The second day also ended in complete defeat for Tockerbrot.

* * *

On the third day...

"Girls and boys! Would you like some bread?! We've got a grand sale going on right now!♪"

In addition to the performers, the employees had also come outside to attract customers.

However, compared to the first two days, the crowd was not as large.

Customers were surprised to find space inside the shop when they expected long lines.

In particular, there were no housewives.

They were once again flocking to Tockerbrot.

They bought the plain breads like baguettes, coupes, boules and loaves of sandwich bread, and little by little, Tockerbrot sales were returning to normal levels.

"Well, it's about time!"

Lud decided to increase the amount he baked in preparation for the next day.

* * *

The night of the third day...

"What's going on?"

Shylock groaned after looking at the daily sales report sent to his hotel room in Saupunkt.

The first and second days had shown more than exemplary sales.

However, on the third day, sales dipped.

"It's our third day since opening. The shop may not look new to people anymore."

Shylock's minion Poracho tried to explain, but it wasn't convincing.

Shylock wondered if he might have missed something important.

"Shall we increase the number of attractions? We can order more posters and flyers. After all, personnel and advertising costs don't count."

Since sales at Bakery Billions were still higher than Tockerbrot's, Faran made this suggestion flippantly and with no sense of the danger.

"They suggested the rule themselves. The fools!"

Suddenly Shylock realized something.

"Hey, bring me the agreement!"

He had confirmed all suggested rules himself.

None of them had presented a problem, so he was confident about winning a decisive victory.

However, after watching the sales drop on the third day, he now realized that one sentence could be taken a different way.

"I see it now! Drat that baker!!"

Shylock yelled and stood up with a grim face.

"What's our situation regarding stock and delivery goods?!"

"Well, the goods are baked via sequential production in Wiltia and delivered across the border, Everything is transported in freezer cars, so there's no problem with freshness."

"I'm not talking about that!!"

Unable to control himself, Shylock yelled angrily.

"Right now! Stop incoming deliveries right now!"

"But that's impossible!! We requested production of a specific amount for seven days and it's on the way! We can't stop it!"

"Blast that man! He was counting on this!!"

Shylock hit the table with a loud bang.

This was the moment when a baker who had placed everything on this bet outmaneuvered a battle-hardened businessman like Shylock.

* * *

On the fourth day...

"How did you do this?"

Jacob was surprised to see the number of customers returning to Tockerbort.

"Nothing. We didn't do anything."

Despite this denial. Sven answered with an air of pride.

The number of customers inside the shop was more than half-about 60 percent-the normal number. There were many more customers today than two days ago.

"It's just that Master does wonderful work."

On the other hand, Bakery Billions didn't have half the customers it had on its first day.

Bread remained stacked on the shelves like the corpses of soldiers who had died at the hands of a bungling commander.

* * *

On the fifth day...

The customers at Billions had decreased even further.

In contrast, Tockerbrot had recovered 80 percent of its customers.

"This is great, Lud! Will you tell me now? How did you do it?"

During a break, Jacob asked this question of Lud, who had reappeared from the oven room.

"Well, let's see... Give this a try."

It was a bread he had asked Marlene to buy from Billions.

It was simple and basic bread called a batard.

"Munch, munch..."

"How is it?"

Lud asked Jacob, who was chewing a piece he had torn from the top of the bread with dubious look.

"Hm? Nothing is wrong with it, It tastes all right. It's just..."

"Just?"

"Something is different."

Lud's face tensed sternly.

That didn't mean he was angry, sad or disappointed.

For this man who was had such trouble smiling, his grim expression was the result of his facial muscles moving in a slightly odd way because he was very happy.

"Ahh... That's the best compliment you could give me!"

"What do you mean?"

"At Billions, they bake the bread at the shop, but they don't do any of the preparation."

Lud had been watching the construction of Bakery Billions on the first day.

He noticed that the workspace was much better than the sales floor.

Lud had served as a special service soldier before becoming a Hunter Unit pilot.

From the experience, he could determine a building's site area, the number of floors and windows, and general floor plan.

"Billions has its bread prepared somewhere else. Maybe they bring in bread that is fermented and shaped at a factory somewhere in Wiltian territory. Then they just thaw and bake it in the shop."

"Is that possible?"

The process made use of advances in freezing and refrigeration technology developed so that remote areas could enjoy freshly baked breads.

There was nothing wrong with that.

In fact, such bread was undoubtedly much tastier than bread made by inexperienced bakers.

"But what does that have to do with this?"

"Like you just said, something tastes different."

As he said this, Lud's face was hard and stiff-but with joy.

* * *

That night, Shylock was in his hotel room in Saupunkt frowning deeply as he looked at the sales numbers, which had dropped dramatically, just as he had feared.

And unlike Lud, when Shylock frowned, it meant he was aggravated and angry.

He had been outmaneuvered and hadn't realized it in time.

"What's goin' on? What'd they do?"

Poracho was baffled.

"They didn't do anything. That baker hasn't done anything." Which only made Shylock angrier.

Lud hadn't pulled any tricks or changed recipes. He had just baked as usual.

He had adjusted the amount he baked, but that was all.

"Maybe there's a difference in people's taste between Wiltia and Pelfe?"

Wiltia and Pelfe were very similar.

They belonged to the same culture zone and their languages were almost identical.

However, even a slight change in location could make the same meals prepared in the same way taste slightly different.

"It is said that Sparians, who have a delicate palate, won't eat meals from a neighboring town because of the difference in taste."

"B-But I can't believe that people here would have such sensitive tastes."

Tastes differ by region, but those differences can be small.

The inexpensive bread that Billions prepared had been good enough that people wouldn't notice such a slight difference.

In another town. Billions might have been the clear victor.

However, this was Organbaelz.

"The bread from that bakery was tasty. It was just tasty. It wasn't anything fancy or unusual... and that was his weapon!"

Shylock made a tight fist.

Every day, Lud baked bread with extreme care, He considered temperature changes in the daily weather, and selected the best possible flour, so people would enjoy his bread.

He had done this every day for over one year.

And the townsfolk had been eating his bread ever since Sven had joined the bakery.

If these were industrial products, it would be a different story.

The customers might have grown accustomed to a change in standards.

But, this was food.

What's more, bread is a food staple that people eat every day.

The bread at Billions wasn't bad. It was perfectly good.

But those who were accustomed to Tockerbrot's

bread, wondered if something was different.

They visited the new bakery for the first few days out of curiosity, but by the third day, many reverted to the bread they preferred.

"That bakery made everyone in town fussy about their bread!"

* * *

Meanwhile, inside Tockerbrot...

"We've already won!♪"

Sven declared victory with a big smile after calculating the balance from the day's sales.

"Isn't it too early to say that for sure? There are two more day's sales."

"But Billions had a lot of customers on the first two days. Even though their numbers have decreased, their shop isn't empty."

Billions was nearly twice as large as Tockerbrot in floor size.

Therefore, they could display nearly twice as many products.

Even if their sales fell to half their peak number, they would still be the same as Tockerbrot's normal sales.

"Tee-hee-heee! That's just it, Jacob! That's why they fell for my master's stratagem!"

Sven showed the agreement listing the rules for the competition.

Among the many clauses was one very important sentence.

'Victory or defeat would be determined by net profit.'

"Net profit?"

"Profit comes from total sales minus costs... Um, right?"

Jacob tilted his head as Sven picked up a nearby croissant.

"Take this croissant, for example. We sell this for 10 krants. And it costs 7 krants to make. So what's our profit?"

"Well, 10 minus 7, so... 3 krants?"

Jacob frowned as he answered, certain he knew at least that much.

"Okay, So how about if there are two but only one sells?"

"Um... Oh!"

Jacob finally understood what Sven wanted to say.

The croissants were priced at 10 krants and cost 7 krants.

If you sold one, you would make a profit of 3 krants.

But if the other one didn't sell, you would lose 7 krants.

As a result, you didn't make the 3-krant profit and you would be 4 krants in the hole.

"Then net income equals total sales minus cost, and then subtract loss, Simply put, the more items that don't sell, the lower the net income."

It would be different with some low-cost items, but bread typically makes small profits and quick returns.

If there's one item left over, the profit from selling two disappears.

So if a store twice as big with twice as many products sells only half its goods... Right now, Billions was accruing enormous losses merely by staying open.

"We had more goods left over in the beginning, but the scale of our shop is small. We limited the amount of product in order to incur smaller losses."

"Oh, I see... Then their profits from the first day are long gone!"

"Nonetheless, they're still packing their shelves... My guess is they put in an order for a full seven days of product."

At this very moment, bread that wouldn't sell was being carried into Bakery Billions.

"This is just like the battle at Bolsburn."

Bolsburn was a huge basin located on Augustian border.

Elvin, Wiltia's good general, faced 200 thousand Augustian soldiers with a force of only 30 thousand.

Normally, August's overwhelming numbers would have crushed them, but Elvin used the geography of the basin by secretly moving his force during a night with a fog as thick and impenetrable as the ocean.

The poorly trained Augustan army lost its direction in the fog and when they saw the Wiltian camp in the distance, they charged.

They didn't know a deep canyon lay before them.

By the time the vanguard realized something was wrong, it was too late.

Wave after wave of Augustan soldiers fell to the bottom of the canyon, pressed from behind by their fellow troops.

Their incompetent commander, who could only shout in dismay, watched as half of his 200 thousand soldiers died at the bottom of the canyon.

Material warfare was considered the ultimate fighting method.

But even a slight miscalculation could result in the annihilation of a great army.

"Anyway, this is all thanks to Master's skill."

If the people of Organbaelz hadn't tasted the difference between the bread at Billions and Lud's bread. Tockerbrot would be facing overwhelming defeat.

But the townsfolk had made a choice.

They wanted inexpensive but tasty bread from Tockerbrot.

Nothing could be more pleasing to a baker than that.

"There's no need to wait for another two days! We won! I can't wait to see Shylock's face when he shows up! Mwa ha ha!"

Once more, Sven declared victory.