Friendly Reincarnator Chapter 54: Bakery Rejuvenation

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　Hank-san exudes an aura of stubbornness, perhaps because he is a craftsman. Maybe he’s just the stubborn type.

　I took out a loaf of bread, a baguette, and some wild berry jam from the infinite storage.

“First you should try the bread I made. Then we can talk about it. Besides, I’d like to try some of your bread.” (Louis)

“I’ll tell you what, if you make better bread than I do, I’ll bow down and ask you to teach me, no matter who you are.” (Hank)

　I thought he would not listen to me because he seemed like a stubborn craftsman, but I guess he can be honest with someone he approves of, or he is greedy when it comes to his skills.

　The store was closed, and he sliced me some of the bread on sale, the loaf of bread I had given him, a baguette, and ate them as they were or with wild berry jam spread over them.

　The soft bread was delicious.

“I was surprised at this. It was soft and had a strong wheat aroma. But it’s also sweet and delicious on its own.” (Hank)

　Hank-san said honestly with a look of surprise on his face.

“Would you like to make and sell this soft bread? What are some of the other ideas I want to sell?” (Louis)

“Okay. I want to try my hand at this. Thank you, please take care of me.” (Hank)

　I was a little surprised when he bowed deeply to me.

“Yes, I’ll take care of it. There’s a lot to learn, so let’s do our best.” (Louis)

　Robert watched the exchange with a smile on his face the whole time, but I decided to ask him to go back to the store to take care of the afternoon’s real estate matters.

　I taught Hank-san how to make soft bread first.

　He was still surprised at how much time and effort it took, so I showed him how to make fresh yeast, a so-called bread seed that cultivates the yeast I made; it takes about four to five days to make usable yeast, and you can keep adding more yeast by continuing the same process.

　If the soft bread sells well, it will be an asset to Hank-san.

　I had Huey make 30 baking molds.

　If more are needed, I showed him the molds that can be found at the blacksmith’s shop and we agreed to order the same size.

　I think this mold is the best mold for baking because it is resistant to heat and shock, and the bread does not stick to the mold when it is baked.

　I also noticed that my bread has a light yellow color because it is made from flour that I have milled and separated myself, whereas most bakeries use whole wheat flour.

　Over time, the light yellow flour gradually turns white.

　I told him that I would share the flour I made with him, but that he should buy white flour instead of whole wheat flour when he buys flour in the Royal Capital, thinking about what to do after I was gone.

　I said that the higher the cost, the higher the price, but it can’t be helped.

　“Wouldn’t your income also increase?” He was convinced when I asked him that.

　After finishing the lesson, I told him to try making it.

　The oven was smaller than I had expected, so I found that only 10 baking molds would fit.

　I would have to do this a number of times.

　On the other hand, we can sell the bread in the store, emphasizing the good wheat aroma and that it is “freshly baked”.

　After the bread was ready, I made koppe bread and showed it to him. [T/N: Koppe-pan/bread is the bread Japanese typically use for their yakisoba bread and similar sandwiches.]

　The idea is to sell deli-bread.

　After the bread is baked, it is laid out with a slit in the middle, and when orders come in, vegetables that have been cooked and seasoned are placed inside and sold.

　At first, he tried filling them with shredded cabbage seasoned with salt, which turned out to be a better accent than he had expected.

　Next was potato salad without mayonnaise.

　It is made with potatoes, onions, carrots, salt, olive oil, and vinegar.

　Without mayonnaise, the taste is not as robust as it should be, but that’s what happens when you make things with the ingredients you have. But it turned out to be not bad.

　I told Hank-san that I would like him to develop the ingredients for the sandwich based on this recipe.

　The requirements are that the ingredients must be able to be pre-made, be tasty even when cold, go well with the bread, and not be too watery.

　I wanted to eat a pork cutlet sandwich, but I had to make it with what I had on hand, so I decided to make it and eat it when it was just me and Huey. I can’t make it right away, though, because I don’t have any pork cutlet sauce.

　The cooked vegetables can be served cold, but I make sure to tell them when they receive their order that they must be served between the slices of bread and that they must be eaten within two hours.

　It takes time and effort to sell the bread, but the bread is soft, so if you put it in from the beginning, it will be soggy and not delicious, and the juices will damage the bread faster, so we want to keep it within two hours.

　You want me to eat it quickly because it spoils so fast? I told him that he should eat it as soon as possible in order to enjoy the best taste.

　Since we are paying for the food, it is natural that we want to eat it in good condition.

　The rest was a matter of setting the price.

　It was twice the price of a loaf of hard bread, but it should sell well. I hope it will sell well.

　For the koppe bread, I set the price at two copper coins, and when selling only the bread without the vegetables inside, I set the price at one silver coin and five copper coins.

　Next, I want to solve the first problem.

　The shop is located one street away from the main street, so people will not visit unless it becomes popular.

　The seed of a good reputation can be planted, but if no customers come to the store, even if they come nearby, if they don’t notice the store, it won’t lead to any sales.

　I got Hank-san’s approval and decided to rebuild the entrance door and window.

　Simply put, I decided to make and install “fake glass” made from Huey’s hardened mucus.

　Of course, it is very strong and can be shaped as desired.

　I installed the “fake glass” on the top of the removed door, at the height of a hip window, so that the inside of the door could be seen, and on the outside, I transformed an iron spear from my storage and attached a thin lattice with a gap on the outside.

　The lattice is not necessary because of its high strength, but it would look better if it were there for design purposes.

　On the inside, I attached a curtain made of cloth and put it together.

　The store windows were remodeled in the same way to give the store a slightly more stylish appearance.

　Only two iron spears were consumed.

　Next, I bought some wood and made a blackboard in the style of a café, and painted the name of the store and a picture of bread on the board.

　I’m not that good at drawing, but it’s easy to get people talking about what I’m doing that other stores aren’t doing.

　I also put small designs on the bread display shelves in the store to complete the project and make it pop.

　It was past noon when I finished all the work.

　Since the loaf bread and koppe bread are also baked, I borrowed the kitchen and made grilled Jewel Boar Meat with ginger and ate it between koppe bread.

　Hank-san asked me to sell it to him, but when I told him that this meat was Jewel Boar Meat, he gave up.

　He seemed to understand that the cost was too steep.

　Before I leave, I leave him 20 jars of my yeast and about 100 kilos of flour milled by alchemy as an upfront investment.

　If they work on culturing the yeast properly, it is unlikely that they will fail.

　I left the store after a week of practice, telling them to get it to a level where it would be ready for the store by next week.