Chapter 629: Employee Benefit

Chapter 629 – Employee Benefits

Eguchi Ren: Sorry for the late update (sweats). I caught a cold for the first time in a while and was stuck in bed. It’s been a year since the last one, but I let my guard down… Do stay healthy, everyone.

Gumihou: Glad to see you back, Eguchi-san! You stay healthy, too.

The gruff-looking mercenaries were gulping down the various beers and alcohol recommended by the heavy drinkers in my employ. Namely, Bartel, Luke and Irvine.

By the way, when these guys ate steaks made from Gigantic Minotaur and high-quality Dungeon Beef, most of them showed mild interest at best. When asked, they merely said, “We’re the kind who eat whatever is served to us without complaint.”

[1] While it was a wonderful attitude to have for moments when you have no choice in what you eat, it felt a little insulting to the special meats I used for steak…

Anyway, I was in the middle of preparing more steaks when Bartel, Luke and Irvine came over with a bucket containing clean ceramic tumblers and a cask of beer.

“Oi, oi, what’s this drink?”

“It’s delish~”

“This is unbelievable…!”

“What in god’s name have we been drinking until now…”

“Too good~”

[1] Well, they had a decidedly different reaction when it came to alcoholic drinks. After downing their first taste of [Net Super] beer, they all stared into their empty ceramic tumblers with a dazed look on their faces while

Bartel, Luke and Irvine all looked very smug. As though they had anything to do with the source of the alcohol.

Then, these fellows started drinking, and drinking and drinking even more.

Oi, you guys only ate a bit, but you’re going to start drinking heavily now? Wait, the High Elves had started on the case of cheap wine, too.

Whatever, the alcohol was meant to be drunk anyway, so let’s not worry too much about it.

I just wish these drunkards would enjoy the steaks more before going too heavy on the drinks.

[2] “What do you think?”

[2] “Delicious, right?”

[2] “

Fumu

, in fact, Mukouda-san has access to even better alcohol than this…”

“For real?!!”

The scruffy men turned glittering eyes at the trio.

[1] Well, well, they’re certainly not afraid to become the stereotype of ‘strong men = alcoholics’. To think they would rather drink than enjoy these wonderful steaks… in a way, they’re even worse than our resident dragon.

Still, I thought I had better say something to these three former Adventurers first.

“Hey, so, I’m not saying you can’t drink, but do it in moderation, please. There are children here,” I reminded them.

“Eh, we’ll be fine,” [1] Luke said dismissively.

“Yeah, no problem,” [1] Irvine insisted.

“

Umu

, I’m not sure about the rest, but

I

have no problem with alcohol,” [1] Bartel said smugly.

Honestly? I don’t believe them. However, I have done my duty after warning them. I then turned a stern gaze at the [Dawn Brigade].

[1] “You guys as well, make sure not to overindulge.”

“OU!”

Well, that was a loud response, but whether they could control themselves is out of my hands. “Make sure to go back to your room to sleep off the drink. Don’t just drop down and nap wherever.”

Another loud ‘Ou!’ answered me, but they had already gathered around the cask of beer. I glared at them for a moment, wondering if I should do anything when-

“Oi! Where’s our extra-thick steaks?”

Ah, right. “Yes, yes, I’ll be getting them ready now,” I said as I made my way towards the barbecue grill. The ladies cooperatively moved the meat they were cooking to one side, opening a space for me to cook the special thick steaks for my familiars.

“Thanks, ladies,” I said. [2] Why can’t all of my employees be as thoughtful? Am I doomed to be surrounded by inconsiderate drunks?

By the way, the thick steaks were high-quality Dungeon Beef. While I handled eight pieces of these huge steaks, I also took out some Leviathan meat and handed it to the ladies to cook. It’s better for the children to have a more varied diet, even if it was in the variety of meats.

By the time I set the Extra-large Steaks down to rest, the ladies were done cooking the Leviathan meat. I sliced up the grilled Leviathan and handed the plate to Lotte-chan. “Here you go, try these too. Share them with your new friends, okay?”

“Okay~!”

[1] Ah, Lotte-chan is too cute~ Just look at her sharing food with the shy Nikolai and Katrina.

[2] Meanwhile, the High Elves were sitting around an Earth table with a glass of wine in hand, enjoying the steaks and making appreciative sounds. The view was pretty great, so long as I ignored the fact that they were drinking cooking wine as though it was some kind of fine vintage…

“Master, I wish to enjoy my steak that way too…” Grandpa Gon said.

[2] I gave him a look. The dragon had a hopeful expression on his face. I had a feeling that he just wanted an opportunity to drink…

“Fine,” I said, and took out a couple of cases of cheap cooking wine. “You can drink these with your steak when it’s served. Not before.”

[1] Grandpa Gon nodded several times. I am rich enough to afford a hundred cases of the finest vintage, but why waste money on the good stuff? I also want these alcoholics to understand that I would not give them an unending supply of alcohol, which is why I set limits on how much they could drink.

Needless to say, the Extra Thick Steaks were very well received. Grandpa Gon down a bottle of wine with every gulp of steak.

“What a wonderful drink, this is most excellent,” Grandpa Gon nodded to himself in a knowing way.

[1] I privately rolled my eyes. “So long as you like it,” I said as I turned my attention back to grilling.

“Big Brother!” Lotte-chan skipped up to me the next day, her eyes shining with eagerness. [2] Behind her were the two ladies and Celia.

[2] Celia had an amused look on her face.

“Yes?” I said. I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say.

“Elder Brother Luke, Elder Brother Irvine, and Uncle Bartel are all sleeping outside! The new uncles, too! They are all snoring, it’s really loud!”

“Ah.”

[2] “We tried to wake them up, but they just rolled over,” said Celia.

The two ladies were professional enough to not laugh as they said:

“I do wish that they would listen to Mukouda-san and not drink too much.”

“Tsk, tsk, they should refrain from drinking too much when there are children around.”

I chatted with the ladies as they got out the rags and cleaning tools, and eventually joined them as they started cleaning the house.

[1] Aiya and Teresa looked a little dismayed, but I told them, “I’m bored with nothing to do. Cleaning is soothing.”

[1] They still looked uneasy, but with Lotte-chan providing chatter in the background, the situation was nicely comfortable instead of awkward.

By the way, Fer and the rest had been banished into the garden [2] for getting in the way of our cleaning. After feeding them breakfast, of course.

Breakfast was Stir-fried Beef with Bean Sprouts. Made from leftover bits of beef from yesterday. Yes, I was surprised there were leftovers, but these were small cuts that were just a little too oddly shaped for proper steaks.

I did a quick fry with them using Yakiniku sauce as the base flavour.

Thanks to yesterday’s drinking, I woke up later than usual today and made this super simple stir-fry to feed my gluttons. When served with rice and topped with soft-boiled eggs and some white sesame seeds, it made for a simple and filling meal.

The ladies and I had a small bowl each while my familiars had several bowls…

Speaking of which, that bunch of alcoholics are becoming a problem.

While it was understandable for Adventurers and Mercenaries to drink excessively due to work stress, they should understand that they are no longer in that kind of situation anymore. Not to mention, there are children here.

“Maybe I should give them another reminder of their drinking habits…” I mused. [1]

“Aiya and I will explain it to them,” said Teresa with a smile.

“Indeed, we shall,” said Aiya with an equally serene smile.

“Uh, sure?” The two women were smiling, but for some reason, the back of my neck itched, and I could not help but look around a bit nervously.

[1] Hm, it would be great if the matter could be taken care of verbally without threats being made; having these nice ladies explain things properly to those alcoholics would be the best.

“Oh, oh, Brother Mukouda! Will you be going to another dungeon?” Lotte-chan chirped.

“Yes, I’ll be visiting Rosendal. There’s a dungeon there that’s called the Meat Dungeon,” I said.

[1] “Woah~ Lotte wants to go too~”

“To the dungeon?” I said, amused.

[1] “Yeahh! Lotte has never seen a dungeon before! And other towns! And cities!”

[2] Celia did not say anything, but her eyes sparkled as she looked up at me.

“Hush, Lotte! Don’t be so childish!” Teresa scolded.

“But, mom~” Lotte pouted.

I hummed as I considered. In truth, Rosendal is pretty safe even as a dungeon. I mean, even orphanage kids challenge it. Although they generally remained on higher floors. Not to mention, if the kids had never gone out of the city, even the journey to the city would be fun.

Now that I think about it, most people in this world must have no choice but to spend their whole lives in the same town or cities they were born into. After all, travelling is not only expensive but also dangerous without the proper escort or skill. Unless one is a noble, adventurer or a merchant, travelling might be impossible.

Getting to travel to another town must be a great event.

Hmm, should I organise a company trip?

Normally, travelling would involve all sorts of logistics, organising caravans, towns to stop, places to stay, food etc, but since we have GG Airways… we can just fly directly to our destination.

Not to mention, Rosendal is a pretty safe town with decent security and crowd control thanks to their yearly Meat Festival. Moreover, the people who enter the meat dungeon are gourmets or people who want to challenge a relatively safe dungeon. Therefore, there won’t be people with crazy fighting skills or insane Drop materials that would cause people to sneak-attack others. The town’s main attraction is delicious food, so it makes for a great tourist destination.

In short, the perfect spot for a nice company trip.

After all, we’re not a black company.

We’re a company that places great importance on employee welfare.

Right, let’s do it.

“Let’s visit Rosendal together~!”

[Gumihou: The dialogues are kind of repetitive. This time it’s yay alcohol! Rather than yummy yum yum meats~ Got the ladies to help in the cooking too. Since it would be too strange if it were just Mukouda cooking for his slaves. By having the ladies cook, the other characters were served food ‘off screen’, which avoided the ‘and then x ate, y ate too, z also came to eat’ situation.]

[1] Added some details

[2] Adjusted details

[3] Deleted some things that were basically a rehash of previous stuff

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