The Supermarket System

Chapter 26: 26. Just buy it

This morning—no, it’s actually still too early to call it morning. In any case, the sky was still dark when Kai was forced to wake up from his cocoon-like sleeping bag because Keith was shaking him rather hard.

When Kai checked the time on his phone, he saw that it was still four in the morning.

By the way, the clock in Ardhez runs 24 hours a day. An hour is also 60 minutes, and a minute is 60 seconds. Although Kai could feel the difference. Because a day in Ardhez felt very long—longer than a day on Earth. Even just one hour on Earth felt very fast, but in Ardhez it felt long.

"Can I buy underwear like the ones you gave me yesterday? They feel really comfortable, lighter, and stronger. Even though they look like tight shorts," said Keith, in a soft tone. It seemed like he was embarrassed if anyone heard him, because Raka and Arga were also inside the tent. Each of them had been lent a cocoon sleeping bag by Kai. They were only lent to them because they were quite expensive—one small silver coin. But since Raka liked them, he was willing to pay one silver coin. So, only Raka bought one from Kai.

"You woke up in the middle of the night just to say that? Well, those are indeed quite expensive men’s underwear; the material is specially made to protect our private parts while remaining comfortable and sweat-wicking. I suggest changing them two or three times a day. How many do you want to buy, Keith? They’re only two small bronze coins each," said Kai. He intentionally quoted the price to Keith because he knew Raka and Arga would buy them too.

"Fourteen pairs, young master."

"Oh, that’s a lot, but okay."

If Kai only gave Keith a discount, he was afraid Raka and Arga would feel he was playing favorites.

The original price was just one small bronze coin. The cheapest price on Earth might be around six to ten dollars.

But hygiene in that private area is very important.

Kai educated not only the boys but also the girls. At first they were shy, but afterward they were grateful that Kai had given them important knowledge about caring for their private parts by cleaning them regularly and changing their underwear at least twice a day or more, since the weather was extremely hot every day.

Things considered embarrassing like that weren’t taught by anyone, so they were very grateful.

Thanks to Keith, Kai wasn’t sleepy anymore. Therefore, he started cooking breakfast before the others woke up as well. Meanwhile, Keith prepared some charcoal so they could grill chicken skewers to sell to the nobles.

Since the Duke’s castle chefs only prepared bread and drinks, after the Duke got angry because they told Keith that it should be the maids in the pavilion who prepared the food for the hunt. The chefs and maids at the castle were very surprised, because usually the Duke wouldn’t meddle in such matters.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know that almost everyone in the castle sided with the Duchess rather than the Duke. Duke Hendry just wanted to see how far they would go in siding with the Duchess.

Of course, the pavilion, or Kaileon, still prepared food for them.

What was certain was that the Duke had also informed all the nobles who intended to come that they must bring at least a few bronze and silver coins if they truly wanted to come and watch the hunt.

The nobles were very surprised, but even though they sided more with the Duchess, they were still afraid of the Duke. Because even in the Kingdom of Nagreize, Duke Hendry Arslan was one of the strongest men.

"Breakfast is ready, Keith. Do you want to eat while it’s still warm? I made shrimp soup—it’s delicious with rice—so I also cooked enough rice for the eight of us," said Kai.

"Of course, young master. I’ll wake the others."

When Keith approached and saw the rice Kaileon had cooked, it turned out to be a full rice cooker—enough for all of them until late afternoon. Of course, Kai would cook for his workers, since he was the one who hired them. In fact, after acquiring cooking skills, Kai took great pleasure in cooking for others. Even though Kai was their master.

Kai said he would teach them how to cook as he went along. Later, if they became better at cooking, Kai would assign cooking duties to his workers.

But it seemed unlikely they’d ever be better cooks than Kaileon.

"Please wake up Raka and Arga; I’ll wake up the girls, Keith."

"Yes, young master."

After everyone woke up and washed their faces and hands, they had breakfast together while waiting for the sunrise. So, they had intentionally brought their breakfast up the hill so they could see the sunrise more clearly.

Of course, Kai captured the moment with his phone camera. He placed his phone on a tripod so he wouldn’t have to hold it.

Just like back on Earth, Kai always recorded anything he found beautiful. Including the stunning sunrise view that morning. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

Finally, people began to arrive.

Meanwhile, the tented supermarket was ready. One tent was already set up to display various beautiful pastries at the front, but there were also other items people might need there. Including cold drinks in practical bottles.

To save money, Kai simply placed the cold drinks in thick styrofoam boxes filled with ice cubes. It was a common practice among vendors back on Earth.

Not only that, Kai also asked Lily and Daisy, who weren’t very skilled at cooking, to run the stand selling sweet freshly squeezed orange juice. Making it was very easy: just cut the oranges in half, squeeze them with a manual juicer, then add ice cubes. There was an ice-making machine there as well.

"Hey, what are they wearing, Kaileon!"

Kai, who was preparing his knife while waiting for Duke to arrive, looked up and saw Laura with another girl whom Kai immediately recognized. Jessica.

Both of them were staring at Kai with an unpleasant look.

"What clothes are you talking about, Laura?" Kai asked.

Laura pointed at the maids who were working. It was true that Kai had given them prettier dresses, made of rayon cotton fabric. They had floral patterns that matched their respective names. For example, Lily had a butter-yellow dress with a white lily pattern. The dresses were very pretty and made it easier for them to work. The fabric was also thicker than the one from yesterday, so they didn’t look like nightgowns.

Kai thought, they’re safe to wear, so what’s Laura’s problem?

"Those are their uniforms. If you want to know their names, just look at the floral patterns they’re wearing. There’s Rose, Daisy, Lily, and Peony—"

"That’s not it!" Laura immediately cut in impatiently.

Kai looked confused, "Then what?"

Jessica snorted, glaring at Kai unhappily before speaking.

"How could a maid possibly wear a dress prettier than ours, the noble princesses? I can’t accept this!"

Hearing Jessica’s annoying rant, Kai came up with a brilliant idea.

Jessica began to feel uneasy when she saw the smirk on Kaileon’s face. Kaileon’s behavior was vastly different from what she remembered.

Since when had Kaileon grown up like that? He was even taller and more muscular than she remembered. And he was much more articulate now.

It turned out that what Justine, Luca, and Laura had said was all true.

No wonder her mother, Nathalia, was growing increasingly worried about Kaileon.

"One large silver coin," said Kai.

"What does that mean?" Laura asked impatiently.

"You can buy a prettier dress made of better fabric than what the maid is wearing. You can choose whatever you like, and I’ll provide it for you—just wait here, okay?" Kai said, then he went into his tent. Not long after, Kai emerged with several sheets of paper printed with images of various dress designs made of beautiful cotton-rayon fabric.

"The options are right here; just pick one. If you don’t want me to sell a similar dress to anyone else, just pay one small gold coin, and you’ll have a dress no one else has. Don’t worry, I’m the only one selling them. Oh, and if you want some pretty accessories, I can sell those to you too."

Laura and Jessica exchanged glances, surprised that Kai was actually taking advantage of them.

"You—"

"Look at this first, Jessica." Kai hurriedly showed them pictures of the dresses, hoping they’d stop complaining and get interested in what he was selling.

Kai had never gone to school or studied marketing techniques. But he knew that girls like them were weak when it came to beautiful things, and didn’t want anyone else to be like them.