Chapter 599 – As the Owner

Tauro traveled by carriage to one of the Royal Capital’s famous dining streets.

His destination was the curry restaurant he owned.

He had left the Royal Capital for a full year, so he had entrusted the shop entirely to the Garfish Trading Company, with which he had a long-standing relationship.

It was the only establishment operating under Tauro’s own name, so naturally he was curious about how it was doing.

When he arrived, the restaurant was as busy as ever.

Although lunchtime had already passed, the line outside showed no sign of disappearing. When Tauro looked inside, the customers were happily eating their curry.

The sight put him at ease.

“It looks like Mr. Garfish has been managing things well. I’ll go around back and ask the manager how the shop has been doing.”

With that in mind, Tauro went around to the rear of the restaurant.

The rear entrance was normally used only by employees and special patrons such as nobles and regular customers. Tauro approached it with Seth, the boy-shaped autonomous-thinking puppet, and Slime Emperor Pella perched on his shoulder.

An employee who didn’t recognize Tauro quickly stepped forward to stop him.

“Excuse me, sir. This entrance is for employees and specially authorized guests only. General customers should use the front entrance.”

Tauro was quietly pleased by how politely the employee handled the situation.

The staff had clearly been trained well.

Thank you, Mr. Garfish…

With that thought, Tauro smiled and said,

“Please tell the manager that the owner, Tauro Giro Sugar, has come to visit.”

“…Huh? O-Owner Giro Sugar!? M-my apologies! I’ll get the manager right away!”

The employee was so shocked by the unexpected answer that they hurried back inside without even showing Tauro in.

A moment later, Tauro heard a voice from inside. “Manager! The owner is at the back entrance!”

The restaurant immediately became noisy.

Heavy footsteps approached, and the manager came rushing out to meet Tauro.

“Owner! It’s been so long—an entire year, hasn’t it?! Please wait just a moment. Chairman Garfish instructed us to contact him immediately if you appeared! Someone, run to the Garfish Trading Company headquarters and report that the owner is here!”

The reaction was understandable. The manager had been dispatched by the Garfish Trading Company and had managed the restaurant on its behalf since the shop first opened.

“Oh, in that case, I’ll go there myself after this. It would be troublesome if we missed each other, so there’s no need to send a messenger.”

Tauro calmed the flustered manager and listened to the report on how the restaurant had done over the past year.

What he heard surprised him.

Soon after Tauro left the Royal Capital a year earlier, the number of customers had increased dramatically.

There were several reasons, but the biggest was that Tauro had become an honorary viscount and publicly taken the name Giro Sugar. He was now known throughout the kingdom as the “King of Inventions,” and people had become fascinated by the fact that this restaurant belonged to him.

Apparently, the Garfish Trading Company had actively advertised that connection. As merchants, however, using Tauro’s reputation to increase sales was only natural, and the results spoke for themselves.

“And so, our sales have continued to rise. We constantly receive requests asking whether we plan to open more branches,” the manager reported. After hearing the same question throughout the year, the manager had long since grown tired of it.

“Haha… Sorry about that. I’m going to see Mr. Garfish now, so I’ll discuss expansion with him too.”

Tauro apologized for the extra trouble, then took a leather pouch full of money from [Magic Storage] and handed it to the manager.

“This is a special bonus from me for everyone working here.”

“T-this much!?” the manager exclaimed, trembling at the weight of the pouch.

“Please continue taking good care of the restaurant. I’m heading to the Garfish Trading Company now.”

With a smile, Tauro activated [Teleportation] and vanished together with Seth and Pella.

Tauro reappeared on the rear grounds of the Garfish Trading Company headquarters.

A female employee who happened to be cleaning nearby gasped and dropped to the ground in surprise.

“Sorry for startling you. Could you tell Mr. Garfish that Tauro Giro Sugar is here to see him?”

“L-Lord Giro Sugar!? We’ve been expecting you! Please, come inside!”

The woman immediately ushered him in through the rear entrance.

Then she called loudly enough for the entire building to hear, “Lord Giro Sugar has arrived!”

Employees from several rooms opened their doors and hurried into the corridor.

Apparently Tauro had become even more famous within the Garfish Trading Company than before. Some of the younger employees stared at him in amazement and whispered excitedly among themselves.

“So that’s the real Giro Sugar…!”

I was only missing for a year… Haven’t I somehow become even more famous? Tauro wondered, puzzled by their reaction.

Then a familiar, nostalgic voice rang out from deeper inside the building.

“Tauro, you say!? Where’s he!? He isn’t at the front—what? The rear entrance!?”

Heavy footsteps rapidly approached.

A door flew open, revealing none other than Mardai Garfish, chairman of the Garfish Trading Company.