The day the White Wolf Shop resumed normal business hours, the number of visitors was the largest ever.

　Not since the last time a large dragon appeared with a pack of wyverns in tow had there been such a large number of visitors.

　The reason for the increase in visitors is obvious. The completion of Fort Hollow Bottom.

　The Sundial Forest, an open dungeon adjacent to Green Hollow Town.
　At its lowest level is a hidden cave.

　At the end of the cave, a vast underground space named the Demon King's Castle Realm spreads out, where the Dark Elf Demon King Gandalf resides.

　And the Hollow Bottom Fortress, which straddles the Sundial Forest and the Demon King's Castle Realm across the cave, is a military base for the war against the Demon King's Army - that is Hollow Bottom Fortress.

　It's not just the Golden Fang Knights sent by the Royal Court, but also the high-ranking adventurers who gathered to explore the Demon King's Castle Realm use it as a base.

　--The residents of Green Hollow seeking weapons for self-defense.

　--The low-ranked adventurers who earn their daily bread by collecting medicinal herbs in the Sundial Forest and doing menial jobs for the high-ranked adventurers.

　--High-ranked adventurers who have come to explore the "Demon King's Castle Realm" and defeat demons.

　--The Golden Fang Knights who were preparing to fight the Demon King's Army.

　They all wanted equipment that was suitable for their purposes.

　And these demands are flooding my shop, the only shop specializing in weapons in Green Hollow Town.

'One, two, three...... I knew you were missing one. Garnett!　One set of leather gauntlets, please!
Yes!

　Garnett rolled up his arms and withdrew to the back of the store and quickly returned with the bagged goods.

　It's a position sent by the Silver Wing Knights under the guise of being my escort, and being an employee of the White Wolf Store is a disguise, but he works well for me without regard to that.

　Maybe it's because of her boyish appearance and clothing, and her brave every word and action, but so far not a single customer seems to have noticed her true gender.

And Sakura. I need you to deliver this to Hollow Bottom Fortress. Here's a quote for your last order.
Of course. I'll get it to you right away.

　Sakura activated her [Shrinkage] skill and moved out of the shop in an instant.

　I'm really grateful that she's helping me with my shop like this, even though she should have some work to do as an adventurer.

　Being the only Eastern person in Green Hollow Town, Sakura always attracts a lot of attention from other adventurers.

　His sword skills are also highly regarded and he has been asked to help out by various adventurers.

''Luke-san, I brought you some food,''

　Sylvia came in from the back door and placed the basket containing the refreshments on the counter.

'Sorry, Sylvia. The innkeepers are busy and I've had to ask them to help me out.
'It's okay. I thought I'd make it easier to eat with one hand. ...... Oh, did Sakura go out?
I've got some papers to deliver. I guess I asked you at the wrong time.

　Sylvia's home, the Wakaba-Tei in Spring, is one of the shops that has become busy with the increase in adventurers visiting Green Hollow.

　Since it is the largest inn in this town and the dining room is open to non-guests as well, it becomes quite busy at mealtime.

After all, we should hire at least one more person to help us out: ......
Yeah. I can't believe you and I wouldn't be able to kill you if it were just me and you.

　Garnett threw one of the bread with ingredients into his mouth and quickly went back to work.

''I'll go make some herbal tea. The herbs Sakura brought back from the 'Sundial Forest' were just finished.

　Sylvia pattered away and withdrew to the kitchen.

　I'm going to get my mind back on track and focus on dealing with the next customer that comes to the counter.

　If I were to hire another additional employee, where should I advertise for one?

'' (The first thing that comes to mind is a request for an adventurer, but from ...... experience, they don't like this kind of request very much.)''

　Hiring adventurers is a good way to do it if you are only going to hire more people for a very short period of time, like the building work on the Hollow Bottom Fortress, for a few days or so.

　It's a request that adventurers will want to bite on as soon as they need extra income.

　However, if they work for a long period of time and on a regular basis, they quickly lose their popularity.

　This is because dungeon attacks are the main business for adventurers, and all other requests are just a way to make money.

　If working in the store sucks up all of your time and reduces the time you can spend on your main mission, it's all for naught.

"(Hiring a regular guy from Green Hollow or a neighboring town, ......, seems to be very competitive.)

　The rapid increase in the number of adventurers that accompanied the completion of the fortress brought a booming economy to Green Hollow Town and the surrounding towns.

　Various sectors attempted to expand their businesses, and as a natural consequence, the problem of labor shortages began to arise.

　Signs were posted all over the town asking for employees, and it was not unusual to find places like this White Wolf store struggling to keep up with over-capacity customers.

　It may be what's called a happy scream, but a scream is still a scream.

'(For now, let's talk to the Guild House. That place also doubles as a tavern, so it's got a lot of face for both adventurers and ordinary people.)

　-- Eventually the time passed into the evening and it was time to close.

　Sakura and Garnett dismissed the few customers who were still trying to stick around, and calm finally returned to the store.

'Phew ...... I started the shop thinking 'I'd like a leisurely job where I can relax,' but this is the exact opposite.
That's good. It's a hell of a lot better than the sound of a lullaby.

　Garnett was right, but as expected, I don't think my body will be able to hold up at this rate.

　While confirming inwardly that we will be adding more employees, I called out to the three people who worked hard all day long.

It's already late, so why don't we go to the guildhouse for dinner? Of course it's my treat.
Are you sure?　Thank you!
Now that you mention it, Lady Malida tells me you've purchased some fine meat from her.
Okay, meat, meat!　Feel free to eat on the house if it's on the house!

　In Garnett's case, I really only felt like I was going to eat him without any reservation at all.

　I'm not going to tell him to be reserved.
　Rather, I was genuinely curious to see how much he would eat.

　The four of us left the restaurant together and made our way through the main street of Green Hollow, which was much busier than before, to the Guild House.

''Welcome!　Oh, Sylvia and Luke. What can I do for you today?

　The signature girl, Marida, is still wearing her same mature smile.

　The fact that she's the same age as Sylvia makes it hard to believe sometimes that she's in an atmosphere of disbelief.

'I thought we'd have dinner together today. Also, I need to talk to you later: ......

　As I was conversing with Marida as she led me to my seat, a voice was thrown at me from near the center of the tavern that often passes by.

'Oh!'　That's Luke!　It's been a while!

　I look towards the voice and see a man with a large group of adventurers waving at us.

　A strong man with a body that fits the metaphor of a lioness.
　I know that guy pretty well.

"Travis?　What the hell, you haven't changed at all.

　Travis of Black Sword Mountain.

　He was one of the high-ranking adventurers I called out to when Green Hollow was shaken by the appearance of a large dragon and anxiety.