The only reason I donated drinks to the players was to promote the efficiency of the ionic drink and the takeouts of course, but I unexpectedly got lucky.
'Electrolytes are really effective when you suffer from dehydration.'
After the jousting competition, Armand launched the ionic drink called Super Aid.
The Super Aid was sold in different flavors such as lemon or cherry. This drink was a link I created to help me, in the near future, to create a whole category of drinks that are helpful to the mind and body.
The first one is the Super Aid helpful for thirst-quenching and revitalization.
The second one will be coffee, which will be promoted as a drink that is useful for the brain as a concentration enhancement.
I had to develop a whole plan and strategy that will convince people to buy coffee.
'Coffee...I hope that I can sell it...
I managed to convince the Blancia Master, who got rid of it because it was too bitter, to drink it. And now he drinks it, often, when he has many requests.'
The Blancia Master was amazed by the effect it had, and told me that after he drank the 'black devil's' drink he felt like he could do almost twice as much work.
'I wonder when would be a good time to launch it...
When Armand was getting established, it wasn't a good time to sell coffee, a drink that everyone considered bitter and unappealing.
The lack of a barista was and is still a big problem.
Haaa... But I am happy that I managed to promote the ionic drink and the takeout at the jousting competition. I was really relieved when the Imperial family permitted us to promote them.
The clock tower that I donated must have played a role in the decision.
The administrative office has a good impression of Armand, because they received many praises from above for successfully signing a contract that helped them acquire an expensive and useful item like the clock tower without spending even a single gold coin.
Armand's Children Foundation that we recently established also played a big role in the decision, because it made us look more trustworthy.'
"I wonder how it affected our sales after the competition?"
I took the envelope that was in the cake box I received from Maisond and opened it. The envelope contained information about our recent sales.
"Did we really sell this much?"
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The result was an absolute success.
...
After the jousting competition, Armand was often mentioned in conversations because Armand's logo was stamped on the cups, and everyone saw it, so when people talked about Oryx they always mentioned Armand.
"Oryx, who looked like he would collapse at any moment because of the scorching heat, got his energy back after drinking that drink."
Oryx's acquaintances chatted among them with excitement and spread the story among the people.
"Oryx said that the competition was very difficult but that drink helped him become a knight, he said that the jousting competition was his last hope."
People liked dramatic stories and the unknown knight story, who managed to get everyone's attention was the favorite.
"Oryx is treated well by Seymour, right?"
"I heard rumors that his skills are improving day by day. They said that even the prideful Seymour knights acknowledge his skills."
"Hmm! What drink did Oryx drink? We should go there."
The gentlemen headed to Armand while chatting about Oryx, stopped and looked dumbfounded at the crowd that were dressed in different knights uniforms, that were gathered in front of the fountain in the East Gate.
Everyone of them was holding a cup, with Armand's logo on them.
"This is the drink you drank at the jousting competition? I was looking forward to it, but it tasted bland."
"The taste is subtle."
"It's bland, but...doesn't it feel refreshing?"
"Well, I don't know what this is, but it's easy to drink."
"It has a better effect if you drink it when you are tired. Maybe that's why it's called Super Aid. When I drank this drink in the scorching heat, I felt like I had found an oasis."
The ionic drink left a deep impression on the knights that participated in the jousting competition.
Some knights stopped by Armand with their colleagues to recall that feeling from the jousting competition, and there were some knights who bought the ionic drink after training to help them get over their state of exhaustion.
"So this is the place from the rumors..."
"Yes. That's right."
...
Because word spread that Armand was frequented by famous knights, many people came from afar to try the same drink as them.
'It is like when a celebrity visits a shop as a regular customer, and that store becomes famous.
In addition, the tall and handsome knights provide a wonderful sight to our main customers, young noble ladies.
Well it was not for nothing that the entertainment companies set up cafes on their first floor building.
The window seat from the second floor, at Armand, is the most sought after spot, because people could clearly see the knights coming in and going from the shop.'
At the East Gate Square, especially, the area around Armand and the fountain was bustling with people every day, now it never lacked a constant stream of visitors.
There was also a lot of demand for takeout due to the heat, and because the price of the ionic drinks was low, the net profit nearly doubled.
...
"What is this? Why did Naria sales drop in half!?"
Bruno, a business owner who runs a dessert shop and various other shops located at the Academy's front gate, was furious when he saw Naria's latest sales.
"Damn it. If this situation continues like this, we won't be able to gather the money we promised to Duke Serig."
As a semi-noble, Bruno was a vassal under Duke Serig's family, and was receiving protection from the Serig family, but in return he had to pay a large sum of money every month.
In that sum of money was secretly included a slush fund, funds stealed from the Imperial family to fill Duke Serig's back pocket.
Managing a Ducal family was very expensive, so Duke Serig was quite fond of Bruno, who was good at handling money.
But the Duke's trust was based on him bringing in a lot of gold coins.
When Naria, who always had the highest sales among the stores from the West Gate, started to decline, Bruno couldn't help but feel infuriated.
"What is the reason! Why aren't you answering ?"
"Aaargh!"
Naria's store manager, who was hit by the ashtray that Bruno threw, opened his mouth while he held his bloodied forehead.
"That is... because we continuously lowered our set menu prices. We did manage to increase the sales, but the net profit dropped."
Although the discount was high, the truth was that the profit did not increase as they expected because the noble ladies their shop targeted were not simple people who liked cheap things, on the contrary, they thought that it was vulgar to see them compete, with others shops, so openly for discounts.
And also, since they lowered the price the quality of the products decreased. In order to meet the daily sales demanded by Bruno, the manager had no choice but to reduce the number of grams of tea leaves they put per cup, and the picky customers stopped coming because they noticed that the quality dropped.
However, Naria's owner did not care enough to see that the characteristics of the main target groups of Armand didn't match with their customers.
"So? Is that all?"
"I think that another reason that our customers went to the Academy's East Gate is because of Armand."
"That damn shop! I don't know who runs it, but he's pretty good."
Bruno tapped the desk with his thick finger that was adorned with a gold ring.
He thought that the owner of Armand, was an old fox with a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Because of the way he attracted the customer's attention with bizarre advertising, that irritated Bruno every time.
"Armand's owner has an extraordinary skill in promoting the shop."
"That's why I told you to imitate whatever they did!"
Even though the main reason that Bruno was able to increase the size of his business, without much effort, was because of the Serig family, it was also because he 'randomly' copied the ideas of other small shops.
"We did as you said. We held a membership registration event for new customers and also made a coupon card like they did, but strangely, it wasn't successful."
They spend no time in copying them but they still couldn't get similar results like that of Armand.
It was the exact opposite, they were criticized that they were special events only for new customers and that they forgot about the existing regular customers.
"Why do you copy what anyone can?! Find out the recipe! The recipe!"
"Yes! I understand, my Lord."
"If you bribe one of the guys that works in the kitchen with a large sum of money, he'll quickly reveal the secret. And find out what else sells well besides smoothies!"
"Not long ago, I heard that they launched a new drink that is popular among the knights."
"Is that so...Then steal that recipe too."
"I heard the knights drink it outside the shop. And that it's not a recipe but a magic technique. What should we do?"
"So, they're doing weird things again. Forget it...It will be popular only for a while anyway "
Bruno scratched his oily chin and then squinted his eyes.
"Come to think of it, Armand mainly sells cold drinks. Ha ha ha... Their sales will plumer quickly at the end of the season."
"Ahh... When autumn comes the days will be cooler, so the smoothies won't be popular anymore."
"I can't believe how foolish they are, to sell drinks that are popular only during one season. I guess I overestimated that owner's intelligence."
"Soon, the number of customers that go to Armand will drop."
"Yes, and there is a limit to the growth it can have, being located at the East Gate Square."
Bruno waved his thick hand in the air several times, and the manager quickly brought him a smoking pipe.
Bruno knew, from his previous business experience, that the store's location was the most important. And that the people of the Empire preferred to walk around the West Gate Square, where the statue of Saint Nyla was located rather than the East Gate Square.
It was not for nothing that the real estate price around West Gate Square, more than doubled in recent years.
Bruno blew a cloud of smoke while he laughed at the fact that no matter how famous Armand was now, with the help of the owners cheap tricks, it would eventually go bankrupt.
Right after Armand's sales exploded, an incident happened.
"O nooo... My life!"
A recipe leak.
.....................