Translator: Nox

24 - Chapter 24

"Settle?"

Eloise looked at the two men standing there, wondering what that meant. And soon she knew who they were.

"Mr. Keynes? Mr. Wilson?"

They were the owners of the grocery stores in Cambon. But why were they standing here as if they were about to grab each other by the collar?

The two men looked at Eloise and seemed stung by something. But soon they glared at each other again and shouted.

"Eloise is here! Now Sergeant Thornton will know your blatant lies!"

"Ha! Look who's talking! You're still shameless even though Eloise is here. You're like a man who has lost even the trace of conscience!"

A tense atmosphere flowed between the two again. Eloise was surprised and stared at them, forgetting about her letter for a moment.

"Why are you two doing this here? What on earth is going on?"

In fact, they weren't people who could be said to have a good relationship in the first place.

Since their stores were facing each other in the same business, they had more reasons to raise their voices than to greet each other cheerfully in the morning.

But both of them were grocers who had been running their businesses for generations in Cambon, and they knew how to save face.

They had never been so hostile to each other like this, and to show such a sight in Blissbury of all places.

As Eloise was waiting for an explanation from the two men, Ryan came up to her and said.

"There's a problem with the Summer Ball order."

"Because of the order?"

"Yes. We ordered beef, lamb, chicken, and other ingredients and spices needed for cooking all at once in advance..."

According to Sergeant Thornton, he looked at last year's order list left by Mr. Serverton and Eloise and ordered a slightly larger amount from the grocery stores in Cambon.

The problem was that both order forms went to one place.

Each of the two stores had its own advantages.

Thanks to his relatives running a butchery, Mr. Keynes's store had much fresher and more diverse meat.

Mr. Wilson had a friend at the port of Newham, so he had a lot of various spices coming in from abroad.

For that reason, Mr. Serverton and Eloise divided the necessary items and ordered them from the two stores respectively.

But for some reason, the order form went to Mr. Keynes's store entirely.

"Isn't the problem that you pretended not to know that the order form came to our store and tried to take it all!"

"What are you talking about! I received the order because I thought both order forms came to our store! How many years have we been trading with Blissbury! It's natural to think that they ordered more because they have a long-standing trust in us."

"Nonsense! Then why is the part with the store name torn off on the order form? You tore it off on purpose to pretend you didn't know!"

"I'm telling you it was torn from the beginning, why are you accusing me of being a liar?"

As they really rushed at each other as if to grab each other by the collar, Ryan stepped in between them.

Both of them were merchants with good physiques, but when Ryan grabbed them and pushed them away, they were helplessly pushed back like paper dolls.

The two flinched and stepped back, surprised by the sergeant's unexpectedly strong strength.

"Stop it."

At Sergeant Thornton's low voice, the two reluctantly stepped back and straightened their clothes.

Even they thought that there would be no good if they showed more of a commotion in front of the manager of Blissbury.

Also, they felt intimidated by Sergeant Thornton, who subdued them with one arm.

Eloise sighed next to the three and put her hand on her forehead.

She had an idea of what had happened.

It seemed that Mr. Keynes had taken Mr. Wilson's order form as well because he was greedy for other orders.

"Then isn't it a problem that can be solved by placing the order again?"

"That's... both sides are arguing that Mr. Serverton and you decided to increase the number of items ordered from their respective stores this year, so it's getting ambiguous."

"Yes?"

When Eloise made a flustered sound, the two men approached Eloise and said pleadingly.

"Eloise, you said it last year. You always said our store's quality is good. You said you might ask for other things next year."

"You said it at our store too. You said that I was planning to open up a new trading partner, so you said you should ask for meat once, didn't you?"

Ah.

Her head throbbed again. They were arguing with each other that they should receive more orders with what she had always said as a greeting.

Ryan shrugged and said to Eloise.

"Well, now Eloise, you have to settle it."

Eloise knew why this man had called her in such a hurry. Certainly, this was not something that could be settled until she came.

"I know what happened. I think it's better not to ask any more about how the order form went to one place or how it got torn. Because it's hard to know the truth anyway. It's not something I should get involved in. But."

Eloise asked Mr. Palmer, who was standing anxiously next to her.

"Mr. Palmer, can you bring me some paper and a pen?"

An hour later.

"Then please take care of the newly written order form."

Eloise smiled and greeted Mr. Keynes and Mr. Wilson, who were holding the order forms.

The two men had displeased expressions, but they looked at the order forms and nodded to Eloise and Ryan as if they had understood to some extent, and returned to their baggage wagon.

They glared at each other once, and then set off immediately. As if they would never lose to the person next to them, the two wagons quickly disappeared in the direction of Cambon, one ahead and the other behind.

Eloise turned around after seeing the two wagons moving away.

Clap clap clap.

Ryan, who was standing behind her, applauded her.

"Amazing. I can't believe you can settle this so neatly."

Ryan was sincerely impressed. He recalled the scene that had unfolded in front of him a little while ago.

Eloise received paper and a pen from Mr. Palmer and told the two men, who were grumbling, to come closer.

"Well, let's settle this. Last year, you ordered this, this, this from Mr. Keynes..."

Then she quickly wrote down all kinds of meat and other groceries.

"I'm sure. Have I ever been wrong about this? Right?"

"That seems to be right... but you said you'd think about increasing the order items..."

"But Mr. Keynes. There were a few errors in what you sent to the ball last year, right? Starting with the lamb chops right away. What we ordered was..."

Eloise smiled and wrote down all the things that Mr. Keynes had made mistakes on last year.

Mr. Keynes tried to make excuses, but it didn't work.

And that was the same for Mr. Wilson. There were big and small mistakes on Mr. Wilson's side as well.

He made excuses that the bridge in the next village was washed away by the water, or that it was a mistake of the Newham trading partner, but in the end, it was his responsibility that the ordered items did not arrive on time.

"So, I'm going to rethink it this year. Anyone have any objections?"

There was no one who could raise their voice to Eloise, who listed their mistakes one by one and told them to say something if they had anything to say.

In the end, the two returned with the same order form as last year.

The only good thing was that the new manager who came this year was quite generous, so he ordered 10% more than last year's order quantity.

Before properly signing the order form, Eloise hinted that depending on the condition of the materials the two would bring this year, she might really concentrate the order in one place next year.

'So they'll work harder.'

As evidence, weren't the people who were trying to kill each other rushing back to Cambon?

The two merchants will do their best to ensure that there are no mistakes in the items ordered this year.

"Anyway, thank you for your hard work."

"No, what. More than that..."

After finishing the work, she remembered why she had rushed here.

"Ah, now that Eloise is here, there are a few more things I want to ask. Of course, it's related to the ball. Come this way."

While Eloise was wondering how to bring up the story of the letter, Ryan led her into the mansion. Eloise had no choice but to swallow a sigh and follow him.

Ryan didn't just call her.

When she went to the study, the desk was full of all kinds of records. At first glance, they were all related to the ball.

Anyway, since it was right for her to tell him the parts that Ryan didn't know well, Eloise stood next to the desk and explained the parts he asked about.

As she did so, she ended up sitting down in a chair and sitting closer and closer.

"Wait a minute. The list of the number of silverware last year..."

"Ah, that's here..."

Then, when she tried to find a document, the two reached out at the same time when they saw it in the corner of the desk.

Since Eloise was the one who reached out first, Ryan, who reached out late, ended up covering her hand as if to wrap it.