The First Legendary Beast Master - Chapter 692 Cafe Funded
Chapter 692 Cafe Funded
“Princess, what sort of business is this?” One of the girls whispered to Dana.
At first, she was startled, not used to being called Princess so reverently, and Karl made a mental note to do it more often.
“It’s a cat café. Nature Priestesses and Beast Masters seem immediately drawn to it.” She whispered back.
“Like, a café with cats just running around to pet? That is great. Are they hiring, I would apply for that.”
Lotus came over and hugged the girl from behind. “Yes, she will be hiring as soon as the talks are done. They have openings for ten servers and four bakery staff.”
One of the boys who had come over mostly to just get a better look at the Elites turned to look at her in shock.
“They’re going to bake everything in house? Most places order in their pastries.” He commented.
“They will specialize in desserts and snacks, not full meals, so the Acolyte wants to hire staff to help her do all the baking.” Lotus informed him happily.
“I will go get my friends. Their parents are bakers.”
Then he ran off, leaving Lotus extremely pleased with herself.
It wouldn’t take them long to get the Acolyte’s goals filled this way. But even better, it looked like she wouldn’t even have to plead to get someone to cover the funding. As a High Priestess, her earnings were for the good of the church, and she lived off a stipend. Well, in theory. Mostly, she lived off Hawk’s meat pile and Rae’s design talents. Even the Royal Priestess robes she was wearing were made by Rae and not the church. These ones were much more comfortable, and they smelled like Rae’s silk, the same as Lotus’ favourite hammock.
Finding applicants to become servers was far too easy, and Tessa had a list of over thirty within the next five minutes, before the boy came back with his friends. “Are we too late?” He asked Lotus after seeing the line gathered around Tessa.
“Not at all. There will be some interviews, but skilled bakers were expected to come later, so I don’t know if there are any on the list yet.”
That caught the attention of one of the bankers, who had scoffed at Karl’s interest earlier.
It really looked like this business was going to get started, and he happened to know a master patissier who was out of work after her employer had shut down to sell the business to a real estate investor.
As crazy as the idea was, if they had a real master baker working with a nature cleric, there was no reason that they couldn’t succeed, and his friend might be able to take over when the Acolyte inevitably flaked out in a few months.
He sent a runner to bring her over early. The event wasn’t open to the public yet, but he sent the boy with a vendor pass to get her in. A little head start could make all the difference in the world when they were dealing with a Monarch’s whimsy and wealth.
Karl vaguely noticed when Ophelia and Rae vanished, most likely with the use of [Shadow Step]. But he was busy finalizing the deals and signing the funding documents for the shop.
The master baker was there only minutes later, as she had been intending to attend anyhow, in search of an executive chef position. She approached on her own, but still wearing the vendor badge for the financial group.
“Acolyte Neko?” She asked politely.
“Yes?”
“I am Master Baker Genevieve. I would like to apply to become the head baker in your shop. I have decades of experience making exclusively baked goods, succulents and desserts. If you have time, could we talk?”
That made Neko extremely nervous. She hadn’t been prepared for such a capable applicant, and now that there was one, she wasn’t sure that her offer would even be close to enough to keep her interested.
“Uhm, yes. This is an excellent time, as we have a pair of baker apprentices present, and more coming. I suppose that we can start with the offer. Where is it? Here we go.” Neko rambled, then gathered herself once she found the right page in her folders.
Genevieve took the two-page document and carefully read through it, then went over it again.
Honestly, the base pay was incredibly low by her standards. But Neko had offered a portion of the bakery sales to the head baker as an incentive. If she could build an independent reputation for fine sweets, even a small bakery could create enough revenue to make up for it.
The fact that it was also a cat café would be irrelevant to the sorts of corporate catering clients that would pay exorbitant fees to have custom platters baked by a master chef. Once the reputation of the shop’s bakery was established, there was some hope that she could leverage that into far greater profit than a regular employment contract.
She was out of work, but not desperate, and the master baker wondered why she had been called. Then she noticed the man sitting on the magical chair across the table, and realized that it was a power play by her friend. The Monarch Ranked backer must be extremely wealthy, so the banker had thought that this was a safe investment for her. He hadn’t had time to explain anything, but she was seeing all good things from the prospects being vetted by a Royal High Priestess.
What other sorts of hidden connections did this young Acolyte have?
“I have one condition. I want the right to all staff management in the kitchen. You can handle the front of the house as you see fit, but I want full freedom to set the menu and deal with my kitchen staff.” Genevieve demanded.
“Put it in the contract. I don’t have an objection to that.”
The contract was amended and signed, then the baker turned to the boy and girl waiting anxiously nearby.
“You two. I know your parents. The bread shop on sixth, right?” She asked.
The two students nodded. “You will do. If you’re not up to standard, I will take it up with your mother.”
That made them pale. They might be the youngest in the family, but they didn’t get enough favouritism to save them from their mother’s wrath if they embarrassed her culinary skills.
A few more applicants came forward with their credentials as bakers, and four more were chosen, bringing the total kitchen staff to seven, nearly double what Neko had planned on. But that was her deal with the chef, and they had way more front staff than they needed as well. In the worst-case scenario, some of the hosts and hostesses could be part-time employees.
Then Ophelia and Rae returned with triumphant looks on their faces.
[We got the unit. Did you know that you can trade shiny rocks for a whole building?] Rae asked.
Karl rolled her eyes at her. [Did you buy the building that Neko wanted to rent a unit in?]
[Nope, Ophelia did. She reminded me that Hawk and I loot all the battlefields, so I really should share some wealth. Then she bought the building. It’s pretty, and there are two other shops with apartments over them, plus this one and the empty unit above it.
Ophelia says that the price was good, and the landlord didn’t argue at all with her offer. Does that mean I’m Neko’s boss now?]
Karl laughed quietly, and resisted the urge to shake his head as he replied. [No, Ophelia is her landlord. You don’t get to boss her around. But she is a nature priestess, so you can probably bring her to play with you and Lotus in the park later.]
Karl tapped the table to catch Neko’s attention, as well as Genevieve’s. “The building has been purchased by my associate, so the rental contract can be guaranteed, and the residential unit over the bakery is included.”
Genevieve smiled, and Neko got up to hug the much taller woman around the waist.
“So, when do we start shopping for kitchen equipment? I’ll take care of the front, and we will have all the funds we need for the renovation as soon as I process this funding document.” Neko explained, holding up the papers Karl signed.
The banker next to them cleared his throat. “I have a mobile access terminal here. Would you like to open a corporate account with our capital branch?”
The faster everything was settled, the more secure his friend’s new baking job was.
Neko’s smile lit up her face. “Yes, thank you. That would be wonderful. Can you link it to my identification badge from here?”
Karl patted her on the head, then nodded to Genevieve. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you all, and I look forward to seeing how your business does.”
It might take years to get a full return on investment, but it was a big milestone for Karl. His first real investment as an Elite.
