The Supermarket System

Chapter 70: 70. Business alliance

Everyone was excited to watch Kaileon Arslan demonstrate how to cook.

The ingredients used at the time were ones that should have been very familiar to them—except for cheese. Some of them knew what cheese was, but many more didn’t know about it.

It was Kai’s job to introduce cheese to them and show them a fun way to turn it into a snack they could easily make themselves.

Kai mashed some large, high-quality potatoes—the same kind that people said were unpalatable because of their strange taste. Once the potatoes were smooth, Kai added flour and melted butter, then mixed everything together until it became a perfect dough.

The dough was divided into several portions, then flattened, and grated cheese was placed in the center of each. The grated cheese consisted mix of several varieties, such as cheddar, parmesan, and mozzarella. The dough was then folded into square shapes. Kai made two types of potato dough fillings: one with just cheese, and the other with cheese and shredded chicken cooked in a slightly spicy tomato sauce.

Once everything was ready, Kai fried them in hot oil.

Of course, it wasn’t just Kai—the team of chefs was also there to prepare similar dishes, so there would be plenty to share with the residents who came. However, the dishes prepared by the team of chefs were small in size, so there would be enough to go around.

The enthusiastic residents were very happy, even though many of them didn’t get a serving.

Meanwhile, Kaileon’s creations were distributed to Alex, Quincy, Justine, Angeline, and Jessica.

But Kaileon didn’t stop there; he made another new dish afterward, since it was a special day. Especially since Kaileon was about to embark on a journey to the empire.

What Kai made next was a steamed cake made with purple sweet potatoes.

In less than an hour, the packages containing the ingredients Kai used for cooking were completely sold out.

This left Alex, who was seeing it for the first time, deeply impressed. So much was happening there. There was Kai, who turned out to be a skilled cook; Kai, who had a team of chefs to assist his efforts; and Kai, who used a magic recording device and a screen—all of which were extremely expensive—just to teach his citizens how to cook.

It was an extraordinary kind of promotion—the sort that probably wouldn’t even occur to anyone else in the world.

Through activities like this, the residents became educated about ingredients they didn’t know how to prepare. And once the residents had a high demand for something, they would surely start thinking about growing it themselves to sell—or simply to eat on their own.

"My older brother is really amazing, isn’t he? I’m nowhere near as good as he is. He can do everything—like cooking—he’s also good at selling things, he’s good at magic, and he’s good with a sword too. My older brother is my role model!" Justine said to Quincy enthusiastically.

Angeline and Jessica, who heard this, smiled, fully understanding just how much Justine adored his older brother. Regardless of how much the Duchess herself wanted the two of them to compete, it certainly wasn’t that simple.

"My older brother is amazing too—he can—"

"Quin, my beautiful little sister, you don’t need to say anything about me here," Alex interjected, feeling awkward because he knew Quincy would exaggerate his strengths, and he didn’t want Angeline or Jessica to hear it. Alex just felt awkward; he didn’t know them very well.

"But you’re great too, big brother!" protested Quincy.

"Don’t worry, I can see that your brother is just as great, but Kaileon is special—you’ll understand once you get to know him," said Justine.

Quincy, who was still just a kid, couldn’t accept that.

"But my brother is great too—oooh!"

Just then, Kai arrived, bringing them some purple sweet potato cake. It made them forget their earlier argument.

"What are you guys talking about here?" Kai asked.

"Haha, nothing, Kai. Are you done?" Angeline asked.

Kai nodded, "Yeah, I’m done now. The chef team will take over. Oh, by the way, we have something new in the store today. Hold on, I’ll go get it for you guys."

Seeing that Kai was about to go into the store to get something, Alex stood up as well.

"I’m coming too. You’ve been running around all this time—I want to see your store, too," said Alex.

Kai smiled broadly at that and tugged on Alex’s arm, eager to show him all sorts of things.

"Welcome to my store. It’s called a supermarket," said Kai as soon as they entered the store.

Unlike the hot weather outside, it was very cool inside—it felt so comfortable.

"Why is it so cool in here?" Alex asked.

"Oh, I bought a kind of magical device. It can regulate the air inside depending on the weather outside. When it’s hot like this, the room stays cool, and when it’s cold, the air in here gets warm. That’s the device—it’s up there. It’s called an air conditioner, or AC. I think there’s some kind of magical ice stone or something like that inside—I don’t really understand it. You can’t control it manually; there’s a special magic that lets it adjust on its own," said Kai, who actually didn’t fully understand how ACs worked in this world, since they were quite different from those on Earth.

Kai, for his part, preferred the AC units from the magic tower because they were small—just enough to cool the entire room. So, Kai only bought one for each floor.

"You bought it at the magic tower, right?" asked Alex.

Kai nodded, "Yup, but you can buy it from me for half the price, since I consider you a friend."

Alex laughed upon hearing this. "If I could buy that device for half price, then I’d buy that expensive intermediate-level healing potion from the Magic Tower, Kaileon."

Kai’s smile faded upon hearing Alex’s words.

"Is your kingdom’s economy really that bad?" Kai muttered, so others wouldn’t hear.

Alex chuckled; his expression looked sad at that moment, but he was still smiling broadly.

"Well... that should already be an open secret, Kaileon. Our kingdom is indeed poor."

Kai patted Alex on the shoulder, then said, "Don’t worry, I’m willing to help because I need a lot of dairy products from your kingdom—get ready."

Alex nodded, "Of course, and I’ll model what you’ve done here to apply it to my kingdom."

"Hmm? What exactly have I done?"

"Don’t play dumb. You’re trying to boost Arslan’s economy by teaching your people what they don’t know, and I, as the prince of this small, poor kingdom, will do the same."

Kai laughed upon hearing this, then nodded happily, "I agree. I’ll contact you later; we can exchange ideas to improve the well-being of our respective people. I won’t withhold any knowledge from you if you truly want your people to live in prosperity. Well—here’s something that just arrived at the store: cold ice cream, perfect for the hot weather in this tropical country. Do you have refrigerators like this in your kingdom, Alex?"

Alex furrowed his brow; he hadn’t known such high-quality refrigerators existed. With a glass lid on top, you could see the contents from the outside. It was truly state-of-the-art.

"Is this expensive, Kaileon? I’d like one like this in my kingdom."

Kai shook his head. "I’ll give you one, my friend... a gift from me."

"No, you already gave me that potion—don’t be too generous with me; I feel bad about it."

Kai laughed, then patted Alex on the shoulder again.

"That potion was in exchange for our partnership on dairy products, while this one I’ll trade for your loyalty—how about that?"

Kai had only said that to get his new friend to accept the gift; he didn’t realize Alex was taking him seriously.

Alex remained silent, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Kai had already opened a watermelon-shaped ice cream that looked like a watermelon cut into triangles. Kai handed the ice cream to Alex, adding,

"I’m not giving this to you for free; I know your potential and that of your country. But I don’t want to just take advantage of you—that’s why I want us to be friends and benefit from each other. You may already know my story—before I was like this, I was down and out, starving, and left to fend for myself. The only one who cared about me was my little brother, who was just as weak as I was. That’s why, after I gained power, I used it to help the poor... so they wouldn’t go hungry. So that little children could play freely, study well, eat good food, and grow up healthy. After all, those children are the future of our kingdom. If we raise children of high quality, then our kingdom will be just fine in the future."

Alex really took a moment to reflect, thinking about what Kaileon had just said, and was moved by his words.

"Kai... I’ll help with your mission, because I have the same problem myself."

Kai smiled, "Great! I’m glad to hear that. You, me, and Nicho will work together to improve the economies of our respective regions.... Oh, Nicho is my friend; he’s currently in charge of the Verdez Brewing Company. We can meet up later to collaborate. But for now, let’s eat this ice cream first."

Alex took the ice cream from Kaileon’s outstretched hand and nodded, "I can’t wait to meet your friend."

[You’ve formed a business alliance with great potential!]

[Congratulations! You’ve now upgraded your supermarket system to the next level!]

[Please check out the new features of the supermarket system]

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