Chapter 153: Store Summoning 17

The morning after my birthday, I woke up and checked the crest, which had leveled up and grown larger once again. This is probably because I met Prince Alfort, a capture target, right? Originally, this is supposed to be a scene where Estelle calls out to the prince after he drops something in the Academy corridor and they become acquainted… I wonder if the situation itself doesn’t really matter… I’d like to ask the Goddess of Summoning, Samonia-sama, about these details, but she’s apparently on a trip to some resort for the gods, and it seems the Nine Goddesses can’t be reached either. Well, whatever. Getting another store is something to be happy about.

“It’s a birthday present from the Goddesses for you, Sakura-chan.”

Or so Mother says. Well, I personally think the timing is just a mere coincidence, though. Speaking of presents, I received various birthday presents from all the guests yesterday, but I haven’t checked what’s inside them yet. I heard that in this country, you don’t open birthday presents right there on the spot. You apparently open them leisurely later on and then send thank-you letters. Also, it’s a precaution in case something dangerous is sent. It should be perfectly fine with yesterday’s group, but I guess this is just one of those customs?

Anyway, first things first, let’s summon the new store. Neither Estelle nor Bianca are here today, so after breakfast, I headed straight to the summoning area taking along my parents, Kohaku-san, Ritsu, and the elf sisters staying with us, Mutilia-san and Eltilia-chan.

“[Store Summoning]!”

Magic power was drawn from within me. It’s fairly large. Smaller than the Fashion Center, but bigger than the convenience store. It seems to be a reasonably spacious store. And yet, once the light subsided, what jumped into my view was a square block of concrete about the size of a six-tatami-mat room. Eh?

“S-Sakuraile? Is this a store?” “No, um… Ah, I see.”

The concrete block, which really didn’t look like a store no matter how you looked at it, had a square hole in it leading to a staircase that continued underground. This was an underground store. The store itself was probably summoned underground. There was a small sign right before the stairs with the words, billiards & Cafe Bar Break Shot. This is the pool bar a senior from work took me to. The term “pool bar” is apparently a dead phrase now, but it refers to a bar where you can play billiards. Nowadays, if you hear “pool bar,” you’d think it’s a bar attached to a swimming pool. I thought the exact same thing back then and doubted my senior’s sanity, thinking, Are we going swimming right now!?

“I see, it’s a store located underground…”

With Father and the others in tow, I went down the stairs illuminated by dim lights. As soon as we reached the bottom of the stairs, a classic wooden door welcomed us. When I opened the door, a pleasant doorbell chimed kararan. Inside the dimly lit store were six billiard tables lined up, with an L-shaped bar counter and round table seating set up in the back. Racks of cues for striking the balls lined the walls, and various types of liquor bottles were lined up impressively behind the counter.

“Alcohol… Could this be a tavern?” “Eh, another tavern…?”

Father’s excitement went up slightly, while Mother’s excitement inversely went down. Well, of course you’d be disappointed if we got taverns back-to-back.

“Umm, this is a place to play a game called billiards over there, where you strike balls, and it’s a store with a cafe/bar… a place that serves alcohol, drinks, and light meals attached to it.” “Is it different from an izakaya?” “An izakaya is a place to drink boisterously and loudly with a large group or close friends, while this is more like… a place to drink quietly alone or with one other person, I guess?”

I don’t really know the details either. I’m not a drinker. Though I suppose a bar is still a tavern at the end of the day.

“Drink quietly… I see. It certainly is a store with a calm atmosphere, but…”

Just as Father said, the interior was decorated with classic furnishings. I think my senior mentioned it was designed with the image of 1930s America. To be honest though, I do have to wonder if you can actually drink quietly with the clack, clack of billiards going on right behind you. Well, I suppose this is the kind of store where you come to enjoy the atmosphere. On a whim, I tried playing some calm jazz using [In-Store BGM]. Yep, it fits the atmosphere perfectly.

There was a menu on the counter, but it’s not like I could order a cocktail or anything, so I just ordered a normal soft drink. I think this every time, but I always feel a bit conflicted like, Are they really charging this much for such a small amount of juice…? Drinks at these kinds of places really are expensive, aren’t they… And at my store, it costs ten times that amount, on top of it. Well, if I think about how that money goes toward helping poor people, it’s not impossible to swallow.

“Do you put the balls into these holes?”

Father seemed to have taken an interest in billiards.

“That’s right. You strike the white cue ball with those cues—sticks—leaning over there, and drop the object balls in.”

Since my senior taught me, I know the rules of billiards too. Alright, let me show you an example… is what I thought, but damn it, my height! I’m not tall enough! I couldn’t exactly climb onto the table, so for now I had them bring something from the mansion to act as a step stool, and managed to make it so I could play. It really isn’t a good look, though…

“Normally, you absolutely must have one foot on the ground or it’s a foul… a rule violation, okay?”

For now, let’s start with the simple and clear Nine-Ball. I struck the white cue ball with all my might. It hit the 1-ball dead on, and the impact sent the other object balls scattering across the felt cloth. Mmph, not a single one went in. A shame. I proceeded to explain the rules of Nine-Ball to Father.

“I see. Out of the remaining object balls, you can only hit the one with the lowest number.” “Yes. As long as you hit it first, it’s not a problem if other numbered balls fall in afterwards. Ah, if the cue ball falls in, if you fail to hit the object ball, or if you hit something other than the correct object ball first, you switch turns, okay?”

My turn ended there, and it was Father’s turn. The 1-ball hadn’t fallen yet so he had no choice but to aim for it, but there was a ball in the way between the cue ball and the pocket.

“No matter how I do it, I’ll end up hitting the other ball…” “In times like that, you use the side cushions to bounce the ball. For example, if you hit it like this, bounce it off here, and hit the 1-ball.”

Father bounced the cue ball off the cushion just as I said, and the ball beautifully hit the 1-ball. Then, that 1-ball rolled right into the pocket with a thud.

“Oh, it went in!” “If you manage to drop one, you get to hit again. Next time, aim for the 2-ball.”

Father aimed for the 2-ball, but while he managed to hit it, he couldn’t drop it, so it became my turn. After switching turns a few more times, Father had dropped four object balls, and I had dropped one.

“In Nine-Ball, the person who drops the 9-ball wins. It doesn’t matter how many balls you’ve dropped before that.” “Eh? Then what if the 9-ball drops on the very first break…” “The player who drops it wins right at that moment.” “Then the opponent loses without being able to do anything…”

Yeah, well, that’s true. Because those are the rules. Father dropped the cue ball into a pocket, resulting in a foul, so I placed the cue ball near the 9-ball, which was close to a pocket. I struck it lightly with a clack, hitting the object ball in front of the 9-ball, and that ball knocked the 9-ball into the pocket. And just like that, I win.

“I see. So it’s this kind of game. This is quite interesting.”

As I was teaching Father, who had shown immense interest in billiards, about “banking” to decide who goes first, the angles of incidence and reflection on the cushions, follow shots, draw shots, and so on, the doorbell chimed kararan and His Majesty the Emperor and the Prime Minister arrived. …Not again, Uncle. Where are they getting their information from? Did Father contact them? Well, the Spring Sun Party doesn’t have much to do with the men, so they might just be free around this time of year.

“Oho, this is quite an atmospheric tavern! Sakuraile, pardon the intrusion!” “W e l c o m e.”

Even though you drank a ton yesterday, you’re going to drink again? Feeling that way, I’m pretty sure my face looked exactly like a deadpan Tibetan sand fox at that moment.

“Cloud, what is that stick?”

His Majesty the Emperor spoke to Father, who was holding a cue. Father relayed the explanation I had given him to the Emperor, and the two who had their interest piqued joined in, starting a game of Nine-Ball.

“Phew…” “Good work.”

Mother handed an iced tea to me as I returned to the counter. It’s delicious. Expensive, though! Mutilia-san and Eltilia-chan were also drinking soft drinks. They didn’t seem particularly interested in billiards.

“Sakura-chan, about this billiards game. Why don’t we commercialize it under the Sakura Brand and sell it to the nobles?” “Eh? Billiards?”

It’s true that it doesn’t use highly complex technology, so I think it would be possible to recreate with the technical capabilities here. But, would it sell?

“I think everyone could enjoy it if we placed them in the social salons of castles and mansions. Because this is the kind of game you can play indoors even when it’s snowing in winter. I’m sure it will become popular.”

Ah, the social season is from autumn to winter, after all. So there’s almost no playing outside. According to Mother, games at social venues generally consisted of things like chess or sugoroku-like board games. Though it seems the playing cards, shogi, and reversi sold at my store became hot topics this winter. Billiards, huh… A proper billiard table cost over 500,000 yen at the very least, if I recall. If we made one in this other world, it would run quite a hefty price, wouldn’t it… Well, I wonder if it’s a price high-ranking nobles could easily afford? Lower-ranking nobles often have pretty tight living situations, so it might be impossible for them… Well, I have no complaints about selling them in and of itself. If it benefits the Philharmonie Ducal House. Besides, we have to make money now to fund the construction of Philharmonie Land!

“Sakuraile! Could you keep this store out during the Spring Sun Party? It will serve to kill time for the nobles waiting for their wives!”

Oh, a rental request already. But there are only six tables, so I don’t think that many people can play at once.

“I would like to request the izakaya next to it as well. If we treat it like a garden party, we should be able to manage the numbers.”

The Prime Minister chimed in with that proposal on top of it. Is this what I think it is? They’re trying to stretch their wings and relax while the wives are away? You call it a garden party, but food and drinks can’t be taken out of the izakaya, so you’ll just end up having to prepare it yourselves, you know? Well, they buy from my store almost every day, so the castle probably has enough stockpiled… We got taverns two times in a row, huh. I hope the next store is one that Mother and the other ladies would enjoy.