The Butcher Shop in the Demon Realm - Chapter 1

In the square-shaped store, the sound of a large butcher knife slamming against meat resonates, surrounded by exposed concrete-like stone.

On the cutting board, large chunks of meat—pieces of belly meat—are being sliced into easier-to-eat sizes one after another.

“Remove the bone from the shank… The Madam said the bones are for her pet’s food, so this should be better.”

After finishing the tasks for today’s orders, I changed my large butcher’s knife to a smaller one and returned it to the sheath on my waist, momentarily staring at my reflection in the mirror on the wall.

There, reflected in the mirror, was a young man of medium height and build with short black hair.

Wearing ragged clothes, a waterproof apron, and tall boots, I looked like the kind of employee you would see in a butcher’s or fish shop.

“Maybe it’s time to cut my hair…”

My words, uttered absentmindedly, were swallowed by the sound of water running across the tile-covered floor.

“—I’m coming in.”

At the moment I tried to grab my bangs, I heard a customer’s voice, and in an instant, I switched my expression to that of a merchant.

“Welcome. Oh, Mrs. Eldaim, your order has just been prepared.”

“Oh, it’s already done? How wonderful. Recently, even my youngest son says he only wants to eat meat from this shop~! Thank you for always providing such delicious meat, I’ll be coming again soon~”

“Of course.’

I place the recently sliced meat into a wooden box, adding ice and straw, before handing it to the customer.

I’ve prepared bone-in short ribs and chunks of shank meat, sliced into bite-sized pieces, so they can be grilled right away.

I’ve also included cheek and shoulder meat trimmings, so they can be used in a variety of dishes.

The thigh and sirloin meat has been sliced into large chunks, ideal for stew.

The offal is finely chopped and pre-blanched.

I’ve put the bones, with some meat left on them, into another bag, hoping they’ll make the unseen pet happy.

The lady of the Eldaim family, now a regular customer, handed the wooden box to the maid standing behind her with care, then placed a leather pouch filled with gold coins onto the counter.

“I’ve added a little something extra, so use this to buy something delicious.”

“Thank you for everything, as always!”

As the lady of the Eldaim family was leaving, the Countess Albert, another recent regular, entered. She was followed by two elderly men in impeccable butler suits.

The Countess of Albert—an upper-class noblewoman. Of course, she was a prominent figure. It wasn’t exactly appropriate for someone of her standing to casually visit a shop like this.

She looked like a cute, lively college student with brown hair. She had large, round eyes, thin lips. Her ample chest and slender waist made one wonder if it was all designed to attract men’s gazes.

(Ah, I shouldn’t stare too much—it’s rude.)

Normally, nobles would have the house steward handle the food shopping. Of course, it’s also common for maids or personal chefs to come to buy ingredients. However, thanks to this shop’s policy, it’s not uncommon for nobles themselves or their families to come here.

“Uh, my apologies. Welcome. It’s been a while, Countess Albert. I’m glad to see that you’re feeling well today.”

“I’m happy to see Sosuke is in good health as well.”

“Thanks to you, I’ve been doing well. What can I help you with today?”

Our shop doesn’t display products in showcases. Instead, we ask our customers what they’re looking for and prepare the appropriate items on the spot.

If we don’t have the stock, sometimes we ask customers to come back later to pick it up, but we don’t get complaints from customers about that in this shop.

“Actually, I’d like to bring something in for you to prepare. I was hoping you could prepare it for tomorrow’s party as hors d’oeuvres—if you could make it ready to serve, I’d really appreciate it… I’m sorry for the rush… I’ll make sure the payment is generous, so could you please do this for me?”

Countess Albert, who was among the highest in the city’s social hierarchy, bowed her head to me… and made a request.

It’s not that I’m particularly amazing. I’m simply the manager of this shop, a hired hand, so to speak.

Both Countess Albert and Lady Eldaim simply show respect for this shop.

As a craftsman, I’m genuinely happy about this.

In a sense, I think this is the highest form of payment from a customer.

“Well, there are no large orders at the moment, so I’ll accept it.”

I glanced at the order sheet hanging on the wall and confirmed that there wouldn’t be any issues if I moved the tasks I had planned for later, then I smiled and accepted the request.

The reason we don’t display products in showcases overlaps with this, but requests to process items brought in by customers are quite frequent. Of course, I also sometimes go out to buy ingredients myself, but…

Would it be easier to understand if I said it’s like a fish shop where the majority of customers bring in their own fish?

If you’re grilling the fish you catch, you’d cook it at home, but for people who are bad at making fillets or sashimi, or those who want to taste different parts of the fish efficiently, this service is popular.

“Really!? That’s such a relief… Ah, if you had refused, I was going to go to the main shop in the East Town… Ah, I’ll prepare everything right away!”

After I responded, Countess Albert flashed a bright smile, gave a signal to the butlers behind her, and the two of them made a graceful bow before leaving the store.

As she bowed, I nearly couldn’t help but glance at her impressive chest, but I managed to hold myself back and fixed my gaze on the magnificent horns sprouting from Countess Albert’s head.

The butlers, who had stepped outside to collect the items, quickly returned with two large burlap sacks, placing them neatly in front of the door between the storefront and the workshop.

After checking the burlap sacks, I immediately started writing out the receipt for the order.

“…Two bodies, correct? Would tomorrow morning be okay for you?”

“Yes, but I haven’t done the bloodletting yet… Will that be okay?”

“I see… Well, we should have enough time. I’ll make sure to drain the bl00d and remove the entrails, then prepare them so they can be cooked and served right away.”

“Oh, thank you so much for accommodating my request. I’m really grateful!”

After seeing off Countess Amy, I let out a deep sigh as I looked at the two burlap sacks placed at the entrance of the workshop. (TL Note: Albert is the family name, Amy is her given name. Not a translation mistake, just to let you know.)

“Sigh… looks like I’ll be working overtime again tonight…”

My desire to keep the workshop as clean as possible has led me to set up a constant flow of water across the entire floor, which is why the burlap sacks placed there slowly start to get wet.

It’s a bit inconvenient at times, but since we do the bloodletting in the shop, the floor inevitably gets dirty.

I took my trusty knife from its case at my waist and cut the rough rope that was tying the first large burlap sack, then I checked the condition of the brought-in catch.

“—!!—!!”

There, lying in front of me, was a human adventurer, bound with rough rope and gagged, their hands and feet restrained.

Chapter length 2913 characters.