It’s Not Easy Making Money In the Apocalypse - It’s Not Easy Making Money In the Apocalypse – V5 - Chapter 14

“Wh-what is this?” the challenging vendor demanded, looking at the pot I was cooking with like a snake.

“What do you mean? It’s your world-famous recipe.” I coughed, using my hand to hide a mischievous smile.

“This is incredible!” One of the judges cried out.

“Is this just the difference in ingredients?” Replied another.

That second one was one of the guys who was supposed to be on the vendor’s side. All five judges were eating from their bowls aggressively like they couldn’t have enough. Meanwhile, those that were watching seemed disappointed that they hadn’t volunteered to be judges. It was a wasted opportunity that made them all unhappy.

The crowd had grown to a massive amount, and what would normally be a drab day in the wasteland had become a bit of an event. All of the spectators watched with watering mouths. Only the vendor didn’t look excited. Instead, he stared with an angry, doubtful expression on his face. It was like he thought the entire thing was a trick. He was mentally going back and thinking about all of the exchanges I had made.

He was right for being doubtful. There wasn’t a single one of his ingredients in the soup. I had changed everything. I had even secretly added several more spices that would otherwise be unobtainable. I had even thrown in some MSG, to help guarantee that I would win.

“Enough of this!” The vendor waved his hands. “A winner hasn’t been decided yet. Who do you choose?”

The vendor had immediately gone to one of his men, who had just finished up and was licking the bowl. The man froze like a deer in headlights.

“Wh-what?” He asked, dropping the bowl.

The vendor gave a severe and telling look to the judge. “Tell them how mine is better. Describe it in detail.”

He was probably hoping for momentum with a dash of gaslighting. As long as the first two judges, his people, spoke enthusiastically enough about his meal, if they could even rope one other judge into agreeing with them, then he would win. Since none of the three other judges had any real loyalty to me, they might side with the vendor that way.

“Um… well…” He looked reluctant for a moment, his eyes looking down on his empty bowl with a bit of regret on his face. “Can I have another bowl of this?”

He looked over at me with a longing look, and I shrugged. “I’m happy to give a second bowl if you vote for me.”

“That’s extortion!” The vendor cried out.

I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. “If he demands seconds from me but votes for you, how is that fair?”

“I-it’s not like that!” The judge cried out after receiving a stiff look from the vendor. “I-I just need a second sample… to judge accurately!”

“In that case, I guess I’ll have to oblige.” I sighed.

This seemed to shock everyone. It was pretty clear what was going on, even to most of the spectators. Even Misty started tugging on my shirt, trying to warn me that I was being taken for a ride. I casually laughed it off and poured another bowl before handing it to the judge. The other four judges stared at the bowl hungrily as the man started to shovel it all into his face. By his expression of delight, it looked less like a judge taking a second sample, and more like a starving man consuming his last meal.

When he finished, he gave a little belch and then realized that everyone was staring at him. The vendor, in particular, had a dark expression on his face. He jumped slightly, and then he spoke.

“Ah, Ol’ Gin’s is the bes-”

“Can you be sure?” I cut in before he finished what he was going to say.

“Oi! He said mine was best, don’t try to cheat now!” The vendor, who was called Gin, spoke.

I held up my hands. “I’m just trying to keep everything fair. Since he just had a bowl of mine, he should confirm his preference with a nice big bowl of yours.”

“Another bowl?” The judge blinked.

“I’m just trying to keep things even,” I responded. “You had two bowls of mine and only one bowl of his. Since you’re judging, I think the taste you go out with should be the taste of Gin’s, don’t you think?”

“Ah… but…” The judge suddenly looked like he was on the spot again. “I’m a bit full now…”

“Just eat a bowl and tell me I’m the best already.” Gin seemed to be getting annoyed by the delay, and he splashed food into a bowl and then shoved it over at the judge.

The judge looked down at the bowl, and then at all of the people watching. “Th-this…”

“A few spoon fulls will be fine.” I grinned.

It was just enough to wash out the taste of my superior soup. There was a reason people ended meals with desserts. The last thing you eat lingers in the back of your tastebuds. Most people from my world, where food is abundant and always fresh, don’t think about such a thing. However, when you were in a world where you didn’t know where your next meal would come from, ending on a high note was important. They might not be at risk of starvation, but their meal surely wouldn’t be as tasty as what I had made.

Under the glare of Gin, the judge raised his spoon to his mouth. He was staring at it less like food and more like a snake. The fumes from the spoon were rising up and even entering his nostril. He immediately gagged and then shoved the spoon down.

“I can’t! It’s this guy’s food, it’s better.”

“Daniel.” I coughed.

“Daniel has the better meal.” He admitted shamefully.

“Good to hear. Have a bowl to celebrate!” I poured out another bowl and handed it to him.

The delight on his face was obvious, and despite claiming he was full, he immediately went for the next bowl.

“You traitor!” Gin cried out. “You bastard!”

The other guy could only shrug, moving back protectively. However, he wasn’t trying to protect himself, but the bowl of food he had in his hands.

“Well, let’s try the next.” I cut in before Gin could say anymore.

Each of the four remaining judges tasted from each bowl. Gin’s second judge managed to survive the gambit, insisting Gin’s food was better even while looking green and staring enviously at mine. The other three judges didn’t hesitate to declare me the winner. Although it seemed like a lot had happened, the entire ordeal only took place over a few hours.

Once we were done, the guard leader moved up to me. “You going to offer us any of that?”

“Two large crystals.” I declared.

He let out a cry. “What? That’s expensive! Gin sells his bowls for 5 small crystals.”

“You’re welcome to order his bowls then.” I declared.

“Ah… you… wait, you owe us 25 large crystals.”

“I do…” My eyes widened. “I could take some off the cost…” I responded thoughtfully.

“Wait…”

“Sure! Give me a bowl!” One of the guards behind the leader declared.

“H-hey!”

“We’re dividing it up anyway. Just take it out of my share.” He huffed as he got a bowl.

This opened up a floodgate as the other guards rushed forward too. The 25 crystals from a morning’s work were quickly converted into food. There were only six of them, and two of them had already been judges, but they seemed to go for about three or four bowls each, so the supposed debt I owed them was quickly halved. They weren’t the only ones either.

Many of the spectators couldn’t wait any longer. They ran up and started buying bowls of soup as well. Soon, I had a pocket full of crystals.

“Here’s your share.” I handed the guard led the remains after his team had already had his fill. It was only 1/3rd of the original amount. He looked at it with a pitiful look.

As I poured another bowl, I leaned toward him. “If you want more work, I’m sure to have more in the future. If you work for me, the food’s free.”

His eyes widened thoughtfully but then narrowed a bit. “You might not have that opportunity. Look.”

I turned to see a new group entering the noisy area. The sounds of people talking and eating excitedly seemed to quiet. This was a well-armored group carrying some pretty large guns. Unlike the guards who had harassed me this morning, these looked more like the kind of guards that protected this city from mutants and ferals. The one who was leading the way was Gin, who had seemingly slipped away in the commotion. He stepped aside, crossing his arms and glaring at me.

“What’s going on?” I asked innocently.

“You are in violation of city ordinance by pedaling without a license.” The head guard, his face behind a helmet, declared.

Everyone backed up a bit, giving them ample room. Gin also looked extremely smug.

I blinked innocently. “Pedaling? I was just helping sell the remains of this bowl.”

“That’s as it may, but it’s illegal to sell protects without going through the proper channels.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Then, it’s good this is all being sold through Gin’s shop here. I trust his papers are in order?”

All the guards turned to Gin, who had an expression of shock on his face. “What?”

“This is your recipe, being sold in front of your shop. You sponsored a friendly competition of recipes, and now this is the reward.” I declared. “I thought it was a pretty clear thing…”

He shook his head in a fluster. “Ah, it’s indeed my recipe, but…”

“Did you not want your profits?” I had been storing all of the crystals in a bag, and picked up and handed that bag to him.

His eyes widened. It was probably more money than his stall usually made in a week. Everyone else was just as shocked. I gave up all of that money in an instant. Then again, it had been made just as quickly. The guards looked between Gin and me. After a second, Gin shameless reached and grabbed the bag.

“I guess there is no problem here.” He grumbled, looking in the bag excitedly.

“Even so, we just got a request asking for you to be brought before the councilman. He’s taken a particular interest in you.” The guard declared a no-nonsense expression on his face.

I smiled. “Of course! Of course! Oh, but before I go, can I complete my transaction here?”

“What transaction?” He looked over at Gin, who became guarded.

“When I won, Gin here was going to buy my supplies. I can sell supplies to vendors, right?”

“Yes, the import licensing fees were all handled when you entered the city.” He declared.

I felt a moment of shock, glad that he wasn’t going to look more into that since all of my stuff was technically smuggled in.

“What is this about?” Gin asked worriedly.

“You promised to buy all the seaweed I had for your stew, remember?”

He blinked, and then let out a laugh. “Is that what this is about? Yeah, fine, I’ll buy your seaweed.”

“All of it?” I asked innocently. “Fair market value?”

“Yeah, yeah… bring it out.” He chuckled with a smile.

After he had just claimed all of the money I had gotten, he was confident he could afford it. He hadn’t paid for the ingredients yet had profited nearly half a great crystal without doing anything. He was quite happy.

That was until I dropped several barrels. Lily had said she’d send a bushel of seaweed sent over, but she had sent about five. A bushel was equivalent to 35 liters, and unlike the seaweed, he usually used which wasn’t dried or powered, this packed up tight. I hadn’t given him the profits just so I’d get out of that problem he caused, I also gave it to him so he had enough money to buy the seaweed back from me. If I had just charged him outright, he never would have fronted the money. Yet, since the majority of it was freshly earned, he was less upset, and perhaps even more willing to spend his own money in comparison. Even so, by the time he managed to cover the bill, the smile was gone from his face.