Mrs. Akiyama scrutinized Shuichi Chiba, seemingly trying to figure out his retionship with her daughter.

  "Are you Akiyama-san's mother? If she hadn't said she was ing with her mom, I would have thought she was ing with her sister."

  Shuichi Chiba's pliment wasn't insincere; Mrs. Akiyama did indeed look quite young. The only signs of age were the faint weariness on her fad the slightly rough skin on her hands.

  "Did you hear that? He said I looked like your sister. Are boys nowadays this good with their words?" Mrs. Akiyama said happily, proudly showing off to her daughter.

  "Well, I suppose my sister might not be too pleased about that, but I think she looks more like Mom." An Akiyama remarked with a hint of sarcasm.

  Shuichi Chiba observed the iioweeher and daughter and suddenly realized where An Akiyama's endearing clumsiness came from.

  "So, what kind of business are you pnning for the shop? How much space do you need?" Shuichi Chiba asked as he guided them through the shopping district.

  "A ramen shop. It doesn't o be te—around 20 square meters will be suffit. By the way, is the sed floor avaible for residential use?" Mrs. Akiyama asked, curiously surveying the surroundings.

  "Yes, that's correct. The sed floor be used for both ercial and residential purposes. You pn it out as you see fit." Shuichi Chiba firmed with a nod.

  "In that case, it's perfect. I won’t have to shuttle bad forth between the residend the ramen shop." Mrs. Akiyama said, g her hands with delight.

  “Mm-hmm, I sleep in a few extra minutes in the m now. Plus, this pce is a bit closer to school, so I won't have to rush as much.” An Akiyama added, expressing her satisfa.

  Shuichi Chiba looked at her in surprise. It still takes 35 to 40 mio get to school from here—how is that sidered close? Where were you living before?

  However, the average ute and school time in Japan is about 31 minutes, so Chiba's pce is fairly close to the average.

  When they reached the ma office, Shuichi Chiba ihem to sit and showed them the information on avaible ercial spaces. To the disappoi of the mother and daughter, none of the spaces were suitable.

  “There aren’t any shops with the right size.”

  “Yeah, it’s such a shame. I really like this pce.” Mrs. Akiyama said, visibly disappointed.

  Hearing this, Shuichi Chiba asked, “Even though a ramen shop doesn’t need a rge space, wouldn’t a slightly bigger oter? It would provide a bit more room.”

  “But the rent will be much higher.” Mrs. Akiyama said, looking troubled. Even though she was worried, she still pouted like a young girl.

  “So, the shop manager is you, Mrs. Akiyama, right?” Shuichi Chiba inquired.

  “That’s not quite right,” Mrs. Akiyama corrected him with a pyful frown. “Yes, I am the manager, but you ’t call me ‘Mrs.’ It sounds too old-fashioned.”

  Shuichi Chiba chuckled, “I suppose I ’t call you ‘sister’ either, as Akiyama-san might not approve.”

  Mrs. Akiyama sighed and propped her up. “True, Yuki and An are grown up now. Well then, you just call me by my name, Chiba-kun.”

  Shuichi Chiba couldn’t help but think that the mother and daughter duo were both delightfully etric. How had they mao grow up this way?

  Sihe Akiyama sisters were quite well-known at school, details about their family had circuted. An’s father had passed away a long time ago, and Mrs. Akiyama had raised her two daughters on her own.

  Chiba had expected her to be a oman worn down by life's hardships, her eyes devoid of luster, but instead, she was full of vitality and quirks.

  Looking at the system's panel, Shuichi Chiba breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the system had approved them as excelles. Otherwise, he would have had to disappoint them.

  However, the price was still very cheap. While a slight dist might have been uandable—perhaps justified by the neighborhood's aging infrastructure ahan-ideal shop location—the system’s preference for outstanding shopkeepers had led to a rate that was hard to justify.

  Last time, the situation had been ued, and it was the first time he’d seen a genuine dist from the system. Moreover, the previous tenants, Fumika and Sayuki, had operated women’s beauty salons and fitness gym, so the reasons he could e up with might not apply here and could even raise suspi.

  Additionally, a new system prompt appeared this time—[An exceptional shop girl make a store very popur and serve as a vital attra for the shopping district. Maintaining a good retionship with a reliable shop girl is also part of the administrator’s job.]

  A shop girl... Shuichi Chiba g An Akiyama and suddenly uood. It all made sense now—no wohe dist was even menerous than what had been offered to the Ogawas.

  So, it turns out that an outstanding shop girl indeed qualify for a dist.

  Shuichi Chiba wondered if the Ogawas could have secured an eveer rate if they had hired an exceptional shop girl.

  However, this thought was quickly dismissed. The system had emphasized “stable retionships.” Unlike a store manager, a shop girl is a highly temporary position. A truly outstanding shop girl would not stay in an outdated shopping district for long.

  They would prefer to work in bustling ercial ters where the ine is signifitly higher. The system wouldn’t allow loopholes like hiring a top-notch shop girl just to get a lower rent and then dismissihe day.

  Shuichi Chiba snapped back to reality and handed Mrs. Akiyama a set of shop details.

  “If that’s the case, why not sider this o’s a two-story space totaling 60 square meters, with a rent of just 60,000 yen, plus… an additional dition.”

  “60,000 yen?” Mrs. Akiyama blinked in surprise and then beamed. “That’s incredibly cheap. This is wonderful.”

  “It’s definitely a good deal. I didn’t expect Chiba-kun to have such a reliable pce,” An Akiyama agreed, nodding. She then looked at Shuichi Chiba with a bright smile. “What’s the additional dition?”

  “It’s simple. Since Mrs. Akiyama pns to open a ramen shop, all I ask is to get free meals.” Shuichi Chiba said nontly.

  The two previous tenants, Fumika with her beauty salon and Sayuki with her fitness gym, clearly wouldn’t have been able to use su excuse. Bringing it up might even suggest ulterior motives.

  Even with this dition, the rent still seemed unusually low.

  However, Mrs. Akiyama didn’t give it much thought, and she didn’t take the additional dition seriously. With a smile, she said,

  “Well, even without that, Chiba-kun, as An-’s cssmate, you could always e by for free meals. But I assume this kind of shop is in high demand, right? Is the shopping district ma office closed today? we actually secure it?”

  “ht.” An Akiyama suddenly realized.

  “……” Shuichi Chiba couldn’t uand it. Even though An Akiyama was academically good, why did she also have such a clueless side?

  He tapped the table. “Akiyama-san, haven’t you realized where we’re sitting right now?”

  “Hmm?” An Akiyama looked around, a bit slow oake. “It seems… we’re in the shopping district’s ma office?”

  “Yes,” Shuichi Chiba said with a nod. “And what were the dots you were looking at just now?”

  “The shop details?” Mrs. Akiyama blinked, replying ily.

  “Exactly,” Shuichi Chiba said, his patience wearing thin. “So, do you uand what that means?”

  An Akiyama’s eyes widened as realization dawned on her.

  “So, do you uand why I’m able to sit here, freely show you these dots, and even propose additional ditions?” Shuichi Chiba’s gaze swept over their faces.

  An Akiyama’s eyes suddenly lit up with realization. “So, Chiba-kun is an acquaintance of the shopping district’s manager.”

  “Is that so? That’s wonderful.” Mrs. Akiyama said cheerfully.

  “……” Shuichi Chiba sighed, feeling pletely defeated. “Alright, let me be straightforward. I’m actually the owner and manager of this shopping street. You sign the tract directly with me. I don’t take weekends off either.”

  “Eh? What a ce?” An Akiyama blinked, still processing the revetion with her clear, naive eyes.

  “Yes, it is quite a ce. Did y the necessary dots for the lease? We sign the tract shortly.”

  Shuichi Chiba, feeling exasperated by the mother-daughter duo, thought he should have just kept it simple and not goo so much detail.

  “Yes, we brought them.” Mrs. Akiyama said, quickly pulling out a stack of dots from her handbag.