I Became a Food Developer in Another World

Chapter 8: This is the real deal (5)

The Third Prince Thanksgiving toast created a huge buzz.

“I heard that the third prince cleared away the grain tea on Thanksgiving, right?”

“Yes. They say he put devil’s fruit on the harvest table instead of grain tea.”

In social circles, the story of the third price defense of the potato was the talk of the town.

It was the modern equivalent of putting fast food on the altar.

People couldn’t help but wonder what the third prince was doing.

The curiosity naturally turned to the ‘Pringles’ that the third prince served at the harvest table.

The nobles, who had previously shunned them out of shame, had nothing to fear since the third prince ate them himself.

The nobles popped a Pringles into their mouths, and their reactions were no different from those of the wizards in the tower earlier.

“…You mean these are really potatoes!”

“How can this taste good?”

“Ah, Pringles!”

The nobles finally understood why the Third Prince had put Pringles on the harvest table to pray for a good harvest.

Because they’re delicious!

Wouldn’t the Lord of Heaven be happy to have something delicious to eat?

Pringles and Coke were the perfect substitute for unleavened bread and grain tea.

Starting with the upper class, Pringles spread throughout the capital.

“These Pringles are so crazy tasting, I can’t stop eating them once I open one.”

“Pringles are best with a Coke. If you’ve never tried it, you should try it with me.”

“Haha! You heard it here. Coke and Pringles!”

People mimicked the third prince’s words and sang the praises of Pringles.

In the process, the potato’s stigma as the “devil’s fruit” was washed away.

“There’s no way that what the prince is eating is the devil’s fruit.”

“I don’t understand how such a delicious crop could have been so falsely accused.”

“Potatoes are a gift from the gods.”

“Of course they are. Pringles are potatoes. No, the potato is Pringles, haha!”

The third prince’s comments certainly started the conversation, but it was the magic of Pringles that capitalized on the opportunity.

Once you eat one, you can’t stop until you’ve emptied the box!

The bite-sized size and parabolic shape of the Pringles were designed to fit the shape of the human mouth.

For the otherworldly people who enjoyed the flavors of nature, the processed food developed by modern chemists after years of research was a new world.

Of course, the impact of Pringles didn’t stop at eating.

The first people to be influenced by Pringles were merchants in the retail business.

“I delivered Pringles all the way to the northern border, and they weren’t broken, they weren’t oxidized. They were perfectly fine.”

“No, that doesn’t make sense. The North is a month away from the capital.”

Most of the ingredients and goods in the other world are consumed locally and do not spread far.

In the process of transportation, goods often spoil or get damaged, resulting in losses for both the seller and the consumer.

As a result of these frequent problems, it became common knowledge that all perishable goods should be consumed in the same area.

However, Pringles broke that mold.

No matter where in the empire they were distributed, Pringles didn’t rot or break.

“Hmmm, Pringles can come from a month away and be fine, but this fruit is local, so why is it half spoiled?”

“I’m sorry, we’ll take back all the spoiled fruit and refund your money.”

Impressed by Pringles’ technology, merchants were eager to uncover the “Pringles secret,” and the retail industry came alive.

Naturally, it was the consumers who were happy to see retail revitalized.

“Well, Pringles were delivered from the capital to our neighborhood?”

“Wow, the world has changed! I never thought I’d see the day when we could get delivery from the capital to the border.”

“Haha, does this mean we can now enjoy the famous capital city snack?”

Consumers were willing to spend big bucks to get their hands on Pringles, and the idea that “Pringles can be delivered from the ends of the empire to the ends of the earth!” spread like wildfire among the people.

“Maybe I can eat these too…?”

“I eat soda and potatoes, so maybe poison is actually edible.”

“No, not in the least.”

People’s thinking has become more flexible since the potato, long considered the devil’s fruit, was discovered to be a crop that even the third price eats.

And the people who benefited from this change were, unexpectedly, prisoners.

“It wasn’t you, and I’m sorry for what I’ve done. You’ll have to make a good life out there.”

“Kkkkk, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The falsely accused and imprisoned prisoners were pardoned.

The exonerated prisoners were given Pringles.

Pringles became a snack for the wrongly accused and a gift for those released from prison.

Similar things were happening all over society because of a single snack.

The empire was on fire with the Pringles craze but with any popularity, there are always those who take advantage of it.

“I’m sorry, we’re out of Pringles, but you can come back tomorrow morning.”

“What do you mean, I saw them right there with my own two eyes!”

“I’m sorry, but those aren’t for sale, they’re for Count Fjorden.”

“You mean all those Pringles?”

“Yes.”

The nobles used their power and connections to start stockpiling Pringles.

“What do you mean you’re out of stock, I just placed an order a few days ago?”

“…I’m afraid you’re a little late. Mr. Reden came by during the day and took them all.”

“Ha! The Reden Company is cutting in line!”

Worried that they would run out of Pringles, the organizations began a war to secure the supply.

Meanwhile, it was the people involved with Pringles who benefited from the fact that Pringles were showing signs of running out.

“Haha, Daddy’s got Pringles.”

“Here are your Pringles. You know your uncle is a top Trion employee, right?”

And of course, there are those who take their own Pringles for family and friends,

“Hehe, I’m giving these to you at my own risk…how much are you thinking?”

There were even people who secretly stole and sold the Pringles produced.

As more and more people stole Pringles, Pringles gradually disappeared from the streets.

Naturally, it was the ordinary, powerless people who suffered.

“Hey, Pringles……”

“Oh, nothing!”

“Pr-”

“No! No!”

Thus began the Pringles outage.

*

“I’m sorry, wizard!”

Count Trion banged his head on the table.

“I tried to fix it on my own, but it just got out of control, so I had to stop……”

“That’s okay. It’s not like the Count did it on purpose.”

“Mmm, I don’t know what to say.”

The Pringles shortage was, in a way, foreshadowed.

Unlike Coke, which is mostly consumed in the capital, Pringles, which is easily transported, is consumed in much greater quantities.

‘Just like back then.’

Something similar happened in my previous life.

A parent company’s honey-infused potato chips exploded in popularity, causing a shortage.

What struck me most was that they were selling the smell of the empty bags. They claimed you could smell the acacia in the air….

Surprisingly, people were buying them.

Anyway,

“I guess it’s the people who are sneaking stuff out.”

“Yes, we can stop hoarding, but it’s virtually impossible to stop something from being taken out of circulation.”

While some noblemen were responsible for the shortage, it was the Pringles distributors who exploited it.

They would sneak Pringles out of circulation and sell them to local nobles.

The problem was, it wasn’t easy to catch them.

“Well, here’s what we’ll do.”

“What?”

“We’ll watermark them.”

“…A watermark, I’ve never heard of that before. Is it magic?”

“Think of it as an invisible signature.”

Watermarks were a way to indicate the creator of a document by imprinting a fuzzy mark on it.

The most famous watermarks are the ones that appear transparent when you hold a dollar bill up to the light.

And in the other world, the concept of watermarks didn’t exist. Watermarks were a printing technique.

It seemed that magic could produce a similar effect.

You might think, what’s the point of putting a watermark on something if it’s stolen in the middle of distribution…….

‘We’ll put it on after it’s been distributed.’

We could have each store that sells Pringles engrave a watermark.

This way, the watermark would not be on the product in transit, and it would be easy to identify the stolen product.

Count Trion’s eyes widened at my explanation.

“…You must be a genius, Wizard, how did you come up with such a method?”

“I’ve seen something similar before.”

Although that was a long time ago and I’ve never heard of watermarks on snacks containers.

The use is in the mind of the beholder.

“I’ll have the watermark made into a stamp and send it to you soon, Count, and I’d like you to pass it on to the merchants.”

“Haha, of course, I’ll be responsible and deliver them all!”

*

“Let go of me, what are you doing!”

“I’m arresting you for stealing the goods of Count Trion.”

“What do you mean?”

“All the nobles who bought Pringles from you have already told me. It’s in your best interest to comply.”

“…What?! Proof! Do you have proof?”

“The Pringles you sold, and the Pringles sold by the Chamber of Commerce. Can you tell the difference?”

There was no difference between the two jars of Pringles. But when he held it up to the sun, a faint figure emerged from one side. It was the face of a bearded dwarf.

“!!”

“If you understand, follow me.”

Similar things were happening all over the empire.

It was a moment when the vices of the retail industry were being eradicated.

*

Meanwhile, as the Pringles shortage was coming to an end, there was another group that was suffering.

[How long are you going to insist on unleavened bread and grain tea?]

[The Church must abandon the old culture and embrace the new!]

[God wants to eat good food, too!]

On Thanksgiving the Church had been hit with a Pringles blow.