The incense inspection mechanism operates on a scoring system. After inspectors score all the participating products, the top five with the highest scores are selected.
Soon, Lain's score was revealed, and her crafted incense received an excellent score, currently ranking her second among all the participants who had undergone inspection.
Moreover, in each respective category of incense, she held the second position!
This result was quite unexpected and pleasing for Yuga.
Judging by this situation, it seemed highly likely that YoYo Day Care's incense would secure a spot in the top five.
The number of participating merchants in the incense inspection was already limited, and as the inspection neared its end, even if a dark horse emerged, it was unlikely to displace YoYo Day Care.
However, what surprised Yuga was that the person who had scored higher than Lain in all incense categories on the incense rankings was none other than Miyuki.
Yuga didn't think highly of her character, but he had to admit that her incense making skills were exceptional.
Here, everyone participating in such bidding events was an elite in the incense world. Except for Yuga and YoYo Day Care, they were mostly familiar with each other. After all, in a community as small as theirs, they were competitors and couldn't avoid knowing each other.
At this moment, other merchants who had been confirmed to be excluded congratulated Miyuki and her grandfather. It was evident that their family had quite a reputation in the incense world.
Yuga also learned about Miyuki's background from the bits and pieces of information provided by these people. They belonged to the Ancient Incense House, a well-established and centuries-old brand, highly renowned in the Hoenn region.
Even Yuga, who wasn't well-versed in the incense world, had heard of the Ancient Incense House. However, he hadn't realized that Miyuki was from this family.
Nevertheless, Yuga's knowledge about this incense house was limited to this extent, and he didn't know much more.
Compared to the highly-priced, high-end branded incense of the Ancient Incense House, YoYo Day Care's incense was of excellent quality and reasonably priced. It remained to be seen if there would be any conflicts between the two in the future.
The pricing of YoYo Day Care's incense was determined by production costs. Since they produced their own materials, the prices naturally remained lower. This was a significant difference from other professional incense houses.
The most significant cost in incense production was the various flowers and spices. Each incense house spent an astronomical amount of money on these annually.
The generally high prices of incense were influenced not only by tradition but also by these factors.
"So, she's from that family. No wonder."
After learning her own score and Miyuki's score, Lain muttered.
Yuga asked, "You know about their family?"
Lain replied, "Of course. There isn't a single incense maker who doesn't know about them. Their status in the incense world is equivalent to the Elite Four in the Trainer world. Shouldn't I know about them?"
Yuga, being an outsider, only had a rough idea about the Ancient Incense House. But Lain, an industry insider, was well-informed about them.
"So, they're that powerful?"
Yuga expressed his surprise.
"It's very powerful!"
Lain said as she glanced at Miyuki who was surrounded by the crowd.
"They are indeed. I think you're not any less than her. You didn't come from an incense family, but reaching your current level shows your talent. Besides, she's not much older than you."
Yuga tried to comfort Lain, but he genuinely believed that Lain was on par with Miyuki, and with time, she would surpass her.
Hearing Yuga's words, Lain smiled and said, "Are you trying to console me? Actually, losing to her doesn't make me sad. But I still want to thank the boss."
Lain genuinely wasn't feeling down; achieving such a score today was already a pleasant surprise for her.
The incense makers participating in this bidding event today could be considered the top-notch incense makers in the entire Hoenn.
For her to secure a place among these experts was an incredibly honorable achievement, something she wouldn't have dared to dream of in the past.
When she thanked Yuga, it wasn't because he had comforted her. It was because Yuga had given her an opportunity.
Without Yuga, she wouldn't have achieved the results she did today.
For incense makers, the most crucial element was the formula. This had been the reason why various incense houses monopolized the incense business for so long.
Obtaining a complete formula was exceptionally challenging for ordinary incense makers.
The gap between inherited incense makers and non-inherited ones was like night and day.
Yet Yuga had given her the complete incense heritage.
Although she was the adopted daughter of Ryuichi, she hadn't had any contact with Mr. kuni'o.
Therefore, while Yuga had obtained the incense making manual from Mr. kuni'o, Lain hadn't. To her, Mr. kuni'o was still a legendary figure.
Furthermore, she had received an unlimited supply of materials at YoYo Day Care, and it was this abundance of materials that allowed her skills to improve by leaps and bounds.
With these thoughts in mind, Lain spontaneously uttered those words to Yuga.
"Huh? Thank you for what?" Yuga looked at her in puzzlement.
"It's nothing, hahaha..."
Lain patted Yuga on the back, laughing heartily.
Yuga didn't mind at all. After spending so much time with her, he understood Lain's carefree and lively nature.
Some people who knew about Yuga's identity came over to congratulate both him and Lain upon learning of her achievement. Yuga, despite disliking this, still put on a smiling face and exchanged pleasantries with them. He had no reason to offend people for no cause, and they hadn't offended him either.
However, there were many who didn't favor Yuga and Lain. After all, only the top five would be chosen for each type of incense, and YoYo Day Care's selection meant that other businesses would be excluded. Naturally, others weren't pleased.
Once Yuga had managed to politely send those people away with a cold sweat, he saw Miyuki approaching, her expression composed.
Miyuki: "Congratulations to Gym Leader Shimizu and this little girl. May I know your name?"
Miyuki was genuinely surprised that Lain had achieved a score that was just below hers. She had never heard of such a figure in the incense world.
Now, when Yuga heard Miyuki's melodious voice, he couldn't help but shiver from head to toe.
Calling Lain a "little girl"? Although Lain was younger than Miyuki, she was already twenty years old this year. Miyuki was only a few years older, yet she referred to Lain as a "little girl," which was simply unbelievable.
"Congratulations. This is our family's incense maker, Lain."
Yuga stated indifferently.
"Hello, Miss Miyuki."
After the introduction by Yuga, Lain greeted Miyuki.
Not knowing Miyuki's true face, she treated Miyuki with a relatively normal attitude, not as cold as Yuga. Besides, she naturally had a more warm-hearted personality and couldn't be too cold to others.