Vilera crossed over the distance between the bar and the table she wanted to get to in a few brisk steps. She stopped, joining her hands in front of her and opened her mouth. "Miss Akane, I'm sorry to intrude. Can I ask for your time?"
The black haired woman raised her head up. "What's wrong Vilera?"
"Miss Akane, the Dryad that came with Sir Rimuru didn't eat meat. But currently we can't cook anything because the boss isn't here. Can I ask you to cook some vegetable dishes if the order comes?"
The woman's eyes went wide, her body fully shifting towards her. "O-of course I'm happy to help. But can I do that?"
Vilera pulled her lips to the side. "Of course. I'll take the responsibility if the boss is unhappy about it. But before we got to that point, I can't let any customer go hungry—that's the boss' teaching. So I came here to ask for your help."
"I don't think Ludwig will be angry. You have the correct mindset." Akane smiled, her tone was warm.
"Thank you for your words, Miss." Vilera bowed slightly. "I'll tell you once we get the order, Miss."
"Sure."
Vilera moved away from the table and back to the bar.
"How is it?" Claire asked as soon as she arrived.
"Miss Akane is willing to help." Vilera answered. Without her knowing her voice came out light. The heaviness that was weighing on her chest was also gone.
"See?" Claire quirked her eyebrows. "If you find yourself backed into the corner, you can just ask anyone here. That's just how Ludwig had made this place."
"Indeed." Vilera nodded, her face contemplative. "The boss is really awesome."
"To be honest? That's just how good food and drink works." Claire chuckled.
Vilera let herself chuckle at Claire's words. At the same time, her eyes drifted towards the large table. Even though it was almost impossible to see any signs from Zhark's body language because of his personality, her eyes were still locked into his bulky body.
He was only nodding his head and moving her hands once and a while. Before long, he gathered the menu he put on the table and walked away.
His face was as steely as ever, his eyes didn't glint with any emotion. Once he arrived at the bar, he opened his mouth. "Four servings of Lunch Set A, two servings of Lunch Set B, and seven Lemonades."
Vilera's eyes looked straight at his eyes. "The Dryad didn't eat?"
With no flinch nor fluctuation in her face, he answered. "She needs food with no meat. The boss is not here, so I told her we can't make it. She'll just drink for now."
Vilera sighed and massaged her head. The hornkin in front of her was as dependable as Emerald-tier adventurers in most situations. But when it involved subtlety and feelings, he was as useful as a pebble on the side of the road.
"Return there and tell the Dryad we can make her a dish. If she decides to put an order, tell her it would take a while." Vilera let her fingers fall away from her forehead before looking towards the kitchen. "Bilo, take it slow on preparing the orders."
Zhark and Bilo answered at once. The hornkin traveled back into the large table, in the meantime the faun walked slowly into the kitchen. Zhark stood close to the Dryad, and from how the Dryad was looking at him, it seemed like he was currently explaining the situation.
Vilera moved her toe against the floor. Before she knew it she even crossed her arms in front of her chest. Even though he just walked back to the long table, she felt like every second was like an eternity.
After a long nerve-wrecking session, Zhark finally peeled himself away from the table. His every step thumped against her heart, the closer he got the more pressure she felt. It was as if she was watching death finally decide to pay her a visit.
Once he arrived in the bar, Vilera felt something was strangling her neck, taking a breath became an effort.
"She orders one portion. She didn't mind waiting." As soon as she heard that calming voice entering her ears, Vilera felt like she was back from the depth of the abyss.
"G-good. Nice work." Vilera nodded her head. She skipped away from the bar and went to the table where Akane sat. "Miss Akane, we need your assistance now."
"Okay." Akane smiled and stood from her seat.
Akane pivoted on her heel and returned to the bar, but now, her step was heavy with confidence, no longer hesitation.
Once they got to the bar, Vilera took a right turn. They walked towards the wall before she stopped and turned around. "Miss Akane, you can ask Bilo for everything you need. Thank you once again."
"No need to thank me now." Akane chuckled. "Just hope the food is up to the standard of the restaurant."
"I believed it would." Akane answered, her voice was firm.
She hadn't seen nor tasted the food made by Akane, so it was only natural for her to doubt her. However, she believed in her boss. Up until this point, he hadn't turned away from his words.
His words were the law not only for the employees but also for himself.
Vilera once again stood beside the door, but rather than watching the door as if it was an indescribable phenomenon until it opened, she was looking towards the kitchen.
Akane was standing in front of the seasoning rack, hands taking some of the powder before putting it back. After she went through almost all seasonings sitting there, she turned away and squatted behind the countertop, eyes peering into the depth of the Stasis Storage. One of her hands was half buried into the storage, Bilo was beside her, murmuring. Probably answering her question.
With a nod, she took some vegetables to the countertop. Bilo also started to zipped around the kitchen—it seemed like she had decided what to cook.
Bilo brought a chopping board into the countertop, arranging it in its usual way; a cloth on top of the countertop to support the wooden cutting board. Akane pulled the knife from its holder, fingers curling on top of the vegetable to push it down firmly.
Once every vegetable she brought out was cutted into chunks, she brought the metallic bowl where the vegetables were getting pooled and moved towards the stove.
Bilo came to assist her there. He moved his hand closer to the rune beneath and pushed some of his mana into it. The rune glowed red, and Bilo put the wok on top of the holder.
Akane retook the lead soon after. She put her hand on top of the wok, probably gauging the heat. After some time, she nodded. Her hand hovered towards the vegetable oil sitting on the counter beside the stove and poured some of it into the black parabolic pan.
She then dunked the garlic she had crushed as well as the onions into the wok, making the oil inside sizzled wildly. After stirring it for some time, a sweet and garlicky aroma started to fill the restaurant.
Next come some of the vegetables. The carrot, bell pepper, and mushrooms. She stirred it for sometime before she tossed the cabbage and zucchini into the mix.
She looked at Bilo at that moment. "Bilo, help me stir it. I'll get the seasonings."
Bilo flinched at her words, but then she took a step towards the stove and took the wooden spatula.
While Bilo was stirring with a serious look on his face, Akane took some seasonings from the rack and brought them to the stove. She opened and dunked the content inside the bottle to the wok one by one.
"Keep stirring it." She said before she went back to the rack to put the seasoning back.
Once she's back to the stove, she took the spatula away from Bilo's hand and pour another round of vegetables. But this one, it's the leafy vegeratbles—soemthing that didn't have to be cooked for long said the boss.
After stirring it and giving the wok a lift to send the vegetables to the air to get the smoky taste with her slender arm, she opened her mouth again. "Bilo, can you get me a serving of rice? Put it in a bowl if you can."
"Okay." Bilo answered before zipping across the kitchen.
While he was doing that, Akane took all the weight of the wok and the food she had just cooked with her arm into the countertop.
"Put it there." Akane wobbled, and Bilo quickly put the bowl he had into the countertop. She then angled the wok towards the table and poured the vegetables glistening with seasoning into the bowl, covering the rice entirely.
As the last trickle of the sauce slid down, Bilo opened his mouth and stretched his hand towards her. "Give it to me, Miss Akane. I'll bring it to the sink."
"Thank you." Akane said, tone warm.
"That's all I can do." Bilo answered before taking the heavy wok from Akane's hand.
Rather than resting right away, Akane took the bowl and took it into the separator. "Here's the order, Vilera."
With a smile, Vilera opened her mouth. "Thank you again, Miss Akane." She then moved the bowl into the wooden tray and passed it toward Zhark who was sitting idly on the counter.
With a nod, he took it away.
Vilera looked at the kitchen and opened her mouth again. "Anything you want to drink Miss Akane, it's on us."
Akane slowly moved her head towards her, but her eyes were still looking at Zhark. A beat later, her eyes finally focused on her. "Can you get me the whiskey Claire always drinks?"
"Of course." Vilera replied with a warm tone and bellowed towards Bilo. "One whiskey for Miss Akane."
"Right away." Bilo moved, then in the place where the boss always sat, she took a glass, put the round ice into it and poured the whiskey into it.
"Thank you, Bilo." She nodded.
Unlike earlier, Bilo just nodded before walking back to the sink. At the same time, Akane walked away from the kitchen and plopped into the empty chair beside Claire.
"Nervous, aren't you?" Claire looked at her, lips stretching into a knowing smirk.
"I am." She sighed as her fingers curled around the glass. "I hope it's up to her taste."
"It will be." Claire moved her hand from the table and pat Akane's shoulder.
In the meantime, Vilera was looking at the long table. The bowl was finally put down in front of the Dryad. With a smile, her hands moved towards the cutlery Zhark brought and scooped the food into her mouth.
* * *
Ludwig fished five bronze coins from his pocket and passed it into the woman in front of him. "No need for a change."
"Thank you, Sir." The woman beamed before she started moving busily again.
As he moved away from the stall, Ludwig moved the skewer in his hand closer to his mouth. A faint smell of herb, salt, and smokiness wafted into his nose, wetting his tongue. Without further ado, he bit into the chunk of meat and chewed it.
It wasn't the highest quality meat in the world, nor prepared in a complicated way. But that chewiness had its own charm.
But as he chewed the meaty piece of flesh, his senses suddenly went awry. Huh? What's happening?
His days at the battlefield took control of his body. His mana dispersed into his surroundings, trying to figure out anything out of place. But no matter how hard his mana worked, he couldn't sense anything.
Did that woman use scrying to find me? Ludwig thought, but his mouth was still in battle with the meat while his sense was getting sharper than before.
Well, if that's really the case, I'll be gone from this city before she is here. Ludwig shrugged. Without him, no one in the party had the ability to hop from city to city in an instant. Even if that woman used all her mana to boost her flying speed, she wouldn't be in this city before tomorrow.
Just like that, he entered one of the deserted alleys around the plaza and let the void consume him. As the void shifted around like a rubik's piece under the influence of his mana, a city with no sky entered his view.
With another manipulation of mana, the view in front of him became reality.