Chapter 22 - The Second Customer
Mag opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say. The little chowhound had a completely different mindset than normal children. He nodded with a smile. “Okay, Father will take you out tomorrow and buy one if there is someone selling them.”
“Father, you’re the best!” Amy rubbed her face against Mag’s hand happily. She was so sleepy that she fell asleep in no time, holding Mag’s hand, murmuring the words “roast goose”.
Looks like she does want to eat the roast goose. I have to get my hands on the recipe quickly, Mag thought. He withdrew his finger from Amy’s little hand. Looking at her adorable sleeping face, he couldn’t help but stoop down and kiss her forehead, and then he stood up, picked up his suit on the bed, and went to take a bath.
Mag put Amy’s clothes in the washing machine, and when he finished bathing, her clothes had already been washed. He hung them outside the window, thinking that they should be dry tomorrow, and then he put his clothes in the washer too.
Mag went downstairs. After he cleaned the kitchen, he took a piece of paper and a pen, sat down beside the counter, and started to ponder carefully.
His first priority was to complete the mission. That meant he had to make at least 3,000 gold coins. He had to sell 500 plates of Yangzhou fried rice to earn that money.
Mag overlooked something before. He could buy the ingredients and not use them. This way, he only needed to sell half to complete his mission; thus, his pressure decreased a lot.
Sure, it was still very difficult for him to sell 500 plates of Yangzhou fried rice in 10 days. After all, as of now, he had only sold four, and all of them to one customer.
“Do I have to go outside and tout my business?” Mag wrote down a “four” on the first line. He put down the pen and looked to the door, a little depressed. On the square, only a few children were running around.
This location was so remote. If it were on the other side of the square, it would attract many customers just by its beautiful look, but now, not a lot of people could even see this place.
“I hope more customers will come in the evening.” Mag walked up to the door, opened the lock, and turned the “Open” sign over. It was already four o’clock.
Since there was no customer and Amy was sleeping, Mag was reduced to sitting around on the long-legged chair behind the counter. He went through memories in his head and turned the useful ones into his own. He learned about the landscape and all the species on the whole continent.
As he had expected, this world was much more dangerous than he had thought. Even in this Chaos City which was ruled by the Gray Temple, fights were not uncommon, and if no one was killed during the fight, usually the punishment wasn’t very severe.
Seems like I have to improve my strength to protect Amy and this restaurant—even if I can’t regain the power from my predecessor’s prime, thought Mag. After all, he had already known he couldn’t keep a low profile when he’d decided to open this restaurant.
On the square, a tall and slim elf who was wearing a silver dress with golden embroidery on its hem stopped outside the restaurant, her light blue eyes looking at the building with surprise.
Why is this restaurant here? Also, it’s… so beautiful. Sally studied the restaurant and the two-storied building, her pretty face full of surprise.
She was chosen to marry into another family, but she didn’t want to hand her future over to others at such a young age, so she ran westward, all the way from her home in the Wind Forest to the legendary Chaos City, at night while keeping it a secret from her father—the chief.
She had been wandering in this city for two days, and had seen quite a few interesting things, but so many different species were living here, so she wasn’t quite used to the circumstances here yet.
Besides, she knew her father had already sent someone to look for her, so she purposely avoided the hotels and restaurants owned by elves in this Chaos City. However, she didn’t feel comfortable living and eating in the hotels and restaurants owned by other species—she had lived in her beautiful castle all her life. She had found a hotel owned by a human female last night; it was not grand, but it was clean, and only women had lived there before.
Sleeping was no longer a problem to her, only eating.
Sally did a lap around this famous Aden Square. Most of the restaurants looked very greasy, with a lot of flying bugs and too many tables and chairs that almost stuffed the whole restaurant. All the species ate together in close proximity. This sight really discouraged her.
She was a high-born elf. There was no way she would dine with orcs, let alone dwarves!
She hadn’t eaten anything since noon. The two spirit fruits she had had in the morning had already been digested by her. She had walked around the whole Aden Square. Her stomach was rumbling, but she’d rather eat nothing than walk into those places.
Finally, she decided to take the risk and go to the restaurant owned by elves to get a decent meal. That was when she found this beautiful restaurant in the corner of the square.
It was even prettier than her own castle. The whole front wall was a sheet of transparent crystal glass; it was very clear, with no impurity whatsoever, and so thin and flat.
Even the crystal glass in the elf queen’s castle was merely half as big as this one, and it was well-preserved in her chamber, but here, it was being used as a wall for the restaurant! Such an extravagant owner!
She could see everything inside through the glass wall. The brownish yellow tables were evenly aligned. There were 16 tables in total, but it wouldn’t be crowded even if the restaurant were full.
Yet, she was the most attracted by the four amber chandeliers. The crystal was carved into such an exquisite light. The amber crystal beads were strung together, so dreamy.
If only I could eat here. This thought popped up in Sally’s head, and tempted her like a devil, but she couldn’t make up her mind. It doesn’t say ‘elves only’; what if some dwarf or orc come sit beside me?
Suddenly, her stomach rumbled. Her hunger overwhelmed her other thoughts. She gave her bow on the back a yank and walked towards the restaurant, her face filled with confidence and firmness.
In this Chaos City, power was everything. She was confident that her archery would make those lowborn back off on their own.
The ringing of the bells interrupted Mag’s thinking. With some surprise, he lifted his head to look to the door. It was a tall and slim elf he saw.
She wore her long light blond hair in a neat ponytail. She had fair skin, a pretty face, and two small pointy ears; her light blue eyes showed her nobility. She was wearing a light silver dress with a golden embroidered hem. She had beautiful collarbones and slender, fair calves. There was a long bow on her back, and a quiver full of arrows at her waist.
“Welcome.” Mag stood up and smiled at her. She was his second customer.