On the first day of business, the restaurant welcomed four guests, nearly depleting all the ingredients Ina had planted in advance. After closing, she immediately planted new vegetables. The harvested vegetables could be stored in the [Cabinet Refrigerator], and whenever they were taken out, they would be as fresh as when they were first put in.
This time, the task of harvesting vegetables was given to Lusen. He stumbled at first, unable to properly judge the maturity of the vegetables, and harvested quite a few overripe carrots.
Ina stir-fried these carrots, gained some cooking experience, and then sent them to the Slime Recycling House.
"Maybe you could consider using 'Mage Hand'," Ina suggested. The Mage Hand was a low-cost and incredibly useful spell, creating an ethereal hand that could manipulate objects, both flexible and convenient.
Lusen was been reminded and immediately realized that it would indeed be much more convenient than picking the vegetables himself. The range of Mage Hand was much greater, allowing him to harvest all the crops in the bathtub at once. He wasn't surprised that Ina discovered his identity, as high-level mages could sense elemental energies and instantly assess the abilities of lower-level mages. Lusen did not doubt that he was practically transparent to Ina.
With Lusen providing ingredients on the side, Ina focused on practicing her cooking skills. She found the [Complete Collection of Home Cooking Recipes] that the system had rewarded her with, and began browsing for dishes that could be made with the ingredients currently available in the restaurant.
Working tirelessly throughout the night, Ina finally filled her skill proficiency and successfully became a Level 2 chef.
Chef (Sub-profession)
Level: 2 (5/1000)
Skills: Cook's Intuition (You have a vague understanding of cooking)
Cook's Tongue (Your tongue is highly sensitive, but it also means that the pain of eating your dark cuisine is multiplied)
Ina sneered. She no longer produced dark cuisine!
The [Complete Collection of Home Cooking Recipes] awarded by the system was a conscientious cookbook, without words like "some," "a little," or "appropriate amount." As long as she strictly followed the standard procedures, the most basic completion rate was 80, which made Ina full of confidence.
As Lusen had used Mage Hand too many times during the night, he was extremely tired and slept soundly. However, this didn't prevent him from noticing that his boss had spent another sleepless night, and the ingredients in the cupboard had been reduced by almost half.
A qualified employee would naturally replenish the consumed ingredients promptly. He squatted beside the bathtub, repeating the process of sowing-harvesting-sowing like an emotionless vegetable-picking machine. When his arms were sore, he would switch to using the Mage Hand spell, and when his magic power was exhausted, he would continue to harvest manually.
The accelerated growth of the plants posed a challenge for Lusen as well. If picked too early, the vegetables would not be mature enough, but if picked too late, they would quickly age.
In the future, Lusen would become famous in the mage community for his sharp eyes and steady, precise operations. When asked about his experience, he always answered: "Perhaps you need a bathtub engraved with a Time Passage rune."
Somehow, this statement was spread around, and by the time Lusen found out, it had gone through several Versions.
Mage Lusen can create exquisite magic machinery because he has a workbench made from a transformed bathtub!
Lusen the mage never takes a bath because pure water affects the touch when preparing potions!
Lusen the mage is deeply involved in the field of magic machinery because he fell in love with a bathtub!
Although Lusen wasn't sure if they would have guests for breakfast, he still followed Ina's instructions and took down the small blackboard hanging on the wall, writing down today's breakfast offerings.
[Today's Breakfast: Vegetable-stuffed Crepes (80 copper coins), Fang Potatoes (50 copper coins), Milk Hot Chocolate (40 copper coins)]
Lusen was very puzzled about today's menu. The literal meaning of the first dish was easy to understand. The second one, although he had never seen it before, could be a new dish that his boss researched yesterday. But this drink...
Lusen turned to Ina, "Miss Ina, do we have milk?"
"Coming right up." Ina continued to chop vegetables swiftly, without lifting her head.
There was a knock at the door, and the knocker seemed to be in a hurry. After only two knocks, the door was pushed open. A red-haired werewolf hurried in, placing a bucket of milk in her hand.
"Miss Ina, I brought you the milk you ordered yesterday."
The wooden door had been repaired by Lusen yesterday. He applied a liquid to the hinges and used a rubber-like material to fix the gap. In short, the Dragonflame restaurant welcomed its business day in a perfect state.
Ina took the milk brought by Kiera and looked at her, who seemed reluctant to leave. "Ma'am, do you need anything else?"
Kiera stared intently at the words on the small blackboard and was disappointed because she couldn't find the word she was looking for. She asked hesitantly, "Um... are the fruit cans still for sale?"
It turned out that Kiera was interested in the fruit cans, which were rewards from the system's prize pool. There were a total of 10 cans, and Ina had given one to Kiera and Hana yesterday, leaving eight cans remaining.
Ina smiled, "For the next week, the Dragonflame restaurant is having a special event. We have a lucky draw for customers, and the winners will receive a can of fruit.
Kiera seemed puzzled, so Ina explained further, "If you purchase food at the restaurant, I'll put a slip of paper with your name on it into this box." She took out a paper box from under the bar counter. "Tomorrow morning, I'll randomly draw a slip, and the person on the paper can get a can of fruit for free. The event lasts for seven days, which means we'll give away a total of seven cans."
The rules were simple and clear, and Kiera immediately sat down, "I'd like an order of vegetable-stuffed crepes."
[You have received an order: Vegetable-stuffed Crepes, please complete the order as soon as possible!]
Evenly thick pancakes were filled with thinly sliced cucumber, ham, and blanched potato shreds, then brushed with sweet bean sauce obtained from the system. The taste was refreshing and very suitable for breakfast.
The plate had just been placed in front of Kiera when a dusty Hana walked in. She spotted the eye-catching red-haired woman immediately and secretly regretted being late because she had baked an extra batch of bread.
Her intention was the same as Kiera's. After Lusen relayed the details of the tavern's lucky draw event, Hana sat down across from Kiera.
She looked at the woman with her mouth stuffed full of food and gestured to Lusen, "I want the same thing she's having, plus a cup of hot chocolate milk."
With two orders coming in right after opening, this was a good sign. Ina considered whether or not to write about the lucky draw event on the small blackboard and hang it outside for publicity. However, she realized that most townspeople and mercenaries were likely illiterate, so she became indecisive. After all, they couldn't rely on Kiera and Hana alone to promote the restaurant – the more people coming to the restaurant, the lower their chances of winning the draw.
Hana and Kiera chatted while eating. "You didn't order hot chocolate milk; that's incredible! I thought you'd spend all your earnings on sweets," Hana teased, sipping her hot chocolate milk.
"I'm trying to quit, but it's difficult," Kiera replied, taking a large bite of the crepe in her hand, looking serious.
"You really should quit. A werewolf with cavities is just a joke."
Challenging a werewolf's dignity like that, Kiera immediately retorted, "My teeth are fine. Just last month during the full moon, I almost killed a two-year-old ram."
Faced with Hana's questioning, Kiera appeared somewhat regretful, "Maybe the fog was a bit thin that day, and the moon was particularly round. The poor ram died in the end, probably scared to death."
As she chewed, the cucumber and potato shreds in her mouth made a crunchy sound. "This crepe tastes really good. I bet the new owner came from a big city outside. The previous restaurant owner only knew how to water boil the vegetables."
Ina was frying jagged potato strips for the fang potatoes. They rolled around in the sizzling, steaming hot oil. Ina preferred a slightly crispy texture, so she didn't fry them for too long, scooping them out when they turned a tempting golden color.
The fried fang potatoes were sprinkled with a little chili powder and cumin. It was quickly cooked and simple to make, no wonder it was a staple in street food stalls in the future.
The only two customers in the store had finished their vegetable-stuffed crepes and were preparing to leave when they were attracted by the delicious-smelling fang potatoes.
Hana firmly glued herself to the chair, "The busy season is here, and I'm swamped with work all day. My appetite has increased quite a bit."
Lusen was understanding, "Then you must try our fang potatoes. You need to eat well to have the energy to work."
Kiera was more straightforward, "I'm not full yet. Give me another serving."