Chapter 194
Chapter 194
Before I started cooking, I put on an apron for hygiene and tied my hair back with a headband.
After preparing the ingredients and cooking tools, I slowly looked around the inside of the house.
‘……It really does feel like the scent of nature.’
The roughly trimmed log walls still faintly carried the damp smell of wood, and the low beams were fully exposed across the ceiling.
In the middle of the house stood one table and three chairs.
As for decoration, there was only a small lantern hanging on the wall and a basket of firewood placed in one corner.
The boundary between kitchen and dining area was vague, so if someone sat at the table, they could see me cooking in full view.
Calling it a kitchen was generous—it was nothing more than a small hearth and a single counter.
“Customer, you can come in now.”
As I spoke toward the door, knock, knock, it opened with a light tapping sound.
Creak…….
Through the slightly opened door, Rapin peeked her face inside.
“Hello, Boss. Is this the ‘One Meal Again Today’ restaurant?”
“It is. Come in. Sit wherever you like. Though there’s only one table anyway.”
“Okay.”
I handed the menu to Rapin as she sat down at the table.
「Tonkatsu – 60 Silver
Hash Brown Toast – 25 Silver
Steamed Egg – 15 Silver」
“Hmm…….”
Rapin stared intently at the menu, then after thinking for quite a while, she suddenly raised her hand.
“Boss. I’ll order the tonkatsu.”
But she looked at the menu again with regret in her eyes.
“And the hash brown toast. ……And steamed egg too, please.”
“If you were going to order everything anyway, why did you bother thinking?”
“But when I pick one, I end up wanting the others too.”
“Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. Just wait a moment.”
As I sliced the potatoes I had prepared in advance, I glanced outside through the window at the lone ‘door’ standing there.
More precisely, my gaze fixed on the 「Open」 sign hanging on it.
At the same time, a pink hologram appeared.
The ‘One Meal Again Today’ restaurant has begun business!
Today’s Customers: 0
Today’s Acquired Island Points: 0
“Hmm…….”
About an hour had passed since I turned the sign on the door to 「Open」, but nothing had changed.
Just in case, I even opened the door myself.
The hinges creaked as it obediently swung open, but that was all.
Beyond the door…… there was nothing.
No corridor continued on. No other space unfolded. It didn’t connect anywhere. Nothing changed.
It was as if such a function had never even been considered. The outside scenery simply continued as it was.
‘Then what is this even for?’
With no change occurring, Rapin and I eventually decided to try one method.
We would test the System by pretending to be a restaurant owner and a customer.
And so now, we were acting—not quite acting.
‘Since I’m treating Rapin like a customer, maybe the System will recognize her as one.’
There was no change yet, but I decided to respond to Rapin as if she truly were a guest visiting the restaurant.
I placed a pot on the hearth and poured oil into it.
It was made from soybeans harvested from the field by the Livestock Shed.
Roasted, crushed, wrapped in cloth, and pressed—precious oil obtained with great effort.
When I lowered the tonkatsu I had prepared in advance into the oil, it began to sizzle.
I had practiced frying it a few times.
‘If I fried it too long, the soybean oil scent became too strong.’
I had to maintain the right temperature and fry it for the proper amount of time to prevent any rancid taste.
In the frying pan beside it, the hash browns were turning golden brown. I placed vegetables and the hash browns between slices of toasted bread and served it to Rapin.
“Here you go, Customer. I’ll give you the hash brown toast first.”
“Oh…… it’s plentiful and pretty.”
Rapin picked up the toast and took a bite. Then her eyes began to sparkle intensely.
Next came the crispy tonkatsu.
After spearing a piece with her fork and swallowing it, Rapin quietly opened her mouth.
“Billet.”
“In the restaurant, call me Boss.”
“Boss Billet. ……I’m so happy.”
At her reaction, the corners of my lips naturally lifted.
There was nothing more gratifying than someone enjoying the food I made.
Lastly, I served the steamed egg.
I set the small pot containing the steamed egg on the table.
The moment I lifted the lid, faint steam rose gently.
Tiny bubbles dotted the surface, and when I touched it with a spoon, it trembled like pudding.
“It’s so bouncy.”
Rapin scooped up a spoonful and put it in her mouth.
“Ah, hoo, hoo……. Haa…….”
It must have been hot. She squinted her eyes but didn’t spit it out, instead blowing air into her mouth to cool it before swallowing.
“Delish.”
“Customer, don’t talk with food in your mouth.”
“It’sh too goood.”
Her cheeks puffed slightly as she continued chewing until she finally swallowed the steamed egg.
After finishing the meal, Rapin stood up looking satisfied.
“It was truly the best, Boss.”
“Good. Thanks for enjoying it. For everything on the menu, the total is…… 1 Gold.”
“Okay, here.”
Rapin took out a small gold coin from her pocket.
It seemed to be part of the money she had received as thanks for helping me during the previous sales competition.
‘Looks like she barely used it.’
Well, I was the one providing her meals and clothes anyway. She probably had little reason to spend money.
‘Anyway, now that payment’s complete, will the System count her as a customer?’
I looked at the gold coin Rapin handed me, then shifted my gaze to the System.
But.
Today’s Customers: 0
Today’s Acquired Island Points: 0
‘So it doesn’t work…….’
The System did not recognize Rapin as a customer.
‘Is it because she’s both human…… and a Spiritual Beast?’
I doubted the System would discriminate over something like that, but it was important to understand its intentions clearly.
So this time, I decided to bring in a completely ordinary person.
“You called me just to show off this house?”
Shia grumbled as she looked at the log cabin.
When I said I needed someone to try the new menu I had created, she had reluctantly followed along.
“Yeah. It’s a restaurant I built with great ambition.”
At my words, Shia looked at me as if I were absurd.
“Is something wrong with your head?”
“Why? Is it strange?”
“It is. Who would ever come here as a customer?”
“You’re here. If even one customer comes, it’s not meaningless.”
“…….”
Shia shook her head and walked into the log cabin without another word.
When I followed her inside, she was already seated at the table.
Though I hadn’t even served the food yet, she was already holding a knife in her left hand and a fork in her right.
“Just bring what you promised.”
“Alright. Eat it while it’s warm.”
I took out the food I had prepared in advance from my Subspace and served it.
“…….”
Shia stabbed the tonkatsu with her fork and put it in her mouth. It seemed to suit her taste, as she kept taking bite after bite.
For a moment, it even looked like there was a faint smile at the corner of her lips.
……Then our eyes met.
“Why are you staring while someone’s eating? It’s annoying.”
“It’s just fascinating to see someone enjoy the food I made.”
“…….”
Shia frowned, finished her meal, and stood up.
As she tried to leave straight out the door, I called after her.
“Customer, if you leave like that, it’s dining and dashing. You have to pay.”
“……What’s the point of this?”
Shia reluctantly took out a gold coin and handed it to me.
It was one I had given her beforehand.
Since we were playing restaurant, I had told her she could simply return it to me.
“Payment’s done. You can go now. Come again next time.”
“…….”
Shia seemed about to say something, but closed her mouth and quietly left the house.
‘Now, what happened this time?’
I summoned the System in midair.
Today’s Customers: 0
Today’s Acquired Island Points: 0
But the System still did not count her as a customer.
Especially since ‘Island Points’ still showed 0, I couldn’t even tell what they were for.
‘……Just what exactly makes someone get counted as a customer?’
I was staring at the hologram in deep thought when—
Ding, ding…….
A bell rang.
It wasn’t the bell of ‘Danger Detection’.
This one wasn’t ringing inside my mind—I could clearly hear it with my ears.
It wasn’t the sound of my log cabin door opening either. I hadn’t decorated my restaurant with any bells.
‘……Then could it be?’
I immediately ran outside.
The lone door standing in front of the log cabin—
was opening by itself.
Academy Entrance Practical Examination, 60 hours elapsed.
Hesty, Macgrim, and the blond noble young man.
The three of them were silently advancing through the dungeon.
To pass the exam, they had to continuously find contaminated areas and purify them without rest.
But…… enduring three days on an empty stomach was excruciating.
Hunger slowly gnaws at the mind. Strength drains from the entire body, and even thoughts grow dull. It felt as if both body and spirit were being worn down to rags.
‘I’m hungry…….’
Hesty barely held back the tears welling up.
Hungry, exhausted, cold, sad…….
The worst combination had piled up all at once.
Even so, she couldn’t let out heavy sighs and show how hard it was.
She was afraid her own weakness might break the spirits of those beside her.
Hesty tried her best not to show how difficult it was.
Grrrgl……
But her stomach refused to respect her will.
“……Sorry.”
The apology slipped out reflexively.
Normally, she was outgoing enough to easily strike up conversations even with strangers, but now it was different.
The noble sons and daughters she had met at the academy.
Among them, dressed in plain clothes and coming from the countryside, she naturally shrank back.
“Hesty, stop apologizing. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Macgrim spoke with steady eyes.
Her composed attitude looked undeniably cool to Hesty, but…….
Grrrgl……
The sound that escaped from Macgrim’s stomach slightly ruined that impression.
“…….”
The blond noble young man walking behind them also kept his mouth tightly shut without expression.
Grrrgl……
Even someone who looked as if not a drop of blood would come out if stabbed couldn’t escape hunger.
Yes, there was no one who could overcome starvation.
If they truly could not endure any longer, they could call an assistant instructor and forfeit the exam midway.
But that meant giving up on entering Yggdrasil Academy.
“Hesty, even if it’s hard, let’s endure it. I will never give up. I have to enter Yggdrasil Academy no matter what.”
Hesty immediately nodded.
“Me too, Macgrim.”
“Yeah. Let’s both pass.”
The two clasped hands, strengthening their resolve.
And so, clutching their starving stomachs, they continued the purification work.
That was when Hesty accidentally discovered an ‘anomalous part’ in a dark area.
Something about the wall’s structure seemed different…….
A door?
“Hey, Macgrim. Look, there’s a door here.”
At Hesty’s gesture, Macgrim quickly approached.
Just as she said, there was a door attached to the wall.
“Macgrim, why would there be a door here?”
“Is it a rest area for the assistant instructors? Or…… maybe a food storage?”
The moment Macgrim said that, the two looked at each other.
After swallowing hard, as if having made up her mind, Macgrim cautiously spoke.
“It should be okay to open it, right? It wouldn’t count as cheating.”
“Yeah, there was definitely no rule saying we couldn’t enter a door.”
Hesty agreed.
This might be a rest area for assistant instructors. Perhaps even a professor could be sitting inside.
Or, in the worst case, a monster could be waiting.
Until they opened it, they wouldn’t know anything.
After a long silence, Macgrim exhaled as if resolved.
Then she and Hesty gripped the handle together.
“……Let’s open it.”