Mythran's Master Of All

Ren ran to the front of the mansion and a single guard was at the front door. Teepo hopped onto Ren's head as the cloak was unequipped and Ren put on the apron. “Kitchen staff.” Ren said and the guard nodded. Ren entered the mansion and went down the left hall and knocked on Donna's office door. There was no answer, so Ren entered the kitchen to the hustle and bustle of making a meal. By the smell, it was eggs and bacon. Ren slapped his hands together lightly and then dove in to help where he could.

Donna came into the kitchen about an hour later, disappointed that Ren hadn't shown up to tell her he could start work, and was surprised to see that Ren was flipping bacon and cooking toast at the same time. Donna walked over to Tait, who was finishing up making a tray of rolls.

“What's going on?” She asked him.

“He showed up over an hour ago and started helping Sandra with the eggs. He had a hard time judging when to flip them, but once he saw how we made them scrambled, he pretty much took over.”

Donna's eyes widened at that. “Took over?”

Tait nodded. “He can whip those eggs like they were nothing. I don't know how he does it! My arm kills me after a single bowl. He's already finished the scrambled eggs for the garrison and now he's moved on to do the fried eggs and bacon.”

“Where's Sandra and Alina?” Donna asked.

“Ren's handling everything really well, so they took a break.”

Donna shook her head and walked over to Ren. “Having fun?”

Ren looked at her and flipped the bacon without looking. “Am I! This is great!” He said and flipped the toast over.

“What are you doing?”

“Making a sandwich.”

Donna stood back and watched as Ren used the butter brush to coat one side of the toast, dropped a few pieces of bacon on it, then a fried egg, and another buttered piece of toast. He put it on a plate, cut it into 4 pieces almost before Donna could see him move the knife, and he put it on the food service window into the main dining room. One of the maids took the sandwich right away and another maid took her place.

“What's going on?” Donna asked.

“I can't make them fast enough.” Ren said, finished another sandwich, and passed it out. “Everyone loves them.”

“I don't understand. How do they even know you can make them?”

Ren's face flushed a little red. “That was my fault.” He said. “I took a break and made one for myself. I cut it in 4 and ate a piece, then so did Alina.” Ren chuckled. “Then Anabelle saw it and wanted to try it...”

“Anabelle?” Donna asked.

Ren finished another sandwich and handed it to the waiting maid, who waved to Donna and blushed slightly at Ren.

“Oh.” Donna said.

“Once someone saw what she had... well, you know the rest.” Ren said.

Donna nodded. She knew full well that news of something new on the menu would travel fast through the mansion. Ren finished another sandwich and passed it out.

“Only one more, Ren.” Anabelle said when she came back to the window. Ren nodded and did the sandwich up.

“There you go.” Ren said and smiled as he handed it to Anabelle, who blushed again as she took the sandwich. Ren scraped off the bacon residue and toast crumbs from the grill-like surface and wiped it down with a damp cloth.

“Is there something going on between you two?” Donna asked as she looked at Ren.

Ren shook his head. “Not really. We had a slight misunderstanding at a party once, and an awkward situation afterwards.”

Donna raised her eyebrows.

“Don't worry. I handled it properly...” Ren smiled. “...at least, I hope I did.”

Donna nodded. It wasn't her business what people working for her did in their personal lives, unless it interferes with work. “As long as it won't disrupt my kitchen.”

“It won't.”

“Where did you learn to make that?” Donna asked.

“Someone I care about used to make it for me once a week. When I saw what was for breakfast, I remembered it and thought, why not?” Ren said.

A maid came to the window. “More rolls, please.” Tait handed out a basket of freshly buttered rolls to her. “Thanks.” She said and smiled at him. Tait smiled back and watched her cross the room to deliver the rolls to a table near the window.

“I think someone's got a major crush going.” Alina said as she came back into the kitchen with Sandra right behind her. It was Tait's turn for his face to flush a little red, and they giggled at him.

“That's enough teasing of the poor man.” Donna said and pat Tait on the shoulder. “Let's all get to work, shall we?” She said. “Lunch isn't going to make itself.” Everyone nodded and got to work.

The day passed quickly and Ren learned that the basic meals were always the same. Eggs for breakfast, soup for lunch, and meat of some kind for supper. The side dishes and desserts on the other hand, constantly changed. Fresh food was delivered every day, and there was no storage options at all. The food was mostly eaten during meals, but any leftovers were mulched for the local farmers, taken by the staff, given to the soldiers, or just tossed out. Ren was glad that there wasn't much wasted. The evening came and he helped clean up the kitchen and set up the ingredients needed for the next day's meals.

Ren gathered Teepo up from the main hall and left the mansion. After a quick run to his building, he dropped off Teepo, said goodnight to him and Ruck, and went upstairs to the apartment. Ren went into the bedroom and saw that the sweet pastry was still there, along with the note. Ren smiled. “I'm sure she'll come back in eventually.” He settled down on the bed.

“Logout.”

********

Ren ate an actual breakfast of porridge and milk, did his physical therapy session, had a shower, and half-enjoyed some teasing from Stella. Sometimes she could push it a little too far, but she had restrained herself today. Ren settled into bed and put on the VR headset. “See you at lunch.” He said.

“Flow Login Start.”

********

Ren went back to work at the kitchen for 3 more days, coming back to the building each night to make furniture before logging off to eat in the real world and to take care of business. Ren made an 8 foot high by 8 foot wide cabinet for Ruck, stools and chairs for the first floor, and at the end of the fourth day, Ren's Cooking skill had increased to Level 5, and Chop went to Level 8.

Doing different cooking tasks has really pumped my skills up. Ren thought. Of course, chopping up 250 pounds of potatoes, 100 pounds of carrots, and 50 pounds of turnips, might have helped a little bit. Ren chuckled.

After clean up and prepping for the next day, Ren said goodbye to everyone as they left the kitchen. They said goodbye and that it was nice meeting him. When everyone was gone, Donna asked Ren to come into her office and sat him down in the visitor's chair. She sat behind her desk and folded her hands on top.

“Ren.” Donna said. “Once again, you did a great job.”

“Thanks.”

“Is your head getting all jumbled with recipes yet?”

Ren laughed. “Is it ever! You do so many different things every day. It's almost a bit too much to keep track of.”

“I can make it easier for you.” Donna reached into a drawer and put a thick book on her desk. She crossed her hands over it and leaned towards Ren. “This is a special Cook Book.”

Ren's eyes widened and she nodded.

“It'll organize and store any recipes you learn, or that someone tells you about.” Donna said. “I only have the one, though. I intended to give it to Sandra, as she's the senior assistant in the kitchen.”

“You should give it to her, then.” Ren said and Donna had a surprised look on her face. “I'm not here to steal anyone's else's hard work.” Ren said and let a slightly crooked smile appear on his face. The fake Mitchell's words still stung, even though they weren't true. Ren thought. “I'm only here to learn how to cook.”

Donna stood up and came around the desk to sit on the edge of it, right in front of Ren. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure? This will make it so much easier for you.” Donna said and picked up the book.

Ren snorted a laugh. “If it was so easy to learn, wouldn't everyone be doing it?” Ren said and grinned. “Where's the fun in that?”

Donna nodded and walked back around the desk to put the book back into the drawer it came from. “Donan was right about you.” She said and took a big wooden box off the shelf behind where she stood. “He said that you were determined to learn as much as you could, no matter how difficult the task.” Donna put the wooden box on the desk. “I had my doubts, but after watching you work these last few days, you almost had me convinced... and then you turned down the book.”

Ren stared at her with wide eyes.

“Yes, it was a test.” Donna chuckled. “If you'd taken the book, you'd have had access to a very limited list of recipes. You would have been very happy with that, then never learned another thing about cooking, or try to pass it on to someone else.”

“Y-you're kidding!” Ren said, surprised.

Donna shook her head. “It's the only way for cooks in this profession to ensure that the people they teach won't try to teach others what they learn, once they know a couple of recipes.”

Ren thought about it for a minute. “So, what you're saying is... you don't want people to just dabble with it; you want to make real cooks, that can actually cook.”

She smiled and nodded.

“Does... does that mean I qualify for the real cook part?” Ren asked.

Donna slid the large wooden box over to Ren. “Normally, I'd wait a month or so before giving this to a worthy student, but you've proven to me that you're not just dabbling. You've introduced some innovative meals here that everyone likes.” Donna said. “The 'pancakes' alone were a huge success.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Ren smiled. He'd looked up the recipe on the internet and was surprised that it was so simple. They didn't have anything like maple syrup, but the recipe said that butter and strawberries were good, too.

Ren opened the wooden box and it was full of cooking items. 1 large pot, 1 small pot, a frying pan, utencils for cooking, silverware, 1 place setting of dishes (a plate, a bowl, a cup, and a saucer), various spices, a small grate to put over a fire, and a fire starting kit. It had pretty much everything needed to cook outdoors.

“Donna... this...” Ren said, kind of at a loss for words. “It's too early for me to take this, isn't it?”

Donna widened her eyes.

“I mean... I barely learned how to cook in a fully decked out kitchen. I don't have any experience with this.” Ren said and waved at the box.

“That's the whole point of it, Ren.” Donna laughed. “So you can learn!”

Ren smiled. “All right. I understand.” He said. “Thank you, Donna.” Ren said and stored it into inventory.

“Don't forget this.” Donna said and tossed Ren a book that was the same size as the Book of Runes he had.

“What...” Ren said and examined it.