Late at night.
When the last batch of customers left, the noise of the street outside the restaurant slowly faded, and the scent of food and alcohol lingered among the tables and chairs.
Mia stood behind the bar. After wiping the last glass clean, she placed it back on the shelf behind her, confirming that nothing had been left behind at the bar.
Her gaze swept over the girls in the restaurant who were tidying up the tableware. She clapped her hands, successfully attracting the attention of the staff.
"We're closing for tonight. Once you finish cleaning up, you can get some rest early."
"Yay!"
Syr reached out to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and carried the stacked empty plates into the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Ryuu stood alone in the corner, wiping the table.
As for participating in kitchen work?
As culinary black holes, Syr and Ryuu had long been strictly forbidden by Mia from approaching the stove to prevent them from poisoning the customers.
Mia looked around at the many girls tidying up the restaurant, but her eyes couldn't find the familiar cat-girl.
She asked, "Where is Anya?"
Syr suppressed the smile in her eyes and reached out to tuck the loose hair at her temples behind her ears. Her tone carried a bit of innocent schadenfreude. "I guess she's slacking off somewhere."
"That girl!"
Immediately after, Mia rolled up her sleeves and grabbed a rolling pin, storming away from the counter.
Syr placed the tray in her hand on the dishwashing counter and walked over to her companions who were preparing to return to their stations and finish up the restaurant's work.
Chloe was crouching beside the tables and chairs. She was wiping the seat cushions of the chairs with a rag. When she noticed Syr, she looked up.
Lunoire next to her stopped what she was doing.
Syr smiled and invited her friends, "Um... do you guys want to have some late-night snacks later?"
"Late-night snacks?" Chloe frowned, her expression slightly stiffening.
In her impression, Mia had never provided late-night snacks. If you wanted to eat, you had to make it yourself.
She looked at Syr with eyes full of confusion. "Does our restaurant provide a late-night snack service? Where are we getting late-night snacks from?"
Ryuu, who had been burying her head in wiping the table, noticed the conversation, and cast a curious gaze toward them.
Syr smiled and explained, "Um... it was shared by an Adventurer. Honestly, I think it tastes really good, so I asked Zephyr-san for some more. I wanted to save some for you all to try. It just needs to be heated up simply."
Zephyr .
Upon hearing this familiar name, the tips of Ryuu's ears twitched slightly.
She had a fairly deep impression of that new Adventurer from the Loki Familia. After all, that day, it was because of Zephyr that Syr's emotions had changed.
Since Zephyr was able to successfully become a member of the Loki Familia, his character must at least be upright.
Syr offered, "I'll go to the kitchen and heat it up. You guys just wait for me at the table outside. After eating, consider closing up. Anyway, the restaurant cleaning is almost done."
"Wait!"
Chloe hurriedly raised her hand to block Syr, her pupils filled with a hint of vigilance. "Let me do it. I'm more familiar with the kitchen."
If food that was originally 80 points was heated by Syr, would it only taste like 40 points?
Syr understood what Chloe was expressing.
So, is her own cooking really that bad?
However, this could be considered a good thing. At least she could get in touch with Zephyr, and maybe she could even ask him for advice on how to cook delicious food well. Loki surely wouldn't mind.
"Alright. I'll leave it to you, Chloe."
...
After simple reheating, the presentation definitely couldn't compare to the way it looked right out of the pot. But after the dishes were reheated, the fragrance unique to delicious food rose up, so rich that it enveloped the restaurant's kitchen area.
Chloe walked out of the kitchen carrying the tray and placed the dishes on the dining table.
She carefully examined the dishes in front of her—braised ribs, pan-fried meat, cheese pasta, etc.
The portion was a bit small, and although the presentation was a bit lacking, the fragrance was extremely enticing.
She reached out and rubbed her chin, giving an evaluation, "I feel like... it's actually quite delicious?"
"That's right."
Syr added, "It's precisely because it's so delicious that I asked Zephyr-san for extra, specifically wanting to save some for you all to try."
Then, it was time for the tasting session of the delicious food.
As the restaurant's head chef, Chloe was the first to start. She picked up a piece of braised Crab Pig rib and carefully examined the texture, before putting it into her mouth.
After just a simple chew, her pupils widened.
The saltiness and sweetness of the braised sauce spread across her tongue first, followed immediately by the sweet umami flavor of the Crab Pig meat, bursting out from the depths of the fibers.
What surprised her the most was the meat quality itself. It was firm but not dry. When chewed, it felt like the plumpest piece of meat from a crab's claw.
The key point is that this is a rib!
How on earth did he manage to do this?
Chloe's chewing movement paused. Immediately after, she picked up a piece of meat.
The charred outer crust shattered between her teeth, and the meat juices surged into her mouth along the root of her tongue. The spiciness wrapped in black peppercorns impacted her taste buds.
Finally, she chose to try the pasta in front of her. The milky white sauce coated the golden macaroni, with thin slices of truffle dotted in between.
Each dish exceeded the standard of the same type of dish in the restaurant. If it were freshly cooked, it would absolutely be a complete crush.
After tasting everything, Chloe put down her fork, her expression extremely strange. She turned her head to look at Syr beside her, her eyes churning with hard-to-hide complexity.
"Although I really don't want to admit it, whether it's the ingredients themselves or the cooking methods, it feels better than what I make."
"Mm."
Getting such high praise is only natural, right?
After all, when she first came into contact with the food Zephyr shared with her, she, as a goddess, was also amazed by that unique taste.
"Ryuu, do you want to try some?"
After all, it was her close friend's good intentions. Ryuu did not refuse.
She picked up a piece of braised Crab Pig rib and savored the layers of flavor on the tip of her tongue.
After a moment of silence, she looked up. In her eyes, a very faint recognition appeared.
"It is indeed quite delicious."