Tohru couldn't help but swallow another heavy mouthful of saliva.
She stared down at the glistening bowl of meat-wrapped rice, her reptilian eyes wide.
Finally, the dragon girl picked up her spoon.
She quickly scooped a generous portion into her mouth.
The seared meat slice was too big to fit gracefully in one bite, but she didn't care.
The moment the savory, umami-rich pork and perfectly seasoned rice hit her tongue, Tohru went completely rigid.
Poof!
A thick, scaly green tail suddenly popped out from beneath her skirt, thumping wildly against the floor.
The dragon girl completely lost control of her human disguise!
"Mmm!!! Delicious!!!!" Tohru squealed, holding her flushed cheeks as she squirmed happily in her seat, completely lost in the sheer, overwhelming flavor.
When she finally came back to her senses, she froze.
She slowly realized that Rimuru, Ainz, and Saitama were all staring at her in stunned silence.
In an instant, the fearsome dragon girl was entirely consumed by embarrassment.
The once-proud, terrifying beast of destruction now looked like an ostrich desperately trying to bury its head in the sand.
It was utterly adorable.
"So, so, so... what does it taste like?" Rimuru asked, practically bouncing with curiosity.
Tohru shyly avoided the slime's gaze.
Her tone was completely stripped of the arrogant, condescending pride from just a few minutes ago.
"I... I can't really describe it. But it's truly delicious," she whispered hesitantly.
Right now, she seemed much more like an ordinary, flustered human girl than an apex predator.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to taste it myself!" Rimuru nodded very seriously—which was an impressive feat for a blob.
Tohru didn't say anything more because she was entirely too busy eating.
Her mouth was already stuffed full of rice and pork.
Her true draconic appetite revealed itself in full force. In an instant, she devoured the entire plate of meat-wrapped rice with a satisfying crunch.
She let out a very unladylike, incredibly satisfying burp!
"Boss! Another serving of meat-wrapped rice for me, please!" Tohru raised her hand high like an eager elementary school student.
'A proud, terrifying dragon of chaos? Where is she?' Yuto certainly couldn't find one in his restaurant!
In the end, Yuto made an astounding seven servings of meat-wrapped rice for the girl.
Yet, her petite body showed no unusual changes whatsoever.
Her stomach didn't even look the slightest bit bloated.
Yuto was genuinely amazed. She was truly worthy of being called a dragon, her appetite was easily among the largest the small restaurant had ever seen!
"Amazing!!! She actually ate seven servings!!!" Rimuru cheered, happily bouncing up and down on the counter.
Yuto glanced at the cheerful slime and sighed silently to himself.
'Rimuru, you eat an absurd amount too...'
"Whew—I'm full. I'm so full," Tohru exhaled with a deeply contented smile.
Actually, for a dragon's true appetite, seven servings of rice weren't nearly enough to fill her up.
It was just that Tohru had already eaten a snack before coming to this restaurant.
Things like roasted salamanders, for instance.
If, an hour and a half ago, Tohru still believed that charred salamanders were the most delicious food in the universe, then right now, Yuto's meat-wrapped rice had firmly claimed the number one spot in her heart!
If she had to give it a rating, the rice would be a 1 followed by countless zeros.
Salamanders might barely scrape by with a 4.
The dragon girl realized her previous life had been tragically deprived of good food.
"It seems human cuisine suits the palate of a proud dragon quite well," Yuto smiled leisurely, leaning against the counter.
Tohru's face instantly burned bright red.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong," she mumbled, bowing her head in shame and apologizing for her earlier arrogance.
Her instant submission made Yuto want to laugh.
For a terrifying dragon, she was actually incredibly easy to handle.
"It's fine," he smiled, shaking his head slightly.
He hadn't taken her earlier insults to heart at all, teasing her with her own words was merely a joke.
Tohru scratched her head sheepishly, still deeply embarrassed.
"By the way, Tohru, I'd like to ask a question," Yuto said.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"How old are you this year?"
"Well... probably around one thousand years old... I'm a bit fuzzy on the exact number," she answered casually.
Hearing her answer, everyone in the shop froze.
One thousand years old!
The combined ages of all four people in the diner wouldn't even reach a fraction of that number!
"One thousand years old!!! I couldn't tell at all!!!" Rimuru squealed, sounding incredibly excited and thrilled by the lore drop.
"One thousand... One thousand..." Saitama muttered to himself, doing the math in his head.
He estimated he'd probably live to be eighty at most.
Hearing someone casually drop 'a thousand' was a massive shock to his system!
Ainz took a deep, nonexistent breath.
He remained relatively calm, primarily because his undead passive, [Force Calm], had instantly triggered to suppress his shock.
"What's wrong?" Tohru looked at Yuto curiously.
"No, it's nothing. I've just always heard that dragons have incredibly long lifespans, so I wanted to ask." Yuto's smile was a bit helpless.
He never would have imagined the cute, energetic girl sitting in front of him was actually a thousand-year-old grandmother.
"Ah! I have to leave!" Tohru suddenly realized something and shot up from her stool.
She had to go!
She had only come to this restaurant today out of sheer curiosity.
Originally, she had planned to just take a quick peek inside the restaurant and immediately leave.
As for danger, she wasn't scared at all.
As a powerful dragon of the Chaos Faction, she had fought in brutal wars for hundreds of years.
Moreover, if there really was danger, she could simply open a portal and return directly to her own world.
But once she entered, the food was so good that she ended up spending hours here!
Now finally full, Tohru realized the severity of the situation.
The sudden, unexplained disappearance of the daughter of the Chaos Faction's leader would have a massive, devastating impact on the political situation in her world.
She needed to hurry back!
If she delayed any longer, she was genuinely worried her father might do something apocalyptic.
"Alright. Seven servings of meat-wrapped rice at 3,500 yen each. I'll round off the 500 yen, so your total is 24,000 yen," Yuto said, calculating the price.
The main expense of the dish was the premium meat slices.
After all, it was high-quality pork provided by Totsuki, naturally, it couldn't be priced like ordinary supermarket meat.
But even so, Yuto had given her a generous discount.
He had originally considered pricing it at 4,000 yen per serving, but reduced it to 3,500 yen, bringing the total to 24,500 yen.
He waived the extra 500 yen just to make the math easier.
Yuto didn't think this amount of money would be a problem for Tohru.
After all, she was a mighty dragon!
In countless myths and legends, dragons were the ultimate hoarders and guardians of treasure.
How could she possibly not have a mere 24,000 yen?
However, Tohru suddenly went completely silent.
Her face began to radiate a deep blush.
Yuto immediately understood.
'Ah. Sometimes dragons don't have wallets either.'
"Hah! So this is a fearsome dragon? Eating a massive meal without the money to pay for it? How truly amusing," Ainz laughed, seizing the perfect opportunity for payback.
The slight hint of mockery made Tohru's face turn even redder!
Her cheeks grew so hot that Yuto could literally feel the heat radiating across the counter.
'So when a dragon gets shy, their face really does become burning hot. My strange knowledge has increased again!'
"Shut up, undead! I just forgot to bring my hoard today!" Tohru roared at Ainz in extreme shame and annoyance.
She then turned back to Yuto, looking incredibly embarrassed.
She didn't even dare to lift her head. "I... I really forgot to bring it today! Tomorrow! I promise on my life I'll bring you the money tomorrow!!!"
Tonight was officially the most awkward day in Tohru's thousand-year life.
Usually, her meals were entirely taken care of in her father's castle.
If she went out, her retainers would always pay for her. It wasn't that she didn't understand human commerce—it was just that tonight was an accident!
Out of curiosity, she had slipped into this small restaurant.
Then, also out of curiosity, she tasted the food.
Next, she completely lost control and ate seven servings...
Only now did she realize she didn't have a single coin on her!
Yuto sighed helplessly.
Forget it, there was nothing he could do.
He usually showed leniency to customers who couldn't pay, just like he did with Rimuru the first time.
Back then, Yuto hadn't even planned to ask the slime for anything, though Rimuru had insisted on paying with a magical healing potion.
Truthfully, Yuto didn't have massive financial needs for running the restaurant.
Wealthy patrons like Erina and Kaguya could keep the restaurant running for months with just a single, absurdly generous tip.
That was why he was so relaxed about pricing his dishes for his poorer regulars.
"It's fine. If you really don't have the money, you can just pay next time," Yuto said with a faint, reassuring smile.
Seeing the mighty dragon girl practically bursting into flames from shame, he could only smile and try to comfort her.
"Really? Is that okay?" Tohru lifted her head, hoping she didn't misheard him.
"Yes, it's fine."
Tohru's expression instantly shifted from mortification to pure, radiant joy.
"Boss, I'm grateful! I swear upon the name of Tohru that I will repay my debt tomorrow!" she promised solemnly.
Among dragons, swearing by one's true name carried a massive unbreakable significance.
Yuto didn't know about draconic customs, but he just waved his hand, indicating she didn't need to go that far.
"It's fine. Didn't you have something urgent to do? You should hurry and go."
As soon as he reminded her, Tohru's expression completely changed.
Her solemn gratitude instantly turned frantic.
"Boss, wait for me tomorrow!" she yelled, pulling open the door and vanishing directly into the night.
Yuto shook his head with a quiet laugh and began collecting the empty dishes.
It had to be said, Tohru had eaten incredibly cleanly, there wasn't a single stray grain of rice left on any of the seven plates.
He carried the stack to the sink, washed them quickly and gave the wok another scrub.
When he came back out to wipe down the counter, he glanced up at the clock.
It was exactly 1:35 AM.
Saitama, Ainz, and Rimuru still hadn't left.
If Yuto remembered correctly, this was the first time Saitama had ever stayed at the restaurant until the early hours of the morning.
He looked over at the baldy who was still chatting animatedly with the Overlord and the slime with a silly cheerful smile plastered on his face.
Yuto figured Saitama had simply lost track of time.
"Saitama, it's 1:35," he called out kindly.
Saitama froze mid-sentence.
He slowly turned his head to look at the clock.
His expression instantly shifted to sheer, unadulterated horror!
"Oh no! My healthy sleep schedule has been completely disrupted!" Saitama gasped.
"It's just staying up late once, Saitama. Don't worry about it," Ainz waved a dismissive bony hand.
Back in his human days, Suzuki Satoru used to pull brutal all-nighters for his corporate job and his guild all the time.
Now that he was an undead pile of bones, he cared even less about sleep.
"Staying up late causes hair loss," Yuto murmured softly as he wiped the counter.
Saitama's face instantly went rigid!
He slowly raised a trembling hand to touch the sparse fragile hundred strands of hair left on his shiny head.
These hairs absolutely must not fall out!!!
If they did, he would truly become completely bald!
"Kamisaka! The bill!" Saitama panicked, immediately making up his mind to sprint home and dive into bed.
Yuto chuckled, surprised that the invincible hero cared so deeply about his thinning hairline.
'Is this... a strange obsession of his?'
"Alright. Special offer: braised eggplant. That'll be 500 yen," Yuto smiled.
Just as Saitama was frantically digging into his worn coin purse, a skeletal hand gently stopped him.
Saitama looked up at Ainz in confusion.
"Ainz, what's wrong?" Saitama gazed at his friend, suddenly feeling a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach.
It felt as if he and Ainz were no longer walking the same path in life...
This terrifying illusion left Saitama somewhat startled.
How could he doubt his best friend?!
"Saitama. Today's meal is on me," Ainz said, his deep voice impossibly calm.
Those words hit Saitama like a physical blow!
In the past, his friendship with Suzuki Satoru had been forged in the fires of absolute, crushing poverty.
Thus, the "Poverty Alliance" was born.
They always split the bill down to the last yen—paying for someone else's meal was an unimaginable, reckless extravagance!
Now, Ainz's actions were undeniably sending a clear signal.
'Saitama, I have money now!'
The Poverty Alliance... had only Saitama left.
"Ainz... how could you..." Saitama whispered, betrayed.
"Saitama, don't you get it?! I crossed over with my entire guild base!" Ainz tried to explain, but it was too late.
The tragic reality fully set in.
His once-poor, coupon-clipping best friend, Suzuki, had now become the filthy rich, nouveau-riche Overlord, Ainz Ooal Gown.
For a moment, a deep, crushing sense of loss completely enveloped Saitama.
'Ainz... we truly are no longer on the same path!'
"Kamisaka, keep the change!" Ainz declared generously, dropping two heavy gold coins onto the counter.
hey were the currency from YGGDRASIL, but now that he was in a real world, the coins had materialized into a solid pure gold!
Yuto stared at the fortune sitting on his counter, momentarily at a loss for words.
He looked over at Saitama and suddenly felt a sense of pity for the bald man.
Two good friends had agreed to stay poor and struggle together... but now, one of them had suddenly struck it rich.
It was a very specific, deeply painful kind of betrayal, and Yuto understood it completely!
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