"Alright, then I'll take my leave." Fafnir's words made Lucoa and Kanna pause.
"Are you leaving right now?" Lucoa's voice was soft, perhaps due to her big heart.
Fafnir merely nodded.
"Then I'm leaving too," Kanna followed up.
After saying this, she looked at Yuto again. "Boss, you must remember to deliver the gift to Shouko tomorrow," the naive and cute young dragon told Yuto earnestly.
Yuto smiled and nodded.
He really wanted to pat Kanna's head, but she was a giant dragon after all, so he figured he'd better not.
Just in case something happened.
"Mhm, thank you, Boss," Kanna jumped down from the chair and bowed to Yuto.
"It seems tonight end here. If everyone is leaving, then I'll leave too. It's a pity, I didn't run into Suika tonight." Lucoa spoke with a bit of helplessness.
She liked to drink, meeting Suika last night was like meeting her match.
Drinking alone tonight made her feel disappointed.
"Suika also waited a long time for you," Yuto recalled.
When Suika was still here, she kept talking about Lucoa.
"Then it seems I can only come earlier tomorrow." Hearing Yuto's words, Lucoa sighed softly in resignation.
A smiling expression hung on her face again.
After saying goodbye to the three dragons, she left.
Now, only Tohru and Yuto were left in the restaurant.
For a moment, it became quiet. Yuto planned to use this time to conceptualize the rules of crossing world.
From now on, anyone who wanted to travel to other worlds through the restaurant must follow these rules.
If not, it would be troublesome in the future.
As Yuto sat thinking, the dragon maid's eyes became sparkly, as if she thought of something joyful.
She was excited but also nervous and expectant, the fleshy tail behind her swayed.
"Boss..."
Clatter—
Just as the dragon maid spoke, the sound of the restaurant door opening interrupted her.
This made her annoyed!
Yuto signaled Tohru with his eyes and looked at the entrance.
It was Enkidu.
He had said he'd return when he left, but only a few minutes had passed.
Yuto looked at him with a confused gaze.
He originally wore a flawless white robe. But now it was stained with dust.
As if he had been through a scuffle.
"Enkidu, are you okay?" Yuto asked with concern.
He was met with Enkidu's gentle smile. "Thanks for your concern, Kamisaka. I'm fine."
"That's good. Did the King of Heroes head back?"
"Yeah, Gil tripped a bit, so he went back to rest."
Yuto was full of doubt listening to Enkidu's words.
'Tripped? That's too fake...'
...
"My king, are you alright?" Siduri looked at Gilgamesh on the throne with concern.
At this moment, Gilgamesh expression wasn't good.
The corners of his mouth were bruised!
"If I didn't wasted my magic fighting the King of Conquerors, I definitely would've won!" Gilgamesh pounded the throne.
This strike aggravated the injury on his arm.
Hiss—
'That hurt.' But he still had to maintain a king's demeanor!
"Pfft." Siduri laughed softly.
She was probably the person who understood Gilgamesh the most, besides Enkidu.
She understood everything.
"Hey! What are you laughing at?!"
"No, it's nothing. But my king, don't you really need a healing potion to treat yourself?"
"Hmph! It's just a minor injury, I don't need it!" Gilgamesh stubbornly tilted his head up.
This made the loyal female retainer feel amused.
...
Enkidu only stayed for a moment before leaving.
Originally, Yuto thought he'd stay in Uruk for a long time. But things didn't develop as he thought. Enkidu said tonight was enough.
He was satisfied and joyful.
Yuto said goodbye to him.
After Enkidu left, Yuto turned his gaze to Tohru.
"Tohru, what were you trying to say earlier?" Yuto asked.
The loyal employee smiled with silliness and innocence. "Boss, can you teach me how to cook?"
The dragon maid scratched her head, looking at Yuto with an expectant smile.
Her fidgety posture showed her embarrassment.
Seeing Tohru like this, Yuto smiled. "Of course I can."
The words Yuto spoke brought a look of pleasant surprise to Tohru's face.
In the blink of an eye, the dragon maid appeared in front of Yuto and hugged him.
"That's great! Boss is the best~~~"
This time, the cute dragon maid didn't use excessive force like last time. She controlled her strength well.
Yuto smiled softly in resignation.
He stroked Tohru's hair as if petting a small animal.
"Alright, alright. Since you want to learn how to cook, I'll definitely teach you. Don't be so embarrassed," Yuto said with a light chuckle.
The dragon maid hugging him nodded cheerfully.
She looked like a kid who got some candy.
"By the way, Tohru, why do you suddenly want to learn cooking?"
By now, Yuto and the dragon maid were in the kitchen.
The first dish the employee wanted to learn was meat-wrapped rice.
This was the dish that truly changed the dragon maid's fate.
It was also the first dish Yuto made for her. There was a special emotion attached to it.
As Yuto demonstrated the steps, the dragon maid beside him watched his movements.
Suddenly hearing Yuto ask this question, Tohru acted like a startled rabbit.
Her expression became nervous and shy as a blush crept up her cheeks.
As if a secret had been exposed.
Seeing his employee looking so cute, Yuto smiled. "It's fine. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."
Yuto said with a light chuckle.
He wasn't the type to obsess over getting to the bottom of things.
The employee scratched her head in embarrassment. "Actually, there's no special reason. It's just that I've been eating the Boss's cooking all this time, so I want to try cooking for the Boss too..."
The dragon maid spoke up.
Her voice was quiet, and her face was shy. She didn't dare to look at Yuto's face.
"I see." A soft smile appeared on the corner of Yuto's mouth. A cheerful joy rose in his heart as well.
"Tohru," Yuto called her name suddenly.
The dragon maid perked up. "What's wrong, Boss?"
"Thank you."
When Yuto said thank you to Tohru, Tohru face became silly again.
Her blushing face wore an innocent and radiant smile. It possessed a strange power that made people feel calm and joyful.
Yuto chuckled. "Watch closely!"
"Oh! Mhm, mhm!!!"
He gave the dragon maid a reminder, and she nodded hard.
...
Yuto sat at the bar counter.
Right now, he was waiting for his employee to serve him the dish.
The dragon maid bustling about in the kitchen looked like she knew what she was doing.
She had imitated Yuto's movements closely. He just didn't know how the finished dish would taste.
'Hmm—if the restaurant continues to expand, I'll definitely have to find a sous chef.'
Watching Tohru bustling about, Yuto thought of this.
Judging by the current trend of customers flooding into the restaurant, further expansion is necessary.
By that time, Yuto alone won't be enough.
Even the most highly skilled chef has times when they can't manage everything.
Plus, Yuto had some new ideas too.
He wasn't an omnipotent chef either. He specialized in Eastern cuisine.
Whether it was his current country or his hometown, it could all be called Eastern-style cuisine.
But looking further ahead, there were all kinds of specialty cuisines around the world.
Many of which Yuto had dabbled in but hadn't researched in detail. For instance, when he made a cake for Hatsune last night.
He was good with Chinese-style pastries, but with Western-style pastries, he was lacking.
Yuto wanted to learn more things too.
But learning more is just learning more. If he could find a few chefs who excelled in areas different from his... That would be great.
From then on, the customers would have more choices.
After all, running a restaurant is mainly about serving the customers.
'I'll just wait for an opportunity.' Yuto sighed helplessly.
Finding a good chef isn't simple.
Especially for a chef position in this restaurant, the requirements are unique.
"Boss, Boss! Hurry up and taste my cooking!!!" The dragon maid's excited voice rang out from the kitchen.
Yuto dismissed his thoughts and looked at his employee.
A helpless curve appeared on the corner of his mouth.
'Good grief, she's just like a kid.' His inner complaint carried a sense of fondness.
But the next moment, his eyes caught sight of something weird.
'Eh?! Where's Tohru's tail???'
As he marveled inwardly, the dragon maid had already arrived in front of him carrying a plate.
Clack—
She set down the plate and looked at Yuto with expectation and excitement.
Looking at the slices of meat on the meat-wrapped rice, Yuto couldn't help but frown.
'Why are they tinged with green???'
"Tohru, this meat..."
"Hehe! It's my tail! It's super delicious!!!"
Before Yuto could finish expressing his doubt, Tohru proudly revealed the truth.
Yuto's hand, which had just picked up the spoon, dropped it.
...
In the end, Yuto didn't take a bite of Tohru's tail.
It wasn't just because of that bizarre green color.
But rather, the moment he thought about how this was meat from Tohru's body, his mind couldn't accept it.
In the end, a sad Tohru ate the meat-wrapped rice she'd made herself.
After eating her own tail, it grew right back.
This left Yuto shocked. 'What kind of self-cycling constitution is this?'
"It's really delicious, why won't you eat it?"
Watching the dragon maid act cute and cry to him pitifully, Yuto sighed.
The gap in thinking between humans and giant dragons was just too vast!
Afterwards, the dragon maid made another portion of meat-wrapped rice.
This time, the meat-wrapped rice was a normal dish. Yuto took a few bites and felt it was pretty good.
After he gave this review, the dragon maid was thrilled for a moment before getting disappointed again.
"If it were my tail, it'd be even tastier."
"Absolutely not!"
"Aww... alright."