Story 7: Chapter 10 (Patreon)

Story 7: Isekai Restaurant

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 10: Medicinal Cooking ___________________________________________________________________

- Silas -

I sat with the girls who managed the business in the city.

They were here for a certain request.

“So you want to sell Healing Potions as a product for our faction in the Supernatural world?” I asked.

“Yes. We did some market research and found out that the only faction which sells such potions is the Devil faction and one particular House of the Devils called the Phenex House in particular. They are called Phenex Tears and from our investigations, the effects of those tears are not even close to the Restoration Potions. Not to mention they are in very short supply. We can use this chance.”

“So what is the problem?”

“The Hipokute Herbs used to manufacture the products are hard to obtain and even Tempest can only produce a limited amount of them. But we heard that you can use them as Salad Dressings for certain food items. Even the prices are cheap. We could always buy the Salad and use the Herbs from there to produce the potion. It won’t go against the Restaurant’s policy either.” Tanya suggested. I considered it and yes, there wasn’t anything against any Restaurant policy. I have no say over what they do with the food after they bring it out.

“Can you give me some numbers?” I asked and Tanya was the first one to bring out the reports.

“F-five hundred million?” I stuttered, looking at the price. “For one?”

Damn, I used those so casually.

“For the most concentrated versions, yes. They have several advantages over the Phenex Tears as they can regrow limbs which no other healing methods in this world can do, can be applied too, so even if the person is not able to consume them, they can work easily. Last and not the least, they work on Spiritual Beings so in a way they can heal spiritual injuries which again is nigh impossible to heal in this world.” Tanya brought out a small laptop and a projector and explained with a presentation.

She seemed quite enthusiastic about this. I wasn’t surprised.

This was big money.

Still, I thought with a world full of mythological creatures, healing limbs and spirit wouldn’t have been so rare.

Then I remembered a certain something. “How much money do we have? Can we spare a few hundred million?”

“A few hundred million wouldn’t be a problem since we did get a lot of loot in the war. But we have those in gold and other valuables.”

“I can manage that. I will need at least a hundred million. I have something in mind.”

The gold was produced and I sold it to the System and bought something I had seen a while ago.

“Cure Water. when it is splashed on the wound. It can cure almost any damage the body has received. Even if the whole body, including half the brain was smashed, it can still restore them back in a moment. Several litres of this can even revive the dead but that part is a bit iffy. The person or soul can choose not to be revived and then the body will be possessed by other spirits. It’s better to not test that part.” I shut them off before they can think about anything crazy.

“So we can sell these?”

“Sure. I will try making something using both the Hipokute Herb and Cure Water. Cure Water is extremely good for physical injuries. Not so much for Spiritual ones but Restoration Potions have some measure of limitation as well. If the user has too many Magicules, they cannot be healed easily as these Potions need to use magicules for healing. But if we can merge both of them, for example make a Restoration Potion using Cure Water and Hipukute Herb? What else?”

“That’s… why not. We can make different grades and sell them accordingly. Then next on the list of things is packaged food. We can sell different food items from the Restaurant. This will help you expand your business well. Although you will need a lot of skilled workers for this.” Tanya explained.

I did have a similar contract with Luminous too.

“Lastly, there were requests about weapons and equipment.”

“What?”

“Umm, the Frost Sword I traded with the Governor General of the Fallen Angels. He wanted to know if we could trade more of them for a price.” Lavinia said.

“Ah, I see. First of all, do we have enough for our people and then enough stock?”

“We do. We are not selling anything above Unique Weapons and even they will be sold through auctions. But even then, enchanted equipment is greatly in demand here. The Elves of Jistav are highly skilled in enchanting equipment. Especially since Miss Irene has taken over as the manager of the place. We can provide a good source of income for those enchanters and the Kingdom of Jistav in general. In fact, we can make agreements with the Blacksmiths of Tempest and run a joint business.”

“Alright but restrict weapons as much as you can.”

“For the business side, we are planning to get Anime and Games related to the Manga we sell. There are a few plans to manufacture our brand of merchandise for them too. It’s a massive business opportunity and we need to focus on it well, especially at the start.” Tanya went on to explain various things.

Starting a new faction was an incredibly costly affair so we needed as much as we could get. Our meeting finished late at night where we decided to go with our plans.

_________________________________x_________________________________

The girls were out to get swimsuits today for the visit to the beach.

I took this time to try out the new recipe. Creating a potion using the Hipokute Herb and Cure Water.

I could easily make one with my Skill but if I do that then the whole industry will be dependent on me alone which is not a healthy mechanism.

So, I asked my Dantalion to figure out a method which can be used by everyone and Dantalion has figured out a method which is feasible.

I was trying it first

Helel guided me through the steps and I processed the herbs.

Even the Full Restoration Potion I got from Rimuru could only extract around 99% of its extract. But with the help of Helel, there was no chance of mistake.

The product which came out a shining golden in colour unlike the crystal clear Cure Water and the blue coloured Hipokute Herb.

Dantalion scanned the potion for a while and the results were stunning.

This potion could heal almost anything, even cure diseases, even curses and restore the body to their biological prime. Meaning, someone with just a detached or even fragment of a soul could be restored back with the original physical body.

This was no less than a boon for anyone with a physical body. Just one drop of it can work like a full glass of cure water and Restoration Potion.

More diluted and Lower grades of the potion could be sold for lower prices.

I could make a dozen of these and the stocks would last for a year depending on overall demand.

Now I need to get the staff for my shop. I guess I will go and see what Nakiri-san was talking about.

His school was for chefs.

I could recruit someone from that place.

– Azazel –

"So, this Natsu kid had a dragon inside him. A very strong one at that. But Albion didn't recognise it." He asked.

"Yes."

"And there was another Dragon called Veldora whom Albion could feel the strength of."

"Hmm." Vali nodded.

"Then Lavinia's boyfriend, this Sil-kun guy was quite close to them. Even going so far as to discuss the construction of an arena in the city."

He nodded again.

Which means he was either someone high up or at least related to someone high up.

"Could you tell how strong he was?"

The boy turned his face aside with a snort. "He didn't seem like much."

… yeah, he didn't believe that.

Anyways, what he found out about them, just made them even more of a mystery.

But their products on the other hand. The potion and the sword were things which could not be ignored. There was a reason why the Phenex Tears were such a big deal. It's because they had a monopoly over it. Another product, even slightly inferior, would cut into the market for them massively.

Not that it was any of his problem.

He would actually benefit from it. The Fallen weren't sold Phenex Tears. More precisely, Phenex Tears weren't supposed to be sold to the Fallen Angels.

After all, they were still enemies.

They had to buy those with several times the price through other sources.

As for the weapons, there was a reason why the Church, despite being such a bitch about the Pagan Gods, still hoarded their holy and weapons.

If some faction could still produce that level of weapons and equipment, it could raise the level of the faction.

Normally, such people would have been attacked and torn apart by other factions and distributed among the groups.

It wasn't hard to find an excuse or just create one if the profits were good enough.

But after the show of power by their Princess, he doubted anyone would try that.

Not to mention the other Nine Tailed Fox whose power level was no less than the Princess or the so-called 'Lord of the White Night' behind them who was even stronger than the Princess. And now, the two dragons of unknown powers from Vali's words. Then there was that unknown human Magician, August and the Mysterious Lucifer.

One place containing all these mysteries.

But no matter what, this was also a great chance to win something for his faction.

“Oh and he was a Devil or at least felt a little like a Devil from his smell. At least that’s what Albion told me.”

A Devil?

“What exactly did he look like?”

“Black hair, blue eyes. He looked like a pretty boy. Not strong.”

Azazel noted down the details. He will have to get an image and investigate.

Why was there a Devil in the place?

But first….

Nurarihyon was sending his grandson to the place to associate with the children there. He looked at the boy who looked like he wanted nothing more than to leave this boring conversation and run around and thought of something.

"Say Vali, you said this kid, Natsu was good at fighting and your fight was undecided. Do you want to visit him for a proper match this time?"

– Silas –

The girls were quite excited about going to the beach in Ray-san’s world. But we needed to complete some work before we took our vacation.

Due to the new potion, the plans had to be changed entirely.

Sometimes I doubted that I was a fake devil and Tanya was the real one.

I left the decisions regarding the price of things to her because she was more experienced than us in that regard.

She set up prices which made me dizzy, considering I had been having trouble with money until a few months ago.

Today, I was waiting for a few guests.

Yesterday, I had asked Sanzaemon-san about hiring some people as chefs in my Restaurant. He was quite excited about this. Coincidentally, Setsuno-san and Jiro-san were also in the Restaurant at the time. We were all invited over to his School. There was some sort of competition going on and he wanted to show us his students by having us taste their food as judges. I can then decide whom I want to select to work for me.

The door to the Restaurant opened and Grandma Setsuno and Jiro-san entered.

“Hohohoho are you excited to see the youngsters of a different world cook as well, Silas? I have been wondering how the new world would look since I got the invitation.” Jiro-san laughed.

Today, he was dressed much differently than his normal style. He wore a blue jacket and black trousers while Grandma Setsuno was in her usual pink attire.

“Yes. It’s always a fun experience to go to a new world. Till now, I have only been to supernatural worlds but apparently Nakiri-san’s world is quite normal. So I don’t think you will be able to see any good ingredients.”

“Hahahaha good food is cooked when people pour their hearts into it. After all, what’s better than sitting around a dining table with your friends and family and sharing food with them.” He said and laughed.

“Yes. I am more interested in seeing people, especially young children compete against each other, pushing each other to newer heights as they explore the flavours of the ingredients which they were blessed upon by the Gods.” Setsuno-san smiled.

“Hmm very true. I packed in something as a gift for Sanzaemon-san as well.” I said.

The guy was doing me a favour by helping me out with this. It was only natural that I did so.

“You are a good boy, Sil-chan.” She smiled.

During this time, the door to the Restaurant opened again and this time it was Erina who came in followed by a purple haired girl.

“Good Evening Silas-sama, Setsuna-sama, Jiro-sama.” She bowed politely to us.

I smiled remembering the girl’s attitude when she first came to this Restaurant.

“Good Evening Erina-chan. And your friend is?”

“Yes. She is Hisako Arato, my aide.” Erina introduced.

The girl bowed deeply. “My name is Hisako Arato. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” She greeted.

“Hohohoho what a polite child. Don’t be so formal. We are just an old couple who want to taste some good food today. Just treat us as such.”

We followed Erina into a limo outside the Restaurant door.

“This looks like Tokyo. Outer areas.” I said, looking around the area.

“Yes. Our Academy owns this area.” Erina answered.

“Can you tell me something about this Academy, Erina-chan?” Grandma Setsuno asked.

I too paid attention as this might be helpful to me to understand things better.

- Senzaemon Nakiri -

He stood in front of the group of selected students and staff, each the best of their own fields. The Elite Ten and the three finalists of the Autumn Festival.

Beside him were Gin Dojima and behind the curtains stood another person he hadn’t thought he would see in a while but had invited nonetheless and was happily surprised..

“My dear Staff and Students. Today, I have come to present you with a once in a lifetime opportunity.” He began loudly.

The start of the speech attracted the attention of everyone present in the room.

“You are all the best of the best which our Academy can offer the leaders of the next generation of the food industry all over the world in this, there is no doubt.”

The students paid attention and he continued.

“But the opportunity you can win today is something any chef in this world can only dream of.”

Murmurs ran through the place.

“You might not gain name, fame or even immense riches during this” He observed the disinterest appear on the faces of a few people at this but continued nonetheless, “but I, Nakiri Senzaemon, swear this on my name and the honour of the Nakiri Family that the experience you gain from this will be something no one else in this world can provide you with.”

The room erupted in a cacophony of noises at his proclamation. He raised his hand and the room slowly calmed down. He continued.

“We are about to receive a few guests today. They are coming here to see the Academy and one of them is planning to choose a few students to work in his Restaurant. You all will be giving your best shot and presenting the guests with a dish of your choosing. The winners will be decided by the guests. Obviously, you are allowed to reject. No one will be forced to do anything against their wishes. I would still ask that you consider this opportunity seriously.”

He dictated the terms of the performance and left the room.

“Just what is so special about this opportunity, old man? With that oath you just too, even I am curious now.”

“Pay respect to the Director, Jōichirō.” Gin scolded but he could see the curiosity in his eyes as well.

“They are an old couple and a young man who owns a small Restaurant.”

“What?”

He then went on to explain what he had experienced and the mysterious place which the Crossroads Restaurant was to his close students.

“They might look simple but they are anything but. For the likes of us, they might as well be higher beings. Anyone who gets selected by them will be able to experience the ingredients and cooking styles of different worlds, of Chefs who can tear apart continents and planets just for the sake of cooking an ingredient, of worlds where cooking is everything. It’s both a dream and a nightmare for Chefs like us.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“They are strong but that doesn’t always mean harmful. They are very humble and easy to get along with.”

As he was explaining everything to them, the phone in the room rang. Erina had called to let them know that she had brought them to the Academy and they were heading over there.

“They are here. Get ready.”

- Silas -

What the fuck is this place?

Isn’t this too big for a cooking school?

I mean I knew Nakiri-san was a big deal, what with the limo and the food bills he offered so casually but I was of the thought that he probably owned other businesses or something and the Academy was only one of these establishments.

But as it turns out, this Academy was the best in the whole world.

Grandma Setsuno and Jiro-san didn’t even blink an eye.

A pass rate of less than ten percent.

I guess this must be what people meant when they said ‘Hell’s Kitchen’.

We stopped in front of what looked like a huge auditorium.

“This is Chandra's Room. Please come in.” Erina led us.

On the gates of the auditorium was a known face.

Mana Nakiri stood there waiting for us.

Erina went and joined her as she bowed lightly.

“Setsuna-sama, Jiro-sama, Silas-sama, please welcome to our humble Academy. We hope you will enjoy your time here.” She greeted us.

The surrounding people all paused as if they were in a dream as they gawked at us or more precisely, the scene of Mana greeting us.

I guess it could be due to her being the daughter of the Academy’s director.

We were led inside and the place was huge. It was in the form of a stadium where all the seats were already full of students and thirteen students stood in the middle of the stadium.

Nakiri-san and two other people welcomed us.

“We have arranged for an exhibition from our best students of this batch. I sincerely hope you will like them.”

The exhibition started as we sat along with Nakiri-san and Gin-san. In the meanwhile he introduced us to another Chef, Jōichirō Yukihira.

That guy reminded me a lot of Rimuru in his happy go lucky style.

“What do you think of our students? Are they to your liking?” Nakiri-san asked.

“Hohohoho they are all so young and energetic, bursting with so much potential. If they are trained well and provided with good food, I can see some of them growing to much greater heights….in a few decades.” Setsuno-san commented lightly.

“A few decades?” Gin asked.

I sensed he was more surprised than angry at what might be considered an offending statement on this occasion.

So I looked at Nakiri-san and asked, “Do they know?”

He nodded. “Gin is the Head Chef of the Nakiri Group of Hotels and a former student of mine. Both him and Jōichirō have been among the best this Academy has ever produced. I trust them fully.”

“Good then.” I turned towards them and explained. “This is a very high praise from Grandma Setsuno. In her world, people can live to great ages as long as they eat good and delicious food. A couple hundred years is really not an exaggeration. I know of people who have lived for thousands of years. To reach such a level in a few decades, don’t you think this is a good enough praise for everyone?”

Their mouths were wide open at the reveal but none of them questioned anything.

Nakiri-san explained about the students and their speciality while we observed them.

Grandma Setsuno took a liking to a red haired girl who was currently gutting a baby alligator in a way which made me have weird feelings and not the bad sort of weird.

Apart from her, there was another guy with brown hair, who was cooking a traditional fish dish. Nakiri-san said that his family owned a traditional Japanese restaurant. His cooking style did have the hints of such an upbringing.

“Those two children.” Grandma Setsuno pointed towards the red haired girl from earlier, Rindo Kobayashi and a red haired guy Soma Yukihara, who happened to be the son of Jōichirō. “They would flourish in our world. They seek adventure and ingredients to satisfy their curiosity. That child, on the other hand, will get people who genuinely appreciate his craft.” She pointed to another one, a white- haired guy, Eishi Tsukasa. “He looks like the sort to completely dedicate himself to his craft. He would do well.” She then turned towards Jōichirō. “You have a good son. He is blessed with great Food Luck.” She commented, making us confused.

Jiro-san explained what Food Luck was and then asked me who I took a liking to.

“Isshiki Satoshi, Tōsuke Megishima and Ryō Kurokiba also look interesting. The first two are quite calm and that is a very good quality among chefs to have. The last one on the other hand is like a wild animal.” I said before I realised what I had said. Thankfully, no one seemed to mind it.

“Hohohoho he is like Jiro-chan when he was young.” Grandma Setsuno laughed, making everyone laugh as well. With the atmosphere lightened, I continued.

“He is not afraid to do what he wants. Which is exactly the opposite of Erina-san. Erina-san’s cooking style is very meticulous but she… how do I say this? She is too stiff. As if she cannot accept anything else than what she knows as the rule. In a way, it narrows the scope of her creativity. She will grow better if she were to grow out of this habit of hers.”

“You noticed that too. Yes, the child will grow a lot if she can leave that habit of hers behind.” Grandma Setsuna commented too.

Nakiri-san winced a little but nodded nonetheless. He was probably already aware of this.

Soon, the food was served.

And hot damn, these guys were talented.

This was some of the best food I had ever eaten. Well as far as dishes made from normal ingredients could go.

We gave our verdict which was quite predictable.

The Elite Seats from number one to three won easily.

It was the lower side which changed things and caused some commotion.

“What nonsense is this? Are you telling me that my dish was inferior to these newbies?” A guy with blonde hair and glasses complained. “To begin with, who even are you three? Since you have entered this place, I have searched for you three but haven’t found anything. Do you people even know about cooking?”

“Etsuya Eizan! You will hold your tongue.” Nakiri-san got up angrily.

“Now now, Nakiri-chan, don’t get so excited. It is only natural for people to complain when they don’t understand their mistakes and think of something as unfair. Shouting loudly and reprimanding them won’t solve the underlying problem. You are an educator. So, clear their doubts and make them understand the decision. And since I made such a decision, let me explain it to this child.” Grandma Setsuno chided.

The man looked a bit embarrassed but then calmed down and apologised, while the rest of the crowd was gawking at her in stunned silence.

She turned towards the guy and continued. “Your dish was a salmon fish curry, am I right?”

“Yes.” the boy answered gruffly.

“Coincidentally, the dish prepared by this other kid, Ryō Kurokiba, was also the same. So why was it that I graded him above you? The answer is simple. Your dish had eight hundred and sixty seven flaws compared to his.”

“What!”

Several exclaims went up at her statement.

It seems Grandma Setsuno was angry and was about to teach the kid a lesson.

“That's nonsense!” The boy retorted.

I mean I know. Even I would have the same reaction if I didn’t know the truth about who she is.

“Then let me list them out for you and show you how to make one correctly. Help me down, Sil-chan.” I did and she walked towards the cooking platforms.

Nakiri-san quickly had the ingredients prepared for her.

And then she started schooling the school.

“First step towards filleting a salmon is speed. The longer you take, the more flavours are lost.” She picked up a knife and a salmon and then just waved her hand. Or at least that’s what it must have looked like to most of the people but I saw it.

Three hundred and forty four slashes in just a second. The fish fell to the table, with all the scales removed and each bone separated.

Even the pieces she had cut were precise to a fucking nanometer.

Dantalion confirmed it.

The entire hall descended into a period of silence and then a few moments erupted at the display of speed.

However things became silent when she spoke again. “You took eight minutes and nineteen seconds to prepare the fish and several slashes which were completely unnecessary. Not to mention, you let the fish lay outside for too long. Twenty three unnecessary and wrong steps. If you do not believe me, you can confirm it from the cameras. I am sure everyone was recorded.”

I could practically hear the verbal slap on the guy’s face.

“Next step would be to capitalise on the speed and quickly preserve the flavour.”

Over the next eight minutes, she schooled the guy, recounting each and every one of his flaws.

By the time her dish was completed, the guy was on his knees, with a vacant look on his face.

And then she walked to him, her dish covered with a tray and revealed it to him.

The fish was shining.

It was fucking shining as if made from gold.

The aroma which burst out from the small dish covered the whole auditorium and even I found myself tempted.

“Here, taste this.” She offered the guy who hesitated for a bit and… he started crying. The guy dropped to his knees and cried.

“All of you, have a try as well.” She offered the judges and the participants the dish and I tried it and my mind was drowned in the flavours for a while.

I knew I was good but even I couldn’t reach this level right now… at least not without cheating with my new Skills.

Everyone had similar reactions without fail.

We finished off the whole thing soon and moved into a private room, led by Nakiri-san. This time however, even the staff were following us, their postures humble as they followed us.

I took this chance to bring out my gift. “Thank you for entertaining us today, Nakiri-san. This is a small gift from me. I hope you like it.”

I presented him with a big flask.

“What’s this?”

“A little something I made for today.”

He opened the cap of the flask and the aroma filled the room.

Even Grandma Setsuno looked at it in surprise. “Did you figure out the recipe, Sil-chan?”

“I was lucky to come across it.”

Nakiri-san took the opportunity to pour the content into several bowls. A small aurora appeared on the bowls when the soup settled.

The people in the room except the three of us gained dopey grins as they drank the soup before realising that they had finished it.

“Century Soup. I have been trying to figure out the recipe for so long. This tastes exactly like the one we had tasted years ago. Good job.”

The rest of the bowls were given to the participants and I offered them a position in my shop.

All of them were still students and were thus only permitted to work part time at different timings and that too because Nakiri-san made an exception for them.

If any of them wanted to, they could join the shop later on when they finish their studies or even follow Grandma Setsuno to her world and learn more about cooking.

Jōichirō-san meanwhile was very interested in my Restaurant and offered to help out for a while.

I accepted.

- Yasaka -

She led two of her most trusted advisors to the territory of the White Night Group.

Nurarihyon and Azazel had been invited as well, just as before.

This time however, Nurarihyon had brought his successor with him.

Azazel brought the kid from last time as well.

Today however they were invited over by the Princess of the Oni to discuss trade.

Apparently they had decided which products they were willing to trade and were about to discuss these matters.

Just like before, they were led to the room but this time, there were two other figures around the Princess.

The little girl from last time and a black haired maid.

“Welcome everyone. I apologise for calling all of you on such short notice. It’s just that we have completed the list of things we are planning to sell. And I thought it would be good to inform you all about them.” She passed them all files. “If you have any doubts about any products, we can give a presentation.”

She took the file and took a look at the list.

Equipment including armours mostly. There were weapons but only in auctions and private commissions. They did provide the list of enchantments on the equipment.

It went from a normal ‘Sharpness’ Enchantment to esoteric ones like ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘Elemental Enchantment’.

She even had to take a second look to see if what she read was correct.

The next in line was food.

It’s just that the cost and effects of the food products were utterly ridiculous.

She could understand why the Princess said about the doubt part earlier. A few of these products were priced in US millions even.

She held back her thoughts and went to the next part.

The Healing Potions and her breath hitched by what she had seen.

The prices were as she had expected. Even her faction procured some Phenex Tears despite their rarity and she knew how expensive they could be. Something rivalling them would be equally expensive if not more.

Lesser Healing Potion: Heals minor injuries. $100,000 US dollars.

Greater Healing Potion: Heals Fatal injuries. $5 million.

Full Healing Potion: Heals all injuries(Except missing limbs and internal organs). $30 million.

The Full Potion would be the equivalent to a Phenex Tear but the price was slightly higher compared to the tears.

It was the later ones which made her pause.

Lesser Restoration Potion (Limb Regrowth): Restores lost limbs. Works on older injuries.  $250 million.

Greater Restoration Potion (Internal Organ Regrowth): Restores Internal Organs with the exception of the Brain. $500 million

Full Restoration Potion: Fully Heals all kinds of injuries, missing limbs and even missing internal organs. $1 billion

There was another entry which was listed as a Special Auction Item with no price or description beside it.

The Golden Elixir.

“The Price of the Full Healing Potion, which is described to have the same effect as the Phenex Tears, has a price higher than the Phenex Tears. Why should we not buy them from the Devil faction instead?” She pointed out.

Surprisingly, it was the little girl who replied. “Sure. You can. If you can, that is. From our market research, we have discovered that the Phenex Tears that you are talking about is priced at $25 million… for the Devil faction. It’s just that they are not readily available even for the Devils, let alone other factions. This allows Devils, especially the Phenex House to sell them outside the Devil faction for anything from $40 million to even $70 million depending on the desperation of the buyer. This allows them to keep the supposed price of their product at $25 million… because they know you will never be getting it at that price… ever.”

This made them all quiet as the girl continued. “Our Full Potions on the other hand are readily available for all who buy from us at the same price. You don’t have to face any kind of middleman when buying it. Moreover, our products are more readily available than theirs. You don’t have to wait long to buy one. So obviously we have to charge more to retain our profits. This is business after all.” The little girl spread her arms as if she was truly powerless.

She could feel her lips twitch at the girl’s words.

Nurarihyon laughing didn’t help either. “Well she got you on that one.”

“Umm, this is?”

“She is Tanya Degurechaff, our Head of Trade.”

She looked around and sure enough, she was not the only one with an open mouth.

“Umm Tanya-chan is very smart.” The Princess defended.

“I can see that. But, don’t take this the wrong way but some of the products on the list are things we have never even heard of, let alone seen. It’s a bit hard to believe all these.” Azazel stated suspiciously.

“Obviously we understand. As such, we have arranged for a demonstration to show everyone the effects of the Potions.”

“Then I would like a demonstration after the discussions. Up next, about these weapons and armour. They are only up to Unique Grade. Are there any higher grades?”

“Yes. There are but we cannot make any currently. Moreover they will not be for sale even if we could make them.” The Princess replied.

“Can we order any custom Enchantments?”

“It will have to be a Private Commission and then you can have a talk to our Blacksmiths and Enchanters.”

“Yes, finally. These food items… are they real?” He questioned oddly.

“Everything we have presented to you is real, Governor General Azazel. This is a meeting between factions. I will not jest here with things which carry the honour of my faction and more importantly the honour of our Lord behind it. Every food item you see… is real and has effects as stated. As a matter of fact, we have even prepared a banquet for you all which includes some of these items.” She replied.

They were led for the demonstration to a nearby building which seemed to be a prison of sorts.

Inside one of the cells, there were a couple of people, both Humans and Youkai, tied up in chains to the walls. A few Oni guarded the Prison and each of them were Ultimate Class.

But she noticed something else too.

“Are those?” She looked at the guards in one corner of the cells.

“Elves? You have elves here? I thought they mostly lived in the north.” Azazel asked, surprised.

“Our Lord encountered them and offered them a place to stay. They have joined us since then.

- Azazel -

He eyed the Princess incredulously.

Elves were extremely prideful and would rather die than submit to those whom they didn’t approve of.

Old Man Odin had been annoyed by them for a long time but they hadn’t submitted to him. This same pride however also caused them to become almost extinct.

But to think there would be Elves here and that too like this.

He was getting more and more interested in their Lord of the White Night now.

The little girl, Tanya entered the cell but turned to them before doing so and told them to observe from there.

She summoned a rifle from somewhere and walked up to one of the humans in the cell. “Who sent you here?”

The guy didn’t answer, even had the guts to look down on the girl. Then again, most would do the same. If they didn’t know that this little girl had the magical power of an Ultimate Class being.

However even he didn’t expect the next move. The girl used the blade on the tip of the rifle and directly shoved it in the guy’s guts eliciting howls of pain from the guy.

“Again… who sent you here?”

The guy gritted his teeth but didn’t answer and only glared at the girl.

He shouldn’t have done that. It just earned him another stab, puncturing his other kidney.

This was repeated a few times until the guy fainted. She then looked towards them through the glass door. “Lesser Potion.”

She poured the blue coloured potion on the two puncture wounds and they healed at a visible pace.

The prisoner was awakened and the process was repeated.

By the middle of it, he broke and answered.

The Principal Clans had sent them to spy on the Youkai. This particular idiot had gotten way over his head and tried to capture an Oni and take them away for extracting information.

Safe to say, he was captured and thrown in the prison in a matter of seconds.

The girl demonstrated the Greater Potion on him and verified the effects and then turned her attention to another one of the Humans who was shivering at this point.

He broke down easily and turned out to be from another one of the Principal Clans.

She still injured him thoroughly just to see if he changed his statement.

He did.

He was from the remnants of the Utsusemi Organisation, a plant inside the Principal Clans. He was sent by those who had been outside the country during the time of ‘The Great Purge’ to cause strain between the Clans and the White Night Youkai to make both their enemies fight.

“The girl is quite something.” He commented and was answered by the maid.

“Yes. Tanya-san is one of the rare humans with great potential.”

Somehow, Azazel had a feeling that the potential which she meant was not what he was assuming.

What’s with these maids anyways. Always so serious.

Even the Lucifer's maid-wife was like this.

They watched the Full Potion being tested.

The girl moved to a Youkai next but surprisingly, rather than asking any questions, she directly severed one of his limbs.

“WHY! I was about to answer everything.” The Youkai howled.

The girl just shrugged. “I know but I had to test this and you are the only one left.” With that she poured a potion on the severed arm and in front of the stunned eyes of the people of the room, the bone regenerated followed by the muscles, flesh and then the skin. In a matter of moments, the entire limb was regenerated.

Azazel observed that the new limb was lighter in colour than the older one, more proof that the skin was newly formed and thus of a lighter colouration.

The questioning started and this time surprisingly it was someone from Yasaka’s faction. The vixen had turned pale but the next words from the prisoner returned the colour of her face. Turns out that it was a plant of the previous Kyoto Youkai who was working under Hagoromo Gitsune. They wanted to find more about the ones who had destroyed Abe no Seimei’s clan, the Gokadoin House as they were also the descendants of Hagoromo Gitsune. And this is where things got worse.

The youkai was sent by Yasaka’s husband, who was also supposedly a plant of the previous Kyoto Youkai.

Yasaka was fuming by now. He didn’t need to know Senjutsu to know what she was feeling right now.

She turned towards the Princess. “Can I test the Greater Restoration Potion and the Full Restoration Potion myself?”

The Princess just moved aside.

Seriously, these women were dangerous.

The shrieks of the Youkai lasted for over an hour before she tested an Organ Restoration Potion and the Full Restoration Potion after another hour.

She came out later with barely any expressions on her face. “We agree with the trade agreements. I apologise but I will have to excuse myself today. I have some cleaning up at my house to do.”

“If you need anything, do contact us. We are allies after all.” The Princess reassured.

“Thank you.”

“Should I send some of my boys? It could be dangerous. For your daughter if not for you.” Nurarihyon offered.

This made the woman pause a little.

“You can send your daughter here. The same goes of any old and children. I assure you that no harm will come to them.” The Princess offered. “Your territory is right next to ours so it shouldn’t be hard for anyone. I can send some people to assist the evacuation.”

“I….thank you.”

The Princess commanded several of her people and a squad of twenty Ultimate Class Oni gathered.

Seriously, was everyone in this place at that level?

But it looked like the meeting would have to be postponed.

At least they verified the products. Now he could plan on what to order and as smug as that little blonde demon had been when quoting the price, she was right.

These potions did cost them lower than what they used to buy the Phenex Tears for.

Now if only he could gather some more information to know what kind of people they truly were.

He suddenly remembered something and turned towards the Princess.

“By the way, there was another potion. The Golden Elixir. What does it do?”

- Silas -

We had returned back from Totsuki Academy late at night. I had taken the opportunity to show Jōichirō-san the place and he said he will commute from the Academy to work.

Next morning.

I served Rimuru and Ainz their dishes. The place was full with guests from Rimuru's world. Ramiris had become a full time resident of the Monster City and came here for all her meals.

Veldora, well, he more or less stays here.

Now, there was a new resident, Demon Lord Dino, who visited the place often. Although, looking at the guy, he would rather take a nap than eat.

His two followers did enjoy the food from my Restaurant.

Today, even Milim had come for a quick break. Frey had been making her work hard. She often sneaks out to play around in Tempest.

“So Veldora went around and found a Cultivation style young master?” Rimuru asked, making me sigh.

“They were some kids who wanted to be Heroes by taking down a Dragon. They had some fancy weapons and thought they could take on the world. Stupid fools.”

“Oh, were they strong?” Ainz asked, interested suddenly.

“The idiots were already beaten by Veldora before I got there. I did get their weapons though. It’s dangerous for idiots to carry such weapons.”

“What kind of weapons are we talking about here?” Rimuru asked.

“One was a Grey Fog, another was like a ball of light and the last one was a golden spear of sorts. It was a bit weird though.” I answered.

“Weird?”

“Hmm. It was enchanted with Holy Magic and reacted to Helel when i used it to separate the spear from the stupid kid.” I explained.

“See, I told you it was a Spiritual Weapon. That guy was definitely a young master.” Veldora puffed his chest.

“Can I see the spear?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” I brought out the spear and handed it to him.

Rimuru scanned it with his Raphael. “Oh yes, it is reacting to even Raphael. Lemme try with other Skills.” He tested his other Skills. “It reacted to Uriel too. Other than that no other Skill got any kind of response for the spear.”

“So it only reacts with the Angelic Skills. That’s a clue. But then again, it does have Holy Magic so maybe that could have something to do with it.”

“Could be. Raphael-san says it has a will of sorts inside it. A fragment of some kind.”

“Really?” I asked, quite surprised at the revelation. I had gotten into the meeting with my subordinates after coming back and hadn’t really checked the Spear of anything for the matter.

“Wait, Raphael-san can reconstruct the soul and I can use a Magisteel body to give it shape. Let’s see what kind of spirit that guy has. It shouldn't be a problem inside the Restaurant, right?”

I shrugged. I had full confidence inside my Restaurant.

“Okay, I have been working on this technique for a while now.”Rimuru rolled up his sleeves and started using Raphael.

I too used this chance to analyse the magic using Dantalion.

He collected the fragment or will inside a crystal core to make a Nucleic Core of sorts for it so that it could act as a soul of sorts.

“Actually, hold on a second. I might have something to help you out.” I brought out my new Golden Potion to test.

I mean, this was a good opportunity to test things out.

“What’s this?” Rimuru asked, interested.

“I was working on a new Potion using another ingredient from my Restaurant. The result turned out to be something else entirely.” I passed on a vial to him to test it out.

He absorbed it within his palm to scan it using Raphael.

“Wow.”

“What’s it?” Ainz asked, getting interested by Rimuru’s sudden remark.

He explained the results to him, resulting in me getting orders for 5 such potions for Ainz. He paid for the Cure Water and I prepared the rest. With the amount of help they had given me, I would be an ass if I charged them for this.

“Here goes nothing.” Rimuru picked up a vial of the potion and poured it inside the Nucleic Core before again sealing the whole thing.

The core started glowing with a golden light as the customers all looked at it in amazement. The core was radiating very high amounts of Holy Power.

Thankfully I had enough resistance to those. Not that anyone would be harmed within the Restaurant without my will.

The light took the form of a human. An old man with a long white beard and white hair and sharp blue eyes looking directly at Rimuru and me.

“Helel, Raphael.” The figure said.

“Umm, excuse me but who are you?”

“I?” He asked and we nodded. The man seemed to understand something and smiled.

I don’t know how to describe the smile. It was as if he was looking at children and yet there seemed to be a hint of nostalgia in those eyes. “I am known by many names. Some call me Adonai , Elohim, YHWH but to most people, I am known simply as… God.”

….

….

….

….

“Huh?”

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Author’s Note:

This chapter took a day longer.

Got busy with some work.

And when I came to this point, well I decided to stop.(Beta Note: entirely unintentional but suffer this utterly evil cliffhanger. Just Because!)

A lot of things happened.

Silas went and recruited a chef to help him out.

Shuna made agreements with everyone.

Tanya got to do her Evil Loli thing.

Grandma Setsuno flexed on the entire Totsuki Academy.

Next chapter is going to be something but I guess I don’t need to tell you that.

(PS: I wonder how the Patrons who voted for ‘The Farmer’ Snippet over another chapter of this for next week feel now?)

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.