Ludwig woke up to a routine. After kickstarting his metabolism with a glass of water, he went to work on his body. A way to grow stronger turned into a habit.
Once he finished with that and cleaned his body, he popped into the restaurant and swept across the interior with his eyes. It was quiet, still, not even a hum of the runes could be heard.
It always fascinated him how by a push of a button or a flip of a sign, this empty hall could be filled with laughter and chatter and vice versa. It's not magical, no. But something deeper which he could use as a lesson was there.
No matter how good he was, once he became arrogant enough and stopped trying to be the better version of him, all of his customers could be gone.
With his determination meter recharged, Ludwig walked towards the kitchen with a cheery hum. In his battlefield for the past few months, he opened the stasis cabinet first. His time mana stirred as the door opened, a sign that they recognized what was inside.
Ludwig let his mana out like a proud father. It hovered towards the inside of the cabinet before dispersing in three separate threads. Each of those threads were heading towards a different yet same destination: the Time Stop rune.
The Indigo Blue rune lazily blinked, like a starving warrior in the war. But he was too familiar with the rune to be surprised by it.
In essence, rune was just a result of mana manipulation given form through sets of magical language. Something which was still working even without a caster to perform the process. The only thing it needed to work was supply of mana. Whether directly infused or from crystals that held mana.
And the method he used to keep the runes all over the restaurant alive was obvious: The first one.
Once his mana inside the Stasis Cabinet entered the three sets of rune inside, colour returned to the mana. From Indigo Blue, the runes took brighter and brighter shades of blue before settling in cyan.
Nodding and reigning his mana back in, Ludwig's eyes scanned around the shelves inside the cabinet. On the top most shelves, he could see the leftover pre-fried fried chicken from days ago, chunks of spine and neck of a pork which was also a leftover from the Galbijjim he served several days ago, and a container full of Kimchi.
When his eyes landed on the cabbage smothered with reddish paste all over it, he couldn't help but to sigh. Everything about this restaurant was great, and the menu he had in his head was numerous enough for him to not run out of recipes in the near future.
However, his thirst for knowledge screamed. He wanted more. On top of that list was home-made Kimchi.
He often served Korean food, something which influenced him a lot to start cooking. And for a restaurant to not have their own brand of Kimchi was eating at him. It's not for the lack of trying on his part. He just didn't know where to start.
He was never a professional chef in his past life. Most of the food he cooked was for himself. And as a home-chef, there were few foods he couldn't cook because of the constraint of space and suppliers.
One of them was Kimchi.
To have another refrigerator to house the kimchi alone was beyond what his budget could do back then. Because of that, he never got started on making Kimchi.
Of course, he had watched the process on Ytube before. But like what mothers always said, memorizing it by doing was better than just watching. The process he watched on the videos never stuck in his head. More when it had been a decade or two since he watched it.
Shaking his head to force the disappointment he felt for himself back to the dark corner it was crouching at, Ludwig continued to look around the Cabinet.
On the second shelf just beneath the first, he could see piles of cleaned seafood, chopped vegetables, and two bowls of batter. The batters looked almost identical, beige coloured and all. But Ludwig knew better. One was lighter than the one viscosity wise. The one for Korean Pancake was thicker than the one he used for Tempura.
Last but not least, the bottom most shelf housed an assortment of the menu that had somehow become the bread and butter of this restaurant: The drinking dishes. Skewers, Tapas, and many other finger foods from several different nations blend peacefully there, waiting for their name to be called to be delivered into the fire and to the stomach of the customers.
After he was done looking at what was ready to be cooked today, Ludwig's mind roamed to his usual schedule. Tomorrow would be the market day and the big preparation day for the whole week. So like any other restaurant owner, he would have to exhaust what was there.
In other words, today's menu would be a leftover showcase.
Half and Half Korean Fried Chicken.
Galbijjim.
Tempura Assortment.
Korean Pancake.
And,
The finger foods.
Once he finished thinking about the menu, he thought about the barrels of ale still stored inside his Storage Dimension. He hadn't counted how many barrels had been sold, so he decided to use this opportunity to check.
When Ludwig willed it open, space itself bent with a faint crackle of mana. Not a door, not a portal, but an absence of everything that made sense. A blank horizon spread before him: no sky, no ground, no color, just endless depth defined by light alone.
The Storage Dimension wasn't meant to be seen. It was meant to hold. No decorations. No ornamentation. Only order.
The ground beneath his feet wasn't stone or wood, but a neutral plane of compressed mana, translucent and faintly reflective, shimmering like still water under glass. Each step echoed softly, though there was no air to carry the sound.
All around him floated islands of inventory. Hundreds of translucent cubes suspended in the void, each one catalogued by his mana signature. Within them rested every conceivable item from his journeys.
From mundane things like pan and clothes, to extraordinary things like Kraken's magic crystal and Demon King's heart.
It wasn't a warehouse. It was a thought made solid. Every item was exactly where he remembered leaving it. He didn't look for things here, he remembered them, and they appeared.
With a thought, big cubes filled with barrels appeared in front of him. They were suspended, floating in the middle of the air.
From the sigil stamped on the barrels, it was easy to know which one held what. There's only 4 barrels of Amberdraft ale from the original 10 he bought. In the case of the Stonebrew Stout, 7 barrels were still present.
And the most expensive of his selection, the Blackforge Ale, 9 barrels were still there.
They were selling as he expected. Not everyone appreciated the taste of the Stout, while not everyone had a deep enough pocket to treat themselves to Blackforge Ale.
If it was a normal restaurant, they would shuffle the menu around because some might spoil if they were not sold fast enough. Thankfully, he had this Storage Dimension. Nothing would spoil inside. He's free to offer any selection available in his restaurant. Of course, as long as the price was right.
Noting that he might have to go to the dwarven settlement again in a few days, Ludwig willed another portal to open, but this time, to bring him back to reality.
The same quiet waited for him there. But just like usual, it didn't last long.
The first sound was heavy, slow, measured, ootsteps like small earthquakes. Zhark's.
"Morning, boss," the bulky demon rumbled as he ducked through the doorframe. His shoulders almost scraped the upper beam.
"Morning," Ludwig replied, faint amusement tugging at his lips. "Try not to break the floor before breakfast."
Zhark snorted softly and stood still. For a man built like a mountain, his movements were precise, almost delicate, a reminder that strength didn't have to be clumsy.
Next came the twins.
Valerie burst through the door like sunlight personified, apron slung over one arm. "Good morning! Smells like fried chicken already!"
Vilera followed, calm as ever, adjusting her cuffs. "There's no smell. You're imagining things again."
"It's called optimism."
"It's called delusion."
"It's called teamwork!" Valerie declared, ignoring her sister entirely as she tied her apron.
Ludwig smiled faintly. "Just don't burn the oil this time."
Yes, for all the sunshine and rainbow she had, one thing she didn't have was finesse. After a series of unfortunate accidents in the kitchen, Ludwig banned the bundle of joy from entering the kitchen ever again. Except for the time when they had to prepare the ingredients.
"I didn't burn it, I enhanced the flavor!" she protested.
Vilera sighed. "Enhanced it into smoke, maybe."
Their banter was its own morning alarm, echoing through the kitchen.
Finka arrived next, slipping in quietly but confidently. "Morning, Chef," she greeted, already reaching for a tray.
"Morning. You're on garnish and tempura setup."
"Understood." She tied her hair with a practiced twist and set to work.
The small young demon that had a hair mirroring his own was a blessing. She was not the loud type. But not entirely quiet like Bilo either. But when she was called to do something, he could be sure without looking at her twice that she would finish it splendidly.
She was someone Ludwig would pick to be the next one in line after Bilo in nurturing. While Bilo possesed the quality of enduring all the boring grind in the kitchen and the talent, Finka had her own quality. Namely hard work and willingness to listen to command.
With her in the kitchen, Ludwig thought maybe he could become like that certain chef with anger management issues. Just telling her to make something whatever it costs.
And finally, right on cue, came Bilo.
The demon boy peeked through the door, clutching his apron to his chest. "G-good morning…"
"Morning, Bilo. Prep station two is yours," Ludwig said softly. The boy's posture eased instantly, and he scurried to his post, knife already in hand.
Looking at five pairs of eyes locked into him, Ludwig let out a chuckle. Then, without a prompt, his voice dipped and his face turned serious. "Okay. Now that everyone is here, I will tell you about our menus for today.
"Tomorrow is market day and weekly prep day. So today, we will use all of our remaining leftovers like usual. There's still some Pre-fried chicken on the Stasis Cabinet. There were also pork neck, tempura batter, Jeon batter, seafoods, vegetables, and the drinking dishes.
"However, the quantity wouldn't be enough for the whole day. Bilo, start making more fried chicken. You have seen me making it so many times by now, I know you can do it yourself."
Ludwig stopped talking and looked at Bilo at that moment. The shy demon looked surprised, his mouth slackened and his eyes went wide. However, just as fast as it came, they disappeared.
"Understood, boss." Bilo nodded, his face became firm.
Ludwig let out a small smile, satisfied with his answer. "Good." Then he looked at Finka. "Finka, just like I said before, you are on Tempura and garnish. Try making the batter your own, I'll come check it later."
"Understood." Finka answered firmly.
"The rest of you. Raw ingredients. Zhark, you are with me. Valerie, you are with Fina, and Vilera, you are with Bilo. Understood?"
Everyone nodded their heads and answered.
Within minutes, the rhythm of preparation filled the air. The soft chop of vegetables. The hiss of heating oil. The clatter of pots as Zhark tested their balance. Valerie humming a song slightly off-key, Vilera's calm voice correcting her sister, Bilo whispering recipe steps under his breath, and Finka quiet but precise movement.
It wasn't noise,
It was music.
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