Compared to the raucous commotion outside the restaurant, the interior of the restaurant was quite calm and peaceful, with the exception of Yabemiya, who was pacing from side to side with an anxious look on her face. Ugly Duckling was asleep on the counter with its tail hanging down in a leisurely manner.

  A while later, Mag had finished showering, and emerged in a clean chef’s suit. Amy also came downstairs with him in a clean floral dress. Both of them looked very smart and tidy.

  After an entire day spent in the wilderness, a warm bath had alleviated their exhaustion. Mag was looking forward to the upcoming cooking contest.

  He had only taken the rib-eye meat from the Ironhide Bull, leaving the rest of the carcass as well as the skinned mutant Purple Golden Mink to the Rose Mercenary Squad. They could sell those carcasses to maximize profit, while Mag only required the rib-eye beef for his cooking. As such, that was the best arrangement for both sides.

  “Boss, are you really going to compete with him in roasting meat? I’ve never seen you roast meat before.” Yabemiya immediately turned to Mag with a concerned look.

  “I’ve roasted meat before; I did it earlier today,” Mag responded with a warm smile. It appeared that Yabemiya wasn’t very confident in him.

  “Big Sister Miya, Father’s roast meat was super, super delicious! I had it for lunch, and Father says he’s going to make roast meat that’s even more delicious for us tonight. We brought back a really large piece of beef with us.” In contrast, Amy was a lot more confident and joyful.

  Yabemiya looked at Mag’s confident smile, and her nerves were soothed significantly as she thought to herself, Boss is the best chef in the world; no dish can stump him. Even if it’s roast meat, he’ll surely be able to cook the best roast meat there is.

  “I believe in you, Boss. Do you need me to help with anything?” Yabemiya asked as her signature energetic smile returned to her face.

  “Now that you mention it, I really do need your help with something. This is going to be an outdoor contest, so we have to move all of the kitchenware outside.” Mag nodded in response as he made his way toward the kitchen.

  “Why hasn’t Mamy Restaurant’s owner come out yet? An hour is almost up, and he hasn’t even brought out his roasting oven yet.”


  “I know, right? Look at Ricky over there; he’s got his oven assembled, and he’s already started a fire. He’s got a few wooden planks set up around the oven, though; is he trying to prevent others from stealing his cooking techniques?”


  “That makes sense. His roast meat recipe and procedure are strictly confidential, so it’s only normal that he wouldn’t want others to see him cooking. I wonder if Boss Mag will do the same. If so, this outdoor contest wouldn’t be very interesting to watch, after all.”


  “Don’t worry, Boss Mag is super punctual. He always opens exactly on time, never even one minute too early or too late. There are still 15 minutes left; that’s plenty of time.”


  As time passed, the unrest among the crowd began to spread. Ricky’s Rotisserie was almost fully prepared, while the doors of Mamy Restaurant continued to remain firmly shut.

  Is this guy trying to bail out? Ricky stood in front of his oven, looking at the entrance to Mamy Restaurant with a cold smile. He wasn’t concerned in the slightest. An official document had been drafted and signed by both sides, so he was protected by the law. If Mag tried to bail out, it would count as a forfeit, and he would automatically be granted ownership rights over Mamy Restaurant.

  This contest isn’t a monumental one, but it has attracted a lot of attention as it’s an outdoor contest. Aside from gaining ownership rights over the loser’s restaurant, the winner’s restaurant will surely experience a surge in popularity following the contest. Scheer sat in her carriage and looked on at the spectators around Mamy Restaurant. There were already more than 1,000 people. A crowd of this proportion was not commonly seen in the Aden Square.

  The owner of Mamy Restaurant set the contest venue right in front of his own restaurant, and set the time of contest one hour away; he’s clearly a smart man. A smile appeared on Scheer’s face. She really liked dealing with smart people. This restaurant should be able to quickly reach a standard that would allow it to join the Chamber of Commerce.

  She had heard that the restaurant owner had had an altercation with two of the board members in the past, but those were still locked up in Bastie Prison at the moment, and they were both allied to Jeffree. As such, she wouldn’t be opposed to working with this restaurant owner.

  The owner of Ducas Restaurant was also on Jeffree’s side, so she needed a restaurant that could shake Ducas Restaurant’s position on her side. The well-established restaurants were all used to being dominated by Ducas Restaurant, but this new restaurant was experiencing a meteoric rise, thereby making it a very interesting prospect to her. After seeing the crowd gathered outside the restaurant, she became even more convinced that this was a restaurant she should throw her support behind.

  Hard work and dedication on their own weren’t enough in the business world. To succeed, one had to be smart as well. The same applied to the gastronomic industry. There was no lack of delicious cuisine, but there was only one Ducas Restaurant. She could see the same elements that resulted in Ducas Restaurant’s success present in this restaurant as well, so she was very interested in meeting its owner.

  Right at that moment, the doors of Mamy Restaurant creaked open. The commotion outside immediately died down as everyone turned toward the entrance in unison.

  The doors slowly opened, and an adorable half-elf little girl with her hair braided in twin pigtails emerged from within. Her bright blue eyes took in the large crowd outside the restaurant, upon which a surprised expression appeared on her little face. She pushed the door open wider and yelled into the restaurant, “Father, there are so many people outside! Are they all waiting for free kebabs?”


  The crowd fell even more silent. Everyone wore a peculiar expression on their face. They were indeed hoping to be picked as judges so they could sample free kebabs, but for such an adorable little girl to expose their intentions was a little embarrassing.

  “No, they’re here to see if our restaurant’s new dish will be worth purchasing.” Mag smiled as he emerged from the restaurant, followed by Yabemiya, who was carrying a metal roasting rack.

  “Put it over there.” Mag pointed at a patch of empty ground near the oven of Ricky’s Rotisserie. He was also rather surprised that so many spectators had gathered. He had set the contest venue in front of his own restaurant for convenience’s sake, and decided on a time of one hour later as he didn’t want to waste so much time on such a trivial matter. After all, the restaurant was resuming normal business hours the next day.

  However, it would be a lie to say that he wasn’t trying to advertise his own restaurant through this impromptu publicity stunt. He had grown up in a businessman’s family in his past life, and the thought process and mindset of a businessman had already been deeply ingrained in him.

  Mag turned to Ricky with a smile, and asked, “Before we begin, we should pick a few judges, right?”