“Have you heard? Boss Mag from Mamy Restaurant is going to have a culinary duel with the Invincible God of Cookery, Harris, at noon tomorrow!”


  “Really? However, who is the Invincible God of Cookery? He sounds like a big shot.”


  “Of course. He is the existence that represents the very top level of chefs on the continent. Tomorrow’s duel is definitely going to be very amazing!”


  “Should we go and watch it together tomorrow?”


  The news of the duel swiftly spread, and caused a small hoo-ha in the chowhounds’ circle.

  Harris had been famous for a long time, and he was rather legendary.

  On the other side, Mag was a new force that was rising up rapidly. He had already made quite a name for himself in Chaos City and on the Norland Continent within a short six months’ time.

  The duel of these two represented the top duel of chefs from the old and new generations. Hence, it naturally attracted many people’s attention.

  The Mamy Restaurant’s customers were also having an animated discussion. They were obviously very excited about the coming duel.

  Mag was very calm about that. It was the best to have a calm attitude when it came to duels.

  If the other party was an overrated chef, then he was going to win even if he simply cooked a dish of fried rice. If the other party was really an expert, then it would really be very interesting.

  Undeniably, this world indeed still had some very formidable chefs.

  However, until now, Mag hadn’t met a real expert yet. This made him feel a little lonesome.

  If there weren’t any opponents who could accompany him on his way to become the God of Cookery, wasn’t it going to be very boring?

  “Boss, the kebabs are going to be toasted if you don’t flip them over now,” Yabemiya reminded him right at that moment.

  “Oh……” Mag was a little embarrassed as he looked at the roast beef kebabs that were beginning to turn black from golden brown. He quickly turned all the 100-odd beef kebabs to the other side.

  The ladies bid their farewells, and left after the dinner service was over.

  As they couldn’t find a chance to catch any criminals last night, they gave up on going to the north of the city for the night. They would leave that to the other gentlemen.

  Amy was tired after playing for the whole day. She fell asleep even before the service was over, and was carried upstairs by Irina. Anna followed them upstairs too.

  Mag and Gina did a simple cleanup, lowered the curtains for the French doors, and then locked the restaurant’s entrance.

  “Thanks for your hard work, Gina. Go wash up and rest early.” Mag smiled at Gina.

  “Erm……” Gina replied, but she didn’t go upstairs. Instead, she looked at Mag with a blush, and hemmed and hawed.

  Mag laughingly asked, “What’s the matter? Is there something you’d like to speak to me about?”


  “I-I would like……” Gina’s cheeks began to turn a deeper shade of red, and her voice became softer and softer. “I would like to ask Mr. Mag to sleep with me.”


  “Huh???”


  Mag raised his eyebrows, and stared at Gina with an odd expression. In the middle of the night, a mermaid had actually extended such an invitation to him……

  “I’ve been having nightmares in the past few nights. I dreamt that a pair of terrifying eyes was staring at me as if it wanted to gobble me up……” Gina appeared to be rather fearful as her voice was quivering and tears were gathering her eyes. She pleaded with Mag, “Therefore, could you please sleep with me for a while? Just a while will do…… I don’t dare to sleep alone. Sob, sob, sob.”


  So, this girl was having nightmares.

  Mag heaved a sigh of relief, but why did he feel a little disappointed at the same time?

  However, looking at Gina’s piteous look, Mag couldn’t bear to reject her. But when he thought of Irina living in the next room, he dared not agree to sleep with her even if someone gave him all the guts in this world.

  “Oh, I see. Perhaps you have been waking too hard for the past few days. That’s why you have nightmares at night. I’ll tell you a bedtime story later, and I’ll leave after you fall asleep.” Mag thought of a solution. The others could even read a script together, so it should be alright for him to tell her a story.

  “Mm-hmm. Thank you, Mr. Mag.” Gina nodded and gave Mag an octopus hug excitedly.

  “Alright, alright. Let’s go upstairs,” Mag helplessly said after he finally pried Gina—who entangled him like an octopus—off him.

  After going up upstairs, Mag flicked a glance at the master bedroom. The door was shut, and Irina and the two children seemed to be already asleep.

  Mag heaved a breath of relief, but he still felt something was off.

  He didn’t do anything, so why did he have a sneaky feeling?

  “Are we going to sleep now?” Gina tugged on Mag’s sleeve. Because she was nervous, she stood closer than usual, and a softness pressed against Mag’s arm.

  “Let’s take a shower first,” Mag instinctively said.

  “No, we’re not going to sleep. Only you are going to sleep, and I will keep you company for a while. I will leave after you’re asleep,” Mag repeated gravely. He pulled back his arm slightly to avoid the awkwardness.

  “Mm-hm.” Gina nodded and brought Mag back to her room.

  That huge tank had taken up half of the blue room.

  “When did you add in the aquatic plants and fish?” Mag said with surprise after seeing the swaying aquatic plants and colorful saltwater fishes swimming in the tank. He hadn’t been in Gina’s room for quite some time. He didn’t expect she would transform the tank into a giant aquascape tank.

  “I asked them to bring the plants and fish to me when they came here to get the mud casings. It feels more like home this way,” Gina replied.

  Mag turned around, and saw Gina had already unbuttoned her sailor dress, and was now removing her stockings. He swiftly turned around. This maiden was really too carefree.

  Just as Mag was trying to come up with the exact terms to remind her that she couldn’t casually undress in front of men whenever she wasn’t under the sea, he heard the sound of water splashing.

  Mag looked up and saw a mermaid swimming in the tank carefreely while being surrounded by dozens of colorful small fishes. It looked just like a performance at the aquarium.

  Pop~

  Gina swam to the edge of the tank and popped her head out of the water. She tossed her golden-red hair backward, and smiled brightly at Mag. “Mr. Mag, do you want to come in and play together?”


  “No, no, no. Let’s forget about that.” Mag stared at Gina in the school swimsuit, and quickly waved his hands.

  “What story should I tell you……” Mag pondered seriously as he looked at Gina. Then, he said, “I will tell you a story about a mermaid.”


  “My story?”


  “No. It’s a story about a mermaid.”


  “Mermaid?”


  “The top is human, while the bottom is fish…… Yes, it’s your species, but the main character is not you.”


  “Oh.” Gina propped her head at the edge of the tank, and swayed her tail gently in the water as she looked at Mag expectantly.

  “Under the deep, deep sea……” Mag’s low and magnetic voice began to narrate a story about a mermaid in the other world.