“I suppose you won’t be able to eat today. Do you want me to send you somewhere else?” the coachman asked Mag as he turned back and lifted a corner of the curtain up.

  “It’s alright. Here will do.” Mag handed the coachman three silver coins, and got off the carriage.

  “Boss Mag is over there!” Someone spotted Mag very quickly, and with his shout, all eyes were on Mag.

  “Boss Mag, we demand an explanation from you!”


  “An explanation won’t do. We will need at least two bowls of tofu pudding. Hmph.”


  “Boss Mag, I brought my whole family here for hot pot. You’re not going to stand us up tonight, are you?”


  The crowd exploded with complaints and dissatisfaction for waiting so long outside.

  “Hm?” The coachman turned to look at Mag. He did not expect this situation.

  “Actually, I……” Mag looked at the agitated customers, and attempted to explain today’s situation.

  A strong lady lining up in front waved her hand, and interrupted Mag. “Alright. Speak no more. Just go back and cook.”


  “Yes, yes, yes, hurry along.”


  The customers all agreed. They almost picked him up, and stuffed him into the restaurant.

  Because of all the enthusiastic customers, Mag really could not bring himself to announce that the restaurant would be closed for the night. He thought for a while and nodded, saying, “Alright, please wait 10 minutes. Our restaurant will start its operation soon. However, because we didn’t do any preparations beforehand, we won’t have many of the dishes on the menu, including hot pot, which requires us to prepare the soup base beforehand.”


  “Sigh……”


  There was a sudden sigh from the crowd.

  “Alright, I’m happy as long as you open for business,” someone muttered begrudgingly, and a group of people immediately nodded in agreement.

  “Be good, okay. Don’t cause trouble. If you do, I’ll beat your heads off,” Amy said with a gentle smile as she jumped out of the carriage.

  The crowd was suddenly silent. They wanted to laugh, and at the same time wanted to cause a ruckus, but they were also worried that the little boss might be serious, so they could only hold it in.

  “That’s it?” That coachman was shocked when he saw the calm customers.

  “Thank you, sir,” Mag thanked the coachman, and carried Amy to the restaurant.

  Gina and Firis also alighted.

  “My masters didn’t come today?” Amy exclaimed as she turned back to look at the long line.

  “Maybe they have something on today?” Mag was a little shocked as well. Krassu said that he had to drop Amy off early because he had something on. Urien was not around, either. Maybe the two had gone out to duel.

  Mag opened the door, put Amy down, and told Firis, “Firis, start preparing the ingredients for tonight. Skip the dishes that require a long cooking time……”


  “I’ve already prepared the ingredients. Where did you all go?” A gentle resentful voice sounded.

  Mag looked towards the kitchen, and saw Camilla standing by the door with a malcontent look.

  “Yeah. You left us at home without anything to eat.” Irina also came out from the kitchen, and leaned against the other side of the door. With disappointment, she said, “The food she makes is horrible. Indeed, vampires eat things raw precisely because they can’t cook.”


  “That’s…… That’s not true……” Camilla’s face flushed red. She embarrassedly said, “We just got better things to spend our time on. Time is very precious for vampires.”


  Mag looked at Camilla pitifully. He could have guessed what happened when Camilla and Irina were alone while they were all gone.

  “Is that what the lamb thinks too?” Amy asked Camilla curiously.

  “How can a lowly lamb be compared to a noble vampire!” Camilla said sternly.

  “But a lamb eats grass too,” Mag said with a smile.

  “You……” Camilla was stumped. She did not know what to say in reply, and could only turn her head away angrily with a huff.

  “Something cropped up this afternoon, so we all went out, and didn’t prepare the ingredients. I’ll go up to change, and we can start business operations. Let’s all get ready,” Mag said as he walked upstairs quickly.

  “What happened?” Irina asked.

  “A baddie kidnapped Big Sister Rena, so we all went to beat the baddie up and save her,” Amy answered quickly.

  “That’s right, Your Highness,” Firis affirmed.

  “Something like this happened, and no one called me. How could you?” Irina sighed. “Chaos City is too peaceful. There isn’t even a single piece of big news around.”


  “It was quite urgent, so we didn’t have the time to inform anyone.” Mag came back down in his chef’s uniform. He looked at Irina, and said, “Besides, the opponent was too weak. We’ve agreed that you wouldn’t attack unless necessary.”


  “Alright.” Irina pouted, but very quickly and enthusiastically said, “When are we going to settle the Twilight Forest’s matter?”


  “Now that I think about it, we should be setting off the day after tomorrow,” Mag said.

  “That’s great.” Irina nodded. She walked towards the stairs, and said, “I’ll go up and take a rest.”


  “Sure, Your Highness. I’ll send your dinner up later,” Firis said automatically.

  Irina paused in her steps, thought for a while, and turned back to say, “Steak, medium-well.”


  “Alright,” Mag and Firis said, almost at the same time.

  Irina’s lips curled upwards, and she turned to go upstairs.

  When Irina disappeared upstairs, Camilla pulled Mag over, and said, “I want steak as well. Raw.”


  “Alright. I’ll pan-fry the surface for you.” Mag walked into the kitchen, and took out two slices of steak from the fridge.

  ***

  “I can’t believe Blaze actually did something like this behind my back!” A golden-haired middle-aged elf looked at Rolan in shock. After a while, he lowered his head, and said, “My Lord, I was not strict with the inspection unit, and didn’t notice the problem with my subordinates in time. I am wrong.”


  Rolan looked intently at Godala, and remained silent for a while before saying, “The problem with the inspection unit is very serious. As the supervisor and the deputy lord, you have to be partly responsible. The Gray Temple enforces the law. We represent the power and might of Chaos City. We carry with us the trust and faith of the citizens. If a pest like that appears in the Gray Temple, that will be a very huge blow to the Gray Temple’s authority once word gets out.

  “From today onwards, you will not need to supervise the inspection unit. The reserve division has no leader. You can lead them for the time being.”


  “I will follow your arrangement,” Godala answered. A chill flashed past his eyes, but his gaze remained the same.

  “The Gray Temple was set up to ensure that we can better serve and protect the people of Chaos City, not to give us power over others. This is the first rule of the Gray Temple. Do you still remember it?” Rolan asked Godala.

  Godala hesitated for a while before nodding in reply. “Yes.”


  “Good.” Rolan turned to leave.