Episode 193

“You. My ears hurt.”

“Are your ears hurting just from overhearing that?”

I followed Ricent to the roof of Le’a-In Trading Company. Rurin definitely played a big part in that.

Of course, Ricent had no idea about that.

Naturally, I came back faster than that woman.

By now, she must have been desperate and ready to pounce. But, as expected, that woman had her own circumstances.

She couldn’t even call her father “father”, and it seemed like she was competing with something.

I don’t know if she will tell me that.

I was planning to help her if she told me the truth. After all, it’s true that my appearance completely messed up her plans.

If that’s the case, a win-win for everyone is the best, right?

If the new restaurant, Bissera’s, thrives, and she is satisfied with the results despite the setbacks, then it’s a win for everyone.

In fact, there were several reasons why I agreed to take the chef position and slacked off at the restaurant from the start.

The biggest reason was to see what kind of person the owner here was.

It’s limited to observe from outside the restaurant. If I worked hard, there would be no urgency, and they wouldn’t reveal their true nature. I needed to know their true nature to be confident that Bissera’s restaurant would be safe later on.

Well, as I said before, I realized that they weren’t bad people.

If they had hired thugs to ruin Bissera’s restaurant or used Le’a-In Trading Company to do shady backdoor dealings, I would have gone along with my original plan to take over this restaurant. But since they didn’t, my thoughts have changed.

Moreover, it seems like the true owner of this restaurant is Le’a-In Trading Company, and Ricent, who suffered because Bissera’s restaurant is doing well, has special circumstances.

I know all the inside details.

I’ve done all the research, and the slacking off is over.

Thud thud thud!

“Hey!”

As expected, Ricent arrived.

She kicked open the break room door and fell again.

Thud—!

Why does she keep falling like this?

Embarrassed, she didn’t even scream, but with tears in her eyes, she quickly got up, her forehead turning bright red.

Then, she stomped her way over to me again.

“Here it is. A month’s salary!”

She handed me a bundle of cash.

“Since I gave you the money, now work. We need to prepare for the festival in a few days… Work. Please work! I’ve given you the money!”

She shouted at me as I lay there lazily.

Nothing seems to have changed, but somehow, it feels like her eyes are crying.

“The reason you can’t call your father ‘father’, and the reason you have to win like this—what is it? And, in the end, did you decide to go all out with me?”

“Yes? How do you know that?”

“Well, I know a few people at Le’a-In Trading Company.”

I don’t know anyone. It’s just a lie, but Ricent, who was in no position to think, must have believed it as her face froze.

Silence.

“Your cooking is the most original, so it’s unavoidable! Plus, since I hired you, it’s the obvious choice, right?”

“That’s an honor, but do you really expect me to work seriously?”

“If you’re not going to work seriously, just leave now. I’ll find another way.”

“No, from now on, I’ll work seriously. No matter how important other factors are, since it’s a restaurant, the originality and taste of the food can’t be ignored. Especially for the festival, if we just serve the same noodles, even if the other elements are excellent, I don’t think it will work. So, I’ll be of help.”

“…Aren’t you being too confident? Well, I do think the taste is excellent.”

Ricent’s eyes started to turn. She was thinking about what to do.

It seemed like she thought it was suspicious that I was asking for a proper explanation.

“Are you perhaps a spy for the Le’a-In Trading Company?”

In the end, did she come to that conclusion?

“That’s not it. It seems like the festival is coming soon, so if you’re not trusting the current chef, isn’t it time to take a gamble with your eyes closed? Finding a new chef is like trying to pluck stars from the sky. Other children who want to be recognized by your father must have already searched through all the chefs around here.”

“That’s true…and besides, the current chef is from the Le’a-In Trading Company anyway, so it’s useless. Hah. Fine, I understand!”

Maybe she was thinking about what I had said, as she started to speak with a slightly hesitant expression.

About her personal revenge.

Her father, who had abandoned her, would have to recognize her talent, and once she became the official heir of the family, she would loudly declare her victory and then leave—a simple but grand revenge.

Wasn’t it a determined revenge?

“I see. He’s not a man I’m fond of. Then let’s break him together.”

“It’s not that easy!”

“Still, I thought I could help, so I shared my true feelings, didn’t I?”

“That’s…because, like you said, I have to grab at straws…”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Whether it’s easy or not, let’s break him down. I have a plan.”

“Is that really true?”

“Ah, before that, let me prove I’m not a spy by honestly explaining my situation. Duran helped me once, so I came here to repay that favor. So actually…”

I also told him that if Merli’s boss was someone who would ruin Bissera’s restaurant by using dirty methods after I left, I planned to ruin it and then take over and hand it over to Bissera, to repay all the help I received back then and leave. I also told her that I changed my mind now.

Then Ricent let out a hollow laugh.

“Then, were you hired for this too…?”

“I infiltrated to investigate what you just mentioned. If you didn’t have any special reasons and were just a hardworking boss, I would have suggested working together or teaching other dishes instead of taking over. But since that’s not the case, I think this can work as a win-win. Sorry for pretending to be hired. I needed to know who you were, and I thought this was the quickest way.”

“That’s absurd. If you had told me the truth from the beginning…”

“If you hadn’t been desperate, you wouldn’t have even mentioned revenge. If I had worked and the restaurant had been successful again, I would’ve just taken the money and left. I wouldn’t have been able to hear your true feelings.”

“That’s true, but…still!”

“So, from now on, let’s work together. Thanks to you, I now know how determined you are.”

“What is that supposed to mean? Well, at least it’s clear you’re not a spy for the Le’a-In Trading Company…”

“That’s right. So if you leave it to me, I’ll help you sincerely from now on. By the way, Ricent, what are you planning to do after getting your revenge?”

“Anyway, all the employees belong to my father, so it doesn’t matter if I’m gone; they’re already part of the Le’a-In Trading Company. I was planning to leave freely. I’ve made money from the restaurant, and I don’t plan to return the money I earned at Merli. That’s the least I can get from my biological father. So, with that, I want to go to the capital and continue my studies.”

“That’s a good choice. Very impressive.”

“Impressive?”

“Anyway, then let’s fight together. I think we can help each other. As I mentioned earlier, I have a good plan. After fulfilling your wish, once you leave, we’ll take over the restaurant, which will be without an owner. I’ll give it to Duran. Like I said, it’s a win-win for both of us.”

“Yes. I don’t care about what happens after. As long as we win!”

Ricent nodded firmly at my words.

There was more trust in her eyes than before. Of course, it wasn’t complete trust, but it was a start.

It made sense since we had just declared ourselves as comrades.

“So, where should we start working?”

I shrugged and stood up from my seat. Then, Rurin walked over and looked up at me.

It seemed like she had something to say.

Rurin used teleportation that day, and that was the problem. Something went wrong during the teleportation, and the location was misaligned.

Rurin had come out to run an errand in the city and secretly used teleportation, which only made her more frustrated.

She furrowed her brow, showing an expression of displeasure, clearly frustrated.

She looked around to assess the location. It seemed familiar. For some reason, she had ended up back in the city, right in front of Elena’s clinic.

Meanwhile, in front of the clinic, Elena let out a deep sigh, her face very dark.

“What are you doing, elf?”

“Huh? Oh my goodness?! Great One!”

As soon as Elena saw Rurin, she was so shocked that she collapsed to the ground. Her body was trembling, and even her ears, long when compared to a human’s, were shaking.

“Huh?”

It was Rurin who was actually taken aback by that reaction.

“What, what’s this? Why are you like this?”

“Wh-why are you here in this city, Great One…”

She couldn’t even lift her face.

“Did you eat something wrong? And now that I think about it, I can barely feel the Red one. Where did the Red one go?”

“R-Red one? I have no idea what you mean…”

“What? What are you really? I don’t like this. Not having a Red one is a blessing in the world, though. Hmm.”

Rurin accepted this and walked into the clinic. No one was there.

It was perfect for a secret teleport. Rurin used teleportation again.

And ta-da!

This time, she arrived in front of the restaurant correctly.

She still didn’t know what went wrong earlier, but she decided to think about it later as she entered the restaurant.

And she spotted El.

At that moment, her heart began to race. It wasn’t a good kind of racing.

It was unpleasant.

Her heart was pounding, and it felt more and more unpleasant.

It was because El’s back was visible, and he was hugging another woman.

Rurin didn’t know what to do.

Rurin fell into confusion.

This kind of thing.

This thing.

It was a woman with black hair.

They were hugging, so she couldn’t see the other woman’s face.

“Y-you…! Th-this…”

KRAAAANG—!

In the end, her anger caused the restaurant’s roof to collapse, and the walls exploded. A tremendous vibration swept through.

Additionally, an old insult she had forgotten came out:

“You!”

Rurin’s eyes were suddenly filled with tears.

“AAAH! The restaurant!

“What’s wrong with you?!

“Huh?”

El screamed, and the woman El was hugging furrowed her brow. Then came Rurin’s final shout.

Rurin couldn’t understand the situation and froze.

The one El had been hugging was none other than herself.

What is this?

Rurin was completely confused.

El was cheating with herself?! What is going on?!

“Rurin?”

“Y-yes, I’m Rurin! But what’s that?!”

The real Rurin shouted at the fake Rurin.

Then, holding onto El’s arm tightly, the fake Rurin shouted angrily.

“You’re the fake! You’re a funny one. El is mine!”

“What’s going on here? Two Rurins?”

El tilted his head. Even he was confused.

For convenience, let’s call the one with Elena the fake Rurin, and the Rurin who appeared here through teleportation the real Rurin.

The real Rurin tilted her head even more.

The real Rurin’s eyes began to spin, and she ran out the door.

A strange aura surrounded her.

The fake Rurin was definitely a dragon.

“Why should I run away? I’m the real one!”

Determined to kill the fake Rurin, she returned to the restaurant. But when she entered, neither El nor the fake Rurin was there. So the real Rurin went into the lair.

“You, why are you suddenly like this? It’s fine, though. You can stay closer, hehe.”

“You suddenly became two people, and now I’m losing my strength?”

“That’s the fake. And we can just teleport.”

“It’s fine. I’ll recover soon. Relying too much on magic isn’t good.”

“Then I’ll carry you. I want to lie down on a bed!”

What is that? The real Rurin thought. She had been carried many times, but she had never carried El. Yet this fake Rurin suddenly started carrying him. How dare it do something she herself had never done!

Ughhh!

Jealousy flared up like fire. It looked like herself, but it wasn’t. Of course she was jealous.

She immediately released her breath. The fake Rurin, who was carrying El, also released her breath.

KRAAAANG—!

“Put El down right now! Fake!”

“Who’s the fake? I’m the real one! This lair here is mine!”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the real Rurin began to get confused. Normally, at this point, El should have stepped in and scolded her for breathing fire, but something felt different.

The El in front of her was somehow different.

In the end, Rurin left the room again. She didn’t know what was happening anymore.

She even started to question her own existence, but then quickly changed her mind.

It’s all that fake’s fault. The fake made El act strangely!

Rurin thought this and reflected on why she had retreated.

Then she charged back in.

“Eat, my dear. Hehe. Does it taste good?”

She rubbed her eyes again. The fake Rurin was feeding El, blowing on the food to cool it down.

“You’re so cute! You’ve got rice on your mouth.”

“You’ve become two people, and one keeps coming and going, so how can food properly go into my mouth? What an easy-going person. What on earth is that Rurin? Something seems off, but I don’t think it’s just someone imitating you. That person was definitely Rurin.”

“No! If that person comes again, I’ll kill them!”

“Eeek! You you you you you are El, but you’re not El! And you are not me!”

“What?”

El answered, and the fake Rurin kicked the real Rurin.

In the end, the real Rurin and the fake Rurin tangled and started fighting, and the real Rurin’s hair became completely disheveled.