During the second half of the night, there were few customers in the restaurant.
Especially after three in the morning, things grew so quiet that Yuto could finally take some time to do other things.
Tohru had always wanted to learn how to cook, and he was happy to teach her.
Since she was going to stay here for a long time, training her well would be a big help in the kitchen.
Whenever he thought about teaching cooking, he couldn't help thinking of Asuna.
She might have been a rich girl, but her sincere love for cooking was something he admired—especially the intense focus she showed whenever she cooked.
Seeing that always reminded him of his old self, and sometimes, her figure overlapped a little with his own past.
Asuna hadn't come tonight.
Maybe she had something else to do, maybe she simply didn't want to eat at the restaurant, or maybe there was some other reason.
Having worked in restaurants for years, Yuto didn't overthink it.
Still, Ainz and the others needed her for something, as it was tied to whether or not they could play the VR game.
Before, Yuto had no way to contact Asuna, but now that he had Kaguya and Hayasaka's numbers, maybe he could reach her through them.
"Boss! I'm done!"
While Yuto was lost in thought, the dragon maid brought over a dish and set it in front of him. What he had just taught her was a simple rolled omelet.
Tohru learned fast and seemed to have a real talent for it, mastering the dish after he had only shown her once.
Yuto took a bite, a surprised look appearing on his face. "
This tastes good. Tohru, you're surprisingly talented at cooking," he smiled.
His cute employee scratched her head shyly.
"Hehehe~" Tohru twisted her body around with joy, her tail wagging behind her so fast that she looked exactly like an excited puppy.
"Maybe you really could become a great chef someday," Yuto said, unable to resist patting her on the head.
Tohru gave him the same feeling Sakura and Shoko did—simple, innocent, and pure.
Used to patting the two girls on the head, he had reached out without even thinking.
Only after patting her twice did he realize it might be a little strange.
However, he didn't see any sign that Tohru disliked it; if anything, she looked comfortable and almost addicted to the affection.
Seeing that, Yuto kept his hand there, deciding to just think of it as petting a pet.
"Oh right, Boss! Try this dish too!" The dragon maid, who had been narrowing her eyes under his hand, suddenly opened them.
She brought out another dish, looking excited and hopeful.
Yuto looked surprised.
He had been busy thinking earlier and hadn't even noticed her making a second dish.
Focusing, he took a proper look at it, but the moment he saw it, he frowned.
It was a plate of grilled meat.
The chunks were big, looked filling, and were full of juice.
It smelled great, too!
The only problem was the color. Mixed in with the dark sauce were little glowing green spots.
It looked like some kind of mutated meat.
"Tohru, this is your tail, isn't it?" Yuto looked at her suspiciously.
He phrased it as a question, but he already sounded sure.
"Yep!" The dragon maid nodded right away, cheerful and obedient.
Thunk!
Yuto chopped her on the head with a hand strike.
She was a dragon anyway; even with his strengthened body, there was no way he could really hurt her.
At most, it probably just stung a bit.
"Uwaaah, Boss~" After getting hit, the dragon girl tried to act cute to get away with it!
Too bad Yuto wasn't falling for it.
He gave her a serious lecture, and afterward, the dragon maid sadly ate her own grilled tail meat.
Some time later, Yuto came out of the kitchen again.
Tohru was still inside practicing the dishes he had taught her. She had talent, but she still needed practice to improve the taste.
After being scolded for grilling her own tail, she had become much more obedient.
She stayed in the kitchen practicing by herself, while Yuto chatted with Hestia in the front hall.
The first thing he said made Hestia freeze. "Sorry, Hestia. The way I thought about you before was wrong. You really are a pretty good goddess."
Starting with an apology completely confused her.
"Huh?" The goddess tilted her head, letting out a puzzled sound.
"Don't worry about it. I just suddenly felt like saying it," Yuto said sincerely, holding her by the shoulders.
His touch made Hestia blush. "Y-you only just realized that now?!"
Her stumbling reply made Yuto take a deep breath.
'Yeah... Hestia really is way better than Aqua,' he thought.
As he let out that breath, the air brushed across Hestia's face, making the goddess blush harder.
"D-don't keep looking at me like that!" Hestia turned her head away, looking nervous with completely red cheeks.
Yuto gave a soft laugh and took his hands off her shoulders.
The Hestia in front of him really was cute.
Comparing Hestia and Aqua in his heart once again, he decided he still liked Hestia more.
"Seriously... what was that for all of a sudden..." Hestia muttered softly.
She sounded nothing like some great divine being, but more like an ordinary teenage girl.
After calming down a little, she kept asking Yuto why he had said that, but he just kept smiling and shaking his head.
That made the goddess start grinding her teeth.
'What the heck?! So you were just teasing me again!'
Just a moment ago, Hestia had felt happy because of his words; now that feeling had turned into embarrassed anger.
She looked like a provoked cat, and the one who had provoked her was still standing there smiling.
Clatter—
Just then, the restaurant door opened.
Yuto turned his attention toward the entrance.
Standing there was a handsome man who looked like an adult but somehow also gave off an innocent feeling.
The air around him felt strangely natural and comforting, though the only odd thing was his hair, which stuck up a bit like a hedgehog's.
The moment he appeared in the doorway, no one noticed the tiny change in Saitama's expression.
For just an instant, Saitama froze—and then returned to normal.
"Welcome." Yuto greeted the man with a smile.
The young man smiled back in a simple, carefree way. "Yo! Hi, I'm Son Goku!"
He was wearing a bright orange martial arts uniform, and on the left side of his chest was the character for "Turtle."
After introducing himself, he walked straight over to the counter.
Looking at him, Yuto felt a slight stir in his heart.
For some reason, Goku gave off a vibe similar to Saitama—that same simple, honest feeling.
"So, what would you like to eat Goku-san? If I know how to make it, I can cook it for you," Yuto said.
"Ah—no need to call me that so formally. Just call me Goku! That's fine, haha."
Hearing the formal address, Goku laughed.
His personality was easygoing and natural, so he didn't care about that kind of thing.
Yuto nodded lightly, already able to tell what kind of person Goku was: simple, carefree, and still a little childlike.
"Then what do you want to eat, Goku?"
"Just bring me whatever for now. As long as there's a lot of meat, that's good enough for me," Goku smiled.
The moment he spoke, his stomach growled loudly.
He looked embarrassed for a second, but then just smiled again. "I trained for too long, so I'm really hungry. Hahaha."
That simple smile made him easy to like.
Yuto sighed and smiled. "If you're really hungry, how about starting with a snack first? We've got some braised food ready. I'll start cooking for you right away."
Goku's eyes lit up. "That'd be great! Then please give me a lot!"
Honestly, he had no idea what "braised food" was, but he was hungry, so any food was fine.
He wasn't a picky person.
Yuto nodded and went back into the kitchen.
He told Tohru to fetch some braised dishes for Goku while he rolled up his sleeves to cook for real.
Having already made several dishes by herself tonight, Tohru scooped out some braised food from the pot and carried it out.
At the same time, Yuto took a big piece of meat from the fridge. Since the customer wanted a lot of meat, he was going to deliver.
He had just started slicing when Tohru came back in.
Yuto looked surprised.
"What's wrong?" Then he looked at the empty plate in her hands.
His eyebrow twitched as a bad feeling washed over him.
"He wants another plate."
"I see."
Tohru scooped out another serving and went back out.
Yuto picked up the knife again. He had only made two cuts when Tohru came back again.
Once more, the plate in her hands was empty.
This time, Yuto understood.
He had run into another customer like Yuyuko—someone who could eat a ridiculous amount!
"Boss! This is amazing!!! Give me ten more servings!!!" Goku's voice echoed from the counter all the way into the kitchen.
Tohru looked at Yuto, waiting for his instructions.
Yuto took a deep breath and pulled out a massive bowl—the kind big enough to serve soup for eight people.
He handed it to Tohru.
"Use this."
All kinds of customers came into a restaurant, and he couldn't go around complaining about them.
Besides, if he ran a restaurant and let a customer leave hungry, what kind of chef would that make him?!