The renovation of the restaurant was finally finished, just as everything we had ordered earlier was delivered to my home.
"Pots, pans, spoons, forks, stoves... It's enough to serve up to 35 people. Good enough," my mother said after she finished counting our newly bought tools and utensils.
"35 people... Will there really be that many people coming to our place?" Tizmilly asked while helping my mother repack everything.
I put the plates back into the boxes before answering her.
"Of course! Not only will we serve them the secret recipes of the Roost Family, but we'll also give them a taste of _my_ food!"
_My_ food, of course, meant the food from Earth that I used to cook every weekend. Mostly Asian dishes, since I was Asian. But don't worry— as a food lover, I never discriminated against other regions' cuisines. I could at least cook some simpler Western and Middle Eastern foods.
_Selling them in this world would surely attract a lot of people, right?_
"Your... food?" Tizmilly asked back skeptically.
"Maybe because of his father's bloodline, but for some reason, Theo is really talented in cooking. He could even cook his own lunch back when I was still doing menial jobs," my mother explained, before grinning at Tizmilly. "He was only six years old back then, you know, Tizmilly~! You really are a lucky girl, don't you think?"
To be honest, I was surprised by how she was acting around Tizmilly. Did she like our Miss Villainess that much?
"Mrs. Roost... I-I am not in that kind of relationship with Mister Roost!" Tizmilly stammered.
Seeing her face turn as red as a tomato over a simple tease, I finally understood why my mother liked her so much. She was just too easy to tease. And to think she was supposed to be the cold 'Villainess' of this world... Did the game developers lose their minds?
"Anyway," I interrupted, trying to save Tizmilly from further embarrassment. "Now that the renovation is over, let's get this place in shape so we can open for business!"
It was really fortunate that our house wasn't that far from the main road. If it were, we would have had to carry these boxes through the city. And since the Dungeon City was a huge place that had never seen a pause in its growth since its founding, that would have been exhausting work.
We could have rented some carriers to help us, of course. However, with the distance spanning just slightly over 200 meters, even I alone could carry all of these boxes. After all, even though I wasn't that muscular, I used to dive into a dangerous place like the Dungeon. My body had already been tempered by the dense mana of the Dungeon and by life-and-death experiences fighting monsters.
_And if I were to use my magic..._
"Ah."
I forgot to use it. I was so focused on thinking about what kind of restaurant we would create that I had absent-mindedly started carrying these boxes before I finally recalled that I could just use my magic to carry all of them at once.
I immediately told my mother and Tizmilly to wait at the restaurant and start arranging things while I returned home alone to move everything myself.
With Levitation, I let the boxes float as I pushed them around like weightless things. As a result, the work was done in an instant.
_Truly great magic! I am glad to be born with this magic! Bwahahaha!_
...
"Ehem."
My mother cleared her throat and sat on a chair in front of the pile of boxes I had just brought into the building. Her face looked solemn.
"Now that everything is inside, let's talk about the place's theme. What kind of customers we hope to bring in, what kind of food we want to serve them with... Now is the time to discuss it seriously."
"Right..." Tizmilly and I exchanged glances and nodded.
We pulled over two chairs for ourselves near my mother and sat down.
And the discussion began.
"I'd like to create a place where people, no matter how high or low they are in society, can eat at the same table."
I was the first to open the topic since I was the one who proposed the idea of opening the restaurant in the first place.
"Equality, huh... That would be hard to achieve," my mother muttered.
Tizmilly nodded.
"I agree with Mrs. Roost. It's ideal, but it would be too hard to realize. Even if your status isn't the most important thing in this Dungeon City, your caste in society still affects how most people treat you."
I scratched my cheek.
"I know, but would it really be that hard? Even the Academy managed to do it, right?"
One of the reasons why the Academy held such a big place in people's hearts and was able to grow so much was because they didn't judge you by how important you were or how wealthy your family was, but by how strong, talented, and educated you were. They saw you for who you were, not for what you had backing you.
"That's because the one who created it was the Sage. Not everyone can create something and grow it that big without some greedy people taking a piece or two of it," Tizmilly answered.
The Sage.
The man who sealed the Gate of Abyss 1,062 years ago. He possessed a great magic that no one knew the name of. A legendary figure. Humans in this world could live up to 300 years if they trained their mana to the fullest. But for him alone, they couldn't determine whether he was already dead or not. He was just too strong for anyone to imagine him dying. Everyone knew it: if they ever offended the Sage, their countries would be gone the next day. The buildings and the rulers would be gone, leaving only the clueless commoners wondering where their houses were.
"So what we need is power, right?" I grinned. "That will be settled once I clear the final floor of The Beast Mountain."
Tizmilly's eyes nearly popped out. "The final floor? Mister Roost, The Beast Mountain has eighty-seven floors! Only 'The Crushers' ever cleared it, and they lost half their team on that expedition!"
I knew she was worried—after all, I was just a solo Diver without a single Gemgun. But she didn't know what I knew. I had the map of this world etched in my brain, every hidden spot and the location of every Irregular Monster that would drop useful items.
_As long as I was powerful enough to get all of them in my hands, then at least I would be strong enough to protect a single restaurant, wouldn't I?_
My mother looked into my eyes and smiled.
"If Theo is confident about it, then let's do it. But mere equality wouldn't attract people, so we have to add something on top of that."
For that, I already had an idea in mind.
"Then... What if we use maids? But not normal maids, since our place is one where equality is everything. A maid who doesn't just serve people—a slightly rude, yet cute, egoistic, and beautiful maid!"
My mother widened her eyes. Her reaction was stronger than I ever expected it to be.
"LET'S DO THIS IMMEDIATELY!"