'Would it really work that well?'
Tizmilly couldn't help but doubt the mother-son duo's idea.
'I don't understand. Were maids really that popular, or was it only the two of them who liked them so much?'
According to her noble upbringing, maids were reserved, dutiful, and loyal servants whom she'd grown up with since she was young. They never truly showed their real feelings, not even voicing a protest after their masters hurt them, whether on purpose or by accident.
Maids with different personalities, with different styles of serving customers—she didn't have enough imagination to picture them in her mind.
'Wasn't that just a group of uniformed rude waitresses?' she thought.
"We need at least three girls before we open the restaurant," said Theo's mother, before looking at Tizmilly with a gentle smile. "Tizmilly, you can help Auntie in the kitchen if you don't want to face the customers directly."
Then her face flushed again with excitement. "The other three will handle the customers. Yes, that's right. We need three maids!"
Tizmilly looked at Theo, and even he was overwhelmed by his own mother's unexpected passion.
"Mom, you're too excited. Think of your age—"
He immediately received a glare from his mother, so he shut his mouth before he could finish what he wanted to say.
His mother, a mature lady named Calary Roost, then clapped her hands to draw Tizmilly and Theo's attention.
"Today, how about you two try some of my cooking and decide which dishes we'll add to the menu later?"
With that, the discussion was over. For now.
Following behind Calary, Theo and Tizmilly moved into the kitchen.
Compared to the small kitchen the Roost family had in their house, the building's kitchen was more spacious and had a lot of free space. Ten people could work here without feeling cramped.
Calary started cooking with the new tools while Theo and Tizmilly watched from the sidelines, sitting on chairs like good children.
It only took 10 minutes for the first dish to be ready.
Calary placed two plates with large, dark red meat on the table before the two teenagers.
"First, try it. Fried orc meat, small portion. Fried perfectly, with my special homemade sauce!"
The meat looked as simple as fried meat could be. But the combination of spicy sauce and the perfectly fried meat created a mouth-watering aroma that tempted Theo and Tizmilly to dig in immediately. They gulped before looking at Calary.
"Mom, this is..."
"I learned how to cook it after working at the Ratovich family house. They were a family of Dungeon Divers, so they only wanted to eat protein-rich foods. We'll receive commoners as well, won't we? So it will certainly be popular among them!" Calary guessed what Theo wanted to ask, so she immediately gave him the answer.
"I see." Theo nodded.
Without further ado, Theo and Tizmilly immediately raised their forks and knives to eat.
As they brought the meat to their mouths and chewed, the strong taste of freshly fried meat and the spicy sauce melted on their tongues in a harmony of strength and energy.
"It's good!" Theo exclaimed.
"It's good!" Tizmilly also exclaimed, but with tears in her eyes. "But too spicy!"
And with that, they spent the day testing the food Calary cooked for them. Some dishes were approved for the menu, while some were not. For now, Calary also wouldn't let Theo put his food on the menu. According to her, there would be a time when the customers were ready for it. And they needed to become known first before that.
...
The next day, Theo and Tizmilly were wandering around the city in their casual clothes to look for girls who would be suitable for their restaurant.
"To be honest, this is not the kind of restaurant I had in mind when you said you wanted to open one with me before..." Tizmilly protested.
She still couldn't understand why they should hire maids that were different from the standard.
Theo's face turned awkward. He scratched his cheek.
"Well... it will be fine, I swear. Though it looks different, we still have what a normal restaurant has. Which is a place to eat peacefully, away from the toils of daily life!"
"Sure..."
Tizmilly didn't buy his reasoning, but since she didn't have any other choice but to comply—she'd lost the argument because one voice couldn't win against two from Theo and Calary—she could only agree.
She stopped thinking about that for now. For now. And instead focused on looking around and checking every girl who might be suitable for their restaurant, just like Theo was doing.
Then, when they were close to a boutique, they saw a long-haired blonde girl arguing about something with the boutique's employee.
"That girl looks good, let's approach her."
After watching them from the side for a while, Theo suddenly blurted out something that sounded ridiculous to Tizmilly's ears.
'What!? Wouldn't it be bad for us strangers to suddenly get into their conflict out of the blue like that!? Ah! He's already gone toward them!'
"W-wait..."
Tizmilly reached out to stop him, but he had already gone and approached them. Left with no other choice, Tizmilly followed him while sighing.
"Good day, ladies. You look troubled. What's the matter?" He greeted them with a fresh smile.
Their attention turned toward the two of them after they heard his greeting. The blonde girl put her right hand on her waist and looked at them while raising her chin higher than necessary.
"And who might you be?" She asked back.
The employee didn't say anything, since she seemed too overwhelmed to react.
'Oh, a poor girl,' Tizmilly pitied the employee.
"Good morning, my name is Theo Roost," Theo introduced himself. "I see that you were having an argument with this lady here. May I ask what happened?"
The blonde girl didn't even hesitate before she introduced herself back and started explaining what happened. According to her, she was the daughter of a rich merchant who wanted to enter the boutique, but was unreasonably rejected afterward. And her name was Carole.
"Mister Roost, it was her, this clueless girl, who started it. I wanted to enter their place, but she kept saying that I couldn't because the place was now rented by someone important! I am Carole, _that_ Carole, you know!? I am also important, so how could a small boutique like this reject a lady like me!?"
But from the employee's side, it was different.
"It's wrong, Mister. She's clearly trying to intrude on our place! She appeared disheveled, looked uneasy about something, and was so forceful as she tried to enter! Even if we weren't currently welcoming an important customer, w-we wouldn't let a suspicious girl like her enter our place!"
Tizmilly didn't know what to do since she'd never experienced a store rejecting her presence before, so she kept her lips shut while watching them argue anxiously from the side.
"You little...!" Carole hissed.
They were about to break into a brawl, but then Theo clapped his hands loudly to interrupt them.
Something came to his mind after he watched how Carole had acted this whole time. She acted like a typical arrogant rich lady, but for some reason, her actions felt too desperate to him. And when he looked at her clothes more carefully, he noticed that while her clothes looked expensive, they were actually just cheap knockoffs.
"Alright, I get it," he said, before grabbing Miss Carole's shoulders.
"Miss Carole," he whispered in Carole's ear. "There's a rumor circulating lately about a girl who frequents high-end boutiques, using the false identity of a merchant's daughter to line her pockets. That was you, wasn't it, Miss Carole?"
Carole's body froze, her eyes starting to dart around unfocused.
"So that's true, huh?" Theo chuckled softly.
Suddenly, Theo grabbed her arm and led her toward an alley. Carole wanted to resist, but she couldn't after what he said about her earlier. She could only stare at the ground while Theo was pulling her.
"Looking at her closely, she's actually someone I know. Sorry for the trouble, miss!" said Theo to the employee before he entered the alley with Carole.
The employee and Tizmilly were shocked.
""H-huh?""
After being stunned for a while, Tizmilly finally recovered and immediately rushed to follow them after announcing her leave to the employee.
When she finally found Theo and Carole, Theo was pressing Carole against the wall. Tizmilly halted her steps instead of immediately approaching them. For some reason, that sight made Tizmilly feel uncomfortable.
"Wh-what do you want?" Carole asked Theo.
Theo raised his index finger before her face.
"I have a way for you to stop running, Miss Carole," Theo whispered, his voice cold but offering a lifeline. "Work for me. Wear the uniform, follow my rules, and I'll give you a salary that's worth more than those trinkets you've been stealing."
Carole gulped. The predatory glint in Theo's eyes told her he wasn't someone she could easily trick.