As a high-leveled [Chef], Edlyn was able to replicate the recipe of nearly any food-item she saw as long as she had access to the right ingredients. She didn’t even need to taste it— she could just take one quick glance, and she’d already know what she needed to do.
But that wasn’t a Skill that was special to her. Every [Chef] above Level 30 could do just that. Edlyn would never have been made the head [Royal Chef] of the Astra Palace if that was all she was capable of doing. No— at her level, she was able to not just replicate any food dish she saw, but she was also able to improve it too.
She was able to refine any dish that wasn’t already perfect. And from what she saw of Alia’s cooking, there were a lot of flaws there. So Edlyn worked on improving the fried rice for now, experinting with various different ingredients so it would taste better, especially since the restaurant had no shrimp or prawn or any seafood alternatives.
“For now, we’ll have to use beef,” Edlyn muttered as she brought the plate of fried rice out of the kitchen. “Or maybe we’ll use chicken—”
“Bawk bawk bawk?” a squeak interrupted the [Royal Chef]’s thoughts.
She blinked and looked towards a figure sitting in the corner of the room. Edlyn’s eyes went wide when she saw a chicken there, head perked up and staring directly at the plate of fried rice.
“Why is there a chicken…?” Edlyn started.
And the chicken squawked, before dashing forward straight at her. The [Royal Chef] recoiled as she backed away, nearly spilling the fried rice. But Harlan caught her from behind and steadied her as the chicken clucked and waved its wings.
“Are you alright?” the head server asked as Edlyn sighed in relief.
“I’m… fine.” She looked towards the chicken as it jumped at her feet. “Why is it— can it understand ?”
“Bawk bawk bawk bawk!” the chicken exclaid.
That made Edlyn flinch. And Harlan nodded casually, trying to calm her down.
“That’s Bucky— she’s our mascot. And she can understand you.”
“Seriously?” The [Royal Chef] gaped at the hopping chicken. “But how?”
Harlan scratched the back of his head. “Well, as far as I can tell, Bucky’s like Level 20 or 30. I’m not exactly sure. But she’s got so levels, which makes her more intelligent than the average chicken.”
His words made the chicken puff up proudly. Edlyn’s eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of their sockets. She thought she was desensitized to the insanities of everything surrounding Alia. And perhaps, the [Royal Chef] was. Because she didn’t feel like she was going to faint.
She was more afraid of what could happen to her— after what she said just earlier.
“Is… is it mad about what I said?” Edlyn asked as she turned to Harlan. “About adding chicken to fried rice?”
“Bucky?” Harlan blinked a few tis, before chuckling. “Bucky eats chicken. She literally doesn’t care.”
“It— I an, she does?” The [Royal Chef] looked down in horror.
And Bucky just nodded in confirmation, before clucking in outrage even more.
“Then why is she upset?” Edlyn asked apprehensively.
Harlan rolled his eyes as he gestured at the plate of fried rice. “That’s because she’s hungry, of course.”
Edlyn blinked, before looking down at the food she was carrying. “Hungry? Are you saying I should give this to her?”
“I an, I don’t see why not?” Harlan shrugged. “Bucky can be your first taste tester.”
“But she’s a chicken!” Edlyn protested. “Are you saying I’m supposed to give my cooking to a chicken? I’m a [Royal Chef]!”
“And Bucky’s hungry. She’ll eat anything, so don’t worry about your cooking being too highbrow for her taste buds.”
“That’s not what I’m saying—” And Edlyn bit her lip, cutting herself off.
She glanced down at the chicken for a mont. She saw the pleading black eyes staring back up at her, and she took in a deep breath. After deliberating over it for a minute, she acquiesced and scooped up a small bowl of rice for Bucky.
“Fine, here.”
“Bawk bawk bawk!” Bucky clucked excitedly, waving her wings in the air. She imdiately dug into the bowl of fried rice to devour it whole, then she paused. Her eyes went round as she backed away, and Harlan frowned.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he knelt down to face the chicken. “Are you alright, Bucky?”
The chicken looked up at him for a mont, and then nodded excitedly. “Bawk bawk bawk bawk!”
She quickly buried her head back in the bowl of fried rice, finishing it in monts. When she was done, she collapsed to the ground with a full belly. She gave Edlyn a thumbs-up— even though she didn’t have any thumbs.
Harlan leant back, blinking. “I think… I think Bucky likes it.”
“R-right,” Edlyn said, unsure how to react.
“Let try so.” Harlan turned to face her and dug a spoon into the plate of fried rice.
The [Royal Chef] watched as he took a bite from the dish, before his eyes lit up. He turned to her as his jaw dropped, and he nearly dropped his spoon.
“This is… amazing!” he exclaid, taking a step forward. He grabbed her by the shoulders as he continued, “Seriously, this is the best dish I’ve ever had! It’s better than even Alia’s cooking!”
“You think so?” Edlyn backed up as he drew closer. She scratched her cheek, unsure if that last statent he made was an insult or a complint.
“Yes— I didn’t even think you could cook fried rice any differently! I thought that there was only one way to make it. But this is so different from how Alia does it… I love it!” The head server spoke as he stuffed his mouth with the fried rice.
The [Royal Chef] smiled hesitantly, glancing between Harlan and Bucky. She was glad to see that her first attempt at Alia’s fried rice went well. But now, Edlyn was worried— afraid about what would happen if that monster heard about this.
Would Alia be upset? If she was, what would she do? Would she just fire Edlyn? Or worse, would she make the [Royal Chef] pay?
That… wasn’t going to happen, right?
Edlyn didn’t know. She didn’t want to find out either. She just shivered as she turned to Harlan. “Please don’t tell Alia that—”
But a voice cut off the [Royal Chef]. “Don’t tell what?”
And that made Edlyn freeze where she stood. Slowly, she craned her neck to face a figure standing by the doorway. It was Alia. She was still surrounded by the baby bastion bees, their cacophonous buzzing quickly filling the room.
Alia shook her head and turned to Harlan. “What’s up?”
“Oh, I was just praising Edlyn’s cooking. She’s seriously incredible.” He nodded at the [Royal Chef].
Edlyn closed her eyes when she heard that. Oh no…
But surprisingly, Alia didn’t react in shock or disdain. Instead, she was piqued by that, her eyes darting to the plate of fried rice Edlyn had prepared.
“Oh, you made so fried rice. I didn’t notice that with all these…” Alia gestured vaguely at the swarm of baby bastion bees blocking her sight, trying to sting her. “Anyways, can I try so?”
“S-sure,” Edlyn replied, too afraid to say no.
She set the plate of fried rice down and backed away as Alia stepped forward. The swarm of baby bastion bees followed the brown-haired woman, of course. Which made everyone— including Harlan and Bucky— give her a wide berth. They all watched as she took a bite from the fried rice.
And Edlyn pursed her lips, unsure what to expect.
“This is… amazing!” Alia exclaid as her eyes went wide. “It tastes literally like it does back ho. As expected from a [Royal Chef].”
She quickly downed the plate of fried rice, leaving Edlyn to just stare in surprise.
“Y-you like it?” Edlyn eventually asked.
“Definitely better than my cooking,” Alia said with a shrug. “I knew hiring you was a good idea.”
“Oh. Thank you.” The [Royal Chef] flushed, surprised by the praise. She didn’t expect that. In fact, she didn’t expect anyone to even say anything about her cooking.
But she swept her gaze over the room, and she saw the satisfied smiles of Bucky, Harlan, and Alia. Each and every one of them had praised her for her cooking. Even though it was a relatively simple al, they all loved it. It almost reminded Edlyn of a simpler ti.
When was the last ti anyone in the Astra Palace even thanked her for working tirelessly to provide them their als? She could count the number of tis it had happened in her hands. And she had worked there for years!
Edlyn shook her head, breaking out of her stupor. She looked back up towards Alia as she shuffled her feet uncomfortably.
“This was the only dish I’ve had in your nu. I can’t cook anything else because I haven’t even seen them yet.” She tried to make eye contact with her new employer, but the swarm of baby bastion bees made it a bit difficult.
“I can teach you everything,” Alia said as she took a step forward.
But Edlyn recoiled— not out of fear of the brown-haired woman. Instead, it was out of terror from all the baby bastion bees. Alia realized that as she blinked down at herself.
“Oh, right. These little guys are a bit of a problem.” Alia scratched the back of her head. “I wonder when they’ll tire out?”
—--
Never give up! the baby queen bastion bee commanded as she continued her onslaught of attacks against the invader.
They were going to win soon. She was sure of it. She would not tire. No matter what happened. Not until they had claid victory—
[You have leveled up! You are now Level 10!]
[Subracial Evolution Now Available!]
The baby queen bastion bee blinked when she saw the blue screen flashing before her eyes. She knew her soldiers saw it too. And for a mont, she distractedly drew back from the invader and focused on what was said.
Then she collapsed, passing out. And following after her was the rest of the swarm.
—--
“...what just happened?” Edlyn gaped as the swarm of baby bastion bees just fell to the floor. She turned to Alia in horror. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. I don’t even know what just happened.” Alia narrowed her eyes.
And the doorway burst open as a dozen adult bastion bees flew into the room. Edlyn couldn’t even react to their sudden appearance. She just looked on as they slowly carried the baby bastion bees out of the restaurant.
“Well, I hope nothing bad happened to them,” Alia said as she turned to Edlyn, the room substantially quieter now. “But now I can show you all my recipes without a problem.”
The brown-haired woman made her way to the kitchen, and the [Royal Chef] stared for a mont.
“Co on.”
“R-right!” Edlyn exclaid, snapping back to reality. She hurried after her new employer as she took a quick glance back at Bucky and Harlan.
The [Royal Chef] watched as both the chicken and the head server finished the leftover fried rice, her cooking truly appreciated for the first ti in what felt like forever. They were both laughing, savoring the dish. They even called over Arthur who had just been sitting idly behind the bar to give it a try.
Edlyn turned back to Alia as they entered the kitchen.
“Most of our nu items are relatively simple. We have kebab, hummus, falafel—” the brown-haired woman began listing out their dishes.
A single thought crossed Edlyn’s mind as she just stared, listening and nodding.
Maybe… just maybe… working for Alia isn’t going to be so bad, after all.
And the two won began to cook together, until eventually the sun set over the horizon, bringing about the first real day of work for the [Royal Chef] at Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant.
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