"Sakura... I'm sorry, I messed everything up..." Kallen lowered her head and said apologetically to Yae Sakura.
Yae Sakura took Kallen's hand, looked at her gently, and said, "It's alright. We had nothing to begin with, so having this money or not doesn't really affect our lives..."
"Mhm... Sakura, you're so good to me..."
Kallen and Yae Sakura embraced, gazing at each other affectionately, but they were pulled apart by Mei and Kika, who couldn't stand to watch any longer.
Mei said angrily to Kallen and Yae Sakura, "Stop being so dramatic, this is the nth time today!!! Sakura, come and help with the cooking, we're going to be late with the orders!"
"That's right, Kallen, come back and help carry plates. Kiana is complaining that she's too busy..." Kika grabbed Kallen by the back of her collar and dragged her away.
Because of Kallen's earlier righteous and selfless speech, she had gotten Kiana and the others all fired up and wanting to show their love. Then, in a moment of passion, the whole group donated their money to a scam organization.
Now, they could only rely on Theresa and Ryn's charity and run a Valkyrie Restaurant in the academy's commercial district to earn some money to make ends meet.
Currently, Kallen and Judah were working as twin waitresses carrying plates, Bronya was the cashier, and Kiana was in charge of washing vegetables and prepping ingredients. Mei and Yae Sakura were the head chefs, responsible for making delicious dishes.
Ryn and Kika could only come to help at the restaurant occasionally, as both were S-rank Valkyries and often had sudden missions to go on.
However, whenever they were free, Kika and Ryn would both come to help at the restaurant, sometimes even tricking Fu Hua into coming along. In its normal, smaller state, the Purple Flame Mystic Phoenix was also a super adorable fat chicken bolster pillow, which attracted a lot of traffic to the restaurant.
As it happened, they were free today, and Kika and Ryn came to the Valkyrie Restaurant together.
"Hee hee, Ryn, you're here!"
Kiana, who had been washing vegetables, broke into a grin when she knew Ryn had arrived and flew over, giving Ryn a big hug.
Ryn helplessly pinched Kiana's nose and pointed to two obvious handprints on his clothes.
"You little idiot, you got my clothes dirty again."
"Oops, I forgot to dry my hands... but that's not important. Ryn, do you want something to eat?"
Kiana grinned broadly and happily, pulling Ryn towards the back kitchen.
"Don't mind me. I'll eat with you all after you close. Let me help out for now!"
"Yay!"
So Ryn helped Kiana with her work, preparing the ingredients and spices for Mei and the others.
"Kika, what are you doing standing here? Do you want to come in and eat?" Bronya, who had just finished serving a table, asked curiously as she looked at Kika, who had been standing at the entrance.
"Uh, I don't know what I can do to help, so I was planning to be a mascot with Lil' Phoenix. But it seems like nobody's really paying attention to me..."
Kika turned around, her face ashen. She hadn't expected to be less charming than a chicken. The blow to her was immense.
Bronya: "Uh, maybe it's because of your lazy expression... Bronya thinks Kika might not be suitable as a mascot. You should go to the back kitchen and help!"
"So annoying. I'll just go slack off in a corner and wait for you all to finish work."
Kika huffed and puffed as she walked to the back, took out her beanbag chair, and flopped onto it.
Bronya shrugged, not expecting much from Kika either. She returned to the counter, stood on her chair, and continued her work as a cashier.
Besides the occasionally seen mascot, Lil' Phoenix, and the delicious food from Mei and Yae Sakura, another specialty of the restaurant was the twin waitresses, Kallen and Judah.
Other than the color of their pupils, there was almost no difference between them. And one was a cold and aloof older sister type with a stern face that screamed "stay away," while the other was a sunny and cheerful, somewhat scatterbrained, energetic girl. The gap moe between them was very popular with the customers.
——————————————
After a busy day, it was finally closing time.
After cooking all day, Mei and Yae Sakura were a bit tired, so Kiana volunteered to make a signature dish for everyone. She even chased everyone else out of the kitchen, not letting them peek.
Kika nudged Ryn with her elbow and whispered, "From my years of experience, people from the Kaslana family are not very good at cooking. Why don't we order some takeout first!"
Ryn rejected the suggestion, saying, "We can't do that. It's Kiana's kind thought, after all. What if we hurt her feelings by secretly ordering takeout!"
Mei: "That's right. Kiana has been asking me and Miss Sakura for a lot of tips and cooking methods recently. I'm sure it'll be fine!"
Kallen pressed her fist against Kika's head and twisted it fiercely.
"You despicable person, don't underestimate the will of the Kaslana family. Something as simple as cooking, we only need to try a little harder to learn it!"
"Oh, right, right, you learn it in a flash," Kika threw her hands up and gave up.
"Although Kallen is telling the truth, Bronya still doesn't quite believe in the idiot Kiana," Bronya muttered under her breath.
DONG—
Just as Bronya finished her roast, Kiana popped up from behind her and tapped her on the head.
"You wretched Bronya, talking bad about me again. Don't underestimate me! Look, this is the toast pizza I made. Come and try it."
Kiana placed the platter she had been hiding behind her back on the table and slowly uncovered it, revealing several beautiful tomato toast pizzas.
"The color looks great! Kiana, you're amazing." Ryn praised Kiana first, then picked up a piece of toast pizza and took a small bite.
"I never thought Kiana could actually make something edible. But it couldn't be a case of deceptive appearance, right!" Kika also picked up a piece and took a bite.
"The edges are all burnt... but since Kiana made it, it must be delicious." Mei also took a piece and took a bite.
"Mmm... super delicious!" Ryn, Kika, and Mei praised in unison.
"Hmph, I am the god of cooking of this generation, of course it's delicious! Everyone else, try some too."
Kiana happily distributed the toast pizza to the others, and Bronya and the rest also began to taste it.
"See, I told you that something as simple as cooking wouldn't defeat someone from the Kaslana family." Kallen chuckled as she ate Kiana's toast pizza, the wonderful taste making her unable to stop.
Yae Sakura: "Kiana's toast pizza is indeed very delicious, but has anyone else smelled a strange odor... a bit like something burning..."
"Hehe, it must be the smell of the toast pizza! Because toast pizza tastes better when it's a bit burnt, so it's normal to have a burnt smell." Kiana happily ate the toast pizza with everyone, completely ignoring what Yae Sakura said about a burnt smell.
After a while, Ryn sniffed the air. He also smelled something burning. Not just Ryn, but Mei, Bronya, and the others smelled it too.
"Uh... I think I smell the burnt smell Yae Sakura mentioned. It's not the smell of the toast pizza, but it's coming from the kitchen. Kiana, are you cooking something else?"
"Cooking something?" Kiana looked at Ryn in confusion, then suddenly stood up in a panic. "Oh no, I forgot I was still cooking curry!"
Kiana ran towards the kitchen with a piece of toast pizza in her mouth. The toast pizza was just something she had prepared for everyone to tide them over; the real feast was the curry she was cooking.
Not a few seconds after Kiana entered the kitchen, a loud explosion was heard. From the sound of it, the pressure cooker had exploded... followed by another series of crackling explosions...
"Oh no, oh no..."
Then, thick smoke billowed out from the kitchen. Kiana ran out of the kitchen carrying a battered large pot containing a thick, purplish, unidentified liquid.
Kika shouted in a panic, "Kiana, what did you do! What happened to the kitchen!!"
Kiana: "Cough, cough... how strange, why did my curry turn out like this? I clearly followed all the steps..."
Ryn: "This is curry?! Huh?! It's turned purple!"
Kiana: "Of course, this is the potato and meat stew I carefully made for everyone! Maybe it's just the color that changed. Everyone, try it, it must still be delicious! I'll have a taste first~"
Mei hurried over to stop Kiana.
"Wait, Kiana, I think it's better not to eat it!"
Yae Sakura looked at the bizarre dish and said, "The heat wasn't controlled well, and it was cooked for too long. You can't even tell what the potatoes and meat are anymore."
Bronya: "I think we should rescue the kitchen first! Also, idiot Kiana, stop running around with the burnt curry!!!"
"Ryn, come quick, help me save my curry..." Kiana hugged the pot and looked at Ryn with pleading eyes.
Ryn glanced at the contents of the pot and gave up. "Can't be saved, can't be saved. Even the potatoes are burnt to a crisp and stuck to the pot. Not only is it inedible now, but the pot is also ruined..."
Kallen threw up her hands and said helplessly, "See, I told you we should have just ordered takeout. I have full confidence in the abilities of the Kaslana family."
"Why don't you take a look at what you said earlier!" Kika gave Kallen the middle finger. Just now, Kallen was the one who had argued with her the most.
The others also turned to stare at Kallen in unison and said:
"You're no better!"