My mother kept telling me not to add my food to the menu right away. It wouldn't be good if I showed it too early, according to her.
Now that we finally opened the restaurant, I understand what she meant. First, she wanted to attract people with her cooking. Then we'd steal their hearts with the secret recipes of the Roost Family. Once that was done, we'd introduce what I had, to seal the magic.
At this moment, they hadn't developed much faith in Tiz & Roosts itself as a restaurant. If we messed up and the reaction was bad, the _Dungeon City Bulletin_ or other newspaper studios might cover it as an incident with a completely made-up title.
Since our theme was equality and the uniqueness of disparity, as people understood more about the place, there would be some who disliked it. And if they ever took their hate further and paid a newspaper studio to print bad news about us, it was entirely possible for them to destroy us completely. Because it had happened before.
Well, leave that matter aside for now.
"One more Hameress from the Roost's secret recipes!" I yelled at the kitchen.
"A moment!" Tizmilly replied as she helped my mother cook the orders.
Since morning, we'd seen a continuous stream of people coming and leaving our place. While they weren't as packed as the first group who came because of my mother's cooking, the seemingly endless stream still put an invisible pressure on us.
While we were preparing the latest order, a new customer entered the place.
Carole immediately went over to welcome him. She was alone because Sirry and Gerena were busy serving other customers.
After she bowed to him, she looked at him as if she were looking at some random bug. "Hmph, a seat right here is enough for a customer like you!" Carole harrumphed, guiding the man toward a seat in the center.
The man sat down and started to look around the place, his eyes widening with interest. "This is a good place..." he muttered.
"Here is the menu and the water. For someone like you, I recommend Mirte Soup from the regular section and Hameress from the Roost's secret recipes. They're cheap, filling, and tasty. Be quick, okay? I am busy!" Carole scoffed and placed a tray before the man, giving him the menu and a cup of water as usual.
The busy time continued.
"Ah! Sir, Sirry passed out again!" yelled Carole while holding the unconscious Sirry.
"Let Timmy carry her to the backroom!" I replied as I gestured toward Timmy, who had been standing by beside the cashier's table for some time now.
Seeing that it was his time to work, Timmy immediately rushed over to Sirry and Carole to get Sirry into the backroom and let her rest for a while.
"Boss, can I rest, too?" Gerena asked me while hugging her book. For some reason, she was trembling.
I glanced at the wall clock before nodding. "Well, it's almost lunchtime. Fine, you can rest in the backroom."
Her eyes instantly sparkled. "You saved me, boss."
I could only scratch my cheek. "Ahahaha..."
However, even now, the stream of people hadn't paused. With Sirry and Gerena resting, it would be too hard for Carole alone.
So I turned to look at the kitchen, searching for our Miss Villainess. "Tizmilly, put on your maid uniform! We'll help Carole while these two are resting."
Tizmilly was holding a knife in front of a bunch of vegetables when she perked up and looked at me. She hesitated. "But what about these orders..."
I waved my hand calmly. "Just leave that to my mother. She can handle it, right, Mom?"
My mother raised a thumbs-up in response.
I smiled. "See?"
Tizmilly looked between me and my mother before nodding and obeying. "Alright."
I let Timmy take my place before I went into the changing room and put on my butler uniform.
The changing rooms for the female and male employees were across from each other. So the moment I finished changing and stepped out, it was natural for me to run into her.
"Mister Roost... You look good in that uniform," said Tizmilly while fidgeting with her skirt.
Her uniform was similar to Carole's. The design focused on enhancing her elegance while still not looking too restrictive.
I looked at her long auburn hair. She usually single-braided it so it wouldn't hinder her movement, but now she finally let it loose. Her hair, like a burning fire, looked even more charming than I remembered from when I first saw her in the game.
I scratched my cheek. "You too... are beautiful in that uniform."
We shut our mouths after exchanging praises. For some reason, I couldn't think of any topic at the moment.
After some time had passed, I forced some words out of my throat. "Well... Let's go."
Tizmilly nodded. "Th-that's right..."
With our help, the crowd finally started to decrease. At the peak of noon, the latest customer finally left the restaurant with a satisfied smile on her face.
Carole immediately lay down on the floor after she saw the woman leave.
"Aahhh! Finally! Finally, I can rest! Huhuhu..."
I could only laugh awkwardly seeing her like that.
"It's because it's our first day. They're curious about us. We won't be as busy later."
A voice came from behind us. When we looked that way, it was my mother. She could finally rest a bit after continuously cooking food since morning.
"I hope so," said Carole, "Otherwise I'll die."
I chuckled.
"If we get that popular, we'll of course hire more girls. Don't worry."
Tizmilly clapped to attract our attention.
"Now, it's lunchtime!" she yelled excitedly with sparkling, or rather burning, eyes.
She must really like my mother's cooking, since she'd become a big eater after she started living with us.
We raised our hands in response.
""Oooohhhhh!!""