Early in the morning that day, the house was already filled with lively noise.
"Wake up, wake up!"
I could hear my mother's energetic voice and Tizmilly's sleepy voice coming from the room next to mine while I was still gathering my energy and trying to wake up.
"It's morning already, little Tiz∼."
"5 more minutes..."
"No, no, we'll be late if we don't hurry up. That's right, Theo is already waiting for you∼."
Hearing a series of thuds, I immediately pushed myself up against the strong gravity of the bed. I went down to the first floor and entered the restroom to wash my face while enduring the embarrassment growing inside me because of my mother's words.
She was always like that, teasing Tizmilly using me whenever she could. Even though it was clear we weren't like that...
When I sat down in my chair, the table was already filled with warm food. The aroma was so enticing that my empty stomach began growling, urging me to fill it. But I had to wait for my mother and Tizmilly to come down first. I couldn't just eat everything alone.
Not long after that, Tizmilly, whose face was as red as a tomato, and my mother, who was smiling like a mischievous kid, entered the dining room.
We then ate our breakfast quietly, as if nothing had happened.
Before the sun even showed its light, we had already arrived at the restaurant in our respective uniforms. The black and white colors gave us an elegant look that wouldn't embarrass us before people from the most expensive restaurant in Dungeon City. And with my mother's touch, the uniforms looked and felt more comfortable than a normal uniform. They gave an impression of freedom, which aligned well with our restaurant's theme.
We swept the floor, arranged the cooking tools, set the chairs, and put linings on them.
Carole, Sirry, and Gerena arrived one after another while we were doing that. They immediately changed into their uniforms and helped us with the initial work.
Before we even realized it, the world outside had lit up. Through the window, we could see pedestrians and carriages, with one or two cars passing by from time to time, beginning to fill the wide stone-paved road.
After I signaled her, Sirry pulled the restaurant doors open. She also flipped the closed sign, showing people the word 'Open'.
With this, we officially started the business.
Now come, o' customers!
At first, our place only received curious gazes from pedestrians. They murmured among themselves while looking at our place, clearly interested. However, no one entered the restaurant.
Until a man with a white sleeveless shirt came.
"This is better than I expected..." he muttered while looking around with an interested gaze.
Noticing his presence, Sirry, Carole, and Gerena immediately approached him to welcome him.
Sirry bowed stiffly. "W-welcome to uh..."
Carole smiled and bowed gracefully. "Welcome to Tiz & Roosts, sir. We serve people with the best delicacies you could find in Dungeon City!"
While Gerena just nodded. "Welcome. Sit on any chair you want."
The man was stunned at first, but he was quick to recover. "Beautiful maids, haha, that's nice!"
He laughed before sitting on the chair that was close to the window.
I was a little worried watching the three of them work, but since the man reacted quite positively, I thought it was a success?
For some reason, Carole and Sirry let Gerena serve him. While holding a book she was reading in one hand, she brought a cup of water and the menu on a tray she held using the other hand.
"Here," she said as she put the tray on the table.
She blinked slowly, giving the man a quick glance before going back to her book. "Drink it if you want. And that's the menu. Pick your order from what's written on it."
From beside me, Tizmilly was frantically gesturing for Gerena to act more politely.
_Oh, she nodded._
Then she looked back at the man.
"Please," she said.
And that's it.
"Miss Gerena...!" Tizmilly screamed while trying to keep her voice as low as she could.
Despite her concern, Gerena actually handled the man pretty much as I expected when I decided to hire her. Cold, but not too rude. Overall, she wasn't that bad at it. As long as she wasn't purposely hurting the customers, it would be okay.
After a moment of hesitation, the man ordered a big set of spicy orc meat. It was cheap and full of protein. The man looked like a rough worker, so it would be a perfect breakfast for him.
"Spicy orc meat, big, one!" I yelled toward the kitchen through the window that connected the cashier's table with the kitchen.
"Okay~!" My mother replied.
She sounded happy. She must be enjoying it.
Unexpectedly, the man reacted to my mother's voice.
"Oh! So this really is Sis Calary's place? Haha! This is going to be a real tasty breakfast!" He laughed.
"Wait, you know Mom?" I quickly asked him.
He looked at me, grinning. "You must be Theo, Sis Calary's son, ain't you?"
Crossing his arms, he answered with a proud face. "Everyone around here knows your mother, kid. She was also the one who invited me to this place. She said that you wanted to make it a place where everyone, no matter who they are, can eat at the same table. I actually doubted it, but I'll come over often since I can eat Sis Calary's cooking here!"
I scratched my cheek, not knowing how to react to that information. "Eh... What do you mean everyone knows my mother..."
"And I'm not alone!" The man laughed, interrupting me.
As if on cue, a crowd of people suddenly swarmed our place. The old, the young, men, women—all of them entered our place. In total, their number reached 26!
They started to look around curiously while chattering lively. I noticed, though, how often they mentioned my mother's name. Did they really come to our place just because of my mother's cooking?
"So... so many people..." Seeing them, Sirry passed out.
Today sure would be a busy first day for us.