Bandur was about to taste the novel food before him, when he realized that the girl was staring at him as if she might pounce on him at any moment. He felt especially uncomfortable since he had the strange premonition that she would continue like this until he’d taken his very last bite. Soon, however, this concern disappeared. It wasn’t only the delight of tasting the thin, crunchy crust, the string-pulling cheese, and the refreshing taste of a tomato sauce seasoned with a bunch of unfamiliar herbs, that made him forget about his surroundings and the intense stares, but also the realization that there was more to this exceptional food called pizza than just its taste.

Only now did he realize that this food was actually buff food-food that provides benefits not unlike to those granted by some of the more support oriented classes, or the effects of the more conventional consumables, such as the elixirs sold in Severin’s shop; not that those were actually conventional in any way, either.

Now it was he who kept staring with wide, disbelieving eyes at the tooltip in front of him while ever so slowly chewing the food in his mouth.

Not knowing her background, Bandur wasn’t aware of the reasons Emily was so obsessed with food, but suddenly he became much more sympathetic of her behaviour. And still, eating this kind of food and not being able to fully utilize its buff almost felt like a bit of waste.

Almost.

He kept eating and between his bites he inquired with his new boss, and soon learned that Severin, and by extension his [Employees], were able to access more than just a single subclass.

He was especially excited when he learned that the second class, [Cook], was only acquired later on and not something that Severin had access to from the very beginning. This meant it wasn’t impossible that maybe sometime in the future, after a few level-ups of the [Shopkeeper] main-class, similar opportunities and choices would present themselves.

Bandur deciding to bind himself to the strange System meant that at the time he had made up his mind to put his trust into Severin and the people who made this meeting possible. And still, it was the things he learned only after officially becoming Severin’s [Employee] about a good hour or so ago that he felt more convinced than ever that he had made the right decision.

A wide smile once again appeared on his face.

“It’s amazing, right?!”

“Indeed. Haha. You’ve not promised too much.” Bandur didn’t feel the need to correct Emily in her assumption that it was solely her prepared dish that had provoked his reaction. It was truly praiseworthy, after all.

Bandur complimented her work, which in turn elicited a self-satisfied smile that seemed to say ‘see, told you so.’

Before Emily could actually voice this sentiment, however, it was Severin who said:

“I’m glad you like it. And if you have no other serious objections, I’d like to assign you to the kitchen.”

“Not at all. It would be my pleasure. Though…”

“Noo. Why him? Why not me? Sev, please.”

The girl’s objection did not come unexpectedly and Severin knew shooting her an annoyed look wasn’t gonna do it if he ever wanted to hear the end of it. He’d need to give her least some kind of explanation for his decision.

“Have you ever heard a saying about a fox guarding a henhouse?” He asked the girl.

“What? No.” Irritated, she looked at him and asked, ”what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you are a glutton, and that no food would ever make it out of the kitchen with you in charge.”

“That’s not true!” she insisted while pouting. “I did everything as you told me to and made food for everyone! I even delivered it to the two people talking with Magda. Only then did I start eating. I swear! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Hmm. You know that the System allows me to check all the billing information, right?” Severin didn’t think he would have to elaborate any further when he saw that the girl suddenly seemed very interested in the floor. Her whole head had turned beet red. Some faint complaints about someone or something being ‘unfair’ could be heard, but other than that, she had nothing to say for herself.

“How about that, whenever you’re free, you can come and visit me? I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out”

“Really?!” Her color was still not back to normal, but the speed at which she was able to change gears truly impressed the two men.

“You have no idea what you have just done,” Severin said jokingly to the dwarf in a lowered voice that was still very much loud enough for Emily to hear.

He then added more seriously and truly privately this time, >

Bandur waved Severin off in a way that the girl who was now fawning over him wouldn’t notice and said, >

The dwarf then quickly changed the topic to his original question, that had been interrupted by the girl’s complaints.

“So, how exactly does this work? Going by what I’ve seen so far, you’re not just going to teach me how to cook.”

“Right. Well. Why don’t we go over there right now, so I can show your around the kitchen. If I had to guess, I’d say the appliances and utensils should be somewhat different from what you’d normally see in a kitchen around here. And then, of course, I will also show you the cookbook.”

“Sounds good to me. But if it’s no problem, I’d like to first have a quick word with Wes and Sandra. Let them know what’s going on. And tell them to stop bothering that poor woman, haha.”

“Sure, let’s do that. Take your time; at the moment it’s still quite peaceful anyway, so no rush. That being said,” Severin turned over to the girl, “you, Emily, will stay here. After having tasted your sample, you can be sure that those two will be more than interested in what else we have to offer in here. It’s already a small wonder neither one of them has left their post. You understand?”

“Fine,” the girl was obviously reluctant but agreed without further complaints, knowing very well how far she could push her luck.

…

It came indeed as Severin had predicted. From inside the kitchen where he was waiting for Bandur, tracked the movement of the very same, as well as that of the [Bodyguard] and the [Safekeeper] when they headed in the same general direction. Once their paths parted, the latter two quickly hastened their steps and soon arrived inside the main store manned by Emily.

The dwarf naturally headed towards the kitchen instead.

Once there, he first explained to Severin that the two guards had apparently been instructed in advance to stay put and wait for further orders. The [Shopkeeper] curtly acknowledged this but didn’t have any strong feelings about this fact.

Severin then proceeded with his introductions but didn’t mention any kind of cooking techniques or recipes; that kind of knowledge would soon be taught to Bandur directly by the System. Instead, he focused more on explaining the functionality of a modern kitchen. And the importance of the quest log. Severin felt that one entry was particularly important. Its progress was still stuck at 1/5, even after countless hours of experimenting both inside and outside the kitchen. That had to change.

Severin therefore explicitly encouraged Bandur to try recreating any familiar dishes and to start experimenting with the limited variety of available ingredients whenever he would find the time to do so.

With that out of the way, Severin finally officially assigned Bandur as a [Cook]. At the same time, he limited Emily’s responsibilities and her workspace to the main store and the [Alchemist] sub-class.

The second Bandur had been assigned to his workplace was also the moment he gained access to the cookbook. He immediately opened the corresponding menu and started to absorb all the now newly available knowledge without waiting for Severin’s prompt.

As such, there was no actual need for Severin’s guidance or even just his presence.

Satisfied with the dwarf’s initiative, Severin left the room, and, with two busy [Employees] and nothing demanding his own attention, for the first time he felt like he really was the one in charge. He sat down in the empty café, closed his eyes, and simply enjoyed the moment.