Ey Alenjandr0 thank you for the Power Stone! The first is always special, so I will celebrate it will double chapter today! The next chapter will be released in 2 hours.
Dont expect it to be regular thing guys, I need my backlogs.
Cheers, guys! I hope you enjoy the novel!
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"By the way, Ludwig." Rimuru opened his mouth as soon as Ludwig put the bottle of cola down. "Was your source of ingredients some kind of system window?"
Ludwig looked at Rimuru, he was quite surprised by his question. After all, there's no obvious telltale of the presence of the system when he bought his ingredient. But then he realized, Rimuru was someone who had also consumed so many stories back in his original worlds, so he would be able to see through his power just by looking at him touching the air. "Yeah, it's the power of the system. It's called [System Shop]"
"Damn… Now I'm envious." Rimuru clicked his tongue and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You get a system shop and this restaurant that connects to many worlds as your cheat while I get nothing! Moreover, you reincarnated as human when I reincarnated into a slime!"
Ah, the misunderstanding! Ludwig chuckled at his reaction. Then, he proceeded to explain about the system to Rimuru. "It's not my cheat. I mean, it could be if I was born into a wealthy noble family."
"What do you mean by that?" Rimuru squinted at him, probably thinking he's trying to play down the power of his system.
"I got the [System Shop] from a quest of owning a restaurant. That quest appeared in my system as soon as I had access to it. But, I am an orphan in my world, I don't have money to open a restaurant. I just got the system yesterday when my restaurant was completed. The ability of this restaurant? It's a reward from another quest I completed three months ago. Meaning, they are not my cheat. At least until I got them." Ludwig gave Rimuru some additional explanation.
Rimuru cocked his head to the side, Ludwig could see his eyes scanning him. At the same time, he could see the gear in Rimuru's head was turning. "You looked like someone in their mid-20s. With what you are capable of, I don't think that much time is needed to save some money, or the cost of owning a restaurant is much more pricier in your world?'
"I don't think it's pricey. I can rent a building first rather than buying it outright or building a new one like what I did with this restaurant. The reason I just opened my restaurant yesterday is because I was discovered by the hero party and joined them." Ludwig sighed. When he thought back to the naive thoughts he had back then, he really wanted to hit himself hard.
"Hero party?" RImuru's eyes twinkled. "You go on a journey to slay the demon king?"
"Yes…" Ludwig shook his head. "Something I regret until now."
"Ehhhhh, why? Why did you regret a journey where you can fall in love with a princess or three, be hailed as a hero, and get so much glory and riches?" Rimuru said so, his voice was high, as if he was screaming.
"Is it like that for you?" Ludwig looked at him pointedly. "Because if it's like that, It's my turn to envy you."
"Every single girl around me is a monster!" Rimuru shot back, his exasperation palpable. "I'm also not in a hero party! Scratch that, I'm not even a human!"
"You forget something! I said I was discovered by the hero's party. There's a hero, it's not me." Ludwig explained, tone indignant.
"You are someone who was reincarnated. So how come you are not the hero?"
"Because the hero is a guy who was summoned to Ortus." Ludwig answered flatly.
"Ah, that makes sense." Rimuru nodded. "But that didn't answer the question about why you regret it."
Ludwig let out a long sigh as the memory from the journey returned to him. "First is because it takes too long to finish. The demon king is finally defeated after 18 years of journey. Eighteen. Back then, I expected it to end in like 3 or 4 years, after all my situation fits those feel-good isekai stories—But boy I can't get any more wrong. The second thing is because I see and feel things that make me realise fantasy is far from reality."
"Oof." Rimuru flinched. "18 years is too long. To tell you the truth, I just fought in a war a few days ago. I can say this, I hate wars. I don't know how you can still be sane after getting involved in a war for 18 years."
"I wonder about that too." Ludwig's tone became solemn as the sight of the warzone returned to his mind. Blood, limbs, visceras, scream, and many more. Nothing was ever pretty in the warzone. Even the most optimistic and bright person would surely turn for the worse after living in that kind of hell for so long.
Thankfully for him, his restaurant quest kept him in line. Everytime he wanted to just go rogue and crazy, he saw the quest and endured for another day. After all, running away would mean becoming a traitor of humanity, cutting his chance of opening a restaurant to zero.
Those kinds of days were moments that he could look back on with pride. If he followed the dark whispered from his mind back then, he wouldn't be able to see the sights he could now. Rimuru, Minato, Kushina, Claire, that red-haired guy.
When silence fell on the restaurant and the atmosphere grew a tad bit heavy, probably because Rimuru realized he just made a blunder, the restaurant buzzed Ludwig's mind. Someone was coming, someone who had been into the restaurant before. When the door creaked open however, the red-haired Kijin wasn't the only one who crossed through the door.
Right behind the red-haired Kijin was another Kijin with pink haired and pink eyes dressed in a red and white Kimono. There was also a Kijin dressed in a purple suit, matching the colour of her hair and eyes. Behind the three Kijins, a ginormous wolf with a horn walked in. Its fur was grey with white fur surrounding its neck like a mane. Even though it was the first time they walked into the restaurant, Ludwig knew who they were. Shuna, Shion, and Ranga.
So that's why I didn't feel his presence in Rimuru's shadow. It seems like the other three Kijins are also busy. Well, since the war just finished, it's only natural. Ludwig thought so as he saw Ranga march into the restaurant.
At that moment Ludwig moved his eyes towards the chandelier hanging on top of the large table in the middle of the dining area. It seemed like he's not the only one who was curious about the big wolf. But rather than exposing the little dragon, Ludwig just opened his mouth towards the newcomers to his restaurant. "Welcome to Checkpoint."
Once they sat around Rimuru, except Ranga who just sat on the floor behind the slime, he opened his mouth. "Order anything you like. And Shuna, learn as much as you can from Ludwig, the chef of this restaurant. I want those dishes to be served in the city soon."
"Understood, Rimuru-sama." Shuna answered softly.
"What about me, Rimuru-sama? I also want to serve you new food!" The purple-haired Kijin whined.
"Shion…" Rimuru sighed. "Just observe for now."
"Understood." She answered, but the energy was different than her previous outburst.
Just like that, orders came in. Shuna, Ranga, and surprisingly Benimaru ordered the fried chicken. Meanwhile, Shion wants fish dishes. Ludwig moved to the kitchen, he first took the pre-fried chicken and fried it again. In the meantime, he took the small-sized fish he brought in the market earlier and laid it in the pan before dunking a healthy amount of red sauce he had made into the pan. Once the sauce bubbled from the heat, he dumped pieces of white and soft tofu into it before waiting for it to cook thoroughly.
In the meantime, he moved elegantly between the sizzling pan of fried chicken and a pan of fish bathed in red sauce. Once he's done, the air was thick with grease and spiciness, and a t the perfect time, he served it to those who wanted it. "Enjoy."
The Kijins and the wolf devoured the food in front of them with gusto. Even Shuna who Ludwig knew to be demure was scoping more and more fried chicken into her mouth. Once every plate was empty, everyone stopped. But Ludwig could see they were looking at Rimuru, except for Benimaru.
"You can order again." Rimuru sighed.
Another round of cooking waited for Ludwig. The menu he had to cook was the same, so he moved quickly and precisely. Only after the Kijins and Wolf polished the additional food placard in front of them that they finally stopped.
"It's really delicious." Shuna exclaimed.
"It is!" Shion chimed in. "Don't worry Rimuru-sama, I'll cook those foods for you soon!"
"I, Ranga, approved of this so-called fried chicken." The wolf baritone's voice spread through the restaurant. However, unlike its regal way of talking and its deep serious voice, its tail was moving from right to left in outrageous speed.
"Glad you like it." Ludwig felt his heart warming up at the complement. The dark thoughts about the past had completely vanished. The atmosphere too, it had begun to lighten up, just like the atmosphere that a restaurant should have.
"How is it Shuna? Do you think you'll be able to recre-" Rimuru stopped mid-sentence, then he looked at Ludwig. "Do you mind if we use your recipe? I forgot to ask."
"It's fine." Ludwig waved his hand. "Moreover, it's not my recipe. I also used someone else's recipe."
"But…"Rimuru pressed. "Don't you think that will reduce the number of customers you'll get from my world?"
"It's fine. You know about this restaurant's ability. Moreover, I don't think every single citizen of your city could enter here. At least without you accompanying them." Ludwig explained.
"I see. Thank you again, Ludwig." Rimuru smiled before looking at Shuna. "So, Shuna, what do you think?"
"With some experiments, I think I'll be able to recreate it, Rimuru-sama." Shuna answered.
But before Rimuru opened his mouth again, Ludwig entered the conversation. "Experiments? What for? I'll write the recipe for you. Though, you might still need the experiments to make the sauce."
Without even giving Rimuru time to retort, Ludwig took a book from his Storage Dimension and wrote the recipes for the Yangnyeom Chicken, Fish And Chips, and the Dori Baeng Baeng. Once he was done, he handed the book to Shuna. "I have written everything there, some ingredients might not be available in your world, just substitute them with ingredients that have the same flavour profile. The flavor profile of each ingredient is in the book as well."
"T-thank you." Shuna answered as he took the book as carefully as she could, as if it was a delicate thing that could break when handled wrong.
"You are welcome." Ludwig smiled.
Some chefs and restaurant owners might have an aversion to sharing their recipes with others. But Ludwig was not like them. Just like he said to Rimuru earlier, the recipes he used were not something he made himself. He stumbled upon it either on the internet or cooking shows, it's not his place to stop others from also using it. However, Ludwig also has another reason why he gave them the recipe. The city where Rimuru came from should have an excess workforce due to him taking all orcs under his wing. Thus, he expected Rimuru to allocate quite a lot of people for his food research. By giving them just the recipe, he hoped they would be able to make some of the ingredients needed for the food with their local ingredients, making it possible for him to buy it from them.
The day continued as Ludwig chatted with his customers. Nothing too heavy as Rimuru had taken his work of explaining about the restaurant to his subordinates. Once the light of the day finally disappeared into the horizon, the red-haired guest paid for his orders. As he claimed, he could really pay for all his orders. He even gave him a good tip. Evidence that he's someone rich in his world. Probably a noble. Rimuru's party followed suit not long after, leaving Ludwig once again alone in his restaurant.
However, Ludwig didn't just close the restaurant the moment Rimuru and his party left, he first washed all the dishes he had used clean while also cleaning the kitchen. After that was done, he sat behind the bar with a book and a glass of whiskey as company.