Having arrived with two large baskets of Lavender Melons, the Arataki Gang ultimately retrieved their two key members.
"Hahaha! As expected, this great one is still the best! All our hard work gathering Lavender Melons these past few days finally paid off. We rescued Shinobu and Yuna!"
Itto grinned like an idiot and nudged Yuna, who was standing beside him, with his elbow.
Already in a foul mood from her parents' nagging earlier, Yuna immediately drew her Claymore at the sudden shove.
"What? Wanna fight?!"
Itto frantically waved his hands. "Fight? What's the point of fighting? It's so boring!"
"So, what do you think? Am I not the most loyal? I've been plotting to rescue you two every day!"
Yuna sheathed her Claymore and crossed her arms behind her head.
"Meh, average."
"Ahem! Yuna, when are you going to cook us something amazing again? That ramen you made last time was absolutely amazing!"
Mamoru, Akira, and Genta's eyes lit up at the mention of food.
They had been foraging for Lavender Melons for days, living entirely on roasted melons. Even their burps tasted of Lavender Melon.
Genta: "Yeah, Yuna! When are you going to show off your skills again?!"
"Yuna?"
Yuna shot Genta a sideways glare, prompting him to quickly correct himself.
"No, not Yuna, it's Sister Yuna! Heh heh, Sister Yuna, when will you show us your skills again?"
Yuna seemed quite pleased with being addressed as "Sister Yuna," her pretty little face beaming with pride.
"Hmph, since you're all being so well-behaved, I'll treat you to a demonstration. Besides, it's about time anyway. Go buy some supplies for me, and we'll set up our stall today!"
"Sister Yuna, you're brilliant!"
"Sister Yuna, you're awesome!"
Mamoru and the Trio were masters of emotional feedback, showering Yuna with praise that made her feel truly appreciated.
Itto grinned widely, baring his big teeth. Every time Yuna set up her stall, it was the Arataki Gang's most glorious moment. Crowds would line up to buy her food, treating him, their nominal gang leader, with utmost respect and reverence.
But that wasn't the most important part. The real highlight was that after each stall day, the Arataki Gang would have money to spend for a while, and they could savor Yuna's personally crafted delicacies!
That was truly something to look forward to!
Itto and the others were ecstatic, praising Yuna with even greater fervor, which naturally made her even happier.
Watching this lively bunch of treasures, Kuki Shinobu's lips curved into a faint smile beneath her mask.
This is exactly the kind of atmosphere I love—free, unrestrained, and utterly carefree.
"Second Sister..."
Yuna called out, and Kuki Shinobu immediately knew what she wanted.
Finding a seat, Kuki Shinobu pulled out a pen and paper. "Go ahead," she said.
Itto and the others leaned in to listen intently.
Yuna cleared her throat. "Eggs, milk, flour, sugar..."
Kuki Shinobu wrote each item down, then looked up at Yuna.
"That's all. That should be enough."
"How much of each?"
Based on past experience, if she wrote the quantities precisely, the Boss would probably mess it up.
"A hundred eggs, two buckets of milk..."
Yuna repeated the quantities. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she asked, "Do you guys like skewers?"
Yuna saw unanimous nods, even from her second sister after a quick glance at her.
Great, I shouldn't have asked, she thought wryly.
"Then let's add some fruit—anything will do, preferably about this size and seedless."
Itto confidently thumped his chest, his energy soaring at the thought of delicious food soon to come. "Don't worry, I'll handle this perfectly myself."
Itto snatched the list from Kuki Shinobu, stared at it for a while, then pointed to one of the characters and asked Genta beside him, "How do you read this one?"
"Boss, that's 'lemon'."
"Oh, right! That's why it looked familiar! Lemon, ha ha, I know, I know."
With his three underlings in tow, Itto headed off to buy the ingredients, while Kuki Shinobu turned to her younger sister.
"Let's go. I'll come back and help you."
"Mhm! Mhm!"
-
Yuna was essentially a part-time vendor. Though she worked sporadically—often fishing for just one day and drying her nets for seven or eight—she always had everything she needed.
As a chef, her small workshop was well-equipped.
This time, Yuna planned to make some desserts, including a cake called tiramisu from her previous world.
Her persona in Fontaine had been making it recently, so she decided to give it a try. Though the ingredients might not be sufficient, substitutes always existed—it would just take a bit more effort.
Besides the cake, she also planned to make two other desserts: her favorite skewers and ice cream.
Inazuma had been scorching hot lately, so ice cream should sell well.
Does Teyvat even have ice cream? she wondered. At least, none of her personas had encountered it yet. The one in Fontaine still made it herself.
Chongyun's ice cream didn't count—his was made by himself.
Apart from the skewers, the other desserts were relatively complex, but for Yuna, they were child's play.
When initially setting the culinary skills for her two personas, Jiang Mumu had been ruthless in her design. Later, to ensure success, she had invested heavily in Emotional Feedback. In other words, she added buffs. For example, if she were to rate the deliciousness of a dish on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being perfect...
A machine-made dish would score 50 points, but when the same machine and ingredients were used by someone else, the score remained 50. When Yuna used them, however, the score soared to 80.
This was her buff—the food she made simply tasted better than anyone else's.
Combined with her impeccable technique, the result was an absolute game-changer!
If Raiden Ei hadn't been hiding in her Plane of Euthymia, Yuna was convinced her culinary skills could have hooked the archon like a prize fish!
Once Itto and the others returned with the ingredients, Yuna threw herself into a whirlwind of cooking.
By the time they finished shopping, it was already afternoon, and the frenzied cooking stretched well into the night.
"Boss, it's done! Go tell everyone dinner's ready!"
Most of the items for tomorrow's sale were nearly finished, but those weren't suitable for dinner. So Yuna whipped up some ramen on the side.
The boss had been pestering her about it for so long; she couldn't just refuse him outright.
"Ha ha! Finally done! I've been waiting forever!"
Despite his impatient words, he still served the ramen to Kuki Shinobu and Yuna first, then to Mamoru and the others, saving his own bowl for last.
"Boss, what about the others?" Yuna asked.
The Arataki Gang might be obscure, but they did have some connections, though only about a dozen in total.
Yuna was slightly more familiar with Mamoru and the others because they often followed Arataki Itto around like shadows.
"Don't worry about them, Miss Yuna," Mamoru said. "They didn't even want to join us when we went looking for Lavender Melons earlier. Some of them bolted as soon as you and Miss Shinobu left."
"Oh."
Yuna didn't mind; she wasn't particularly close to any of them anyway. Besides, she was used to being straightforward and didn't have any ulterior motives. She had simply noticed the smaller crowd and asked.
"Man, that was awesome! Absolutely awesome!"
Whether driven by extreme hunger or something else, Itto had actually devoured five bowls of ramen! It seemed a certain Lavender Melon had found a rival! Even Mamoru and the other two each managed two bowls.
When they finally left, Itto was clutching his aching stomach, looking genuinely miserable from overeating.
"Same spot tomorrow! Don't forget!"
"Relax, we won't!"
After a quick clean-up, Yuna prepared to head back to rest with her sister. The ingredients wouldn't spoil; there were plenty of preservation methods.
Kuki Shinobu, watching her younger sister after a long day of work, gently patted her head.
"Let's go."
The next morning, Yuna wheeled her ice cream cart out bright and early. After all, ice cream without ice was unthinkable.
As for who in Inazuma could create ice... well, there were quite a few, but the most familiar was a certain lady.