POV Valentine

I'm starting to feel pressured in the kitchen.

'This is getting worse by the day. I am still not self-sufficient, even less so if I'm going to be getting this kind of people coming in. I will run out of rice, potatoes, even flour, tea leaves and coffee! Besides! I put up a sign showing my open hours! Does no one care about that!? You are 2 hours early! I should have pretended to be asleep or something.'  

"Danm it! I need time! Why do you show up now! Fuck!… I will have to descend to the next floor soon. I hate being forced by necessity."  

'If I can't serve satisfactory cuisine there will be questions about my supplies. That will bring the attention of the academy staff and I have not figured out how to explain myself! If only I could just move further away from here!!!'

I lament my powerlessness as I finish prepping the Japanese style breakfast set and fitting it all on the trays. I ask the noisy girls after setting the dishes on their table.  

"Valentine: Miss Shiraki, will you be taking some cupcakes with you today? I have made a couple sponge cakes yesterday evening, they should be just right for dessert if you'd like."  

'How I wish it was chocolate cake, I would have eaten it alone. Ah, with some cola too… I miss my fizzy drinks.'  

"Meiko: Thank you for the consideration, if I may, I'd like to take a few to go. How about we decide desserts after we finish this first?"

"Anna: Yeah, how about we finish eating, relax for a bit, then exercise around this clearing and come back for some cake?"  

""I want cake!!""  

"Anna: It is in agreement then. Will that be alright Mr. Valentine?"  

I can't help a strained smile surfacing and reply.  

"Valentine: Just calling me chef will do. If you wish to have dessert after a while, it is fine with me. I will start a new batch of cupcakes in the meantime so they have time to cool down and solidify the frosting. And don't worry about the dishes, I'll get to them once you are outside and the dough is in the oven… If I'm not needed anymore, I will be in the kitchen. Please excuse me."

I make my swift retreat into the kitchen, so that I'm not dragged into their conversation. If I were free from this accursed HQ I'd love to hang out with cute and fit girls. As it stands now, I need to be very careful with my interactions.  

'I must find a way to upgrade the HQ, so that I can move further away from it. At least I need to make it into the city without having my soul torn apart.'  

My solace is in the temporary distraction of making cupcakes, as the uncertain future draws ever closer.

POV Meiko

'He escaped again, now I can't collect information for lady Mari. Tck, he won't have an excuse later, I WILL have him spill as much information as possible.'  

I must have kept my eyes locked on his back for too long, since senior Anna has started displaying her mischievous side again.

"Anna: My! Meiko must be very much looking forward to dessert, she is practically devouring the chef with that gaze!"

"Tai: To be fair, I wouldn't mind taking him home myself."  

"Yumi: Yeah, having a nice man at your service would be great."  

"Anna: He does seem like a nice guy. Did you notice that he hasn't been ogling or even stealing glances at any of us, even at Meiko?"  

"Yumi: I did! Most men would have been glued to Meiko's figure like ants to honey. That's why I said he seems nice!"  

"Tai: If it come down to to taking him away, I would train him up in the gym for a few months. That way I get to have a feast for the eyes and the stomach!"  

"Anna: What? No sharing? How cruel of you Tai!"  

"Yumi: How cruel indeed! Meiko already guaranteed that his desserts are great, so he must be shared."

'Just what in the world are they talking about? That man isn't a cute animal to take home, but an untamed beast starving for soft flesh. They need to be more careful!'  

"Meiko: Please don't joke about that. Men can become too much to handle."

"Anna: I can agree that we shouldn't jump to any hasty decisions. We do have a whole year before we graduate, so… let's observe how he is and then decide if anyone wants to take him for themselves."

'Gods dammit! That is NOT what I was saying!'

"Meiko: I am just going to enjoy my food while it's warm, itadakimasu!"  

""Itadakimasu.""

We finish the food rather quickly. I blame the good taste, as there were no leftovers, and the seniors were quite pleased. We chatted for a bit, sipping warm tea and sunbathing. Before long we agree to go outside to exercise.

"Anna: Shall we do 3 sets of 10 min for stretching and then running for an hour?"  

"Tai: Eeee, we will have to wait sooo looong for cake?"  

"Yumi: Ah, yes. That would leave us about an hour of free time, after we are back, before lunch."  

"Anna: Exactly, we will have plenty of time to hit the showers and do our own things before lunchtime."  

"Meiko: Fine by me. I'm sure it won't trouble the chef either."  

"Anna: Actually, since they're 4 of us here today, how about we each lead an exercise in turn and then do the same for running?"  

""Sure, ok.""

I find it to be extra relaxing to exercise outside, especially away from the smell of pollution. The forest gives off the feeling of refreshing freedom and it seems that my seniors also feel motivated.

"Anna: It is very nice here, the ground is surprisingly even with little to nothing in the way. I was afraid there would be rocks and unsteady footing here."

"Meiko: I have caught the chef walking around and collecting rocks into a sack around here. That may be why the clearing is so clean of any loose bits."

"Anna: You did mention that he goes jogging here. I do feel the allure of being one with nature and breathing in lungfuls of fresh air."

"Tai: I'm pretty sure there is an undertone of freshly baked confectionery in the air."

"Yumi: I like both, the fresh forest air and a promise of baked goodness. Maybe it's even making me want to work out more, so that I won't feel guilty about eating sweets so much."

"Anna: Yeah, I think I'm getting the same feeling. Shall we increase the pace and put in some extra effort?

"Meiko: I do feel we will be ok to put in more work today. Anyone not feeling up to it?"  

""Let's do it. Go Hachimitsu Academy girls!""

We keep up the good mood, as we give it our best. 'It feels so nice to have such pleasant company to workout with. The seniors are practically glowing with vitality and happiness. Maybe I should invite lady Mari next time with me… Haa… She may not be happy about the male chef being so close. I will ask just in case, it is a shame to miss out on the tranquil atmosphere here.'

We get into the groove and just keep on running and running, pushing to go faster, then slowing down. Sprinting, then cooling down a bit. None of us notice how the time passed.

"Valentine: Excuse me ladies. It is just around 2.30 p.m now, if you wish to stay for lunch, may I take a minute of your time to inquire about your preferences?"

We slow down and come to a stop as the chef approaches, asking his question.

"Yumi: Anna! Weren't you keeping an eye on the time? We're overtime by an hour."  

"Tai: That still leaves us an hour before lunch starts being served. I didn't realize so much time has passed either. What should we do?  

"Anna: Sorry girls, I must've got lost in the moment. Let's see. We haven't told anyone we will be going out until dinner, so we better show up for lunch."

"Meiko: I agree, I have planned to meet up with my classmates for lunch too."

"Tai: Chef Valentine, is it alright if we get the desserts for takeout? We could put them aside for after lunch snacks?"

'I can't help but to agree with Tai, as do the others. We all are looking forward to some desserts after working out so much.'

"Meiko: Can I have 3 portions please? I'd like to share with my friends after lunch as well."

"Valentine: Very well, I shall prepare 2 sets of 3 portions each for takeout. Will that be fine?"  

None of us has a problem with that.  

"I will pack everything up in a couple of minutes and bring it out. I have set towels, jugs of juice and water on the table by the front door, please help yourselves to some refreshments while you wait."

The chef bows his head and goes back to work.

"Anna: Aww, he's such a sweetheart. If he keeps it up for a year, I will be taking him for myself."

"Yumi: I think it may be just part of good customer service? I mean, he's not even flirting or ogling. We ARE quite hot and sweaty right now."

'Ugh, I do sweat the most, so my clothes are soaking wet. Thankfully, black doesn't turn see through that much.'

"Anna: Should we tick the gentleman box now, or wait a bit on that judgement?"

'Ah! I won't be able to gather any new information again! Haa… Next time for sure.'  

We cool down by the door, with a nice breeze flowing in and sipping chilled drinks.

"Valentine: I have put the cold cakes into a box, to the top of the bag, and the baked goods are in the the bottom box. You can just stick the top box into a fridge and leave the other one anywhere you like. The cake does taste better cold, but wouldn't be terrible even if left outside for a bit...

It was a pleasure serving you. Please come again. I have the working hours written out on the sign by the front door, so that you won't have to come for nothing if I am away during some times."

"Meiko: There was? I thought you were open all day."

'This might actually be a good chance. If I know when he is away…I could covertly check out this place more thoroughly.'  

"Well, we are all thankful for your hospitality. See you next time."

"Tai: We will be sure to come again sometime! And we will send you our thanks as we eat the desserts!"

""Thank you for having us.""

POV Valentine

Finally, I am left on my own. 'Fuuuck… It's going to become a huge problem if I can't get more ingredients…'

"If I had some magic powers I would feel more comfortable coming out in the open. Right now I'm just a foreigner, with big fat ZERO ID of any kind. Haa… slaying monsters it is then."

I tidy up the mess left behind and cook myself some dinner in advance. I don't think I'll want to bother with it later. While having lunch I consider going into the dungeon again.

'I'll close up soon anyway, I can take the safest approach and slowly start scouting the second floor. Not much of a choice either way, haa, right, I'll check out the fodder monsters and go back.'

After eating my fill I relax a bit, wash the dishes, do a bit of stretching and get my usual gear ready. I will have to get through the chicken-raptors, so I take my Viking set, backpack and water just in case. Double checking that all lights are off and the CLOSED sign is out, I head to my destination.

'Well, I'm really used to moving around the first floor. Let's see…it took me 25 minutes and only 1 encounter. Soo, 15 minutes if I run without distractions.'

I catch my breath and rest a bit, sitting down before another hole in the ground. It looks like a natural entrance into a cave and I want to make sure I won't encounter certain death bellow, so I sit and listen to any tall tales of danger.

'At least I can't hear any dinosaurs roaring, that's a good sign. No use in postponing this…'

Rested, I start walking forward to the second floor of this dungeon. A few minutes later I come out to an opening and take in the view.

 

"There is definitely some dungeon magic at play here. I went down by 10 meters at most, it was NOT a 500 m drop straight down! Gods I don't think I'll be walking all around here, especially if there are monsters hidden everywhere!"

'It is a magical scenery and it smells like curry. Luckily not the hot kind, that would be a burning hell for me. Now, what do I do?'

While there does not appear to be any danger nearby, I keep a close eye on the surroundings. There is plenty to look at and just by the smell I know that I'll find some spices somewhere.

'I do not want to go too far in for now, I don't see or hear any stream of water and I doubt there would be any clear water in this environment.'

"Great, more things to to carry around. I'm pretty sure I saw some slimes moving by the base of the mountain. Ok, should be easy enough."

It turns out that the fodder monsters for this floor are… well… kinda like slimes? 'Does this still count as a slime or a vegetable? I mean they are rounded blobs of liquid, sooo maybe it's an evolution to the next level?'

 

I stand a 100 m away from a couple of tomato-slimes. One is brown and the other a bit more reddish. They have little difference between them, just the colour. I believe I can take on a dozen of them, if they are as weak as the slimes, so I move in.

Out of safety I keep the shield and lightly run up to the little veggies. Getting close I can say that they are about the same size as the slimes, and lack any offensive capacity.

"Yeap, definitely fodder. `Chop` one, `Hiyup` two down." I easily dispatch the monsters with one swing of my axe each. Now I can tell the difference better, the slimes didn't splatter that much. Fortunately all the stuff disappears as the monster transforms into loot... usually, that is.

"WTF is happening?" The two monsters start turning into loot after only half a minute, but instead of giving me the goods, the two merge together and turn into a bigger one. The new monster is a bit below my shoulders and has some nasty looking vines on top.

"How the fuck did this happen?" I took a few cautious steps back, as the angry and aggressive plant-monster hopped in my direction.

'Shit! Calm down! It's just a bigger ball, `whoosh` with whips. Right, cut off those and it's helpless.'

I try to time my swings right, as the vines hit my shield, but it is fucking difficult to do with an axe. 'A sword would have worked much better.'

"Fuck! Damn shIT!!! Agh?!!" By trying to keep some distance between us, I left my legs too exposed and received a fucking lashing from an overgrown tomato!

"You fucking undercooked ketchup!!" I pull up my shield to cover my face and step in for a  SLAM with my bodyweight behind it.

The tomato recoiled, slightly tilting backwards and stabs its vines into the ground to regain stability. I take my opening and bring down my axe towards the vine stem. I keep the shield pressed against it and chop down a few times, mostly missing my target and simply hacking into the top of the monster.

"Haaa...haa...ouch, you son of a dungeon shit! That hurts!"

'At the very least it dies after taking a few more hits then a regular slime. It's only the fucking lashing I should worry about. I'm dead it it gets me in the face. Non really DEAD but I'm not going to test it out.'

I tenderly rub my tight while complaining and keeping an eye on the surroundings, including the monster's corpse this time.

After a few minutes of nervous waiting, the usual pattern repeated and I got some loot.

'I got fucking ketchup! Is the dungeon fucking with me? Or did the tomato take my comment to heart and turned into ketchup?'

"I'm overreacting, of course tomatoes turn into ketchup. It would be strange if it turned into mayo. Aahhhh. I'm done with this. I need to think about a safe way to deal with this merging monster. I'm not a fan of getting my ass whipped, not by a giant vegetable at least."

I pick up the loot, rub my tight again and make a sulking retreat, hoping I won't get a big bruise later.

"Even fodder lashes out on this floor, ugh, can't wait to see the predators here... I'm too old for this shit."