Their timing was perfect.
It was almost time for Shouko to go downstairs and wait for the school bus, so everyone walked down together with Yaeko.
At the street corner below the building, Yaeko said goodbye and left for work.
When the school bus arrived, Yuto helped Shouko and Kanna get on before giving them several reminders.
Most of them were meant for Kanna.
For example, she was not allowed to eat random things at school, and she should not bully the other children.
The teacher on the school bus overheard him and could not help laughing.
"Don't worry. We'll keep an eye on them. Our school would never give children strange or unsafe food."
She smiled warmly before continuing.
"And as for bullying, you must be joking. Kanna-chan is so adorable! How could she possibly bully anyone? Don't worry, we won't let anyone bully her either."
The teacher had a list of all the children she was responsible for picking up, so she already knew Kanna's name.
Her words left Yuto silent for a moment.
He forced out a small smile and nodded, then looked toward Kanna, who was already sitting obediently inside the bus.
Seeing her like that made him feel a little more relaxed.
'Mm. Kanna is a good and well-behaved child. There definitely won't be any problems!'
He firmly repeated that to himself.
The teacher watched him with both helplessness and amusement.
It was the first time she had seen a family member worry this much.
...
Vroom~
Hiss—
The school bus began moving, and the door slid shut.
After watching it disappear into the distance, Yuto and Tohru headed toward the supermarket.
Now that Kanna had been dropped off, it was time to buy ingredients.
Yuto rode the bicycle with Tohru sitting behind him, and once again, they attracted plenty of attention along the way.
Inside the supermarket, Yuto stopped when he passed the milk tea section.
He felt that the restaurant could use another kind of drink.
It already served ordinary soda and beer, but sometimes girls simply wanted milk tea.
It would be better to buy the ingredients and make some himself.
Milk tea was not difficult for him to prepare, though he still needed a few things.
Purple sweet potatoes and black tea bags were the main ingredients the restaurant lacked. He already had milk and condensed milk, but bought extra as backup.
There was still plenty of sugar at the restaurant.
After buying those things, he went to Grandma's stall to buy vegetables.
As usual, once he had chosen the freshest produce, Grandma began talking to him with a bright smile.
The first thing she mentioned was Yuto's movie date with Megumi Kato tomorrow.
She reminded him not to forget and told him to take good care of Megumi.
Yuto awkwardly agreed before quickly leaving with Tohru.
He really could not handle the look in Grandma's eyes.
When they returned to Ichinose Street, Yuto saw a dazed-looking old man walking out from deeper inside the district.
The man wore a worn-out felt hat. Three fingers were missing from his hands, and a deep scar ran down from his right eye.
Despite his frightening face, his body was extremely small and thin.
He was probably less than one hundred and sixty-five centimeters tall, and his back was bent as though something heavy was pressing down on it.
His eyes looked empty, and every step seemed lost and lifeless.
He continued walking until he disappeared from Yuto's sight.
Yuto could not help feeling curious about him.
He did not believe the man had come to this street looking for pleasure. Someone with an expression like that could not possibly be here for such a reason.
The missing fingers made Yuto think of gamblers.
People caught cheating at gambling tables sometimes had their fingers cut off.
The man's exposed arms were little more than skin stretched over bone, almost like a skeleton covered in leather.
Yuto thought Ainz might look similar if someone put a thin layer of skin over him.
No healthy person could become that thin unless they were suffering from a serious illness.
Yuto was curious, but the old man had already gone far away, so he pushed the matter aside and continued riding deeper into the street.
When he reached Aunt Hanako's karaoke bar, Chiko was standing outside smoking.
Her slender fingers flicked the lighter, and the flame lit the cigarette between her lips.
When she saw Yuto, she removed the cigarette and smiled at him.
"Yo, Yuto-chan. Back from buying groceries?"
"Mm. Morning, Chiko-neesan."
Yuto greeted her with a smile.
Chiko smacked her lips lightly.
Smoking dried out her mouth, and doing that made it feel a little better.
Yuto suddenly remembered the old man from earlier.
"Chiko-neesan, who was that man just now?"
Holding the cigarette between her fingers, Chiko took a deep drag and blew out a neat smoke ring before answering.
"Who the hell knows? That old man came in, walked from one end of the street to the other, stared at everything, and didn't say a word. What a weirdo."
Chiko also looked confused.
While Yuto was still thinking about her answer, she continued.
"Judging by how he looked, he's probably a seriously ill gambler. Three missing fingers, and those cuts were obviously made with a blade. My guess is he wanted one last good time before he died."
She shrugged casually.
"Looking like that, he probably doesn't have much longer anyway."
There was a mocking tone in Chiko's voice.
She did not care much about respect or politeness. She had thrown away things like dignity and shame long ago.
"I see..."
Yuto spoke softly.
His expression became slightly serious.
He did not agree with Chiko, but he also did not argue with her.
He felt that the old man had probably come to this street because there was something important he needed to do.
The chance that he had simply come looking for pleasure did not seem very high.
...
After returning to the restaurant, Yuto put everything away.
He sorted the vegetables they had bought and placed them inside the freezer, though calling it a freezer no longer felt accurate.
With Ainz's help, it had become more like a refrigerated storage room.
A cold room with space magic inside it~
Yuto had already moved everything out of the restaurant's old freezer.
Even after putting all of it inside the new cold room, it only filled about one-eighth of the space.
There was still a huge amount of room left.
Yuto stood inside and looked around at the empty shelves.
For a chef, few things were more satisfying than a storage room packed with ingredients.
Seeing so much empty space made him feel strangely uncomfortable.
He needed to fill it!
After making that decision, he left the cold room and immediately called Tōtsuki.
This time, he ordered a large amount of ingredients from Tōtsuki's storehouse.
Besides basic meat, vegetables, and seafood, he also requested many rare and expensive ingredients.
Once the person on the other end agreed, Yuto ended the call.
The delivery truck would still take some time to arrive, so while waiting, he took out the ingredients he had bought for milk tea.
He planned to make bubble tea.
By preparing tapioca starch properly, he could turn it into the chewy pearls used in the drink. After adding milk, condensed milk, tea, and different flavors, the drink would be ready.
Milk tea was not difficult to make as long as someone did not mind the extra work.
Yuto turned toward Tohru.
The dragon girl was lying across the table in a daze, and her eyelids seemed to be fighting to stay open.
They looked ready to close at any moment.
Although Tohru could stay awake for a long time, her natural dragon instincts still made her sleepy sometimes.
Dragons loved sleeping, after all.
"Tohru, if you're tired, go upstairs and rest for a while."
Yuto smiled when he saw her like that.
The moment Tohru heard him, she suddenly sat up as if she had been shocked.
Her eyes opened wide, and all her sleepiness disappeared.
"No! I'm not tired at all! If Boss needs anything, just tell me! I'll do it properly!"
If he judged her only by her passion for work, Tohru was a perfect employee.
Yuto sighed with an amused smile.
"There isn't anything you need to do right now."
"Oh, I see. All right, then! Call me when there is!"
Tohru grinned and scratched her head.
"Sure. By the way, would you like some milk tea?"
The dragon girl blinked and looked at him in confusion.
Her orange-red eyes, mixed with lines of gold, shone like polished gems under sunlight.
"Is Boss making it?"
"Mm."
"I'll drink it!"
She nodded so hard that her hair flew around her head.
Tohru did not know what milk tea was, but she had already decided that she wanted it.
The reason was simple.
Yuto was making it himself.
Anything Boss made would definitely be delicious!
That was the blind trust of a loyal employee.
Yuto smiled softly.
"All right. It'll be ready soon."
He returned to the kitchen counter and began working.
He peeled and cut the purple sweet potatoes, boiled them, steeped the black tea, mixed in the milk, and prepared the pearls.
The entire process took about half an hour.
Once the pearls and milk tea were ready, Yuto used one of the large glasses normally meant for alcohol because the restaurant did not have proper milk tea cups.
He also added extra sugar for Tohru.
The dragon girl liked sweet things.
Soon, a large glass filled with milk tea was ready.
Yuto handed it to her.
Tohru held the glass with both hands and stared curiously at the faint ripples on the surface.
The drink was pale white with a light caramel color mixed through it.
Her nose twitched as she smelled the warm scent of milk and tea.
She carefully took her first sip.
Gulp~
The moment she swallowed, her eyes lit up.
"So sweet~"
Tohru held the glass with both hands and began drinking in large gulps.
The pearls entered her mouth together with the milk tea. She swallowed some of them whole and chewed the rest.
The soft, chewy texture stuck slightly to her teeth, and she seemed to love it.
Without realizing it, Tohru placed both hands against her cheeks and smiled widely.
Her cheeks were puffed out, making her look like a tiny hamster.
She was absolutely adorable.
Sweet food naturally made people happy, and right now, Tohru looked completely satisfied.
"Is it good?" Yuto asked with a smile.
Tohru answered with a silly grin.
"I want another cup!"