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Ever since Roiza started helping out, preparing the shop had become so much easier. She was a godsend.
"Roiza, you're seriously a lifesaver."
"Oh no, not at all. I'm having fun too. Thank *you* for letting me help."
Her arrangements always looked cleaner and more inviting than anything I could manage. Honestly, I was beyond grateful.
Right now, though, I was struggling hard with a new dish. My cooking repertoire was painfully limited.
"All I know how to do is boil, fry, or slice stuff…"
I was confident in my soba, at least.
"I really need to train properly while Roiza's still here."
I wanted to experiment with all kinds of new ideas before she left.
"Boss… um…"
It was evening and the shop was packed when Roiza approached me with a troubled look.
"What's up?"
"That customer over there… should we let him pay on credit?"
"I don't recognize him at all."
"He doesn't have any money on him."
"How can you tell?"
"I can use Coin Search."
*Coin Search?* Some kind of magic, I guess.
"So far, everyone who didn't have cash has been honest about it and asked for credit properly. But that guy… I've never seen him before, and he hasn't said a word about it."
"He might be planning to dine and dash. I hate trouble, so don't push it if it feels off."
"Is that okay?"
"Yeah. If he causes problems, we'll just ban him next time."
Roiza nodded, looking convinced.
The last thing I wanted was a brawl inside the shop. In this world, fights could easily end with corpses on the floor. I wanted no part of that.
But then the suspicious customer waved over another patron who'd just arrived and received some coins from him.
"Ah, they were just meeting up."
"…Good thing I didn't say anything too soon."
The pair started drinking heavily.
"Man, they're really pounding the alcohol. It's selling like crazy."
Soba was moving well too, but still…
"Alcohol accounts for sixty percent of sales, soba twenty, and fried stuff twenty."
Not bad, but something felt missing.
"Shouldn't we sell more fried food?"
"Maybe we don't have enough variety of actual food?" I asked Roiza.
"Really? Most restaurants only offer a handful of dishes. Having thirty different items is already rare, you know?"
She had a point. In this world, no one expected a single eatery to serve such a wide menu.
Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was lacking.
"What pairs well with alcohol…?"
"I'm not sure about alcohol specifically, but… how about something sweet? Like fruit-based desserts?"
*Sweet things…*
I could produce flour and sugar from my hands, but I had no idea how to actually make desserts.
"Cookpad, come on!!"
I couldn't remember a single recipe for sweets! I was a soba shop owner, damn it!
Juice I could make, but whole fruits? No. Solid food items seemed limited.
Whatever. If I didn't know how to make it, I couldn't make it.
I'd have to research and experiment from scratch tonight.
…Or at least, that was the plan.
"Ooooh♡ It feels so gooood♡ I have a boyfriend, but I'm getting fucked by someone else♡♡♡"
Lai was riding me hard, moaning shamelessly while we had sex right there in the back.
Seriously… ever since that first time, we'd been screwing almost every single day.
Didn't she ever get tired of it? Because I sure as hell didn't.
"Lai, your pussy's already so swollen and dark. Is that really okay? What if your boyfriend notices?"
"It's fiiine♡♡♡ Who cares about that? I love creampies way more♡♡♡ I love cheating sex even more♡♡♡"
Half-elf pussies were seriously dangerous. All three women I'd been with felt incredible, but Lai's was on another level.
Thanks to regular sex with Lai, Miju, and Merry, though, I somehow didn't feel any lust toward Roiza. That was a huge relief.
Roiza was an excellent, hardworking employee. I wanted to keep our relationship strictly professional. Normally, being alone with such a beautiful woman—and with that slave collar around her neck giving me total control—would have been an unbearable temptation.
But these three kept my urges satisfied. I was genuinely grateful.
"I'm cumming!! Pour it into my toilet pussy!! Fill me up!!!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs as another powerful orgasm ripped through her.
Yet every single time, I ended up creampieing her.
Why?
Because it felt *incredible*.
Blowjobs were great too, but her pussy was just on a whole other plane.
And thankfully, she always handled contraception herself.
I really was lucky.
The next morning, a stranger suddenly called out to me.
"All-you-can-drink."
"Huh?"
"Is the all-you-can-drink deal real?"
The person wearing a deep hood was clearly a woman.
"Ah, yeah, that one."
"I can prepare the person."
When she pulled back her hood slightly, I saw—
"A b-beastkin…"
A demi-human with animal features. This one had dog ears.
"I've heard sex with beastkin is addictive. I'll give you this one. How about it?"
Even elves and this woman treated people like trading goods without batting an eye.
But that was just how this world worked. Slave trading was completely normal here.
"If she resists, it could cause problems…"
I tried to refuse politely, but the woman cut me off.
"Don't worry. Resistance is impossible. She's under a magic curse."
*This world sure loves developing creepy magic like that…*
"Alright, I understand. All-you-can-drink is fine. I'll take her for now."
"Good. Go on."
"Yes."
The beastkin girl stepped in front of me, dropped to her knees, and gently licked the top of my foot.
A shiver ran down my spine.
"I pledge my loyalty to you, Master."
Her voice was soft and obedient.
I swallowed hard.
"Well… nice to meet you, then."