Ketsueki placed an empty cup of coffee on the sink and turned the water on as she filled the cup with water. She heard the sound of footsteps getting closer and turned around seeing Shiro wearing her usual black school uniform with red trims on the edges. Ketsueki rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a ¥5,000 bill and gave it to her little sister. Shiro stared at the money in her older sister's hand and looked up at her with a confused expression. Ketsueki let out a chuckle, she said. "Here's some money to buy food at the cafeteria, you can keep the change."

Shiro's eyes sparkled as she took the bill from her older sister's hands, Ketsueki patted the top of Shiro's head and said. "Don't spend it all at once." Shiro eagerly nodded as she rummaged into her pocket and pulled out a simple brown coin purse with a zipper. Shiro neatly folded the bill and placed her coin purse back in her pocket. Ketsueki looked at her little sister, she said. "Backpack?" Shiro pointed in the direction of the front door and said. "It's by the door."

Ketsueki nodded at her, placed her hands into the pockets of her baggy jacket, and said. "Let's go." The two of them walked side by side toward the front door, Shiro picked up the simple blue backpack that was somewhat old from the floor and put it on. Ketsueki took out a pair of sports shoes and another smaller pair of black leather shoes that were almost brand new. Ketsueki passed the leather shoes to her little sister as the both of them took off the white indoor slippers and started putting on their outdoor shoes.

Shiro let out a small yawn while her older sister opened the door and waited for her to go out first. Shiro walked out of the house first followed by Ketsueki who locked the door using a key, before they could take a couple of steps both of them noticed Arashi who was wearing a white t-shirt that barely hid her large chest, dark blue jogging pants, and sports shoes. The three of them were surprised for a split second before Arashi waved at them and flashed them a smile, Arashi said. "Yo, it's been a while."

Arashi made her way to the two of them, she looked down at Shiro and flashed her a warm smile. Arashi said. "Do you remember me?" Shiro held her older sister's hand but didn't hide behind her, Shiro hesitantly said. "... Arashi-san…" The smile on Arashi's lips grew bigger, she reached out to pat Shiro's head which made her take a step back. Arashi let out a chuckle and said. "Sorry, with how cute you are I couldn't resist."

Arashi moved her gaze onto Ketsueki who had an indifferent expression, Arashi said. "Where are the two of you headed?" A moment of silence passed, Ketsueki observed Arashi. Ketsueki said. "I'm walking Shiro to school…" A few seconds passed before Ketsueki continued. "... You?..." Arashi placed both her hands behind her head and said. "I'm going to the convenience store for a few things. Would you mind it if I tag along?"

Ketsueki stared at Arashi with suspicion in her eyes, before she could say something she felt Shiro tug on the hand her little sister was holding. Ketsueki looked down at Shiro who thought about it for a moment and reluctantly nodded. Ketsueki let out a short sigh and flashed her little sister a smile, Ketsueki said. "... Fine…" The smile on Arashi's lips grew bigger and the three of them started walking.

Ketsueki was in the middle with her little sister on her left while Arashi was on the right. Arashi was admiring the scenery around them, she said. "What made you decide to live in this neighborhood?" Arashi glanced at Ketsueki from the corner of her eye to see her reaction. Arashi quickly looked away when she saw that Ketsueki was doing the same and was already glancing at her.

Arashi let out a forced laugh as the three of them walked in silence for a couple of seconds while Shiro was staring at a tree that had a couple of birds sitting on a branch. Ketsueki moved her gaze in front, she said. "It's quiet around here… Not too far in the countryside that it feels barren, but not too close to the city that it'll feel like living in a can of sardines…" Arashi was about to say something when Ketsueki suddenly raised her hand and pointed to the left, Ketsueki said. "The closest convenience store is over there. Bye."

Ketsueki didn't even bother with Arashi who was stunned while the two of them headed straight for one more block and took a left. While the two sisters were walking away Shiro gave Arashi a small wave of goodbye. Arashi stood in place for a couple of seconds as she scratched the side of her head, she said. "Well… It's getting better… I think…"

Melanor's House In The Expensive Kitchen

Reiki was wearing a new set of clothes, on the table was a tray filled with a dozen melon pan-sized cream puffs that were empty, an empty piping bag, a large wooden spoon, and a large bowl of freshly whipped cream. Melanor was wearing a plain white apron over her usual green robe while observing Reiki and taking mental notes. Elora and Enora were sitting next to each other on the opposite side of the table watching him with Moranor nowhere to be seen.

Reiki picked up the large wooden spoon and started filling the piping bag with whipped cream, he said. "After cooling down you make sure to fill them with cream." He injected the piping bag into the melon pan-sized cream puff and made sure to fill it with whipped cream, Reiki placed it back on the tray and picked up another one, and repeated the step. He placed the cream puff back on the tray and walked toward the fridge, Reiki said. "That is fine as is but…" He started rummaging through the fridge while Melanor started cutting one of the large cream puffs into pieces.

Melanor and Elora each took a piece while Enora took the other two, the three of them started eating. Reiki closed the fridge and was holding a couple of bars of dark chocolate, while turning around he said. "Do you have any powdered sugar?..." He saw the three elves eating one of the cream puffs, Melanor wiped some cream off on the corner of her cheek using her thumb. Melanor pointed at one of the cabinets and said. "Second one on the right."

As she took another big bite of the cream puff in her hand, Elora was enjoying hers while her daughter Enora already ate the first piece and was taking a bite of the second one. Reiki placed the bars of chocolate on the table, he looked at the three elves who were enjoying their snack. He said. "You could have waited until I was finished." Enora used her finger to scoop some cream in the cream puff, she looked at him and said. "Quality control." Enora placed the finger that had cream into her mouth and took a bit of the cream puff in her hand.

Her mother Elora who was sitting next to her said. "Mela go get some tea, it would be perfect for this snack." Melanor nodded as she ate the last bit of cream puff in her hand and started searching around for equipment. Reiki let out an exaggerated sigh, he said. "This was supposed to be for sale during the grand opening." Elora lazily waved her hand at him, she said. "You can just make more Reik, be sure to pass the recipe to Mela. How about you do it right now while filling another one with cream."

Elora took another bite of the cream puff in her hand while waiting for the tea she asked Melanor to make. The corner of Reiki's eye twitched, Melanor placed a metal kettle on the stove and turned it on. Beside Melanor was a large jar of minced leaves, the sound of footsteps was getting closer as a sly smile crept onto Melanor's lips.

Elora had a small smirk on her lips while her daughter dropped the cream puff she was holding onto the table creating a small mess. Moranor hesitantly said. "... I-I'm back…" Reiki picked up another large cream puff and started filling it with whipped cream, he said. "What took you so long-?" He turned his head sideways to see Moranor was heavily blushing, her long goldish hair was down while she was wearing a green simple yet elegant dress with the long skirt a few inches above her ankles. She was wearing black flat shoes paired with white long socks that hid under the long skirt.

Melanor placed down five teacups on the table near Elora while pouring the cups with tea. With a small smirk on her face, Melanor said. "Reiki, what do you think?" Moranor stomped the floorboards once with her foot, she gripped her long skirt with both her hands. With an intimidating look and gritted teeth, Moranor threateningly said. "Not. One. Word."

Reiki almost dropped the cream puff and piping bag he was holding, he stared at Moranor for a couple of seconds and said. "Then how about three words? You look beautiful." Reiki looked at Moranor from top to bottom admiring her new look, he continued. "I doubt that this was the original uniform." While filling the cream puff in his hand with whipped cream, Melanor placed a thin wooden square on the metal table and placed the tea kettle on top of it. Elora passes a cup of tea to her daughter and one for herself.

Elora took a sip of tea while nodding in approval in Moranor's outfit. Enora stared at Moranor with an indifferent expression, Enora said. "I guess a pigeon can look good when groomed…" No one paid attention to her comment as she took a sip of tea. Melanor picked up a cup of tea and nodded in satisfaction, she said. "There wasn't any, until yesterday." Moranor took in a deep breath, with a faint blush on her cheeks she said. "Reiki, you have a five-second head start before I shock you into cardiac arrest."

Reiki placed down the piping bag on the table and handed the cream puff to her, Moranor looked at it and said. "What is that supposed to be?" Reiki looked up to her and flashed her a smile, he said. "Call it what you will, a bribe or an apology." Moranor let out a scoff and swiped it out of his hands, she took a bite as her eyes brightened up for a split second before faking a cough. Moranor said. "Because I'm so nice I'll let this slide for once."

She took another bite of the cream puff in her hands, after taking a bite Moranor had some cream on her cheeks. Reiki gestured her to come closer which made Moranor squat. Using his finger, he wiped the cream off her cheek and ate it. Moranor rolled her eyes at him and stood up straight while enjoying her large cream puff, Enora let out a scoff and said. "That's not hygienic."

Melanor and Elora smiled at the two of them, Reiki looked up to Melanor. Reiki said. "What's the most expensive bread in the elven market?" Elora took another sip of tea and pointed at the tray of empty cream puffs. Reiki let out a chuckle and started filling, Melanor thought for a moment and said. "An entire loaf of wheat bread costs eight silver." Reiki placed down the newly filled cream puff on the tray and picked up another one, he said. "Then we'll match the price."

Melanor took a sip of tea and said. "Fine, your product. Your choice." Elora picked up the cream puff that was recently filled with whipped cream and started eating. Enora glared at Reiki while Moranor was enjoying her cream puff while watching him work. Reiki started filling the piping bag with more cream and said. "What time do we open?" Elora and Melanor glanced at each other and smiled.

Due to the large glass window so you could see the food being made. Reiki could see elves starting to walk inside the restaurant as the tables and chairs started to fill up. He looked around and noticed both Melanor and Moranor were missing, Elora flashed him a smile and said. "Good luck." Enora glared at him for a moment as her mother placed an arm around her daughter's shoulder as the two of them vanished. Reiki looked through the large window and saw that Melanor was handing out menus while Moranor was taking orders by writing them on a notepad.

Reiki's Home

Ketsueki walked inside through the front door, closed it, and locked it. She started taking off her sports shoes and slid open the shoe rack that was embedded in the wall and placed her shoes in. Ketsueki took a pair of white indoor slippers and slid the cabinet shut and put the slippers on. She let out a yawn while walking through the living room to the kitchen and looked inside the fridge.

It was filled with all sorts of cuts of high-grade meat, fresh vegetables, roughly a bowl worth of fruits, a couple of liters of milk, and grape, apple, orange juice. Ketsueki said. "... I forgot to buy some tofu…" She opened the large miso paste and saw it was almost empty, Ketsueki said. "Along with some more miso paste… I'll have steak for lunch." She closed the fridge and walked to the second floor toward her room.

Inside her room was a large bed with a nightstand next to it, on the side and the opposite was a pc with all the latest parts with a large monitor along with a desk that could be used for a workbench. A large wooden cabinet near the bed with a kotatsu table in the center, on the right side of the table, was a flatscreen that was on top of a drawer roughly the same height as the kotatsu table itself. The room was painted a simple white and was well maintained.

Ketsueki walked to the large cabinet and revealed dozens of dark-colored baggy shirts and jackets that were hung by a hanger. On the bottom of the closet were dozens of dark-colored baggy pants that were folded and reached roughly about her thighs. Ketsueki rummaged through her pocket and took out a brown envelope that had a stack of ¥10,000 inside.

She pocketed the brown envelope in her hands and moved some of the pants out of the cabinet and placed them on the floor and revealed a large brown cardboard box. Ketsueki picked up the cardboard box and tried to move it to the kotatsu table.

The bottom of the box was starting to undo itself as dozens of thick brown envelopes fell both at the floor and the kotatsu table. Ketsueki picked up a couple of the brown envelopes and opened them both, inside was a stack of ¥10,000. She looked at the cardboard box and the dozens of brown envelopes on the floor, Ketsueki said. "I wonder if Reiki wants his allowance increased…" She started cleaning up and started with the brown envelopes scattered on the floor.

Back At Melanor's

Moranor walked into the kitchen and closed the door behind her, she glanced at her notepad and said. "Eight orders of mushroom and broccoli rigatoni, five orders of white sauce carbonara, twelve orders of caesar salad with extra dressing, and three orders of garlic bread with cheese on top." Moranor flipped to the next page on her notepad and looked at Reiki, she said. "You should know how to make them since they're your recipes."

Moranor flashed him a smile, Reiki looked up to her and said. "Are you sure they're for elves? Who eats pasta first thing in the morning?" Moranor let out a chuckle and said. "Most of them will skip lunch. If they have some spare time, they'll just grab a snack around the afternoon in the shopping district." Moranor put on a serious expression, she said. "Enough talk, need me to repeat-?"

Reiki interrupted her, he said. "Eight M and B rigatoni. Five white sauce carbonara. Twelve caesar salad with extra dressing and three orders of garlic bread with cheese." He walked toward the knife holder and took one out, Reiki continued. "I'll make it quick."

~Three and A Half Hours Later~

Every single burner was being used, a pot of boiling water with some pasta and a few saucepans they used to put on some finishing touches. Reiki was tossing some carbonara in a pan while Melanor was beside him finely grating some cheese on a couple of rigatoni.

Reiki used the sleeves of his tunic to wipe his sweat as Moranor picked up the two bowls of rigatoni and walked out of the room. Melanor let out a deep breath and looked at Reiko who was placing carbonara on a plate, she said. "I'm surprised you managed to keep up."

Reiki wiped some sweat off his forehead using the sleeves of his tunic, he looked up and said. "I can say the same thing to you, learning to cook an entirely new menu is not something anyone could do." Melanor let out a chuckle and said. "I've been doing this for the past two hundred years or so, but…"

She looked at the table and chairs that were completely packed, especially the outside where the elves could enjoy the scenery. Melanor continued. "Nothing of this scale before… No orders for any meat dish for today, but that's just us elves not being used to eating meat when it's not our birthday."

…

The smell of herbs and sauces enveloped the entire room. Moranor placed down the two bowls of rigatoni on the table where two male and two female elves were sitting. The other two elves already had some food in front of them, before Moranor could walk away one of the female elves raised their hand. The female elf said. "What are those cream puffs?"

She pointed in the direction of the table which made Moranor turn her head and saw a piece of paper that was folded in a plaque, it was written in elvish it saying cream puffs, and next to it was the expensive price of eight silver.

Moranor had a confused expression on her face and said. "Those are a type of baked pastry." The female elf nodded and said. "I'll try one." Moranor nodded and wrote it down in her notepad, she walked toward the kitchen and noticed a line that was made out of three elves who were tossing coins by the dozen into a small wooden box that was on a mini table.

The elf who placed coins into it walked away and quickly went outside, the wooden box faintly glowed as the next elf in line placed his finger on it as it opened.

The elf threw coins into it and headed outside the restaurant and made sure to avoid the elves that were dining outside with wooden tables and chairs under a glass roof that was held by wooden pillars. Moranor walked into the kitchen, she looked at her notepad and said. "Five more orders of white sauce carbonara. Three more orders of mushrooms and broccoli rigatoni. Twenty more orders of caesar salad. And someone wanted a creampuff."

Reiki tried to stretch his arms as he let out a tired breath, he looked at Moranor and said. "I thought elves were light eaters from your diet." He noticed the never-ending side glances he was getting from the elves who were enjoying their food. Reiki continued. "One goes out and immediately gets replaced by two more elves…" Moranor walked near him and smacked the top of his head using the notepad in her hands, she said. "It's because of our dietary habits we eat so much."

Reiki opened the large oven that was set to a low temperature to keep the empty cream puffs warm, he said. "No need to get all physical, an explanation would have sufficed." He walked toward the fridge and took out a medium-sized bowl filled with heavy cream, Reiki took a whisk along with an empty piping bag from one of the drawers and started whisking. Melanor took a look at all the elves who were eating, she crossed her arms and said. "I'm surprised they're still dropping by…"

Melanor turned her head to look at Reiki and said. "Should we just scrap all the meat dishes?" Reiki started filling the piping bag with cream, he shook his head and said. "No, just wait for that one elf who's willing to give it a try." He started filling the cream puff with cream and placed it on a wooden plate. Melanor used a strainer with a wooden handle and took out a handful of rigatoni pasta from the boiling water. Melanor said. "I don't know, elves tend to only eat meat during a special occasion…"

Moranor picked up the cream puff and said. "We need more employees." Before she could go out the door Reiki quickly said. "Make sure to wait for her, she'll be ordering more." Moranor gave him a confused nod and walked out of the kitchen, she walked to the female elf who ordered the cream puff. The female elf looked at it oddly for a moment and took a small bite, her eyes widened in surprise as she picked up her glass of water and took a sip.

The female elf said. "This costs eight silver coins?" Moranor nodded as the female elf continued. "I'll order five more." Moranor was stunned for a moment as she walked back to the kitchen. On her way to the kitchen, a male elf raised his hand and said. "Can I try this lamb chop?"