Chapter 186


    As a high-leveled [Chef], Edlyn was able to replicate the recipe of nearly any food-item she saw as long as she had ess to the right ingredients. She didn’t even need to taste it— she could just take one quick nce, and she’d already know what she needed to do.


    But that wasn’t a Skill that was special to her. Every [Chef] above Level 30 could do just that. Edlyn would never have been made the head [Royal Chef] of the Astra Pce if that was all she was capable of doing. No— at her level, she was able to not just replicate any food dish she saw, but she was also able to improve it too.


    She was able to refine any dish that wasn’t already perfect. And from what she saw of Amelia’s cooking, there were a <em>lot </em>of ws there. So Edlyn worked on improving the fried rice for now, experimenting with various different ingredients so it would taste better, especially since the restaurant had no shrimp or prawn or any seafood alternatives.


    “For now, we’ll have to use beef,” Edlyn muttered as she brought the te of fried rice out of the kitchen. “Or maybe we’ll use chicken—”


    “Bawk bawk bawk?” a squeak interrupted the [Royal Chef]’s thoughts.


    She blinked and looked towards a figure sitting in the corner of the room. Edlyn’s eyes went wide when she saw a chicken there, head perked up and staring directly at the te of fried rice.


    “Why is there a chicken…?” Edlyn started.


    And the chicken squawked, before dashing forward straight at her. The [Royal Chef] recoiled as she backed away, nearly spilling the fried rice. But Han caught her from behind and steadied her as the chicken clucked and waved its wings.


    “Are you alright?” the head server asked as Edlyn sighed in relief.


    “I’m… fine.” She looked towards the chicken as it jumped at her feet. “Why is it— can it understand me?”


    <em>“Bawk bawk bawk bawk!” </em>the chicken eximed.


    That made Edlyn flinch. And Han nodded casually, trying to calm her down.


    “That’s Bucky— she’s our mascot. And she can understand you.”


    “Seriously?” The [Royal Chef] gaped at the hopping chicken. “But how?”


    Han scratched the back of his head. “Well, as far as I can tell, Bucky’s like Level 20 or 30. I’m not exactly sure. But she’s got some levels, which makes her more intelligent than the average chicken.”


    His words made the chicken puff up proudly. Edlyn’s eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of their sockets. She thought she was desensitized to the insanities of everything surrounding Amelia. And perhaps, the [Royal Chef] was. Because she didn’t feel like she was going to faint.


    She was more afraid of what could happen to her— after what she said just earlier.


    <em>“Is… is it mad about what I said?” </em>Edlyn asked as she turned to Han. “About adding chicken to fried rice?”


    “Bucky?” Han blinked a few times, before chuckling. “Bucky <em>eats </em>chicken. She literally doesn’t care.”


    “It— I mean, <em>she </em>does?” The [Royal Chef] looked down in horror.


    And Bucky just nodded in confirmation, before clucking in outrage even more.


    “Then why is she upset?” Edlyn asked apprehensively.


    Han rolled his eyes as he gestured at the te of fried rice. “That’s because she’s hungry, of course.”


    Edlyn blinked, before looking down at the food she was carrying. “Hungry? Are you saying I should give this to her?”


    “I mean, I don’t see why not?” Han shrugged. “Bucky can be your first taste tester.”


    “But she’s a chicken!” Edlyn protested. “Are you saying I’m supposed to give my cooking to a <em>chicken? </em>I’m a [Royal Chef]!”


    “And Bucky’s hungry. She’ll eat anything, so don’t worry about your cooking being too highbrow for her taste buds.”


    “That’s not what I’m saying—” And Edlyn bit her lip, cutting herself off.


    She nced down at the chicken for a moment. She saw the pleading ck eyes staring back up at her, and she took in a deep breath. After deliberating over it for a minute, she acquiesced and scooped up a small bowl of rice for Bucky.


    “Fine, here.”


    <em>“Bawk bawk bawk!” </em>Bucky clucked excitedly, waving her wings in the air. She immediately dug into the bowl of fried rice to devour it whole, then she paused. Her eyes went round as she backed away, and Han frowned.


    “What’s going on?” he asked as he knelt down to face the chicken. “Are you alright, Bucky?”


    The chicken looked up at him for a moment, and then nodded excitedly. “Bawk bawk bawk bawk!”


    She quickly buried her head back in the bowl of fried rice, finishing it in moments. When she was done, she copsed to the ground with a full belly. She gave Edlyn a thumbs-up— even though she didn’t have any thumbs.


    Han leant back, blinking. “I think… I think Bucky likes it.”


    “R-right,” Edlyn said, unsure how to react.


    “Let me try some.” Han turned to face her and dug a spoon into the te of fried rice.


    The [Royal Chef] watched as he took a bite from the dish, before his eyes lit up. He turned to her as his jaw dropped, and he nearly dropped his spoon.


    “This is… amazing!” he eximed, taking a step forward. He grabbed her by the shoulders as he continued, “Seriously, this is the best dish I’ve ever had! It’s better than even Amelia’s cooking!”


    “You think so?” Edlyn backed up as he drew closer. She scratched her cheek, unsure if thatst statement he made was an insult or apliment.


    “Yes— I didn’t even think you could cook fried rice any differently! I thought that there was only one way to make it. But this is so different from how Amelia does it… I love it!” The head server spoke as he stuffed his mouth with the fried rice.


    The [Royal Chef] smiled hesitantly, ncing between Han and Bucky. She was d to see that her first attempt at Amelia’s fried rice went well. But now, Edlyn was worried— afraid about what would happen if that <em>monster </em>heard about this.


    Would Amelia be upset? If she was, what would she do? Would she just fire Edlyn? Or worse, would she make the [Royal Chef] pay?


    That… wasn’t going to happen, right?


    Edlyn didn’t know. She didn’t want to find out either. She just shivered as she turned to Han. “Please don’t tell Amelia that—”


    But a voice cut off the [Royal Chef]. “Don’t tell me what?”


    And that made Edlyn freeze where she stood. Slowly, she craned her neck to face a figure standing by the doorway. It was Amelia. She was still surrounded by the baby bastion bees, their cacophonous buzzing quickly filling the room.


    Amelia shook her head and turned to Han. “What’s up?”


    “Oh, I was just praising Edlyn’s cooking. She’s seriously incredible.” He nodded at the [Royal Chef].


    Edlyn closed her eyes when she heard that. <em>Oh no… </em>


    But surprisingly, Amelia didn’t react in shock or disdain. Instead, she was piqued by that, her eyes darting to the te of fried rice Edlyn had prepared.


    “Oh, you made some fried rice. I didn’t notice that with all these…” Amelia gestured vaguely at the swarm of baby bastion bees blocking her sight, trying to sting her. “Anyways, can I try some?”


    “S-sure,” Edlyn replied, too afraid to say no.


    She set the te of fried rice down and backed away as Amelia stepped forward. The swarm of baby bastion bees followed the brown-haired woman, of course. Which made everyone— including Han and Bucky— give her a wide berth. They all watched as she took a bite from the fried rice.


    And Edlyn pursed her lips, unsure what to expect.


    “This is… amazing!” Amelia eximed as her eyes went wide. “It tastes literally like it does back home. As expected from a [Royal Chef].”


    She quickly downed the te of fried rice, leaving Edlyn to just stare in surprise.


    “Y-you like it?” Edlyn eventually asked.


    “Definitely better than my cooking,” Amelia said with a shrug. “I knew hiring you was a good idea.”


    “Oh. Thank you.” The [Royal Chef] flushed, surprised by the praise. She didn’t expect that. In fact, she didn’t expect anyone to even say anything about her cooking.


    But she swept her gaze over the room, and she saw the satisfied smiles of Bucky, Han, and Amelia. Each and every one of them had praised her for her cooking. Even though it was a rtively simple meal, they all loved it. It almost reminded Edlyn of a simpler time.


    When was thest time anyone in the Astra Pce even thanked her for working tirelessly to provide them their meals? She could count the number of times it had happened in her hands. And she had worked there for years!


    Edlyn shook her head, breaking out of her stupor. She looked back up towards Amelia as she shuffled her feet ufortably.


    “This was the only dish I’ve had in your menu. I can’t cook anything else because I haven’t even seen them yet.” She tried to make eye contact with her new employer, but the swarm of baby bastion bees made it a bit difficult.


    “I can teach you everything,” Amelia said as she took a step forward.


    But Edlyn recoiled— not out of fear of the brown-haired woman. Instead, it was out of terror from all the baby bastion bees. Amelia realized that as she blinked down at herself.


    “Oh, right. These little guys are a bit of a problem.” Amelia scratched the back of her head. “I wonder when they’ll tire out?”


    —--


    <em>Never give up! </em>the baby queen bastion beemanded as she continued her onught of attacks against the invader.


    They were going to win soon. She was sure of it. She would not tire. No matter what happened. Not until they had imed victory—


    [You have leveled up! You are now Level 10!]


    [Subracial Evolution Now Avable!]


    The baby queen bastion bee blinked when she saw the blue screen shing before her eyes. She knew her soldiers saw it too. And for a moment, she distractedly drew back from the invader and focused on what was said.


    Then she copsed, passing out. And following after her was the rest of the swarm.


    —--


    “...what just happened?” Edlyn gaped as the swarm of baby bastion bees just fell to the floor. She turned to Amelia in horror. “What did you do?”


    “I didn’t do anything. I don’t even know what just happened.” Amelia narrowed her eyes.


    And the doorway burst open as a dozen adult bastion bees flew into the room. Edlyn couldn’t even react to their sudden appearance. She just looked on as they slowly carried the baby bastion bees out of the restaurant.


    “Well, I hope nothing bad happened to them,” Amelia said as she turned to Edlyn, the room substantially quieter now. “But now I can show you all my recipes without a problem.”


    The brown-haired woman made her way to the kitchen, and the [Royal Chef] stared for a moment.


    “Come on.”


    “R-right!” Edlyn eximed, snapping back to reality. She hurried after her new employer as she took a quick nce back at Bucky and Han.


    The [Royal Chef] watched as both the chicken and the head server finished the leftover fried rice, her cooking truly appreciated for the first time in what felt like forever. They were bothughing, savoring the dish. They even called over Arthur who had just been sitting idly behind the bar to give it a try.


    Edlyn turned back to Amelia as they entered the kitchen.


    “Most of our menu items are rtively simple. We have kebab, hummus, ffel—” the brown-haired woman began listing out their dishes.


    A single thought crossed Edlyn’s mind as she just stared, listening and nodding.


    <em>Maybe… just maybe… working for Amelia isn’t going to be so bad, after all.</em>


    And the two women began to cook together, until eventually the sun set over the horizon, bringing about the first real day of work for the [Royal Chef] at Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant.