They had won this battle, but the war was far from finished. The demons would return, and so would the challenges of forging peace. But for now, they had the chance to continue their mission. And Zelphar wouldn’t stop fighting until peace was more than just a distant dream.


    After the history class and the following math class ended, it was already time for lunch. Leena took out the lunch box that Nuala had prepared for her from her bag, and she and Saria went out to the garden. A few people were gathered under the large tree in the garden, eating. These were the most talented and strongest students of the school, and of course, at the center of the student group sat Kavrala, eating her meal. Upon seeing Kavrala, Leena straightened her clothes and approached the tree. Many of the students greeted her, and Leena smiled and nodded back at them. Saria didn’t like eating among so many people, so she stood nervously beside Leena. Leena approached the blanket where Kavrala was sitting and sat down next to her. Saria’s skill was also at level 2, so she didn’t attract attention, but instead of sitting on the blanket, she sat by the tree, next to Leena. Kavrala looked a bit down that day, so while opening the lunch box Nuala had packed, Leena asked without taking her eyes off the box, “You seem a bit off today. Is something wrong?” Kavrala, without looking away from her meal, replied with a blank face, “I miss a meal I used to have. The other foods just seem tasteless now.” They quietly continued eating for a few minutes. After a while, Kavrala broke the silence, “I heard a new restaurant opened a bit further from the town center. They say the food is really good, have you heard of it?” Leena, speaking with her mouth full, replied, “I’m not sure, do you know the name?” After swallowing her bite, Kavrala said, “I think it was something like Rava’s, but I can’t remember exactly.” Upon hearing this, Leena almost choked on her food. After coughing a few times, she immediately began to speak, “That’s my brother’s restaurant. If you want, we can go together. I’m sure he’ll make the best meal for you.” Trying to act surprised, Kavrala responded, “Great! How about after school today?” Leena smiled and said, “That works for me.” They finished their meal just before the lunch break ended and set off toward their classrooms. When they reached the classroom door, Leena turned to Saria and asked, “You’re coming too, right?” As Saria walked into the classroom, she turned back and said, “Of course! It’d be foolish to turn down a chance to eat with Kavrala.” After another boring class, the school day ended, and Leena and Saria waited for Kavrala in front of the main entrance. After a while, Kavrala joined them, and they walked together while chatting about classes and magic, heading toward her brother’s restaurant. Kavrala suddenly asked Leena, “Doesn’t your brother go to school?” Leena found it a bit strange that Kavrala brought up her brother, but shrugged and answered, “My father doesn’t send him to school because he’s a weakling who can’t even do a bit of magic.” Surprised by how Leena spoke about her brother, Kavrala asked, “Don’t you like your brother, Leena?” Leena rolled her eyes and replied, “When I was younger, he used to tell me interesting stories that I liked, but after a few years, I realized how weak he is. The chances of the stories he told being true are zero. He probably just told me what he read in a book as if he saw it himself. Since then, I haven’t really liked Vulren, but he’s good at some things, like cooking.” Kavrala felt sorry for Vulren, who had been lied about by his sister. She was sure the things he’d seen in the forest were real. After a short while, they reached the street where Vulren’s restaurant was located. When they entered the restaurant, Vulren was washing dishes in the back, and a couple of customers were sitting at a table eating together. The two customers stopped eating and stared at Kavrala and Leena in surprise. After all, they were both well-known in the village, as Kavrala had won first place in the 16-and-under battle tournament at the annual magic festival, and Leena had come third. As they approached the counter to order, Vulren set the dishes in the sink and came to greet them. “Welcome, may I take your orders?” he asked. While Saria and Kavrala were looking at the menu, Leena frowned and said, “Couldn’t you find a more disgusting building to open your restaurant? You’re tarnishing our family’s name!” When Leena finally stopped speaking, Kavrala quietly pointed to something on the menu without looking at Vulren and said, “I’ll have this.” Saria also ordered fried fish and salad. Leena turned to Kavrala and said, “If you don’t like this shabby place, we can leave right now.” Kavrala shook her head and replied flatly, “It’s fine.” Leena heard that Kavrala disliked even the best restaurants in the village sometimes, but she couldn’t understand what she liked about this place. Finally, Leena gave in and placed her order, “I’ll have the chicken salad, cut the chicken into large pieces, and don’t put parsley in it. Also, I want lemonade and pudding for dessert.” While they waited for the food, Leena and Saria chatted, while Kavrala listened with empty eyes. After a while, the food was ready, and Vulren brought the dishes to their table. The smell of the food was incredible. Without hesitation, Saria started eating, and after her first bite, a look of surprise appeared on her face. Kavrala also began eating, and inevitably, she started smiling. However, Leena stared at her food as if she were trying to make sure there wasn’t poison in it. While Vulren was watching his sisters firends love the food he had prepared from behind the counter, he couldn’t help but smile at the defated look on Leena’s face. After a short while, Leena picked up her fork and began eating. The food was much better than she expected. The tenderness of the chicken and the refreshing taste of the vegetables were amazing. The food was delicious, but the sense of defeat Leena felt was dreadful. However, she didn’t want to give up without trying the dessert. After finishing the meal almost without realizing it, Vulren returned with three plates in hand. One plate had a chocolate soufflé, another had vanilla pudding, and the last one looked like a strange cake. As he handed the pudding to Leena, the soufflé to Saria, and the cake to Kavrala, he said, “These are a gift from me.” Saria smiled and thanked him when she saw the dessert. Kavrala, with wide eyes, poked at her dessert with her spoon and then turned to Vulren, saying, “What is this? It smells wonderful.” Vulren, with a smug smile, said, “This is my new recipe; I call it cheesecake. As the name suggests, it’s made from cheese.” While Kavrala looked very interested, Leena still refused to accept defeat and said, “A cake made from cheese? That sounds horrible.” Everyone dug into their desserts, and Leena didn’t wait long to try the pudding. The comforting vanilla flavor and perfect texture of the pudding completely defeated her. Without saying a word, she kept eating while watching Kavrala, who was smiling in a way Leena had never seen before. The usual blank expression on her face seemed to melt away, replaced with pieces of joy. But this only made Leena angrier. Every time she saw her brother’s disgusting grin, she fumed with rage. Just as they were about to leave the table, Vulren turned to Leena and spoke, “By the way, Leena, I didn''t had any chicken left, so I had to use Giant Swamp Frog. It’s not a problem, right?” Saria and Kavrala started laughing silently. Leena was about to throw up everything she had eaten and her anger, but she didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of Kavrala. Turning to her brother, she replied with a green face, “Nice try, but even ten of you couldn’t beat a frog.” And she left the restaurant without paying. Kavrala sighed, “I’m sorry on her behalf; I’ll pay for her too.” At that moment, Saria was trying to pull out money from her bag. But Vulren raised his hand and said, “Forget it; this one’s on me.” Kavrala frowned, about to refuse, but Vulren cut her off, “It’s a gift for the beautiful young ladies of our village.” Kavrala immediately looked away, putting the money back into her bag and turning around, “Only this time.” Saria giggled, “4 points.” Vulren, already back to washing dishes, didn’t take his eyes off the plates and said, “4 out of 10, not bad actually.” Before leaving the restaurant, Saria said, “It was actually out of 100. See you later, Vulren. I loved the food.” And she walked out through the door. Vulren started like this compliment thing. By evening, after finishing all his tasks, he closed the restaurant and set off for home. However, for Vulren, the day wasn’t over yet; he had tons of training to do.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.