Just like the previous evening had been uncharacteristically quiet, the atmosphere on the next morning was uncharacteristically bustling.

Usually at this time of the day, Severin was pretty the only person already awake, if one disregarded those adventurers that preferred to set out even before dawn.

Ever since arriving on this mountaintop in a new world, Severin had become somewhat of an early riser; and even more so since becoming a [Cook]. To ensure the first batch of bread was ready even before opening of the store, he tried to mimic the bakers of his old home.

On this day, however, it almost appeared as if he was the last person to wake up. Apart from Em.

There was an unmistakable atmosphere of departure in the air; Markus’ impatience to get going, and by extension that of the Eagles as a whole, was immediately palpable when Severin left his small room.

The other big thing that stood out and which maybe took him even more by surprise was the missing flying artifact. The enormous ship that had lied at anchor during all of Markus’ visit and which served as a kind of headquarter for the visitors, had already become an accustomed sight to Severin. But now it was nowhere to be found.

In its stead hovered two smaller ships which, when added up together, didn’t make up for even half the size of their bigger counterpart.

Thinking about it, it only made sense. Not only was Markus’ group about to split, but the ship had always belonged to Samuel, anyway. Now that the [Berserker] had decided to stay behind, so would his priced artifact.

After briefly considering the circumstances, Severin decided to not let Markus and his men needlessly wait any longer than absolutely necessary.

He headed straight into the kitchen and began processing all the orders he had taken the previous day. Including the ones for salad and pizza, both dishes he had originally planned to only sell at lunchtime.

But since this rule was only established as a means to make it easier for him to handle business during the time he was still lacking [Employees], it didn’t matter if he broke it. That was especially true considering that the rule was set by Severin himself, and not the System. Besides, with the only other larger group of his customers, namely Andreas and his comrades, being absent for the time being, it wasn’t as if he would suddenly be overrun with work if he made an exception on this day.

When Emily woke up some time later, and headed towards the entrance of the main store, Severin instructed her to inform the people outside that he was already processing their orders; not just the bread, but those for the entire day. She was also to offer anyone who had missed the opportunity to do so yesterday to place their orders now instead.

Shortly after that, the main-store was filled with customers. Not to take them up on their offer, but to stock up on everything else and to make sure to their daily limited activations wouldn’t go to waste. With Severin cooperating in this fashion, the group’s departure had been pushed forward, and as such, all unfinished business for which several hours were originally been scheduled, now had to be completed in just a fraction of the time.

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Luckily, with the upgraded shop, everyone could easily fit inside and the additional shelf space ensured enough products to fulfill all demands could now easily be stored.

Not that there actually was any unusual amount of demand. Following Markus’ orders, the adventurers had already made a habit of restocking their consumables at least once a day, therefore the amount of products they had to replenish in one go never was too large. The main attraction was the combinator and while nothing much could be done to help work through the long queue of short-tempered men and women, it wasn’t something that caused any extra work or stress for Em, who observed everything from behind the counter.

Soon after Severin left the kitchen, Markus said his goodbyes and boarded one of the two smaller ships, followed by roughly half of his men; the remaining guildmates boarded the other one.

But only after repeatedly ensuring Severin that they would meet again as soon as his time and responsibilities allowed him to.

He also affirmed once more that the prospect employee should already be well on their way and that the transport was probably taking a similar detour as Markus had to back then. Only that this time there weren’t any previous customs who could lead the way on board.

That being said, the whole secrecy wasn’t something that had to be kept up for much longer. Not only couldn’t the people back in Malcos prevent everyone from learning about the shop’s existence forever, even if they wanted to, but the most important objective had already been fulfilled;to make contact and establish relations with Severin before Rhenia.

Seeing first hand how the shop handled things, with daily activations and a very limiting carrying capacity for each kind of item, had also long helped to chase away a lot of Markus’ worries.

…

The next half week made for a rather boring but welcome break, even if it meant a sharp drop in income.

The highlight of this period was probably when at the very next day after the group had left Severin managed to come up with a new recipe; only to be disappointed. In an attempt to outsmart the System, Severin came up with his own recipe for a very simple tomato soup. And just like the pizza before, the end product had even been recognized by the System and was added to the recipe book.

The questlog, however, showed no progress at all. Very much to Severin’s displeasure. The fact that, just like before, he was granted the ability to set a generous exchange rate for his personal income didn’t change that at all. Especially not after confirming its effects, which resembled that of the salad, but noticeably weaker. For an adventurer who cared less about taste and more about efficiency, there was no reason to buy even just a single serving; and, in Severin’s personal opinion, even less so if they actually cared about the taste.

After that experience, Severin lost much of his motivation, and while he hadn’t given up on the matter completely, he spent most of the following days sitting outside in front of the store. Instead, it was Emily who kept experimenting -not in the kitchen as one might’ve thought, but with alchemical ingredients- though she wasn’t any more successful than her boss.

This went on until on the fourth day a dot on the horizon announced someone’s arrival.