Animeverse Kitchen: My Culinary Journey Begins with Glowing Food!
Chapter 208 208: Breaking the Curse!
Yurine gave Ryohei Tanaka a strange look. She wondered if he had some special fetish, always wanting to hire angels and demons. The restaurant wasn't short-staffed anymore; in fact, they had a surplus. But then she remembered they were going to Hokkaido tomorrow to look at a ranch and discuss buying it. In that case, they were actually quite short-handed, and it wasn't convenient to hire regular humans for this kind of work. Yurine felt relieved.
As for whether Ryohei had any improper thoughts about hiring only girls, she didn't consider it. Other than the shameless Lucoa, Yurine hadn't seen Ryohei get close to anyone else. She was quite confident in him on that front.
"..." Ryohei felt Yurine's gaze and felt a twinge of guilt. After all, the restaurant was full of girls, and he kept hiring more—he had just hired Pino two days ago.
Of course, Ryohei had no bad intentions. If he had to name it, it was just his "collector's" impulse acting up. Plus, with the new ranch, he really was short on staff, so this was also to bolster their numbers.
At the same time, Yusa also gave Ryohei a curious glance. She, too, felt the restaurant was fully staffed, but Ryohei was the boss. If he wanted to hire someone, she naturally wouldn't say anything.
When Jiang Jiang heard Ryohei say he might have a way to break her sister's curse, her pale golden eyes lit up. She immediately raised her freshly-glued right hand and replied in a clear voice, "We'll join!"
Lan Lan thought about it and didn't object. On one hand, she really wanted to break the curse. On the other, they had come to the human world to do good deeds, but they would need money. They had already planned to find jobs, so what did it matter where they worked? There was no reason to refuse.
"Welcome aboard."
Ryohei smiled at Jiang Jiang, his gaze landing properly on her chest for a moment before he turned to Lucoa. "Our all-powerful Lucoa, do you have a way to solve her sister's curse?"
"You already called me all-powerful." Lucoa placed a hand on her slender waist and lifted her chin, puffing out her chest proudly. Her full curves trembled slightly, exuding an unmatched charm.
Ryohei smiled when he saw this. It looked like she could handle it.
Lucoa looked down at the panda pattern and beckoned. "Come on out, little jiangshi. I'll help you with that curse."
"Speaking of curses," Lucoa said, as if suddenly remembering something, "I have a friend who's an expert in this field." She gestured to Ryohei. "You remember? The one who came to the shop last time, wearing a butler's uniform, about my height, and very cold?"
"Ah, you mean Fafnir, right?" Ryohei replied with a smile. He remembered him, of course, and knew a bit about him. He was one of the main supporting characters in Dragon Maid, the cursed dragon Fafnir, who had been guarding treasure in a cave since ancient times. Because humans were always trying to steal his treasure, he despised them. However, after coming to this world, his view of humans had changed.
He was currently living at Takiya's place and got along well with Takiya Makoto. He spent all night playing games and sometimes even attended otaku events, having completely transformed into a Japanese otaku.
Speaking of Fafnir, Ryohei remembered that he sold his self-published doujinshi, "An Anthology of Curses," at the summer Comiket. Every curse in that book was real; it was practically a tome of curses. Ryohei wondered if he should buy one.
But on second thought, why would he buy that? He didn't have anyone he wanted to curse. Yurine, on the other hand, might be interested. He decided to tell her about it later.
"Right, right, that's him!" Lucoa was happy that Ryohei remembered her friend.
While they were chatting, Lan Lan climbed out from Jiang Jiang's chest and landed excitedly on the sand.
"So cute!" Jiru's bright eyes lit up as she looked at the 10-centimeter-tall panda doll, which was wearing an outfit similar to Jiang Jiang's. She loved plush toys, and this one could move and talk, making it even rarer.
"You're very cute, too," Lan Lan said, scratching her head shyly. She then looked at Lucoa with anticipation. 'Can she really break the curse?' she wondered nervously.
Lucoa extended a finger toward her. A miniature magic circle appeared at her fingertip. The next moment, Lan Lan's perspective changed.
She immediately looked down at her hands and cried out in joy, "The panda's curse is broken!"
"That's wonderful, sister!" Jiang Jiang, whose body had just been pieced together with 502 by Jashin-chan and Medusa, stood up. Forgetting to check her own condition, she looked at Lan Lan, overjoyed.
"Yes, it's wonderful!" Lan Lan hadn't expected it to be so easy. She had just arrived in the human world, and her curse was already gone.
"Arigatou!" Lan Lan—who looked like she and Jiang Jiang were cast from the same mold, with nearly identical height and looks, differing only in bust size, hairstyle, and clothes—bowed deeply to Lucoa in gratitude.
"You're welcome," Lucoa said with a dismissive wave.
"I put your head and limbs back on. Isn't it time to pay up?" Jashin-chan handed the leftover 502 back to Medusa and held her hand out to Jiang Jiang, grinning.
Jiang Jiang was very straightforward. She took out her phone. "I don't have that much cash on me. Can I do a bank transfer?"
"Of course." Jashin-chan had no objections, as long as she got the money. The two huddled together to make the transfer.
Ryohei Tanaka glanced at them, then took his phone from his storage space to check the time. It was already past nine o'clock.
"We can start roasting the lamb now."
He put his phone away and walked toward the open space beside the canopy.
"Need any help?" Yusa asked, following him with her hands behind her back, her long, pale legs striding forward.
Yurine and the others followed, curious to watch Ryohei prepare the whole roasted lamb.
"Not for now." Ryohei smiled at Yusa, then turned and waved to Lucoa. "Lucoa, come and help me light the charcoal."
"Okay," Lucoa replied cheerfully. She had been the one to suggest roast lamb. In other words, it wasn't a stretch to say Ryohei was making this especially for her.
"..."
Arriving at the open space, Ryohei took out a charcoal-fired automatic rotating roaster from his storage. Roasting a whole lamb or pig was a lot of work, and this would make it much easier. He also took out a portable power station, two boxes of Binchotan charcoal, and the marinated S-Rank demon beast, the Black Goat.
He had Lucoa light the charcoal and pour it into the roaster. Then he placed the marinated goat on the spit, connected the power, and turned on the automatic rotation.
"How long will this take to cook?" Pekola stood aside, eyeing the lamb eagerly.
"The whole lamb will take about four hours. Later, I'll make a roast suckling pig, and I'll also cook that precious ingredient Yusa brought... Minos and Jiru also brought back plenty of local specialties that are great for a BBQ. Everyone's in for a treat at lunch!"
"..." Pekola was practically drooling. This sounded amazing. She really was in for a treat. She couldn't wait for lunch!
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