Chapter Eleven
Quest Objective: Flirt
There was one more halfling shop owner I hadn’t visited yet.
First was Tabitha the blacksmith. Then was Marissa the alchemist. Now, it was time for none other than Fredericka the chef.
These three girls made up the halfling trio of important merchant NPCs who were as cute as they were controversial to haters of the game and Seth’s tastes.
And now, we stood in front of Fredericka’s shop. It was a pretty small restaurant that looked like a bakery from the outside with booths visible through the windows lining the walls. Despite having a sort of bakery aesthetic, though, she was a chef who could cook anything and everything.
I reached forward to grab the door only for Rosie to grab it first and hold it open for me.
Right. That was something else that I needed to get used to, and it wasn’t the first time she did it. It was normal for women to hold the door open for men in this world.
I was going to have to get faster so that I could beat her to it sometimes.
We were greeted as soon as we entered.
“Welcome, welcome!” called the high-pitched, familiar voice I knew so well from the other side of the counter.
Fredericka was on the other side in the flesh for the first time.
Even though she was a halfling, that single braid she wore over her shoulder gave her such a gentle, motherly feeling that it was almost impossible not to instinctively call her mom.
She had the nickname, “Mama Fredericka,” among players for a reason.
Almost every man who met her wanted to be pampered by her despite being twice her size.
“Wow, what a handsome lad to have wondered into my little place!” Fredericka said. “I’ll have to put lots of extra love into my cooking for you!”
I wanted her to adopt me.
I shook that thought out of my head and said, “I’ll look forward to it. I’m Sev, by the way. These are my friends—”
“First wife,” Rosie said, clinging to my left arm.
“Pet,” Lupa said, clinging to my right arm.
“—I mean, my first wife and pet, Rosie and Lupa,” I finished. Apparently, now that Lupa was around, Rosie wasn’t denying her position anymore. She probably didn’t want Lupa claiming it for herself.
Fredericka showed us a beaming smile the entire time. “What a charming little family you have! I’d be overjoyed to serve such cute customers!”
“I’m sure we’ll become regulars with this service.”
“Oh, you flatter me! Now, is there anything you’re in the mood for today? Or would you like a menu to look at?”
“I’ve actually got this Blind Cave Scorpion Claw meat that I’ve been meaning to try out. Could you cook something with it?”
“Oh! Of course! The meat in those claws is delicious! Do you have any other special ingredients?”
“Just this for now.”
“In that case, here’s everything I can make with it!”
A window popped up to show me a system-based menu.
//BCS Claw Meat Steak and Potato
//7 Vitality | 5 Strength
//The meat has been scooped out of the shell and cut into a steak-like slab cooked to perfection with a baked potato on the side.
//BCS Claw Meat Fried Rice
//7 Vitality | 5 Wisdom
//This dish is a perfect fusion of rice and claw meat with a variety of vegetables fried up in a wok.
//BCS Claw Meat Rolls
//7 Vitality | 5 Dexterity
//Claw meat that has been mixed with chives, mayonnaise, and lemon juice served in fresh buns.
//BCS Claw Meat Pasta with Garlic Butter
//7 Vitality | 5 Charisma
//A delicious pasta with a creamy garlic butter sauce that makes the already juicy claw meat burst with even more flavor.
Each of the dishes offered stat buffs, and each one would last for the duration of an entire dungeon. That was how it worked in the game and it looked like it still worked the same way here.
And thanks to how many of those scorpions we killed in the dungeon, we had enough meat for each one of us to put in an order.
Rosie was the first to shout out her predictable order, “The pasta, please!”
“Mm, the rolls,” Lupa then said.
That left me to decide what I wanted. Even though I didn’t need Charisma, I had to go with Rosie who didn’t need it either and said, “I’ll also take the pasta.
” It just sounded too good to pass up. Everything sounded good, but between the description and the picture that showed next to it, the pasta was the clear winner.
“Excellent choices!” Fredericka said. “Go on and take your seats wherever you want, and I’ll bring your food over in a little. Oh, and what would you like to drink? And do you want any appetizers?”
I was about to say I only wanted some water, but Lupa was quick to ask, “Appetizers?”
“Like fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, soup, salad, dumplings—”
“What are mozzarella sticks?”
“Imagine fried bread stuffed with gooey cheese!”
Lupa looked up at me with a sparkle in her eyes. “Master, can I get the mozzarella sticks?”
“Sure,” I answered.
Lupa looked at Fredericka again and nodded while her tail wagged.
Rosie looked at me and asked, “Is she your pet or your daughter?”
“She’s cute is what she is,” I answered.
“Nice dodge. Oh, and I’ll just take water.”
“Same.”
But then Lupa asked, “What else is there to drink?”
Fredericka handed over a physical drink menu for Lupa to look at. It looked like it had everything from coffee to pop to alcohol, lemonade, hot chocolate—most drinks I could imagine.
All I ever got to drink was water and those little boxes of fruit juice.
“Actually,” I said, “could I try that strawberry lemonade?”
Lupa nodded when she heard that. “Mm. Me, too.”
Fredericka took the menu back and said, “Of course! I’ll have your appetizer and drinks over in a minute.”
With that, the three of us took our seat while Fredericka went into the kitchen in the back.
“Cheesy bread,” Lupa said to herself, practically drooling right after she sat down.
“Looking forward to it?” I asked.
Lupa was quick to nod. “Sounds good.” She was probably the most mature looking out of all of us, yet she was the one acting the most immature. It was cute gap.
Then Rosie said, “I’m starting to feel like a parent taking my kids out.”
I looked Rosie over.
Nope. I couldn’t see it. She didn’t have any of the motherly charm that Fredericka had despite being the one with a body built for it.
“Hey,” Rosie said. “What’s that judging look in your eyes?”
“I mean, it’s obvious, right?” I asked.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
I shrugged. “Who knows?”
Rosie sighed and then looked at me and Lupa. “By the way, if I’m the first wife, why am I the one sitting across from Sev instead of next to him?”
Lupa answered, “Because I took the initiative and pulled him to sit with me.”
“Tch… so it’s that simple after all.”
“Just because you’re first wife doesn’t mean I won’t fight for Master’s attention.”
“Speaking of,” I cut in. “How uh… I mean, how—well, I’m not sure how to put this. What do you two… think of each other?”
“Sisters in the same pack,” Lupa answered.
Rosie shrugged this time. “Something like that.”
“I see,” I said. “Where I’m from, it was seen as weird or immoral to date more than one person at a time. Women would normally hate each other or get jealous in that situation.”
“Not here. We know how lucky we are to get a man at all, so none of us would want to cause problems for him by causing drama.”
Lupa nodded along with Rosie’s words. “It’s better to be sisters and get along with each other. Then we can work together to make Master as happy as possible.”
“Right. That doesn’t mean we won’t still compete with each other for attention, but it’s nothing serious, right, Lupa?”
Lupa hugged my arm against her and looked away.
“Right, Lupa?”
“Everything related to Master is serious,” Lupa answered. “But I want to be friends with Rosie, too, so… I’ll try not to be too greedy.”
“Good, I can’t be the only one holding back. And I want to be friends with you, too, Lupa.”
Lupa’s tail wagged against the cushion of our booth when she heard that.
Our appetizer and drinks arrived soon after we sat down.
I ended up eating some of the mozzarella sticks that Lupa ordered since they looked too delicious to resist, and they tasted every bit as good as they looked.
They had the perfect, crispy exterior with the gooiest cheesy interior.
Lupa and I both let out moans of sheer bliss as we ate them while Rosie watched with a smile.
Then there were the drinks. The strawberry lemonade was… far too sweet for me. It was delicious, but I wasn’t used to things that were so sweet. It wasn’t like we got to consume much sugar in the nursing home. So, I ended up letting Lupa finish my drink for me and got some water.
But I wanted to build up a tolerance to sweet things so that I could enjoy that drink properly someday.
Then our main dishes arrived.
Rosie and I each got a mountain of pasta that were covered in creamy, buttery garlic sauce with fresh, white claw meat mixed in.
The meat was obscenely juicy to the point where it was almost too juicy.
Every bite was like an explosion of flavorful juice in my mouth.
It was way, way too good. As for Lupa, she got a couple of rolls stuffed to the brim with claw meat that she devoured before Rosie and I were even halfway done with our plates.
Since she was obviously drooling still while watching us eat, Fredericka brought over an extra serving of mozzarella sticks for Lupa to eat on the house.
The motherly energy of Fredericka was beyond measure.
Eventually, we finished eating, and we were ready to go to the dungeon with stuffed stomachs and new food buffs boosting our stats. After we paid, of course. I made sure to tip Fredericka for the service as well even though it wasn’t exactly a thing in this world.
“Please come again!” Fredericka said from the door as we left. “I would love to have such wonderful guests again!”
“We’ll definitely be back,” I said. “Mo—”
I cut myself off before it was too late.
Fredericka simply chuckled to herself while holding a hand over her mouth before going back inside, leaving me with Rosie and Lupa with the former staring at me with suspicious eyes.