Cake Cookies Milk Tea

Early the next morning, Eulanda caught Lusen just as he appeared outside the laboratory.

"Where did you buy the box of food you gave me yesterday? It's tailor-made for someone like me who always misses lunch."

Before Lusen could speak, Eulanda started to recall yesterday's meal.

"I've never had a drink like this before, it's magical how they combined milk, tea, and caramel pudding. The person who researched this drink must be a genius!"

Lusen has drunk even more combinations, so he was much calmer than Eulanda: "Actually, thick taro mud Oreo milk tea is also good, and there are small taro balls red bean milk tea and cake cookie milk tea. If they sell more, the boss might make other varieties."

Eulanda's eyes widened: "What are those? Have I missed the popular drinks in the capital because I've been in the lab for too long?"

"Not really, but you're lucky to be one of the first customers of this future trendy drink."

It seems that this kind of drink has not yet become popular. However, Eulanda didn't feel that Lusen was boasting. He believed that anyone who tasted the milk tea would be conquered by it. The only thing that could possibly prevent milk tea from becoming popular across the empire would be its price. Tea has always been expensive, and Eulanda tasted the pure sugar in it, which was definitely the best sugar without any impurities.

Unexpectedly, Lusen said, "A cup of milk tea costs only one silver coin. If you want to add more ingredients - like caramel pudding, sweetened red beans, taro puree, it wouldn't exceed two silver coins."

Eulanda couldn't help but exclaim, "That's so cheap!" She used to have afternoon tea with her friends at the restaurant on Margaret Street, and just a pot of black tea cost five silver coins, not to mention various tea snacks, which cost half a gold coin each time. She wanted to rush to the Dragon Flame Restaurant that Lusen mentioned and order all kinds of milk teas at once.

"How many silver coins does that heating box cost?" Eulanda asked further. This is more important than milk tea. With this kind of food box, no matter when Eulanda eats, she can taste delicious and warm food.

"The food inside can be chosen, but the most expensive is the outer box. Taking the one I brought to senior sister as an example, although there are many types of food, the quantity is not large, only two silver coins are needed, but including the box, it costs five silver coins." This is actually not a small amount. According to Lusen's salary, this kind of self-heating lunch box for one person requires 25 hours of work to buy one. But Eulanda didn't care, she came from a well-off merchant family. Because she showed exceptional talent from an early age, her family strongly supported her work and research, and Eulanda could get 20 gold coins for living expenses every month.

Even if she ate a self-heating lunch box for every meal, it wouldn't be a burden for Eulanda. She asked for the address of the Dragon Flame Restaurant where this self-heating lunch box was sold. Eulanda continued to return to the lab to continue working. She is a very rigorous person and will not easily change her plan. Today, she needs to improve the movement module settings of the mechanical wind wolf, then repair the worn places from the last experiment, and finally... finally go buy a cup of milk tea and pack five different food combinations of self-heating lunch boxes! Thinking of this, Eulanda's steps became a bit lighter.

————

[A small portion of the students and faculty of the Star Academy have noticed your restaurant and for various reasons, they have become regular customers. Regional Reputation - Silver Empire - Star Academy +5]

Another force's reputation has been collected. Ina flips through the reputation column on the restaurant panel, the reputation of the Mist town has recently increased a bit, now it's 50 points, which is in the same "Friendly" category as the 30 points of the Mercenary Guild. The system explanation is [In the premise of not harming the interests of this force, the attitude towards you and your restaurant's activities is positive]. There are no other benefits.

But the Rize race is different, the reputation value of the Rize race is 500 points, which is the maximum value of reputation. The system's note is [This force trusts you unconditionally, listens to your words, and can control this force's taxation and armed forces. (If the reputation value is less than 300 points, this force may refuse to pay taxes)]

Ina is confused, and can't help but ask, "I carry a business system, not some kind of domination system, right?"

The system smirked, [Your will is my direction, if you need it, I can switch functions for you at any time~]

Ina would not be coaxed by the system's two sentences to go conquer new territories. The entire Rize race is indeed extremely loyal to her, but why does the Extreme Cold Icefield not belong to any country? Because the geographical environment is too harsh. Instead of investing resources in developing the Extreme Cold Polar Region, Ina might as well directly knock out the ruler of the Silver Empire and seize power.

The Rize race works diligently for her, and Ina is also willing to give back to them a better life as much as she can. As for taxes, it's not something she considers.

Seeing that Ina has no interest in establishing a kingdom, the system "ding" made a sound and released a random mission.

[You have triggered the random side task 0-6: Winter Festival

Rewards: Get ownership of some task items according to the task completion.

Task items: Street Food Cart Gift Pack (temporary use right), Festival Decoration Gift Pack, Festival Gift Pack.

Task description: For the harvest of crops, for the sun in winter, for all the small happiness, celebrate! For everything worth it!

Task requirements: Hold a festival in the Extreme Cold Icefield, with more than 50 participants, and a satisfaction rating of over 50.]

Ina showed a smile, there were too many things to celebrate, the industries under the restaurant were increasing, the third branch was opened, and her staff spanned the races of beasts, liches, and humans, with more than 200 people in total - more than half of the Rize tribe worked in the summer house or rabbit house.

Just treat this festival as employee team building!

———

The Mist town gradually returned to calm, the mercenaries were gradually withdrawing. The Night Swamp was too cold and wet, the mercenaries only competed to be the first ones to come, but they didn't want to stay there for too long.

This year, with the spicy boiled fish from the dragon flame Restaurant, the mercenaries held on for a while longer, but after more than two months, most of the mercenaries had received the expected spoils of war. After two months of exploration by the mercenaries, the valuable materials in the swamp had been depleted, and there was no point in staying any longer.

The number of guests in the restaurant was getting smaller, and now the majority of those coming and going were the townsfolk of the mist town. Anty and a few familiar mercenaries said goodbye: "Goodbye Uncle Kenny! Goodbye Uncle Robert, come back for the beer next year!"

Anty was full of energy, when Dusì was busy coordinating resources for the various branches, she and Lesley were bustling around in the restaurant, running around like little ponies. The mercenaries all liked her, and Kenny and Robert even gave her and Lesley a beast tooth necklace each before they left. The canine tooth was finely made and white, with the sharp point polished round and blunt. Beast teeth are a symbol of courage in the Rize tribe, the two little girls loved them and even wanted to use their own wages to buy Kenny and Robert beers.

Kenny and Robert waved: "We'll be back! See you next year!"

As Kenny walked, he said to Robert: "Do you remember what we were thinking about this time last year?"

Robert twitched his mouth: "Probably that we could finally leave this damned place, and I had to go to Bante City to have a big meal, drink a couple of liters of beer, and sleep for three days, just to get the snotty vegetable puree which from the dragon flame Restaurant out of my memory."

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Kenny showed a trace of melancholy on his face: "It's strange, I'm a bit sad." In this rainy and foggy small town, the exhausted mercenaries emerged from the life-and-death Night Swamp, with their spoils or scars, and would come to the dragon flame Restaurant, to have a bowl of steaming wonton, a sip of broth made from chicken bones and shrimp, joking about how they didn't die in the beast's mouth this time.

After saying this, as if afraid of being laughed at by Robert, Kenny quickly added, "It's probably because the beer brewed by the owner of the dragon flame Restaurant is too good."

Robert did not ridicule him but brought up another matter: "Alge doesn't plan to leave, he wants to move to the mist town."

Kenny opened his mouth wide, and it took him a long while to close it: "Has he thought it through?"

Robert explained: "He injured his arm this year and probably can't be a mercenary in the future. But staying in the mist town isn't bad, the Mercenary Guild will give him a subsidy every year, and he also found a job in the chicken coop. Now that food prices have gone down, life won't be too hard."

"Yeah," Kenny agreed, "the mist town is no longer the same."

They looked at each other, what changed the mist town? The answer was undoubtedly only one - the dragon flame Restaurant.

In the dragon flame Restaurant, Anty, after reading a letter that suddenly appeared on the table, hurriedly said to Lesley: "Quickly hang the 'closed' sign at the door, we need to quickly pick all the hawthorns and wash them."

Lesley stood still, puzzled, and asked: "What's happened, Anty?" There was a trace of panic in her eyes, could it be related to the mercenaries leaving the mist town? If the restaurant had to close due to poor business, would she lose her job as well?

Lesley loved this place, she cherished this job immensely, not only because working in the restaurant allowed her to be closer to her saintly sister, but also because this was the first time she had become a useful person. Before her saintly sister appeared, Lesley, whose home was in dire straits, had always been in a state of barely enough to eat and not starve, hence she was very thin and frail, unable to go hunting or help her mother with heavy work.

However, since coming to work in the restaurant, not only could she earn her own salary, but she could also occasionally bring some dishes home. Her family couldn't stop praising the dishes from the restaurant, and they were full of pride when they mentioned her - "Our little bunny has been selected by the saint to work! She often sees the saint!"

Before Lesley could sink into fear, Anty stopped her wild thoughts. "Miss Ina, no, the saint has notified us that we don't need to open for business today or tomorrow. She will hold a celebration!"

Lesley knew that if Anty used the term "saint", it meant that this matter was related to the tribe. However, her question was not answered. Lesley blinked her big eyes: "What is a celebration?"

Anty was not quite clear about this question either, she guessed: "It might be the same as the hunting festival we hold every year, or it could be like the celebrations I saw in the city of Soma."

In the days when the Rize tribe was not so hard-pressed, Anty once went to the city of Soma with her father to sell the skins of their prey. That time, she encountered a celebration ceremony held to celebrate the king's birthday. The specific process of the celebration had gradually become blurred in her mind over time, but Anty always remembered the tall float that passed in front of her, as well as the ribbons and candies were thrown from the float.

Lesley had repeatedly begged Anty to tell her about this celebration experience, and her eyes suddenly widened: "Will we also have a celebration?"