65.

"You know each other?" Both Makarov and I asked at the same time.

"Indeed. I do know him." Mother said nonchalantly.

"He once came to the kingdom to expand his knowledge but all the dishes he made in his stay there, all look fancy but didn't taste great." She said.

"Its because all of your cooking practices were weird." Yajima defended himself while Makarov's screw were turning.

'Kingdom? Who are they? What is their relation to Noctis?' He thought to himself.

As if knowing what he's thinking, Yajima turned to Makarov and introduced mother to him.

"She's Hera Altair Margot, a person that is definitely in the peak of cooking industry. She's also the Queen of Lucis Kingdom. The one ruling over Caelum of the west." He said as Makarov became confused.

"Lucis? Where's that?" Although he knew lots of things, he still didn't know about it and thought that Caelum of the west is an independent kingdom in of itself.

"It's only natural that you don't know about it. They are a kingdom detached from the normal ways in this world. If not for my cousin living there and inviting me there, I might not have known about Lucis." He said.

"Lucis also believes more in their weapons rather than magic, making it so that there's plethora of weapon masters in there rather than mages." Yajima continued and although Makarov haven't seen it personally, he had an idea on what kind of Kingdom Lucis is.

Yajima didn't say anymore since it would be extremely disrespectful to the queen and King who is outside. He didn't say about the Kingdom's greatest asset, Their technological advancements, he would never forget all the things that he saw in his stay there.

In Makarov's mind though, it is easier to cultivate a mage to become S-rank rather than cultivate a weapon master. A mage could just hone his skill and efficiency to defeat his opponents while as a weapon master, you're dedicating your whole life to the weapon path you've taken. It takes more than skill and efficiency to become one. That's why Makarov had a rough idea on the strength of Lucis.

"Hmm? I'm not the queen anymore. My son took over his father's position." Mother said and Yajima was surprised and stared at me but I just shook my head.

"My younger brother took over it. I would rather live my life with my family here than to be a king." I said.

Meanwhile, while the conversation is going on, the customers were full of emotions but mostly shocked and surprise. They were talking and laughing with a Royal Prince the whole time! It was mind-blowing!

To be eating the food made by the Royal Prince, they felt honored. Hearing of mother's name from Yajima, other people were also surprised because they recognized the name, not as the queen, but the woman who revolutionized the cooking industry all by herself. They became excited because the boss and her mother is preparing their meal. It felt like they were in for the greatest food they will have in their entire lifetime.

They also had wry smiles on their faces when I talked about passing the Kingship to my little brother.

'Owner, if you don't want it, why not give it to us? Its our dream to be a king too!' Others thought while listening.

"I see. Looks like you took your mother's talent and took over your mother's role in leading the cooking industry towards new horizon. I'm impressed." Yajima said while looking at the menu and there are lots of dish he didn't recognize. The most curious thing in the menu in his eyes though were rice and bread.

Rice was the staple food of slaves and to see food being eaten by slaves in the menu made him think. He also saw the bread and was surprised that it was not the usual charcoal black color, instead the insides were white making his curiosity grow and anticipation appeared in his eyes as he ordered curry rice and a pretzel.

'If he really made and improve such low quality food to a really good food, then its a whole new era for the food industry.' Yajima thought as he can't wait to have a taste of it already.

"Of course he took over me. He's my son after all." Mother said with a smug smile.

Soon after cleaning the dishes, I started taking the customers orders and Yajima saw that I am writing the order in a piece of paper then tearing it down and placing it orderly and neatly under a heavy object.

Yajima may be old but he is learning so much from watching me interact with the customers, making efficient moves, not falling under pressure, and what impressed him the most is my knife skills. He almost couldn't see my hands and the knife due to the fast cutting movements which is the meteor cutting technique that I've always been practicing every time I cook.

After watching me work for a while, Yajima gave a sigh and thought that cooking is really boundless and will always continue to improve and was glad to embark on that path.

The dishes soon started coming to their tables and their drinks followed soon after.

Yajima's curry rice and pretzel soon arrived in front of him. He saw the glistening 'curry' on top of the piping hot rice. He also saw the rice that turned into something like pure white pearls instead of its normal pale white color.

He then took his spoon and started taking a bite. He then closed his eyes and felt the different explosion of spices assaulting his mouth.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was in a desert, he then saw that the sand were different in color as the sand were replaced with the different spices used in curry. He was confused because he didn't know where to go as he kept on walking. Although Yajima is an old man, he is a member of the magic council meaning he is not a pushover.

Though he might be strong but after walking countless hours in the desert, he started losing strength because of dehydration and when he was losing his consciousness, he saw an oasis in the distance and he pushed himself to continue walking further as he kept on panting.

When he arrived at the Oasis, he was surprised by its appearance. The rocks were the pearly white rice grains and there are lots of vegetables planted with a few cattle drinking on the water that is the curry sauce. He then started kneeling down in front of the lake of curry sauce and started drinking it as it quenched his thirst as he thought that the food brought him to paradise as he opened his eyes after gulping the spoonful of curry in his mouth.

"It was really delicious!" Yajima praised me as he started eating the curry rice and licked it clean.

He then took a bite of the pretzel and was surprised that it was not hard like the black bread. Instead it was soft and fluffy. There was only one word in Yajima's mind when he looks at me.

'Monster.'

"It was good food. Thank you. A new era has indeed arrived." Yajima said as he drank the tea that he ordered as his drink.

After eating, Makarov and Yajima went out together and the third batch of guest started going out after paying their meals and praising me.

As usual I started collecting the plates and started cleaning them up. The next batch however is not that many and I considered them the last batch of the morning. One of the people in the last batch is August with Brandish holding his grandfather's hand as she looked at the place with a bored face but when August sat her on the stool on the bar counter, she finally saw me and her eyes lit up and she started becoming active.

"Uncle! Uncle! Play with me! You pwomised." She said as mother saw Brandish and her gaze softened.

'What a cute little girl. Though my granddaughters are much cuter.' She thought.

"What's your name little girl?" Mother asked Brandish.

"I'm Bwandish!" Brandish said.

"Oh my. Would you like a pretzel?" Mother asked her.

"What's a pwetzel?" Brandish asked confusingly.

"Its a bread and tastes good." Mother said.

"Okaaaaay." She said as mother took out a baked pretzel in the oven and put it in a plate before putting it in front of Brandish.

"Be careful, its hot." She said to Brandish before turning to August who seemed to want to say something.

"Its on the house, don't worry about it." She said.

"Brandish, what is it you say after someone gives you something?" August asked the little girl.

"Think yu." Brandish said.

"You're welcome." Mother replied.

"Uncle, you said you'll play with me." She said to me as I chuckled.

"As you can see uncle is still doing something. Wait for my daughters to come down they will play with you later." I said as Brandish pouted her mouth and her cheeks became inflated.

"Ahh right on time." I said as I heard the sound of the stairs and knew that Irene and the kids are finally going down after rating their breakfast.

When the chipmunks got down, they noticed Brandish and Brandish noticed them.

"Kids, introduce yourself to Brandish." I said and Erza pulled Brandish down with August's help as they invited her to their backyard to play.

"*Sigh* Its really hard taking care of children." August grumbled.

"Its just like that in the earlier stage. When you get used to it, it will be easier." I said as I started taking orders as mother started cooking.

--------------------------

You can now take first.

Brandish speech is not fully developed yet since she's still a 2 year old specially the letter 'R' which is a children's bane when it comes to alphabets.

Back to the grinding lands for battle pass levels. All hail the one true king!