NOVPUBThe distant South Continent, Hutton Kingdom, Capital City Ekrite.
At ten in the morning of April’s spring season, the sky of Ekrite bears a tint of soft blue, the air is filled with floral fragrances—making it even more refreshing and bright.
Located to the east of Ichrite Academy, across two wide and tidy streets, shops of all sorts stand, creating a lively atmosphere.
A small restaurant emits the rich aroma of breakfast, the scent of oats and cheese gently linger in the air.
This is a two-story tea-colored wooden building, the sign above the shop is engraved with the Hutton Kingdom’s writing, "Boss Cat Restaurant". The roof broadly and naturally curves with the eaves extending far out. Whenever a breeze passes, wind chimes hanging below the eaves would echo pleasant bell sounds.
Every now and then, as the "ding-dong" sound echoed, the restaurant’s door swung open. Customers came in and out. The first floor was intelligently split into several areas, besides the counter near the entrance, there was also a passageway leading to the kitchen and upstairs.
At this time, the restaurant was in the lull after the breakfast rush, with only a few customers. In the kitchen, two women in aprons were preparing food on a counter, green leafy vegetables, fruits, and all sorts of seasonings neatly arranged.
Their collaboration was so seamless that no words were necessary—one side was the rhythm of knives dancing on the chopping board, crisp and powerful; on the other side was the art of seasonings intertwining with ingredients.
Talia was in charge of cutting. Each cut she made was just right, slicing vegetables of equal sizes and pushing them to the side.
Asina, on the other hand, was responsible for mixing and processing, not only preserving the flavor of the ingredients but also giving them a new life.
This morning, Asina, the vice president of the student council, didn’t have any official business.
At the last semester of her third year, she had already completed all needed credits for her courses and finished her graduation project. All she needed to do was to wait for the time to apply for graduation.
Now, she is the newly appointed head chef of the Boss Cat Restaurant. She declined the teaching offer from Ichrite Academy and didn’t plan to pursue further education in the fourth year. After graduation, she will officially become the disciple of the Cat Boss.
During this period, she had become close friends and partners with Miss Tata, who was helping the Cat Boss with the restaurant.
Each time, Miss Tata would give her the most accurate evaluation, helping her to refine the dishes.
And what was crucial was, no matter how much food was made, Miss Tata could eat them all.
There was no concern of her overeating and unable to continue giving advice, nor was there concern about wasting food.
Therefore, ever since meeting Tata, Asina felt her cooking skills had improved tremendously. She started cooking for Tata day and night, and Tata was delighted. To speed up Asina’s cooking, she personally became her sous chef.
The only thing that worried Asina a bit was whether Tata would eat too much.
Although Tata didn’t seem to have gained weight at all, if she kept eating like this, come summer, it’s possible that Tata might develop a little tummy.
Talia was still engrossed in a series of skilled procedures to prepare the ingredients.
However, she suddenly paused.
The blade in her hand gently hit the chopping board, her gaze lifted away from the vegetables she was cutting, slowly lifting her head, looking toward the side of the kitchen.
Outside the window, the spring sunlight filled the windowsill and leaves swayed gently in the breeze.
"....."
It appeared that Talia’s gaze wasn’t focused on this tranquil scene but was cast farther away and seemed to be immersed in some profound thought.
At this moment, her face looked especially perplexed, and her eyes flickered with complicated radiance.
Asina noticed this change, she stopped her work and looked worriedly at Talia.
"Tata, what’s wrong?"
Asina felt that Tata seemed to suddenly become troubled.
Talia just shook her head.
"It’s nothing, don’t worry."
Actually, she wasn’t sure if it was an illusion or reality.
She always felt that somewhere in the world, a new member of the Great Demon Clan had emerged, and due to their shared affinity, her, being a member of the Demon Royal Family, felt a peculiar empathy.
Upon further thinking, most of the relics of the Great Demon Clan’s trials had been ruined. Even if there were remnants, they were probably under human control.
Humans would never allow a commanding member of the Demon Race to complete the trial and become a Great Demon.
Unless there is a possibility —— a demon she knows survived, blended among humans, found a chance to infiltrate the Great Demon Clan’s trial recently, collected the final mark and successfully became part of the Great Demon Clan.
But no matter how she pondered, Talia couldn’t think of any demon that it could be.
A century ago, not to mention the mighty, even the gifted demons had almost been eradicated.
Even if they have now become part of the Great Demon Clan, aside from unlocking the upper limit of their innate magic, it serves no other purpose.
Without a Demon King and a homeland, they couldn’t even earn a title and could only become the "Nameless Great Demon Clan".
If one must mention a role, being a part of the Great Demon Clan makes one an eligible match for the Demon King’s descendants.
According to demon tradition, the proposed spouse of the Demon Royal Family must at least belong to the Great Demon Clan.
However, whether it be from the demon tribe, the Great Demon Clan, or even humans, she had no interest in anyone’s pursuits.
Even if a new member of the Great Demon Clan was born now, or if a member of the Great Demon Clan related to her surfaced, that wouldn’t warrant the spreading of rumors across the Demon World, concerning her future engagement.
She would occasionally realize that a century ago, the Demon Tribe Kingdom had ceased to exist, and she had long concealed her identity and abandoned her name. Her connection with the demon tribe and the Northern Continent diminished rapidly.
If there was any regret within her.
It would be not knowing the whereabouts of her dear friend, Guardian Antanas.
Now, as her life has improved, she often feels melancholic due to Antanas’ absence from her side.
"Tata, are you thinking about someone?"
Asina found that since a while ago, Tata seemed a bit distracted, so after finishing her work, she slowly asked.
"I just recalled a dear friend, whom I haven’t heard from in a long while."
Talia nodded and replied.
She now considered Asina to be her friend. It was difficult to imagine a day when she would become friends with humans, treating them sincerely, working together daily, living together, and chatting together.
"You can ask Lanci to help you find people. He is pretty good at handling civilian investigative work."
Asina recalled that since the new school term began, the student union had been missing Lanci and Hyperion, and the workload seemed to have increased a lot.
"Maybe not."
Tata shook her head, Asina didn’t realize that this was way beyond civilian matters.
Antanas was an ancient Great Demon Clan member, they lost contact a century ago, even Talia could not recall the exact appearance of Antanas.
It was not possible to tell Lanci, "When you go to the Northern Continent, bring back a Great Demon Clan member named Antanas," like bringing a souvenir, and suddenly bring Antanas to the shop door upon his return.
Even in dreams, that couldn’t happen.
Moreover, she was not prepared at all. If she suddenly let Antanas see her, fully transformed into a human living comfortably and harmoniously, she might wish to take her own life.
Talia instead focused and continued chopping vegetables.
"By the way, Asina, during the midterm break later, can I take a few days off?"
Talia remembered that the Ichrite Academy would have a seven-day midterm break every May and June. At that time, Asina was expected to stay in the shop every day, and Student Council President Monasite would help Asina in the shop.
"No problem, are you planning to travel?"
Asina nodded.
"No, I’m thinking about going back to Nanwantina. There’s something I’ve always been curious about. I just thought of it, so I plan on checking it out."
Talia recalled Asina’s mention of Lanci, and couldn’t help but think of the time at the Nanwantian Border station. Lanci’s house butler, Hans, had bid them farewell and mentioned that it was a pity she was unable to see a painting Lanci had done.
She had grown increasingly curious about what that painting looked like.
With the operation of the Boss Cat Restaurant on the right track, she has a great opportunity next month. She plans to return to the Wilford family’s house in Nanwantina to take a look at Lanci’s painting.
