”Aahh, I wish I had eaten something before I left.” The fellow mage released a long sigh and rubbed her stomach in circular motions as if to stop it from grumbling in hunger. Fumes of vapour escaped her lips as she exhaled once again, and watched nearby passengers flock towards vendors while the sellers bargained the price. The young girl briefly stopped in her tracks and gazed upwards into the blue sky where droplets of white snow rained down upon the town. She could feel the snow prickling onto her skin and a smile was casted on her lips. Patches of snow crunched beneath her boots and silver hues sought out for a decent restaurant for herself to have a meal. The huge wooden sign that was hung up at the top of the store glared, Batra’s Inn, and the girl concluded that either an inn or a café would satisfice her hunger.

The sound of bells rang softly the moment she opened the doors to the inn. It was quiet and there were barely any people, apart from a few middle-aged men sipping on their beer. Her brows furrowed together, wondering why they were drinking early in the morning. Snow unveiled her white scarf that was wrapped around her neck and took a seat on one of the stools. A bartender approached her and to her surprise, he appeared devastated and lost in his own thoughts. Unsure what to say, Snow let out a discrete cough to attract his attention. ”Could I get some bacons and eggs? And a cappuccino, please.” The bartender merely nodded before disappearing into the kitchen to get her order done. Having a cup of warm coffee during the early mornings of cold winter was always the best moment of the day.

A couple of minutes later, the scent of the delicious bacon wafted through the air and she could tell that her dish was ready. Snow immediately straightened up in her seat and had her eyes glued onto the door of the kitchen while she waited for her dish to arrive. The eggs were cooked just the way she liked with a runny yolk and crispy bacons on the side. While she began to devour her freshly cooked breakfast, the bartender on the other hand was sulking behind the counter. Curious as to why he appeared so depressed, Snow asked, ”Is something wrong?”
”Well, I’m having trouble with the shifts. One of my employees quit all of a sudden, so there’s only one chef left in the kitchen. And when dusk strikes, there will be a lot of customers. With one chef in the kitchen, it wouldn’t be enough to serve all our customers and I don’t want to overwork my only chef as well.”
Snowflake rested her chin on her palm and nodded, ”Hm, I see. You could use my help. I’m decent at cooking. If you can tell me the details of how I should cook the meals, then it should be fine.”
”Splendid! If you can—“
”On one condition though.” She held up her hand and interrupted the bartender’s sentence abruptly. ”If I can eat lunch and dinner here for free, I’ll do it.” He broke into a huge smile and exclaimed, ”Not only the free food, I’ll even give you your pay for the day!”

The temporary job Snow had just taken up was in the evening and since there were at least 6 hours left before her work starts, she decided to take a short stroll around the town. The clouds had cleared up and the snow had almost melted away as the bright yellow orb ascended into the sky, shining rays of light upon the bustling town. The crowd grew much larger than what she had seen before, and the noise around her increased. Snow slid her hands into the pockets of her coat and slid past strangers. Strands of blue hair brushed past her cheeks as the wind blew across the vicinity of Crocus.

Two hours flew by, almost within a blink of an eye and she found herself at a small park right beside a lake. It was a quiet place with a nice view, just the way she liked. Snow never enjoyed crowded streets since they were too loud for her taste and she would most likely sit under a tree, read a book and enjoy the tranquillity around her. Snow decided this would be one of the locations that she would visit again when she needed to kill time. She hobbled past the park, kicking the sand that collected around her feet and proceeded to return back to the inn for lunch and for her newly acquired job.

Batra served her a light meal, as she requested, for she was already full with the delicious breakfast she had this morning. Afterwards, the owner of the shop introduced her to the chef, Nico and herself to Nico as Snow. ”Alright, I’ll leave everything in your hands. Nico can help you if you need help.” With that, Batra left the kitchen to tend the needs of the customers at the front while the two chefs began prepping for the meals that are to be served in the evening. With pretty blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, Nico was a young man with a gorgeous face that would have every high school girl fall head over heels for him. She felt her cheeks flushed, just barely, as he taught her how to add and mix the ingredients for the meat and briefly informed her about the recipes.

Before she knew, Batra had entered the kitchen once again but with orders written on a small pieces of papers. The first order was chicken wings and she knew perfectly how to cook it. It was an easy dish for her since she would cook herself fried chicken or chicken with curry most of the time. A small amount of salt and pepper was added onto each side of the chicken and she let the ingredients soak into the meat for a few minutes before rolling it over into a bowl of flour. Then comes the eggs that she just whisked and the bread crumbs before sliding them into a pan of boiling olive oil. While waiting for the chicken to cook, she began preparing for the next order: French Fries. The fries were already frozen and marinated, so all she had to do was to chuck them down into a fryer and wait until it was done.

Next comes the hamburgers and hot dogs. Snow took out the patty and sausages out of the fridge and began frying them on a pan. As she was waiting for it to be cooked, she took out the breaded chicken and french fries before serving each of them onto different plates. Beads of sweat cascaded down her forehead and neck while she tried to finish all the dishes at once. The fire on the stoves heated up the entire kitchen and it felt as if she was in a sauna. Nico was responsible of marinating and serving while she did all the cooking. Snow continued onto the patties and sausages and fried the burgers slightly to create a crispy taste on the buns. While she was busy with the burgers and hotdogs, she requested Nico to prepare the potatoes for her, which was the last order for the night.
The burger was decorated with lettuces, tomatoes and spinach before she placed the meat between them with a bit of ketchup. Snow squeezed a generous amount of ketchup and mayonnaise on the buns of the hot dog and placed the sausages between the buns. The clock ticked and she was just about to be done. She located the potatoes that was sprayed with salt and pepper into a preheated oven. While the potatoes were slowly cooked in the oven for an hour, she decorated the plate with salad and some cherry potatoes and made some toppings for the meal. Ding! The sound of the oven rang loudly throughout the kitchen, indicating that the potatoes were cooked. The potatoes were moist and golden and crisped to perfection. Putting them onto the decorated plates, Snow put the toppings on the potatoes to further increase the taste of the baked potatoes.

A huge sigh left her lips; out of exhaustion but as well as relief that everything was finally done. After all the customers left, Batra barged through the kitchen door with a huge grin on his face. ”Success!” he yelled.
”Hooray…” Snow raised her hand half-heartedly, her voice as dead as it could sound. She was genuinely happy although she barely had any energy left in her body from all the heat and running she did around the kitchen. ”I received so much praise from the customers. They even said that the food was better than before. Thank you so much, Snow.” Batra had his hands firmly pressed against her shoulders as he flashed a huge smile down at her. She couldn’t help but return a smile back, knowing that the night was a success and everyone was satisfied with her food. ”Here’s your pay. Do come again if you need food! It’ll be on the house.”
”Mhm. I will.” With that, she took off the apron, received the bag of jewels in her hands and bid farewell to Nico and Batra, hoping to see them again soon.