Eva sat at the pub, patting the back of her usually capable manager, Hanase san. Right after her quest for delivering items to Lady Merlin that morning, Eva had came straight back to the inn, walking in with her shoulders slumped and feet dragging. She trudged up to her room, threw the ankle boots away and plopped down on the bed, sighing and groaning after having exhausted herself by walking miles to the Crocus’ castle, Mercurius. She had been walking right next to the caravan all day, having to match her speed with it all the way up to the point they decided to leave the package with Eva and Hyoen, a decision that somewhat irritated her but when she thought about it, she could see why they did so. After taking a few minutes of rest, rolling around her quilted bed and tangling herself in the bedsheets, Eva finally stood up, almost like a worm, and wiggled her way to the bathroom, taking a long needed bath before going back out, the bed sheet and everything she wore discarded in a basket. After putting on some comfy jeans and shirt, Eva went out to find Hanase san leaning towards a wall, lost in a deep conversation with someone Eva couldn’t really tell who.

“Hanase,” she called out. He drew a startled breath, turned around to see her standing there with an unreadable expression and whispered something into his lacrima powered phone before shutting it off and fully turning his attention to her. “Eva…” he trailed off, looking down at the phone. She gave him a straight look, lips pressing back into a tight line. “We are going to talk.”

“I’m sorry, Eva. I didn’t know it was going to end up like this,” the man almost sobbed. After having three to five drinks, her manager had naturally started spilling the details to why he had been acting so weird for a while. It turned out that he was merely worried sick about her to the point that he had been looking for ways to have her get out of the Rune Knights. As annoyed as that made her, she sort of understood why he had made such a selfish decision too. In the end, she had to spend an hour trying to tell him why she can take on both jobs and that she would be alright, even going as far as telling him about the newfound magic, only whispering to him about it. Even a normal human like him seemed to have heard of it as understood from his wide eyes and shocked expression.

“What do you mean he is not coming in today?!” She heard someone’s voice coming from up front. “Dammit, where are we going to find someone fill in for him?” The man looked around, his eyes dragging over the numerous customers in the pub before it came and rested on her and the visible rune knights’ mark below her neck. “Miss, you are a Rune Knight?” The man asked and Eva almost groaned in annoyance.

511/1000

“So you see, we don’t have enough staff to take care of the kitchen today. Will you be able to help?” The man asked, bowing courteously at Eva and she returned it, her mind wrecking havoc inside of her for accepting the job. “What do you need, sir?” she asked, ignoring the silent glares directed behind her head by Hanase san. She couldn’t blame the middle aged man. After all, she had promised him of some time where they could spend some time talking and her duty had called her off to work again. She quickly put on their worker’s outfit, complete with a cap and apron before being pulled back into a surprisingly clean but hellishly busy kitchen. Not a single person that she passed by looked back at her but one of them, someone with a chef’s hat, seemed to notice her and suddenly called her back towards him. He gave her some sort of device that listed whatever items they needed to make from the menu and he gave her some simple instructions, most of which sounded like gibberish to her, before leaving her alone there and going off to do his own work.

Just as she had started, she noticed that there was a waiter looking impatiently at her, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the slow pace that she worked, making her feel annoyed and pick up the speed. Damn them for thinking she was useless. It wasn’t like she spent her whole day cooking. She was a model and a Rune Knight. She apprehended criminals for a living and they expected her to cook now? “Two breaded chicken wings,” the waiter finally called out, her eyes twitching at the voice. “Coming right up,” She called out, going over to where they were placed before dropping them into the fryer. A few more minutes of total impatience passed by and she scooped them out before handing it over to the waiter. She heard something like a finally as the man walked out the kitchen doors.

After that, she had to prep and make some French fries, hamburgers, hot dogs and baked potatoes, sending them all off the moment they were done. By the time the night slowly came to an end, Eva had already picked up on the whole kitchen business, letting out orders in time even before people could tell her anything. Once it was over, she remembered a number of hands loping around her shoulders, some good natures humor, laughter and a lot of applauses. Even Batra and her own manager seemed to be happy when she finally pulled off the apron and cap, accepting her reward from the big boss before taking the offer for some good food, all enjoyed by them sitting together and exchanging stories and some jokes. She even managed to get some conversation with her manager going, telling him that she should care for himself and not worry so much about her, that she had enough power to stay standing for a while and that it won’t be easy to take her down. Finally, the night seemed to have fulfilled its purpose.

1033/1000