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A lively atmosphere was occurring inside the newly opened restaurant within the Red-Light District, as many people from around the slums entered and enjoyed a sizable and fulfilling meal.
?
The large steaks covered in delicious, tasty sauces, the large patties of minced 'mystery' meat, and many other preparations were being enjoyed by literally everyone with a few pennies to pay.
Each meal even came included with a cup of wine or fruit juice, which ended being of very good quality.
"Through the use of Veronica's Death Attribute Spell 'Fermentation', it was possible for us to mass-produce wine bottles in a few days, although it is not really of the highest quality, we added a lot of unique ingredients to make the experience of drinking them greater… Such as veronica metallic dust, phantom flesh, and a bit of my blood…" said Ervas while watching.
"Are you sure it's okay to say that out loud?" asked Ismene.
"No one is hearing us anyways, the noise of people eating, and chatting is already incredibly loud…" said Anna.
"I guess our first day is a complete success!" said Veronica.
"Indeed, and there's an even bigger line of people waiting outside, we'll be here all day," said Ervas.
"Kireina and the rest of the girls are working hard, and they are doing a good job in serving the people…" said Anna.
"I-Indeed, I can see that Kireina has gained a ton of admirers…" said Ismene.
"Well, with such clothes and body, it is clear that she might catch the attention of people…" said Gaius.
"Oi, nee-chan, bring some more wine, will ya? I will make sure to give you a nice tip~ Buhihi~" said an old man with a perverted face, glancing at a beautiful and young bear-kin girl with long and silky black hair made into twin tails, and a sharp gaze.
"Who are you calling nee-chan?! And don't touch me!" roared the adorable 'girl', Azra, as he conjured his Phantasmagoric Aura and almost strangled to death the old man before he was stopped by Veronica, who was also wearing a cute maid dress.
"Calm down, will ya?" asked Veronica, preventing Azra from killing the old man.
"Agh! I am getting tired of this! How long will I be using this?!" asked Azra while blushing in anger.
"But you look so cute~ And well, you did quite a lot of bad deeds! Didn't you? This is a good way to redeem! Yes, yes!" said Veronica, petting the cute Azra as he was already about to explode.
"Veronica, I believe it would be better to let him go," said Kireina, she was already predicting Azra to explode and do something that they would not be able to easily prevent…
"Well… You can go take a break then," said Veronica, as Azra waked upstairs in a rush.
"What's wrong with the cute bear-kin girl?" asked the old man.
"Ehhhh… Nothing~ Here's your cup of wine, that's a bronze piece," said Veronica.
"There…" said the old man, he seemed to be drunk, but still acted respectfully before Veronica, as she was emanating a deadly, abyssal presence from time to time.
Although there were a lot of cute girls attending, none of them were to touch, but only to please the eyes of the clients.
The food was so good that people even began to buy seconds, as Gaius and the rest of the chefs inside the kitchen (which were all clones of Ervas and Veronica) worked diligently to meet the expectations of their people.
"I wonder now… Was this always your dream by any chance? I mean when you were a human…" said Ismene.
"N-No…" said Ervas while averting his gaze.
"Y-Yeah! This is strictly… to increase… our influence in the slums… Yeah…" said Veronica.
"Hmmm~ I don't know, but it seems that this was kind of your dream back then, was it?" asked Anna.
"No… Our dream has always been… err… to protect our people," said Ervas.
"Yeah, totally," said Veronica while nodding.
"Suuuure…" said Ismene.
"Anyways, what are we going to do about the five spies watching over us at the moment?" asked Anna.
"Oh right… Those guys are just watching us, so just let them be, for now if they try to infiltrate at night, we'll capture them and interrogate them… If they do something like killing themselves after being captured, we can always ask their souls themselves too," said Veronica.
"Indeed, there's nothing to worry too much, let's take it easy and cook good food," said Ervas.
"I can clearly see that this is your dream!" said Ismene.
"N-No… you're mistaking our intentions…" said Ervas while averting his gaze.
"You're terrible at lying, Ervas!" said Ismene.
Meanwhile, Berth, Acaracia, and Mitiliph, alongside Bartholomew and Jose were sitting at their own table while having lunch.
"I can never get enough of these burgers…" said Jose.
"Oi, let's not take an hour in here, we are also working as guards you know?" asked Bartholomew.
"Right… My bad… but I just want to… taste this meat for some time…" sighed Jose while eating the delicious meat patties made off 'mystery meat' while drinking little sips of the deliciously sweet wine.
"So the uncles are working as guards? Can we work as guards too?" asked Berth, the giant boy.
"Yeah, we want to! I will protect everyone!" said Mitiliph, the Cockroach-type Insectoid girl.
"I would be interesting… And we could also be more useful…" said Acaracia, the Banshee girl.
"What are you talking about? You're kids!" said Bartholomew.
"Yeah, and Ervas and Veronica said that you were going to accompany them to register in the Adventurer Guild soon," said Jose.
"Oooh, right…" said Berth.
"Amazing! So we can be adventurers and beat monsters to level up and other stuff!" said Mitiliph rather happily.
"I can't wait! When are we going?" asked Acaracia.
"Probably tomorrow," said Ervas, appearing at the back of the two uncles, making them choke on their food on the surprise!
"E-Ervas… You shouldn't appear like that…" said Bartholomew.
"Ungh…" muttered Jose.
"Sorry, it's hard to not suppress my presence," said Ervas.
"Anyways, we decided to simply take the entire day assessing our opening day in the restaurant, tomorrow we should be able to go there, and maybe to other Guilds such as the Tamer Guild," said Veronica.
"Why the Tamer Guild? I don't see you guys with any monster- Well, except Veronica herself but she is seen as a Dhampir by most people, right?" asked Jose.
"It is so we can register some of our… pets," said Ervas.
"Yeah, we have many around, and it would be better to register them straight away, it will also open the curtain to the possibility of the tamer guild accepting undead and plant-type monsters as creatures capable of being tamed," said Veronica.
"Oh yeah that's the long-term goal, so we can make Undead more accepted by the people… This town is rather good, as many races are already accepted, and it is a utopia if it was not for all the poverty and slavery going on around… Well, our plan is just making it that, an actual utopia within this continent," said Ervas.
"You want… Undead to be accepted as people?" asked Jose in disbelief.
"Well? Aren't I a person? Or do you see me as a monster, even when I am speaking to you coherently, while you perfectly know that I think and express feelings and emotions just like any other living being?" asked Veronica.
"…You're right… Sorry if that sounded offensive, I didn't mean it that way, I often forget that Veronica and Kireina are technically monsters… It has only been like two days since we met you," said Jose.
"Well alright, we get it," said Veronica while petting Jose with her strong hands.
"Now that you're done eating go back to work," said Ervas.
"Y-YES!" said Bartholomew and Jose, darting away from the table and leaving Ervas and Veronica with the three kids.
"Make people see Undead as not monsters? Could that even be possible?" asked Berth.
"It… can be possible," said Ervas.
"It is a gradual process, we must do this step by step," said Veronica.
"I see… Well, I don't think this place is that accepting of people like us either…" said Mitiliph.
"Indeed, although you are normal and not generally discriminated by the entire government as it would happen in places such as Aquaria, you're still seen as a lesser person, and the number of demi-humans that actually hold aristocratic titles is incredibly few compared to humans, elves, and dwarves…" said Veronica.
"Well, now that you three are below our care, you don't have to worry about going through hardships anymore," said Ervas with a confident mild smile.
"I-Is that so?" asked Acaracia.
Veronica smiled warmly, as she petted Acaracia's silky black hair.
"Of course, my dear. All of you are in good hands. We will make sure that you never go through anything you did before… Oh right, we should also introduce you to our Kingdom I guess?" said Veronica.
"Indeed, maybe you could enter the schools we had recently opened there for young people, so you can learn basic things such as maths, language, how to write, and a bit of history," said Ervas.
"S-School?" asked Berth.
"And… in what place?" asked Mitiliph.
"Ahaha… Well… inside of my soul…" said Veronica.
"Ah… Eh?!" asked Acaracia.
"Well not now that there are so many people here… but later, you can enter that place too and enjoy what we had built there," said Veronica.
"I see… we'll make sure to go!" said Berth.
"But…" said Mitiliph.
"Hm? What's the problem my dear?" asked Veronica, petting Mitiliph.
"Veronica-nee-sama… There are… many like us in the streets… can you… offer them a life like this too?" asked Mitiliph.
"More… like you?" asked Veronica.
"Yes… many children are living in the streets, we are only one of them…" said Berth.
"Sure thing, tell us where they are," said Ervas.
"Indeed, leave it to us," said Veronica.
At the confident response of Ervas and Veronica, who did not doubt at all, the three children's eyes were filled with hope.
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