Novel Full Mag placed a glass of water down before both Crease and Firis, then sat down across from Firis as he smiled, and asked, “Miss Firis, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Firis replied in a quiet voice as she stared into the glass of water before her, not daring to look into Mag’s eyes.
Mag was feeling rather amused as the current timid and nervous Firis seemed to be a completely different person compared to the young woman who was threatening to jump down from his griffin the day before. With that in mind, he smiled, and said, “I am the owner of Mamy Restaurant, Mag. Seeing as Boss Crease brought you over to see me, I’m sure you’ve already developed a certain level of understanding in regards to our restaurant. However, what I want to do now is to test your abilities.”
“Alright.” Firis nodded as she wrung her hands together in a reflexive manner. She had thought that she’d be able to get to work right away, but who would’ve thought that the owner was going to test her? If she were to fail the test, then she wouldn’t be able to get this job.
Crease became a little flustered upon hearing this. He felt as if he’d virtually swindled Firis into coming with him, yet Mag was going to test her rather than hire her right away? That was ridiculous! As such, he hurriedly said, “Boss Mag, Miss Firis is an extremely smart and clever girl, and you’re only offering 1,500 copper coins as a monthly wage, so we can just skip the test, can’t we?”
“This a rule of the restaurant, and it’s something I refuse to compromise on. My restaurant doesn’t need a pretty face; I need a waitress who can truly offer a useful skill set,” Mag replied with a serious look on his face.
Crease’s eyes widened upon hearing this. Was this the same man who had come to him this morning and asked him to find a timid flat-chested girl whom he could groom from a young age?
In contrast, Firis’ eyes lit up upon hearing this. She didn’t want to just be a pretty face, and she was even more averse to earning unscrupulous income by selling her appearance and body. As such, Mag’s words were interpreted by her as a gesture of respect. Even though the monthly wage being offered was only 1,500 copper coins, this was still not a job that was open to anyone. As such, she looked up at Mag with a serious expression, and said, “Please begin your test.”
“What do you think you’ll be responsible for in this restaurant, and what skills do you have that will allow you to succeed in this role?” Mag asked in a serious manner.
Hiring Firis was Mag’s way of fulfilling the promise of looking after Firis that he had made to Irina, but he didn’t want to hire a useless pretty face for the restaurant. After all, if all he wanted were pretty faces, Sally and Miya were already exceptional at that role. He wanted to give her an opportunity, not a free job.
As for why he decided to use Crease as a middleman, that was because he didn’t want Firis to know that he was Alex.
A secret could only be well-kept if the least number of people possible knew about it. The more people were aware of a secret, the higher the likelihood that it would spread, and in that case, the secret would cease to be a secret.
“What are my responsibilities?” A contemplative look appeared on Firis’ face. She looked around at the entire restaurant to find that it was spotlessly clean, even in the most hard-to-reach areas, so they clearly weren’t lacking a cleaner.
As for serving customers, she didn’t think that she’d have the courage nor the ability to do so. After all, she found it difficult to even utter coherent sentences when meeting strangers for the first time.
In the end, she cast her gaze toward the kitchen, and her eyes lit up with confidence. She turned back to Mag, and said, “I can help out in the kitchen; I’m one of the top five best chefs in the Wind Forest.”
“Top five?” A hint of surprise appeared on Mag’s face.
“Top five!” Crease also exclaimed as he stared at Firis as if she were some kind of prized treasure. A thought suddenly occurred to him as he smiled, and said, “Boss Mag, if you don’t think she’s suitable for this job, then I can leave with Miss Firis right now. I’ll be sure to find another suitable candidate for you. If you want, I can even return the 300 copper coins that you issued to me as a deposit.”
One of the top five chefs of the Wind Forest could easily become the head chef of any restaurant in Chaos City!
In particular, if he could introduce such an exceptional elf to a restaurant that served elven cuisine, he’d be able to at least receive 10,000 copper coins for his efforts.
He was already beginning to regret not learning about this from Firis on the way here.
“Don’t be in such a hurry, Boss Crease. I’ll only be able to determine whether she’s suitable or not after the test. My restaurant just so happens to be missing an assistant chef, so if Miss Firis really is an exceptional chef, she’d be perfect for my restaurant,” Mag said with a smile. He could naturally see exactly what Crease was thinking.
Thus, he rose to his feet and made his way over to the kitchen as he said, “Please show me what you can do, Miss Firis.”
Firis also stood up before walking over to the entrance of the kitchen behind Mag. There, she was greeted by the sight of a bright and clean kitchen with cooking utensils of all different shapes and sizes. In particular, there was a thick and sturdy rectangular chef’s knife that was extremely eye-catching, and she couldn’t help but gawk in amazement.
A chef paid a lot of attention to their kitchen, and she was very pleased with her own kitchen as it contained the most complete set of kitchenware out of any kitchen in the entire Wind Forest.
However, compared to Mag’s kitchen, her kitchen was nothing. She couldn’t even decipher the function of most of the knives hanging from the walls.
Mag pulled a potato out of the fridge before placing it onto a nearby chopping board, then turned to Firis, and said, “Choose a knife for yourself, then chop this potato into rice-sized cubes. The more uniform the shapes and sizes of the pieces, the better.”
“Rice-sized pieces?” Firis looked at the potato with a confident expression on her face. She slowly made her way over to Mag’s large collection of knives and hesitated for a long while before choosing that thick and maladroit chef’s knife that had caught her eye earlier.
Quite frankly, this knife looked a little ugly and archaic, but it seemed to possess some kind of magical power that made it impossible for her to ignore it. Even though there were prettier and lighter knives all around it, she was still drawn to that one knife in the end.
The knife was slightly cool to the touch, and it was around twice as heavy as a normal chef’s knife. However, it was also very balanced, so she didn’t feel like its extra weight was a burden.
She’s got a good eye. Mag was rather surprised that Firis had chosen the Chinese chef’s knife.
After that, Firis made her way over to the chopping board and gently raised a hand. The potato on the chopping board flew into the air, and Firis slashed the knife in her hand over it in a series of rapid strokes, peeling off strips of skin that were carrying virtually no trace of potato at all.
“That’s amazing!” Crease was absolutely flabbergasted upon seeing this.
The potato, which was peeled in the blink of an eye, fell back onto the chopping board. Firis raised the knife before bringing it down again, and the knife transformed into a blur, thudding onto the chopping board in a rapid yet consistent rhythm that was very pleasing to the ears.
The pleasant rhythmic thudding then suddenly ceased, and Firis put down the knife before taking two steps backward, leaving a pile of potato cubes on the chopping board. The pieces of potato were all of the bright golden color and virtually completely identical in shape and size.
“Congratulations, you’ve been hired,” Mag said with a completely genuine smile. He’d found himself a treasure!