Chapter 117 - Friend

"When did you get time to do all of this?" asked the owner of the store.

"It was really not that much work. Would you like me to help you out with anything else as well?" Yuki asked. 

The owner of the store set the plates down the marbled countertop which glistened in the kitchen light. The smell of fresh cleaning soups reeked from the kitchen as he admired the sight in front of him. The kitchen looked better than when he had first got it. He couldn't believe what his eyes showed him. For all he knew, it was an illusion. The plates and bowls which Yuki had cleaned were stacked neatly on the kitchen table as their white texture sparkled. 

"But how? It would've taken me at least the whole day to finish cleaning all of them. Most of the dirty dishes have been there for a while. I just never had the chance to keep up with them. I mean look at this. You even cleaned the kitchen itself. Are you real?" the owner asked in amazement and confusion. Of course he would be confused. A kid basically comes into your store and does what you couldn't do in days in a matter of a few minutes. 

"Like I said. It really wasn't that much work. I could do more if you would like?" Yuki said. 

"Well.. if you're offering, could you wash these plates as well?" the owner said as he referred to the pile of dirty dishes he had brought in from the front of the shop. He would usually let them accumulate there and bring them to the back once there were enough. It allowed him to continue selling his products without wasting much time. Most people didn't mind either since it wasn't ordinary for people to have a "civilized" way of life at that time. Society had become more lenient on the small details of everyday life as there were much more important things to take care of. As such, manners weren't of the utmost importance or even commonplace in most houses. 

"With pleasure. You can go back out there and focus on serving the customers. These dishes will be cleaned in no time," replied Yuki as he gave an innocent but hard working smile. While his emotions were fake, the owner seemed to believe them so it wasn't a bad thing. Hearing Yuki's words, the owner reached into the dark oak constructed cabinets to grab a new stack of plates and bowls out of instinct. 

"I don't think you need to do that. You can take the ones I just cleaned," Yuki reminded the owner. The owner had subconsciously reached into the cabinets out of habit however, he quickly moved his hand away before reaching from the clean stack of plates to bring along with him to the front side of the store. 

Once the owner took the stack on clean white plates to the front, he returned once more to take a clean stack of bowls as well. From the expression on his face, the owner seemed more joyous than before. This allowed Yuki to be proud of himself, seeing as he had completed his task extraordinarily well. Yuki subconsciously smiled before going back to creating his fire contracted hands by using his ability to help him wash the dishes one again.

The cycle of the owner coming into the back and Yuki cleaning the dishes occurred about 6 more times. Each time, the owner looked happier than the last. It just happened to be that before Yuki had arrived, he had been purposely taking more time to create the meals for the customers on purpose due to him not wanting to have more dishes to wash later on. However, now that Yuki was there, he could make as much food for the customers as he wanted without having to worry even a single bit. 

As for the customers, they also had their own sources of income. A large majority of the kingdom's population dined at the owner's store due to his food's quality being one of the best for a decent price. Since most people decided to rely on trade to make their money instead of hunting monsters, they would eventually make their money back. After all the saying goes "what goes around, comes around". 

Once Yuki unknowingly finished washing the last batch of dirty dishes, he sat in the kitchen bored, awaiting the next batch. However, it would not come. The owner of the store was cleaning up before leaving the store and had forgotten to tell Yuki. However, once he finished, the owner walked into the kitchen to inform Yuki that it was time to leave. 

"Hey kid. It's time to leave?" the owner said as he popped his head through the door. 

"Wait what? Aren't there more dishes to wash?" Yuki asked. 

"Oh right. I forgot to tell you. This store closed about an hour ago. I was just cleaning up and I forgot to mention that information. The good news is that we can go now," the owner replied. 

"That's fine. I don't really mind. I'm still grateful to you for showing me so much kindness. It really does mean a lot," said Yuki as he continued to play into his role. 

"Come on. You can drop the formal talk. We're practically friends now," replied the owner as he rested his hand on Yuki's neck. 

Yuki had made himself a lot more fragile than before while he was in the kitchen by using his skill "Faker". This profile also included his stats which meant augmenting them also changed his physical attributes. Yuki had continuously changed his stats each time the owner went in little by little so as to not raise any suspicion of what he was doing. While in reality he could completely demolish the entire kingdom in one single attack, Yuki made himself look like a helpless homeless teenager. 

"Thank you for your kind words. I'll appreciate every act you've done for me for the rest of my life," said Yuki as he walked with the owner through the streets to his house. 

"By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Marcell, what's yours?" the owner asked. 

"Y-, Jack, my name is Jack," Yuki replied.