"Yes!"
Alice Nakiri had been arranged to be their boss. They still had to listen to what their boss said; otherwise, they would be punished, and it would be really fatal if they were fired. They didn't want to lose this opportunity in Dimension City.
"I say, you two are a bit unkind. You ran back and didn't even know to call us," Soma Yukihira said with some resentment as he looked at Zenji Marui and Shun Ibusaki, who had regained their composure at some point.
Zenji Marui shrugged: "I called you, but you didn't pay attention at the time. It's my fault. Here."
Before Soma Yukihira could say anything else, Ryo Kurokiba's roar came from the side.
"You two over there! Don't slack off!"
"Yes!" X2
The two immediately dared not say anything more and quickly worked hard.
Ryo Kurokiba then restrained his anger, but he did not forget to warn them: "Please be serious and use all your strength. Don't blame me for not reminding you that if you don't sell the food you cook, the cost of the ingredients will be deducted from your wages."
There was no helping it. Who told them that this stall was basically treated like a stepchild? The treatment was much worse than that of the canteen in the inner city. Not only was the salary lower, but they also had to be responsible for their own profits and losses.
In addition to this first batch of ingredients, subsequent ingredients had to be purchased. You had to rely on turnover to buy them, and if the revenue wasn't enough, you had to use your wages to make up for it. If the stall continued to lose money and eventually closed down, then they would all have to pack up and get out.
In Takumi's words, if they couldn't even handle this trial, then there was no need to stay in Dimension City. Dimension City does not support useless people. What else could they say about this? They could only accept it silently.
"Understood!"
...
The farce over there did not affect Takumi. He slowly walked out of the barrier and arrived in front of Draim.
As a socially anxious dragon, Draim remained awkwardly silent. The attendant next to him, the greater demon Gucci, who was wearing a dark red tuxedo, had blond hair, was smiling, and looked well-behaved, quickly stepped forward.
"Hello, we are residents of the southern mountains outside this forest. This is my master, the Gatekeeper Dragon, Draim. I am his humble servant, Gucci. Please give us some advice as we meet for the first time."
After Gucci introduced him, Draim finally said: "Hello, unknown strong man."
"Hello, my name is Takumi, and I am the owner of this place. As you can see, I am starting to build a city here, and I am your new neighbor."
He offered a friendly greeting. Although he knew the purpose of their visit, Takumi still asked: "I wonder why you two are here today?"
"It is like this..."
Seeing this, Gucci quickly began to explain. The content was basically the same as in the original work. Essentially, due to their negligence two days ago, one of their Wyverns escaped and almost caused trouble for Dimension City, so they came here to apologize today.
"I hope you can accept our small token of apology." After saying that, Gucci handed over a box.
"No matter what, it didn't cause us any trouble. You're too polite, but in that case, I'll accept it."
Takumi was polite and accepted the box unceremoniously. After all, although the flying dragon really didn't cause any actual trouble to Dimension City, they insisted on apologizing. If he didn't accept it, the matter would not be resolved. Therefore, accepting this gift was good for both parties.
Sure enough, seeing Takumi accept the gift, Draim immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
But unlike what Takumi thought, Draim was nervous not because Takumi might refuse the gift, but because... the pressure Takumi put on him was too great!
Although Takumi did not take the initiative to release his Dragon Might, the moment he looked into Takumi's dragon eyes, Draim felt an unintentional and strong suppression originating from bloodline and status.
It felt as if Takumi was a noble True Dragon, or even a Supreme Dragon, while he was just a stray lizard on the side of the road with no dragon prestige. He couldn't even compare to a Wyvern in that presence.
If he hadn't looked away in time and stopped making eye contact, Draim felt that he might have knelt down in front of Takumi in the next second. In the face of this oppression, he had completely forgotten about the apology speech he had prepared.
He only had one thought now: Absolutely! He cannot make Takumi unhappy!
Takumi didn't know how Draim felt, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care too much. After all, it's normal for him, a dragon whose peak strength is at the super single-universe level, to absolutely crush a dragon like Draim who can only toss around on a planet.
The only thing that might surprise him was that Draim could actually sense the dragon within his body. However, this could also be understood as a special induction that only occurs between dragons, so it wasn't that magical.
"Since you are here as guests, please come with me inside. The tea is probably ready by now."
Hearing Takumi's invitation, Draim subconsciously wanted to refuse. Takumi put so much pressure on him that he now wanted to stay far away. But after realizing Takumi was prepared, Draim knew that he couldn't refuse; refusing would mean not giving Takumi face, and Draim didn't dare to do that.
"Okay, I'm honored to be invited by you." Draim even forgot about his social anxiety, quickly agreed, and immediately transformed into a human form, turning into a middle-aged uncle wearing aristocratic clothes.
Gucci looked at Draim in surprise. He was astonished that his master suddenly seemed to be a different person. Draim didn't pay attention to Gucci's gaze. Instead, he looked flattering and bowed his head to Takumi.
Takumi, on the other hand, didn't care that much. He took the two of them to the first-floor lobby of the new reception house that was almost completed.
"Sorry, the inner city is considered my private area. It mainly houses my family members and some close friends. It is not convenient for outsiders to enter, so I can only receive you two here."
After entering the door, he gestured to the several automaton maids waiting in the hall. The maids understood and quickly began to prepare tea. Then Takumi explained the situation and invited the two of them to sit down.
"Understood, understood." Draim immediately expressed that he had no objection, or rather, that he did not dare to have any objection.
At the same time, he took his seat obediently. Gucci, after politely declining Takumi's offer to sit, stood silently behind Draim. This made Draim feel a little nervous, but seeing that Takumi didn't seem to care, Draim didn't scold Gucci for it.