Jenny was a florist who typically found other jobs during the winter when her flowers would wither away. This year, she saw a job opportunity that hadn't been there before—working at a food stall that was the talk of the town. When she noticed they were hiring, she immediately applied.
Usually, you could see the brother and sister duo working hard to deliver the best burgers from morning until evening. Rumor had it that they were minor nobles on the verge of failure, and this food stall was their last attempt before moving to the countryside.
She noticed their tired faces as their business boomed, but there was also a visible joy in their work as they fought to escape their financial troubles. It was quite inspiring. Perhaps one day, she too would be able to buy her way into nobility, but that was a distant dream.
Jenny and her husband, Jeramy, applied for the job without much thought.
Luckily, they were hired.
The brother, Penu, showed her and her husband the ropes. Surprisingly, it was easier than expected. You put the oil on, cook the patty until it sizzles, add onions, flip it, then top it with a bun and veggies. The challenging part was preparing the ingredients, which required late-night work to get ready for the next day.
It was a lot of work, and she had to learn quickly, but Penu and Peru were friendly. Even though the maid was a bit quiet, working with them wasn't bad at all.
Penu ran the operation, coming up with plans and presenting them to his sister and the maid. After Jenny and Jeramy joined, they expanded production and sold more and more burgers.
It was a demanding job, but she preferred it over doing odd jobs during winter. She could never keep enough light on during this past winter, but this was the best winter she had had in a long time.
"Hello, is Penu around?"
One day, a man with a mustache showed up. He looked middle-aged and was dressed decently. In his hand was a decent-sized box.
"We don't sell the recipe," Jenny said automatically. Penu had instructed her and her husband to decline any inquiries about it.
The man glanced around and, realizing Penu and Peru were out, said, "It's not about that. I'm an old acquaintance of his—name's Lola. I came by to congratulate him on his success. Also, here's a gift I promised him. Make sure it stays unopened; I want it to be a surprise."
Lola handed her a box. She took it, gave him his order, and then Lola left, with another customer quickly taking his place. She looks at the box for a second and puts it in the back of the stall.
Night fell in Tumidus. The stall had just finished serving its last customer, having sold over 200 burgers that day. Jenny couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy as she handled the customers' money, but she knew that without the brother and sister, this business wouldn't exist.
At this rate, they would soon be able to rent a nice building and open a real restaurant.
"Honey, let's go home," Jeramy said, hugging her from behind. The earth of her husband's body makes his words much more alluring.
"Wait a bit, I still have to clean up." She replied softly, trying to pry the arm of her neck. The husband gives up and helps her store the stuff.
After storing everything in a rented space, she and her husband began heading home. It's was a long way home since they were in a rather cheap neighborhood. With her normal job, she could never afford to live here.
But after a long walk, Suddenly, she remembered something.
"Oh my god! I forgot Mister Lola's present."
She told Jeramy and quickly ran back. Leaving it out in the open overnight is not a good idea, the box would vanish in a matter of hours. Thankfully, nothing had been stolen while they were away. Jeramy caught up with her, looking worried.
"I have to get this to Mister Penu."
Jenny was concerned too. She didn't like the idea of holding onto a noble's gift, even if Penu and Peru were easy to talk to—you never know when someone might get angry.
"It's getting dark. We should head home. You can give it to him in the morning."
"But..."
Jenny hesitated but ultimately agreed. After hours of hard work, the thought of home was too tempting to resist. Besides, the present wasn't going anywhere. They went back home, storing the box inside their house.
John wandered the area, looking for the ideal location to open his new restaurant. With the business growing rapidly, getting a loan and opening a real restaurant would be easy. He was deciding between two locations, a street leading to the shipyard or a street leading out of town similarly on the Grand Road. Both had different prices and attracted different passersby.
Asking Theia and Hilda didn't help much since they had little to no business sense.
He decided to leave the matter to his future self. There was no rush since he still had time before Theia needed to "die."
The next major event to watch out for was what fans called the "Demon Hand Arc." In it, Klad and Onia get a clue about Theia's location and follow the lead into Lmemore. Joined by two other supporting characters, they infiltrate the cult's hidden base. The cult, however, speeds up their ritual and sacrifices Theia to summon an abomination—though not a fully formed one.
Klad and his friends defeat the creature and mourn Theia's loss.
That event was two months away. John just needed to expand his business, fake Theia's death at the hands of a cult, and then disappear. How exactly he would do that still needed to be worked out.
As they walked back to the hotel, John sensed something was off. The street lamps were still bright, but the atmosphere felt murky. A quick glance around confirmed that, apart from John, Theia, and the maid, the street was eerily empty.