System Change

“How long was I out?” Stella asked as she came to.

“It was a good bit.” Derek replied. “Long enough for you to write a contract, then long enough for Alanah and me to have an interesting conversation.”

Stella nodded. “When she speaks directly into my mind, I’m just like all the others.” She sighed. “I really don’t understand how you do it.”

“Yeah, you don’t even want to know.” He definitely did not have the Wisdom to be completely invulnerable to Alanah’s passive, but that, combined with his mindset and willpower from spending such a long time alone in the void, seemed to work.

‘Is she back?’ Alanah chimed in.

‘Yeah, she’s back.’ Derek replied.

‘Good. Have her read the contract over and prepare everything she can.’

‘Okay.’ Derek answered.

Derek slid the contract he had signed back over to Stella. “Alanah said to go over the contract and prepare what you can.”

Stella smiled and nodded. “I remember most of what I wrote, but things get fuzzy while you’re under her influence.” She took the contract and began reading. Nodding occasionally.

After she reviewed the contract, she pulled another white card out from her storage ring. “This is the real membership card. Once I inject my mana into it, then you do the same, it will be activated and bound to our mana signatures. Of course, any manager of the Crown Restaurant can update your card. However, if it is lost or stolen, you must seek either the issuer, me, or the owner, Alanah, out to have it replaced and refilled.

“Of course, there is a replacement fee. You will lose half of all contributions and rank you have earned as the replacement cost, and you will be banned from our restaurants for two months as the deactivation fee for your previous card. Do you understand?”

Derek nodded. “Yes.”

“Very well.” Stella injected the white card with her mana, and the image of the Crown’s logo was imprinted into the middle.

That’s different. Derek thought. The previous card already had the image on it, but this image was actually made from the mana of the manager.

Stella reached out to hand the card to Derek. “Your turn.”

Derek took the card and injected his mana into it. After a moment, the notification confirming his ownership appeared.

Would you like to bind ‘Membership Card: Crown Restaurant’ to you?

Note: This card has been imprinted by Stella Brighton.

Y/N

Derek focused on selecting ‘yes.’

‘Membership Card: Crown Restaurant’ has been bound.

Derek fiddled around with the card for a bit before putting it inside his bracelet.

“Now, the card is zeroed out and currently has no contribution points on it. Making it tier one, as I have explained before. Anytime you wish to update your card, you need only speak with me or another manager. With your coffee product and the auction, your contributions will skyrocket. I don’t doubt that you will have the max tier very soon.” Stella explained.

Derek nodded. “That’s good.”

Stella stood. “Now, please remain here while I go gather some of the items listed in the contract.” She walked around her desk and left the room, closing the door behind herself.

‘Stella is gathering the cooking supplies now.’ Derek informed Alanah.

‘That’s great… I have thought about some things.’ Alanah transmitted. ‘When she gets back, inform her that I wish to give you this private communications crystal.’

‘Oh? Why is that?’

‘Derek... I know we talked mostly about business, but this has been one of the most pleasant afternoons that I have had in ages. I rarely… extremely rarely get to chat with others. With you, I could just talk about the weather and you would be fine. There is almost nobody else that could stand to be in my skill’s presence to just have small talk. So, if you do not mind, I would like you to keep the crystal so we may talk again in the future.’ Alanah’s voice cracked while explaining her thoughts to Derek.

‘I don’t see why not. But, are you sure? This thing seems expensive.’

‘Of course, it is quite pricey, but that’s no matter. I will, of course, send Stella another crystal. Some conversations are better done privately.’ Alanah said. ‘Now, this crystal can hold 15 sigils. Unlike the blue one, which can hold as many as you can fit. When I gave it to Stella, it was under the instruction to only have my sigil on it. You, of course, can add whomever you wish.

‘Just know that the sigils cannot be erased, so choose who you wish to communicate with wisely. Also, private communications crystals are quite rare, so it may be hard to even find somebody with one. Of course, Old Man Gracefall certainly has one or two.’ Alanah chuckled.

‘Well, thanks. Will I be able to tell that somebody wishes to communicate with me if it is in my storage device?’ He asked.

‘You will. It’s an odd sensation, but not overly distracting. If you are concentrating on something at the moment of the request, your concentration will override the feeling so you don’t lose concentration.’ She explained.

‘Sounds good. You can call me anytime you want. You’re also pretty knowledgeable, so I wouldn’t mind being able to pick your brain when I need to.’ Derek answered.

‘Thank you. I’ll be sure to contact you soon. And feel free to contact me whenever.’ With that, the red crystal in Derek’s hand stopped glowing.

At that time, Stella re-entered the room. She put a storage ring on the desk in front of Derek and walked back around to take a seat. “Okay. So, that has all the cooking utensils and things in it. I also put a few recipes for your friend inside. The gold is inside as well. Have a look and see if there’s anything else you need.”

Derek picked up the ring and sent his consciousness inside, viewing the contents. Everything seemed in order. “This is great.” He said.

“That’s great. Now, let’s talk about your friend that is coming to observe our cooks. I imagine that it’s the boy that always travels along with you? I was wondering about him, and why he travels with you, but if he plans on becoming a personal chef or something for you, it makes perfect sense.” Stella said.

With that, Derek almost burst out in laughter. “No, I’m afraid that Thomas is not the one that will be observing your cooks. He is a fighter. Pretty decent with a spear. I don’t think he’s ever shown any real interest in cooking.”

That answer caused a look of confusion to fall upon Stella’s face. “If not Thomas, then who?”

“Silvi.” Derek answered.

“Silvi?” Stella asked. “Silvi, Silvi…” She mumbled. Then her eyes widened. “Your rabbit? That Silvi?”

“That’s the one.” Derek answered.

“You want your… beast companion to learn how to cook from our chefs? Is that even possible?”

“It’s very possible, actually. She’s even cooked before.” Derek recalled her attempts to cook while they were traveling. “She’s not great at it yet, complains a lot about not having thumbs, but I think she is interested enough in it that she could become good.”

“Um… Okay. So, when you’re ready for her to observe, bring her here and I will go with her to introduce the chefs to her. It may make it less awkward. Is she able to communicate with them, ask questions and stuff?”

“I don’t believe so, no. She can talk to me fine, but not others. I figured that she could observe, then, when she comes back, I could write some of the questions she had and your cooks could answer them the next day.” Derek answered.

“I guess that will have to do.”

“Ah, one more thing. Is there any way that I could borrow one of your knives? I don’t need the high level one, but the other one.” Derek asked.

“I guess.” Stella summoned one of her knives, but not the one shaped like a scalpel. “This one is for level 150 or so, will it do?” She asked.

“That would be great.” He took the knife and put it in his storage. “Alright, thank you for everything. I’ll bring Silvi by tomorrow if she wants to do this. I haven’t actually asked her about it yet.”

Stella nodded. “It’s not a problem.”

“And, Alanah wanted me to keep this crystal.” Derek lifted the red crystal up for Stella to see. “She said that she would have another one sent to you.”

Instead of complaining or looking shocked, Stella smiled sweetly. “That’s great.”

Derek stood. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Stella nodded. “Have a good day.”

After leaving the restaurant, Derek contacted Silvi. ‘Hey, Silvi. I just left the Crown. I have some news for you. Where are you?’

‘The food place? The beautiful delicious food place? You didn’t take me.’ Silvi’s voice came back distraught, like she had the winning lottery ticket, but lost it.

‘Yes, the food place. I didn’t eat, though. I only did business. But, some of that business included you. Like I said, where are you?’

‘At inn. Eating lunch. Have good soup.’ She replied.

‘Okay. I’ll be there soon. Then we can discuss everything. I think you will be very happy.’ With that, Derek started his walk back to their inn. He looked forward to seeing how Silvi would react when she learned that she was going to learn how to cook from some great chefs. And he finally obtained the storage ring he had promised her all those weeks ago.