A Stay-at-home Dad’s Restaurant In An Alternate World

It turned out that it required a lot of skill to tie little girls’ hair. Mag took a look at Amy’s hair that he had messed up and drew his hands back embarrassedly. “Letting it fall down looks good too,” murmured Mag.

“But Teacher Luna can do lovely braids.” Amy looked up at Mag and blinked her big eyes pitifully.

“Ahem, we’d better get ready to go. Let’s see if we can get an ugly duckling for Amy.” Mag feigned his coughing, trying to divert her attention away from the hair.

“Ugly duckling! I want an ugly duckling! Let’s go, Father!” Amy urged. She stopped worrying about her hair immediately as he had expected.

Mag combed Amy’s hair neatly. Two strands were still sticking out, but he pretended they were not there. Opening hours were not over, so he had to make Amy wait. In the meantime, he helped her memorize a dozen more terms from the 9×9 table.

“I’m not sure we can find an ugly duckling. If we can’t find one, we’ll try our luck next time. Okay?” Mag said to Amy when he locked the door, trying to prepare her in advance.

Amy nodded obediently. “Okay. I know.” She was very happy because she was going to buy an ugly duckling, and it had been a long time since her father last took her out. She could hold his big, warm hand again.

“Let’s go.” Mag picked up Amy’s little soft hand, and he felt happy too as he looked at her smile.

Amy’s unhappy expression was so heartbreaking that he couldn’t help but ask, “System, do you have the experience bag for braiding hair? Like the one for Yangzhou fried rice. Do you sell it?”

He had to be a mother as well as a father, so he had to learn how to braid hair.

“Let me warn you again: do not insult the system with such questions! System does not sell any experience bags that are irrelevant to cuisine!” The system seemed a little enraged.

“I will give you 10 gold coins.”

The system didn’t answer.

“No? What about 30?”

Still, the system said nothing.

“100. That’s my final offer. Think about it,” Mag said calmly.

For a long while, the system said nothing; then, a quotation appeared in Mag’s head: the experience bag for braiding hair—120 gold coins.

“Sorry, not now, I don’t have enough money,” Mag said regretfully as he looked at that experience bag. Now I know the system has it, and I’ll make enough money sooner or later. I’ll make a hairstyle that makes Amy scream with excitement.Mag felt much better as he thought about this.

“…”An ellipsis went across Mag’s head. Mag didn’t care about the system’s feelings at all. The system only cares about money.

The Aden Square was the business center of Chaos City as well as the geographical center. The buildings that were in the shape of the crescent moon curved around the square. It was about two or three thousand kilometers from the restaurant to the other end. All kinds of strange shops could be found around the square.

Therefore, people living in Chaos City were always saying: one could buy anything here as long as it could be found on the continent and they had enough money.

Of course, it was a bit exaggerated; nonetheless, it still showed that the Aden Square was very prosperous.

They hadn’t walked far when Amy tried to hide beside Mag. “Father, that black bird is very annoying,” she said as she pointed at the two birdcages hanging outside a magic potion shop.

“Oh?” Mag looked in that direction with surprise. This magic potion shop was only five or six doors away from his restaurant. The owner in his memory was an old human magic caster, tall, lean, and a little hunched. He didn’t talk much with others, and was only interested in teasing his two birds, teaching them strange words.

One birdcage had a black crow in it, and the other a parrot with green feathers and a red beak. They were jumping up and down in their cages. When they noticed Mag and Amy, they stopped to look at them.

“Oh… Ugly little thing, you’re walking before my magnificent palace again. Now I allow you to kneel before me and kowtow three times, and I will pray that you’ll look more like an elf in the future,” the black crow said in a low voice as he looked disdainfully at Amy with his head held high.

“You’re the ugly one. You black little bird,” Amy said angrily as she clenched her little fist. She looked up at Mag, a little upset and uncertain. “Father, is Amy ugly?”

Mag shook his head and smiled. “No! Amy is very pretty. That elf big sister said the same yesterday. Don’t you remember?” Then he pointed at the crow and said, “Look, that stupid bird is the one who is ugly.”

There was a smile on Mag’s face, but his eyes showed his spite. Stupid crow, how dare you say that to Amy? I’m trying to boost her confidence here! It looked like it was not the first time he made fun of Amy.

The green parrot nodded. “Yes, he’s very ugly, but he boasts of his beauty every day, very annoying,” she said helplessly. She sounded like a maid.

“Human, do not point your lowly finger at me. Don’t think I’m afraid of you because you’ve gone from a cripple to a half-cripple…” the crow said as he turned to Mag.

Mag looked at Amy with a smile. “Amy, do you still remember the fireball magic you used yesterday?”

Amy nodded. “Yes.” She looked at Mag, a little confused.

“The easiest way of dealing with a smart mouth is to shut his mouth. Let him have a taste of your fireball,” Mag said, smiling.

However, the crow became even prouder. “That was supposed to scare me? This cage is protected by the old man’s magic; besides, I myself can remember the spell of the fireball magic—”

However, before he could finish his words, a bluish violet fireball appeared in Amy’s hand.

“No chant?” The crow was taken by surprise.

Amy threw the fireball out, and it enveloped the whole birdcage instantly.

“I’m not af— Help… Help me!” The magic protection outside the cage was burned away at once, and then, the steel bars were starting to melt. The bluish violet flame caught the crow immediately. He screamed in pain.

Mag was a little amazed. It was the first time that Amy had used her fireball magic on others, and she did quite well. Besides, the fireball was more powerful than he had expected, which was a good thing, of course.

Smiling, he took Amy’s hand and walked on. “Remember, Amy, for guys like that, just give them a fireball.”

Amy nodded vigorously. “Okay, Father.” She held one of Mag’s fingers and waved it merrily, feeling happy because she had taken revenge on that stupid crow who had picked on her many times. I don’t have to worry about being picked on when I go out with Father.

“Fire! Help!” the green parrot cried in panic.

A lean old man walked out hurriedly. His face changed when he saw the burning cage, and then he chanted some spell and threw a water ball at it.

The fire was put out. A faint aroma of roasted meat permeated the air. The black featherless crow gave a shiver. He stood on the stick which was the only thing that was spared, covered his crotch with his wings, and let loose a plume of black smoke. “Holy mackerel! My precious robe is ruined…” he cried out.