[CONGRATULATIONS! SKILL UPGRADE REQUIREMENTS MET!]

[UNLUCK VENDING LEVEL 2?]

[YES] [NO]

"Wow! Congratulations, brother! Just two rounds and you actually hit the required amount of CP! But I can totally see why!"

Ollie said this just as he was about to dig in once again.

"This is just sooooo good! I don’t even know where to rank this!"

As if making good with his words, there were even traces of sauce on the side of his mouth.

Kyle, as if practiced, immediately reached over and wiped it away.

"Either eat or talk first. You might just choke again if you attempt both."

The newly married handler sounded completely reasonable, especially as he was simply trying to prevent questionable deaths.

Unfortunately, the blonde saw no reason why he couldn’t do both.

So instead of answering, he took another large bite of the BBQ pulled pork slider in his hands and looked at Luca with the sort of adoration usually reserved for life-changing discoveries.

Honestly, maybe this counted as one.

The pulled pork was unbelievably tender, practically falling apart the moment he bit into it. Combined with the rich smoky sauce and the soft bun holding everything together, it was the sort of food that made a person instinctively kick their feet.

"Mnnnnm!"

Which Ollie was currently doing.

Then again, his brother’s gifts had always deserved that level of appreciation. Before this, meat that didn’t feel like it was actively challenging someone’s bloodline wasn’t exactly common.

Ugh, and don’t even get him started on the bread.

Back then, he genuinely thought those loaves were perfectly fine. Luxurious, even.

But after being fed by his brother for so long, Ollie had come to a rather alarming realization.

Those breads he once considered high-end could probably double as improvised weapons if the situation ever called for it.

In fact, he was fairly certain some of them would survive a direct impact better than the person being hit with them.

Thankfully, he’d long since left those days behind and graduated into this life instead. And really, aside from having to take more tests and cram more studying into a single year than he had throughout the rest of his admittedly short life combined, the blonde wouldn’t have wanted things any other way.

Okay, scratch that.

A second helping would definitely improve his quality of life!

Meanwhile, Luca watched his brother devour the very same food they had listed for sale only a short while ago and couldn’t help feeling both pleased and relieved.

The effort had clearly been worth it.

It had happened only a short while ago, yet Luca still found it difficult to believe. Even now, he could vividly remember the moment D-29 informed them that every single item they had listed had sold out.

Every last one.

Truthfully, Luca had hoped it would happen as he tried to be more optimistic about life in general.

And yet, he still ended up in disbelief despite actually manifesting it.

"I’m so glad you like it!" he said happily. "I figured that since we have a steadier supply of pork now, why not make something like this?"

"Brother!" Ollie stared at the remaining contents of the lunch box, visibly surprised. Not that he was complaining, but this was definitely more than what they’d usually sell. "You actually put this many sliders in every lunch box?"

The blonde counted quickly, including the ones he had already eaten.

"Six each?!"

"Well, the prices increase proportionately anyway."

Luca tilted his head.

"It doesn’t really seem to matter whether we split them up or not. Besides, we’d save more on lunch boxes if we packaged them together."

That had genuinely been part of his reasoning.

Though he also remembered having to compensate for the Creamy Garlic Chicken because that couldn’t really be stacked the same way. Especially not when it came with rice.

Still, Xavier seemed to enjoy that one quite a bit and had even encouraged him to sell it.

His husband usually enjoyed everything he served, but for him to go as far as recommending something? Then the Prince must have liked it enough that it would’ve been impossible for Luca not to include it.

So this time around their listings had consisted of assorted juice bottle packs that were already prepared and ready to drink.

They couldn’t exactly assume the bridge customers would know how to prepare concentrates the same way the people of the Empire eventually learned.

Then there was fresh milk bundled with freshly baked cookies that honestly had the most intricate warnings.

For the savory options, they had the pulled pork sliders, the Creamy Garlic Chicken, and their staple egg fried rice, which Luca had honestly referred to as the control group.

Ah...

If only they had access to customer feedback. Then they’d know exactly what worked, what didn’t, and what still needed improvement.

After all, the better they became at this, the faster they’d be able to unlock new opportunities, expand their offerings, and continue upgrading the dungeon.

Luca was so busy thinking about it that he almost missed the fork being offered toward him.

The little mechanic blinked.

Then looked to the side.

Xavier was feeding him chicken.

"Oh!"

Luca smiled immediately and accepted the offered bite.

Now the Prince, who to most people looked exactly the same as always, could probably have fooled anyone with his composed demeanor. But someone who had stared at the same face for god knows how long now, could tell that he was way too pleased with this outcome.

As if on cue, Kyle Nox grimaced at the sight he just had to see.

At this point, he genuinely felt there ought to be compensation for repeatedly witnessing scenes like this, because this insane duality was giving him serious goosebumps.

He was just about to voice something along those lines when the door leading toward the workshop suddenly burst open.

BANG!

The sound immediately drew everyone’s attention and Kyle felt his little star jostle on his lap.

Heavy footsteps followed.

THUD!

THUD!

The sort that sounded like a giant was marching toward them.

Only for the source to turn out to be a rather short female dwarf.

"...???"

Cece strode directly toward the group, not even giving them time to recover from her sudden emergence.

The cadets were in the middle of eating.

Ollie had just been chewing.

Yet everyone stopped what they were doing and watched her approach.

For a moment, nobody knew what to make of the situation as they desperately tried to read her expression. Should they offer words of comfort, encouragement, or maybe solutions?

But then, surprisingly, Cece abruptly pointed at the food.

"HA!"

The dwarf looked triumphant.

"I figured it out!"

"...?"

"Child!"

She pointed directly at Luca.

"I nearly risked my life back there. What do you say to giving this poor aunt of yours some of that?"

The request was so unexpected that Luca stared for a second before realizing she was talking about the food.

"Oh!"

He immediately brightened.

"Of course!"

The little mechanic nodded enthusiastically.

"We saved enough for everyone, Auntie!"

"Well, good."

Cece pulled out a makeshift chair.

"Because I think we need to celebrate."

"Huh?"

The cadets rightfully looked confused.

The dwarf, meanwhile, looked entirely too pleased with herself while sniffing and grabbing whatever she thought smelled great.

"Let’s just say," she began proudly, "I finally figured out what happened to that blasted mecha."

"!!!"

Every head immediately turned toward her.

Now that was a matter of life and death. And Ollie, whose life was hanging by a thread, forgot about the slider in his hands.

Yeah, it was that important.