Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 20

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The question was natural enough. The Stew served at this restaurant was quite extraordinary.
It wasn’t something just anyone could make.
There had been several places in the past that tried to replicate this establishment, opening their own stew restaurants, but within a few months they’d all gone under and abandoned the attempt.
Hadn’t Mark himself suffered for years trying to master this particular taste?
Jay answered Scar’s bewilderment with careful deliberation, his voice tinged with an unmistakable pride.
“Our young lady makes it.”
“Young lady?”
Sure enough, the person currently managing the Kitchen was none other than Seres herself.
‘Why close the restaurant?’
‘Well… Mark said he’s in no condition to make Stew right now…’
‘But if we have someone who can cook, that’s all we need, isn’t it?’
‘I suppose so, but…’
‘Don’t worry. We have someone.’
‘Someone who can cook besides Mark? Who?’
‘Me.’
‘…Pardon?’
Jay himself had stood slack-jawed for a long moment when Seres first announced she’d cook the food.
Had he heard her correctly just now?
That Seres would handle the cooking herself—not that they’d hire another chef?
“One more bowl, please!”
Even as he moved toward the dining hall to assist her, unease gnawed at him.
This was an old establishment with a long tradition. What if all the customers were disappointed and left?
“We’ll have another bowl too.”
“Right away!”
But Jay’s worries proved groundless. The customers voiced not a shred of complaint about the Stew that Seres had made.
In fact, several diners remarked that it tasted even better than usual and placed additional orders.
“Stew’s up.”
Seres, wearing an Apron and holding a Ladle, looked surprisingly natural in the role.
As she deftly ladled the Stew into bowls, Jay quickly grabbed one and hurried out of the Kitchen.
“Is that the last of them?”
Once she’d relayed the additional orders, Seres found herself with a moment’s breathing room and glanced out from the Kitchen.
Watching the customers’ faces as they ate the Stew she’d made, Seres nodded to herself.
‘Strange, really.’
Her expression was peculiar as she gazed at the Stew simmering gently over a low flame.
When she’d first arrived at the restaurant and seen customers eating with such relish, she’d been genuinely startled.
‘The aroma was far too familiar.’
With a suspicion forming, Seres tasted it and was certain.
‘This is my Stew.’
From back when she was active as Grace.
Among the patients who came seeking her care, many required extended treatment. For that reason, quite a few would stay for long periods in dedicated quarters, undergoing care and lodging together.
This was the Stew she’d provided to those long-term patients.
Food that would restore their strength without side effects, yet still be palatable.
This Stew recipe was the result of considerable thought and care in creating exactly that.
And yet here it was, being sold at this very restaurant.
She didn’t know how it had come to pass, but fortunately she could manage in Mark’s absence.
‘I even filled in the missing ingredient.’
There was exactly one difference from her original recipe.
She used to add different seasonal herbs that appeared only at certain times of year, but the Stew served here lacked those.
Adding those seasonal herbs alone elevated the Stew’s flavor considerably—and it was far better for one’s health as well.
Ding.
The restaurant door opened and someone stepped inside.
Poking her head out from the Kitchen to greet the new customer, Seres let out a soft click of her tongue.
“Yulia.”
For there stood Yulia, who had come to the restaurant without fail today as well.
The girl, who had wandered silently through the restaurant despite Jay’s greeting, suddenly fixed her gaze on one spot.
“Sister.”
The moment Yulia spotted Seres leaning out from the Kitchen, she came pitter-pattering over at a run.
“Whoa—whoa!”
But she caught her foot, stumbled, and tumbled forward.
Crash—the sound of a tumble echoed through the restaurant with unusual force.
Whoosh!
“Are you hurt?”
In a heartbeat, hands lifted the child to their feet—Seres had moved with the swiftness of someone accustomed to swift action.
At her arrival, the child hurriedly wiped at their eyes and pointed to one knee.
“Here.”
……
Fortunately, there was nothing seriously injured.
Seeing the slightly reddened knee, Seres exhaled a short sigh and scolded gently. “Didn’t I tell you not to come here?”
“You did.”
“Then?”
“I missed you.”
……
With those bright, earnest eyes fixed on her, what more could Seres say?
“Come sit over there.”
Nod.
Watching Yulia grasp Seres’s hand and head toward a corner of the restaurant, Collin smiled silently to himself.
He’d collected Yulia from the Academy while Jay was occupied with work at the restaurant.
‘Still soft-hearted when it comes to Yulia.’
The moment Seres noticed the child had fallen, she’d bolted from the Kitchen. Collin hadn’t even had time to react.
Since losing her memory, Seres had become resolute in all things, decisive in her comings and goings—it was remarkable, really. Could a person’s character change so completely?
And yet, even without her memories, her affection for her younger sister remained unchanged.
One could see it plainly: scolding the child one moment, then melting at their slightest appeal the next.
“…Did you see?”
“See what?”
There was another who could not easily tear their gaze from Seres as she and Yulia relocated to a new table.
“You didn’t see?”
“See what? All I see is my grim future being systematically picked clean by every other Guild master out there.”
Vice-Guild Master Rott whined, and Scar—hearing but half-ignoring the complaint—fixed his eyes intently on Seres.
The way she’d moved just now, rushing out to lift the child, was extraordinary.
In that rapid sequence—bolting from where she stood, closing the distance, reaching the child—there was no wasted motion, not a single unnecessary gesture.
“Hey.”
“Yes, sir.”
At Scar’s call, Jay quickly approached him again.
“What else can I get you?”
Surely not another bowl…?
Jay’s mouth smiled, but internally he was quite startled.
“Is that the new head chef?”
Following Scar’s gaze, Jay realized he was looking at Seres and shook his head lightly.
“She’s not the head chef. She’s the owner.”
“…The owner?”
The very person behind the restaurant’s new management policy?
He’d heard she was a woman, but this young?
Scar’s eyes widened with surprise as he regarded Seres.
* * *
“How’s your body feeling?”
“Much better. All thanks to you.”
Mark, his right arm secured with a splint and wrapped in bandages, offered a smile that struggled to be bright. His fractured arm wasn’t the only injury—his face was marred with wounds across its surface.
“The medicine you gave me really works wonders.”
After taking and applying the remedy Seres had brought herself, the pain had noticeably subsided and the swelling diminished. The bruises covering his body had faded remarkably in just a few days.
“Good. I’m glad.”
With her Time-Reversal Ability, she could have healed him completely in an instant, but she couldn’t risk using such power openly, so she’d only provided medicine instead.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to avoid burdening the restaurant at all.”
“Use this time to rest properly.”
From what he’d heard, Seres hadn’t closed the restaurant even once after her parents passed—not a single day, and all by herself.
A good rest would do no harm.
“So.”
“Yes?”
“Who did this to you?”

“…What?”
Seres’s sudden question sent Mark’s eyes darting about as though the ground were trembling beneath him.
“I f-fell down the stairs, like I said…….”
“I don’t like repeating myself.”
Seres clicked her tongue lightly.
After all her years as a healer, did she really look like someone who couldn’t tell the difference between injuries from a fall and injuries from a beating?
The broken bone, the bruising pattern—none of it matched what you’d expect from tumbling down stairs.
“Who did this?”
……
Mark couldn’t bring himself to speak.
He looked at her with anxious eyes, then finally bowed his head low.
Mark remained silent for a long time after that. But Seres made no move to press him for an answer.
Still, she had no intention of letting this drop.
If she wanted to prevent this from happening again, she had to find the root cause and the way to fix it.
“…I’m sorry.”
Mark bowed his head even lower, his voice breaking.
“I tried so hard to just endure it on my own…….”
Opening his mouth with visible effort, Mark began to recount everything that had happened, piece by piece.
“The place where you borrowed money from…….”
“…Borrowed money?”
Seres grasped the situation at once. There had been something odd about it all along, after all.
Loan sharks.
So if they’d driven her into debt and were squeezing her for interest with the house and land as collateral, why were they leaving the restaurant alone?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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