*Bzzt!* *Bzzt!*

*Bzzt!* *Bzzt!*

*Bzzt!* *Bzzt!*

*Bzzt!* *Bzzt!*

"Ugh... Hello...?" I answered the call to stop the vibrating disturb my comfortable sleep.

[Boss. It's morning already] (Lapiz)

Lapiz's voice that seems to be not as cheerful as last night entered my ears. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and force them open to see the clock from the phone.

"It's still 2 AM, though..."

[Ah~ Sorry, it's already morning for me, after all, hehe] (Lapiz)

Seriously, this girl...

I lift my body up and stretched a little bit. Some of my muscles felt sore, but it's not something new.

Transforming into the lich form sure is exhausting...

[Are you mad because I disturb your sleep?] (Lapiz)

"I don't. So? Why are you calling me at this kind of hour? It's rare for you to call like this,"

[What are you saying, Boss? I always call you every Friday since I'll be sleeping over to play with your sister, aren't I?] (Lapiz)

"Yeah, yeah. Quickly tell me, what is bothering you, did you stay up all night playing games again?"

[Yeah! Hino and the others are so good at playing it too, you know? You sure you didn't want to join us, Boss?] (Lapiz)

"I don't. I'm not interested in those silly games, you know that. Now quickly tell me what's bothering you, or I'll hang up," I threatened her a bit.

[Ugh... Nothing unusual... It's just that I looked at some old albums and got a little bit nostalgic. Watching anime, reading manga, and playing games seem to don't fill the void, so I call you, Boss. Hehe] (Lapiz)

Hearing her voice acting tough made felt like my face just got splashed with cold water, removing the sleepiness inside me, and replacing it with a suffocating feeling in my chest.

Like I've said before, Lapis Lazuli has a lot of bad things that happened in her life. It's not something that could or should be experienced and endured by a young girl like her.

If there really is a god in this world, I would very much like to vent my anger on him.

Because in this world, whether it's the old one or this one, the most terrifying and despicable is not the demons or other races.

It's humans and humans alone.

"So did you feel better now?"

[Yea... Thank you, sorry for bothering you as usual...] (Lapiz)

"It's fine. Getting called by one of the most popular girls in the academy is not bad, after all. And stop calling me Boss already or I'll block your number,"

[F-Fine I won't! Even though it's fun to see your twitched expression whenever you're called Boss, but well] (Lapiz)

"You-"

[Okay! Thank you for listening! Bye!] (Lapiz)

She immediately hung up the call before I could give her some scoldings.

"What a strange girl..."

"Good morning, Ark," I said even though there is no one inside my room.

[Good morning, Ray! This is 2:20 am, the system will record your new waking behavior]

The voice coming out from my phone is from the phone's feature, the artificial intelligence personal assistant. It could be named, and it could connect to some smart devices that have a Bluetooth feature.

"Turn on my room's lights,"

[Turning on Ray's room lights]

Just by commanding it, my room lights turned on automatically without having my press on the switch.

[Today's weather will be clear until afternoon while getting slightly cloudy and cold in the evening. You might want to use a jacket when you went outside]

[Today, you have school to attend from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm, supervising the restaurant from 3:30 pm to 8 pm]

[Reminder: Remember to avoid the gorilla sensei]

Ah... I need to remember that.

"I see, thanks, Ark,"

[Your welcome]

It's a feature that most people missed and failed to make use of despite having lots of perks. I've even installed the whole building with smart devices that could get connected and commanded by using the feature because of my laziness.

As usual, I wash my face and went outside my room. Sachi must be still sleeping, well, it's not even 4 am yet.

Our home is rather huge because it followed the size of the restaurant downstairs. And since mom and dad died, and to add that my little brother lives at the dormitory of his academy. it felt even bigger.

With so many spaces, my siblings agreed to let the second stairs be the living quarters of some of the restaurant employees. The employees are all youkai and half-yokai, of course. They did not have any other place to live, so I let them live and work here. It's beneficial for us too since I could very much trust them.

I use my glasses and went downstairs as I bring a wooden sword that I often use for practicing my old skills.

The restaurant's parking lot's size is decent, while the backyard is a little bit bigger since my parents made it a small park with lots of trees and plants to take care of.

Some old customers love to eat at the small hut built here, while I often use the place to train the swordsmanship that I doubt will be helpful in my high school life.

"Hm... Let's try to loosen this stiff body a little bit, shall we?" I muttered to myself as I stretched my arms.

I take the stance that I often use in my first life. It's a stance used to handle a longsword since it's the weapon that knights used to use.

And as usual, I practice my moves, starting from the basic swings, while slowly followed by a more complex one.

In each swing, small fragments of my first life appear before my eyes. As if the swings ripped a part of the space and time, I always see glimpses of my old life with the princess and the others every time I swing my sword.

Sweats gather and soak my body as I got absorbed in the moves, the feeling, the sensation.

The memories.

"Young Master," A soft voice suddenly appeared from behind of me.

"Huh?" I looked back and search for the source of the voice, only to find four girls, my restaurant employees watching me while drinking their hot drinks.

"You're awake, huh? What time is it?" I asked them as one of them approach me and give me a towel.

"It's already 6 am, Young Master. I've prepared the breakfast above," said the girl as her long dark-brown colored hair got swayed by the winds.

"I see... Thanks, Hari. Let's eat then,"

Hari Entama. She's a Hariontama. A demon that has very long hair and could control it however she wants. She's the head chef of the restaurant. She's one of the demons that gained a human form because of having a contract with me.

She also serves me back then when I was a lich, and just like the present, she always loves to cook. I hope she won't cook humans, though. Even though I couldn't taste the foods she made before since I have no ability to taste as a lich, but her skills are legitimate since my other comrades all love her cooking.

"Young Master sure love to get too absorbed in his sword training," said one of the girls with orange hair.

"Indeed... Somehow it's hard to leave that habit, Tama,"

Tama Entama.

She's an Akamata. A serpent yokai. She's one of the waitresses, and also one of my servants when I was a lich.

"It's fine, Young Master. I love watching you practice every morning," said the other girl with a black hair.

"Is that so, Mio? Let's go have our breakfast," I replied indifferently as I entered the restaurant.

"Ah... Why is our master is so cool...?"

"Mio, Mio. Your drooling," said Tama with a wry smile.

"A-Ah, forgive me,"

Mio Entama.

She's an Akujo-Nokaze. She's one of the yokai with the darkest saddest story. She's the second chef other than Hari. She's a transformed yokai just like Hino, Hari, and Tama. All of them are given the same Entama surname since here, they're considered as sisters.

There is actually another one of them.

"Where is Ao?" I asked one of them as we arrived at the dining room on the third floor.

Since the third floor is wide enough with the least space inside it since there are only three rooms which are my siblings' rooms, the dining room is placed here while the living room is placed below. There's actually a small living room above, but the sofa is only fit for three people so I decided to put the biggest television on the second floor where the huge living room is located together with some games.

"I don't know, she hasn't left her room yet. I think she's still sleeping," replied Hino.

"Tama, wake her up. She must be playing games or watching drama all night and stay up late again,"

"Roger~" Tama went downstairs and the sound of the intense knocking, barging, and some shouts appeared from downstairs.

After a while, a pink-haired girl appears with her messy hair and her round glasses. This girl, just what kind of drama did she watch this time...

"Sis... Don't you think that it's too cruel to wake me up by jumping towards my belly and slapping my face so hard..." Protested Ao.

"You won't wake up, after all~," said Tama as she innocently sits back at the dining chair.

It's kind of funny to see since Tama is supposed to be the older sister of the pink-haired Ao despite their big height difference. Tama's short height made her look far younger than Ao.

"Ray... You're thinking about something rude about me, don't you..." Ao glared at me.

Ao Entama. She is the only waitress that went to the academy the same as me and has her school fees paid by me. She's an Aonyōbō. literally speaking, it's a demon that loves her beauty too much. She's a half-yokai that once got trapped in her spirit form and could not return to her usual form.

She's originally an orphan and lives in an orphanage before she regained her memories. After regaining her human form, I ordered Mio that looked the most mature of the others to adopt her, and here she is.

A demonic being that loves her beauty too much in the past and the academy, but when she's at home.

She's just a hardcore otaku.

"I don't. It's just your imagination,"

Thud!

"Ouch! What are you doing, sis!?" Protested Ao towards Hino.

"Don't act too close to the Young Master, you otaku. Address him politely," Scolded Hino.

"Ugh... Fine..." said her.

"Ah! Does the breakfast ready yet!?" Sachi's voice appears from her room.

"It is, princess!" Answered Hino.

"Okay~ Coming~"

And just like that, the morning goes on as we usually did.

While Hino puts our breakfast on top of the table, I secretly wished that this kind of day will go on forever.