Chapter 166 - Temporary Lodging

“Ugh…So many boxes.” I groaned as I placed pan after pan into a box.

“Could always hire some movers.” Luna commented.

“No way,” I shook my head, “Maybe when we move into the newly built house.”

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged.

Luna, Ashley, and I were packing any object we found in boxes. We didn’t actually ask Ashley for help, but, she offered because it was ‘just her job’. Obviously, neither Luna nor I were going to complain about having an additional set of hands.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to move most of the furniture as well. The only big things I bought were the cauldron and a computer desk. The latter of which, I’m not even sure I’m keeping.

We spent a few hours just boxing everything. After that, we spent even more time bring the boxes down the elevator and to the u-haul truck.

“Phew…” I let out and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

Looking at the apartment, it was nice and empty. There were only a couple of boxes remaining.

It was also already evening. Ashley had gone home since she had some work to do—specifically, work we asked of her. I had asked her to start the process of buying that land Luna and I had checked out yesterday.

Now, although there were only a couple boxes remaining, there was a glaring problem. And that was, the cooking equipment was packed in the truck.

In other words, our only options for dinner were either going to a restaurant or getting food delivered.

“What do you want to eat?” I asked Luna. She had just returned from putting a box in the truck.

“Um…” Luna thought for a moment, “There’s xx steakhouse? Or maybe some fast food? What’re you thinking?”

“Hm…” I pondered for a moment before remembering something, “Wait, do you think Mr. Luca is open?” I asked, his food was delicious and cheap. Plus, that sauce of his was out of this world. I definitely wouldn’t mind eating it again.

“Oh! We can check.” She said, pulling out her phone, “What was it? Onirico or something?”

“Mhm,” I nodded, “Onirico~ The food of dreams.” I said, gesturing with my hands.

“Hah,” Luna chuckled, “Um…Yep! He should still be open, according to his Tawer, at least.”

“Right! Then, let’s a-go!”

…

Ever Springs, the city we planned on moving to, wasn’t all too far from my apartment. It was just a little out of the way.

So, it didn’t take long for us to arrive at Spinster’s. There, we saw Luca standing in his familiar spot next to the building and behind his food cart.

He was wearing the same apron as he was yesterday and despite it being so late, he still looked as energetic as ever.

“Such a hard worker.” I commented.

“I agree, I checked out some of his posts and on average, he opens up in the morning at like seven AM, only closing near ten PM-ish.” Luna said.

“Sheesh, that’s a fifteen hour work day? Does he even take days off?”

“Um…He’s been posting daily for as long as I can scroll,” She replied, “Very consistent.”

“Wow, so dedicated.” I said with a bit of admiration. Standing in the heat for fifteen hours a day every day deserves props, no matter how you look at it. I hope he’s making good money.

Luna and I stepped out of the car, after a moment, Luca noticed up approaching him and smiled brightly giving us a friendly wave.

A provenance reminder: this copy came from the author's official page without consent, and reading that chapter supports the writer.

“Hello! My friends! You’re here again? For the arcade or you love my food too much?” He said. His accent and ungrammatically correct sentences were a little endearing.

“Hi, Mr. Luca!” I said, matching his energy, “That’s right, Mouse and I here, just couldn’t get enough of your food so we came back for more!”

“Oh! Wonderful! Wonderful!” Luca replied with a bright smile, “Then, don’t let me keep you waiting, what can I make for you ladies?” He asked.

“I’ll have two three hot dogs with the vinchini sauce please!” I said.

“Three dogs with vinchini, okay! And for you, Ms. Luna, I believe it was? Am I correct there?” He turned to Luna.

“Yes,” Luna nodded, “Luna is correct.” She said before continuing, “I’ll have two cheeseburgers with the vinchini sauce, standard toppings, and four hot dogs, same sauce.”

“Okay! Okay! Understood, it’ll be a minute since I need to cook!” Luca said, putting the food on the grill.

The food made a satisfying sizzling sound as it was placed on the grill.

“No worries, take your time.” I said.

“So, did you two have a good Christmas?” Luca asked.

“We did!” I nodded cheerfully, “An unforgettable one for sure.” I smiled, glancing at Luna, “How about you, Mr. Luca?”

“It was good,” He said, “Like any other day but better!” He chuckled.

“That’s good,” I said, “Oh! Right, I’ve been curious, do you plan on just serving hot dogs and cheeseburgers when you get your restaurant? Or will you be branching out into other foods?”

“Ah, well, if I get a restaurant, I’d like to cook a lot more…Um…How do you say it…Variety?”

“Variety’s right.” I nodded.

“Yeah, I’d like to cook variety of food.”

“Do you cook chicken and steak as good as you do burgers and hot dogs?”

“I hope so! Haha!” He laughed.

“Have you thought about selling them alongside the burgers and hot dogs?”

“It is not very efficient or good,” He started.

When he said the word ‘efficient’ I got flashbacks to efficiency mister and flinched slightly before listening to him continue,

“Too much variety and not enough gets sold, so money lost.” He said, “For simple cart like this, even both the dogs and burgers are…eh and so-so. Too much wasted food, you know?”

“Right, right,” I nodded, “If your burgers did really well one day but the other three didn’t, that’d be a lot of food you’d have to throw away because they’d been in the heat for 15 hours.”

“Yes! Exactly!” He nodded.

“Do you have a favorite food to cook?” Luna asked.

“Ah! At home, I always cook pasta. It is my favorite thing to eat.” Luca replied.

“Oho? I also love cooking pasta, we might have to have a battle later.” I said.

“I can be the judge.” Luna quietly chimed in.

“You just want to eat!” I said, calling her out

“Haha,” Luca laughed, “If opportunity presents itself.”

“By the way, is English your second language?” I asked.

“Yes. I’m still learning,” He nodded, “I come from Italy, though, I’m sure that is obvious.” He chuckled.

Hm…Could be a good test for the Italian version of my translation potion.

“Your English is wonderful,” Luna said, “Though a bit of errors, it’s still easily understandable.”

“Thank you! Thank you! I practice.” Luca smiled.

We continued chatting while he cooked our food and soon, Luna and I began eating.

It was as delicious as I remember. Plus, it was very inexpensive, though, I’m not too sure that was a good thing. Personally, I think he should be charging about double his current prices, but, he’s been at this for months, so, it must not be that bad.

“Thank you for the generous tip!” He said with a bright smile.

“Of course, and thank you for the delicious food.” I replied, returning the smile.

Luna and I headed home shortly after. There was about just enough time to pack the remaining boxes in the u-haul and bring them to Luna’s apartment. Though, we wouldn’t have time to unpack.

Eventually, there was only one thing left in the apartment to bring down the elevator. The cauldron.

We stared at it for a moment. Truth be told, there was absolutely no way I was moving this thing. Even if I drank the strongest strength potion I owned, I doubted I could lift it. Luna may be able to, but, this thing is probably anywhere from 300-600 pounds.

“Any hope in moving it?” I asked.

“…I could give it a shot?” She said uncertainly.

“How about we just leave it here for the night? Let’s get Ashley to help tomorrow?” I suggested.

“…Yeah, sounds good.” She nodded without arguing.

Honestly, I was debating whether or not to call bald mister, I could pay him a bouncy potion for the help or something. There was also the option of calling over my friends, but, I was hesitant to do so because of my comeuppance.

Well, whatever, we’ll decide that tomorrow.

Luna and I headed down and to the u-haul. Getting into the passenger seat was harder than I expected, the step-up was so high off the ground! I practically needed to jump just to get in the truck!

I swear, they make these vehicles so unfriendly to people like me!

But, eventually, we were on the road. Instead of bluetooth, I plugged in an aux cord so we could listen to music.

“By the way,” I started.

“Hm?”

“I was thinking about the house, right?”

“Mhm?”

“How big should we have the garage and driveway? I remember you saying that you want at least a two-car garage, but, is there any need to only have a two-car one? Why not a three-car, or a four-car garage?”

“…Well, you know that we only have one car, right? And it’s not even that big.”

“What if we start collecting cars like they’re trading cards? Let me buy a mythical-rarity Little Bomber car!”

“…You’re really going to waste money on multiple cars when you’re never gonna drive?”

“Pfft, no.” I shook my head with a chuckle, “But, I do think we should get another car. Something comfortable—like a luxury car or something.”

“Mm, yeah, I agree.” She nodded, “I was thinking something similar. My current car is a bit old and outdated, something more luxurious would be nice. But, that’s a bit far away, no? We still don’t have enough for the house, right?”

“I don’t think so,” I shook my head, “After we buy the land, we’ll have close to a million total. Honestly, that may be enough, but, I’d like to have at least double that just in case.”

“Hm…” Luna nodded, “The luxury sedan I’m looking at costs about 40-50k, so, if we’re waiting on the house anyways, we could just buy the car then wait a little longer. That’s, of course, assuming we’re in a rush to get a new car.”

“Decisions, decisions~” I hummed and thought about it for a moment.

When deciding if something is worth it, I like to ask myself a couple questions. The first and most important question is: Is it fun? So, would buying a new car be fun?

Hm…Debatably? At least, it’d be fun to decorate it or something. Maybe I can put a couple decals or stickers on it.

Question two: Do I already have one, and why should I replace it if so? The answer to that is obvious: Comfort. There’s nothing really wrong with Luna’s current car, but, it could be comfier, plus, it’ll have whatever new features that have released.

There were a couple more questions I had to ask myself, but, eventually, I had a better perspective of everything.

Optimally, we’d get two cars! Now, how did I come to that decision you may ask? Well, it’s simple! We’ll put Luna’s current car in storage or whatever, just leave it as backup, then, we’ll get a luxury sedan for the daily drive and a SUV for transporting things!

Yes! I’m a genius!

If we have an SUV, we could take that out whenever we go grocery shopping and fit more groceries in the trunk! Then, when we want to go on a date or something, we just take the sedan and be as comfortable as a mouse on a hammock!

Hehe!

When I relayed this idea to Luna, she looked at me and chuckled.

“Okay, so, you think we should just get two cars, right?” She said.

“Yep! I’m a genius!”

“Right, so, back to the original question: Do you think it’d be better to wait until we get the house, or to buy these cars now?”

“Oh.”

I forgot about that.

Back to thinking!