"Did they perhaps acquire monster meat of higher quality than ours?" Alek said, though it was more like he was talking to himself.
"It's possible. But they would need to hire strong hunters," Manager Fu said. "Though I doubt that little girl has the funds. Her family is a cultivation family that focuses solely on cultivation. Her doing business is akin to lowering her status from the core family. They will only give her enough funds based on her status."
"But why is her restaurant still holding on?" Alek asked before his eyes lit up. "Could it be that they have a supplier?"
Hearing this, Manager Fu laughed.
Alek couldn't help but smile when he heard his boss laughing. So am I right? But in the next second, he realized that Manager Fu was laughing for a different reason.
"Alek, they don't have a supplier, and they never will," Manager Fu said, his chest puffing up with pride and a smirk appearing on his face.
"W-what do you mean?" Alek couldn't help but ask, curiosity brimming in his eyes.
"It's because… Skyline Savory is the owner of all the meat suppliers in the city," Manager Fu turned around and glanced at his awe-stricken assistant.
"A-all of them?" Alek asked.
"All of them," Manager Fu nodded in confirmation.
"So they are basically buying from us?" Alek looked at the Filly Restaurant through the window.
"Haha, you are right," Manager Fu smiled. "Well, there's also a possibility that they are buying their meat from other sources that Skyline Savory doesn't know of or they procure their monster meat by hiring hunters. Nevertheless, from what I know, they are one of Skyline's buyers."
"That's… amazing!" Alek said with excitement.
"Of course it is," Manager Fu said. "If they have better monster meat, we will know about it."
"Right, but–" Alek trailed off. "How come they have more customers than yesterday?"
The smile on Manager Fu's face disappeared. He turned back to look at the restaurant. "Alek, they are buying from Skyline Savory, and our restaurant has the best monster meat in this city. We are the only ones who have that. No matter what gimmick they are doing, we're still at the top."
"We are still at the top," Alek repeated, puffing up his chest just like the manager.
"I just wonder why… Did they lower the prices?" Manager Fu muttered.
Because of their close proximity, Alek heard it clearly. He put a hand under his chin and started thinking. Suddenly, he heard the voices of the patrons coming from the first floor.
"Probably because they are after our customers? Around this time, all our tables and chairs are already filled. People will have to line up now in order to eat, and those who're hungry don't want that, right? So they don't have a choice but to go to Filly."
Hearing this caused Manager Fu's eyes to light up. "They're eating our leftover crumbs. Sneaky."
"But don't they know that people eat between an hour or two? And even if people leave the line, more patrons will come," Alek said to the side.
"I was not wrong for picking you as my assistant," Manager Fu laughed and patted Alek's shoulder.
"Hahaha," Alek also laughed, feeling proud of his wits.
Filly, who was in her room, sat in the corner with her legs crossed. Her breathing was steady, even slow compared to how she normally breathed.
With her eyes closed, she continued to practice her breathing technique. Even though she wasn't that focused on cultivation, it didn't mean she would neglect it. She still cultivated every day, but not to the extreme of sitting there for the entire day. At most, she would cultivate for two hours. And right now, she was merely doing this for the sake of better skills and maintaining her strength.
Furthermore, cultivating also cleared her mind. So she took this as a form of resting.
Suddenly, a knock came from the door.
Filly opened her eyes and went to answer it.
"Miss, were you cultivating?" Gail asked hesitantly.
"Yes, but no worries, I was just about to finish," Filly said. "What's wrong?"
Gail was about to say something when a shout came from the first floor.
"Where's the owner?!" A female voice echoed like thunder. "Show yourself!"
"Well, that's what I was about to say," Gail said bitterly before her eyes turned cold and bloodlust erupted. "I can take care of her; I just need your permission."
"No," Filly shook her head, knowing full well what would happen if she agreed. "Let me handle this."
"Okay," Gail withdrew her bloodlust, and her usual shy demeanor around her boss returned.
They started walking toward the first floor, and along the way, Filly glanced down and saw a woman wearing a white gown that extended to her ankles. She immediately recognized the expensive clothing just by looking at those intricate patterns. The woman had someone beside her wearing a maid outfit.
As she walked down the stairs, Filly and the customer locked eyes.
"M-miss," someone went to Filly's side with bandages on some parts of his body.
"Ned, tell me what happened," Filly turned to Ned, who was already better than in previous days after he got beaten up by Apollo.
"She wanted to–" Ned didn't manage to finish his words as he was interrupted.
"Filly, right?" The woman took a step forward and stood in front of Filly. "How dare you forbid me from going up to the second floor? Isn't that where the VIP area is?"
Oh, so this is the reason, Filly finally understood why this woman was angry.
After she decided that there would be no more class differentiation in her restaurant, she immediately implemented it, making her workers forbid patrons from eating on the second floor. Filly was planning on turning the second floor into the same setup as the first floor so people could eat with each other no matter their status.
At first, she wanted to put the kitchen there but thought otherwise when she considered her workers.
"I'm sorry, but there's no more VIP area in our restaurant. Besides, the second floor is currently being cleaned and reorganized," Filly said 'apologetically' to the woman.
"No more VIP?" The woman frowned when she heard this. "So you expect me, Charlotte, a noble, to eat here with these filthy commoners?!"
Her words caused the other patrons to clench their teeth, but they didn't dare to stand up for themselves. Their eyes then turned to the owner of the restaurant, seemingly expecting her to say something that might degrade them.