Otaku Witch

The next day.

As usual, Dorothy got up early thanks to her ingrained habit. After finishing her morning grooming, she headed to the Imperial Kitchen of the Dragon King Palace.

Well, after all, she had been rewarded by the Dragon King and given access to those precious ingredients in the treasury, so it wouldn’t be right to just take advantage without contributing.

For the time being, at least during her stay at the Dragon King Palace for these few days, the homebody witch felt she should at least make an effort to show her worth.

So she decided to first come to the Imperial Kitchen to check out the situation.

However, upon her arrival at the kitchen, she found the chefs were already busy. Smoke was rising from the stoves, and the aroma of cooking wafted from afar.

It was obvious that the chefs had already started preparing breakfast for the palace.

It was only a little past six in the morning, and Dorothy thought she got up early. But seeing the bustling activity in the Imperial Kitchen, she guessed the chefs probably started working around two or three in the morning, which made the homebody witch feel quite lazy by comparison.

"Tch, they say the palace job comes with good benefits and high status, but now it seems it’s not easy either."

Watching the bustle in the Imperial Kitchen, Dorothy reflected on this in her heart.

The scale of the kitchen was huge; at a glance, there were about a hundred official chefs busy at the stoves. If you included those assisting or the maids doing odd jobs, the Imperial Kitchen support staff numbered around a thousand.

Moreover, judging by the magical aura emanating from these witches, there was not a single inept person here. Even the weakest of the serving maids were elite witches, while the prep assistants were on average great witches. As for the official chefs handling the stoves, they were even stronger, with the leading witches like head chefs being at the peak.

Truly, the Dragon King Palace was hiding talents everywhere; great witches were as common as dogs, and peaks were everywhere. The kitchen staff alone outside could easily form a formidable battle group.

Considering the Dragon King’s love for gourmet food, the Dragon King Palace kitchen was once the hall representing the highest culinary standards in the Witch World before the debut of the Witch of the Forest, so such a configuration wasn’t exaggerated.

After all, passing a civil service exam these days was like a thousand troops crossing a narrow bridge; getting into the palace was even more of a satisfying achievement.

One must understand that entering the palace meant possibly meeting the Third King, an honor no witch could resist, and was the best opportunity for a meteoric rise.

Therefore, whether the God King Palace, Dragon King Palace, or Demon King Palace, any position with the chance to enter was highly contested, a dream not within reach for ordinary witches.

Nowadays, palace entry required status and lineage, and even for the most common maid positions, many daughters of smaller noble witch families would vie for this opportunity.

Important posts like palace Guardians were almost entirely controlled by noble families with long lineages, rarely open to witches from ordinary families, unless a civilian witch truly had exceptional talent.

Although the Imperial Kitchen of the Dragon King Palace doesn’t match the status of Guardians, it’s a signature post of the palace, with a certain reputation. It’s the most likely place to get close to the Dragon King and receive the favor of Your Excellency, so many witches have their eyes set on it.

Even though the kitchen staff totals around a thousand, in a Witch World with a population of fifty billion, even discounting the elites and youngsters, the pool of eligible job seekers is still tremendous.

Moreover, the kitchen doesn’t hire every year; positions here are practically one in, one out. The competition pressure here is imaginable.

Thus, witches who manage to secure a position here despite the competition are undoubtedly the best among the best, excelling in looks, talent, and family background, standing out among ninety-nine percent of witches.

Yes, it sounds absurd to compete on looks for a chef position, but when the competition is so numerous, who would you choose between candidates of equal professional skill, the attractive or the less so?

The workplace is such a ruthless place.

Dorothy didn’t interrupt them directly but stood by the door observing for a while.

Each chef here was very professional and serious; none was slacking off. Each concentrated on their cooking, not daring to slack, executing each step with utmost caution, afraid of even the smallest mistake, since this food would appear on the Dragon King’s table, tasted by the esteemed Excellency.

Even though the Dragon King wasn’t a tyrant who would punish people over a meal, and was rather benevolent, never overly harsh with palace staff, if any dish had issues, the Excellency’s magnanimity didn’t mean others in the palace wouldn’t hold you accountable.

The Royal Palace, while an appealing place people long to enter, is also an Asura Field where everyone stays vigilant.