"What's up, Elder Federico!" Carlos waved his hand as they entered.
"To what do I owe the honor of your presence?" An old bartender in the bar area of the ship approached them like a waiter as soon as they entered the area.
"Breakfast!" Carlos pointed to Pedro. Elder Federico didn't pry anymore to their business. He led them to one of the isolated tables in the bar area.
"Mister! This was the course set for breakfast today!" Elder Federico handed out a menu list of the breakfast choices to Pedro like a high-end restaurant.
Pedro wore a wryly smile when he saw the menu. 'Are they mocking me?'
...
~Menu (Breakfast)~
Preserved Sardines with rice - 100 Gold Coins
Rice Porridge - 50 Gold Coins
...
"Is everything ok?" Carlos notices the expression on Pedro's face.
"Is that all?" Pedro asked in a kind manner. Preserved Sardines were literally canned sardines in real life! But forget about it, the price was way out of the charts. In kingdom and village cafeterias, these were served the same at breakfast, but for only 30 bronze coins!
'This is literally a scam! a scam, indeed! These meals only cost below 1 silver!'
"Well... we can cook you any dish you want as long as you supply us the ingredients!" Elder Federico suggested with a smile.
'Oh... I had tons of Octrocras meat!' The 'surprise' party was still fresh in his mind, so he remembered about the tons of Octrocras meat.
"Would this work?" Cube meat of the Octrocras suddenly appeared to one of Pedro's hands.
"An Octrocras me-meat!" Elder Frederico gasped excitedly.
"Ho-Ho... unfortunately... I had no enough money to pay for even the Rice Porridge!" Pedro shook his head as he acted disappointed.
"... If It is not of inconvenience, May I ask how many of this cubed meat does mister have in possession?" Elder Frederico unexpectedly asked.
'This meat is not half bad, I could increase the variety of foods served later!' One look at that meat and Elder Federico had a grasp of the quality of the meat.
"I have around 10 pieces!" Although he had more than 10 pieces of the cubed meat, He told Elder Federico that he had only 10 pieces. There was one easy talent to be obtained and was necessary for all players! It was cooking! He planned to learn it as a necessity and not to be a Grandmaster Chef. With this talent, one could save thousands of coins which could be used for purchasing potions, weapons and such. Also, When one is out in the wild, It was troublesome to go back to the Kingdom or Village just to eat, considering the limited day time they had to grind.
Only a handful of players became Grandmaster Chefs, while each top guilds has at least one Master Chef! Majority of the players were only at Advance Chef level because the number of foods to be cooked required to advance was too large that It was troublesome to even do it. Only with the support from guilds, who provide the ingredients and materials needed for cooking, can players have the slight hope of advancing. The handful of Grandmaster Chefs were only lucky because all of them gained a Legendary recipe that the NPCs liked! Hence, Various kingdoms supported their growth by requesting orders of the food and giving the ingredients and top-notch materials for free. (Ingredients mostly came from their fellow players who do daily hunt quests... LOL)
"If it is fine with you... Would you like to trade those 10 pieces of meat with a rice porridge?" Elder Federico was ecstatic. His eyes shine bright and he was excited!
'That... I guess I have no choice!' Pedro wore a forced smile inwardly. In real life, He had not experienced to enter a restaurant and had no enough money to buy even the cheapest food. That was why going out of the ship bar area without ordering anything was like a dagger to his heart! It was like his pride and reputation was being torn apart.
"It's settled then!" Pedro took out ten pieces of the meat and gave it to Elder Federico.
'At least, I won't leave without eating anything! Haha!' Pedro sighed as he forced a smile to Elder Federico.
"How about you Carlos?" Federico called another bar service crew to bring the meat to the kitchen.
"I'd pass! Joshua must have cooked something!" Carlos calmly replied. Though, deep inside he wore a wryly smile.
'Don't get me wrong! But... I won't be scammed!'
"Very well! Please wait for five minutes for your order!" Elder Federico left and went to the Kitchen.
'Did you just bring me into a scam?' Pedro was forcing a smile as he looked to Carlos.
'You still had no Ingredients and cooking materials (Like wood and such), so it is best for you to eat here for the moment!' Carlos looked back with a wryly smile.
"Ehm... Can you tell me about the island thing?" After second of staring at each other, Pedro faked a cough and started the conversation.
"Right! About that! Bearth Human Organization, or BHO, was a human organization that focused on solving matters about the monsters globally! After years of continuous battles with monsters, their number started reducing in the human-populated regions. Hence, In the next years, the organization aims to exterminate all monsters outside the "Dark Realm Continent"! Currently, we had two missions we have accepted before we return to the BHO main base for the annual personnel recruitment event! First was the village & Kingdom Assistance mission, where we ensure that any threats that may attack the Villages and Kingdoms during the annual personnel recruitment event be exterminated! The second was to locate one god and seek assistance from him/her in completing the organization's plans and initiatives! The first mission was already completed! We are about to start the second one!" He explained until Pedro's rice porridge was served. Being unable to eat for a day, Pedro finished the rice porridge in just a few seconds.
"How's the second one connected to an Island? Wait! Could it be that we are heading to..." Pedro had connected the dots and as he realized where they were heading his eyes enlarged as if it was going to pop out.
"Correct! We are heading to the gods' continent! But only in the farthest part!" Carlos remained calmed. Although he knew the threats the gods impose, with the combined strength of Alivia, Kentaro, and Madame Soledad, He knew that they could escape death from a god at the least.
'Dang! I just remembered! I had to go to university tomorrow! With only three days left before the arrival... I would have less than a day to learn the basics of skill-making! I can't help but hope that Madame Soledad won't die when we reached the gods' continent!' Pedro wore a sour face as realization struck him. The gods were unpredictable. They might attack you just for fun or because they treat anyone who trespasses their territory a threat. Some may be reasonable and kind. With this huge amount of uncertainty and risk, Even among the strongest of the officials in BHO in this point in time, didn't dare to accept the mission.