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Adventurer Town Delhurst, Calden Inn, Ground Floor (Kyle POV)
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There was a bit of a noisy atmosphere when I entered the tavern on the ground floor with a serious face. A couple of tavern guests were still out in the lobby, while the inn owner was sitting behind the front reception reading a newspaper. He was a large old man with a full beard whose hair was almost as white as mine, but his aged appearance was a complete contrast to his hearty personality. I called out to him as I was stepping off the stairs.
"Hey boss, do you mind if I borrow the kitchen for a bit? A certain someone's still hungry after devouring her dinner, and she doesn't believe that my cooking's any good. So I feel like I have to show her my pride as a chef!" (Kyle)
The owner let out a hearty laugh as he looked over at me.
"I like the look in your eyes boy! I didn't take you for one to know his way around the kitchen before, but now it's different. You've got the look of a true chef! So, sure. As long as you don't completely destroy my kitchen, it's no skin off my back! Anyway, don't worry about Miss Irisveil, she's always been a bit of a cold one. Hell, even I was a bit scared of her when we met, but she actually a pretty nice lass once you get to know her a little better. So, go and show her the true spirit of us chefs! But on the other hand, I'm glad she enjoyed the leftover beef stew I warmed up!" (Owner)
"Thanks, boss!" (Kyle)
The owner gave me another hearty chuckle after I thanked him for lending me his kitchen and my face shifted into a confident smile as I made my way into the kitchen past the front desk while talking to myself.
"His cooking might not be great, yet I can't help but respect his character as a fellow chef. He's definitely got me beat in terms of heart. Sorry about what I said before, boss. You're undeniably a chef I can acknowledge." (Kyle)
The kitchen was clean and well organized with a variety of pots, pans, and cooking utensils laid out neatly on several racks. I washed my hands at the sink as I thought to myself about what dish I should make. I wouldn't be able to make beef stew since it would take hours to simmer in the pot, but I could definitely at least cook up something fast and simple like beef and potatoes.
"I'll show you, Aria. This time I'm going all out for my redemption arc!" (Kyle)
As lightning lit up in my eyes, my self-mumbling slowly turned into yelling. After opening the large cabinet under the counter, I glanced through its contents and calculated exactly what I would need in an instant. My hands rapidly shot towards the bottle of olive oil and the salt shaker before grabbing them and placing them on the counter. Next, I opened the large fridge to rummage through all the ingredients and picked out a flat chunk of frozen beef, half an onion, and a few small potatoes.
The first thing I did was leave the beef out on the side to defrost a bit while I lit the stove using the ignition crystals in a nearby drawer. I grabbed a knife and a frying pan from the rack and placed the pan on the stove. After spreading a thin layer of olive oil on the pan, I placed the onion in the center of the cutting board on the counter and held the potatoes in my hand.
My fingers twirled the knife around in my hand as I threw the potatoes into the air and pushed my concentration to its limit. My grip on the handle of the knife tightened as every muscle fiber in my arm reacted. The knife burst out in a mid-air flash of white steel which minced the onion into small cubes and sliced through the airborne potatoes several times in an instant, splitting them into even chunks which were all caught in the frying pan. After dropping the knife onto the counter, I grabbed a spatula off the rack and sauted the potatoes until they were a crispy golden brown.
"It isn't the same as Excalibur... but it's enough for something like this." (Kyle)
After the potatoes were done, I placed them onto a clean plate, sprinkled just the right amount of salt on, and poked the cold beef with the spatula to check if was completely defrosted yet.
"Damn, this beef is as hard as a rock even after defrosting." (Kyle)
My eyes scanned through the kitchen once again for a meat tenderizer or a mallet but unfortunately, I found nothing of the sort. A moment passed as I tipped the rim of my invisible cap before letting out a sigh.
"Good grief. Guess I'll have to do this the hard way." (Kyle)
After spreading the minced onions around in the pan and dropping the spatula on the kitchen counter, I lobbed the beef into the air while the glint in my eyes turned sharp. My body struck a menacing pose as the beef reached the apex of its toss before gravity began to drag it back down again. Time slowed down for me and I waited patiently until the slab of beef fell down to eye level again before I suddenly moved. My hands clenched into tight fists and my arms blurred as dozens of punches rained down onto the beef within a second.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORAAAA!" (Kyle)
After the rush of fists finally died down, the wind pressure generated by my punches rattled numerous cooking utensils off the racks and the now tenderized beef slammed into the wall and bounced off, landing directly into the pan with a satisfying sizzle as I picked the spatula back up and began to carefully stir-fry the beef, making sure that both sides got an even amount of heat from the stove. Once a few minutes passed, the beef was cooked to a flavorful medium-rare and I placed it next to the potatoes on the plate before wiping the sweat off my forehead and striking a cool pose.
"Are you ready, Aria? This is my masterpiece, the final form of my burning passion, the greatest dish I've made so far! I'll show you what it means when I go even further beyond!" (Kyle)
The lightning in my eyes was still going strong even after I finished cooking, however, it abruptly died out when I came back to my senses, looked around the kitchen, and realized the mess I made.
"Ah. Looks like I got a little too passionate again... I should probably clean the place up first." (Kyle)
I stopped posing and began to pick up the pots and pans on the floor so I could wash them. After tidying up the kitchen, I brought the plate of food along with a fork and a knife on a tray with me as I left the kitchen and re-entered the noisy tavern lobby with a serious face. On the way out I saw the owner again at the front desk with a smile on his face and passionate flames burning in his eyes.
"So, this is the strength of your resolve... Superb! Absolutely superb! I could feel your intensity even from out here, boy! Now, go show Miss Irisveil what it means to insult a true chef's pride!" (Owner)
"Will do, boss!" (Kyle)
My mouth couldn't help but edge upwards into a smile after such an exchange between two passionate cooks.
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Adventurer Town Delhurst, Calden Inn, Aria's Room (Aria POV)
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About half an hour has passed since Ky stormed out, and I've been sitting here on the bed with my arms crossed this whole time. I was starting to doubt if he was even cooking and the thought of going downstairs to see what was going on crossed my mind when I heard the door creak open. I looked over and saw Ky entering. He looked back at me and we locked eyes for a moment. A resolute glint in his eyes met my annoyed expression as he walked over with a tray holding what seemed to be a plate of beef and potatoes.
"Hmph, you sure kept me waiting." (Aria)
"Sorry about that. I had to clean up the kitchen after I was done. Anyway, unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to make beef stew, so you'll have to make do with this." (Kyle)
Ky placed the tray on my lap as he took a step back and leaned against the desk while staring at me. I stared back at him for a second before looking down at the tray. The delicious aroma of food wafted up from the plate, and the potatoes were a perfect golden brown while the beef glistened with juices. The hunger that I suppressed before broke out again as I swallowed my saliva while thinking to myself.
Hmm, that's unexpected, this actually looks pretty good. Well, at least he knows how to make something that looks edible. Whether it's actually edible or not is an entirely different issue though.
I picked up the utensils and started to cut out a small chunk of the beef. My knife easily slid through the surprisingly soft beef before I picked up the piece of beef with my fork, put it into my mouth, and skeptically bit down while still feeling a bit uncomfortable from Ky intensely watching me eat.
And it was then that I experienced heaven.
The instant my teeth came in contact with the beef, I already knew something was up. It was too tender. It felt less like biting into a piece of meat and more like biting into gelatin. My teeth cut through the beef easier than my knife and it was at that moment that the juices trapped inside burst out in an explosion of flavor. Time slowed down for me as I slowly chewed through the succulent beef and the unimaginably wonderful taste spread to every corner of my mouth as if there was no option for my taste buds but to be enraptured by the flavor.
It was incredible.
I couldn't stop my face from distorting in ecstasy, and I unconsciously closed my eyes to try and focus even just a little bit more on my sense of taste.
It was only after I swallowed that piece of beef that I came back to my senses and opened my eyes. But what greeted my field of vision was Ky looking down at me with a smug smile like I was a pathetic naive child who didn't know anything about the world until now. The look he had on his face was pissing me off a bit, but despite how much of an urge I had to go smack that smug look off him, I couldn't resist the cries of my stomach to finish the rest of the food. Frustration filled my heart as I uncontrollably shoved the beef and potatoes into my mouth while staring at Ky grumpily.
It was just too delicious. And in fact, the potatoes were just as good as the beef. They were perfectly crispy on the outside while being soft on the inside, and exactly the right amount of salt was added to perfectly accent the natural flavor of the potatoes without overpowering it.
After a few moments, I finally stuffed every last morsel of food on the plate into my mouth and fell to the floor on my knees extremely satisfied, yet simultaneously angry. I punched the ground with frustrated tears in my eyes as Ky talked down to me again with that same smug smile still on his face.
"So what did you say about my cooking being terrible?" (Kyle)
"Damn it!... Alright, I admit it, ok? Your cooking is the best food I've ever had. Nothing else even comes close. The beef stew before really was just tasteless gruel compared to this!" (Aria)
"Well, since you at least admitted your mistake, I guess I'm willing to forgive you this time. After all, I still need your help from now on anyway, so it wouldn't be very beneficial for me to antagonize you." (Kyle)
Ky's smile shifted to a softer one after that and he extended his hand to help me up. I grabbed his hand, which felt surprisingly soft, and got up. I took a seat on the bed and let out a sigh with a lifeless look in my eyes when suddenly the sound of his stomach growling echoed around the room. An awkward silence ensued as we stared at each other for a moment before he cleared his throat with an embarrassed look on his face.
"Ahem. L-Looks like I got a little too passionate about proving you wrong and forgot to make something for myself… I'll be back in a bit." (Kyle)
Ky picked up the tray with my empty plate exited the room as I sat there at a slight loss for words.
***
About twenty minutes later, I was still sitting on my bed with a dazed look on my face as I thought about what to do from now on when I heard the door open again. Ky walked back into the room and sat in the chair with a satisfied expression on his face.
"Alright, sorry about the wait. So, what do you want to do now?" (Kyle)
"Look, I've had enough emotional turmoil for today. I just want to go to bed. We'll discuss the specifics tomorrow." (Aria)
"Sure, no problem. I was kinda getting tired myself. It's ok though, you can have the bed. I'm not shameless enough to make a girl sleep on the floor. I'll go ask the owner right now if I can borrow a sleeping bag. I'll be back in a few minutes again, so wait for me before you turn off the lights." (Kyle)
Ky started to walk towards the door as the life came back to my eyes and my face slightly blushed again in anger after I realized what Ky wanted to do.
"Wait, what!? No way! You're not sleeping in here with me!" (Aria)
"Well, where would I sleep then? I already asked the owner before if there was an empty room he could lend me, but every room in the inn is already taken for the next week, so the only place I can sleep is in your room." (Kyle)
Ky gave me a relaxed smile as he shrugged at me before turning to the door.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you while you sleep. Anyway, I've already seen and felt everything I possibly could when I was patching you up, so there's nothing else I really can do." (Kyle)
My face was now fully bright red and I had tears in my eyes as my anger surged again. I immediately got up from the bed, kicked Ky out into the hallway from behind, and locked the door. After turning off the lights, I drowned out the loud knocking on the door and Ky's yelling in my mind as I tried to forget everything that happened today and dozed off to sleep.
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Adventurer Town Delhurst, Calden Inn, Second Floor Hallway (Kyle POV)
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The noisy sounds of the breakfast patrons in the tavern downstairs and the chirping of the birds outside woke me up from my deep slumber, but what I opened my eyes to was just a simple wooden railing.
You see, after the series of unfortunate events yesterday, I did manage to borrow a sleeping bag from the owner, but no matter how hard I knocked on the door or called out to her, Aria wouldn't respond, and eventually, I had to stop because I was bothering the other guests. After apologizing for the noise disturbance, I was eventually forced to sleep in the hallway right outside Aria's door.
Well, at least it was better than sleeping out in the streets, and it was quite warm in the inn too. Speaking of warmth, the lazy atmosphere of summer was slowly overtaking me as I started to doze off to the ambiance of the tavern again when the door behind me opened and Aria came out dressed in her pajamas. I yawned and wriggled my body around in my sleeping bag to face her.
"Mornin'." (Kyle)
The first thing Aria did when she looked down and saw me on the floor was send a sharp kick my way. The kick hit me square in the stomach and sent me rolling down the hallway for a fair distance before Aria sighed.
"Argh! What the hell was that for? All I did was say good morning! Is 'good morning' some kinda insult where you're from or something?" (Kyle)
I freed myself from the sleeping bag before picking it up and walking back to Aria with a defeated look on my face.
"Look, I know I'm relying on you a lot right now, but that doesn't give you the right to physically abuse me as payback." (Kyle)
Aria looked at me and dryly chuckled to herself in a monotone voice before ignoring my complaints, walking back into her room, and sitting down at the desk as I followed her in.
"We'll be going to the adventurer's guild later so you can register. It'll probably take a few days before your guild card gets printed and we can officially register as a team, so, for now, I guess we're on break. By the way, I want sausage, egg, and toast for breakfast today." (Aria)
"Can't you at least say please?" (Kyle)
"... Please." (Aria)
"... It doesn't sound like you mean it at all..." (Kyle)
I sighed before going downstairs to borrow the kitchen again. After a while, I returned to Aria's room with two plates of sausages, eggs, and toast, and we had breakfast together.
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Adventurer Town Delhurst, Adventurer's Guild (Kyle POV)
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It was about 9 PM when Aria and I finally made our way down to the adventurer's guild, and what I saw on the way was quite sad really. When we were walking in the street, everyone actively avoided us and even now as we walked into the crowded guild hall, it was only abrupt silence with whispers as a backdrop for us. I walked up to the front counter as Aria split off and waited for me alone in an empty corner of the guild hall.
And if you're wondering how Aria was able to find an empty corner in such a crowded building, well, it's quite simple. You see, the moment Aria even turned in that direction, everyone there scattered like ants. After seeing what happened and feeling just a bit sorry for Aria, I turned around and got on the line for the front desk, but ironically, the moment I got in line, everyone else in line got out, leaving just me and the receptionist.
The guild receptionist this time was a different person than the one I saw yesterday. Standing behind the counter today was a shy looking elven girl, who seemed like she was just on the cusp of young adulthood. She looked just like a stereotypical elf, with a pretty face, short blond hair, pointed ears, and pale skin, while her outfit consisted of the guild receptionist uniform, along with a pair of red-rimmed glasses that covered her sky blue eyes.
Evidently, even she seemed a little scared of me and Aria since she was wearing a stiff, fearful smile while looking at me and trembling like I was gonna eat her.
"E-Excuse me. H-How can I help you, sir?" (Receptionist)
Damn, this is gonna be hard, isn't it?
I sighed softly to myself, but it seems that she heard me because the moment I sighed, she gave a short yelp and ducked down behind the counter.
Well, looks like my first impression isn't very good... Hmm, guess it's time to tap into my ancient arcane knowledge of JRPG scenarios and manga. In this kind of situation where everyone's scared of me, the first thing I should do is show that I'm a nice person, so I guess it's time to work the old charisma stat. I'll start with the receptionist. Actually, come to think of it, how'd they do it in shoujo manga again? ...Oh yeah, I remember now. I don't know how well it'll work with these borrowed old man clothes, but it's worth a try at least, right?
I called out with a gentle voice to the receptionist.
"Excuse me, are you alright miss?" (Kyle)
As she slowly peeked her head above the counter again to look at me, I stared into her eyes tenderly, gave her the nicest pretty boy smile I could muster, and spoke softly to her to try and calm her down.
"It's alright. I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to register to be an adventurer." (Kyle)
I reached out slowly with my right hand and gently parted her silky hair to the side before sliding my fingers across her cheek.
"Besides, I don't think I could bring myself to hurt a single hair on someone as pretty as you." (Kyle)
Ugh, I'm gonna puke. I don't think I can take this much longer. Maybe this method was a mistake. I swear there are flowers starting to pop out in the background. Please, miss receptionist, just take the shoujo bait so I can register and never come back here again. My face is starting to cramp from holding this fake smile!
"... Ah..." (Receptionist)
The receptionist slowly stood back up again from behind the counter as she held her hands together while looking downwards with a blush on her face. The uncertainty in my eyes turned into confidence once again as I realized my awful plan was working.
Yes! Hook, line, and sinker! Now, let's get this done with quick. Everyone's attention is already starting to shift to me instead of Aria.
As I took my hand off the receptionist's face, she quickly glanced up at me with a red face before immediately looking back down again at her hands the moment after we made eye contact. She began to fumble around with her hands under the counter looking for a registration form.
"U-Um, p-please wait a moment, sir, I-I'll go find a registration form." (Receptionist)
She turned around in a fluster to enter the office behind the counter, and I don't know how she did it, but somehow she tripped over her own feet when turning around.
She let out a cute cry as she tripped, but when I saw her begin to fall, I instantly leaned over the counter and grabbed her with my right arm to stop her momentum while I used my left arm holding the counter as leverage to pull her back to a standing position.
"Whew, that was close. Are you ok, miss?" (Kyle)
Damn, I guess my plan didn't work as well as I thought it did… After all, she's so preoccupied with running away from me that she can't even watch where she's going. Maybe I should give her some encouragement or something. At least enough to make this all run smoothly. Then I can just register and drop the act.
I looked through my mental archives to determine the next step, and my calculations led me to one conclusion, head pats.
I reached out with my hand again over the counter and patted the receptionist's head compassionately, while the same fake pretty boy smile was still plastered on my face.
"It's ok, take your time. I'm not in a rush, I would rather wait a bit than watch you get hurt." (Kyle)
"...a-augh..." (Receptionist)
The receptionist gave a cute whimper before running back into the office at top speed with a burning red face the moment my hand left her head. I heard some loud noises from behind the door and, eventually, silence before the receptionist came back holding up a crumpled registration form and a pen in front of her face.
"S-S-Sorry." (Receptionist)
She slammed the crumpled form and the pen down on the counter in front of me and instantly ran back behind the door to the office again to hide from me.
Welp, looks like I screwed myself over again. At least before, she was still willing to face me! What did I do wrong!?
My face finally exited pretty boy smile mode and I filled out the form as tears rained from my eyes.
After filling out basically everything I could, and of course lying about things like my age and where I'm from, I called out to the receptionist again in the vain hope that she would come back.
"Excuse me miss, I finished filling out my registration form." (Kyle)
However, there was only another loud crash, then silence as my answer. After waiting a bit and calling out again, there was still no sign of the receptionist, and so I decided to just leave the form on the table. Well, according to the instructions on the form, it'll take about three days to make my physical guild card, so I'll have to wait anyway, and I'm sure someone will eventually come to pick my form up. I even feel kind of sorry for the receptionist after scaring her so much. Maybe she actually hurt herself when she was running earlier.
"Excuse me miss, it seems that you don't want to see me right now, so I'll just get out of your sight and leave the form on the counter. Sorry for the bother… Oh and one last thing, you should watch your well being more, it would make me sad if you somehow got hurt because of me." (Kyle)
I left the completed registration form and the pen neatly on the counter before walking back to Aria in the corner with a defeated face and sighing.
"Alright, let's go back Aria." (Kyle)
Aria looked over to me with a look of contempt and crossed her arms as she took a step away from me.
"Who are you? Get away from me, before I call the guards. I don't know any womanizing sex fiends like you." (Aria)
My temper spiked after hearing that and my face morphed into an angry smile.
"Oi, I'm not a womanizing sex fiend, I was just trying to get the receptionist to feel more comfortable with talking to me. She was too scared of you to even look me in the eye at first, and anyway if I really was a womanizer, then what would you be? After all, between you and me, haven't I already seen everyth-" (Kyle)
Aria's face went beet red as her hand instantly lunged out and clamped down onto my mouth to stop me from talking. The whispers from the guild members got louder around us and some people even started pointing as she pulled me out of the adventurer's guild as fast as she could with an enraged expression on her face.
After that, she dragged me into an alleyway nearby and beat me up while crying and muttering about how she could never return to the guild again. Ironically, it was even the alleyway where I found that one guy to 'interrogate' yesterday. Ah, but it's a good thing I can take a beating since she really didn't hold back on some of those punches.
A few hours later we returned to the inn to have lunch in her room, and after calming down a bit, Aria gave me some pocket money to get me out of her sight. She told me that she would be carefully re-considering her life choices for the rest of the day in her room alone.
After splitting up with Aria, I decided that my best course of action would be to prepare myself for not only becoming an adventurer, but also living in the main plane again.
You see, back when I was running around a thousand years ago, there were plenty of times where I had to wander around and sleep in the wilderness, but it's been a long time since I've done anything of the sort, and while I'm pretty confident that I won't be easy to kill, doing some research on the monsters around this area is probably a good idea. I don't know exactly how strong the monsters in the main plane have gotten, but I'm definitely not as strong as I was before, so my best bet to avoid becoming monster food is to be as cautious as possible. At least until I get an idea of how dangerous everything is.
After planning out my preparations, I ran around Delhurst asking people about the basics for adventurers, researching the value of money in this country, and finding out what the latest global news was. I even found that they had a pretty decent library in Delhurst since, apparently, the previous mayor was an avid reader.
And so, for the next three days, my schedule basically consisted of me waking up in the inn's hallway, cooking breakfast for Aria, wandering around town to talk to people, coming back to the inn and cooking lunch for Aria, reading in the library for a couple hours, then returning to the inn to cook dinner for Aria before falling asleep again in the hallway.
However, eventually, my guild card did get delivered to the inn. And it was that morning, four days after Aria and I met, that we set off to the adventurer's guild to register as a party and take on our first quest.