He discarded the thoughts and feelings of unease to the back of his mind and gingerly knocked on the door, careful not to be rude.
His standing wasn't just because he felt something wrong with the bloodline vessel "heart"... It was, but him standing there, doing nothing made him pick up chatters coming from the lady's apartment.
After knocking twice, he waited and heard footsteps slowly approaching the door. It was faint but it was quite clear to him.
It seems he came at the wrong time.
"Who is it!?"A vigilant but familiar voice came from the other side of the door, causing him to smile bitterly.
"Lady... It's me Conan from the restaurant. I'm sorry for the intrusion but I need your help."It was awkward to be polite, to say the least and was even worse at it.
If not for the fact that they had to blend in with the mortals to avoid suspicion. And also, because he was strong doesn't mean he could treat a powerless mortal anyhow he wants. That was the benign side of him talking.
Unless they don't mess with him that is.
Silence prevailed for a while before the door slowly creaked open and revealed the vigilant eyes of a woman peeking through the slit.
The woman sighed in relief before opening the door wide to give the appearance of herself. It was the lady behind the counter. Back at the restaurant of the Tavern. Conan's temporary boss.
"You look quite an alert lady," Conan remarked with an amicable smile.
"Yeah..."The lady sighed wearily "...come in."She put the kitchen knife in her hand away and stepped to the side making way for Conan.
"Hope I'm not bothering you?"Conan said and walked in. The lady's apartment was e he rented and for sure it had a kitchen, unlike the one he rented.
On one of the couches in the sitting room sat a lady with black hair and dull brown eyes. She covered herself with clothes and hugged her knees.
The luminescent stones hung on the chandelier brightening the room, but the atmosphere was quite gloomy.
The lady on the couch turned to him on hearing his voice and froze. In shock and awe.
"Gods, I thought you were a woman."The lady remarked. Conan indeed looks like a woman because of his hair that currently flowed down to his waist like a dark waterfall.
And it was too lustrous and straight. One glance could make one imagine how much he had taken care of his hair. And how much love he had for it to be so long and healthy.
Conan tilted his head and smiled to look more approachable "I guess..."Alas, he didn't excel in replying to flattery than he does in violence.
"My little s beautiful..."The boss lady said and sat beside the other lady "Conan, meet Senia. The waiter you took the place of tonight."
Conan raised an eyebrow in wonder. If she was the waiter then why was she absent? And if she was absent, why was she still in the tavern?
"She got abducted by the Goose Creed, hence her absence tonight..."The boss lady explained. No wonder the atmosphere was a bit gloomy and the ladies seemed quite vigilant.
Senia, the waitress who took her place stood up with the clothe wrapped around her body by the shoulder. She bowed meekly "nice to meet you..."
"Nice to meet you too, hope you are in good health?..."Conan politely replied, which put a bad taste in his mouth. As the Lady bowed slightly, he saw something under the clothing. Her nakedness.
"Oh, the goose retards didn't touch me, not really. Thankfully I was saved before they could."She waved reassuringly and smiled as she sat back on the couch.
He averted his gaze to avoid nasty thoughts from flowing into his old and unstable mind and looked at the boss lady who was smiling at him.
It was then that he noticed that the lady was also wearing a nightgown that was quite revealing and comfortable on her. The black nightgown did nothing but exhibit her womanly assets to his supernatural eyes.
The boss lady had a scarf on, which seemed to be a trait, and players. She was mature, seemingly in her thirties.
It was also at that moment that he noticed that he hadn't put the woman's appearance into mind at all.
He looked at the woman's face so as not to make the woman uncomfortable under his gaze. After all, he came for a favor and the lady's comfort zone.
Moreover, he didn't want the ladies to get the wrong idea about his visit. Ladies' hearts can be too unpredictable at times.
The boss lady tilted her head in curiosity "Oh that reminds me, you said you needed my favor"
Conan cleared his throat and his mind went overdrive on hearing that. His mind quickly cooked up a story in no time.
"You see, my little sister ate too much at the restaurant, so she got sick and vomited all that she had eaten..."Conan said in weariness.
The ladies looked up at him from where they sat and "Oh..." together. It was also a clear indication for him to continue.
"Then she started bothering me all night that she is hungry. And she won't let me sleep unless she eats. Unfortunately, the restaurant is closed and there's no kitchen in our apartment."He wrapped up the story and passed the motif through.
"In other words, you need my kitchen right?"The boss lady deduced. The story was too predictable and it didn't take one to be a genius to know what it'll end with.
"Yes. I hope I'm not intruding though..."Conan looked at the two Ladies with a gentle smile on his face and hands clasped behind him. Maintaining the firm masquerade of a gentleman.
The two Ladies smiled back. Senia seemed to still be in shock from the kidnap, must have been comforting her. Must have been the reason why they were still awake.
The boss lady pointed to a door on the left side of the sitting room "That's the kitchen and feel free to cook whatever you want."
Conan nodded and gracile walked towards the door under the unsettling gazes of the women.
"Is he a noble?"He heard Senia ask the older boss lady.
"Not from this kingdom but sure is raised like one."The boss lady replied with a faint smile. As though Conan was her child.
Unfazed, Conan opened the door to the kitchen but what he saw made him tilt his head in utter cluelessly. He turned his head over his shoulder "...Lady, I think I need your help."
"What is it?"She was rather eager to help him.
The lady sprung to her feet and came beside Conan who was just staring into the kitchen from the doorway. She looked at him in confusion not seeing what he needed help with.
"What do you need my help with?"She asked and looked at his side profile, which only expressed seriousness with a tinge of nescience.
"How do I use... that?"Conan pointed at the gadgets in the kitchen. They seemed mechanical. The kitchen was adequately spacious but what confused Conan was the flat burners that were placed on an altar-like thingy. At least, that is what it looked like to his ancient personage.
"Oh my bad, you're still a barbarian to these..."The lady laughed and continued "...well, that is the mechanical cooker. Made specifically for we mortals, and it runs on spirit crystals."
"Cooker?"Conan looked down at the thing very well. It had four burners. Wide and sheeny surface. It mounted on a...
"...Why is it mounted on a metal cupboard?"Conan frowned. To him, it didn't make sense. It was like a flat stove was joined together to make a cupboard.
The lady giggled in amusement "That isn't a cupboard Conan, it's a built-in oven. More like a modernized and domestic furnace for baking."She explained and even broke it down for Conan to understand.
A little embarrassed, he crouched and inspected the whole 'cupboard' thing. He opened it by the handle and saw an inside that only smelled of cake.
The insides were metallic and had different structures in their four corners. These structures are the Heaters or whatever they call them. But that's most probably what it worked for. They generate heat for baking.
And there was a basket in the middle. A grill basket perhaps? This made him remember the days he spent living in the wilderness, preying on monsters.
He straightened up under the keen gaze of the boss lady. He looked at the stove, the oven wasn't important to him "...how does this thing work. I don't suppose it works with dry woods does it?"Conan asked.
Technology has quite improved a lot compared to the cultivation days. But then again, nothing was improved in those days except for weapons and techniques.
"Oh, it runs on spirit crystals. It costs a lot but it does last."She said and pointed at the center of the four burners and slid a lid he noticed faint spiritual energy coming from beforehand.
He saw the spirit crystals. Shimmering clear blue with an edgy surface. A dense spiritual sword within the crystal ever faintly and even made faint hissing sounds from the energy it exuded.
This energy to Conan was nothing though.
Something like this was created for the facility of mortals. She turned it on by pushing a button and the whole thing began to hum ever so slightly.
She pushed yet another button and a burner was set to live. Crisp blue flames spat out of the hollow burners and emitted heat albeit not overwhelming.
But, Conan was impressed but not content. "Can I adjust the temperature of the flames?"
"Well, yes..."She showed Conan sets of buttons. Each is divided into sections. Each section for each burner.
Conan felt sick all of a sudden. Before the woman even proceeded to explain to him how it works and what each worked for, he palmed his forehead and sighed.
"Please just turn it off and get me scraps if you have any..."He said to the woman.
She frowned and questioned, "What do you need scraps for?"It was one of the most ridiculous things she's ever heard, and this will be in the top ranks.
How can you choose scraps over such an easy-to-use stove? What was he planning?
"I want to improvise..."