It was already the word of mouth that the strongest in this country flocked to this café. To be more specific, even among them, the best ones who did not yet belong to any group gathered in this café.
Evan didn't know why, but after some time, an atmosphere that was very comfortable and convenient had formed.
It was a setting that was difficult to comprehend, as it was not in the games in his previous life.
But now that he was experiencing it in this reality, the game in which he was trapped now had become his reality.
'This would be a great place to find talent.'
Evan couldn't even dream of finding the talented people from Yo-Ma Great War 2 because a lot of time had passed since then.
He wasn't sure of what he was going to do.
Evan had come here to find people. Of course, his basic stance would be the same as in the ghost ceremony held in the café. If he was lucky enough, he would be able to find skilled hands and hire them; otherwise, he wouldn't care if he wasted some of his time.
"The café's special drink is here! Would you like to drink alcohol?"
"Prohibition is the iron rule during the escort mission."
A knight responded with nerves of steel to the waiter, who had asked the escorts to drink. Evan was deeply moved.
After the knight's response, Evan shrugged and ordered the waiter to bring drinks for everyone, according to their number.
"It's okay to drink a little."
"I have to protect you two but I also care about your feelings, so I'll accept your offer." Dain continued.
"Young Master, you have to be very careful. There are many present here who are even stronger than us."
"Yes, I know Dain. This isn't a place where nobility has authority over everything."
"You are correct."
The aristocrats' authority always seems to be absolute, but it was said that fists were always closer than the law since ancient times.
If a person with low status was tied to harm aristocrats, they would be punished severely under the country's laws.
Even if the person who killed the aristocrat got punished, the victim would still be dead. So that meant the laws weren't there to protect them, but to punish the offenders.
So if Evan died, he could only depend on God to take his revenge for him.
"This looks delicious. I've never eaten anything like this before."
Meanwhile, Serena was drooling while watching the Kicking Special, which had just been placed in front of them.
Kicking Special was the middle part of the Tender Cow, famous for being the leanest and greasy among all monsters.
It was grilled on an iron plate with herbs from the dungeon and vegetables from the farms.
To make it such mouth-watering, one had to be very talented at cooking. And Chef Amy's cooking skills were as good as her powerful drinks.
"That's why the Palace doesn't serve such oily dishes. Those who don't even exercise normally, like the Princess, will quickly become plump if they eat this every day."
"But I'm exercising these days, so I can eat this right now. Isn't it Oppa? Isn't it?"
"Yes, yes."
The escort knights were also drooling over the overwhelmingly appetizing Kicking Special.
It was made with a broth of Tender Cow's bones, and its juicy meat. After that, some alcohol was poured on it, adding potatoes, onions, and carrots to the stew. The stew also smelled delicious.
"I will enjoy this food to the fullest! …Yum!"
Princess Serena was the first to rush with a fork and an iron plate. She chewed a piece of meat and lost her self-control.
Strangely, her pink eyes were spitting out starlight, but even if she didn't speak, Evan felt like he could hear her screaming on the inside due to joy.
"You are eating too fast. Everyone has a lot to eat."
"Yes, I know."
"Then?"
It was such a menu that only aimed at filling the stamina without considering much about the eater's health and nutritional balance at all. But that was partly the reason why it tasted so better.
Shine and Belois were nervously concentrating on eating silently. Seeing their increasing rate of eating sometime later, Evan was happy to see that they were starting to indulge themselves in experiences out of the mansion after all.
"No, Why aren't you eating and only watching us?"
"We will eat after you finish eating."
"This meat won't taste good when it cools down, so just eat it."
The escort knights also started eating. Evan lifted his fork and transferred the meat rolling on the iron plate to his mouth.
Stars exploded inside him.
'This is succulent. It's truly delicious.'
While chewing, too much juice flowed out, and the texture of the meat gently crumbled, and the savory taste and aroma spread in his mouth.
But then he remembered that he was here to search for talent! Evan thought they had to finish their meals and start moving again, so he began to shove heaps of meat in his mouth.
He had almost forgotten about his mission.
But the meat was extremely refreshing and savory and captured the feeling of the loin. 'I think I can eat this forever!' As expected, it was the best dish he had ever tasted.
'Well, it tastes more lethal than some poisons. Now I understand why strong people gather here.'
The weak probably couldn't survive the fierce competition for this café and were eliminated. Yes, that much was clear!
Evan, convinced of the thoughts he had in his mind, nodded before lunging again at some more meat and pork and putting them in his mouth.
The rich flavor of the monster cow meat spread in his mouth…
'Hmmm, Regular characters.'
Evan's eyes rolled from left to right and from right to left as he chewed the meat fiercely. Evan was currently in Yo-Ma Great War 3. He hadn't forgotten that it was nine years earlier than the time of the main story.
Excluding the young ones, there were a limited number of middle-aged Regulars who were active. Evan, who remembered all of their faces, would find them as long as they were present here.
'Um, there's nothing of interest, as of yet.'
It wasn't surprising that Evan couldn't find any exceptionally talented people, as it was a place where he could only hope for the ones who he had in mind.
Even if they were staying there somewhere on the royal road right now, the chances of them encountering Evan while he was there were not very high.
'But, in case I'm unable to find them, shall I come here again for lunch and dinner, tonight and tomorrow?'
The Marquis had decided to leave the Royal City as soon as he had finished his meetings with the King and other nobles. The morning of the day after tomorrow was the scheduled departure time, so Evan had until tomorrow to find one of the people he was looking for.
Evan was starting to think to search for them himself…
Evan hadn't come here to try out the luscious dishes. He had come here to find strong people, to help him survive.
"Wow, I ate too much. Can't we have this at the Palace too?"
"I agree very much with you. Princess and I appreciate the invite, but as Master Evan said, eating such meals would have a serious negative impact on your health."
"Okay, I get it now. You have to make sacrifices to achieve something in life. It's so sad. "
"Yes, you're right."
Meanwhile, the Princess looked like she would cry at the fact that she could not eat tender cow loin for every meal. But then she laughed brightly as if she had changed her mind.
"As I am able to eat it sometimes at least, then it will taste even more delicious! It's better if I think about it that way."
"Also vegetables, Princess. Eating only meat is bad for you."
"Oh no, I hate them. I hate vegetables."
"Alright, but for right now you can eat all you want."
"Yes!"
"Please don't waste time talking so casually Princess and eat quickly."
Evan took some vegetables and fed them directly to the Princess, who was feeding Ruby and looked around the café once more.
There was none of the characters present, whom he had been hoping to find. This was why he had no choice but to come back again this evening…
And then suddenly…
'I think I just saw a familiar face.'
Evan looked carefully again this time, to confirm the identity of the person he was looking at.
As expected, he found a young man sitting at the counter seating, drinking only alcohol without eating anything. It shouldn't have been long since he had arrived, but he was already looking quite drunk.
The funny thing was that what the man was wearing was a priest's uniform. A young priest who was drinking from the café in broad daylight? Was it even possible?
Evan was puzzled and raised his eyebrows… Then he suddenly realized. He saw the existence of iron armor that was revealed through the priest's uniform.
'A Holy Knight.'
He wasn't just a priest, but a Paladin too.
That was how the Paladins of the Church behaved while serving the God of War.
Suddenly Evan realized who that man was. The moment Evan saw him, the identity of the Paladin dawned on him.
'He was the worst boss of Yo-Ma Great War 4, the unbreakable shield, Raihan Drukas.'
The moment Evan recalled his name, A deep chill flowed through Evan's body.
'No way I found that terrible guy here!'
Evan's body was tense. The memories of his past life revived, and his whole body was shuddering.
'In Yo-Ma Great War 4, he was the worst boss among the good guys. That shield transformation of his was mind-blowing…!'
Raihan was the leader of the Paladins of the War God Church, and of course, he was never a villain.
The Church was present throughout the Yo-Ma Great War series.
Among the many Churches that appeared, it was the most brutal and which strongly opposed the demons. During the Yo-Ma Great War series, most of the protagonists lost the fight to the War God Church, at least once.
However, the problem was that in Yo-Ma Great War 4, the main character who went to receive the key items stored in the headquarters of the predecessor Church was tested at before proceeding with the story.
'Thinking that it would be a simple battle-related event, every player who played it shed tears of blood later.'
Matching conditions were simple.
The battle was 5v5, and five people from the protagonist party, including the main character, were selected (if there were fewer than five guys, they were sent back to reorganize, and this was their last chance to get out of this hell.)
At this time, it was that Raihan Drukas who stood in the center of the Paladins.
'A typical shield warrior. A knight who can do nothing except blocking healing magic.'
But all of that was a trap. Raihan Drukas was under full-body protection and had an aggressive skill that drew enemies from all sides towards him, so the attack target of the protagonist's party was unconditionally fixed at him.
If that happened, it would have been nice to defeat him quickly and defeat the remaining four Paladins, but that was not the case… He could not be defeated.
First of all, his defense was great, without a doubt.
Not only did he take very little damage, but the invincibility defense power of the shield was impenetrable. And the damage was put through that defense itself. However, even if some damage was inflicted, he periodically performed heal (exercising healing magic on himself) and was filled with full health and stamina again!
'While they were busy hitting Raihan, the four Paladins attacked the player's party and eventually annihilated them. To defeat Raihan somehow, even if you set the extreme power setting (the artifact setting that focused on attack power only), you were only able to vanquish Raihan. While the Paladins attacked you with the same ferocity as before. Even if you ignored Raihan and tried to attack the Paladins, you couldn't avoid Raihan's aggressive skill and was still wiped out.'
Death, destruction, and annihilation. Before the event, no matter how powerful the protagonist's party was, or went with different party members, or wore strong equipment, they were only destined to be destroyed.
Was he an undefeatable boss? How could someone conquer him? Could you proceed with the story? Even if all the users criticized the character, there was only a voiceless answer from the programmers, "There are no bugs." Then a solution was discovered by two people.
They found out that you could kill Raihan by temporarily stealing his shield with the help of a high-level thief.
'Of course, even without his shield, the battle was scary and hard, but it was not a level that could not be cleared anymore… Did other methods come out later? At the very moment when Raihan tried to activate the aggro skill, he had to be stunned (his defense was so strong that you had to stun him expertly. In other words, you had to prepare a separate character who had only trained the stun skill so he could stun Raihan). That was the only way to kill Raihan and the other knights before he could start his aggro.'
When Raihan was captured, or all Paladins except Raihan were captured, the battle ended with the player's victory.
The players who broke through that hellish battle cheered as if they had defeated the last boss, but the only thing that came back as a reward was, of course, the key item for the main quest.
It was a good memory even as Evan thought about it now. After that, the extremely cold feeling of that had been swirling around the fansite for a while collapsed. Everyone cursed the production crew.
"A wild, blizzard should hit them and they should freeze to death!"
'That was Raihan's story.'
Why was he drinking in such a place? It was 14 years later that he would become the leader of the Paladins, but it must be a promising week from now on…
"Do you want to ask him something, Master?"
But Evan seemed to have no thought for tomorrow.
He had tilted his head and was looking at Raihan drinking rum for a while now when a royal escort who noticed his gaze asked him.
Evan nodded, and he spoke without hesitation.
"He is a pretty famous guy. He was a promising priest at a young age because he possessed considerable divine power, but as soon as he finished his priesthood education, he entered the training facility to become a Paladin." (EVAN)
"Ah, are you talking about Raihan Drukas?"
"When he was young, he was a prodigy who was very much coveted by the Earth Church."
Another escort knight also intervened. He wore a sorrowful expression.
"It's a shame. Even though he doesn't have that aptitude for combat, he's training to become a Paladin. When I see someone drinking like that, it looks like they've failed."
"What if he fails again?"
"Will he give up and walk the way of a priest… or will he continue his training to become a Paladin?"
Raihan was in the position of training Paladin right now, so he was like an errand boy who was in charge of the Church's chores. After 10 years, there would be enough time for him to take the test again to become a formal Paladin, but his inherent qualities would not change, so who knows…
"If he has a choice, will he still choose to walk the way of a priest? That liquor won't probably give him comfort forever."
The escort knights began to talk a lot. Having a meal at the same table had been effective, so it seemed like they had become good friends to Evan and the group.
Thanks to that, Evan was just grateful that he got good information.
"Come back to reality, Evan Oppa."
Princess Serena, who had been looking at him, said, her lips completely smeared with oil.
"My Oppa's eyes are twinkling just like the first time he saw me."
"Please refrain from such misleading speech."
Evan gave the meat on his plate to Serena and stood up. Shine and Belois were watching him calmly.
"Go get what you want, Master."
"I will have to prepare one more luggage case on the way back it seems."
"Shine, Lua. Thank you."
Evan replied with a smile, took one step away from them, and headed to Raihan Drukas.
"Yes? Who are you, kid?"
"Hi, Hyung. I'm Evan D. Sherden. Is the seat next to you vacant?"
"Sherden? … Son of the Marquis of Sherden?! Why would such a noble person want to sit next to me!?"
Raihan didn't know that his future had changed.
Or maybe it hadn't yet.
No one knew for sure.
However, either way, Evan did not hesitate.
Because hunting had a law where the hunter didn't care for the game's circumstances.