The man was also shocked because, from Rian's words, he felt the man was only capable of cynical comments and honestly was even a little scared of him.
Once he heard Rian's words, he felt he was the one in the wrong and blushed, "No. I should be the one apologizing. You are right. You came with friendly intentions, and I was being…"
He couldn't finish his words in embarrassment as he lowered his head.
Cyril chuckled, "Okay, let's stop apologizing to each other. It was our first meeting, and it is inevitable to have a couple of misunderstandings since we don't know each other. Let's put the past in the past, shall we?"
The man and Rian nodded immediately.
The man then asked, "Umm, you said you wanted to make a deal with me, right? What deal were you talking about? I don't think I can help you with anything inside this prison, right? I am but a weakling who knows nothing but to cook."
Cyril asked him, "How long have you been in this prison for?"
The man lowered his head as he blushed once again, "Umm, it's been two years. I know living in ward 3 for two years is silly, but as a cook, gaining enough points was difficult compared to other identities."
The other two did not comment and calmly nodded.
"Oh, I am sorry, but I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tibbath. Nice to meet you," Tibbath shook hands with both of them courteously.
After a couple of pleasantries, Cyril asked Tibbath for food for them both. He said he would pay for the ingredients and his cooking, and Tibbath happily jumped around to his kitchen and started to cook for them.
He was humming a song they had not heard before as the sounds of sizzling filled the den in no time.
In a few minutes, Tibbath presented a variety of dishes in front of Cyril and Rian as he looked at them in excitement, "Try it. Please tell me how the dishes taste."
Cyril looked at his excitement and felt weird. The man looked weak and scared all this while. But when presenting his dishes, his personality changed completely.
He felt a little weirded out by his expression. He then looked at the delicious-looking dishes in front of him and then back at Tibbath's expectant expression.
He suddenly had a bad feeling.
Was the food poisoned?
This cook was inside an island prison nonetheless. There is no way his crime would be anything small. He did not know what it was nor did he want to ask.
At that moment, this cook in front of him was a potential business partner, and Cyril didn't want to have any bad blood between them.
However, he can't eat the food without having any doubts either.
Who knows if he is a pervert who enjoys watching people eat his poisoned food and struggle to death with his own eyes?
He smiled at Tibbath and said, "Won't you join us? Let's share?"
Tibbath shook his head, "No, I am not hungry. Please have a taste without minding me."
Even though his words sounded polite, his expression looked as excited as earlier and this contrast made him look even creepier than before.
Cyril had to try very hard to contain his expressions. Just as he was about to lose it, Rian beat him to it, "Hey, you look so creepy. Why are you so excited about feeding us anyway? Don't tell me, did you poison our food?"
"..."
"..."
Cyril and Tibbath fell silent as they slowly turned their heads to look at Rian.
Cyril heaved a sigh of relief in secret. He suddenly felt that it wouldn't be bad to have a fool on his side. This way, he could do everything he couldn't on the surface and no one would blame him either.
He may look selfish for using Rian this way, but any person would be lying if there wasn't a selfish side inside them.
Even though Cyril was happy about Rian pointing out the problem and placing it on the table out in the open, he still had to remark on the surface, "Rian, what are you saying? How could he poison us? I am sorry, Tibbath. I promise he did not mean anything bad by what he said. By now, you should have understood his nature, right?"
Tibbath blinked his eyes and coughed unnaturally. He then shook his hands in the air in embarrassment, "No, no, Cyril. Don't apologize. He was actually right. I can understand his thoughts as well. I did not realize how excited I got just now. Please pardon me. I assure you both, that there is no poison in the food I just cooked.
"I respect my profession very much. No matter what, I would never taint my sacred food by doing such a thing. Anyway, to prove my innocence, let me have a taste of all the dishes once in front of you."
He did not wait for their reactions before he grabbed a spoon and started to take a bite from each of the plates and bowls.
He did not even spare the water in the glasses in front of them and tasted everything.
Once he was done, he gestured for them to eat, and they took a bite without any delay.
As soon as the food touched their tastebuds, they fell into a trance and looked at Tibbath in surprise.
Tibbath looked at them with anticipation. His butt raised from the seat as he asked with his shining eyes, "How is it? Is it tasty? Do you find anything amiss? If your taste is different from mine, you can tell me and I will adjust the taste accordingly."
Even if the chef is skilled, not everyone's tastebuds react the same. After all, everyone had different interests and tastes.
Some would like more spicy, some more sour, and some perfect sweets. Everyone has their own sense of measurement and Tibbath wanted the ones eating the food made by him to enjoy the taste to their fullest.
Cyril shook his head, "No, it tastes great. I did not expect this at all."
[-10 exp for breaking the rule.
-10 exp for breaking the rule.]