"And why would I do that?" Filly raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. Seeing how desperately this beggar wanted to stay beside her restaurant, she was more certain he was not a Wandering Cultivator.
"That new restaurant will open soon, and I'm pretty sure your business will take a great hit… unless you have some breakthrough in enhancing your food," Apollo said, thinking about Skyline Savory. This was just a guess, but he believed that restaurant was too powerful for Filly to handle. A restaurant situated in the center of the city deciding to expand to another area? It just showed how successful their business was.
Seeing Filly frowning at his words, Apollo confirmed that his guess was true. He had seen Skyline Savory, and the structure and materials used in its building were worth a lot of money.
"Even if you are right, I still don't believe you," Filly said, waving her hand dismissively. "Take him away."
Gail nodded and started pulling Apollo.
Feeling the woman's strength, Apollo allowed himself to be dragged. But his eyes remained fixed on the notebook on the table.
He had only managed to read a handful of information on one page, but with his mind, that was enough to come up with a solution. He really didn't want to lose his beggar spot. He could just come back after being thrown out, but the woman with glasses seemed to want to kill him.
"You must have guessed already, the taste is too simple! There's nothing unique about your food!" Apollo shouted, causing Gail to frown. She raised her hand, about to knock the beggar unconscious when Filly shouted back.
"Wait!" Filly stared at the beggar strangely. "Have you eaten some of my food?"
"No," Apollo shook his head. "But I can tell."
He could tell just based on the bread he had tasted so far and from Filly's reaction that he was right.
Filly's mind became chaotic. She turned to her journal, then looked back at the beggar. "I will hear you out."
She realized she wasn't going to lose anything by listening. If he was speaking nonsense, Gail could handle him.
Apollo smiled as he walked up to her table. "May I take a look at your journal?"
Hesitation appeared on Filly's face, but considering her business was on the line, she sighed and handed him the notebook. "Do you even have clean hands?"
"Does it matter?" Apollo rolled his eyes before opening the journal and starting to read.
Gail stood by Filly's side and asked, "Why did you give him a chance?"
"I'm not going to lose anything anyway," Filly answered, glancing at her. Observing her face, she seemed to be troubled by something. "Is something bothering you?"
"It's just that…" Gail glanced back at the beggar. "He is not normal."
"What do you mean?" Filly asked.
"He blocked my attack earlier, and even when I hit him, his body could handle it with ease," Gail explained.
"Eh?" Filly turned to the beggar. Then perhaps, an eccentric cultivator? Is he really a Wanderer? A Wanderer is a cultivator who travels the world. There are actually many of them, and one of their known traits is wanting to experience life. Often, they pretend to be someone else: a farmer, a sailor, even a beggar.
This is their way of cultivating. Of course, they must possess a cultivation technique before they wander around.
Unlike Filly and those students who studied in Martial School, Wanderers have more experience as they have seen a lot.
There are all kinds of ways of cultivation, and these are just common ones; some even cultivate by tending to flowers. Cultivation is very mysterious, and not even the most experienced can fully understand it.
Filly didn't think of another reason anymore. If this beggar really had cultivation, she would just let him be. It would be up to his luck whether the city would discover him or not. The city was being cleaned of beggars, and if he was found, she wouldn't interfere. Besides, she thought they wouldn't do anything to him once they found out he was a Wanderer, only if he was.
The sound of flipping pages echoed for a while before Apollo handed the book back.
As I thought, their method is pretty simple, Apollo mused. They don't even have an oven! They only know how to cook over a fire and on a pan. Their use of ingredients is also straightforward—they just put them in a pan and let them cook. Even more ridiculous is that they only know a handful of spices!
Apollo sighed, disheartened that the culinary arts of this world were not very advanced.
"Give me a pen and another journal," Apollo said.
Gail and Filly looked at each other for a moment before Gail took out another notebook from a drawer along with a pen. She handed them to Apollo and took a step back.
"Hey, if you fail to impress me—" Filly stopped mid-sentence. There's a high chance this boy is just pretending to be a beggar, so she refrained from saying more.
Apollo wasn't bothered by her. Instead, he thought for a moment before starting to write in the journal. His plan was simple: write down a cooking technique and ingredients. He also added recipes for famous dishes from his previous life like fried chicken and spaghetti.
Only the sound of his writing reverberated in the room. This lasted for almost 30 minutes before the beggar closed the journal. "Here you go."
Filly took the journal but didn't open it yet. She stared intently at the beggar before nodding her head. "If this can really help me, I will let you stay near my restaurant. But if it doesn't… don't blame me when you find yourself being eaten by a dog."
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Apollo nodded uninterestedly.
"Gail, escort him out," Filly ordered.
Soon, she was the only one left in the room.
She glanced at the journal, thinking how crazy it was to expect anything from a beggar. Filly opened it and started reading. At first, she read it without expecting much, but after a few seconds, her eyes widened in disbelief.
These cooking techniques! And these ingredients! Reading those 'otherworldly' techniques made her mouth slightly open. Some of them were simple, yet when combined with other techniques, they created a harmony that could enhance the flavor of the food!
And what is this Fried Chicken and Spaghetti? Filly continued to read, her amazement reaching its peak after she finished the journal.
"This is too phenomenal… especially how to cook the fried chicken and spaghetti…" Filly muttered, saliva threatening to fall from her mouth.