It has been three days ever since Cliff started his magical training. For three days straight he has been removing the dirt inside of his circuits so that mana could flow more smoothly. However, he is unable to make any progress because of his curse that halves his mana pool.
"Have you made any progress yet, kid?"
The bald warrior patted Cliff's head. Both of them can be located near a waterfall, brushing their teeth with wooden toothbrushes. The lad took a look at the kid's face and saw his eyes covered with eyebags.
"K-kid, you didn't experience that during my training– how come you look more tired?" Enrid worriedly stated. He knows that his training has been tough and harsh, yet Cliff endured all of that for 2 whole weeks without looking THAT miserable.
"Magic…"
Cliff muttered something under his breath. It seems that this kid is still half-asleep, and he hasn't even noticed it himself yet that he is.
It made the bald warrior worried for the kid's health. During their time in the city recovering, he discovered that the son of the Carmesi lineage had been cursed by a witch that halves his usage of mana. At first, he didn't care that much due to not having mana.
But for the past few weeks of traveling together, he had seen this kid slowly improve for the better. The kid's face tells it all, he's still feeling some type of guilt.
Even though they already told him, this kid is still probably blaming himself for what had happened during the dungeon exploration incident.
If only I could help… Unfortunately, I do not have what they call a mana heart.
After brushing their teeth, Enrid led the kid back to the carriage where his mage friend was currently practicing as well. Ever since they met, he had seen this woman do this almost every day except for the end of the week.
"Essie, your student is looking pretty exhausted. Shall we stop at the next town for dinner?"
"We only have 9 days until the exam for the kid starts, we don't have time." She sternly declined. Despite being a mage, her personality is like a metal wall. Nothing gets past her, she's the mother figure of the group after all.
Wait, does that mean I'm the father figure? Hehe. I like the sound of that! Wait no–
"Oh come on~! Not even for a quick bite? I've heard that they make great food over there! Heck– Even the wine tastes great!" Not giving up, the man still tried convincing the woman of steel. But he got met with a sharp glare that made his tailbone freeze instead of getting a reply.
He gritted his teeth and grunted, before suddenly…
"The kid needs to take his mind off the training. Don't you see the eye-bags underneath his eyes–? Or did you get sooo~ old that your eyesight degraded–"
"There is no need for insults, you old bastard! Alright– fine! Let's stop for a quick bite…" The woman sighed, she looked at her student who seemed to be back at purifying his magical circuits again. His magical circuits are faintly glowing, but only for a few seconds.
It's gonna be rough for him…
The mage knew that this one was gonna be especially hard for the kid. Enrid's suggestion was probably right, she hasn't gotten a single look at him since he's been purifying it with just himself recently.
Cliff sighed, looking at the morning sun with a melancholic expression. His lips were moving, but they weren't releasing any words. He must be quivering, days or nights of no sleep, intent on just removing the dirt out of his magical circuits.
<••••••••••••••••••••••>
After a few hours, they arrived at the town that has been known to have a chef who cooks delicious meals. The town? It wasn't that grand, but there's a structure that shouldn't belong in it.
A fully fledged restaurant.
"H-hey, I thought we were going for a quick bite– Why are we AT A LUXURIOUS RESTAURANT?!" The lady with a big hat screamed, overwhelmed with emotions even deities couldn't describe.
"H-hey, do we even have enough gold for this–? Mr.Enrid?" The red-haired man trembled, even though he knew that this wasn't within their budget as adventurers or even him as part of the royal lineage of the Carmesi Lineage.
"U-uh.. I think we may have passed it. Let's ask the person at the front for directions! I'm sure this isn't it…hopefully…" Enrid sounded so positive earlier, but now he is devoid of any life and is just filled with nervousness and anxiety about his wallet.
The bald warrior went forward to the man wearing a suit, looking so luxurious and wearing a monocle on his left eye.
"Hey uh– I need directions–"
Why am I speaking so formally?!
"D-do you know where the famous diner that cooks delicious meals is? Me and my party just got here–"
"The building behind me."
"Pardon?"
A quick exchange of replies happens within a few seconds, yet the bald warrior wants to immediately leave after hearing what the well-dressed man just confirmed to him.
He looked behind him, and the mage with the big hat glared at him with such intensity and bloodlust. While red haired archer became stiff.
"Y-y'all have great hearing!" He nervously giggled, scratching his bald head with his fingers as he slowly approached the two.
Cliff sighed, suddenly coming forward and going to the well-dressed man with a mission to achieve.
"We would like to dine at your fine establishment. Is it possible for you to bill it to the Carmesi Family?" With eloquent speaking, he is trying his best to get inside of the diner using the connections he has.
By connections, he means his own family.
The well-dressed man looked at the red-haired teenager from head to toe, with an obvious judging look plastered on his face. Without any shame, he sighed deeply.
"I've determined that you are, indeed, part of the Carmesi Family by looking at your hair and pupils. All three of you are free to enter, just don't make a scene." With that response, they have managed to convince the well-dressed man to let them enter, his appearance is tangible enough for proof.
Both Esther and Enrid looked uncomfortable. The way they walk is so stiff, that it seems that even their body language knows that they do not belong in such a place that they aren't qualified to enter. However, that didn't matter to the red-haired archer.
"Y-you sure that it's fine to dine inside while wearing our adventurer attire? Isn't there a dress code?" Esther shuddered. She fancies herself as a proper woman with a proper fashion sense. In every event or place she went to, she had always prepared an outfit for it. Until this day, of course.
"It's fine, Ms.Esther. We're traveling adventurers, I'm sure that everyone is also wearing their traveling attire." Cliff calmly reassures the woman wearing a big hat. As they reached the entrance, it suddenly opened.
A gust of cold wind brushed through the strands of their hair. The moment they stepped inside, the atmosphere changed. It didn't feel like they were still in the same village like they'd been teleported somewhere else.
A golden chandelier hangs from the ceiling and intricates of shiny silver and gold patterns are on every wall. The surface has been covered up with a seemingly expensive red carpet that matches the color of the interior of the restaurant. On the walls, there were paintings of some old people wearing a white hat, and a chef's hat.
"Those must be…" Cliff pointed his index finger at one of the paintings on the wall.
"...the founders of the restaurant?" He tilted his head, the painting somehow looked recently made. Suddenly, a voice barged in…
"Yes, he owns the restaurant, dear customer. He is still alive." An old man with white hair and a beautiful woven beard wearing a luxurious suit answered their question. From the way he's dressed and answered that question, he must be part of the staff.
"So, he's the head chef?" The bald warrior blatantly asked without any shame.
"Well, he's the only chef."
An answer so shocking, that it made the entire room silent. The noise of nothingness was so loud across the room, that it practically deafened every noise, including the wind.
"I-I see…!" Enrid stuttered, unable to think of any replies to that statement.
This…is so awkward.
"Can we have a table for three people? We aren't gonna be here for too long, we would like to eat right away." Fortunately, Cliff broke the awkward silence.
With this awkward conversation ended, the old man tours them through the entire restaurant. Every single room was filled with gold and paintings, however, what's bizarre is that some of the portraits were meat. It's a restaurant, of course there's gonna be meat involved but…portraits of raw meat? What do they signify?
Time passes by and they've already arrived at the dining room where multiple people who are dressed exquisitely can be seen eating with a fork and a knife cutting through steaks.
Their attires are so different from the others, the moment they sat down, the vibe inside of the dining room changed. The piercing gazes of the nobles struck true to the three adventurers.
"Here you go, dear customers. This is the menu." With a flick of his fingers, a magical paper appeared on top of the table. With words written on the front and at the back of the sheet of paper.
Esther reached out for the menu and her eyes widened. She let go of the menu and the wind carried it to Enrid's side of the table.
"U-u-uh…!"
"What's wrong–?" Enrid reached for it and saw the prizes.
"300 Gold for a Steak?!" The warrior accidentally shouted out of surprise. Their wallets began shaking, while the red-haired archer just sighed.
"Take a look at the back of the menu, guys." Cliff brought his palm to his face, covering his embarrassment from the others.
Enrid flipped the paper around and found the other menu. Some meals were priced reasonably, and the choices weren't so bad either. The two veterans released a sigh, chuckling at their exaggerated reactions.
𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗗!!!
A loud slam reverberated across the dining area. So loud that it turned everyone's attention to the person who slammed their fist at the table, a blonde short-haired teenager with a face only their mother could love. They are dressed like royalty but their face is covered with orange sauce. He stood up and walked towards the adventurers who were laughing.
His big…round body topples the chandelier light, creating a big shadow that looms over the adventurers.
"Why are these 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗣𝗜𝗚 𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗦 allowed in such a fine restaurant?" A squeaky voice invades the adventurers' eardrums, irritating their heads from the big man's voice alone.
"Waitersh! Gwet this poor shwinesh out of this shacred reshtaurant! They will only hurt your chef'sh reputation and dirty your rug, like mud loving pigsh~"
Esther looked in the other direction, ashamed and embarrassed. While Enrid's hand balled up into a fist, growing angrier to the point that his fist was shaking.
The Big guy smirked.
These mud-loving pieces of shit dare to ruin my fine dining? They deserved to be kicked out!
"...Uck…" The red-haired archer muttered a word under his breath.
"What'sh that-? You shaying something, you lowly shc–"
"Fat fuck." Loud enough to be heard, Cliff stood up in front of the round guy.
"Wha–?!"
"Not only you are a fat fuck, you're a deaf fat fuck? Makes sense. A pig-shit eating bitch like you don't understand the language of the human." It doesn't end there.
"In fact, I can't even understand what you're saying. Your floppy meat flesh is making you unable to speak properly."
Cliff looked at him, with a large smirk on his face.
[ "Taunt" Activated. ]