It had been a long time since Dorien had visited Wolfwater. The last time he was here had been nearly a decade ago— around the first time the Miststorm Riders had attacked. Now, they had attacked once again, and he was back.
It was pure misfortune. Rotten luck or ill chance. The only silver lining was that this time around, the Miststorm Riders had been defeated before they had been able to seriously attack the farming village. In fact, by the looks of it, Dorien was certain that Wolfwater had mostly escaped unscathed.
He had heard plenty of conflicting rumors of how those [Bandits] had been wiped out. One story said that a single blonde adventurer had fought them off all by herself, while an unofficial report from Whiteridge claimed that the Miststorm Riders had been repelled by the city guards.
Dorien had even heard from a few folks that a twisted purple mist engulfed the [Bandits], causing them to spontaneously combust in the middle of battle. Although… that sounded too ridiculous to be true.
What actually happened— Dorien didn’t know. He was here in Wolfwater for one reason only, and that was at the behest of his good friend. He was a Level 35 [Druid]. It was his role as a guardian of the forest to restore and protect nature. While he didn’t normally answer requests from citydwellers or townspeople, this was a personal request.
“It should be done.” Dorien drew back, stepping away from the small field. He lifted his wooden staff from the ground as he faced his friend. “Would that be all?”
“I really appreciate this, Dorien,” Nolan said as he bowed his head low. “This really means a lot to me. How can I ever repay you?”
Dorien just smiled at the [Farmer] in response. “There is no need to worry about paying me back. Just be careful not to trample the soil over the next day— the fertility spell needs at least twelve hours to take effect.”
Nolan glanced over at the empty field. “Of course. I will ensure that no one steps foot on—” he started.
But the [Farmer] just paused. Dorien tilted his head, eyeing his friend curiously.
“Is something the matter?” the [Druid] asked.
“It’s… I just hear… something…” Nolan started.
And Dorien furrowed his brows. He shifted backwards as his robes rustled beneath him. He wasn’t used to wearing clothing— he was more accustomed to walking around bare in the forest. But he had the forethought to clothe himself while he was in civilization.
He shuffled his feet with narrowed eyes. “I do not hear anything—”
But the [Druid] paused. He heard it too. He leant forward, blinking a few times.
“What is—”
“—BIIIIIIIIIITCH!”
And a figure crashed straight into the empty field. Both Nolan and Dorien backed away warily as a small crater tore through the field. They stared at the hole with wide eyes, before staring at the man lying bloodied and bruised at the bottom.
“Is he dead?” Dorien asked, raising a brow.
The man wheezed, looking up at both the [Farmer] and the [Druid]. He opened his mouth and gasped. He barely managed to muster out a single word.
“...c-chicken—”
And he passed out.
“...chicken?” the [Druid] repeated, utterly perplexed.
But Nolan pursed his lips, seemingly understanding what was going on. “That’s… probably Bucky? Which means Amelia did this, then.”
“What?” Dorien asked as he turned to his old friend. “Who’s Bucky? Who’s Amelia?”
The [Farmer] just sighed, dragging the unconscious man out of the hole. “Let’s treat him first. I’ll explain things later.”
“I…” Dorien blinked, then shrugged and followed along.
—--
The next day was the day of the official grand opening of Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant. Xakor himself was going to make the official announcement, so it was probably going to be a busy day today with a lot more customers than usual.
Sure, I had cooked a handful of meals for Noele, her parents, Garron, and a few others since arriving in Vacuos. But it was an entirely different experience, constantly preparing dishes for customers. And that was only with the few customers I had gotten the day before. Today was going to be an entirely different experience.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I was certainly glad that I wasn’t going to be dealing with this deluge of orders all alone. Xakor was going to be there with me, and he was also going to be serving some of his special dishes from his world, alongside other food inventions he had come up with while trapped in Vacuos.
I slowly dragged myself out of bed, and I realized I was smiling. Was I excited? I paused. Maybe I was.
After all, things were starting to look up for me in this world. Perhaps maybe I could actually live the peaceful life I’d dreamt of for so long…
I stepped out into the kitchen, ready for the busy day ahead of me. I had been sleeping at the restaurant recently, reappropriating one of the storage rooms into a temporary bedroom, and not returning to the farm because of time constraints. I hadn’t seen Nolan and Nicole around for a while since they’d been so busy too, but according to Noele, they were going to show up for the grand opening, so I had that to look forward to.
It was the crack of dawn, and I was already up, pre-preparing all the ingredients I was going to be using today. Xakor was already waiting for me, ready to play his part for today. He nodded at me.
“Xrr, good morning, Amelia. I trust you had a good rest?” he asked casually.
“Nope,” I said simply. “I couldn’t sleep. Too restless. But don’t worry about me, I can work with no sleep for.. forever, basically.” I shrugged as I quickly washed my hands at the sink.
“It is a big day. But there is no need to worry,” Xakor said reassuringly. “I will… xrr, do everything in my power to ensure that there will be no complications today.”
“Thanks. You’ve done a lot for me.” I nodded gratefully back at the alien, before glancing out of the kitchen. “But I am worried about Harlan.”
I spotted the former guardsman sitting at the bar counter, yawning and rubbing his eyes drowsily. He slumped his head on the table as he quickly dozed off.
“I think he may be overworking himself to… prove himself to me?” I shook my head.
I looked past him, eyeing the additional tables and chairs set outside of the restaurant, significantly increasing our seating for today. Harlan had set it all up himself.
“I didn’t even ask him to do that…” I murmured.
“Xrr, it’s good that you’ve found a hardworking employee. But I can understand your concerns.” Xakor drew back, starting out of the kitchen. “I’ll speak with Harlan, then I’ll spread the news of our grand opening around Wolfwater. Just ready yourself for today, Amelia. You have a lot of cooking ahead of you.”
“Will do…” And I continued making preparations for the rest of the day.
It was daunting. Sure, I had experience fighting an infinite swarm of voidlings and voidbeasts. I had even fought and killed the Voidgod. But I was used to the constant thrill of battle— the threat of death was nothing to me.
However, cooking for so many people all at once? I couldn’t lie… I was a tiny bit nervous.
—--
It was still morning by the time Noele arrived at the restaurant. But there was already a large crowd gathered outside. The blonde girl didn’t expect to see such a large turn-out today— not before it was even afternoon. She had known that Xakor himself would be going around Wolfwater to advertise the grand opening of Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant.
But still, she was pretty sure at least half the village was already gathered here. She saw [Farmers] and [Traders] and [Hunters] milling about the outside of the small building. It couldn’t accommodate all of them— not even with all those extra tables and chairs that had been set outside in anticipation of the influx of customers.
Noele was pretty sure she recognized quite a few faces in the crowd. Even if the village had grown significantly since she left— nearly tripling in size over the last ten years— this was still her hometown.
She moved her way to the front of the crowd, listening to the clamor of voices.
“Where is he? He said he’d be here—”
“I can’t believe the Patron of the Culinary Sciences is actually opening up a restaurant in our village…”
“He really does have four arms! I saw it with my own eyes! I even shook one of his hands!”
“Excuse me, sorry, coming through—” Noele said as she navigated through the crowd.
It would be a lot easier for her to force her way through if Garron was with her. He was a rather large man, and his intimidating gaze would immediately clear a path for them. While the blonde girl was an A-ranked adventurer, she still looked like… just a girl.
Noele wasn’t large, nor did she have a looming figure. She was of average height, and her most distinct feature were her white eyes. Meanwhile, the Steel Tank had been given his Title for a reason. He was quite menacing, even if he was kind.
But he was only going to be visiting later in the afternoon with her parents as customers. Meanwhile, Noele had promised to help out at the restaurant today, which was why she was here now before it even opened.
“I’m sorry! I have to…” Noele started.
But a hand reached out from the crowd, grabbing her. The Noble Spellsword blinked and glanced back. Her brows snapped together as she glared.
“Hey—”
But she froze when she saw who it was. Noele recognized him instantly. She saw his calloused hands, then looked up at his wrinkled and tanned face. His hair was long and disheveled, and he had a long scruffy gray beard covering his lips. Her eyes widened as he smiled back at her.
“It has been a while since we have spoken, Noele,” he said. He took a step forward, leaning on his wooden staff as he nodded at her. “You have grown quite a bit since I last saw you. You look just like your sister now.”
“Dorien!” the blonde girl exclaimed. She stared at the [Druid] with wide eyes for a moment, before immediately throwing her arms around him in a hug. “What are you doing here? When did you arrive?”
He chuckled as he hugged her warmly. She drew back, smiling as she looked him up and down. Noele had known he was going to be visiting Wolfwater to help with its recovery after the Miststorm Riders’ attack. But she didn’t know that he was already here.
“I got here last night,” Dorien explained, glancing back towards the farm. “I met up with your father at his farm, and I stayed up waiting for you to return for a few hours, but you never came.”
“Sorry,” the blonde girl said, shaking her head. “I only returned at midnight because I was helping out at the restaurant. Where are you staying?”
The [Druid] glanced towards the restaurant. “I’m staying at the local inn. I was going to visit the farm again today, but I heard the hubbub, and decided to check out what it was about.”
“Right… this whole thing…” Noele nodded slowly. “My friend— Amelia— and Xakor the Patron of the Culinary Sciences are opening up a restaurant here together. It has… garnered quite a bit of attention.” She swept her gaze over the busy crowd.
“It seems interesting,” Dorien said with an approving look. “And your friend… I take it she’s this mentor of yours Nolan was talking about?”
The blonde girl blinked. “Oh, Papa told you about her.”
“He did. And your mentor sounds like quite the interesting fellow… I would love to speak with her.” The [Druid] ran a hand through his beard, and Noele scratched her cheek.
“It’s a big day for Amelia— I’m not sure if she’ll have time to chat today.” Noele nodded apologetically. “I can’t promise you anything, but if there are no problems today, I’ll try to introduce you to her—”
And right as the blonde girl said that, a voice shouted over the crowd. A bandaged figure marched up to the front of the restaurant as heads turned to face the man. Noele immediately recognized him as the man from yesterday. The one who had caused trouble for Bucky— only to be flicked out of the village.
He was back. And this time, he wasn’t alone. He was accompanied by a group of angry gruff men armed with weapons at their sides.
“You!” he exclaimed, pointing angrily past the crowd and into the restaurant. “How dare you assault me! Don’t you know who I am?”
“Who?” Noele stared, puzzled for a moment. But she shook her head, pursing her lips. “I should have kept my mouth shut…”
It had been a long time since Dorien had visited Wolfwater. The last time he was here had been nearly a decade ago— around the first time the Miststorm Riders had attacked. Now, they had attacked once again, and he was back.
It was pure misfortune. Rotten luck or ill chance. The only silver lining was that this time around, the Miststorm Riders had been defeated before they had been able to seriously attack the farming village. In fact, by the looks of it, Dorien was certain that Wolfwater had mostly escaped unscathed.
He had heard plenty of conflicting rumors of how those [Bandits] had been wiped out. One story said that a single blonde adventurer had fought them off all by herself, while an unofficial report from Whiteridge claimed that the Miststorm Riders had been repelled by the city guards.
Dorien had even heard from a few folks that a twisted purple mist engulfed the [Bandits], causing them to spontaneously combust in the middle of battle. Although… that sounded too ridiculous to be true.
What actually happened— Dorien didn’t know. He was here in Wolfwater for one reason only, and that was at the behest of his good friend. He was a Level 35 [Druid]. It was his role as a guardian of the forest to restore and protect nature. While he didn’t normally answer requests from citydwellers or townspeople, this was a personal request.
“It should be done.” Dorien drew back, stepping away from the small field. He lifted his wooden staff from the ground as he faced his friend. “Would that be all?”
“I really appreciate this, Dorien,” Nolan said as he bowed his head low. “This really means a lot to me. How can I ever repay you?”
Dorien just smiled at the [Farmer] in response. “There is no need to worry about paying me back. Just be careful not to trample the soil over the next day— the fertility spell needs at least twelve hours to take effect.”
Nolan glanced over at the empty field. “Of course. I will ensure that no one steps foot on—” he started.
But the [Farmer] just paused. Dorien tilted his head, eyeing his friend curiously.
“Is something the matter?” the [Druid] asked.
“It’s… I just hear… something…” Nolan started.
And Dorien furrowed his brows. He shifted backwards as his robes rustled beneath him. He wasn’t used to wearing clothing— he was more accustomed to walking around bare in the forest. But he had the forethought to clothe himself while he was in civilization.
He shuffled his feet with narrowed eyes. “I do not hear anything—”
But the [Druid] paused. He heard it too. He leant forward, blinking a few times.
“What is—”
“—BIIIIIIIIIITCH!”
And a figure crashed straight into the empty field. Both Nolan and Dorien backed away warily as a small crater tore through the field. They stared at the hole with wide eyes, before staring at the man lying bloodied and bruised at the bottom.
“Is he dead?” Dorien asked, raising a brow.
The man wheezed, looking up at both the [Farmer] and the [Druid]. He opened his mouth and gasped. He barely managed to muster out a single word.
“...c-chicken—”
And he passed out.
“...chicken?” the [Druid] repeated, utterly perplexed.
But Nolan pursed his lips, seemingly understanding what was going on. “That’s… probably Bucky? Which means Amelia did this, then.”
“What?” Dorien asked as he turned to his old friend. “Who’s Bucky? Who’s Amelia?”
The [Farmer] just sighed, dragging the unconscious man out of the hole. “Let’s treat him first. I’ll explain things later.”
“I…” Dorien blinked, then shrugged and followed along.
—--
The next day was the day of the official grand opening of Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant. Xakor himself was going to make the official announcement, so it was probably going to be a busy day today with a lot more customers than usual.
Sure, I had cooked a handful of meals for Noele, her parents, Garron, and a few others since arriving in Vacuos. But it was an entirely different experience, constantly preparing dishes for customers. And that was only with the few customers I had gotten the day before. Today was going to be an entirely different experience.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I was certainly glad that I wasn’t going to be dealing with this deluge of orders all alone. Xakor was going to be there with me, and he was also going to be serving some of his special dishes from his world, alongside other food inventions he had come up with while trapped in Vacuos.
I slowly dragged myself out of bed, and I realized I was smiling. Was I excited? I paused. Maybe I was.
After all, things were starting to look up for me in this world. Perhaps maybe I could actually live the peaceful life I’d dreamt of for so long…
I stepped out into the kitchen, ready for the busy day ahead of me. I had been sleeping at the restaurant recently, reappropriating one of the storage rooms into a temporary bedroom, and not returning to the farm because of time constraints. I hadn’t seen Nolan and Nicole around for a while since they’d been so busy too, but according to Noele, they were going to show up for the grand opening, so I had that to look forward to.
It was the crack of dawn, and I was already up, pre-preparing all the ingredients I was going to be using today. Xakor was already waiting for me, ready to play his part for today. He nodded at me.
“Xrr, good morning, Amelia. I trust you had a good rest?” he asked casually.
“Nope,” I said simply. “I couldn’t sleep. Too restless. But don’t worry about me, I can work with no sleep for.. forever, basically.” I shrugged as I quickly washed my hands at the sink.
“It is a big day. But there is no need to worry,” Xakor said reassuringly. “I will… xrr, do everything in my power to ensure that there will be no complications today.”
“Thanks. You’ve done a lot for me.” I nodded gratefully back at the alien, before glancing out of the kitchen. “But I am worried about Harlan.”
I spotted the former guardsman sitting at the bar counter, yawning and rubbing his eyes drowsily. He slumped his head on the table as he quickly dozed off.
“I think he may be overworking himself to… prove himself to me?” I shook my head.
I looked past him, eyeing the additional tables and chairs set outside of the restaurant, significantly increasing our seating for today. Harlan had set it all up himself.
“I didn’t even ask him to do that…” I murmured.
“Xrr, it’s good that you’ve found a hardworking employee. But I can understand your concerns.” Xakor drew back, starting out of the kitchen. “I’ll speak with Harlan, then I’ll spread the news of our grand opening around Wolfwater. Just ready yourself for today, Amelia. You have a lot of cooking ahead of you.”
“Will do…” And I continued making preparations for the rest of the day.
It was daunting. Sure, I had experience fighting an infinite swarm of voidlings and voidbeasts. I had even fought and killed the Voidgod. But I was used to the constant thrill of battle— the threat of death was nothing to me.
However, cooking for so many people all at once? I couldn’t lie… I was a tiny bit nervous.
—--
It was still morning by the time Noele arrived at the restaurant. But there was already a large crowd gathered outside. The blonde girl didn’t expect to see such a large turn-out today— not before it was even afternoon. She had known that Xakor himself would be going around Wolfwater to advertise the grand opening of Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant.
But still, she was pretty sure at least half the village was already gathered here. She saw [Farmers] and [Traders] and [Hunters] milling about the outside of the small building. It couldn’t accommodate all of them— not even with all those extra tables and chairs that had been set outside in anticipation of the influx of customers.
Noele was pretty sure she recognized quite a few faces in the crowd. Even if the village had grown significantly since she left— nearly tripling in size over the last ten years— this was still her hometown.
She moved her way to the front of the crowd, listening to the clamor of voices.
“Where is he? He said he’d be here—”
“I can’t believe the Patron of the Culinary Sciences is actually opening up a restaurant in our village…”
“He really does have four arms! I saw it with my own eyes! I even shook one of his hands!”
“Excuse me, sorry, coming through—” Noele said as she navigated through the crowd.
It would be a lot easier for her to force her way through if Garron was with her. He was a rather large man, and his intimidating gaze would immediately clear a path for them. While the blonde girl was an A-ranked adventurer, she still looked like… just a girl.
Noele wasn’t large, nor did she have a looming figure. She was of average height, and her most distinct feature were her white eyes. Meanwhile, the Steel Tank had been given his Title for a reason. He was quite menacing, even if he was kind.
But he was only going to be visiting later in the afternoon with her parents as customers. Meanwhile, Noele had promised to help out at the restaurant today, which was why she was here now before it even opened.
“I’m sorry! I have to…” Noele started.
But a hand reached out from the crowd, grabbing her. The Noble Spellsword blinked and glanced back. Her brows snapped together as she glared.
“Hey—”
But she froze when she saw who it was. Noele recognized him instantly. She saw his calloused hands, then looked up at his wrinkled and tanned face. His hair was long and disheveled, and he had a long scruffy gray beard covering his lips. Her eyes widened as he smiled back at her.
“It has been a while since we have spoken, Noele,” he said. He took a step forward, leaning on his wooden staff as he nodded at her. “You have grown quite a bit since I last saw you. You look just like your sister now.”
“Dorien!” the blonde girl exclaimed. She stared at the [Druid] with wide eyes for a moment, before immediately throwing her arms around him in a hug. “What are you doing here? When did you arrive?”
He chuckled as he hugged her warmly. She drew back, smiling as she looked him up and down. Noele had known he was going to be visiting Wolfwater to help with its recovery after the Miststorm Riders’ attack. But she didn’t know that he was already here.
“I got here last night,” Dorien explained, glancing back towards the farm. “I met up with your father at his farm, and I stayed up waiting for you to return for a few hours, but you never came.”
“Sorry,” the blonde girl said, shaking her head. “I only returned at midnight because I was helping out at the restaurant. Where are you staying?”
The [Druid] glanced towards the restaurant. “I’m staying at the local inn. I was going to visit the farm again today, but I heard the hubbub, and decided to check out what it was about.”
“Right… this whole thing…” Noele nodded slowly. “My friend— Amelia— and Xakor the Patron of the Culinary Sciences are opening up a restaurant here together. It has… garnered quite a bit of attention.” She swept her gaze over the busy crowd.
“It seems interesting,” Dorien said with an approving look. “And your friend… I take it she’s this mentor of yours Nolan was talking about?”
The blonde girl blinked. “Oh, Papa told you about her.”
“He did. And your mentor sounds like quite the interesting fellow… I would love to speak with her.” The [Druid] ran a hand through his beard, and Noele scratched her cheek.
“It’s a big day for Amelia— I’m not sure if she’ll have time to chat today.” Noele nodded apologetically. “I can’t promise you anything, but if there are no problems today, I’ll try to introduce you to her—”
And right as the blonde girl said that, a voice shouted over the crowd. A bandaged figure marched up to the front of the restaurant as heads turned to face the man. Noele immediately recognized him as the man from yesterday. The one who had caused trouble for Bucky— only to be flicked out of the village.
He was back. And this time, he wasn’t alone. He was accompanied by a group of angry gruff men armed with weapons at their sides.
“You!” he exclaimed, pointing angrily past the crowd and into the restaurant. “How dare you assault me! Don’t you know who I am?”
“Who?” Noele stared, puzzled for a moment. But she shook her head, pursing her lips. “I should have kept my mouth shut…”
