Justyn blinked his eyes open as he groaned. His head hurt. His entire body ached. Everything was a discombobulating ss to him. He felt his stomach twisted as the urge to throw up overca him.
But that sensation went away as he lay, unmoving. What was he lying on? It felt like a soft mattress. But that couldn’t be right. He had been sleeping on the hardwood wagon as he was heading to… sowhere.
Justyn couldn’t rember where he was going. He couldn’t even rember why he was going to this destination. All he knew was that it was because of sothing important.
For a mont, he tried to recall everything that had happened so far.
And then he set up as his eyes grew wide. He rembered the burning of Windrip. He rembered Kallistus Kal bringing Guildmaster Evan as a prisoner.
But that was not all, Justyn rembered everything he had done to get to Alia— to warn her that the [Hero King] was coming for her, and to tell her to save Guildmaster Evan. With that goal in mind, the [Receptionist] had set out on a long and perilous journey to find the elusive Unranked Adventurer of Windrip.
Justyn had trekked up dangerous mountains and traveled to distant snowy lands. He had gathered every piece of information he could on where Alia could have gone. It took him months of traveling. Even though he was a re [Receptionist] who couldn’t fight, he still pushed himself to his very limit to get here.
And as soon as he arrived, he was rewarded with the discovery that his efforts were wasted.
This entire journey was moot. Because Alia had already been inford of all this— she had already been warned about the [Hero King], before being told about the predicant Guildmaster Evan faced. And just like that, before Justyn even arrived, Alia had rescued Evan.
It was almost too ridiculous to believe. But more than just that, it made this entire journey the [Receptionist] underwent a complete and utter waste of ti. He might as well have gone back to his ho, taken ti to unwind, and have a small vacation, instead of going through all this effort.
Justyn understood that he should have been relieved to learn that Evan had been saved. And certainly, a small part of the [Receptionist] felt that way. However, his trials and tribulations burned in his mind, and he felt an intense anger buildup inside of him. Before it quickly dissipated.
Sighing, he lowered his head. “What was the point?”
It was a question Justyn didn’t know the answer to. There was no reason for him to be angry, because there was nothing for him to direct his rage towards. Alia didn’t do anything wrong— she had only done what was right, saving Guildmaster Evan. And even if Justyn was upset at her, there was nothing he could do about it.
The sa logic applied to Kallistus Kal. The [Hero King] was a force of nature that Justyn could do nothing against. After all, he was only a [Receptionist]. So all he could do was sit down and let his emotions stew and cool.
After what felt like an eternity of doing nothing, he wondered aloud, “...what do I even do now?”
Justyn couldn’t just return to Windrip. It was still under the [Hero King]’s rule. And even if it had been taken back, his life there was gone. He had to start anew. But was he really going to just stay here in this farming village with nothing to do?
He sighed as he rubbed his temples. And as he considered getting up and leaving his room, he heard a rapping on the door. Looking up, Justyn watched as a brown-haired man stepped in, carrying a steaming bowl.
“Hey,” the man said with a friendly smile. “You’re awake, huh? That’s good. I was going to wake you up if you were still asleep. I an, I know you probably need your rest. But that’s the first ti I’ve seen soone sleep for nearly two whole days.”
Justyn blinked a few tis, before rubbing his temples. “I’ve been out for two days? That can’t be right…” But his stomach groaned in response, confirming what the brown-haired man was saying.
“Here, have so soup.” The man chuckled as he set down the bowl before Justyn.
“Thanks…?” Justyn gave an expectant look.
The man grinned and proffered a hand. “The na’s Harlan. It is a pleasure to et you.”
“Right, thanks Harlan,” Justyn said as he accepted the gesture.
—--
It had been a while now since I hired Edlyn to work at my restaurant. Thanks to her abilities as a [Royal Chef], my cooking workload had decreased significantly ever since she arrived. And I was grateful for it.
I knew I couldn’t pay as well as working in the Astra Palace did. However, I still felt bad for underpaying her for the services she provided for my restaurant. Especially after the common room was expanded to accommodate even more custors than ever before.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
It was sothing that I hadn’t expected when I hired Edlyn. So this imnse amount of workload had been thrust onto her against her will. Knowing this, and considering my increased inco from all the new custors, I decided to offer her a raise.
Well, that was one of my reasons to offer Edlyn a raise.
Another more important reason to was that I needed to show her my goodwill.
When I brought the [Royal Chef] here to Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant, I had assud that she would be able to acclimate to the environnt here with ease. Like everyone else so far.
Whether it was Noele, Garron, Nolan, Nicole, Harlan, or even Bucky. Everyone that I had t eventually got used to the things I was capable of doing. But not Edlyn. She was the only exception.
With every day that passed, I thought this would change. That she would finally wake up on a random morning and treat the things that happened around Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant like they were just an ordinary day. That never happened.
I noticed it. But I wasn’t the only one who did. Harlan had seen this too. And he was getting concerned for Edlyn. That was why he had spoken to . He had voiced his concerns to , and I thought maybe more exposure to would help with the problem.
But Harlan had explained to that the problem was .
That Edlyn was terrified of .
“Edlyn has spoken to about it,” Harlan had said last night. “She thinks you’re so kind of a monster. Which… you kind of are. But you need to show to her that you have a good heart.”
And that was what I was trying to do right now— by offering Edlyn a raise.
But the [Royal Chef] almost didn’t believe . “You’re offering … a raise?”
I nodded as Edlyn repeated after . “That’s right, do you want a raise?”
“Like, a raise? As in, more compensation?” Edlyn said, still staring at in disbelief.
“Compensation for your work, yes,” I agreed.
She pursed her lips. “And this compensation doesn’t co with any additional work?”
“Nope, none at all.”
“And it’s going to be monetary compensation, right? You’re not going to pay in… bastion bees?” Edlyn glanced around her shoulders nervously.
This conversation was starting to grate on my nerves. I sighed as I brought a bag of coins and spilled the money on the table. Edlyn flinched at first, before watching with round eyes as the coins clattered to a stop before her.
“This is what I’m compensating you with, yes,” I said flatly. “Do you not want more money?”
“I…” Edlyn hesitated. “And what’s the catch? Must I whore out my body?”
“That’s not—” I pinched the bridge of my nose.
Steeling myself, I tried to give the [Royal Chef] the kindest smile I could. I didn’t want to scare her off by being upset. But I was also getting a little bit annoyed with this conversation.
I looked her up and down as she eyed suspiciously. Edlyn was practically squishing herself back into her seat. She didn’t want to be here. She made her discomfort clear.
And that was because she didn’t trust .
But maybe she shouldn’t have even trusted . After all, I had ulterior motives. Just— not the motives she thought I had.
I took in a deep breath as I raised my head. If she was distrustful of because I wasn’t being genuine, then I just had to be truly transparent in my intentions.
“Look, Edlyn, I understand how you’re feeling. Well, not really, honestly. But I know that you’re antsy around — which is fair, I guess. And what I want is to reassure you that I’m a nice person. Which is why I’m offering you this raise.”
The [Royal Chef] blinked a few tis as I leant forward. I placed a hand on my chest as I continued.
“You’re probably the most irreplaceable employee I have right now. And I don’t want you to be driven to quitting— or sothing worse. So please, what can I do for you to convince you that I’m not a terrible person? What can I do for you to make your ti working here better for your ntal health?”
I wasn’t sure if the concept of ntal health even existed in this world. I was certain it didn’t. But Edlyn seed to understand the gist of what I ant anyways.
“I can’t quit even if I…” Edlyn started in a hushed voice.
And I raised a brow at that. But she quickly shook her head.
“I really appreciate the thought, Alia. However, I don’t know what you can offer that’ll really help ease my mind.” She chewed on her lower lip.
I frowned as I saw the way she nervously shifted where she sat. “But why not? Why are you doing all this work if you don’t want to get paid more— or even to get anything out of it?”
Edlyn closed her eyes for a long mont. She looked like she was trying to find the right words to say. Or rather, she seed like she was struggling to find what she could tell without being too transparent. Until, finally, she raised her head and placed a hand on her chest.
“I am doing this for my family. That’s why I am working here.”
“That’s it?” I asked, befuddled by that.
I had expected so other more complex reason. But Edlyn simply nodded.
“That’s it,” she said. “I care about my family more than anything in the world. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.”
I paused as I heard that. I considered this fact— that she was going through all this hardship and trauma for the sake of her loved ones. That must have ant that she was also working in the Astra Palace for her family too. But considering that she was the head chef back then, I doubted she ever had much free ti.
I tilted my head back. And I got an idea.
A smile spread across my lips as I looked back down at the [Royal Chef]. “Do you want to take the weekends off to visit your family?”
Edlyn furrowed her brows at . “What do you an by that?”
She was confused. And I didn’t want to go through a whole song and dance to convince her of my idea. So I rose to my feet and proffered her a hand.
“How about this— let take you to your family right now.”
“I… what?” And Edlyn just stared at in shock.
Reviews
All reviews (0)