It had snowed all night. When Arden got up in the morning and looked from the terrace, he saw that everywhere the eye could see was covered in white. The first snowfall is special. At least for Arden. Growing up without a mother, he had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with his father. And the two of them had their traditions. For example, making a snowman in the first snow. But this tradition seemed to wait a little longer, as he stood in front of the inn with a shovel in hand and stared at the snow blocking the entrance.
After speaking to Matt yesterday, Matt had spoken to his teammates. The fact that they were in such a situation for the first time allowed them to establish a common bond. And he had improved his situation a little bit.
Arden began clearing the snow in front of the inn with his shovel. The weather had warmed up a little after the snow had stopped. But this warming was not at a temperature like in summer days, but rather at a level where one could stand without shivering with a coat.
As Arden continued to work, the door behind him opened. Turning around to see who it was, he saw that it was Emily, one of the rescued prisoners. Emily and Robert were siblings, which he learned later when he asked them what had happened.
“Mr. Arden, do you need help?”
Arden was very sad when he heard Emily and Robert's story. They were become homeless and parentless overnight. Since they had nowhere to go, they followed Matt and his team and came this far.
Arden began to speak when he saw the thin dress she was wearing.
“Uh, Emily, thanks, It's almost done. You go inside or you'll catch a cold"
“Thank you again, Mr. Arden, for having my brother and me at your inn,” she said.
Arden looked at the girl who had lost everything a few days ago. Although the girl was not tall, she was above average. His eyes were red, this redness was caused by crying for a long time.
Robert and Emily seemed like good people too. But all bad things happen to good people anyway.
“Emily, I wanted to talk to you about something. Is your brother awake?”
“Yes, he is in the lobby .” said Emily, wondering what Mr. Arden would say.
"Okay, I'm going to get over there, you go inside, it's cold." said
Emily closed the door and walked in with a curious expression on her face. After clearing the last snow blocking the front of the inn, Arden opened the door of the inn and entered.
The warm lobby of the inn relaxed his frozen face. After putting the shovel in the warehouse, he went back to the lobby.
There was no one else in the lobby but Robert and Emily. Matt and his team had come from a long and difficult mission. That's why they didn't wake up yet. Those in the white lion team had not woken up yet either.
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Arden slowly walked to the table where Emily and Robert were sitting and pulled up a chair and sat down.
“There was something I wanted to talk to you about?”
“What is it, Mr. Arden?” said Robert.
Arden took a deep breath and began to speak.
“Do you have any plans for the future? I guess you won't be able to go back to where you used to be? Do you have someone or a relative to help you?”
Hearing these questions, both of them lowered their heads. It was as if these questions reminded them of the situation they were in.
“Unfortunately not. I don't know where we will stay. If I can sign up for the Adventurers guild and earn some money, we can find a place for ourselves.”
“Actually, I have a proposition for you. I just opened the inn and I don't have enough staff. I was thinking of looking for someone who will serve a few meals and also help me with the cleaning of the inn. If you accept, you can stay at the inn, and I will also pay you 80 copper per week.”
Hearing this offer, the eyes of siblings widened. Such an offer was like a lifeline when they had nowhere to go.
“Of course we do, Mr. Arden,” said Emily.
"Ok then. For now, you can stay in the rooms you are currently staying in, then we can arrange a separate room for you.”
“Thank you Mr. Arden,” said Robert. He had a smile-like expression on his face. He was obviously very concerned with his sister's and his own future.
“Call me Arden or boss. There is no need for mr”
They both nodded in agreement.
Just then, some voices came from upstairs. When Arden looked up, he saw Matt and the others awake.
“Good morning,” Arden said, looking upstairs.
“Oh, good morning to you too. You're pretty early"
“Well, I have an inn to run. I have to get up early.”
By this time, Matt and his team had descended into the lobby. When Zeke saw siblingss, he came towards them and started talking.
“I know it will be difficult for you but we have to report what happened to the city council today. We may need to assemble a research team to find the leader of these bandits.”
“Of course, Mr. Zeke, we'll do our best to help,” said Roberth.
"Okay, then let's have breakfast first, then we'll go to petra and get it done."
When Arden heard the word breakfast, he realized something. Dora still had not arrived at the inn. She probably had trouble getting here because of the snow. Just as he was about to go and prepare breakfast himself, the door of the inn opened.
Dora walked through the door wearing a thick coat. There were a few bits of snow still stuck to their feet.
“I'm late, sorry,” said Dora, looking at Arden. Shaking off the snow on her shoes.
“How did you get here, Dora, there is 40 cm of snow outside”
“Although walking was a little difficult, I was able to arrive in 30 minutes.” said Dora.
“You can't come this way every time, I guess you'll have to find a solution to this,” Arden said.
Dora was already walking towards the kitchen, while Arden was deep in thought. Dora really enjoyed working here. She had jumped 3 levels with the recipes Arden taught. and its almost the highest level class would be her [cook] class.
When Olivia, Edward, and Sasha also woke up, Dora started making breakfast for everyone.
Once Dora had prepared the food, Arden began serving the tables. Seeing Emily and Roberth stand up to help, Arden sat them back down.
“Rest this day, you can start tomorrow”
Seeing the expressions on the faces of Matt and the others, he felt compelled to explain.
“Emily and Robert have agreed to work at the inn. Now they are the new members of the inn.”
Matt and the others congratulated the siblings. It was clear that Zeke and the others were also looking for a way to help these siblings. Arden's job offer put them at ease.
After breakfast was eaten, everyone went out to the inn to make their way to Petra.
With the manipulation of Water, Ava began to carve a path for them to walk through the snow.
“What?” Arden shouted.
“What happened, Arden?” Ava asked.
Arden gestured to the clear area in front of the inn.
“I had completely forgotten that I could use magic. I cleaned it all up with a shovel.”
Ava burst into laughter at these words. Others also joined.
After everyone said good-bye to sorry Arden, they left the inn and took the road to Petra by walking down this thin path opened among the snow.