They soon arrived outside the town hall, Kit looked up at the large brick building. Envy filled his heart at the sight before him. This building was three times the size of Spartan Fire’s town hall, he wondered what the inside would look like.
It didn’t take him long to find out, Peaches waltzed inside like he owned the place. Kit followed close on his heels with Pretzel lagging behind. As soon as he entered Kit’s eyes roamed around, they had entered a large spacious hall, numerous doors could be seen leading to other parts of the building.
Multiple desks were in a neat line at the back of the room, queues formed with people waiting to be served. Quiet chatter filled Kit’s ears, it was like they were in a library with the hushed tones. A reception desk blocked Kit’s movement forwards, a man with glasses sat behind the desk.
“Hello good sir’s, how can I be of help?” A bubbly hushed voice emerged from the receptionist, inquisitive eyes shone behind his glasses.
Peaches let out one of his dazzling smiles and gave the man a small bow. “Good day, we are here to see the mayor, he invited us to come before we left town. Could you let him know Chef Kit and his friends are here to see him.”
The receptionist stared at Peaches in a daze, Kit could understand. Peaches often seemed like he was a noble interacting with the commoners, his polite speech and regal bearing gave off a distinguished aura. Kit felt that if Peaches had picked another profession besides a Necromancer, Peaches would have been a popular player in CAL.
The bookish man soon realised he had been asked a question and stammered and answer. “R-right away C-chef Kit, take a seat.” The man motioned to a line of chairs against the wall, then dashed off towards a door at the back of the hall.
As the figure retreated Kit realised that the man thought Peaches was himself, he chuckled at the man’s misunderstanding. Once the mayor arrived things would be clarified automatically so he didn’t chase the man to rectify his mistake.
Kit moved to sit down on the chairs to wait, after his busy morning he was thankful for the rest. He didn’t get to relax long before the mayor was heading his way with a large smile on his face. “Chef Kit, thank you for seeing me. Could I have a word in private?”
The receptionist blushed when he noticed who the mayor was talking to. Kit gave the bookish man a wink to let him know that he wasn’t offended, then followed Mayor Mushroom into a large spacious office.
A large desk dominated the room, Mayor Mushroom motioned Kit to take a seat at one of the chairs. Once they were settled the mayor got straight to the point. “I wanted to invite you to move your restaurant to Fairweather town.” Kit was surprised at the reason the mayor wanted to see him, he had assumed that it would be about a quest. He opened his mouth to automatically refuse when Mayor Mushroom held up a hand to stall him. “Let me finish before you decide please.” Kit thought it was pointless to let the man talk, but complied with his request.
“I know a chef like yourself must be in demand. I am willing to gift you the best piece of land in town to build your restaurant, as well as a moving fee of 20 gold crowns… What do you think?” Surprise filled Kit at the Mayor’s offer, this town wasn’t like Spartan Fire, it was already bustling with businesses.
This would be a great opportunity for anyone that was starting out as a chef, it was just unfortunate for the Mayor that Kit was already invested in Spartan Fire. There was nothing anyone could offer to make him move, his friends and what he considered family all lived in the small village.
Kit started to shake his head, the mayor hurried into another speech before Kit could add words to his refusal. “Now wait, that is not all, I will give you an official title as a Fairweather town patron to give you more clout. Of course, a special person like yourself would also need a home that showcases your importance to the community, so I would also gift you another piece of land and a fancy house.”
Mayor Mushroom beamed at him and waited to hear his reply with a confident gaze. Kit was uncomfortable at having to refuse the man, he could tell by the mayors’ actions he really wanted him to stay. Kit finally had a chance to talk, “I’m sorry Mayor Mushroom, I will have to decline.” He tried to twist his face into an apologetic performance.
“What! Why?” Confusion filled the mayors’ eyes.
“I’m a founding member of Spartan Fire, and I take my role seriously. This is why I can’t jump ship, you understand, right?” He was sure the mayor would understand his refusal, the mayor was the pinnacle of his own town after all.
The switch in the mayor’s expression from confident to crestfallen stunned Kit for a moment, he didn’t think the mayor would take his refusal so hard. “Ah, I had no idea. It is a shame to lose such a good Chef with skills like yours. It’s a pity you can’t open a second restaurant in town.” Disappointment rang in the mayor’s voice.
Kit thought the same thing, it would be twice the revenue if he could open in another location. It was a pity the game didn’t allow the option of multiple stores. He guessed they didn’t allow it so that it was fair for everyone to start a business.
He wondered if there was a way around this, his mind started to tick over thinking of a solution. Kit’s mind wandered to when he opened a market stall, would it be possible to sell a small portion of his recipes in the market here?
If he did that it would come with a risk, he would have to employ someone to run the stall. If they weren’t honest then he risked them finding a way to swindle him out of profits or finding a way to run off with his recipes. Kit pursed his lips, this was a moot point right now he didn’t even know if a permanent market stall was possible.
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Kit tentatively raised his idea to Mayor Mushroom to see if it was plausible. A wide smile spread across the mayor’s face and his eyes crinkled in delight. “Chef Kit that is a great idea! I will reserve you the best spot in the market. I will get the stall ready for you immediately, just let me know what you will need. Of course, at no charge to you!”
Kit let out a laugh at the man’s gushing behaviour. “Slow down Mayor Mushroom, it is still in the idea stage. I would have to find a suitable employee, the stall will have my name associated with it so I will need to proceed cautiously. I will discuss it with my staff when I return to Spartan Fire, and see if any of them want this responsibility.”
“Of course, whatever you deem fit Chef Kit. Just let me know when you are ready, and we will proceed with the renovations for your stall. I look forward to seeing your stall up and running in the market.” Kit shook his head in amusement at the man’s enthusiasm for him to open a stall in Fairweather town.
Now that he had brought the idea up, he didn’t think Mayor Mushroom would let this matter go. He had a feeling he would receive visits from envoys if he delayed too long opening the stall. Kit didn’t mind though, it would be a great way to make extra income. He was glad he had talked to the mayor about his idea.
If this stall worked, he could even look at opening others in different towns. The only stumbling block to this plan would be finding trustworthy employees to run the stall, this would limit the amount he could open. Still, it was better than nothing and it would help spread the name of his restaurant further.
Kit wound things up with the mayor, he needed to head back to Spartan Fire. He headed out to find Peaches and Pretzel, they were talking amongst themselves in the waiting area. Mayor Mushroom had followed him out into the hall, when they reached his friends, the mayor turned towards the receptionist. “Kettle, can you escort Chef Kit and his friends to the town gate. He is a distinguished guest and should have a proper send off.”
Kit raised his eyebrow when he heard this, he didn’t think a single market stall promoted him to a distinguished guest. He wondered what the real reason for the escort was. Then he remembered the conversations he overheard on the way here. He was pretty sure the mayor was worried about his safety.
“Of course, Mayor Mushroom it would be my pleasure to escort Chef Kit and his friends.” The bookish man bowed to the mayor, then motioned for Kit to follow him.
“I look forwards to hearing from you soon Chef Kit.” Kit tilted his head in acknowledgment to the mayor then waved goodbye.
Kit followed the friendly little man outside, Kettle stopped and turned to the group before they had even taken three steps from the town hall. “Chef Kit you are in a hurry, right? Should I take you the back way out of town, it is faster.”
His thoughts that something might be wrong were confirmed by Kettle choosing a less occupied route. Kit didn’t want to cause a commotion that might delay his departure, so he nodded his head in acceptance. “Lead the way, Kettle.”
Kettle took them through twisting lanes that had almost no traffic, they barely even got a glance from the town folk as they passed. It wasn’t until Peaches whispered in Kit’s ear that he realised something was up. “Kit we are being followed by at least five people. Do you want to ignore them or do something about it?”
“How do you know we are being followed?” He hadn’t noticed any signs of being stalked.
A small chuckle left Peaches mouth. “It is not hard to notice five large shady guys following, they are not even good at concealing themselves. If you look in the next window we pass by, you will see at least two of them directly behind us.” Kit glanced over to the closest window, sure enough there were two large men following his small group.
He rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance. He just wanted to leave town without any incidents, what the hell did these guys want? Before he could make up his mind on what to do, they had turned down a small alleyway between two buildings. When they were halfway through the lane Kit noticed a problem.
Two large men were standing at the exit of the alleyway blocking their way forwards. Kit turned his head and glanced at the entrance of the alley way to see three large men following close behind. A glint of silver caught Kit’s eye, it drew his attention to a sword loosely gripped in one of the thugs’ hands.
Damn it, this would delay his return to Spartan Fire! That was the first thing that crossed his mind, then reality at his current situation took over, they could all be killed if they weren’t careful. His small group came to an automatic stop at the arrival of the thugs.
Nervous tension hummed through the group at the arrival of the strangers. Kit didn’t know if Pretzel or Kettle had any close range fighting ability, this could be very dangerous for the two. At least he and Peaches were players, so it didn’t matter so much if they died.
Before he tried to think of an escape plan Kit decided to see what it was these thugs wanted. Maybe he could peacefully deal with this situation. A loud clearing of a throat sounded in the small lane, one of the men in front of them stepped forwards.
He was taller than the other thugs by a head. Kit assumed this was the leader of the group of ruffians, his aura radiated with a dangerous confidence. Kit felt himself react to the threat that had stepped forwards, a drop of sweat trickle down his back and he broke out in a cold sweat.
“I think you all know what is going on here so let’s not draw this out. We just need to have a nice chat with the chef, if he cooperates then you can all go without any harm being done to any of you.” After hearing those words Kit could rule out that this was a random mugging, he wondered who it was that had bad intentions towards him.
Before he could even ask the thugs a question, Kettle spoke to the thug first. “I’m just a guide leading them out of town. I don’t want any trouble.” Kettle then ducked his head down and dashed past the man out of the ally before the man could even react.
Surprise flitter over all of their faces, no one thought that Kettle would dash off like that, not even Kit. Indifference fleeted in the man’s eyes at the escaping figure, a small flick from the leaders’ fingers sent one of his subordinates hurrying after the fleeing man.
“Fuck that little shit! Did he lead us here on purpose? He escaped way to easily.” Peaches glared at the bolting slim frame.
A furrow appeared between Kits brows, had the mayor set this up? Then why did he look so enthusiastic when they had been discussing business earlier. Confusion filled his mind, he decided to see if he could gleam any information from the group of thugs on who had set this trap.
“I am the chef, what can I help you gentleman with today?” Kit met the leaders’ eyes then trembled, the man stared at Kit with a devilish smirk, this wasn’t a person Kit wanted to mess with.
A cruel glint sparkled in the man’s eyes then quickly disappeared. “Ah, it’s you. What do I want? Nothing, but someone wants something from you. Are you going to make this easy, or shall I cut up your friends there.” A slender finger pointed towards Peaches and Pretzel.
A shaky breath squeezed out of Kit’s mouth, he could tell this man wasn’t playing around. A murderous aura was leaking from the man’s body. This man looked like he enjoyed killing, there was pleasure in his eyes at the sight of Kit’s uneasy appearance.