A steady stream of people was heading in through the town gate, Kit became curious about the unexpected rush hour. Kettle informed him that the gates closed at night because the town receives monster attacks every now and then.
Kit looked up at the sky to see that it was late afternoon, his day had been so eventful that he didn’t notice the passing of time. He decided that it would be better to camp outside the town than stay for the night. He didn’t want to give Chef Nutmeg another chance to try to steal his recipes.
The urge to find Pretzel increased with the setting sun. When Kit headed over to the spot they had originally found Pretzel, he couldn’t see the familiar face. Worry at Pretzels safety began to consume him, he turned to Peaches and Kettle, about to suggest that they split up to go and look for him.
A tug on his sleeve caused him to look down at his hand. Small slender fingers were pinching his shirt, Kit eyes travelled up the arm to see a tearful Pretzel. “Kit what took you so long, I was very scared. I thought those men had killed you, please don’t tell me to leave ever again.” Snot was dripping from Pretzel’s nose and his eyes were puffy from crying.
Sorrow gripped Kit’s chest at the sight of the young boy distraught about his safety. He hadn’t even thought about what Pretzel would be going through waiting for them. He wanted to curse himself out for being so selfish.
Kit enveloped the boy in a big hug. “I’m so sorry Pretzel, it won’t happen again.” Kit had no plans to let the boy leave the safety of Spartan Fire once they arrived, until Grandpa had trained him up a bit. He knew he couldn’t keep him in town forever, so he wanted Pretzel to at least be able to defend himself before venturing out.
He patted the boys back until he calmed down, once he had run out of tears Kit stuffed a candy apple in his mouth. “Pretzel are you ready to leave with Peaches and I, it’s not safe for us to stay in town tonight so we’ll make a camp outside.”
Pretzel replied around a mouthful of candy apple. “Yes! I haven’t been outside the walls of the town since my parents died. I was too scared I wouldn’t be able to get back in.” The boy looked so excited to be leaving that Kit didn’t want to delay.
First, he needed to check with Pretzel if he was ready. The boy wouldn’t be returning to Fairweather town for a long time, so if he had anyone to say goodbye to, he would need to do it now.
Kit relayed this to Pretzel, the boy ducked his head and avoided Kit’s gaze. “No, I don’t need to say goodbye to anyone.” Kit felt devastated for the boy, did he not have a single friend in town? How had he survived on his own for so long? Kit made plans to spoil him rotten once they returned to Spartan Fire.
He couldn’t imagine what the boy had gone through, at least when his father had died, he had his sister to comfort and care for him. Kit didn’t want Pretzel to dwell on depressing thoughts so he said his goodbye to Kettle and received a promise from the bookish man that he would come as soon as he was able.
They then headed out the gate of Fairweather town towards Kokka village. Kit thought about all that had happened to him inside the town as he left. Even though he had been plotted against, the visit to Fairweather town had been well worth it.
He had recruited two new employees and had finally raised his chef rank. The biggest success was gaining all those blueprints, he couldn’t wait to get back to Spartan Fire and install the new additions in his restaurant.
The two day walk back to Kokka village went by in a flash and soon the party was walking towards the respawn arch where he had organised to meet Lindor.
Boisterous laughter filled the air as they got closer to their destination. Kit could see Lindor and his friends waiting at the arch joking around with each other to pass the time. Kit shouted a greeting to the friendly bunch.
“Kit! Did you find the culinary guild?” Lindor and his friends headed over to Kit with smiles on their faces.
“Yes, thank you for the directions. Are you ready to head over to Spartan Fire? I want to get back as soon as possible.” Kit really didn’t want to rush them, but he felt like he had been away from his restaurant for too long as it was. Even the thought of the town folk being angry with him about the monster run couldn’t stop him from returning.
“We are ready Kit, we knew you would want to get back as fast as possible. We still have a week’s journey ahead of us though. Don’t worry we know the route like the back of our hands, so you won’t have to worry about getting lost or running into any danger.” Lindor puffed up his chest as he spoke, Kit couldn’t help letting out a laugh.
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“Thanks, Lindor but that won’t be necessary.” Lindor’s face fell at Kit’s words, Kit realised he had made a mistake and hurried to correct it. “That’s because there is a travel stone roughly one days walk from your village that will take us to a spot not far from my restaurant. Hopefully you know how to get there because I have only been there through the travel stone from the Spartan Fire end.”
Lindor broke out in a smile once again at Kit’s words. “Just give me a description of the area and we will get you there. Between the four of us, one will know the area you need to get to.” Lindor spoke with confidence.
Kit described the area that he collected the ingredients for Spartan Fire rum, Kit could tell from their expressions that they knew the area well. Relief that he could get home faster flooded him. They set off at a fast pace for the travel stone.
Kit did a round of introductions to Pretzel as they walked. Once that was out of the way Lindor once again apologised to Peaches and Kit for his family’s behaviour. Peaches smiled at the young man and told him to forget about the event.
But Lindor wouldn’t drop the issue, he was like a dog chewing on a bone. “Please let me apologise properly. Here, I even brought you an apology gift.” Lindor took out a book from his pouch and tried to give it to Peaches.
What followed caused Kit to burst out laughing. Peaches was frozen on the spot gaping at the book in Lindor’s hands. Kit had never seen Peaches behave in a manner that did not paint him as a lordly noble. Kit wanted to take a photo to preserve this rare moment he was sure chances like this would be hard to come by in the future.
The book drew Kit’s attention, it must be special to have Peaches acting out of character. The man didn’t even bat an eye lash in a major battle for heaven’s sake. Kit watched as Peaches slowly ran his finger over the cover of the book in reverence. A sigh left his mouth and Peaches pushed the book back to Lindor’s chest.
“As much as I would like to accept the book it is too valuable. Besides you really did not do anything wrong. If I ever come across something of equal value, then I would like to trade you for the book. Would that be reasonable?”
Lindor became stubborn and shook his head. “No, I would like this matter settled now. I don’t like things going unresolved. So please take this book!” Lindor shoved the book at Peaches then hid behind his friend Bear. Preaches wrinkled his brow, then Kit watched as it smoothed out once again.
“Then I will now be indebted to you until I return something of equal value. I will need to know your future aspirations so that I can tailor your gift appropriately.” Peaches fixed a steady gaze at the hiding Lindor, Kit felt a bit of pressure behind the gaze. He was glad it wasn’t directed at himself, it looked like Peaches was taking this very seriously.
Kit became even more curious about the book. Now that Peaches had accepted his gift, Lindor crept out from Bear with a cheerful smile. “If that’s the only way you will take the gift, then I accept your proposal.”
Lindor started to run his fingers through his short hair. “As for my future plans, they are nothing special. My friends and I all come from farming families, that’s what we know best. We plan to buy our own farm in the future.”
Kit was surprised at Lindor’s dream, he assumed because he was off chasing after ingredients for his restaurant that he wanted to be an adventurer. He wondered why they weren’t working on their family farms if they wanted to become farmers themselves. His curiosity got the better of him, so he asked. “Why are you all not working on your family’s farm if that’s what you want to do?”
Lindor chuckled softly then replied. “That’s has a simple answer as well. All four of us butt heads with our families on how we think the farm should be managed. For instance, I want to expand our farm into other areas, but my dad always says that we should just stick to things we know.” Frustration was clear in Lindor’s voice as he spoke about his quarrels.
“We have been going from farm to farm trying to find a good fit for all of us, so far we haven’t found the right place to work.” Lindor and his friends didn’t seem bothered about traveling around the Forsaken state.
Kit then asked the obvious question. “Why have you not started your own farm then?” He really was curious to see what the answer would be.
Lindor averted his gaze from Kit and a blush crept up his neck spreading to his hair line. “Umm ... well … The thing is I can’t own my own farm for three more years.”
Kit automatically blurted out his next question. “Why?”
Lindor cleared his throat and mumbled some incoherent words into his chest. A chuckle left Peaches mouth, Kit shifted his gaze to the silver haired man. Kit noticed he was standing closer to Lindor and that he probably heard what the man said. Kit raised his eyebrows at Peaches in an inquiring manner.
Peaches happily relayed what he had heard. “Apparently Lindor lost a bet with his father while he was blind drunk. The bet was binding so Lindor could not buy his own farm for five years. I would assume two of those years have passed that’s why he can’t purchase one for three more years.”
A laugh escaped Kit’s mouth, he really wanted to know what the bet entailed, but judging by Lindor’s deep blush he wouldn’t be getting the answer today. Kit turned his gaze to Lindor’s friends. He wondered why they just didn’t buy their own farm, then Lindor could work there, and they could manage it the way they wanted.
Surprise flittered across Kit’s face when the same rosy cheeks appeared on Bear, Bunny and Star. Did the bet involve all of them? Kit had a funny feeling that it did. He stopped himself for poking an obvious sore spot for all of them.
Then a rush of excitement filtered through Kits body. He stared at the four of them with greedy eyes, if they wanted to run a farm without any interference from outside, then could they not manage his farm? Kit was almost salivating at the thought of getting four experience farmers settled on his farm.