Kit looked around at the small group to see if they knew what Grandpa was about to say. Mars looked as clueless as he did, Twix on the other hand avoided eye contact with him. What the hell was he about to hear?

He returned his focus back to Grandpa. “What do you mean by that Grandpa?”

The old man cleared his throat looking a little uncomfortable. “Well, you see the thing is that each night the original Spartan Fire residents take turns patrolling the Spartan Fire boarders eliminating any threats to the area.”

Grandpa was avoiding his eyes like Twix as he continued to speak. “The reason I am bringing this up to you now is that with more people coming to live in Spartan Fire the more danger it attracts. It will soon be getting to the point that the few that patrol each night won’t be enough to keep the creatures that roam in the Forsaken state at bay.”

Kit could understand the words coming out of Grandpa’s mouth, but he was still confused by what it actually meant. “Do you mean the new residents are attracting beasts to the area?”

Grandpa nodded his head and finally stared Kit straight in the eyes. “We are seen as food to a lot of the beasts in the area. The more people congregated in one spot the more monsters that will come to well… eat us.” A shiver of fear crawled under his skin at those words.

Grandpa didn’t stop his tale even though he could see that Kit was becoming scared. “We are currently in spring right now so the animals that migrate down the devouring ranges will soon start to appear as well.”

Kit remembered the trampling thickheads that had migrated from the mountains. Did that mean more creatures like those beasts were on the way? Fear turned to terror at the thought of such high level creatures descending on Spartan Fire. Had he made a mistake building his restaurant in such a dangerous place?

A face pale from shock stared at the old man, Grandpa was looking at the unease written all over his face. “Kit, it will be alright, we still have plenty of time to prepare. Spartan Fire isn’t in a permanent migration path of any of the animals, we just occasionally get the odd straggler pass through the village.”

This didn’t put his mind at ease at all! Not only did a congregation of people attract monsters but they were also in the path of the odd high level animals that descended from the devouring ranges. Just one of those creatures could wreak havoc and destroy all of their hard work.

Why did all the good things have to be tainted with bad news! He’d been so happy only moments ago, now he was starting to enter panic mode! “Kit, everything will be fine! I was just letting you know so that we could hire some guards now that we reached a village size where that option is available.” Grandpa had a reassuring smile on his face, Kit wasn’t buying it though.

Until they had those guards in front of him, he wouldn’t be reassured. They should probably start to build a wall around Spartan Fire as well. He was just beginning to understand the importance of those structures he had seen when entering other towns.

He was feeling resentment towards Grandpa and Twix from hiding such important information from Mars and himself. This was something they should know as founding members. “Grandpa this wasn’t something that should have been kept from Mars and me. How are we to do our jobs properly if we can’t understand what is happening around us?”

Kit voiced his concerns with a troubled gaze. “Sorry Kit, we just didn’t want to worry you with something we had under control. You’re right though, and I apologise. We should have let you know earlier what was going on.”

Mars broke into the conversation. “Grandpa is there anything else you haven’t told us?”

Grandpa didn’t respond to the question straight away, he was scratching his chin in thought. “I think that was the only thing I’ve kept from you. If I remember anything else, I promise to tell you straight away.” Grandpa looked over at his grandson for confirmation.

“I can’t think of anything else either. I apologise as well for not telling you both, Grandpa made me hide it.” Grandpa shot Twix a fierce look for pinning all the blame on his shoulders. Twix shrugged “What, it’s true.”

Instead of keeping his anger at the pair, Kit thought his energy would be better spent in discussing this matter properly. They would need to set plans in place for the village’s protection. They now had residents that could not defend themselves against monster attacks.

They sat on the lawn watching the golden rain and discussed what to do going forwards. At the end of the conversation, it was decided that a recruitment ad would be sent out for some guards and to begin erecting a wall around the village.

Kit had been given the job of asking Snickers if she could call Leonard back from his current task. Having a master builder design and construct the wall would give it a sense of beauty as well as adding a defence to the village.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Right now, Spartan Fire was a place filled with beautiful sights they didn’t want the wall to detract from Spartans Fire’s picturesque appeal. That and Kit would also need the man to return so he could build the upgrade to his restaurant! He didn’t want to do a half arsed job when it came to upgrading his restaurant.

Kit soaked in the golden rain for a few more minutes, then got to his feet. He needed to get back to his restaurant, find Snickers then get back to creating meals. It was now possible to promote his restaurant!

A hiccup from Kit’s lips caught everyone attention. “Kit, you alright? Don’t stress, we will make Spartan Fire safe.” Mars was looking at him with a reassuring gaze. Kit started to shake his head, that wasn’t what had caused his hiccup.

A tingling started to spread over his body and a smile was slowly starting to spread across his face. He’d been so wrapped up in their earlier conversation he had forgotten all about his restaurant. The smile broke out in full force and Kit started to laugh.

He shot to his feet and without a word to his friends he raced off towards his restaurant. “Kit wait! Let me in on what is going on!” Mars was hot on his heals as he ran.

“Mars I can promote my restaurant!” Kit was starting to feel lightheaded as he ran, he had to slow down before he had an accident. Joy was flooding his system at a fast pace. He was deliriously happy right now.

Giggles of delight sporadically left his mouth. He felt he must look like a crazy person right now. He looked at Mars to see wide eyes stare back at him, then a grin started to form on his friend’s lips. “Hot damn! I’m so excited for you!”

Before he had even registered how he got there, Kit was standing in front of his restaurant. He burst through the front door and swung his head around wildly searching for Snickers. He couldn’t wait to tell her the good news.

A new face walked up to Kit and Mars. “Hello good sirs. I’m sure you didn’t notice the line in your excitement to dine with us. Don’t worry this is a normal occurrence in one’s excitement to try our menu, if you could please step to the back of the line we will seat you when it’s your turn.” A soft smile accompanied the words from the young girl.

Kit glanced at her to see that she was wearing the uniform of his restaurant. A smile of amusement grew on Kit’s face, had Snickers hired new staff in preparation for the restaurant promotion? Kit really was amused that the new employee didn’t even know who he was.

He decided to introduce himself before he caused embarrassment to the young girl. “Hello, I’m Kit and this is Mars. Could you tell me where Snickers is?”

Instead of the reaction of recognition Kit expected, he was met with a narrowing of the young girl’s eyes. “Snickers is not here right now, I will let her know you are looking for her.” The young girl then made a motion for them to head back outside.

It was obvious to Kit that she didn’t recognise that he was the owner of the restaurant. He didn’t make a scene and he headed back out the front door. Mars was in fits of laughter as they rounded the corner of his restaurant to head in the back door.

“Haha you just got kicked out of your own building!” Kit shot Mars a glare. It then dissolved as he thought about what happened, it really was comical that he was booted out.

“Well, it’s good to experience new things. I hope she doesn’t get too embarrassed when she finds out who I am.” Kit walked in the door as he was speaking. Bree was inside with Crackers as he entered.

“Who is going to get embarrassed?” Bree raised an enquiring brow.

Mars jumped in before he could explain. “The pretty young girl that has just started working here didn’t recognise Kit and asked him to go to the back of the line.” Mars was still chuckling as he spoke.

“Oh no, Kit I’m sorry.” Bree was blushing a deep red. Kit didn’t understand why Bree was embarrassed about the situation, it wasn’t her that sent him out the front door. “That be my daughter, remember I told you I asked her and my son to come and learn at the restaurant so they could help me when I run the market stall in Fairweather town.”

Now he understood why Bree was flustered. “It’s ok Bree I didn’t take any offence.” Just as he was speaking Bree’s daughter walked into the kitchen.

A frown pulled her delicate brows as she stared at Mars and Kit. “Why are you in the kitchen?” She turned to her mother for answers.

“Ahh, Blue this is Kit the owner of the restaurant.” Bree was flustered as she spoke.

A horrified expression filled Blue’s face as she turned towards Kit. “T-that, umm, oh my god! I’m so embarrassed! S-sorry Kit.” The poor girl flushed red to the tips of her hair.

Mars made things worse by bursting out laughing once again. Kit sunk an elbow into his ribs and oomph sound emerged from his friend’s mouth. Mars clapped a hand over his mouth and started to pull himself together. “It’s ok Blue, you were not to know what I looked like.”

Her blush deepened even more at his words, he hadn’t thought it could go a deeper red. “Ah this really is embarrassing. Mum even told me what you looked like, purple hair, scar down your face and friendly eyes. I honestly don’t know how I could have missed it was you.”

Kit ran a hand over his scar, with this feature along with his purple hair he really was difficult to mistake him for someone else. Kit looked at the girl in front of him about to cry and panicked. “It’s ok, everyone makes mistakes. You were very professional sending me to the back of the line, by the way. The skill to not offend but still get your point across is amazing!”

A distraction from the situation was needed. Kit decided to steer the conversation in another direction so the poor girl could calm down. “Where did you learn to communicate in that manner, I could use some lessons.”

Mars side eyed Kit then piped up himself. “He isn’t kidding, he really does need lessons!” Kit punched his friend in the shoulder. He didn’t need Mars to help turn the conversation elsewhere by helping him throw himself under the bus.

Kit was happy when the girl took up the thread of conversation. In no time at all she relaxed and could talk to him without blushing. Blue was soon called back to work and waved a happy bye to Kit, now that he was left to his own devices once again, he remembered what he had rushed here for in the first place.

Kit’s heart missed a beat then started to race. Before he could register what he was doing, he had opened his restaurant interface.