Cooper followed Tommy and sat next to him at the table, Reta and Darren sitting on the opposite side.

"I'm starving." Tommy looked around for something, desperation in his eyes.

"I'm sure someone will come along shortly, though I doubt anything will sate that endless hunger of yours." Darren half-joked.

"Do not mock a starving man, lest you face his wrath." Tommy stared at Darren, who held his hands up, surrendering.

"I think that's our waiter now." Reta nodded towards a woman that was walking towards their table.

"So, what will you be hav-" The waiter started but Tommy interrupted her.

"What sort of meat do you have?"

"Don't be rude Tommy, I think you've been taught proper manners at some point in your life. I hope." Darren scolded Tommy.

Tommy turned to look at Darren, "I. Hunger." then turned back towards the waiter, with an expecting look on his face.

"Deer, rabbit and chicken. Nothing special today. We're also out of boar and beef I'm afraid." The waiter politely answered.

"Deer. And beer." Tommy flatly stated and turned back towards the table.

"And the rest of you?" The waiter asked the rest of the group politely.

"I think I'll go for rabbit, stew or soup if possible, with beer as well." Darren said.

"I'll just have whatever you would recommend for food, mead for drink." Reta said in turn.

Cooper thought for a second but chose to follow Reta's choice. "Same for me, thank you."

"Alright, I will be back with your food when it's ready." The waiter turned around to walk towards the kitchen but turned her head before walking off. "Try not to eat the table." She said, seemingly towards Tommy.

"Don't worry, he's more partial towards chairs." Darren responded, smiling politely.

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After a brief wait, the waiter returned, carrying a seemingly impossibly high stack of food.

"Deer and beer," She slid a plate and a large wooden mug towards Tommy. "Rabbit stew, beer." She slid another plate and mug combo towards Darren. "And for the two of you, herb roasted chicken with mead." She slid the last two plate mug combos towards Reta and Cooper. "If you need something, or a refill, let me know, I'll be around." With that, the waiter headed towards another table of people that had just arrived.

Cooper stared at his food with hunger in his eyes. He lifted his eyes up, looking towards Reta. "We don't pay for this?"

"Yes and no, the food at the guild is paid for by guild fees and such. Our company pays an amount every time we visit, if we're due. It's a monthly fee, based on the companys standing and size." Reta explained before taking a bite out of her chicken.

"Normally, the Captain would've taxed some of the stuff from the goblin ambush for the company, to pay for whatever miscellaneous fees the guild requires for us to officially operate, but I suppose it being an ambush and all, he felt it fair to divide it equally. When we do our hunting or dungeons as a guild, about a quarter gets taxed." Darren said in turn.

"Quests commissioned specifically for our company also get taxed." Tommy said with his mouth full.

"I swear to whatever divine power there is, one of these days I will teach you manners and you WILL learn." Darren gave Tommy a deathstare.

Tommy, unfazed by this, continued. "Doesn't mean our little quest that we got at the questboard earlier, though, so no worries there Coop."

"Speaking of, there was no start date or time for the quest, when and how do we start?" Cooper asked.

"You start it by heading over to the castle at the top, probably, seeing as it is the son of the duke. You just go talk to him, say you're there for the quest and off you go." Tommy once again explained in less detail than Cooper would've hoped for.

"If you don't know where to go, the guild has information on every quest, if applicable. Some quests, for an example hunting quests, would require knowledge on your own part. The guild would only be able to provide what they know, no exact location for the target of the hunt." Reta said, seemingly having heard Cooper's inner monologue.

"Anyways, I'm done eating, when we doing this quest?" Tommy said, having cleaned his plate thoroughly.

Cooper looked at his plate, barely started, then at Tommy in disbelief. "How?"

"Let him pay the price of eating too fast and finish your meal at your own pace." Darren said before continuing his own meal.

"Rude." Tommy said, no one paying him any attention as they continued to eat their food.

Just as the group was finishing their meal, the Captain walked in.

"Darren. Come with me. The Duke's invited us up to the castle for an important discussion."

"I just finished eating, how urgent is this?"

"Very. Rell will be joining us, too."

"Fine, fine." Darren turned towards Reta. "Get Cooper and Tommy to an armorsmith and see what you can get for them with this." He handed her a bag of coins. "Then go get some other supplies that you see fit for the quest, I'll try and catch you before you head out if I can get out of this." Darren stood up and followed the Captain out.

"Well, you heard him, I guess we're going to an armorsmith."