Kuro

In the south, leading to the residential area of Gardania, there is a humble stall that had been serving varieties of curries since the beginning of the village.

The owner of this establishment is an old man named Garim, a very charismatic, sweet, and kind individual.

He has been running the shop alone for the past 5 years in absolute earnest. His only wish is to keep up the reputation that has been left by his predecessors.

Today, he is preparing a great amount of onigiri on his board, for his unusual customer who had been enthusiastically waiting for her favorite foods for the past half an hour.

The girl has an appearance of a mature teenager. She has long black hair till her back tied in a ponytail and her outfit is.... just BLACK!

She wears a black bodysuit jacket zipped open with several designs on her shoulders and wears a black garment underneath.

She also wears a black mini skirt equipped with a pointed black whip at its tip.

"Alright, here you go." Garim hands over a large plate of 10 large pieces of onigiri arranged beautifully in a circle to his hungry customer.

Her eyes glimmer as if she was feasting her eyes on something extremely precious.

Without saying a prayer, she picks up an onigiri carefully with her two hands and gulps half of it down in an instant.

She then proceeds to feast on the remaining onigiri without making too much sound.

"Haha, did it taste good. Seeing you enjoy them makes me happy." Garim smiles. "Eat, don't hold back. If you still need more, don't be shy, just ask."

The girl with the long black hair didn't reply and continued to gulp the onigiri down one after another as she had never tasted it before even though she comes by the shop to eat the same food for lunch, almost every day.

Garim went back to his workstation and continued to prep fresh vegetables for dinner which he got free from the harvest.

Then from behind, Klem and William slightly move the curtains as they enter the stall. "Garim please do the usual for me!" Klem shouts.

Recognized by the voice, Garim turns his back to welcome his daily customer. "Alright and isn't that Klem? Welcome! Another unusual customer we have today."

Garim then cleans his hand with a towel as he prepares to serve his new customers. "What will you like today?"

"Ah..."

"Garim, he will also have the usual," Klem reply back

"Okay two daikon curries and rice, coming right up."

William and Klem then proceeded to sit down on the creaking wooden chairs attempting to relax.

"Phew, that was another long harvest." William sighs.

"Yeah, hopefully, it's all over now," Klem says as he pours some water from the jug.

"Now all we have left to do is drop it off to every household and hope it will last till the fall harvest.

Oh, Bill also said don't show up late tomorrow since there are only a few of us to drop the goods."

Klem didn't respond, instead, he gently gulps down some water.

By the way, Garim, are you still going to that place to cook for them"

"Yeah" Garim replies while stirring the pot of daikon curry. "To be honest, at the beginning I didn't want to sign up for that task. Even during the daytime, you don't know what monsters will come out to snatch you from behind. But..."

Garim then proceeds to reach out a few plates from the overhead selves. "It is hard to decline that boy's request Haha"

"Boy? Are you talking about Zyun? William asks

"Yes, he is such a bright and hardworking kid. That place has become so lively ever since he joined.

Every day after I am done cooking for them, he will escort me back here.

"For real. if I remember correctly, a long time back he came to me and asked if I could craft some tables for them.

Of course, I declined but then he asked me to teach him how to make one. seeing his unwavering face, I decided to show one and by the next morning, he made several of them. I was shocked"

"Haha, truly he is such a mysterious kid"

"I wonder why he even came here. Oh, I almost forgot. Garim, give us some sake too."

"Hmm, well there won't be a second time, today, Haha. My sake is running out…" Garim laughs

"Eh, that is troublesome. Did something happen?"

"Derek hasn't returned from the capital yet."

Garim then serves the two senior men with delicious daikon curry over a plate of steamed rice.

Klem stares at the plate for a while and asks "Um, Garim, isn't the quantity a bit too much?"

"Ah, just eat up. you two have been working hard for the past one week in this weather. Without you guys we wouldn't be able to eat these.

I only pray that our children will stop being tucked inside the houses all the time. Oh, and yeah, you don't have to pay for this, it's on house."

"Well, if you say that I will be too embarrassed to show up again"

"Haha. Don't stress it, now eat up before it goes cold"

"By the way, what happened to Derek?" Klem condenses his tone.

"I'm not sure, to be honest, he should've been back like 3 days ago, he must be loitering somewhere in the city and causing trouble."

"No"

William stops for a moment and turns his face slightly toward Klem

"I'm sure, they have got Derek too."

"Oi, Klem stop, don't bring up that topic."

"Topic... what are you talking about?"

Garim stares in confusion while the girl from before eats quietly in the corner with her bangs down.

"Garim, how aware are you of the weird things happening lately?" Klem asks.

"Weird things? what are you referring to?"

"Many of our villagers have gone missing the past couple of months and I have no idea why they're keeping it hushed up."

"If we are talking about missing then, didn't Usoki's son report that has gone missing for a week now?" Garim asks

"Yeah, not only that, lately there has been a surge in goblin activity here. I'm sure they're cooking up something bad."

"Oh my. how are you sure about these things?"

"It is not about being sure or knowing at this point. We should try to. no... force the others to leave this village and flee to the capital."

"Leave. but..." Garim shows signs of hesitation in his words.

"But don't we have those kids... what are they called again. They're doing a great job in taking care of the fields and the village"

"Garim, those are just kids. why should we put our lives at stake to those youngsters who just started using stones and sticks"

"It is mage craft to be exact..." Bil mutters.

"Wait... If memory serves correctly, aren't they planning to hold some kind of festival in that place?"

"Yeah, in two days and I heard they called it a guild event to celebrate their half-year anniversary." Garim clarifies.

"Youngsters heh... it must be nice to be young…" Bil chuckles. "Klem, do you want to go to check it out?"

"Ah, just count me out. My back won't last long enough to go to that stupid place."

The girl who has been sitting quietly in the corner hovers over her pocket and then puts some copper coins on the desk. without saying anything she gets up and turns to leave.

"Oh, Kuro-chan are you done?" Garim asks, shifting his focus away from the deep conversation. "By the way are you also participating in that event since you are also a mage?"

Kuro stops for a moment.

"I...." She mutters.

"I?"

Everyone turns their attention towards Kuro with an anticipative stare.

"Yup, I'm participating" Kuro responds.

"Oh, that is great. I'm sure you want to have lots of fun with your friends in there."

Kuro then slightly turns her head and smiles.

"Nope. I want to see their pathetic faces cry when I win."

Hearing that, everyone stares at Kuro with a bizarre face.

"Ugh, I think that is also one way of enjoying the moment I guess..." Garim...

"Thanks for the food. I will come again tomorrow. But please don't let me wait next time."

Kuro unties her long black hair and swings it back, then slowly starts walking out of the stall.

Who was that little girl?" turning to Garim, Bil asks.

"She doesn't look like she's from around here," Klems adds.

"For now.... why don't you guys just eat? The curry is getting cold."

"Umm... yeah."