Finders Keepers

Inside the Kitchen.

Gerard is all merry and the grin plastered on his face irritates Mel.

"All that seriousness inside the Count's office is nothing but all acting?" Mel's voice made Gerard's grin vanish in an instant.

"Yes. I need money. The earliest I can sell it, the better. There's no way I can build a brewing business or tavern using the cocktail as my signature drink. It will take me years and years just to earn money for the establishments alone."

Mel snorted and drink the cocktail in front of him. This kind of drink is not to his liking because he likes to drink strong beverages compared to his cocktail but he still likes it. Maybe it is because this is the first time he taste something like this. He didn't want to accept it but he envy the Count for being filthy rich.

If he has money, he will try to get the cocktails for his own, even when it turns to bid. He would not back out, after all these drinks can bring a lot of money shortly.

Gerard sense that Mel is somehow a little restless so he inquires.

"Master, what's wrong? Something in your mind?"

Mel glanced at him before gulping the cocktail in one drink before giving his answer. "Yes." Then he glace around trying to see if there was someone nearby before turning his serious face to Gerard's location.

"You may not know it but all those generosities and magnanimity of Count Alvis, there's a hidden dark personality hiding in his stoic face. I am telling you this because you are now under my wing as my apprentice. So your safety is my responsibility."

Damn! Gerard cannot help but mutter inwardly. So the developer team alters the personality of Count Alvis.

"You may be curious as to know how did I learn it. But this is the only answer I can give you. Curiosity can kill a cat. Stay away as much as possible. Don't meddle with the Count's situation, no matter how small or big it is. JUST TAKE YOUR NOSE AWAY FROM HIM. Are we clear?"

Gerard can feel the overwhelming pressure that Mel is exuding right now. It only means that he is stating the fact.

"You're my Master. I will heed your advice. I won't do anything stupid that will endanger my life."

Mel scrutinizes him while exuding an almost unbearable aura from his body.

"Good. Now help me prepare the ingredients for my next dishes."

The aura banishes instantly when he turns around and orders Gerard to prepare the ingredients.

The kitchen becomes busy again and emanates a nice aroma that made the passerby near the Kitchen drool.

Meanwhile, outside the Town Hall of West town. In the Central Plaza, a bunch of players is secretly finding a common NPC. Payne Blanc.

But they already cover the whole of West Town but they still didn't see a shadow of Payne Blanc.

These players triggered the chain quest to Payne Blanc yesterday. Namely, Lite, then the group of three players, Angel, Aliyah, and Lex that triggered the party quest. And lastly, Sally. The archer belongs to the Sky Heaven Core Group from Amethyst City along with 4 other members from the same group that uses teleportation scroll, almost emptying the current fund of Sky Heaven.

These players are frantically looking for Payne Blanc. And now, maybe due to fate or red string as they called it, these players decided to take a rest in the Central Plaza after frantically looking for Payne Blanc.

They coincidentally and simultaneously seated on the fountain in the middle of the Central Plaza.

So when Aliyah's group saw Sally's group, the former cannot help but make a sour face that irritates Sally. "What are you doing here?"

Aliyah turns her face head up away from Sally, making the latter grit her teeth. But Angel, as the kindhearted person she is, answered. "It seems we both looking for the same person."

Seeing them earlier, Sally already had a hint but she was somehow relieved and sad at the same time when she heard Angel's answer to her question.

Relieved, because Angel's group temporarily cannot advance their quests like her and her group. After all, even a minute matters to them.

Sad, because Payne Blanc is missing. If Angel's group cannot find them as they used to. Then there's a high possibility that Payne Blanc leaves West Town or hides from something. But she doubted the answer is the latter. Although there's a chance, it is only slim.

She views Payne Blanc as Legendary NPC because of the duffle bag she saw yesterday. A one-in-a-million chance of meeting such a legendary figure is enough for her to be excited that she cannot sleep well last night.

She's excited when she learns that her group's most skilled players arrived in the West Town. With their arrival, they can start the quest.

But to her disappointment, finding the ogre's lair is hard. They scouted the east's deepest part of the forest in the West Town but the monsters they located are goblins and kobolds. And as they go deeper, they found many powerful monsters. One of the monsters they saw is a Saber Tooth Monster and its level is 20.

That was why they retreated back and find Payne Blanc to get a clue where is the lair of Ogres.

But she is not hoping to get a direct answer from him, after all, some of the NPCs are petty regarding the quest they issued. But knowing how approachable Payne Blanc is, she hopes that she can receive guidance from him.

"Where is Mr. Payne Blanc." She softly mumbled.

Then here comes a single player who overheard a conversation and the name of the NPC he was looking for and respectfully ask Sally.

"Uhm. Hello. My name is Lite. It is not my intention but I overheard your conversation about the NPC named Payne Blanc. Have you too triggered a quest from him as well?"

Hearing what Lite had said, the four players including the four skilled players from the Heaven Sky group simultaneously turn their gaze to a swordsman.

"Are you perhaps looking for Mr. Payne as well?" Sally inquire.

"Yes, I am but I already covered the whole West Town but I still cannot find a trace of him." Lite sadly replied.

Sally sighed and shake her head softly.

But Lite continued on "Where did you guys find Mr. Payne? I found him yesterday near the market and I even went to the place he might usually go into but he's not there." He then gives the street name of the place.

That's true. Lite, repeatedly went to the place where Payne Blanc is located when he give the fruit to him yesterday. He even stayed for an hour hoping that Payne Blanc will come but there was no trace of him.

"Is that so? We found Mr. Payne in the Midnight Inn. He stayed there yesterday and when we asked Dina, the daughter of the NPC who owned the Inn, she told us that Mr. Payne already checks out when we asked where he might be, she only told us due to privacy, they cannot disclose their customer's information without the official document and order from the Town Chief." Sally explained her recent results in finding Payne Blanc.

Aliyah also shared their experiences but none of them can point out where exactly Mr. Payne Blanc is.

All of them sighed simultaneously.

Then Lex suddenly think of something and shared it with everyone.

"Since everyone presents was able to trigger a quest from him. Why won't we make a bet?" Lex boasted.

Everyone's attention turns on him with gazes full of expectation.

Seeing everyone's expecting eyes, he told them something that earn him disgust.

"Finders keepers! If one was able to find him, the rest of the party and players will not continue their quest!"

In that instant, Lex was smacked hard on the back of his nape by his childhood friend, Aliyah!

"Are you dumb? And don't ever say a word that starts with Q! if someone hears you, it will bring trouble to us. You are an idiot!"

Fortunately, there are no players present in the Central Plaza. Earlier this morning, there was a platform in the Central Plaza and players are lining up for admission in the mission proposed by the Count who traveled from the Capital City to West Town, hoping to recruit heroes for his mission. But due to the players being jump packed which bothers the NPCs or the citizen of West Town from doing their business in buying something in the shop located in the place, they raised a complaint in the Town Hall. Resulting in the platform being removed immediately, and the recruitment was transferred to the Adventurer Guild.

Although Sally didn't like the idea, seeing Lex was able to trigger Aliyah, she added wood to the fire.

"why not? It only means that whoever found him first is the only worthy to receive it, right?" She told everyone but she was facing Angel while grinning. Resulting in Aliyah getting irritated more and was about to retort when suddenly Angel stood up which made everyone turn their gazes to her.

"I remember now! Yesterday, when we are busy tasting the food ordered by Mr. Payne, the owner's daughter said something about the distinguished guest of the Town Chief! I overheard that the Town Chief is looking for Mr. Mel to be the chef that will cook the dishes for that distinguished guest. But Mr. Mel is hesitating because he lacks an assistant, after all, her daughter is working as a teacher. This brings Mr. Payne Blanc into the equation when Ms. Dina persuaded Mr. Payne to help his father."

"Oh, that's right. I overheard something like that." Lex interjected while massaging the back of his head that was smacked by Aliyah.

"I didn't know that Mr. Payne knows how to cook as well. Speaking of cooking, did you guys didn't pick any subclass?" Aliyah interjected.

Angel and Lite shook their head. The same goes for both of them. She and Lex didn't choose as well. Although it will give them the advantage to earn money they didn't come here for that, they come here for the enjoyment and thrill of fighting monsters.

In terms of money, childhood friends didn't lack money in real life. But of course, they still try to earn money from playing this game by exchanging their coins for real money once the exchange system takes effect. Who didn't want money? It is just that for now, they want to experience the thrill of the Kingdom. They will think of money later.

Sally as part of the core group knows much more than Aliyah and her friends. But she didn't answer Angel's question.

But she was shocked that Mr. Payne know how to cook as well. She already views the latter as a legendary NPC but to learn to cook for a noble? Her admiration towards Payne Blanc soars high.

"I just hope that they should do something about the food taste in the next update installment. This game would be perfect when we can taste the food here! It's a hassle when he felt hungry, we need to log off and eat in the real world." Lex complained while massaging his firm stomach.

That's another issue, the taste. But Sally knew that when the emergence of subclasses arrives, it will open a lot of opportunities for all the subclasses. Mostly the Chef Subclass. With this, if they mastered their subclass, they could do something about food tasting. It would also help if they are a real cook in the real world.

With that in mind, Payne Blanc's presence gives Sally unrelenting excitement.

"Then what are we waiting for, if Mr. Payne is in the Town Hall, let's go!" Sally exclaimed and told her group.

Then her group, Angel's group, and the solo player Lite went to the Town Hall where a storm is about to break out.