Lola and Thea!

Ivan let Naina order since he won't be able to do it anyway without commenting on the waitress.

"My name is Lola, what does young miss want to order?... Plain breakfast? Okay. Do you want the eat the specialty of our inn?"

Ivan couldn't help but look at Lola with one of his brows raised and ask, "What's that?"

Lola gave a smile and said in a mischievous tone, "It ranges widely, but for you, young man, I would suggest you try the sausage wrapped in sweet buns. Many people like to order it. . . especially from me."

Ivan understood her meaning, but Naina did not, so she asked, "How much does it cost?"

Lola winked at Ivan as she bent down, placing her elbow on the table in a pose that revealed more of her assets to the young man's eyes, and said, "It will come at a discounted price for people trying it for the first time."

"No, Miss, maybe next time I will try it; for now, please bring what she had ordered," Ivan gulped audibly before he declined to savor the 'specialty' dish of hers for now and gave her a knowing smile. This caused Lola to chuckle, but she nodded understandably.

Naina looked at both of them in confusion, 'Did she say a joke that I did not understand?'

"Alright, I will bring your order back in a jiffy," Lola said while turning back and maneuvering through the maze of the tables and obstacles like men wanting to grab her ass as she walked towards the kitchen.

"There is quite a crowd inside the Inn even when it's so early," Ivan said to start a conversation with Naina since it was too awkward to sit at the same table as strangers. Almost all the tables were full of mostly men and some women dressed in light or heavy armor to cover their bodies.

"Yeah, that's because most of the customers that come at this time around are adventurers, Merchants, and Mercenaries who want to enter the White Tiger City at the earliest hour when the gate opens." an unknown voice of a woman sounded behind Ivan, answering to the comment he made before.

Ivan turned his head.

A petite woman, dressed in tight leather clothing which accentuated her slim and lithe figure perfectly, gave him a wink. She had a knife on her waist, a bow in her hand, and a quiver full of arrows hung around her shoulder.

"You are. . ."

"Hi, I'm the owner of the inn, Thea." the woman attracted attention from the nearby tables; the men eating and talking happily with their buddies suddenly stopped altogether. They immediately hung their heads low and ate quietly as if scared to attract the attention of the inn's owner. But only Naina noticed this abnormal scene as Thea was blocking Ivan's view as she came to stand in front of him.

Ivan looked at her oddly since he didn't know her, and nor did Naina as she has the same look.

Thea gave a smile to Naina and said, "You are Naina Wheelbarrow, correct?"

"Yes, but how do you know my name. Have we met before?"

"No, we haven't met, but I know you because of your aunt and your brother Kyle. They had mentioned before that you would be coming here to live with them. Just now, I saw you on the streets and overheard this young man talking to those thugs. He mentioned you were the sister of Kyle Wheelbarrow. That's how I knew who you were. But before I could call you, you both rode away on the wolf. Coincidently, I found you here, at my inn." Thea said after she pulled back a free chair from under the table and sat on it.

Thea then asked Naina about Merchant Hadol, who was supposed to bring Naina to the city in his caravan. Thea knew him because he traveled between Whitetiger City and his hometown quite a lot to trade and would stay in her inn since the prices of rooms inside the City were expensive.

"He... He is dead." Naina replied, feeling sad when she thought about always smiling friends of her father.

"What! But how?" Thea didn't think she would get such an answer.

Naina then explained from the start to Thea how the Blacktooth Bandits attacked her caravan, and then the Merchant Hadol was killed by a guy wielding a whip.

Bang! A palm smashed on the table, almost breaking it into two.

"That bastard!. . . " Thea turned angry, but after seeing that she had every customer's attention on her, she took in a deep breath to calm her anger.

". . . Sigh, Hadol was quite a funny man, it's heartbreaking to hear about his passing." Thea gave her condolences to Naina.

"But then how did you escape from there?" Thea asked curiously.

Naina retold how she escaped with Ivan's help and then their journey to the White Tiger City on the wolf that Ivan had tamed midway. She left a few things like saving the girl named Eva and the awkward moments between Ivan and her.

Thea gazed at Ivan admiringly and said, "Young man, you have my thanks; her aunt Daisy is my dear friend and her brother an acquaintance; they would have been devasted if something terrible had happened to Naina. Your name is Ivan, right? Good. From now on, you can eat at my inn for free. I will take no charge from you."

Ivan could only act humble and say thank you for the free meal.

Just then, Lola came back to their table, holding a tray in her hand.

"Here is your breakfast, enjoy... Ah, Thea, you came back. How was the hunt this time?" Lola said as she placed the tray that contained Ivan's and Naina's order on the table.

"It was alright, Lola. Is this what you ordered? Lola, please serve them. They are my guest. Remember not to charge them for the food today, or the next time they come back to our inn, alright?"

"Okay," Lola was surprised, but she didn't ask Thea why she would let someone eat for free in her inn.

Lola served Ivan and Naina a cup of fresh milk, bread, boiled eggs, and leg pieces of chicken, baked and fried.

"Lola, bring me the usual; I'm also hungry," Thea said before handing the waitress her Bow and the quiver.

"Bring these to my room,"

Lola nodded and once again disappeared behind the door of the kitchen.