Dungeon of Niflheim

She was severely shaken up from that gaze, her body was cold and trembling but not from fear quite the opposite, instead she was excited by it. Out of view of Frost and his group, while waiting for the drinks and food to be prepared she would occasionally steal glances from the kitchen window.

With the waitress gone Frost and Leo placated their companions with varying degrees of success.

Don don don

A set of heavy footsteps could be heard from the staircase. Three large gentlemen led by a young waitress entered the second floor and sat down at a table on the opposite side of the room from their group.

Though reserved Frost could feel the group of three large men looking in their direction.

“Tsk” he clicked his tongue; this group of men had been covertly following them since they left the central district. They tried to be subtle but with Frost’s strength he picked up on them pretty quickly.

.....

Someone was monitoring their actions, but he couldn’t tell if they were monitoring him or Leo.

“Leo we’re being watched.” Frost whispered quietly.

Leo smiled in response, not shocked in the least.

“I’d be suspicious if we weren’t hahaha.” He laughed the situation off not worried. Although he wasn’t strong enough to pick up on their tail, he assumed that there would be. His uncle was a control freak, of course he’d have people monitor his actions. Leo believed however that it would end with simple monitoring, even his uncle wouldn’t try anything within the town, especially during the day.

“It seems I was worried for nothing.” Frost gave a quick look at the 3 men before no longer paying them any more attention.

“No, not nothing, it’s best if we’re cautious.” Leo gave a subtle look towards the group of men. He didn’t recognise them which either meant they were not local or were part of the underworld. Leo frowned as he examined their large frames, they seemed a little strong for a simple tail.

“Their strength is equivalent to entry level D-ranks, not a threat.” Maya chimed in after giving the men a quick once over. They were far weaker than the bandit Red Hawk, around the same strength as John from the Artic Warband.

“At that level they certainly won’t be a threat.” Frost agreed with Maya’s assessment. Adam probably didn’t have a clear idea of his strength, or he simply didn’t care whether or not they noticed the tail. In fact, if they made a move on them first, they could be the ones arrested.

Leo and Luna looked at one another and felt relived.

‘Travelling with strong friends certainly is reassuring but...’ Leo was determined to get stronger.

Over at the other table where the group of three large men were sitting.

“Why did they have to enter this restaurant, damn rich brats.” One of the men grumbled in annoyance. They were assigned to monitor Leo and Frost, following them wherever they go. Any actions they take must be reported. Adam had grown paranoid after Alex failed to take care of his nephew and future niece. Although Alex wasn’t the strongest person under his control, he was the most trustworthy and efficient. Until now he had never failed and too little information about his failure was recovered. Adam grew afraid, he was so close to his goal he couldn’t allow for a single thing to go wrong. Ryuu, Bastion and Sebastian had already started making their moves to limit his encroaching power. He couldn’t have Leo suddenly taking his rightful position, that was his and his alone.

“Shut it we’ve got a job to do.” Another one of the men glared viciously at his colleague as he admonished him. Their orders were clear, and Adam wouldn’t accept any excuses. The man felt a chill go down his spine as he thought of Adam. He was cold and merciless; he’d have you killed without an ounce of forethought. It didn’t matter how useful you were, if you didn’t obey, you’d become a dead man.

“I don’t know why you’re complaining, we get to enjoy some great food and the cost will be covered by the boss.” The third man was actually quite excited, men of their standing would never get the chance to dine on the second floor of the phoenix fledgling restaurant. The only reason they could get in was due to the plaque that was given to them by Adam, allowing them access. Following a group of brats as they toured around the town was a cushy job in his opinion it also came with some tasty benefits. The man drooled as he read through the menu.

His two companions looked at one another in surprise, they never thought about it like that and their boss Adam if there was one thing, he had in surplus it was money. The other two followed the third man’s lead, perusing the menu with anticipation.

Frost and the others food and drinks didn’t take long to prepare, the same waitress as before brought their orders over however this time her attention was solely focused on Frost. She wasn’t flirting or showing off any of her assets it was more intense looks making him feel awkward.

‘The look in her eyes is strange.’ Frost felt goosebumps as the waitress handed over his meal.

Their meals were in one word extravagant. The portions were huge, and each meal was served with multiple additions of vegetables, chips, or bread. The smell was intoxicating far stronger than the food in Kathy’s inn. Each meal was served on beautiful white dishes, adorned with phoenix patterns, just in appearance alone they got a 10 out of 10.

A steaming bowl of a white milk based stew was placed in front of Frost along with some crusty white bread. The bread sold at Kathy’s inn was hard and dark in colour whereas this bread was soft and fluffy, a much higher quality. Frost couldn’t resist any longer, he scooped up a small cube of meat along with some vegetables and took his first bite.

“Delicious!’ As soon as the broth touched his tongue, his mouth was filled with flavour. He chewed the meat and felt another intense burst of flavour but that wasn’t all, his body filled with energy as if the meat contained mana. His face turned red, and his eyes showed surprise.

‘The...there’s mana within the dish.’ The meat of the D-rank Lagombi contained mana, pure mana that was easily absorbed by the body, nourishing it. In his shock Frost turned to Maya for answers, the mammoth steak he had before didn’t have any mana in it.

Maya smiled she hadn’t started eating yet and was smelling the expensive wine she ordered.

“It seems that this restaurant has a true chef.” Maya was quite impressed that a countryside territory had access to a ‘true chef’.

To become a true chef, you needed to be able to cook with mana. High rank ingredients such as D-rank monster meat contained mana within its flesh. A regular chef would only be able to cook the meat and it would still taste nice however a true chef would not only produce a tastier end product, the dish would preserve some of flesh’s mana. Dishes with mana in them help to nourish the body, healing injuries and increasing the body’s strength allowing one to achieve increased physical ability without the need for harsh training.

Maya could use magic, but she couldn’t truly manipulate her mana through the food thus she couldn’t be called a true chef.

“Although they are of low rank, they’re still a true chef, congratulations Leo.” True chefs or spirit chefs as the proper profession is termed were incredibly rare. Very few people have the talent or the resources to become spirit chefs, having one within your territory was something to brag about.

“Thanks, he’s actually the main reason why this branch remained open. He had strong attachments to Furano since he was born here and advocated to keep the restaurant open.” Leo had met the spirit chef a few times, Douglas would come here with him whenever it was his birthday.

Frost re-examined his meal, truly feeling the weight of the 25 silvers it cost. He then turned to Maya’s and Luna’s dishes the griffin breast, a C-rank meal. He couldn’t help but feel regret at the lost opportunity.

Seeing the desire in his eyes Maya covered her food with her arm, claiming her ownership. She wasn’t going to share this time.

The group quickly devoured their meals relishing in the great taste, even Maya was a little impressed with her dish giving Frost a thumbs up she also greatly enjoyed the wine but felt that there wasn’t enough. She was tempted to order another glass of the glacial starbalm, but Frost was having none of it, so she had to make do with a cup of the cheaper frost leaf wine.

With their meal done it was time to face the beast, the bill.

Frost and Leo had dark expressions as the waitress brought over the bill. There was no running away from it, it was going to hurt.

“The bill comes to 2 gold coins and 70 silver coins sir.” The waitress handed the bill to Leo politely.

“Ugh”

“Ugh” Frost and Leo both released a groan, that was 1 gold and 35 silvers each when split. It wasn’t that painful for Leo but for Frost it felt like a knife in the gut. Luckily, they already agreed to not pay the waitress a single copper in tip, so they saved some that way.

With reluctance and with their partners giggling at the side, Frost and Leo brought out the money from their coin purses, 2 gold and 70 silvers exactly, not a single copper more. They placed it on the tray brought by the waitress.

As per custom the waitress counted the money and her face blanched.

‘Eh no tip,’ even though she felt that her actions may have caused her to receive a lower tip but... nothing. It was customary to give at least one silver on the second floor regardless of service. She couldn’t help but frown as she looked at Leo and Frost.

“What you got a problem?” Frost returned that frown with an aggressive gaze, he was already in a bad mood from the amount and the waitress wanted more. His eyes were ice cold and piercing sending a chill down the waitress’s back.

Her anger quickly turned to pleasure.

‘Ah that look it’s irresistible.’ Her eyes softened, and she released a slight moan. This was better than receiving a cash tip. She quickly thanked Frost with a bow before running back to the kitchen with a blush.

Frost was left puzzled.

‘Eh I thought she’d argue about a tip.’ He was completely oblivious to the waitress’s feelings. Maya shook her head and looked towards the fleeing waitress with pity before dragging Frost out of the restaurant.

They still needed to explore the rest of the western zone and she wasn’t finished siphoning Frost of his newfound wealth yet.

As Frost’s group left the restaurant, their tail, the group of three large men were quickly wolfing down the rest of their food and requested the bill. They couldn’t let Frost and the rest out of their sights.

“Waitress bill please!” The second man who was afraid of punishment called over the waitress. They didn’t plan of paying themselves since they had the plaque from Adam, but they needed to get the receipt.

“Of course, it comes to 2 gold coins and 50 silvers.” The group of men sucked in a sharp breath, hearing it out loud was quite a blow. They would individually make that in a year or so, a heavy expense. The group suddenly felt nervous.

‘Would the boss be willing to pay for it?’ Although Adam was rich, he was also strict and frugal, were the three of them worth that much?

Hoping for the best the second man brought out the plaque to put it on Adam’s tab and request the receipt.

“Eh?” The waitress was confused ‘we don’t do tabs.’

“I’m sorry sirs but the phoenix fledgling restaurant doesn’t do tabs.” She frowned worried about these three gentlemen, they looked rather boorish and rough, the only reason they could enter was because of the owner of the plaque. Paying however was up to them.

“What!” The first man slammed the table hard in anger looking viciously at the young waitress. They didn’t have 20 silvers on them let alone two and half gold coins. He then looked with accusation towards the third man. He was the one who said the boss would pay for it.

The young waitress backed away in fear from the man’s yell, tears threatening to leak from her eyes. She was afraid and didn’t know what to do. luckily someone came to her aid.