Chapter 16: Will their paths cross?
Louise sat alone in the room, feeling confused.
A part of her disliked how Leon saw through her again, knowing about her lack of confidence, and another part grew nervous as she didn't know whether she'd be able to freely stomp in the world on her own. Leaving her alone with a few words behind was surely Leon's way of helping her and showing his care.
Still, Louise grew tense, her fox tails flopped down, and her tails drooped low. "The human hurt me, and I don't remember leaving my family and others… I- I don't know how to proceed other than ask a system for the quest…."
Louise developed the confidence for Leon and to be by his side, and she naturally had trust in her battle skills, which would allow her to survive in another world, but was living just about fighting? The fox girl understood that it was not the case. It'd be so nice to get back all her memories, which would solve all her gaps.
But that was highly unlikely, so Louise took her future into her hands. "Smile, ask, and don't be shy!"
After those words deeply took place in Louise's heart, the fox lady left her room, going down the stairs to meet the receptionist lady. She greeted her, and the plump woman looked at her surprised, then asked for a meeting with the chef.
"Was our food bad?" the receptionist carefully asked, inwardly wondering why these two had spent so little time with each other as she recalled Leon leaving the inn not too long ago. If their inn's food was the cause of them not having a healthy and exciting love relationship, then it'd be disastrous to their prestige!
Louise wasn't experienced enough to see through the woman, so she shook her head and replied with a faint smile, "I want to learn cooking. I can pay for lessons!"
"Oh, I see. Well, I can ask our chef, but he'll have to discuss it with our boss first. So for today, I think you'll only be able to look and help with minor stuff." The receptionist understood Louise, then wondered aloud while enjoyably looking at the adorable fox girl before herself.
[Quest: Learn the basics of cooking!]
[Reward: two levels.]
Looking at the quest, which would reward her with two levels for learning something so simple, Louise's eyes twinkled, and she excitedly followed the plump woman to the kitchen. Things became a little trickier inside, though.
Louise noticed the chef in the middle of preparing dinner. He was tall and well-built. His muscles surely developed from years of handling the tough ingredients for meals. But his posture reminded Louise of the person she never wanted to think — The Human Emperor.
In her mind, the man's silhouette appeared, swathed in darkness as Louise unconsciously avoided seeing his face and body. That man approached her with loud and reverberating steps, clearly fed up.
Louise looked away to avoid the chef's posture, locking her eyes on another male worker. He was similar, his presence triggering unpleasant memories.
"Mrs. Louise?" the receptionist's voice brought Louise back from that terrifying vision. Her warm face and plump curves were like a saving grace, too pleasant to Louise's eyes.
Louise gulped down and apologized, "I'm sorry for blanking out…."
Then, the chef's voice drew her attention. "If you can't handle this atmosphere and pressure, you should return to your wealthy man. I'd rather not have some bonus than deal with a spineless girl."
Hearing him, Louise trembled and locked her eyes on the chef. For some reason, she couldn't reply, even though she knew she'd be able to beat him to death if she wanted. Thus, her previous thoughts of the world not revolving just around the battles became a reality, and Louise understood how badly she was mentally wounded.
Without Leon by her side, the person with whom she went through many experiences in just one day, Louise was like a scaredy-cat, which displeased her. She understood now why her quest would reward her with two levels. It wouldn't be weird if Louise received more quests in such a high-pressure room.
She clasped her cheeks and stifled all her feelings, staring back at the chef. "I'll do it and make your inn even more famous with my skills!"
"And where does that confidence come from?" the chef asked.
"No idea!" Louise replied with a straight face.
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The village's people were nice, so Leon had no problems finding the smithy.
Of course, during his walk, Leon wondered how he should pass the news of the undead lurking close to the village. He'd spent just one night coming here, so those existences were pretty close.
Before going to the smithy, Leon decided to stop a random man and talk with him about a possible threat.
"I've seen skeletons close to your village."
"Huh?! Have you told it to the mayor?!"
"I'm new here…."
"Dammit!"
The random guy instantly sprinted to the mayor's house, leaving Leon alone on the street. From his frightened tone, Leon didn't need a brain to see that all undead were enemies of humanity and other races.
It made sense for someone undead to hate living beings, didn't it?
"Showing status won't stop them from killing civilians, too, right? That should be it. Well, glad to be of help," Leon nodded to himself, then prepared for a talk in the smithy.
After stepping in, Leon appeared in a dim and swelteringly room. It took a few breaths for Leon to adapt to this atmosphere and darkness, then he found someone around his age working with a brawny and tanned man. It was indeed a master with rich experience, for he did most of the work while the younger man assisted him.
Leon narrowed his eyes and unblinkingly gazed at the process, absorbing all movements and new information. He entered a new trance, which lasted even while the duo stopped their work.
"You know him?" the blacksmith asked his striker, who shook his head.
A few minutes later, Leon blinked and looked at them. "Nice to meet you, I'm Leon."
"And who the hell are you?" the blacksmith asked in an aggressive and rough tone, surprising young workers. He'd seen Leon's eyes, which didn't seem to belong to someone who had never done blacksmithing.
But Leon was also too young, and his hands… didn't have blisters.
"I'm a wanderer who wants to learn blacksmithing. Of course, I have money."
"Obviously, the wanderer. Haven't heard about the checks, boy? You think I will risk my occupation for a nobody?" the blacksmith master asked, alluding to the occupation checks that Marco hated.
Leon understood this man, so he finally added a convincing card, "I'm an otherworlder. You shouldn't worry about me and your kingdom. I won't stay in this village long, and I believe we can help each other."
Leon shifted his gaze to the young striker, who was the assistant, implying that he'd be able to do a better job with a few lessons. Of course, Leon didn't have it easy as the blacksmith still thought about the rules.
Compared to Louise, whose race was clear, and anyone knew she was an outsider from afar and not an enemy place, Leon was naturally a human whose identity couldn't be easily confirmed.
However, Leon was still a different breed. How he had stared and followed every blacksmith's movement managed to convince the master, initiating the quest.
[Quest: Learn blacksmithing and forge chains for four-legged monsters.]
[Reward: 2 levels.]
"Show us your talent, boy."
"With pleasure."
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