Chapter 298: Back Alley Restaurant
Surprisingly, the line moved quite quickly, and it was only 10 minutes before they arrived at the actual shop where they were greeted by the sight of a hunched old man who appeared to be in his late 60’s or early 70’s, standing outside in the alleyway, cooking over something Lucas could only describe as a large barbeque.
Nearby, inside the shop itself, there was a young man, perhaps in his early to mid 20’s, swiftly chopping up vegetables, whipping together some kind of dressing, and frying what looked like flatbread on a hot skillet.
Before Sasha could place their order, however, the old man looked up from his work and raised his brow slightly in surprise, "Little Sharon, it seems you’ve brought me some interesting customers today."
The old man glanced first at Allina, then at Christina, then Lucas, and finally at Yuki, his gaze lingering on the fox kit for a moment longer before he smiled subtly, a hint of something like surprise, or perhaps amusement flicking across the depth of his eyes.
Immediately, Lucas and Christina went on alert, with Allina even trying to step forward to shield their group, but the old man simply raised his hand to stop them, "There’s no need for alarm, young ones."
Unnerved, but understanding that this wasn’t the place to cause a scene, the trio all exchanged a glance before backing down.
As for Yuki, she just tilted her head curiously at the old man for a brief moment before the scent of roasting meat stole her attention away again, causing her to yip impatiently.
Sasha and Eris had naturally not missed this little episode, and judging from the reaction of their friends, they both had a fairly good idea of what just happened, but seeing even Allina take a step back, they decided to feign ignorance and proceed as planned.
Sharon, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the old man’s true meaning and simply beamed happily, "Don’t I always bring you good customers, Grandpa Linus?"
"Ho ho ho, silly girl, you only bring me customers when you think you can get a free meal off of them!" The old man named Linus joked.
Blushing furiously, Sharon waved her hands frantically, "No no no, how can you discredit me like that, Grandpa? I only want my clients to enjoy the best food in the city!"
"Oh? Is that so? Then I suppose you won’t mind if I only serve them and not you?" Linus teased, clearly aware of this young woman’s intentions.
"Uh..." Sharon’s face twitched slightly before she reluctantly lowered her head and mumbled, "Of... of course that’s alright..."
"Alright alright, I think that’s quite enough, you two," Sasha, unable to watch this silly drama unfold any further, shook her head and stepped forward boldly, "We’ll take 10 portions of whatever it is you’re serving, Senior."
With a small grin on his face, Linus nodded lightly, "Coming right up."
All this while, the old man’s hands had never stopped moving, swiftly and smoothly flipping meat skewers over the hot grill while seasoning them lightly with some unknown spice mixture.
The meat sizzled as fat dripped down from the skewers onto the hot charcoal, signaling it was almost ready to serve.
Motioning to his assistant, Linus had the expressionless young man bring over some wooden plates and bowls with a large helping of salad and toasted bread.
Soon, 5 platters covered in a large helping of food were served up, hot and ready.
Unfortunately, perhaps because it was the lunch-hour rush, there were no open tables inside the shop or even on the outdoor patio.
"I’m sorry for the lack of seats," Old Linus apologized sincerely, "I don’t normally serve such illustrious gusts in my little cookery."
"Not at all, Senior," Lucas shook his head while accepting one of the platters of meat, "We’re just happy we could try something so unexpected here in this city."
"Well, aren’t you the polite one, much unlike this gluttonous little girl here," Linus smiled, reaching out and bopping the drooling Sharon on her forehead.
"Ah! What was that for, Grandpa?" Sharon pouted, clearly feeling quite comfortable around the old man.
Shaking his head, Linus motioned to Lucas’ group, "Feel free to eat wherever you please. You can even take the meal to go, no need to pay."
If this had been an ordinary restaurant, Lucas’ group would have assumed this old man was trying to curry favour with them by offering the food for free, but they knew better than that.
As such, they couldn’t just take this food and go; however, paying in coins would likely be seen as them looking down on Linus, which was also unacceptable.
Thinking it over for a moment, Lucas handed the tray he was carrying to Sharon, asking her to hold onto it for a moment before turning to Allina and asking for a pen, ink, and paper from her Space Bag.
Seemingly catching onto Lucas’ idea, Allina smiled and nodded, retrieving the requested materials for him.
While Sasha, Allina, Eris, and Christina snacked on the skewers, their eyes lighting up in surprise when they tasted the rich, juicy, meaty flavour that seemed to burst in their mouths, Lucas hurriedly scribbled down something on the paper, pausing every few seconds to think for a moment about how to best get his point across.
As for Sharon, it was clearly not her first time patronizing this restaurant, so with her current client’s gracious permission, she too was digging into the meat, a look of pure bliss spreading across her face, as if she hadn’t eaten something so good in many days.
Which, in fact, was the truth.
Sharon’s family was poor, and while the prices at Old Man Linus’ shop were very cheap for the quality, they were still beyond her ability to afford on regular days.
It was for this reason that, after discovering this hidden gem about a year ago, Sharon had always brought any customers she felt could afford her Grandpa Linus’ prices to this spot. Most of the time, her clients felt skeptical upon first seeing this place, but once they tasted the food, they universally agreed it was well worth the detour.
As this was going on, Old Man Linus continued tending his barbeque and serving his customers with practiced ease, chatting and laughing with his regulars while his assistant prepared more ingredients in a swift and efficient manner.
The two of them looked like ordinary commoners, perhaps a grandfather and his grandson just trying to scrape by, but if one watched closely, they would be astonished by the speed and precision of this pair’s movements.
From flipping the skewers, turning the charcoals, spreading sauces, or even just chopping up the leafy greens, there was a certain flow and rhythm to their actions. No single motion was of significance on its own, but together, it was like Linus and his sous-chef were painting a masterpiece, despite the fact that all they were really doing was cooking skewers.
About 3 minutes later, Lucas closed up the ink bottle, handed the pen back to Allina, then gently blew on the paper to dry it before folding the parchment and handing it over to the old man with a smile, "This might not be much for someone of your... expertise, Senior; but please accept it as our thanks for the delicious meal you’ve cooked us."
"Hm? I don’t believe you’ve tasted my craftsmanship yet, young lad," Linus observed Lucas inquiringly, "How do you know it’s delicious without sampling it for yourself, first?"
Smiling back at the old man, Lucas shifted his gaze to the ladies of his group, all of whom seemed enthralled by the meal they were sharing.
It was fairly obvious what they thought of this food.
Then, of course, there was Yuki, who Christina was having a difficult time holding back from literally sticking her face into the pile of skewers.
Chuckling wryly, Lucas shrugged, "Let’s just say I trust my partners when it comes to matters of the stomach."
"Hahaha, good lad, no wonder you can keep so many pretty girls all to yourself!" Old Man Linus cackled loudly, drawing blushes from the younger ladies, rolled eyes from the older ones, and no shortage of glares from the young men lingering around the restaurant.
Sighing, Lucas shook his head, wondering why all old timers seemed so fond of teasing him like this, "In any case, I better get going and grab my share before it’s all gone."
"En," Linus nodded, "May we meet again some day, young lad"
"I would like that, Senior," Lucas nodded before trotting over, grabbing a skewer for himself, and sinking his teeth into it as Sasha led their group back the way they came.
Just as they were about the round the corner, leading out of the alleyway, Lucas suddenly heard a voice inside his head, "I nearly forgot to ask, what’s your name, young lad?"
Pausing mid-bite, Lucas grinned and whispered under his breath, "It’s Lucas, Senior Linus. My name is Lucas. The redheads are Sasha and her daughter Eris, the one with dyed black hair is Christina, and the last of our group is Allina."
