NOVEL NEXT Chapter 35: Massive Profit
"Hey, Brook of Flamevine Squad, did you see a guy walking around with a wagon diner and selling food?"
"First time hearing about that. What's up?"
"Sorry, I am busy. Talk to you later. I need to find that guy fast, damn it."
"Huh? Wait up. What's the deal with that guy?"
"Just ask some other guys."
"What?"
Brook scratched his head, but just as he walked into another road, he saw three more familiar people, fellow adventurers, asking around, and one of them even approached him quickly upon seeing him.
"Hey man, did you see a guy with a wagon diner selling food?"
Brook grabbed his shoulders and stared at him. "Tell me what this is about. Now."
"There's a guy in the town. He sells food, and it's fucking crazy. Anyway, I gotta go and find him."
"Wha…wait!"
"Damn it." Brook cursed.
On his way towards Adventurer's Plaza, Brook encountered three more people asking about the same guy, but he couldn't find anything. Everyone was in a damn hurry as if the world was about to end.
Frustrated, Brook decided to grab a drink before going to report back on his solo scouting quest, and turned to an alley.
"Huh?"
There, he saw a guy standing alone, but then out of nowhere, a strange Wagon appeared with a window and a chimney.
Soon, the area around the Wagon was illuminated by cute, lifelike fox-head flame wisps dancing in beautiful, floating glasses.
Just then, the chimney of the restaurant started releasing smoke.
'Could that be the Wagon everyone was talking about?'
Suddenly, Brook's nose twitched.
The smell!
*Grrrr….*
His stomach cried out. I want that food!
'Damn, it does taste like it's going to be tasty as fuck.'
Curious, Brook started walking towards it.
Ainen had already entered inside by the time Brook arrived.
'There's a menu, eh?'
Brook blinked and looked at it.
Instantly, his eyes popped out.
'What the fuck? Is this a scam?'
Seeing the effects of those buffs, Brook was sure it was a scam.
'But the smell is so damn nice.'
Brook frowned. 'The price is cheap, too.'
'50 low-grade Mana Stones for food that gives this buff is crazy low.'
As he reached the end of the menu, he saw a line that made him pause.
[ First-time customers can get one food dish from the menu for free. ]
He turned to the left and saw the order window which had written, [ Knock and Order ].
Brook knocked.
And soon, he saw a red-haired young man looking in his early twenties.
"Hello. What would you like to order?"
"One dish for free?"
"Yep."
"Then…I want that Zerphyrus Sandwich."
"Alright. Just one second."
Ainen snapped his finger as a glass plate appeared, and then he put the Zerphyrus Sandwich on it from his Inventory.
"Here you go. Enjoy."
As Brook took the dish with a somewhat doubtful, but eager to eat look, three more people arrived after smelling the aroma.
They were a couple in their mid-thirties with a seven-year-old kid with them.
Both of them were Awakened-rank.
After looking at the Menu, they had a similar reaction, but soon read the last line and ordered food.
"I only have four food dishes remaining, so you don't have a choice. Want them?" Ainen smiled.
"Ah, sure."
As Ainen finished his today's business and laying down the foundation by selling the food whole day, a loud shout soon rang.
"Found it!"
A thin-bearded man came running with maddening eyes.
"Boss, I want five dishes!"
"I am out of food. I only have one food dish, and you are not a first timer, so you want to buy it?"
"Buy!"
After getting the food dish from Ainen, the thin-bearded man said, "Chef, why are you disappearing after selling for a bit? We can't even find you."
"That's a trade secret," Ainen said with a chuckle. "Anyway, I am done for today."
It was 7 in the evening. After buying the clothes in the morning, Ainen went to the Adventurer's Guild of this town and updated his Adventurer Card.
And then, he simply posted two Quests there.
Corpses of Awakened-rank Monsters without their valuable parts. Reward = 10 silver per ten kilos. Collecting any known or unknown herbs and plants they encounter. Reward = 100 silver per kilo.
At first, the other Adventurers considered him an idiot for posting such a money-draining quest.
To them, a monster corpse without Magic Core and its valuable parts was useless. Of zero value except for in food, but Ainen was buying it at ten times the price of other places that usually buy monster meat.
The second quest was even more baffling to others.
Collecting any herbs and plants they encounter? What the hell?
Sure, it would be hard to collect one kilo of plants and herbs since they weighed little, but there were abundant of them in the forest!
The Adventurers couldn't believe such easy quests existed.
However, Ainen assured the Adventurers there that he would buy if they brought the stuff to him.
And so, a bunch of Adventurers departed, starting their day with those two quests.
Suffice to say, they were satisfied since Ainen paid them, and Ainen was also satisfied with the stock he collected.
And then, he started cooking.
After he cooked in the Adventurer's Plaza once, selling around a hundred food dishes and giving more than a hundred for free to first-time customers, he left.
If he waited there long, Ainen was sure the whole town would've gathered there and chaos would ensue, so he didn't plan to stay in one place to sell his food.
Using the Ink-Shade Mark, he could change his appearance and entirely vanish.
Since he never showed Ron and Syl to others while he was selling food, he could safely hang out with them after changing his appearance using the Ink-Shade Mark.
The mark was powerful enough that it could even change the design of the Beast Outfit that Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea transformed into. But in reality, the mask didn't affect the foxes. Instead, it affected everyone looking at Ainen. Its power was an illusion of perception.
With that, Ainen leisurely enjoyed roaming the town with Ron and Syl while selling food every now and then in some less crowded alley, according to his idea.
And considering the profit he made today, the smile never left his face.
In total, he sold over one thousand food dishes, each one costing 50 low-grade Mana stones.
That's right. He earned a total of 51k low-grade Mana Stones!
...
Lord Black sighed in amazement. 'This is the power of perception. You sold such luxurious food at a cheap price, and it was sold this much.'
'To be honest, I didn't expect Adventurers to be this poor.' Ainen wryly smiled. He had seen some Adventurers unable to fork out 50 low-grade Mana Stones.
'It depends on their hard work mostly. Those who take on more and tougher Quests earn more. Those who get lazy stop progressing and earning. Some are more fortunate than others, while some land in trouble. Some continue to strive for higher places, while some settle down and make a family. That's the life of an Adventurer.'
'Mhmm.'
Ainen smiled. 'Anyway, I got enough money to buy stuff, so it's time to visit the big magic stores that sell valuable resources.'
'And finally create the catalyst of my Magic Core.'
As Ainen changed his appearance and started walking with Ron and Syl towards a high-end district near the central plaza for Adventurers, he saw some commotion and heard some familiar words.
'Doomfang Brigade and Moonlake Pact? Ain't that Naresh and Diana?'
Ainen smiled. 'It looks like they completed some kind of tough quest.'
'Your food makes people strong for two hours. Your food is cheaper than potions. So yeah, Adventurers will be having a time of their life with your food.'
…
The news of a mysterious chef arriving and the power of his food naturally reached the ears of this dukedom's rulers.
"Such a chef is in this town? Are you sure it's not false rumours?"
"I haven't personally confirmed it, but given the number of people who had eaten the food, and asking many of them about it, it seems to be true. The buffs of his food are higher and last longer than potions. Moreover, people also gained a permanent increase in stats. Everyone is crazy about that food right now."
"One more thing, my lord. The quest of Murlock Lake was unexpectedly completed today by the third and fourth-ranked parties of our town, Doomfang Brigade and Moonlake Pact."