Take on Another World with My Best Friend Vol. I Ch. 10

"Boss. Boss. Wake up. Someone here is looking for you" Akira turns over "Mmh. What time is it?" "Your phone says 10.50" Akira turns to look around the room. "Where's Shin?" "He went outside a while ago" "Who's looking for me?" "Defense Minister. Lord Gregor. Please be careful around him. He does not look trustworthy" "Thank you, Talos. Get me my clothing, please" Talos grabs his clothing on top of the dresser. Akira put on his clothing, cleaned himself with magic, and went out of the room. He heads to the office of the Finance Minister. Before knocking, he set his voice record on. *KNOCK* *KNOCK* "Come in" Akira enters the room. Finance Minister is there, writing reports and the Defense Minister is sitting on a couch. "Excuse me" "Ah. Kira. Please come in" "You wanted to see me?" "Yes. Defense Minister here wanted to see you" "You Kira?" "Yes, Sir" "Good. We have something to talk about. Please leave us be, Sara" Sara glared for a moment, but the glance from Gregor is enough to put down any backtalk to him. Sara reluctantly goes out of the room, leaving the Minister and Akira alone. "I assume you know why I'm here?" "No" "I'll get straight to the point. Leave Mercia out of your conspiracy" "I don't have a clue what you are talking about" "Don't play stupid with me, boy! You are trying to expose Friguld and bring Mercia with them" "Oh, that. What do you want me to do?" "Leave Friguld and Mercia alone" "The reason being?" "You don't need to know, peasant. You are only a citizen, you are lucky to be here" "Let me correct you, I am not a Theovan citizen" "I see. A filthy adventurer. I should have known you would be stupid enough. Do what I tell you, or I'll send the army to come after you" "You forgot to say please" "I don't have to beg a lowly peasant like you" Akira glances at his armor. It was shining and looked brand new "Nice armor" "That's normal, given how expensive this is" "I bet you never fight for a day in your life" "Hmph. Lowly peasants should fight to protect the higher-ups" "So that's why you're here? To show off your armor to intimidate me?" "You lowly..." "This armor is only for decoration. It wasn't an alloy. Pure silver means this armor could be penetrated with an iron sword. Someone shot you with an arrow, you're dead in an instant. Given how weak you are, you should change to better armor. I think leather armor fits you better" "Why you little..." Gregor storms out of the room with anger on his face "You will pay for this" "I will count on it, Minister" Akira waves his hand to Gregor's departure. Sara comes in and looks befuddled "What was that all about?" Akira pulls out his phone and stops the recording "I'll inform you later. Do you know where Shin is?" "He said he's going to a forest. Practicing shooting" "I'll send him a message. I think I know who let the spies into the harbor" Akira opens his message menu and sends Shin a message to come back. "While we wait, have you had breakfast, Lady Sara?" "I have. Nosk made me a...what was it...umm" "Describe it to me" "Cooked rice with fried breaded chicken" "Chicken Katsu?" "Yeah, that's it" "Huh. That was his favorite food. No wonder he made it" "That was his favorite?" "Yeah. It was a simple meal" "I envy you guys. You are so efficient, a simple meal that could last you a whole day" "What did you eat before we arrive?" "We usually ate meat roast and a slice of bread" "That is why. We have this thing called carbohydrates. They contain the energy that humans need to function throughout the day. A slice of bread contains less energy than a bowl of rice. That's why we made it our staple food" "You guys know a lot about food" "Our country is well known, one of them is for the food" "Really?" "Yes. We used to eat raw fish with rice" "Raw?" "Yes. Now, you might think it's barbaric, but we don't eat it as is. We sliced the fish thinly and put them on top of the rice. We dip them in soy sauce, and eat them, either by hand or with 2 long small sticks. Usually with the sticks" "Interesting. Maybe we should visit this country" "That would be impossible" "I know. This country of yours sounds more like a mythical place every time you mention it" "I never thought this place exist. I always think that the world with magic is cool" "There is no magic in your world?" "There are several stories that it existed, but it was a very long time ago" "Tell me some of the stories" "This was not from my country, but it was well known. There were Titans, Giants roaming the world. The giants are as big and tall as a mountain. There are a lot of titans and some of them embody something. We have Gaia, the personification of the world. Cronus, the personification of time, Oceanus the personification of the seas, and many others. Cronus had a wife named Rhea. When Rhea gave birth to 5 children, Cronus ate them all fearing that the kids would kill them like how Cronus killed his father, Uranus. One day, Rhea gave birth to a 6th child named Zeus. Remember this guy since this guy will be the most important. So anyway, Zeus grew up and he was trying to free his siblings from his fathers. So he tricked him to regurgitate them. Skipping some parts, the wars between the children of Cronus and the titans sparks. The children of Cronus are called Gods" "Gods?" "Yep. So anyways. With the help from 3 Hecatonchires and several cyclopes, the gods are able to win the war" "Hecatonchires? Cyclops?" "Hecatonchires is a giant being, with 50 heads and 100 hands. Cyclopes are just like giants, but only have one eye" "What the hell is this monster from your world?" "Scary aren't they? This is just the beginning, there will be more later. So anyway. Zeus has 5 siblings. Hera, Demeter, Hades, Poseidon and Hestia. Zeus, the youngest, was crowned the king of the gods, the gods of the sky. wields lightning as a weapon. Master lightning, colored yellow. Demeter controls the weather, Poseidon controls the ocean, and Hades controls the underworld or hell. Hestia is the goddess of family and Hera is the goddess of marriage. So the magic part for the first generation is Zeus, who controls the sky and lightning" "Did he do something amazing?" "I don't know much, but there are some people who claim that he summoned a tornado made out of lightning and uses the lightning from a said tornado to kill half of the titans. But that claim is still debatable" "He really is a god" "Err. Yeah" Knowing the truth, Akira chooses to be quite about it. "There are a lot of religion back in our world. Some have multiple gods, others believe there is only one true god" "Which one do you believe?" "The one true god" "Why is that?" "Because I was raised by a family that believes monotheism?" "Is that it?" "Nothing else to tell. What about you, Lady Sara? How many religions are there in total?" "That depends on the region. Theovan have 2 religion. The Church of Theovan and Yakudan" "Can you tell me about those two?" "Well, they both worship the same God. But The Church of Theovan believes that Patron Lysander is God, while Yakudia believes that Patron Lysander is only a patron god, not a true God" "Interesting. Is there anything else?" "Well, Friguld worships the god of the seas and commerce. What was the god's name? Poccai? Cydon? I don't remember. Up north still worships the spirits. There is one interesting religion though. In Suleyman, there is this religion. They worship one god, but said one true God send him a message through an angel. Basically God told them to pray 5 times a day, and they pray by bowing, kneeling and after that, they read their scripture." Akira thought to himself. "Wasn't that what Islam does back on earth? Does that mean Islam exist here too?" Akira ask Sara once again. "What's the name of this religion?" "I don't know. I have not been to Suleyman. I think It's Aramaic?" "Do you mean, Abrahamic?" "Yeah, That's the one. How do you know?" "How is that possible?" "Hey. how do you know?" "Umm.." On cue, there is a knock on the door. "Come in" Shin opens the door and enters the room, with M1911 in his hand and don his helmet "Who are you?!" "It's me" "What is that clothing you wear?" "This is an armor made by Akira here" "You are a blacksmith?" "Yes, Ma'am" "That armor, I have never seen anything like this." "He wasn't a normal blacksmith" "I even got an armor of my own" "You do? Akira, you didn't tell me" "It's cool, but you'll laugh. I know you will" "Show me" "On a condition you don't make fun of me" "Deal" Akira opens his item box and grabs a polished chrome mask. "Only a mask?" "Watch" Akira dons the mask that only covers his mouth and nose. His mask started to assemble the rest of the body with a shining silver-titanium alloy. They way it assembles is similar to a certain billionaire powerless superhero, The only thing the armor didn't cover is the eyes and hair "Is that like..." "Yep" "From the..." "Yup" Sara, who stood there, unmoving, looks astonished by both of the armor "Yo. Check this" Akira pulls out his katana. Polished, sharpened and unbreakable. It is so shiny, it could be mistaken for a mirror "Where was this idea from?" "Oh, this armor is from Shin's house. His family used to be a great warriors who established empire and overthrow the same empire" "Sound's like untrustworthy bunch" "Hey!" "No, not at all. They are known for warriors spirit and loyalty. They are not loyal to the empire, they are loyal to the country" "Isn't that the same thing?" "Not at all. Let me give you a scenario. When a warlord causes inflation to the country, the whole bureaucracy is corrupt and external threat looms the country, who is responsible? The country, or the people running the country?" "I would believe it was the empire's fault" "Why is that?" "If what you says it's true, the logical reason would be that the person who guides the the country only uses their position to benefits of themselves. Not the country" "That's the reason. Our country used to be controlled by a warlord, not emperor. Their rebellion is to put the control back to the emperor, in other word, to the country" "But I cannot understand why the same family that established the empire would came back to destroy it" "People are just mortal. The world changes as time moves" "That...was insightful" "As for Shin armor here, it was from a game we used to played when we're teenagers. I enchanted it so It can see in the dark, light as a leather armor, and impervious to all damage. Physical and magical" "Akira. Let's skip this. Why am i called here? I was practicing aiming" "Right. Listen to this" Akira plays the recording of his conversation with Gregor. Shin and Sara listens to the whole thing of the recording. After the recording is finished. Sara especially looks horrified "What do you guys think?" "It sounded like treason for me. They way i see it, Gregor is in bed with either Mercia or Friguld either on some business deal or something bigger" "Lady Sara?" "I don't know what to make of it. If he's involved with the coup, then it's possible that he's the one who let the merchant ship in the port" "Should we report this to His Majesty?" "Not yet. We'll expose him at the banquet" "If so, We'll need the Ravens when at the banquet" "We need them now, actually" "Sara?" "If he's involved, then we need to keep an eye on him" "Do you have a plan?" "We will expose him at the banquet with Friguld in tow. We need someone to keep an eye on him. It is possible that his contacts will be in his mansion or at least visits him in his mansion" "Would Talos be enough?" "No. The Ravens can do it" "So they can record Gregor's activity?" "Yes" "Smart" "So do you need to call them now?" "Yes, please" Akira nods. Closes his eyes and focuses on Huginn and Muninn's presence. He linked his mind to both of them "Both of you. Please come to the Manor. I have a mission for you. Also, say hello to the kids for us" "Yes boss" Akira opens his eyes and sits down. "Now. Sara, I'm sorry, but I need to talk to Akira. Would you mind?" "DO you want me to go out?" "No. Please stay here. I just hope you wouldn't mind if I talk to him here" "Oh. No problem. Please knock yourself out" "What do you want to talk about?" "Friguld. About your plan to make your haven" "I guess I owe you some explanation. Ask away" "What were you thinking, fuckhead?" "Hello bosses" The raven has arrived and they are at the window. "Thank you for your time, Huginn, Muninn. We have a mission and we need your help" "Anything boss" "Lady Sara, would you like to brief them?" "Let them listen to the recording first" Akira nods and signals to move closer. Akira plays the recording for them. Huginn is seething, while Muninn is feeling calm. "Boss. Let me kill him. Please boss" "What's wrong with you, Huginn?" "Boss. We are the embodiment of your thought and memories, hence our name. Huginn is seething with anger since your emotion Is connected with Huginn, while I'm connected to your memories" "I am angry, but not that angry" "Let me kill him, boss" "Calm down. We have a better plan. If we just killed him, it would be an assassination. If we're to prove that he's a traitor, he will die a traitor's death. Disgraced and forgotten." Sara is pretty shocked, not by Akira's statement, but by how ruthless a man can be, even a good man like Akira "Nosk. Your friend, are you sure he's okay?" "He is fine. He is a little bloodthirsty and have anger issues, but he's fine" "Is he?" "Trust me, okay?" "Fine. But if he's turning into a serial killer, I will hold you responsible" "Sure." "Lady Sara. Go ahead and brief them" "Ravens. We need your help to do espionage on that guy threatening Kira. His name is Gregor von Vanitas. the Defense Minister of Theovania. We suspect he is involved in the theft of the coins and attempted coup on Theovania. Our aim is not to kill him, but to expose him to the court on the day of the banquet" "I can't kill him?" "Unfortunately, no. But if he is found guilty, he will definitely suffer" "Well. As long as he suffers" "It is possible that the spy for either Friguld or Mercia will visit Gregor in the night. But we will need to keep an eye on him. Muninn. You will be going to follow him. Huginn. Seeing that you wanted to kill him and we need the memory recording of Muninn. You will stand guard here and give me a report" "Understood, Ma'am" "Good. Now go. Bring us good news" Muninn flies away, while Huginn stays. Sara continues with her paperwork and Akira and Shin continues where they left off "So?" "Friguld?" "Yes" "I am planning to build New Miami on the beach area while building a hot spring town near the volcanoes. It would be a port town and a center for trading. I will not be managing the town, we will be receiving money from the town" "You can't do that" Sara butt in "Why is that?" "It would be embezzlement. The fund for the town will remain in the town. Tax will be paid, town fund will be needed for reparation and establishment, so on and so forth" "But I will be the one building the town, I will be the landlord of the land" "IF you are the lord of the land. If that is the case, you would need to become a nobility for the territory you built. That means no adventuring for you" "So that's it, Akira. No town building for us" "Not necessarily. We could build corporate towns. The towns will be under our business venture, under your Merchant company. We just need to claim the land as our own. Like, our own territory. Independent from Theovania" "That's treason talk" "Not unless His Majesty permits it. The land is still Friguld's, not Theovania" "That's...true" "Please, Shin. Let me do this one. So we can have a place to go back to once we have finished our adventuring. Create my haven not only for the kids to have a safe place to live but for the people's life to be better. We could also recreate onsen and sulfur for your gunpowder. It's a win-win" "Why are you so adamant on this?" "So I could create a haven. For you and I. For everybody. Living on the beaches. Can you imagine it?" Shin does not bother imagining things and sighs in defeat. "This will set us back a few months, years even. To build a town" "Hey. I can build it." "Do you have anyone in mind someone who would run the town for us?" "I don't" "Mina?" "I don't think Mina will be up for it" "Your dad?" "He's a nobility and merchant guildmaster. His majesty wouldn't allow it" *KNOCK* *KNOCK* "Who is it?" "Excuse me for interrupting, Minister. The woman you brought in the other night has conscious now" "Great. Thank you" "The thief we caught?" "Yes. I'll go see her right now. Huginn, please stay here for a moment" "Alright" "We'll go with you" "Come with me" Sara and the duo went out of the office and Sara leads them to a small room underground. The basement is damp, wet, and mossy. But it is also surprisingly clean. Sara opens the door and the thief is in the bed, but her arms and legs are chained "Why do you have a room like this?" "In case something like this happens" The thief struggles to release the chain "Wha-who are you? What are you trying to do with me?" "Be quiet. I should be the one asking the question. We know you are the thief who stole the platinum coins. Who sent you?" "I don't know what you are talking abo-" *SLAP* Sara slapped the thief so hard, she started bleeding. Sara moves closer to the thief and speaks in a soft tone "Don't play dumb with me. Do you know the thing you got into? After we save your stupid life, do you think you can lie to us?" "I-" "Speak clearly, Speak truthfully, and speak now" "I was forced to do it by the Corsair Princes. My family is being held hostage. They will sell them to slavery, to Mercia if I don't do what they said" "Your family?" "Y-yes. Father, mother, Brother, and a daughter" "Why are they being held hostage?" "My brother was a Deputy Mayor for Friguld Port town, Zaldis. He tried to make Zaldis a better place. One day he found out the Mayor was taking money and kidnapping people to sell. He directly went to the Corsair Princes to report the mayor. Turns out, the Mayor was under the Corsair Princes' order. My brother went and told the citizen of Zaldis, and the people revolted. The mayor caught wind of this and report it to the Princes. They dispatch the rebellion really fast. Killing the old and capturing the young, to be sold as slaves and sexual objects. The city of Zaldis is no longer on the map, and what's left of us is waiting for death, or to be sold" "Do you think I can believe this make-believe story?" "I-It's the truth!" "What proof do you have?" "Proof?" "That you are telling the truth. You deceive those adventurers back in the Royal Treasury. Unless you have proof, I will have you here rotting" "I regret lying to those adventurers. But I need to save my family" "And those adventurers don't have families? Do you think you're the only one have a family? How vain are you?" "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry" The thief breaks down in tears. Sara rolls her eyes, feeling slightly guilty "Sara. Do you have to be that harsh with her?" "That is what I learned being a spy. This is the basics of the interrogation. Break them down, and build them again" "That's brainwashing" "Never that. Now it's your turn. I broke her, now you build her" Shin looks at Akira and whispers "Dude. You do it." "What?! Why?" "I never done an interrogation before. I don't know how to 'build her up' so to say" "Did you forget you have all that charisma stuff? Intimidation, Charm and the other one?" "I know. But I don't feel right doing this" "Just say nice things to her. Like, we're going to save her family, depose the Corsair Princes or anything" "You think I could do it?" "You have charm. What are you afraid of?" "Alright, I can do this" Shin approaches the thief and sits down on the bedside. He puts his hand on her shoulder to make a gesture that he is friendly "Hey. It's okay. It's going to be alright. We are going to help you" The thief looks up and see a figure with a metal dome, big red eyes and a stick from the left ear "W-What are you? Please, don't hurt me" "Oh" Shin removes his helmet and puts the helmet on his lap. "Don't be afraid. This is just an armor. What's your name?" "..." "You can tell me. I'm not going to harm you. It's okay" "...Karina" "Karina? Beautiful name. You mentioned you have a son?" Karina nods while he tears is still trickling down. Shin reaches for his pocket for a handkerchief. He wipes her tears and sweat from her face "Can we at least release her chains?" Sara shakes her head, refusing to release her. "At least her hand?" Sara sighed and unlock the chains from her hands. Karina thanks Sara, but Sara ignores it "Now. I can help you with your family. But I need to know what's going on. Every little detail helps "I was coerced to do this stuff. Spymaster Liana is the proxy between The Corsair Prince and I, so I would go against the Princes' order" "Who were the Corsair Princes?" "There are 7 of them. Malik Al-Basra, Bartholomeo Tew, Harry Thatch, Yang I Sao, Henry Horngold, Anna Bonne and Charles Avery. They are as ruthless as the next. A few years ago, they claimed the land as their own. Each armada brought numerous slave to the place to build the place. Initially, each of them has land of their own to rule, towns. Realizing that the pirates will do anything to get riches, they created a pact. To unite under the same banner, they agree to rule together. To plunder from other countries, while protecting each other. They call it, 'The Pact of Libertalia'" "Libertalia?" "That is what they used to call themselves. Now it's just Corsair Princes' territory" "How do you come to Friguld?" "We were once a merchant. Our ships, Nightingale harbored to start a trade with Friguld. My dad was the ship's captain, while my mom is the merchant. Our trade was so successful, I Sao took notice. They want us to continue trade with Friguld, generate more money for them." "You mentioned you have a brother?" "Yes. A few years passed, I helped running the business, while my brother was appointed Deputy Mayor of the place" "You have a son right? Where is your husband?" Karina hesitates to answer. "Are you okay?" "Yes...Just...I don't have a husband" "Do you mean..." Karina nods "I...I'm sorry to hear that. I'll make sure your son is okay" Shin is shocked. If the story of one person is this horrifying, there's no telling how ruthless they might be "Do you...want to get back at them?" Karina eyes, still tearing up, turned from sadness, to fury "I want...every single one of them...paid tenfold for what they have done. To me, to my family and to the people they have enslaved. I want them to suffer. For the rest of their cruel, despotic life" Shin looks at Akira. He sees that he's somewhat smiling, whether it is pride, eager for a fight, or justification to tell Shin that he's not the only one with a bloodlust. Either way, Shin understand and agrees with what was implied. Retribution. "If you want to depose them, will you help us expose them tomorrow?" "I...will do whatever it takes to see defeat in their face" "That's my girl. Sara, she's on our side. Will you uncuff her, please?" Sara face lighten up. She still got it. To gather information while gaining a new ally. Killing two birds with one stone "Karina. I will say this only one, so pay attention. If you have question or suggestion, save it after you hear the plan, understand?" Karina nods. Sara explains to her everything. From the Theovan Sword ploy, the recording from the spymaster Liana that night, Gregor voice recording, and the expose party at the banquet. She told Karina that someone will be disguised as Liana, and act as a proxy, so they will not be suspicious "A great plan. But the spymaster is the one supposed to meet this Gregor. They were to meet at midnight" "Anything else?" "Don't knock and ask to meet him. Sneak in through the tunnel from the plaza" "Got it. Thank you. Are you hungry? "I am famished" "Great. Let's have lunch. My partner here will be cooking for us" Shin points at Akira and Akira smiles and politely waves "What do you want to eat?" "I don't have a preference. Anything, please" "Akira?" "Fish sounds nice. Lady Sara?" "If it's you cooking it, I don't mind" "Great. I will buy the ingredient first. I will be done in an hour" Akira activates his lightning aura and runs to the marketplace to buy the ingredients. For the dishes, he was thinking of Fish Burger. So he bought Lemon, Egg, and Salmon. He went to every other stall but there are no pickles for sale. He'll just make one instead, so he brought cucumbers and extra lemons. After all the other ingredients are procured, Akira went to a bakery in the area. From the outside, the smell of freshly baked bread hit Akira's nose. Akira opens the door. He was greeted by a middle-aged woman, plumpy but not fat and has a dark skintone. "Welcome to Ruisa Bakery. I'll be right with you in a minute" The baker went inside the kitchen and came back with a fresh loaf. The smell getting sweeter and stronger. "How may I help you?" "Yes. I want a dozen of buns" "It's not ready yet, but we'll have a new batch ready in 15 minutes. Would you like to wait?" "No problem. While you're at it, do you have hard stale bread that is not moldy?" "Why do you want stale bread?" "It will be an ingredient in my new recipe" "Well, we do not have one that is stale. but if it's a crumb you want, you can have the birds feed. It's a hard bread that has been ground" "It's not moldy, right?" "No. Of course not" "Great. I'll take that" The baker is heading back to the storage room and bagging him bread crumbs. The baker starts a conversation with Akira "What are you making, son?" "I'm making a new recipe called a fish burger" "What's a burger?" "It's a bread with meat between them" "That is interesting. Mind if I try to copy that recipe?" "I have no problem with it, but do you have ground meat?" "I do." "Make sure you make a firm disc from the ground meat and grill them with oil" "Oil?" "So your burger won't dry up" "Ah. Got it" "For a bakery, maybe make a simple recipe. Like, Korokke" "Korokke?" "It's meat breaded in breadcrumbs and fried with oil. It is cost-effective and you can use your bird feed" "You think it would sell?" "Why not? It's delicious and simple. You can add a mashed solanus if you want to cover the meat" "Son, how do you know this recipe?" "It was from my homeland far east" "East?" "Not on this continent" "That explains your weird clothing" "Uh...yes" Akira waits for the remaining time for the buns to finish. After a while, the baker came out with a paper bag and a cloth bag. Akira checks the paper bag, but counts 13 buns on the bag "Uh...There are 13 buns in this bag. Did you add extra?" "It's a baker dozen. We don't want to sell an underweight bread, so we add another one" "Ah. I see. How much do I owe you?" "It's on the house. In exchange, I will use your korokke recipe to sell" "Are you okay with that?" "I think this recipe will be the next big hit in this bakery" "Alright. Thanks" "You too, son" Akira leaves the bakery and puts all his groceries in his item bag. All the shopping cost him gold. He releases his lightning aura again and teleports up back to Sara's Mansion. He runs to the kitchen and prepares all his ingredients. He takes off his jacket and rolled his sleeve. First. He grabs 2 wooden bowls and cracks all of the eggs into the two bowls and whisks both. One is for Tartar Sauce, and the other is for the breading. Once the breading eggs are already whisked, he turned to the other bowl. In order to make a tartar sauce, he would need mayonnaise. Since there is no vinegar in this world, he thinks that lemon would be a great substitute. He cuts and squeezes several lemons until they are in equal parts. Whisked it until it reach the consistency of mayonnaise. For the next part, he would need to make a pickle. So he takes an empty bottle that is available. He puts the cucumber inside and most of the lemon to fill up the bottle. He used his magic to speed up the pickling process of the cucumber and cuts 3 cucumbers and chopped them finely, then put them into the mayonnaise. He added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice from the pickle to the tartar sauce. The tartar sauce is done, now for the fish. He preheats the frying pan and adds the oil. He takes the knife and fillets the fish clean, removes the bones, eggwash them, and bread it. When all the fishes are filleted and breaded, Akira fries them in batches and when he's done frying, Akira cuts the buns in halves and puts the fish in the bun. Before he could put the fish on the burger, a head chef walks it. "Sir. What are you doing here?" "I'm cooking lunch for Lady Sara and the prisoner" The head chef looks over to see what he's cooking "What are you cooking?" "A fishbu-FUCK!" "Fishbufuck?" Akira knew he forgot something "It's a fish burger. But I forgot the cheese. FUCK!" "We have cheese stored. What do you need?" "Provolone, Monterey and Brie. Please grate them and combine them. Then melt them in a pot" "Got it" The head chef rushes to the cheese storage, grabs 3 wheels of cheese, and went back to the kitchen. The head chef cuts the cheese into cheese wedge, grate them and melts them down. "Do we need to cool this down?" "No need. Pour them into the bottom buns slowly" The head chef pours the cheese until the bottom bun is spread with cheese. Akira puts the fillet on top of the cheese and spread the tartar sauce on top of the fillet. "Thanks for helping me, chef. You want to try this one?" "Is it okay?" "Oh wait. Grab me that bottle" The head chef grabs the bottle with cucumber in it and hands it to Akira. He slices the pickle and hands one slice to the head chef. The head chef looks in confusion. "Try it. Then tell me if you want to add this on your burger" "The head chef grabs the slice and tastes the slice of cucumber. It was sour, but the cucumber was crispy, succulent and it was a new taste for the chef "That is delicious. Please, I want some" Akira nods and puts generous slices of the pickles on the burger. He closes the top bun and hands them to the head chef "Tell me what you think" While the head chef is tasting the burger, Akira continues to slice the rest of the pickles. The chef takes a bite of the burger and it was marvelous. So marvelous, he said it out loud. "Marvelous!" The head chef, even though he's experienced and old, he feels like an amateur kid again. He was jolly to taste the harmony of the crispy taste of fish, the saltiness of the cheese, and the sourness of the tartar. "Any complain, chef?" "How old are you, Sir?" "17" "You cook better than me, master" "What?" "Please let me study under you. I wanted to taste more delicious food like this" "I am not your master. But if you called the Minister, the prisoner, and my partner and help me serve this food, I will teach you the recipe" "Yes, Master" The head chef rushes to the Minister to inform them the food is ready. He helped serve the food in the dining room. He prepares 2 servings for each person. Sara and Karina look confused, but Shin knows what it is "You can't get enough of this huh?" "Shut up" Sara asks what is the food in front of her. "What is this?" "You remember the burger we serve you on our first day?" "Yes" "This is the fish version of the burger." "I'm sorry, Finance Minister. But what is this burger?" "It's the food this guy made. it's meat between buns" "Please enjoy" "How do we eat this?" Karina does not see any utensils on the table. Akira signals to her that this food is meant to be eaten with a hand. "With our hand?!" "It's the way it is supposed to be eaten" Akira points at Shin, who has already dug into the food. Sara follows suit "Okay..." Karina eats the food with her hands. A single bit of the fish burger. She cannot describe the taste of the food, it's just delicious "Kira. This is your best one yet. This sauce, this fish, the buns, everything is perfect" "The head chef helped me. I forgot the cheese, so I used it. Sorry" "Did he now? Girolamo." "Yes, Minister?" "You did a great job helping create this dish" "Not at all, Lady Minister. I was just helping with the cheese" "Name your reward" "No need, Lady Minister. Master has promised to give me this recipe" "He did?" "Yes" "You better give him the recipe." Akira just nods. Even he is surprised at how tasty his fish burger. "What do you call this, Mister Akira?" "Well. Filletburger" "Filletburger. I believe that this food will be a new favorite dish in Friguld" Akira finishes his first burger, the stand up from his seat "I'm going to teach Girolamo how to make this" "I want to come too" "No. you just enjoy your meal. I'll teach you personally later" Karina nodded and Akira and Girolamo went back to the kitchen. "I'm not sure that friend of yours is a human" "He's a human. believe me. We grew up together" "Doesn't seem like a human. He's great at everything. Cooking, espionage, and whatnot" "There's something he's bad at" "Really? A person like him?" "Yeah. He is bad at communicating. That's why on our first meeting, I'm the one talking to you" "Hard to believe that" "He had a hard upbringing, Sara. He's bad at talking and his emotions are unchecked. His social is bad and his mind is broken. There. He's not perfect" "Why are you keep talking bad about him?" "Because that's what he always told me" Shin finishes his first burger, followed by Karina. After a few seconds, Akira went into the dining room again. "As expected of the head chef. He learns fast. Karina, here. I wrote a recipe for you" "Thank you" "I'll go meet Talos first" Akira went into his room. Talos, although an automaton, he fell asleep "Automaton sleeps?" Akira wakes up Talos. "You can sleep?" "Huh. Hey boss. I was on standby mode" "Whatever, then. Listen. I have gathered information about Gregor, and I have a mission for you. I apologize I put you through all of these, but I need your help" "Boss. Don't apologize. It was an honor to serve you." Talos, having absorbed the spymaster memory, would be a perfect candidate for the job. Akira tells Talos everything Karina said. He is tasked to disguised and infiltrate stealthily. He was eager for the task, but Akira is feeling uneasy about the whole thing. Soon, everything will be uncovered.