Chapter 83 – I Brought My Own Chair

 

The line outside attracted the attention of quite a few passers-by..

This corner of Aden Square consisted mostly of shops that sold magic potions, weapons and so forth… therefore, unless there was a specific need, or some random lost tourist, there would be very people few people who pass by this place.

To have a line of people waiting to get into a shop was definitely something they have never seen around here before, so it was a little confusing to have so many luxuriously dressed people with expectant expressions on their faces lining up.

Was the food from this restaurant really that delicious? To the point of attracting so many people to their door?

Of course, what was most surprising about this was how quietly and patiently everyone was being. Two or three people who were familiar with each other would chat quietly from time to time, but there was none of the noisy bustle of a regular restaurant.

This kind of atmosphere and sense of expectation was so strong that passers-by actually slowed their steps and stared. Though most of them did not join the line, choosing instead to park themselves somewhere nearby to investigate this phenomenon. To see if there was really some kind of extraordinary food in this restaurant.

The door opened out, and and Mike had to paused in shock, he really hadn’t expect to see so many customer waiting outside. However, it looked like the the possibility of having new customers had increased.

“Boss Mike, you’ve finally opened your doors. I’ve waited about half an hour already.” The young man who was standing at the head of the line said a little grouchily, however his eyes remained cheerful.

“The opening hours for this restaurant is clearly displayed for everyone to see. Customers may choose the desired time to eat here. Since we’re open now, do come in.” Mike said with a smile as he opened the door wider, but there was no sense of apology on his face.

He had already decided that he was not going to be lenient with the customers when it came to business hours. If this rule was broken even once, it would set a bad precedent and his rest time might eventually evaporated into nothing. This was not something he was prepared to let go, in the future he even planned to establish rest days as well.

“I know, I know, it’s the restaurant’s rules. I’ll have two [Juicy Burgers], please.” the young man nodded obediently as he entered.

He felt that Mike was a little unreasonable, especially when he saw Mike and Amy having lunch together at the dining hall, refusing to even let the people in a little early to just sit and wait at the tables.

However, when he laid eyes on the delicious food in front of him, all was forgiven. After all, he wouldn’t be able to eat such wonderful food even after standing a whole day outside any other restaurants.

“Boss Mike, have you given any thought about that matter…” Klaus said the moment he came in through the door, only to encounter Mike’s squinty eyed smile.

“Dear customer, there are many other customers behind you, so do come in and place your order first.” Mike said with a professional smile as he interrupted Klaus. There were no holes in his smile, moreover, his excuse was iron clad.

“Very well,” since Klaus’ words had been so expertly avoided, he could only stamp his magic staff a little too loudly on the floor as he came into the restaurant. Amy and Little Ugly Duckling were playing at the counter table, his eyes brightened as he approached them. He smiled down at them, “Good day, little girl.”

“Good day, Beardy Old Man.” Amy raised her head and obediently greeted him back, her eyes fell upon the sapphire stone embedded onto his magic staff. She asked curiously, “Is that a magic staff? Do all magic users use magic staff?”

“That’s right, moreover this is no ordinary magic staff, aside from being a magical conduit, it could also be used as a weapon. In the past, I’ve even bashed a dragon on the head with it.” Klaus gently patted the magic staff in his hand with some affection as he said this, sinking back into nostalgia for a while. Those days he was really young and fearless, almost reckless. However, the name of Crazy Wizard seemed to have fallen out of everyone’s memories.

“That sounds like a really great stick.” Amy said carelessly, her eyes still staring at the magic staff. She was clearly only interested in the bright blue gem.

Klaus had wanted to brag about his youthful days, however it looked like Amy wasn’t at all interested in it. He felt like he had just punched a pile of cotton[1] and laughed awkwardly.

However, now that he had found a way to entice Amy to speak with him, he was not in a hurry. Little girls have all kinds of interests, he only had to find something that she like in order to trick her to come with him. He turned to Mike, and said, “Boss Mike, two [Yang Zhou Fried Rice], please.”

“Very well, please wait a bit.” Mike nodded and turned towards the kitchen. He had just given Amy her first anti-fraud lesson that afternoon. There was no doubt that Klaus had questionable intentions for coming here so often. That old wizard probably still wanted to make Amy his apprentice. Very well, he was ready to test out his anti-fraud lessons, he’ll think up more lessons later and patch up any holes that might appear later tonight.

All the people who had line up to enter the restaurant were now seated. Since there were still some empty seats available, this meant that this restaurant was quite large. There were 16 tables in total, each able to seat 4, bringing up the total of seats available to 64.

However, most of the table were all taken up by strangers who prefer to sit by themselves, very few were willing to share a table with people they didn’t know. In the future, when the number of customers increased, they would not be able to avoid sharing tables.

Aside from actual customers, there were also a few curious people who came in with the crowd, only to leave after shaking their heads in disbelief over the two lonely and shockingly expensive, items on the menu.

“The boss of this restaurant is probably a money crazy idiot, ba?” majority of them who immediately left due to the price all thought this way. To think that just a single [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] would cost 600 bronze coins, which was basically a few days worth of salary for most of them.

Of course, there were some guests who were not ashamed of sitting down first without bothering to order anything, waiting to see just what kind of food others would order before deciding on their own.

“Boss Mike, I brought my own chair, may I come in?” at this moment, a fairly loud voice was heard. Through the open door of the restaurant, a demon’s head popped in.

More than a few customers were shocked, a few more cowardly customers shrank down fearfully. Lava demons were famous for their terrible tempers and this one also didn’t looked particularly good natured.

“Big Baldy, you better not be too loud or I’ll burn you with a fireball.” Amy’s little face was serious as she stared unhappily at Sargerass. It won’t be good if this Big Baldy scared away their customers.

Sargerass was immediately terrified, he still remembered the pain from this morning’s little fireball. Moreover, he had worked really hard today in order to earn 9 gold coins for the sake of eating [Juicy Burgers]. Therefore, he was determined not to cause trouble no matter what. In a low voice, he called out, “Boss Mike…”

Seeing a powerful lava demon reduced to a sheep like behaviour amused Mike to the point that he could not suppress a smile, he really hadn’t expected the demon to bring his own chair. The demon had probably been shocked silly by the restaurant’s 10 gold coin chair. He came to the kitchen entrance and nodded his head, “It’s fine, please come in.”

Sargerass pushed open the door, carried in a simple iron chair and set it down at a table nearest to the door. He was about to make his order when his eyes fell upon Klaus. He couldn’t help but stared, “Aren’t you that…”

 

[1] To punch cotton – To waste effort on someone who didn’t even feel it

 

 

[1] Punched cotton – Exert effort that the enemy did not feel

 

 

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