Chapter 120: Friends

"That’s Ethan’s ability, not all humans can do that, meow," Pearl corrected.

"Oh... right..." Roland was momentarily taken aback, then recovered, he stared at Pearl in surprise.

"And you are..."

Not just Roland — his companions behind him were staring at Pearl in astonishment too.

"What’s wrong?" Ethan asked, puzzled.

"N-nothing..." Roland shook his head, his gaze drifted past Ethan to the food behind him — the flatbreads and candied sweet potatoes left over from the meal, stacked in baskets.

"You all traveled a long way and must be tired, would you like to eat something before you go?" Ethan asked with a smile.

"I still have some food here."

"Then... we shall gratefully accept." Roland and his companions didn’t stand on ceremony, they picked up the candied sweet potatoes and took a bite.

The next second, Roland and the others froze, their eyes went wide, staring at the candied sweet potatoes in their hands in sheer disbelief, as if they had seen something utterly incomprehensible.

"What’s wrong?"

"So... so delicious..." Roland’s companions were so excited they could barely speak coherently.

The burliest elf among them was even moved to tears. "Th-this is..."

Elara asked in surprise, "What’s wrong? Is it so delicious that you’re moved to tears?"

"N-no... it’s just that they are even more dramatic than those village elves..." Leon stared at Roland’s group, completely dumbfounded.

Ethan was startled by their reaction too, although his candied honey sweet potatoes were delicious, they shouldn’t be this good, right?

Yet Roland and the others kept eating with frantic intensity, as if possessed, completely ignoring the stares of everyone around them. ℯ

"This is the taste... this is the taste..."

"I’ve finally found you..."

"Ah... I remember now..."

"What on earth is going on?" Ethan was at a total loss.

Roland and the others finally ate their fill and set down the candied honey sweet potatoes with looks of absolute contentment, their eyes, as they looked at Ethan, were filled with profound gratitude.

"Mr. Ethan, who made these candied honey sweet potatoes?" Roland asked.

"I made them, why?" Ethan asked, puzzled.

"...I see." Roland nodded, then he dropped to one knee and bowed deeply.

"Benefactor, please accept my bow."

The hero of the elven race was kneeling to a human? The watching elves were stunned into silence, Ethan and his group were completely bewildered, not knowing what had happened.

Roland’s companions, however, wore expressions suggesting this was the most natural thing in the world — as if Ethan accepting their bow was entirely justified.

"What are you doing? Please get up quickly," Ethan said hurriedly.

"Mr. Ethan, your candied honey sweet potatoes saved our lives." Roland said, voice thick with emotion.

"What?" Ethan was even more confused, he had made candied honey sweet potatoes many times, but this was the first time he had heard they could save lives.

"It’s like this, Mr. Ethan..." Roland explained.

"Previously, when we were clearing a dungeon called the Howling Abyss—"

The Howling Abyss was a massive and incredibly dangerous dungeon, after entering it, Roland and his team had gotten lost, which led to their food running out and their stamina being completely exhausted.

Just when they were on the verge of despair, they unexpectedly discovered a treasure chest, and inside that treasure chest were candied honey sweet potatoes.

"We were exhausted and starving at the time, your candied honey sweet potatoes were truly our saving grace," Roland said.

"Furthermore, your candied honey sweet potatoes weren’t ordinary ones, after eating them, not only did our stamina recover, but our skill levels even increased..." Roland’s companion added.

Thanks to Ethan’s candied honey sweet potatoes, Roland and his team had recovered their strength, cleared the dungeon, and walked out alive, ever since then, Roland and the others had never forgotten the taste of those candied honey sweet potatoes.

They believed that whoever could make such a delicacy must be a master chef who used exquisite ingredients and possessed superb culinary skills.

Therefore, after leaving the dungeon, they had inquired everywhere, hoping to find that master.

"But we searched everywhere and couldn’t find you..." Roland said with a look of genuine regret.

"I see." Ethan finally understood, he realized why Roland and the others had been so excited, it turned out the candied honey sweet potatoes they ate in the Howling Abyss were the ones he had placed in the Exchange Box to obtain Sun Stones.

"To think something like this would happen, meow," Pearl marveled.

"Yeah, what a coincidence," Ethan said with a smile, he had made the candied honey sweet potatoes just to help those pitiful elves, and he’d traded them through the Exchange Box purely for practical reasons, he never expected that he would accidentally save the lives of Roland and his team in some faraway dungeon.

"Mr. Ethan, we have no way to repay your great kindness..." Roland’s eyes glistened.

"You’re welcome. It was just a small effort," Ethan said quickly.

"You’re too modest," Roland insisted.

"If there is anything you need our help with, just say the word, we will go through anything without hesitation."

"Yes, Mr. Ethan, just name it, we are willing to do anything for you." His companions chimed in.

"Well..." Ethan was in a bit of a tough spot, he genuinely didn’t know what to ask for.

"Mr. Ethan, are you facing some difficulty?" Leon noticed his hesitation.

"Yes, just tell us, we will definitely help you solve it," Roland pressed.

"Mr. Ethan, are you troubled about the matter with Marquis Karloitz?" Elara asked.

Ethan said nothing.

"Hehe, Mr. Ethan, don’t forget that I am a merchant, my information network is quite extensive," Elara said with a smile.

"I’ve already heard about Marquis Karloitz. Don’t worry — leave this matter to me. I will definitely help you resolve it."

"Then I thank you very much." In truth, Ethan wasn’t worried about it at all, he still hadn’t collected enough Chaos Fragment shards, so he was more than happy for a few more Children of Chaos to show up and deliver them.

"Of course, Mr. Ethan, you can rest easy," Elara said confidently.

"Alright — since the matter has been settled, we must head to the dungeon now," Roland announced.

"Alright." Ethan nodded.

"Take this food for the road." He packed the remaining flatbreads and candied sweet potatoes into Roland’s backpack.

"And this." Ethan took out a few bottles of Moonlight Tomato juice and handed them over.

"We brewed this ourselves."

"Thank you." Roland accepted the food and drinks gratefully.

"Mr. Ethan, you are too kind, we are friends from now on, there is no need for formalities between friends."

"Yes, we are friends." Ethan nodded, a sincere smile on his face.

"Mr. Ethan, we need to prepare and head out, please take care of yourself," Roland said.

"Alright. You too," Ethan replied.

After bidding farewell to Ethan, Roland and the others turned and headed toward the village, clearing a dungeon required ample preparation, and they had wasted no time getting started.

"Mr. Ethan, you are truly incredible, to have the Roland Adventure Group owe you such a massive favor," Elara said, an envious expression on her face.

"Hehe, it’s nothing, just a small effort," Ethan said modestly.