Chapter 86: Oak Tavern

Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Oak Tavern

A woman stood with her back to the door, busy before the hearth.

The air was filled with the aroma of oatmeal and roasting meat patties.

’So Lady Cassandra wakes up this early every day.’

"Galen? Heading out so early? Just a moment, breakfast is almost ready," Lady Cassandra said, turning her head with a gentle smile when she heard the stirring.

"Alright, thank you for the trouble." Seeing this, Hesia sat on a stool in the living room, planning to eat breakfast before going back to sleep.

Soon, Lady Cassandra brought over a steaming bowl of oatmeal and two meat patties.

’Meat patties again...’ Hesia grumbled to himself.

He’d been eating them for several days straight. While they tasted good, he was definitely getting a little sick of them.

It seemed Lady Cassandra’s menu was rather fixed. Besides the occasional store-bought bread, the main course was always her specialty: these meat patties.

Fortunately, the liquid-based sides like oatmeal and bean porridge had new variations every day, keeping the flavors interesting.

As he ate his oatmeal, he said, "Lady Cassandra, I’m not heading out. I just got back."

"Oh, is that so? An Adventurer’s life is certainly hard," Lady Cassandra said with sudden understanding, turning back toward the kitchen.

"It’s not so bad. You work hard too, waking up so early to make breakfast every day. By the way, you don’t need to call me for lunch; I want to get some proper sleep. Could you please tell Zoya? I’ll probably be up this afternoon."

Her voice drifted from the kitchen, "Alright, I understand. You rest easy. No one will disturb you."

A moment later, Lady Cassandra returned and placed a golden fried egg in front of him.

"You don’t look much older than Thomas. You’re still a growing boy, so you need more nutrition." She smiled, then turned to get back to her work.

Hesia looked at the simple yet steaming breakfast before him, and the warmth of it washed away much of the fatigue from his all-night practice session.

...

The most striking feature of the Oak Tavern was, without a doubt, its enormous, twenty-meter-tall oak tree.

Its trunk burst through the center of the tavern’s roof, its stout branches reaching for the sky like a giant’s arms, forming a natural canopy.

The tavern itself was, in fact, only two stories tall.

But that didn’t stop it from being the most popular tavern in Rose Town.

As for why, it was hard to say.

Maybe it was the convenient location, or the reasonable prices, or maybe its claim to have the best cream of mushroom soup in town...

Or perhaps it was because when designated as a meeting spot, even the teammates most prone to being late could see the conspicuous tree from a great distance, robbing them of the "I got lost" excuse.

Hesia’s teammates were late.

He deeply regretted refusing the fresh-off-the-griddle meat patties Lady Cassandra had offered when he woke up around four or five in the afternoon.

At this moment, his stomach was growling insistently with hunger.

Although he could have just spent a few copper nails on something to tide him over, it was a habit of his to never spend a single penny of his own money before a friend was treating.

He decided to stubbornly wait for Belte and the others, and had already mentally calculated how much extra he would eat tonight to make up for their tardiness.

As night fell, the tavern grew more crowded, and the din threatened to tear the roof off.

In the back kitchen, iron skewers on the grill began to spin rapidly. Beef fat dripped onto the hot coals, letting out a tempting SIZZLE.

A bare-chested cook casually grabbed a handful of snow-white salt and sprinkled it over the meat—an amount that could probably last a commoner for a month.

Then, powders of all sorts of exotic spices were dusted on, and a rich aroma instantly filled the air.

Marinated pheasants hung neatly in the hearth, the fat beneath their skin slowly rendering into the meat as the flames licked at them, turning the skin golden and crisp.

Amidst the agonizingly delicious aromas and the long wait, the tavern door was finally thrown open with a BANG.

A figure with a white bandage wrapped around his neck was the first to burst in. He threw his arms wide, trying to capture the attention of the entire room. "Hey! Look who it is! The King of the Oak Tavern has returned to his domain!"

However, Belte’s magnificent entrance, designed to capture the entire tavern’s attention, failed to quiet the ruckus for even a single second.

Bruce, who was lying at Hesia’s feet, shook his canine head. "The whipped good-for-nothing has briefly returned to the den where he drinks his life away."

"Finally. I’m freezing," the tall Laila said as she followed him in, rubbing her arms. She scanned the room with a frown. "This damn place is as rowdy as ever."

The last to enter was Hulk, his frame as massive as an iron tower.

However, when Hulk’s broad figure appeared, Hesia could feel the tavern’s din instantly diminish.

The Adventurers at a nearby table lowered their voices to a whisper.

"That’s Hulk."

"Unmoving Mountain Hulk?"

"It really is him."

But the brief quiet lasted only a few seconds.

The tavern quickly returned to its previous boisterousness, the drinkers resuming their drinking and the card players their games.

...

"Haha! Galen, my brother! We meet again!" Belte swaggered over and clapped Hesia on the shoulder.

The group sat down one by one, exchanging greetings.

Belte raised a hand, signaling for a server.

Hesia pointed to the bandage on his neck. "Your neck... still not better?"

Belte waved a hand, his expression sour. "Don’t ask! I went to sell some materials to that old fox yesterday and ended up in a fight with his men."

Hesia raised an eyebrow. "You got into a fight?"

Laila, sitting beside them, snorted in irritation and cut in. "When we got there, we happened upon a few other Adventurers selling Demonized Wild Wolf Hides. That old fox was giving them a price a full twenty percent higher than what he gave us last time!"

Belte grew agitated, nearly tearing his wound. "I used Charge and went right for them! I swear by the gods, I will make that greedy merchant pay for his deception!"

Laila rolled her eyes. "Oh, give me a break. The only ’price’ paid was you almost getting your neck snapped by his guards! I told you to wait for Hulk, but you just had to rush in!"

Belte craned his neck defensively. "That’s only because he had more men! If they had come at me one by one, I could’ve taken them all on by myself, no problem!"

"But then they saw Hulk was about to jump in, so they immediately surrendered. They not only paid us the difference from last time, but they also gave us a rare high price for our Thorny Wild Boar materials."

’No wonder my share of the pay was much higher than I expected,’ Hesia realized.

Seeing that no server had come despite his calls, Belte grew impatient and raised his voice. "Hey! Service! Is everyone asleep over there?"

Behind the bar not far away, a stout female goblin planted her hands on her hips and roared at a chubby figure, "Pachy! Are you a mushroom growing out of that chair?! Can’t you see those customers? Get your butt over there and help them!"

"Yes, my dear! I’m going! Right now!"