Archive of Our Own ^beta

1.

‘I regret choosing to go on this mission so much, holy shit I am going to die.’

Chef was running for his life as he is being chased by multiple slimes and goblins, normally he'd be able to defend himself but something had gone wrong and caused them to be almost as fast as he is.

A while back, Chef had seen a handful of posters that needed people to go on missions or quests for huge amounts of coins, his restaurant was doing fine but he supposed that going on a mission was a side hustle. Who's he to say no to extra cash?

When he was recruited he met Scientist, she had explained the details of the mission, "These slimes and goblins might be a bit of a hassle since they're a bit faster than usual." She explained, “Apparently people think that they might have been contaminated by a strange water source by the river that makes them go slow or fast. I advise you to be careful.”

Chef nodded and grinned. “Don't worry Scientist, I work on my calves every day so I bet this won't be too much on my plate.”

She had given him a stern glare.

Back to the present, he's internally panicking and trying hard not to die to the slimes and goblins. By the looks of it he'll die within a few minutes, the forest was huge and no one would find his body here. So much for the extra mana.

Maybe Chef was starting to accept his death because he kept thinking of his restaurant and his son–

Wait. Oh god, his son.

What a stupid thought, he can’t believe he was starting to accept his death to a slime and a goblin! And he can’t leave his son alone, he loves his son for goodness sake!

With newfound determination, Chef had begun to think of a way to distract the enemies in order to focus.

He found an apple laying down near one of the forest stumps and clenched it a bit and tried to focus on which enemy to attack.

The goblin would definitely do a number on him despite lacking a bit of speed however the slime bites like an ant and runs like a mouse.

So the only logical answer to him was to hit the goblin and run until the both of them lose sight of him, that way it could give him time to recover and be back on the battlefield.

Just as he was about to hit the apple towards the slime, a beam of magic swiped both the goblin and the slime.

He must've been in panic mode for a bit and wondered if there was another enemy that was way stronger and here to kill him but it was actually... A guy in a wizard hat?

Huh, he didn't expect that to happen.

"Hey uhh Mr. Magic dude?" Chef asked the mysterious dude who saved him.

He acknowledges Chef but doesn't respond for a while.

"... Be careful next time."

And with that, the magic man dashed off to some part of the woods, leaving Chef dumbfounded as he stood still.

Who the hell was that guy?

Curious who he is, Chef decides not to think about him for a while and decides to go back and report his mission to Scientist.

2.

It had been a while since Chef thought about what happened in castle town, he still had yet to thank him.

He hopes they cross paths one day, presumably not when he's being chased by slimes and goblins so that he can express his gratitude.

After the incident in castle town, he had gone back and told everything that had happened in his mission including the mysterious magic guy. Apparently Scientist knew the guy, his name was Wizard.

Wizard had been a long time friend of Scientist's, even before he'd been working with her.

Guess he and Chef were in the same boat after all!

“He's not much of a talker, well, to others that is. The one time he's chatty is when he talks about old artifacts and stuff that has an interesting history.” Scientist told him as they both drank coffee as a treat.

Chef finds it cute? (Woah. Calm your horses, Chef). Cool? Nice? That Wizard's very vocal about his interests, he's gotta research some ancient tome or something if he wants to be good friends with the guy.

“A penny for your thoughts, sir?”

Chef looks up and sees the bartender smile at him with curiosity while she prepares his second bowl of noodles.

“Oh well it's not much honestly! I'm just having thoughts about a thing that happened to me in the forest of Castle Town.”

The bartender raises a brow as she sprinkles a few pepper spices in the bowl. “Oh gosh I hope it isn't anything bad, did you get hurt?”

Chef chuckled and waved a hand. “Nothing problematic I promise, it's just kind of funny and a bit embarrassing I guess?”

“Oh thank goodness for that! Well, if it's that embarrassing then you don't have to say a thing!” She smiled warmly.

Chef grinned back.

“Oh! And your second order for udon is done, here you are sir!” The bartender placed the bowl in front of him and he's not gonna lie, a third bowl wouldn't be too bad.

“Thank you so much miss!”

“Anytime sir!”

Chef began eating his second bowl for the night and wow. The flavors were bursting in his mouth, even if it's just noodles he has yet to learn how to make great noodles such as this!

Now, obviously there's a good way to counter eating such a nice dish.

“Hey miss? Could I order a glass of beer?”

He thanked the bartender as she gave him a glass of beer. He took a sip, and man he was having such a great time here. Good noodles and a nice chilled beer to spend his night after a long day.

Just as he was in the middle of finishing his fill and conversing with the other customers, he heard commotion outside of the restaurant.

He didn't pay much attention to it, probably some drunk guy knocking over some crates or a cat rather.

However, five minutes have passed and this time his gut tells him to go check it out. Unfortunately, he can't finish such a meal with his stomach acting like this so he tells the lady in front of him he's going out a bit but says he'll be quick. The bartender nods and cleans his plate.

Chef took a quick look outside and it turns out it was nothing.

He sighs and puts his hands on his waist. "Well, trust your gut they said."

And before he could turn back and go inside, he heard a strange sound coming from the crates next to the door. And before he could check that out, his vision was swirling and everything felt vivid.

He fell to the ground. “Ow…” He hissed, massaging his head. His head was still spinning. Stars, he feels like puking.

“SEDI! Ya aren’t supposed to just punch him in the ‘ead! You could at least aim for his chest and knock the wind outta him, not kill him!” Chef heard a loud and booming voice to his right. He assumed that whatever made the sound from behind the crate must’ve been that guy.

“Well sorry for trying to get him unconscious! Jeez man, I'm just tryna do my thing here!” The person.. Whatever they are, angrily snapped back. Chef also assumes that this guy, or Sedi, might’ve been his attacker.

“You bozo in a half! You can clearly tell he isn't asleep.”

“Yuhuh! Take a good look at him!”

The two looked at Chef, he noticed that the two people that were attempting to kidnap him were golems.. Oh gosh, was he supposed to be playing dead?

“Uhmm.. Hi?”

The two golems looked at eachother.

“SEDI! I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU KNOCKED THE GUY TO SLEEP! THE HELL YOU TALKIN' ABOUT 'YOUR THING'?!” The golem bursted at Sedi.

“Right.... LOOK, IT'S NOT MY FAULT THE GUY'S TOO STRONG! Here! I'll knock him out right now!”

Sedi turned to look at Chef and was about to kick him with their molten legs. Chef anticipated their attack so he was about to cover his upper neck from behind to prevent him from being unconscious, he then heard a sound coming from the roof.

Chef thought it was another one of their golem fellas, he looked towards the roof, he saw a guy in purple robes and a wizard hat–Wait is that Wizard?! How the heck did he get up there without any noise?? Before he could react to anything else, WIzard leapt down from the roof and kicked Sedi in the face using his boots.

Well damn! Chef’s not gonna lie, that looked cool.

"OW! HEY, WHAS' THE BIG IDEA?!" The other golem winced in pain.

Wizard raised his wand at both of the golems. “... Go away.”

The two golems looked at each other and laughed. “SERIOUSLY?! Couldn’t you at least say anything cooler? That was the LAMEST threat I have eva’ heard in my life!”

Wizard then swung his sword at the two. It made a disgusting crack to the golems, rendering them both unconscious.

He then turned to Chef.

“... Those were bandits. Well, one of the magma bandits. Kidnaps people and uses them for ransom, gold.” He explained to him, Chef nodded.

Wizard sighed and fixed his scarf, raising it a little higher on his face. “I'll go now. Be more careful.”

But before he could take a step further, “Wait!” Chef put his hand on Wizard's shoulder. “I didn't get to thank you the last time you saved me, so thank you very much Wizard.” Wizard turned around at the mention of his name, his eyes widened a bit. “.. How do you know my name?”

Chef grinned. "Someone told me."

Wizard looked kind of dumbfounded, he shook his head. “There's no need to thank me, really.” But Chef kept pestering him. “No, I insist! You saved my life from the goblin and slime, and now you saved me from a kidnapping! Seriously I gotta do something for you man.”

Wizard, although his mouth was already covered by his scarf, he raised his hand to cover his laugh. “You can repay me the next time I save you.”

Chef huffed. “Is that a promise?”

Wizard looked at him, his eyes glinting mischievously.

“If you want it to be, then sure.”

Chef smiled, it's a promise.

3.

After his third mission was completed (without anyone saving him this time), Chef went back to Scientist’s lab to report how his task went. His mission was way more simpler other than trying to get rid of the pesky creatures that attempt to harm the town.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts he observed Scientist’s workplace, does it feel more messier than usual? He steers away that thought since it felt disrespectful to his friend.
“Chef, welcome back.”

He turned around at the mention of his name, Scientist stood by one of the crates lingering in the facility. “I figured you’d be back a lot sooner since the task wasn’t anything extreme,” She lifts a box with several mechanical parts. “You can rest up if you’d like, I’m just moving and cleaning my work place.”

Oh so that explains the dust collecting in the corner and several piles of crates and boxes lying here and there.

Resting won’t matter to Chef, he’s barely done anything outside other than delivering some packages and just conversing with the local folk.

“Wait Sci, let me help! I haven’t done anything other than walk around town, you’d probably take a bit too long by yourself.. N-Not in a bad way of course!!” Chef rambled on while Scientist found it amusing.

She thought for a moment and nodded to herself. “Well, I’m a bit slow at carrying things since I have back problems so that might take even longer. So I suppose you can help.”

Chef grinned.

“Fair warning,” Scientist fixed her glasses before proceeding. “These boxes and crates are very heavy. Full of metal and mechanical stuff… I wouldn’t be surprised if there were any leftover chemicals on any of them so I advise you to be careful in handling them.”

Chef waved it off like it was nothing. “I’m sure I can manage.”

Holy shit Scientist was right, these things are heavy.

What’s more shocking to him is the fact that Scientist didn’t even look fatigued from carrying a bunch of these, he’s convinced she’s got muscles under all that brain.

Despite him struggling to carry some of the stuff, Chef learns more and more about Scientist from her lab. He can tell Scientist is a very hardworking person judging her tables and the mountain of papers lying on her desk not too long ago. She’s a hard worker, though he wishes that she could use a little rest.

He also noticed several framed photos on one of the desks. In one of the photos he notices a computer with red glasses smiling, a yellow ball of electricity grinning widely, Scientist, herself and a gray cat with a Hawaiian polo.

Chef recognized the person in the polo, it was friend Lemon Cat! He smiled eagerly and thought about his friend, they knew each other way back then just like how Wizard and Scientist knew each other.

“That’s Lemon Cat.”

Chef whipped his head around to the source of the voice, Scientist stood behind him. She had a small but warm smile as she looked at the photo Chef just looked at.

“You know her?” He asked, Lemon Cat never spoke of Scientist if he can recall…

A blush had spread through Scientist’s cheeks, she crossed her arms and sighed. “Yeah. My wife.”

It took a while for that information to settle in. When he did register that she was married, Chef’s jaw dropped and his eyes were wide as saucers. “SHE’S YOUR WIFE?!”

Scientist raised a brow, the blush long gone from her face. “... Yes? Is something wrong?”

“No, no!” He waved his hands, he smiled bashfully. “I know her! I know her!” Chef rambled about him and his pal Lemon Cat going way back, how they met when he had stumbled upon the business woman at a local bar mumbling about some tax collector guy.

Boy what a time that was.

“And then the bartender told me to bring her home since she’s super drunk but obviously I didn’t know her and she’d thought I'd kidnap her or something, but I wouldn’t do that!”

“So what did you do? Drop her off?”

“Yeah, I had to ask one of her colleagues at her job and eventually brought her home. I felt bad just leaving her there so I looked after her and made sure she didn’t die or anything…”

At this point it had been nearly two hours after they finished cleaning the facility, the two were settled in Scientist’s living room where they were having a conversation about how Chef met Lemon Cat while they had coffee.

“Oh! And I remember this one time that I gave her 3 packs of beer at a Christmas party, I should have learned my lesson by now since she drank one pack that same night…” He scratched the back of his head while reminiscing on the memory.

He heard Scientist sigh which made him even more guilty. “Both of you are idiots.”

He was about to reply back when he heard a door creak open.

“Honey!!! I!!! Am!!! Hoooooomeeee!!!!”

The two looked back and, speak of the devil, it's Lemon Cat!

Lemon Cat stopped as she saw Chef, and then she squealed. “CHEFFY?! YOU’RE HERE TOO? Oh man, Oh man! I did not expect this!” She immediately ran to the couch and hugged her wife.

“Yep! Also, you’re gonna have to buy me liquor for the next Christmas party.” He crossed his arms at her. She looked confused and looked to Scientist for help, in which she giggled as a reply. “What?? What happened?”

He pointed at her accusingly, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me YOU were married!” He placed his hand on his forehead dramatically. “I would have congratulated you or something!”

Lemon Cat deadpanned while Scientist let out a series of laughs. “HUH??? CHEF, I WAS ALREADY MARRIED BEFORE I MET YOU???”

“Yeah but still!”

“Okay you know what. I had a rough day at work and I’m cracking open a can, I will not let my brain melt because of this.” She stood up going to get a drink but Chef sat her back down, there was still a fit of giggles and wheezes coming from Scientist.

“I thought you got rid of your beer drinking sessions after work a while back?”

Lemon Cat rolled her eyes. “Relax man I drink like, one can per week… Okay maybe two or three… But still!!”

“I-I Oh stars, I have no idea why this is tickling me–” Scientist held her chest as she tried to breathe. “SCI! IT’S NOT THAT FUNNY! Please don’t die please I literally have an addiction to liquor so I could potentially die before you. I swear, if laughing because I didn’t tell Cheffy I got hitched years ago makes you die I will cry.” Lemon Cat held her wife as Scientist eventually stopped laughing, Chef tried his best not to laugh from the situation.

Eventually the three were worn out from their antics and took a moment to breathe and relax in silence for a bit.

Until they hear some mech sounds and rumbles in the ground from one of the rooms in the lab when the three of them froze in their seats.

“.. What was that?!” Lemon Cat asked warily, her fur was standing like static electricity from the sudden sound.

“No idea, I'll go check it out.” Scientist stood from the couch and walked to the direction of the noise. “Hopefully it isn't anything bad.”

Before Scientist could even check what caused such commotion, there were a few beams that were shot at random directions, to which she had shrieked. Thankfully it miraculously missed Scientist. ‘Hopefully bad’ his ass, Chef’s certain that all three of them were going to die from whatever just did that.

The scene was comical almost, five mini sentries had appeared by the doorway and started crawling around the lab like spiders which made Chef shiver.

“Shit, I must have gotten their wiring wrong. Not that I haven't done that yet.” Scientist mumbled as she took out her blaster then a few batteries (Are they batteries? ‘Cause they look like it) and reloads. “Right. It looks like we have to clean them up. Chef and Lemon Cat I assume you have something to defend yourselves with, yes?”

Chef held the handle of his knife. “Yup.”

Lemon Cat brandished a set of shurikens that look like mana, she tossed one up in the air and caught it without getting hurt. “I haven't used these in a while so I might be a little rusty.” She smiled bashfully.

Rusty?! Chef can't imagine using shurikens for a weapon, he can't aim for nova’s sakes!

“Good, we're going to need to get rid of these rascals pretty quick since they can multiply..” Scientist shot one of the mini sentries, it revealed that the mini sentry was in the process of splitting itself which looked graphic to Chef.

“Wait hold on, multiply?! What the hell have you been doing to these guys Scientist?” Chef questioned cautiously, what was the purpose of getting these guys to turn into two?

Lemon Cat threw one of her shurikens at the sentries; however, the sentry had already multiplied, so she had just removed the clone, she groaned.

Scientist reloaded her blaster after getting rid of two other ones. Shit, Chef totally forgot he was supposed to help. “It was an experiment with cloning, I'll tell you after we're done with this predicament.”

Chef nodded as he sliced one of the sentries that had crawled on his leg. Gross!

After a few minutes of the three trying their best to get rid of the cloning mini sentries, they were getting pretty tired. Chef’s arm was aching from the constant swatting, Scientist was running out of ammo, and Lemon Cat was running out of shurikens and her arm was getting tired.

“Guys, I’m going to be completely honest.” Lemon Cat spoke up, throwing more shurikens to the sentries. “I don’t think we can get rid of them, not when they’re multiplying at an insane rate!”

“I might have to agree with you Lemon Cat, sorry Scientist.” Chef wiped the sweat off his brow, who knew handling sentry rascals would be a workout! And a good one at that.

Scientist nodded. “It’s fine. I should have known that this was bound to happen.”

“Sci, you will not believe who I just talked to and worked with earlier today–What the fuck.”

As the three were almost going to give up, there was a voice that had not belonged to them that had spoken. They whipped their heads to see Wizard.

“Wizard! Good timing man, could you lend us a hand with these guys pretty please??” Lemon Cat pleaded as she shook a sentry off her leg before killing it.

He shrugged and brandished his sword, his magic was starting to form and used both his sword and magic to combat against the sentries, dealing a perfect splash damage.

Eventually with Wizards help, the sentries decreased and decreased until there were no more.

“Whew, finally the rascals are gone! I don’t think we’d make it this far.” Lemon Cat stretched her paws as her tail swishes.

Scientist gives her a side eye. But Chef knows that she silently agrees.

“Well if it weren’t for Wizard I don’t think we’d ever see the light of day!”

Now it was Chef’s turn to be given a side eye by Scientist. Wizard on the other hand raises his scarf to his face and waves his hand. “It’s nothing really. You guys just needed help and I provided.”

Scientist shook her head. “You came at the right time, we were really exhausted. Give yourself some credit Wizard.” And Wizard nodded slowly, he mumbles something that the three were not able to hear.

“If anyone’s starving I have some spaghetti I can make.” Scientist spoke up, making Lemon Cat sigh. “Honey, I love you but please. Don’t make anything that can make the kitchen explode.” Wizard stifled a giggle.

“Oh come on guys, I’m pretty sure her cooking isn’t that bad.”

“Chef, she almost made a mug explode just by making coffee.”

Chef deadpanned.

Scientist had turned red at this. Chef doesn't want to know how that happened but he still wants to try and defend her at least. Unfortunately that goes through the window as soon as Wizard had spoken up.

“Chef that coffee was mixed with soju, at least 7 sugar packets, chocolate syrup, and fizzy soda.” Wizard giggles and laughs, Scientist turns even more red.

Chef’s face pales upon hearing that. What person would even think to do that?

“Aw Sci… I’ll admit red is a cute color on your face but I would like to see Chef squirm.” Lemon Cat points a mischievous grin at Chef and suddenly he wants out of here.

“I mean, I don’t know how you manage to make cakes explode! Let alone cyanide is one of your ingredients!”

He hears Wizard burst out laughing and his face turns into a shade of beet red.

As soon as they had calmed down, the four had sat down on the couch and talked for a while. Chef thinks back to their conversation earlier and remembers something.

“Ah! Wizard, I almost forgot about our promise!” Wizard raises a brow at this. “Promise?” He asks.

Chef nods. “Yup! Remember when you said that I’d repay you next time you’d save me?”

Realization hits Wizard as he bows his head in embarrassment. “Um. I don’t.. Yeah, maybe.. I didn’t think you’d actually remember…”

“Well, I’ll treat you right now, come on!” Chef smiled at Wizard. He catches Lemon Cat wiggling her eyebrows at Wizard, he gives her a stink eye as his face blooms into red. “Fine, okay. Lead the way.”

Both of them said their goodbyes and headed out. Wizard looks at Chef and asks, “You never told me, where are we gonna eat?”

Chef responded. “My restaurant! I figured it would be nice to bring you there so we could have.. Uh, conversations while eating…?”

Wizard chuckled, his arm playfully hitting Chef's side. “.. I think I’d like that.”

For a split second Chef swore he’d saw a small smile on Wizard’s face, that might have been the scarf but Chef wants to believe that he’s made him smile.

4.

It’s been a month and a half since Chef had been recruited to do tasks for Scientist and the other villagers residing in Castle Town, He’s going to admit that he really likes the town despite the hefty amount of crimes here and there.

Tonight, however, was a different story.

When Chef had treated Wizard out to eat in his restaurant, during their conversations Wizard had mentioned something about a night market happening somewhere in the central village of Castle Town.

“Night market? Like, selling street foods and stuff?” Chef curiously leaned a little forward to Wizard, though he doesn’t seem to mind.

“Yes, something like that.” He took a bite of the spaghetti. “Usually they sell a lot of clothes, but it’s usually just a variety of items that they’re selling, from food to clothes and trinkets. That’s where I bought my scarf.” He chuckled.

It looks really good on you, Chef wanted to say.

“Well that sounds interesting, I’d like to check that out sometime!”

Chef could tell Wizard held back a grin. “It shouldn’t be too long from now, I think they’ll set it up a week from now.”

Weeks pass and it’s finally the night of the night market. Chef and Wizard take a nice and relaxing stroll while touring the stalls that the people had to offer.

“Over here, there’s a lot of good items for a good price.” He let Wizard drag him through the market stalls, Chef can tell Wizard is excited for him to see the entirety of the night market.

“Hiya there! Care for some fresh fish? Caught fresh and straight from the rivers!”

“Gold and silver bracelets for sale! We have a buy one get one promo!”

“Clothes! We have clothes made with cotton, it’s only 30 coins!”

“Spices, you want it? We got it!”

“Hey miss! How about a taste of our fresh dumplings? Only 7 coins each!”

“POTIONS! Made from a trusted alchemist!”

“Hey, hey! Anyone care for some chicken heads? We also got chicken butt and pork intestine.”

It was a good thing he brought a good amount of coins to the market because some of these items had really good offers.

“Well? Go ahead and buy what you fancy. I won’t judge.” Wizard assured Chef as he looked at some of the clothes, he’d been thinking of getting Dumpster Child new clothes after all…

“Excuse me sir? I’d like to buy this t-shirt and the striped long sleeve one.”

The vendor turned around and put a business smile on his face. “Sure thing!” He grabbed both the shirts Chef had pointed at. “That would be 65 coins please.” Chef happily handed him the exact amount, and then the guy handed him a bag of clothes. “Thanks a bunch!”

The two continued to walk in a peaceful silence before Wizard broke it. “You have a kid?”

Chef nodded. “Yup, he’s back at home and being taken care of while I’m here. I don’t think I’ve introduced him to you yet when we were at the restaurant.”

Wizard gave a slight nod as well, adjusting his scarf as they kept touring each stall.

As time passed Chef’s arms became littered with bags filled with clothes, spices, and charms as he eats street food from a plastic cup. It’s silly looking but he doesn’t mind, Chef’s enjoying this a lot.

He can tell Wizard feels the same, he’d bought a bunch of cool looking trinkets that seemed to be put in his cloak, some packaged dessert and a bottle of sparkling liquid; Chef assumes it’s an alchemy thing.

As they were about to turn, they both heard this booming voice from behind.

“Heyy everyone! Bluu’s got his hands on some insane items for insaaane deals!! See this gold sparkling necklace? Made from the finest gold you’ll ever see! Oh, and this artifact right here makes a nice house decoration! Only for 1,890 coins!”

Wizard scrunched his eyebrows, it was obvious that this Bluu guy was scamming people. He turned to Chef. “This guy's probably trying to scam us, it's best to steer away from him–”

“Ohhh that sounds interesting.. But how about that item over there?”

Wizard stared widely in disbelief at Chef conversing with the suspicious vendor. For some reason he should’ve seen it coming, he isn’t sure if Chef just genuinely doesn’t know if this was a blatant scam or if he's just stupid.

Still, before trying to stop him, Wizard decides to amuse himself by watching the situation for the fun of it.

“Those are really interesting. Oh, what’s that over there?” Chef asks, pointing at the odd looking machine; He finds it strange that Chef would be interested in such a thing but he can’t bring himself to ask him.

“Hm, this? Why this is a yogurt machine! And a fine one at that, it took me tooth and nail trying to get this sweet baby!” A pretty blatant lie, it’s just a yogurt maker. You can buy those from stores. “–And I’m only parting with it for 2,900 coins! An insane deal! So, what do you say, mister?”

There’s absolutely no way Chef is falling for a scam.

“Sure thing! I’ve wanted to try making yogurt sometime..”

Wizard didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or cry at that, but before he could do either of those he had to step in and save his friend from getting his money robbed off.

Wizard walks closely to Chef. “Chef, you do realize you’re being scammed.. Right?” Chef slightly flinches at Wizard’s voice as he turns his head to him, his eyes wide as saucers.

“Ah.. I guess I didn’t realize?? I mean, the price was good right?” They both hear Bluu snicker at that.

He felt like he was going to combust, this whole situation felt so stupid, so why does Wizard find it so funny? He mentally facepalms himself. Okay, get a hold of yourself Wizard, at least he’s aware that he was about to be scammed.

“It’s such a shame you don’t want to purchase this sweet baby, let alone at an insane deal! Plus, it ain’t scamming if it’s an insane item!” Bluu’s voice was booming and it annoyed the hell out of Wizard.

“Um, well to be completely honest Mr. Bluu,” Chef turned to the conman. “I would still like to try making yogurt.. And I guess the price isn’t that bad–”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

“But it sounds legitimate!”

“Chef, oh my stars. I think I want to kill you.”

Bluu cackled as the two had their back and forth banter, even without the coins it was funny to witness this.

5.

I bet he’s gonna love this.

Chef happily hummed as he wrapped a book with neat wrapping paper. He went to one of the shops and saw this ‘magical’ tome at the front window of the library and thought of Wizard. Even with their dispute back at the night market he’d hope that this would make it up to him. Kind of.

He finds it odd that the cover of the book had this weird eye thing but he brushes that off as some kind of design.

He wrapped up the paper with some ribbon and smiled at his finished product, it was time to deliver this to Wizard.

Chef realized that he doesn’t know where Wizard currently is so he decides to stop by Scientist’s lab to ask where he is. After knocking and asking his whereabouts, Scientist had told him he was at his little witch hut. He didn’t even know he lived in one of those!

He thanked Scientist and walked to Wizard's house with the given directions.

Chef noticed that the path to his hut was getting a little rocky but he supposes he doesn’t mind, he had also noticed that his house was far away from the main village. It doesn’t surprise Chef since he’d taken Wizard to be the guy that does that.

When he finally got to his house, he took note of the amount of crystals Wizard has littered on his porch. That made Chef chuckle.

He knocked on the door and called out. “Wizard, hello? It’s me, Chef and I’ve come with a present!”

There was some shuffling and a few thuds before Wizard had opened the door. His face looks flushed which made Chef smile slightly for some reason.

“I can’t believe you came all the way here just to give me a gift.” He grumbled. “.. Could’ve waited until we met up, come in.”

Wizard gave way for Chef to enter his house, he had to bow his head down since the door frame was slightly shorter than him which was funny. Wizard gestured to the couch indicating that he should sit there. Wizard left for a bit which Chef assumed he’s getting something.

He decides to take in the interior of his friend, there were a lot of books stacked and scattered everywhere, the same with papers. A few tapestries hung on the wall with some text Chef could not understand, and some plants that were recently watered.

Chef also notices a lot of purple colored items were plopped around as well, such as the dark violet couch with a small blanket placed on the middle of the couch. It makes Chef feel at home.

“I’m back, sorry for the wait.” Wizard reappeared with two cups of tea. He placed them on the tea table and sat next to Chef. “So, what was the gift you wanted to give me?”

Chef beamed. “You’re going to love what I found you.” He gives the wrapped gift to Wizard. “I found this at the front window of the bookstore and thought of you. I remember you said you have a liking towards ancient things so I thought that this looked, um, ‘ancient’ enough to give to you?” He sheepishly explained. Yeah no, he should have thought this through.

Wizard tore the paper and examined the book with interest. He looked at Chef and blinked at him, then looked back at the book. “Thank you, I feel.. Rather flattered that you thought of me when you saw this.”

Chef grinned and his face flared as he was flustered. “It’s no problem, really! I’m happy that you’re happy with it.” Wizard nods.

“.. You're welcome to stay here for a while you know, I don't mind. I don't have anything to do other than work on some spells so you're free to explore my house if that's what you want.” Wizard got up from the couch and proceeded to head to the backyard, he stopped for a bit. “... Thank you again, Chef.” He hastily walked out.

This made Chef giddy, he was glad that the gift made him happy. He decides to look around and check out his cozy home.

His kitchen was small but it had this nice Wizard aura to it. He had jars of spices and tea bags, herbs in which he assumes are for his spells, a half empty cookie jar, and miscellaneous things. Chef decides not to question the weird green thing sitting on the far back of his shelf.

Chef also notices a nice pot of white tulips sitting on what he assumes is the dining table, it's cute.

He then walks to the stairs and goes up to find Wizard’s bedroom, it wasn't big or small but it was alright. Chef guesses this used to be an attic before.

He had a circle bed which was big enough for at least three people. He realizes now that that's the reason why Wizard likes sleeping in. There were also a bunch of scattered books and papers everywhere and a study desk on the right. Chef fights the urge to clean up the room.

As he was going to take his leaves there was something that tackled him and made him fall to the ground. “Hey! Oh not again…” He tried to see what made him fall but he felt his feet getting dragged.

“Agh, WIZARD! I NEED YOUR HELP!!!”

He heard stumbles and shuffling again as Wizard finally popped in the room. “What's wrong? Something happen–” He noticed something in Chef's legs and laughed.

“What? What's going on?!”

Wizard’s laugh died down into giggles and walked to Chef, he seemed to scoop something up and it was a crow. A CROW!?

“Hang on.” Chef slowly stood up. “You're meaning to tell me that this guy. Is the one that made me fall and dragged me to who knows where?!”

Wizard chuckled. “She's a strong one, that's for sure. This is Magi, I found her on my walk to the woods and she followed me home. She's been living with me ever since.”

Chef's not going to lie he can't get mad at that, it's such a sweet story even if he's got an aching bruise on his forehead.

“Okay, okay. Hey there miss Magi.. you don't mind if I pet you a little–Oh-Ow!” He retracted his finger as the crow gave a peck. Wizard laughed again. “Aw come on Wizard! It isn't that funny.”

Wizard’s face was red from laughing. “I know! It's just that–It wasn't even a harsh peck, it was a soft one!”

“Soft?! That crow pecked me like I was bird food!”

The crow pecked him twice in his shoulders after that.

“OH MY GOODNESS! WIZARD YOU HAVE GOTTA HELP ME!!” unfortunately Wizard was too busy having a laughing fit. “WIZARD PLEASE!”

“I'm sorry Chef–but Magi wants what she gets!”

“Oh come on–Yeowch!”

+1

My stomach hurts.

He gripped the sides of his robes as he continued to trek forward the trail, Wizard should have known to eat something before going on a mission but he decided not to. He still pushes forward despite his stubbornness.

(He wouldn’t want to admit that he is anyway).

His hunger aside, Scientist had informed him about a disturbance happening in the forest of Castle Town. Him and Scientist were supposed to investigate it together but she unfortunately had important errands to do which was fine.

“Do you remember when you saved Chef from the slimes and goblins? It looks like they’re back again. This time I got word that one of the golem bandits got hostile too, I don’t know what’s with their behavior yet but all the information I have been told was just this faint blue aura around them.” Wizard had thought about Scientists explanation, what was this faint blue aura around them? He can’t recall the slimes and goblins having an aura surrounding them. Was what she saw a stronger one perhaps?

His stomach grumbled again and Wizard groans, a short break wouldn’t hurt, he thought. He sat down on a nearby rock and clutches his stomach, Wizard rummages his bag for any snacks he brought but there was none.

Just as he was about to get up, he heard rustling coming from the bushes. He quickly raised his sword and readied his spells just in case it was another hostile creature. Instead, it was a kid with bangs covering their face while holding a basket full of mushrooms.

Before he could say anything, the kid beat him to it. They raised their right hand and placed it on their forehead close to their ear and moved it outwards and away from the head, like saluting. “Hi.” The mushroom kid signed.

It was a good thing Wizard knew how to understand and use sign language. “Hello.” He responded. “What are you doing here?”

“I always come here. The forest is like my home.” They gave a small smile.

Wizard felt confused but decides to brush it off, he nods instead of a response.

“How about you? Why are you here?” The kid asked. Wizard thought about how weird it would be trying to explain to a kid about the occurrence of hostile creatures going about, oh well. “Actually, I’m um, resting here for a bit. But to be completely honest, I’m here to investigate the weird stuff happening with the slimes and goblins.”

The kid looked like they were thinking before raising their hands to sign again. “I think I’ve seen some before. Do mushrooms count? I think I’ve seen a few of them try and attack me, they don’t usually do that.”

This time his stomach stopped aching as he focuses on that piece of information, mushrooms got hostile as well? It wasn’t surprising to him but he’s sure Scientist would find this bit of information interesting to analyze.

“.. I'm not sure myself but maybe it is. Did you notice anything else about the mushroom?”

The kid nodded. “Some of them have this weird faint aura surrounding them, that's all I think.”

Faint aura... Wait.

“Was the aura blue by any chance?” He hastily asked the kid which made them flinch in surprise, he winced at his actions and apologized. “Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.” The kid nodded and smiled. “It’s OK. I did notice some of them having a blue colored aura but that is about it.”

“I see.”

There was silence after that, nothing awkward. Until Wizard turned to the kid. “Hey, sorry if this feels weird but I don’t think I’ve gotten your name.” The kid, for some reason, shook their head. “I don’t like giving out my name to strangers, sorry.” Wizard was embarrassed by this but he understands. “It’s fine, I understand.”

“So where are you headed now?” The kid slowly got out of the bush as they used their hands to sign and plopped down to the left of Wizard. They were wearing ragged robes which made him a bit sad and concerned for the kid. “Well, I suppose I’ll be heading onto Frantic Forest to further investigate whatever's happening.”

This made the kid stand up and shake their head furiously. “Don’t. You absolutely must not go there. If you had someone with you then you could go, but going there is dangerous.”

Now this piqued his interest, just what was up with Frantic Forest?

The mushroom kid continued. “I have been there multiple times, I take great caution when I collect mushrooms. But the boss of that place isn’t someone to be messed with.”

Wizard took this into consideration, he could perhaps call on Scientist (and maybe even Chef or Lemon Cat) to help him out on the Frantic Forest predicament but he decides to focus on his main mission instead.

“Thanks for the advice, I can’t guarantee I’ll be entering that forest but the least I can do is avoid it. You know, for a kid like you, you certainly have a good vocabulary.”

The kid grinned, their faint scars on their mouth were slightly visible. “Thank you mister, I’ll be going now. My friend is going to wonder where I went. Goodbye!” Wizard gave a quick wave before the kid went back to the bushes to who knows where.

Now that his stomach ache is gone, Wizard stood up and stretched and began walking to the other path of the forest. It had been mere minutes since he left the area where he and the kid talked when he sensed the presence of an aura. He brandishes his sword and readies himself for a fight.

What he did not expect were ghosts with a strong purple-blue aura coming after him. He did not let this lower his guard though, the ghosts had also took notice of him and immediately started swarming him.

Wizard did his best to get rid of them but they just keep on coming! He remembers the sentry incident because of this, and stifles a chuckle. He’s out here fighting and he suddenly wants the urge to laugh because of a stupid moment.
Unfortunately, that was the time he’d been caught off guard since there were a horde of ghosts AND mushrooms suddenly trying to kill him. So much for putting up a good front.

And to make matters worse, his mana was getting low; meaning he could not cast any other spell to shoo them off. His only option was to swing his sword and hope that maybe melee attacks would work on them.

He gripped his sword tightly and dug his feet to the ground, readying his stance. And just as he was about to swipe his sword, he noticed some of the ghosts were slowly disappearing; as well as the mushrooms too.

Wizard again does not let anything distract him, he swiped with his sword and surprisingly it was effective with the mushrooms albeit the ghosts took less damage; it gets the work done. Slowly the ghosts and shrooms disappeared which made Wizard sigh in relief as he lay down the grass trying to catch his breath.

Again, the moment he lets his guard down everything turns into a disaster.

A reaper had rapidly started approaching him and a very strong aura enveloped it. Wizard tried to get up but his legs weren’t working. He started to panic. “Wh-Get up!!!” Wizard sat upright and held his sword as a shield.

Before anything else could happen, he heard a slice from where he assumed the reaper had just been. He squinted his eyes to see a figure running to him; pink skin, nice shades–hang on. Is this Chef?!

“Wizard! Oh stars, are you okay?? I went to the forest to collect red mushrooms but then I saw a horde of them and purple ones come this way–Hello, Wizard???” Chef rambled as he held onto Wizard.

Color him surprised, instead of him saving Chef it was the other way around. He found that funny.

He waved his hand at Chef and his other was rubbing his face under his glasses. “Hey, yeah. I’m fine. Legs can’t work.” Chef frowned at this. “Did you get hurt? I don’t have anything that can heal so I guess I can just help you get back to the lab or something–” Wizard shushed him with a finger. “No, I just laid down and my bones don’t want to work. Plus, I’ve still got a mission to investigate.”

Chef bit his lip, he was looking to the side now. Wizard can tell he was really thinking hard about something. “Well–Okay. How about I accompany you for now and when your legs work again we can go finish the mission. Is that good?”

Wizard smiled, showing Chef his grin for the first time. “I’d like that.”