By the time I returned to the inn, the adventurers were gone. It was likely for the best. I didn’t want anyone distracting me—namely the half elf. There was no telling whether she’d respond to my advances, but the pursuit alone would waste time. Instead, I focused on the task at hand.

Much to my surprise, Hruk had recruited Tom in his work. The older halfling assisted with the heavy lifting and arranging individual pieces into distinct categories. I left them alone and delved into the kitchen.

The inn had everything I needed: a funnel, long off-set spatulas, trays, and butcher’s paper. Plastic wrap would’ve been idea, l but Arena Disk hadn’t discovered the wonder yet. It was probably for the best. If I were one of the Cosmics, I wouldn’t want plastic polluting the disk.

Good ingredients speak for themselves. They don’t need a whole lot of extra flavour or labour. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that luxury. I’d bought whatever came cheapest and needed to make the most out of it.

I sampled all the different citrus fruits. All of them passed my taste test, except for the fragrant, bright-green limes. I set them aside on account of their bitterness. The rest I juiced into a big pot and adjusted it with a sprinkle of salt to bring out the fruits’ natural sweetness.

Next, I finely chopped onions and garlic and threw them in a frying pan over low heat. While they caramelised, curiosity got the better of the inn’s cook, so, instead of letting him stand around and get in the way, I put him to work. Like me, he too was stuck in the Apprentice Ranks of cooking and wanted to break out. He hoped learning something new would help him break free to the Journeyman Ranks and didn’t charge me for his labour. I had him fetch a couple of eggs and oil, before teaching him how to make mayonnaise.

It was a simple process that the cook’s mustard paste made even easier—I had forgotten to purchase a stabiliser that would hold the emulsion together. First I whisked the eggs and mustard together until their colour lightened. The process hadn’t just blended the two together, but also added air to the mixture. Then I handed the whisk off to the cook while gradually trickling oil into the mixture. It started off thin, but slowly my all-time favourite condiment started to form. It lacked the colour of the factory-made bottled variants available in supermarkets, but had a richer taste to it thanks to the mustard and eggs. When the mixture got too thick, I added a splash of lemon juice. Finally, we finished by adding the bitter lime’s zest to add vibrancy and aroma.

Congratulations! You’ve brought another delectable creation to Arena Disk! Make a splash and continue sticking it to the man.

Cooking Mastery has progressed to Apprentice Rank 9!

The Deity of Feasts and Over-eating has granted you a conditional boon.

You’ll earn a new trait slot and an upgrade to your available traits for bringing another new delicacy to Game World. 』

The notification put a big grin on my face. After Wonderwall won me Sang’s attention, I expected Earth dishes to win the favour of whatever deity considered food and drink their domain. I didn’t know what kind of trait to expect, but I hoped to get something that would have a function similar to Fact Begins With Fiction.

Unfortunately, I’d have to wait until the coming evening before I got my next Cooking Mastery upgrade—assuming my planned Earth favourite hadn’t already made its way to Arena Disk. Slicing tomatoes and making caramelised onions didn’t get me the rank I wanted.

Once Tom finished helping Hruk, I had him crush all the stale bread into breadcrumbs. He passed them through a sieve before kneading the powder into the minced meat with a couple of eggs, salt, and pepper. The cook wanted to sample the dish, but I told him he’d have to wait. I wanted the breadcrumbs to absorb the moisture overnight. We portioned the mixture into lemon-sized balls, stored them in paper-lined trays, and called it a night.

***

“We should’ve started earlier in the day,” Hruk said while we set up the stall. “Sunset is in two hours. The market will be closing soon.”

“When do food stalls make the most money?” I asked. “Not during lunchtime, but in the evening when people are heading home from work. Look at our neighbours.” While most of the other merchants were closing for the day, everyone in the catering business continued to toil away. “They’re cleaning down, restocking, or making fresh batches of whatever they make. Believe me. There’s going to be a rush.”

“This better work, Perry. If it doesn’t, I don’t know if I can sell everything you’ve used.”

“Believe me, Hruk, we’ll move product. The guilds won’t expect us to function after dark.” I nodded at the young man we had recognised as our tail. “He’s looked at the clocktower three times in the past quarter-hour. As soon as darkness falls, he’ll leave us alone. We’re not just going to make sales, but going to have fun as well. Just trust me, okay?”

My prediction came true. We waited for a few minutes until our tail disappeared before throwing activated mana lamps into the air above our stall. Hruk activated the four hot plates we had arranged in a large square, and I worked on getting the crowd’s attention.

“You, sir!” I yelled, pointing at a passing individual. He wore the Hunters Guild colours—my intended demographic. He had a large, spice-covered skewer in hand. “You look like you could use a drink.”

“I’m fine, thank you,” the guy said, turning away.

“On the house, sir!” I raised my voice and played a loud chord, drawing several eyes. “It’s a hot evening, and that skewer looks mighty salty. If you like it, just tell all these good people how amazing our stall is.”

The man hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and approached our stall. Hruk made an awkward show of lifting one of our self-chilling flasks high into the air for everyone to see before filling a mug we had borrowed from the inn. The man appeared wary when accepting the glass from the hobgoblin. He sniffed at it, and his eyes widened after taking a sip.

“By the Great Huntress, that’s good!” he exclaimed.

“It’s not just the taste, is it though? How cold is the beverage?”

“It’s just right! Cold enough to quench my thirst but not so bad that it hurts my throat.”

I played a soft melody as I spoke. “It's the flask,” I told the crowd. “The runes not only chill whatever beverage you store in it but when drained, it collects moisture from the air and refills it. It comes free with every drink for the low, low price of seventy-five silver.”

No one would pay such a price for fruit juice, but I flashed an exaggerated wink at the crowd as our first patron handed us an assortment of coins. Hruk pulled me aside as soon as he departed.

“You hired him, didn’t you?!”

“No money exchanged hands. I promise.” I grinned. “He saw me on the street and recognised us from our previous sale. I offered him a discount, and he agreed to play along.”

Hruk counted out the coins before placing the sixty silver in our money box.

The hunter’s acting was subpar, but the crowd fell for it. Seconds later another member of his guild stepped out to the counter and bought another bottle. I got him to add on another twenty-five silver and added a free mana lamp to his drink order.

You sly dog!

Brokering Mastery has progressed to Apprentice: Rank 0

Intellect + 1

Charisma + 2

Congratulations!

Since Charisma is your first attribute to reach twenty, you have unlocked a Charisma-focused trait slot.

A new trait would come in very handy for our rush sale.

Fabulously Fabulous: Only individuals of power can afford to wear attention-grabbing clothes. Intelligent factions will hesitate before wronging you. Your fabulousness makes you interesting enough to encourage talk first, shoot later.

System-Assisted Lying: You’ve won the System’s favour. When sharing your screens with someone else, you may falsify the information displayed. Be warned, individuals with the appropriate detection spells or a Wit score higher than yours, might see through your facade.

A Named To Be Remembered: You may lend a fraction of your Charisma to an ally temporarily. Any positive or negative action will affect your standing with all factions aware of your existence. Individuals that you’ve befriended are more likely to favour your friends and target your enemies.

Blinding Charisma: A winning smile is useless if people can see right through you. Sometimes a distracting smile or an intimidating aura needs a little bit of help. 25% more Wit is required to resist effects born of your Charisma. 』

I guessed Fabulously Fabulous had found its way into the pool after I unlocked Fashion Mastery. Though tempting, I decided against it. The Mastery and trait would probably demand monetary investments I couldn’t afford at this time; I’d consider it at a later date.

A Name To Be Remembered still didn’t meet the brief. I couldn’t afford to dole out Charisma to anyone. It was my lifeline.

After some thought, I picked Blinding Charisma. System-Assisted Lying would come in handy when trying to join a guild, but I wanted all my bases covered before picking situational tools. My selected trait increased my effective Charisma to approximately thirty-eight—or so I assumed.

I let Hruk focus on dealing with customers while I got cooking. I drizzled oil onto the metal slabs sitting atop the hot plates, placed two portions of meat side by side and took a moment to enjoy the sound of the sizzle. Curious bystanders got closer to see what I was making. Taking a spatula in both hands, I squashed the balls down until they were barely thicker than a ten-silver coin. I made a show of seasoning the meat before flipping the patty, showing off the beautiful, browned surface underneath.

“What you making, son?” an older man asked, sniffing at the rising steam.

“I call it a smash burger,” I answered. “Would you like to try one, sir?”

He nodded. I sliced and toasted one of the potato rolls I had ordered the night before. After spreading mayonnaise on the inside of the rolls, I slid in the two crispy and juicy beef patties before topping it with a slice of tomato and some caramelised onions. Vys took a second to wrap it in a sheet of butcher’s paper before passing it to the older man. The amassing crowd watched, salivating as he took a bite and sighed his pleasure.

“Two silver for a smash burger,” I announced. “For one gold, I’ll demonstrate how to make one at home and give you one of our beautiful thermal plates to take with you!” I picked up one of the inactive display models. “It’s light and can be used anywhere. You can adjust the heat and use it continuously for two hours. If you can’t afford to recharge it yourself, leave it aside overnight. The runes will absorb ambient mana while you sleep, and you can use it again to make breakfast smash burgers!”

I got more notifications as people lined up for the burgers, but while dealing with the rush, I had to ignore them for the time being. Facts Begin With Fiction, my natural showmanship, and the aroma of sizzling minced meat all played a role drawing people in.

“Are you selling food or artificed goods?” a man in line asked.

“Food and training,” I answered. “The goods come complimentary depending on what you purchase. It’s getting dark, so if you pay two gold for your smash burger demonstration and drink package, I’ll throw in a free mana lamp.”

“Deal,” he said, and Hruk accepted the payment.

Any doubts Hruk may have had were gone within two hours. Word of our stall must have spread. Members of the Hunters’, Adventurer’s, and Mercenary Guilds showed up in droves to buy my food. We had some meat leftover, but I had to stop cooking when excited patrons bought the thermal plates I had been using to cook. Like last time, Hruk didn’t wait around. He ran to the Banking Guild as soon as we had nothing more to sell, leaving me to pack up.

I was waiting for Hruk to return when the agents from the Merchants Guild showed up. They had the same cold gnome from before leading them. This time, she and her men took a more aggressive approach. Without warning, they invaded our stall, turning everything upside down looking for merchandise and coin. They found nothing.

“Get the halfling out of the way,” she told the city guard member that had followed them.

I recognised the man. He’d been present at the front gate when we arrived in the city. “Master Kanooks, care to step away from the stall?” he asked. “Despite what our guild-representative friends want, I’d rather not get rough with you.”

“Of course,” I answered, flashing my best smile at him. The gnome’s face reddened as she watched our exchange. I guessed the city guard wasn’t particularly pleased with the gnomish people either.

“Where’s your friend?” he asked.

“My assistant?” I looked around the gathering crowd as if confused. “He’s not back yet? I sent the greeny out to get some mead to celebrate. Making a tonne of money is tiring work, you know.”

“You expect us to believe that?” The guild agent spoke through clenched jaws.

“What reason do I have to lie to you, baby face? Who’d buy food from a hobgoblin? The further he stays from my customers, the better.”

“You can’t possibly have sold all your merchandise already.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, love,” I raised my voice for all to hear. “You offer the people a good product at a reasonable price. They’ll clear you out. As you can see, there’s a little bit of meat left. I’d make smash burgers for all of you, but somehow, my stovetop has gone missing.”

Like last time, I won the crowd’s sympathy straight away. They yelled profanities at the guild agent and her followers.

“Search him,” she told the armoured gnomes.

The city guard stopped them. “You can’t do that,” the human told them. “The guild charters allow you to search any stalls that might be breaking a rule, but you’d be violating city laws by feeling up an individual without their consent. That’s my jurisdiction.”

“Then you do it!” Her throbbing veins pushed against the skin of her bald head. I couldn’t help but laugh at the cartoonish sight. “Since the guild hasn’t approved of his merchandise, it counts as contraband. Don’t you need to confiscate all his belongings before putting him in a cell?”

“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” I said. “Food can’t be contraband. Everyone present will attest to it. This is a stall selling smash burgers and citrus drinks. We didn't exchange coin for artificed goods.” Members of the crowd laughed and cheered, but the guild agents and city guard ignored me.

“You’re not wrong.” My new guard friend studied the on-watching crowd. Without a doubt, the people had clearly turned against the gnome-run guilds. The city guard needed Eldar Port’s residents on their side. “For the time being, I’ll take Master Kanooks in for questioning. However, we won’t search his person out here if we don’t have to. Besides, we might have to hold his coin and belongings for evidence.”

The man appeared smarter than I thought. He had successfully placated the crowd. One of his men took my guitar and another cuffed my wrists.

“Is this necessary, lads?” I asked. “Look at me. Short legs, skinny, I couldn’t get away from you even if I tried.”

“It’s just procedure, Master Kanooks,” he said. “It's nothing personal.”