Severin’s thoughts kept him awake for a long time. Until, at some point, he finally drifted off into sleep.

The next moment Severin found himself behind the counter of a bustling tavern.

The air was warm and a bit stuffy. But not in an unpleasant way. It felt right and somehow made one feel right at home. A place one would look forward to return to after an arduous journey, offering company and safety.

He looked around.

So many people. Both familiar and unfamiliar alike, but one face in particular drew his attention.

In a corner, he found Emily sitting alone at a table, impatiently waiting for a busy barmaid whose face he couldn’t make out, to make her way through the crowd to serve her some kind of roast.

The girl immediately grabbed the piece of meat with her bare hands and began wolfing it down.

Severin laughed to himself but decided not to disturb her. He continued looking around.

Suddenly, he spotted a lanky man holding some old-fashioned string instrument in his hands standing right in the middle of the room and playing a merry tune. For an instant Severin wondered how he was able to overlook the unfamiliar man before. The next moment, however, the thought had disappeared as if it had never existed. So did Emily.

Now that very same corner was occupied by a bunch of adventurers, hollering vulgar songs, and having a good time.

Severin observed this group from afar as they swayed to the music and cheerfully clinked mugs. Doing so, they spilled their drinks over the table, the benches, and even themselves. Severin figured that only a fraction of those drinks made it down their throats.

An assessment with which he was apparently not alone.

Out of nowhere, the somewhat familiar looking maid appeared again and, wildly gesturing, reprimanded the group for their inconsiderate behavior.

Boom

A sudden bang demanded Severin’s attention. On the other side of the room, a man had jumped up and, in the process, knocked over his chair.

He seemed furious and stood there pointing accusingly towards the woman who still sat in her place opposite him. On the table between them lay a bunch of gold coins and a deck of playing cards. Severin couldn’t make out what game was being played, but the overall situation was easy enough for him to figure out.

The man continued to rage, but the woman’s expression remained cool and unimpressed. When the man, however, took a step forward, she also stood up and reached for her two-handed sword, that had been leaning onto the table, in one fluid motion.

The next moment, just when things were about to escalate, a figure jumped in between those two and tried their best to mediate. Again. The barmaid.

Suddenly, the scene changed once more.

A familiar figure sat on the barstool on the other side of Severin’s counter, looking right at him.

“Give me the usual.”

Severin nodded and, without hesitation, reached for a bottle. He couldn’t remember ever serving Andreas a drink before, but somehow, he knew exactly what exactly it was the Lion’s Head officer wanted to drink.

“Busy as always, huh? No idea how you manage to deal with all these drunkards,” Andreas laughed. Some of these ‘drunkards’ had to be his own people.

“Hmm,” Severin mechanically pushed a glass full of some gold-brownish liquor in front of his customer before answering, “Couldn’t do it without my trusty helper.”

“Aaaw, thanks Boss!” From the side said helper who had apparently overheard this small exchange turned towards Severin.

This time Severin finally could make out the face.

“XANDER!”

Severin woke up screaming and drenched in sweat. He grabbed his chest.

The dream of having an elven barmaid working for him had somehow turned into a nightmare.

He remained laying in bed for a few minutes until he had calmed himself down.

When he finally left his modest room, despite having fallen asleep rather late last night, he was still up early. At least when compared to the time he would usually open the main store.

Considering he intended to first prepare some food in the kitchen, it wasn’t actually all that early anymore. The majority of Markus’s subordinates were already on their feet. Maybe some had even already left the mountaintop.

Severin didn’t care. With the mood he was in, he was in no rush.

He slowly made his way over to the kitchen and started planning.

‘No idea at what point in time I can expect the help to arrive, but I better make sure that sufficient housing is available by then. So I’d better get to it rather sooner than later. Might as well build two rooms while at it.’ He only asked Markus to provide him with a single employee. In reality, however, the System allowed him to have three [Employees] in total, therefore it wouldn’t hurt to have one extra room prepared.

‘The real question is, what else to buy? Just being able to offer someone a roof over their head won’t cut it in the future. Even with a generous salary. Not when stuck in a remote place like this. People need some kind of distraction or entertainment. For now, it works out, but only because we’re too busy to feel bored. Besides, Emily isn’t much of a complainer. Her standard of living truly is…’ Severin suddenly felt guilty.

Sigh

‘I should have a word with her later on and ask about her opinion on the matter.

Have to talk to her anyway regarding the new help. After all, it does concern her as well.’

He could already imagine her response regarding the latter issue and started rubbing his temples in anticipation of the headache to come.

‘Later. For now, let’s get to work.’

He headed towards his working station and opened his inventory.

New ingredients.

He finally realized he had missed his first level up as a [Cook] when he was contemplating his mortality the day before.

But unlike Em, he was a complainer.

“Salad?!”

As a fussy eater with the palate of a child, Severin wasn’t all too pleased.