Nick was in a great mood. He had a scrumptious breakfast; the sky was sunny, the grasses in the garden were swaying beautifully with the wind, and there was a demon beast taking a shitting on his lawn...?!!

"What the hell?!!" Just as Nick's mood was about to sour, he forced out a sigh and relaxed himself a little. So, what if the demon beast took a dump there, it would act as fertilizer anyway, right? Thinking like this calmed Nick down, really, he did, which was why Nick used crimson steps and instantly appeared beside the shitting beast, and violently kicked it away…

Ding! + 500 Exp points!

The beast didn't even get to scream since it was probably miles away by now, dusting off his hands Nick headed to the main gates of the house. But it stunned Nick to find a man standing there with an empty leash in his hands, most probably used for the demon beast he had just kicked out earlier. The man was leaning on the wall by the gate carefree and seemed to be enjoying the morning sun.

"Hey, buddy, are you looking for someone?" Nick asked as he stepped out of the gate, and spoke to the man in a friendly manner.

Nick’s abrupt appearance startled the man. Wasn't this house unoccupied until now, did someone purchase it already?

"Huh...yeah, I am waiting for a friend of mine...he is finishing up some business…and he will be back soon...pfftt…hehe!" The guy was amazed at his own creativity, he had sent his beast to shit in this guy's house but he was pretending like he was waiting for a friend, genius he was definitely a genius.

"So, you aren't waiting for a beast to come out?" Nick asked politely.

"Of course not, I don't know what you're talking about?!" As the man said this, he blatantly hid the leash behind his back. As if Nick couldn’t have seen it until now.

"Phew, thank god! You see, I have these two pets, called Tom and jerry, and they don't like intruders, so today, when a stupid ugly demon beast came in and started shitting everywhere, guess what they did!" Nick spoke to the man like he was sharing a fun story with a drinking buddy.

Gulp!

"Wh…what?!" The man had a bad feeling about this.

"Tom and Jerry ate him and turned him into their own shit, hahaha!" Nick patted the man’s shoulder as he laughed happily, ignoring the look of horror on the poor man’s face. And almost as soon as Nick finished speaking, a carriage rushed out of the gates and pulled over for Nick to get in.

"Well, my ride is here! I hope you meet your 'friend' soon, hehe." Then jumping into the carriage, Nick drove off sleekly.

The guy was terrified, he didn't even care about his pet anymore, he was more worried about himself! What did Nick mean with 'hope you meet your friend soon'? Did he perhaps know it was his pet and was this his way of telling him he was going to be next?! Horrified, the man rushed off, swearing to never return to this part of the city again!

Nick had long forgotten about the poor guy and was too busy looking into the materials for the main mission, and he spent hours asking around the city too. But sadly, he didn't even get a single clue. Exhausted, Nick decided to eat at the closest inn before he continued with his search. As for feeding the kids, with the amount of energy coursing through them, it would be a miracle if they even woke up for dinner!

Peter parked the carriage at the corner and followed him in, after all, Nick had insisted on buying. And when the two of them went inside, a plump Manager dressed in an expensive-looking robe greeted them.

"Would the two sirs like to rent a private room, it is only slightly more expensive than staying here." The man was a professional, he had noticed that Nick rode an expensive carriage, and had the air of a young master about him, so he quickly suggested the more expensive option.

"Sure, take us to a private room and bring us the inn's special!" said Nick, and soon a beautiful waitress came and guided them to their room.

The private room was soon filled with delicious cuisine, and Peter had to swallow several times to stop himself from drooling.

The manager soon entered the private room and started introducing the dishes to them, personally. And after he introduced most of the dishes, he finally got to the main and most important dish.

“This is one of our Inn's specials, 'The Fiery flame spicy fish soup'! This is a single dish special because we only have one of the main ingridient! Professional cultivators that co-own this inn caught this fish personally! The fish’s name is Fiery flames fish, and it is one of the rarest species of fish in the world! The fish usually lives in the deepest part of the sea, and they caught it at the cost of many lives!” The Manager was proud when he introduced this dish, but his eyes were also red as if he was holding back the tears for the ones that died trying to capture this fish.

But the look on Nick’s face wasn’t of admiration, but of surprise! How could the manager be so shameless! Nick had long used the ingredients function of the Cooking skill to check out the fish in the soup.

[ Ordinary fish

This fish got bored with its life at sea, so it decided to swim out of the sea and to roam the lands. But, to its shock, the fish was stunned to find the air on land unbreathable, and when it decided to go back, it couldn't, as the waves that brought him to land, were long gone! Angered at the sea, the fish began flapping around in a weird manner, which was actually its way of cursing at the sea! And hours after the fish passed away on land, a fat inn manager, found it and stuffed it in his pocket.

Effects: It can make you look like a fool if you spend too much money on it!

Ways to cook: boiling, grilled, soup...

]

Nick looked at the fish for a while, and then at the fat Inn Manager, and out of nowhere Nick’s eyes welled up with tears!

"Where did you get this Fiery flame fish from?!" Nick asked, looking incredibly mournful.

Nick’s weird question surprised the Manager, but the man still answered, "We found it in the sea, as for the exact location, I can’t really disclose that since it is a business secret, why, is something the matter, sir?"

"Of course, something is wrong!! This was my childhood pet!! I sent it to sea to enjoy itself for a while and maybe find a wife before returning home, but you guys killed him?! You guys killed my poor and precious Fiery flames fish?!" As Nick spoke he picked up the pot of soup and caressed it like it was still his pet that was inside. But he also didn’t forget to release his cultivation energy to pressure the Manager a little.

The manager was crying inside. Brother, how can this be your pet?! This is just an ordinary dead fish I picked up on one of my morning walks by the sea. And even if it was your pet, how could you possibly tell it’s him?! Are you perhaps a crazy person parading through town acting like a rich young master?!

"Sir, are you sure?" The Manager asked with his head bowed and a pleading look on his face.

"Are calling me a liar?!! See this here, this was a birthmark that my fish was born with, and do you see this, have you ever seen any other fish with eyes like these, no, you definitely haven’t! Oh, my poor fish Nemo, oh Nemo you have suffered injustice! I was waiting for you to come back home, Nemo! So, is this why you didn’t find your way back? Because this fatty was cooking you?!" Nick looked and sounded incredibly mournful.

The Manager was now certain that this man was most certainly stupid and crazy! Brother, that birthmark you are talking about is a fish gill, which is something every fish has! As for those eyes, I have other fish with those exact same eyes. How about I give them to you instead?!

But no matter how angry and wronged this Manager felt, he would definitely not say what he was thinking out loud. Nick was acting too erratic and crazy, and the manager didn’t want to die for speaking the truth.

“Oh…I see…so this was yours, no wonder it fought us like a dragon when we tried to catch it?! A dragon of a master like you would definitely own a dragon of a pet fish!” The Manager could only resort to praising and bootlicking to get out of this mess.

"Tell the waiters to stay outside, I have something to talk to you about!" Nick seemed to have some of his grief lifted as he ordered the Manager.

The manager was terrified. He felt like Nick was going to kill him in private, so he quickly said. "Sir, why don't the waiters stay so they can be witnesses...to your charisma, you see these waiters never get to serve great people like yourself, and keeping you all to myself might really be unfair of me!"

There were two waiters there who were standing by the door, but as soon as they heard what the manager said they were terrified and started cursing him in their minds. Did their manager want to get them killed as well, what if that crazy maniac decided to dispose of the witnesses after he killed the Manager?!

"Sir it's okay, we have seen enough of the charming young master, and if we see any more, we couldn't look our wives in their eyes…so please don't mind us and talk as you please!" As soon as they said this, the waiters ran away afraid that their selfish Manager would call them back.

The Manager felt his heart drop once everyone left, and he started praying in his heart right there and then, God if you let me live through this, I swear I will only cheat on my wife once a week, no, no, twice a week, okay?

Nick wasn't going to hurt the plump man, he was just going to ask him a couple of questions, after all, in his previous life the people with the most knowledge were the Managers of bars and restaurants, as they always listened in to people's conversation.

So, after letting the Manager sweat a little, Nick began asking him if he knew any of the materials listed on the Main quest list.

And to Nick’s joy, he did!