Chapter 35. You brat!

“You brat!” The head chef couldn’t control himself and shouted from afar. Boss lazily turned his head at the enraged chubby head chef and continued to eat the meal on the table.

“Didsh you shay shomething?” Boss replied with a mouthful of food. The head chef bounced to his feet and tried to walk over to give this kid a good smack on the back of the head if he wasn’t held back by his two side chefs. “Let go of me!!”

“No!” The two replied as they held him back. Being angry is one thing, smacking a guest at their Inn would get him killed of the boss finds out.

“You made him really angry, Boss. Is this okay?” Julie asked. Even though she asked, she paid more attention on the food that was disappearing on the table faster than the speed of light.

Boss continued to look at the raging hippo of a man and went back on eating. His lack of interest towards the chef was apparent. The head chef angrily broke one of his arm free from their restraint as he tried to tug the other person with him towards the kid.

However, the door from the kitchen opened again as the remaining kitchen staff walked out with more trays of food. Arthur’s eyes grew wide as he finished his last bite “no more, no more” The kid’s stomach was already full of food, he couldn’t take another bite.

Luckily for the scared little boy the remaining kitchen staff walked over to the chef and place the remaining trays down on their table. They all sat around the head chef and waited for the three to sit down so they could eat.

“W-what’s this?” The head chef asked. He was looking at the beautiful display of mouthwatering bouquet of food at their table.

“Chef Boss said that it’s thanks for using our kitchen.” One of the kitchen staff replied. He couldn’t wait to dig into the food, but he had to wait for his head chef to eat first.

“Chef!? Boss!? I’m the Boss! He’s just a kid!” The head chef shouted in response.

“Yes, Head Chef, you’re the Boss, chef.” Another kitchen staff replied, he too wasn’t paying attention to his Boss.

“…Head Chef?” The last kitchen staff asked in a quiet voice.

“What!”

“…The food is getting cold. Let’s eat first and get angry later, okay?” She asked. The other two kitchen staff nodded their head, they wanted to eat first. The head chef eyes were wide with anger and frustration as he saw their look, they didn’t seem to care about him at all.

He glared at the piles of food on the table and rushed over to shove it to the ground.

His movement stopped, it was the same feeling as when the little kid slowly pushed him out of the kitchen door, he felt powerless.

“No, no, no” The little kid with sunglasses waved his finger at the Head Chef’s actions. “Go eat.” His casual words were filled with a kingly command that the Head Chef couldn’t disobey. The Head Chef’s body moved without his own free will and sat at the table began to put food on his plate.

The moment the spoon was near the head Chef’s mouth he regained control, awaiting eyes were staring at him waiting for him to take the first bite. The Head Chef wanted to resist, but after glancing over at the kid who had already finished everything at his table, he took the bite.

A few chews was all it took for the Head Chef himself to be engrossed in eating. The rest of the kitchen staff was the same as they chowed down.

A look of content was plastered on Boss’ face as he saw their actions. He looked at the two young adults and kids beside him “You four can do that too, if you practice hard.” Boss got up and left the cafeteria first, leaving only the four remaining to converse with each other.

Even though they’ve been with Boss for a short while and have an idea of what he can do, they didn’t expect Boss was able to control a person with just his words, wasn’t this too ridiculous?

“Did we hear him right; we can do that too?” Michael asked. “Only if you practice hard, Michael.” Julie gave Michael a wink. Michael’s face flushed red as he thought of commanding Julie.

Arthur gave Michael a confused look. “Why’re you so red?” His question caused Michael to cover his face in embarrassment. “I-I’ll go get some air; I think I ate something spicy.” Michael rushed out of the room, the heat on his face warmed his ears.

“Did we have anything spicy?” Arthur asked the two girls who remained sitting. Julie covered her mouth in laughter and shook her head. Whereas Shelly calmly replied “No, we didn’t young master.”

Arthur should’ve known that there wasn’t any spicy food, he ate everything that was on the table. He confusedly scratched his head “Then why was Michael so red? Is he getting his powers?” Arthur asked.

His innocent question caused Julie to blurt out in laughter whereas Shelly only shook her head.

“Wh-what did I say wrong, Julie?” The silver haired boy with clear emerald green eyes asked. He didn’t understand why she was laughing so hard. Julie waved her arm and shook her head. “I-it’s nothing, you’ll understand when you get older.”

“Do we turn red randomly when we get older?” Arthur asked. He thought to the time when his mom and dad were around each other. He sometimes saw them turn red when they were being loud with each other. He even recalled seeing Benjamin’s face turning red a few times around his mother.

“Is this a boy girl thing?” He asked.

“Yeah, sure, a boy girl thing.” Julie agreed to Arthur’s hypothesis hoping he’d stop asking.

Luckily for her he nodded his head in understanding and looked at Shelly. “I hope we can randomly turn red like that in the future Shelly.” He beamed a bright smile at her causing Shelly to reply with a calm smile of her own. “Yes, young master.”

The three continued to converse for a few minutes until Michael walked back, his face was calmer, and the red was gone. It was also around this time that the chefs at the other table finished their own meal.

The Head Chef was lost in a trance once he was done eating, the food, the spice, the way everything was cooked to perfection. His eyes glazed as he rolled his head back, the taste still lingering on his lips.

It wasn’t just him, every chef at the table had that same satisfied feeling as they licked their lips. Another few minutes later passed by, by the time they came to themselves. The kids at the other table got up passed by them.

“W-wait up!” The Head Chef stopped the four from exiting the cafeteria. He looked around and saw that the kid who made the food wasn’t around. “Yes, mister chef?” Arthur asked.

Cough, Ahem

“Where’s your friend?” The Head Chef asked, his tone was friendly and more welcoming than before. Arthur shook his head. “We don’t know, he goes wherever he wants.”

The Head Chef nodded his head and continued, “Will he be coming by again tomorrow?” Arthur shrugged his shoulder. He didn’t know the answer, even though Boss made them food two days in a row, it didn’t mean he’d make them food all the time.

“Well, let him know he can use the kitchen anytime he wants, alright?” The desire in his eyes was apparent. Every Chef wanted to get better, his desire to learn from Boss was plastered all over his face.

However, his expression creeped Arthur out. “Okay, we gotta go now, see you!” The kid quickened his steps ran away. Michael was a bit more courteous and said, “We’ll let him know.”

The group of four arrived at Gran’s home without any of Boss’s obstruction. They met a servant at the entrance who told them Gran wasn’t back yet, so they could do whatever they wanted in the meantime.

Barkie and Silver was heard and seen riding on top of animals near the back. They decided to collect them once they were going back to the Inn.

With nothing to do they all went to Roselyn’s door and knocked on it. Dr. Galil invited them in. They all crowded around the pregnant mother, the warmth on her face returned as she continued to sleep peacefully.

“How is she Dr. Galil?” Julie asked.

“She’s doing very well. I thought she’d have some residual problems after what she went through, but she’s fine for now.” Dr. Galil replied honestly.

“And the baby, and the baby? How is he?” Arthur asked.

“The baby is quite energetic. I’m just worried about its birth for now.” The doctor shook his head.

“What’s wrong?” Arthur asked.

“Let’s just say we’d rather hope that Roselyn is awake and not asleep when the baby wants to come out.” Dr, Galil replied. Arthur looked at the sleeping Roselyn worriedly he only hoped for the best when it came to the mother and baby.

Knock Knock

The door opened to the sight of Gran, his sons and another male they didn’t recognize. The male stood outside the door while the other three walked in.

“My servant said you guys were here.” Gran looked at the four who was in the room with Dr. Galil. He silently greeted Dr. Galil and the doctor likewise returned the gesture.

Gran walked over to his wife and caressed her hand. For a short moment the expression on her face seemed to reveal a faint smile. However, Gran wasn’t sure if he was seeing things or not as he continued to look at her. Her short orange hair, down to the neck relaxed on the pillow. Her peaceful countenance as she laid there made him feel conflicted, he didn’t know if he should agree to Orchid’s request.

“How is she?” Gran asked. He didn’t need to know what the doctor says because he can confirm it for himself by sensing the energy within her. However, Dr. Galil respectfully answered his question.

Everyone within the room excused themselves when Gran decided to talk to Dr. Galil. They closed the door and stood outside waiting for their training. Another person stood beside Pebble and Cobble who didn’t say anything yet, however he was looking at the two kids with a weird look.

“What is it?” Arthur asked the buzz cut scar faced young man; he noticed the weird gaze coming from the guy as if he was being examined. “Oh, my bad.” Pebble replied. “This here is Seth; he’s staying at Auntie Orchid’s Inn with his friends. Apparently, we scared them during their first visit. Ahaha”

“Yeah, sorry about that, I was looking for someone and thought you might have been him.” The scar-faced Seth replied.

“You scared him too?” Arthur asked. It was only a few days ago when they were being chased down by Gran, Pebble, and Cobble.

“It’s tradition. Tradition.” Pebble tried to use his past tradition as the reason. “Uh huh.” Arthur rolled his eyes at Pebble. Pebble had the most fun when he recalled the situation.

“My name is Arthur; I think I saw you before.” Arthur gave Seth a closer look. “You were the guy that was shouting upstairs!”

Cough

“I, uhm, I was weirdly stuck up there that’s why.” Seth answered. “My name is Seth by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Seth!” Arthur shook hands with Seth. Michael, Julie and Shelly gave their greetings also.

“Are you here for training too?” Arthur asked.

“Yeah!” Pebble walked over and stated. “He’s going to be training with you guys until school starts.” Pebble patted Seth’s back causing him to inch forward.

“I uh, I was never good at training my internal energy and Cobble said that he could train me to learn it.” Seth answered.

“Yeah that’s right.” Cobble agreed.

“Pardon me, but might I ask if there is anyone else training with us?” Seth asked.

“Nope, why?” Pebble replied.

“Oh nothing, I thought for sure there would be more people training with you guys, that is all.” Seth answered. He could only forget about the kid with sunglasses for now.

The door opened with Gran walking out. “Let’s go meditate.” Gran led the way with the group following from behind. Everyone, including Pebble and Cobble went to meditate today as they all entered the room.

“Since today my sons are going to join us, I’ll show you guys what it’s going to be like in the future for your meditation.” Gran took out a much bigger stick than the one he used yesterday.

“Alright, let’s begin.”