(Morcster Chef Book 2) - Chapter 91 (Patreon)

“As you might have gathered, I’m part of what remains of the Starpiercer guild,” the man said. “You can call me Axon, and I need your help.”

“Why would we ever help you?” Arek asked, baring his teeth. “Your guild and I caused more damage than many wars ever could have. The Starpiercers deserve to fade away and die.”

“That might be the case,” Axon said, giving a halfhearted shrug. “But we have a common enemy. The Howler Guild.”

“What do you have to do with them? Is this because they’re taking over Riverfall?” Malissa asked. “And what makes you so sure that the Howlers are our enemies?”

Axon just raised an eyebrow. “We can skip this portion of the chat. You’ll deny knowing anything about them and I’ll point out that they’ve been chasing you for weeks. Let’s treat each other like adults, okay?”

“You’re awful confident when you’re outnumbered,” Belmont said, drumming his fingers on the staff shaft. “And none of us are particularly well disposed towards you.”

“Kill me and your stay on the islands ends. The entire crowd saw the orc grab me. Everyone will know what happened.”

“So?” Arek asked. “The islands are nice, but I find equal enjoyment from stomping out scum.”

Axon blinked. “You’d throw away your pass on the islands just to kill me? Are you insane? You must have paid hundreds of thousands of gold for that entrance pass. Why would you waste it on me?”

“It was a gift, actually. A free one,” Ming said. “So really, we could bonk you and drop you in a ditch at no real cost to ourselves.”

Axon’s eyes bulged. “A gift?”

“How about we get back on track,” Arek suggested. “I’ll admit that I’d rather stay on the island if possible, but you certainly aren’t making things easier on yourself. The more you talk, the more I want to see if my karma goes up or down for offing you.”

“Fine,” Axon said, adjusting his robes with a huff. Despite their threats, the man didn’t look particularly concerned. “My guild still has a strong hold on several cities through channels that I don’t care to get into. However, the Howlers falsely believe to smell blood in the water. They’re pushing into our territory and trying to crush any support that we have.”

“I don’t see why we should care about this,” Arek said.

“I’m getting to it. See, I’m one of the intelligence officers for the Starpiercers. Consider this a sign of my good faith.”

Axon reached into a pocket, wincing as Malissa’s daggers sprung to her hands. He very carefully pulled out a folded slip of paper with two fingers and handed it to Arek. The orc opened it, keeping one eye on the man the entire time. The paper was smudged and much of the writing was lost, but Arek was still able to make out a good amount of it.

Targets participated in defending Red Mount from Event 12-A. Their attempts were partially successful, and the city was not destroyed. … Operative was killed … One escaped, killing fifteen of our men.

Operation was not a complete loss. Extensive data collected, fatalities were… Agent reported targets were gifted something of great value. Item unknown. … will proceed with termination at …

Arek’s eyes narrowed as he read through the paper. “How do I know this is legimate? And from the Howler Guild, for that matter?”

“Are we really going to do this?” Axon asked. “Why would I have sought you out to give you fake information?”

“I can think of a dozen reasons off the top of my head,” Arek replied, handing the paper to Belmont so he could take a look at it. “If you don’t have anything that’s actually of value, we’re going to be on our way.”

“Bah. Slow down,” Axon said. “That was the token of goodwill. I don’t care if you believe it or not – it isn’t relevant to what we need you for. Look, we need the expertise of your group. The orc in particular.”

“Cooking,” Arek guessed. “You need a chef? Your answer to that better be yes, because if I find out that you’ve come seeking me to slaughter more innocents, I’m starting with you.”

“We need a chef,” Axon agreed quickly. “It’s not well known, but we have a decently sized property on the Floating Islands. The Howlers want to take it from us, so they challenged our best chef to a cook-off for ownership of the building.”

“Couldn’t he have just said no?” Ming asked. “He sounds dumb.”

“You can’t say no to a cook-off on the Floating Islands,” Axon said, rolling his eyes. “Just like you can’t refuse any contest of skill for Island-owned property. That’s why everything here is so high quality. Only the best of the best remain.”

“I suppose that does explain a lot,” Arek said. “But this is wrapping back to the exact same issue. Why should I care? If this is your best chef, he or she should be more than talented enough to handle this. If they aren’t, you don’t deserve to remain on the island.”

“You do realize that the Howlers are trying to kill you, right?” Axon asked, pressing his lips together. “They’re hunting your group!”

“So did you,” Arek pointed out.

“Bah. All in the past,” Axon said. “Let’s forget that for a moment. The Howlers cheated. Our chef is missing.”

“Maybe he bailed out?” Ming offered.

“He wouldn’t have done that,” Axon said angrily. “He loved cooking just as much as your orc does. He’s been kidnapped or killed. As have the majority of our talented chefs. The Howlers want this restaurant very badly.”

“Again, I’m still failing to see why we should care,” Arek said. “And I’m starting to feel like you’re wasting my time. You’ve got one more sentence to tell me why I should give the smallest shit about you. If you don’t, I’m going to sit on the sidelines and watch the Howlers kick your sorry guild off the island with a smile.”