(Morcster Chef Book 2) - Chapter 92 (Patreon)

“Two reasons,” Axon said. “The first is that our sources reported that your group has some form of relation to Null. He’ll be attending in support of the Howlers. We believe he’s the one that messed with our chefs. The second is this.”

The bald man reached into his pocket and pulled out a dull green shard. It looked like half of a broken jade sphere. Arek squinted at it, a frown crossing his face. “Is that…?”

“Part of an item that would have caused another monster horde,” Axon confirmed. “It was placed at a dungeon near one of our hideouts. If our high rank members hadn’t cleared the dungeon when they noticed something was strange with the ambient energy, the town would have been destroyed. The Howlers are the ones planting these.”

“How do you know?” Malissa asked. “That’s definitely an orb, but nothing proves that the Starpiercers aren’t the ones hiding them.”

“I can’t prove it,” Axon said irritably. “Unfortunately, I’ve got no irrefutable evidence. But think about it for a moment – why would I seek you out and deliver myself into your hands if we were really doing that? It would be pointless.”

“He actually has a point,” Belmont said, looking as if it hurt him to say the words. “The Howlers have already proved that they don’t have any morals, and it would be incredibly stupid for the Starpiercers to seek us out if they were planting these. It’s not like our group is large enough to make a significant difference in a fight.”

“But how does that play into a cooking competition?” Arek asked. “This just seems like an arbitrary fight.”

“Not at all,” Axon said, shaking his head. “You heard about the reward for defeating all twelve chefs in the Floating Cities, right? It’s rumored to be a boon from the Mayor of the cities. Something like that could sway the tide of an entire war. The Mayor is a high A ranked adventurer. You can get the boon by defeating any group of the Great Talents that reside within the islands, but we’ve already got people working on those. However, it looks like the Howlers are focusing on the chefs, so we can’t allow them to progress unhindered.”

“So you want me to take your place in the competition so they get kicked off the island?” Arek asked. “Even if I assume you’ve told us the truth, why should I help? We could just report that the Howlers are starting monster hordes and let the Adventurer’s Guild take care of this.”

“The Adventurer’s Guild won’t interfere in a guild conflict,” Axon said irritably. “Not as long as we keep the towns out of it. You saw how much they cared about what happened in Riverfall. We’ve heard that the four of you were chased out after winning an auction.”

Arek’s brow lowered. The man was right, but that didn’t like the orc like him any more. He just shrugged. “That may be the case, but we’ve looped back to the first problem. I don’t like the Howlers. I don’t like you. Why should we help?”

“Because if you do, we’ll use this opportunity to push the Howlers back,” Axon said. “We’ll put pressure on them and force them out of Riverfall.”

“I don’t want the Starpiercers in Riverfall either,” Arek said, crossing his arms.

“Then we’ll leave as well,” Axon said. “We’ll remove the Howlers and leave a vacuum for another guild to move in. How does that sound?”

Arek blinked. “Do you have the authority to say that?”

“Yes. So long as you assist us in winning this competition, we will push the Howlers out of Riverfall and then leave the city ourselves. I swear this on the name of the Starpiercer guild.”

Arek considered the man. Then he let out a sigh and glanced at the rest of the Happy Sunflowers. “What do you think?”

“It’s your call,” Malissa said. “You’re the one that has to compete in the competition. I don’t think we can lose anything from it other than revealing our location to the Howlers, though. So long as the Starpiercers actually hold up their end of the deal, it might be a good idea.”

“With any luck, maybe the Howlers and Starpiercers will tear each other to shreds so we don’t have to deal with either of them,” Belmont said. “I don’t think it’s wise to let the Howlers know that we’re on the Floating Islands, but I get the feeling that it’s too late for that. After that competition, I wouldn’t be surprised if half of the island knows there’s an orc chef here, and there aren’t too many of those.”

“More food is also good,” Ming added. “Make them buy your supplies.”

“Not a bad idea,” Arek said, turning to Axon. “Buy my supplies as well. If I win this competition, I don’t get any real reward from it other than two of my enemies entering a fight that they would have done without my help.”

“Fine,” Axon said, pressing his lips together. “We will cover your cooking supplies if you fight with us. But what do we get if you lose?”

“Nothing,” Arek replied. “You don’t have the bargaining chips here, Starpiercer. You need me, but I couldn’t care less about you. If you don’t like that, you’re welcome to find another chef.”

Axon spat on the ground. “Very well. We’ll cover your expenses, but only for cooking supplies. The fight is tomorrow morning, two hours after the sun has risen. We know you’re staying at the Singing Swan. We’ll lead you to the competition then. How much gold do you need for your supplies?”

A slow, predatory grin stretched across Arek’s face. “How about we just open a tab for you instead? That might make things a bit easier.”