Morcster Chef B3 - Chapter 14 (Patreon)

“You’re assuming she hasn’t gotten distracted by someone else’s food.”

Arek cleared his throat. “Ah. That’s a good point. I’m sure she won’t get delayed for too long, then.”

Time continued to tick. The other food carts were clearly experienced. Even thought they were building lines, nobody had to wait long for their food. People were served and sent off rapidfire, so there was little reason to check out Arek’s cart.

Out of the corner of his eye, Arek spotted Belmont trudging through the crowd, a despondent look on his face.

“No luck?” Arek guessed.

“None. I can’t get a blasted job here,” Belmont said with a sigh. “What about you? The same?”

“We seem to be having difficulty acquiring customers,” Arek said. “Ming is supposed to be out luring people over, but we fear she might have gotten a tad distracted.”

Belmont sighed. “I’ll go find her. At least I’ll be of a little use.”

He set off into the crowd in search of Ming. Arek and Malissa exchanged a glance.

“Now what?” Malissa asked. “We’ve got a lot of food. Should we just start cooking it, maybe? That could lure some people over.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Arek said. “Not too much, though. That’ll end up wasting it. We’ll just make a few portions and feed them to Ming if we have to.”

The two of them set about preparing a few meals worth of shrimp and pasta. Overhead, the sun continued to rise until warm orange light was poking through the buildings and illuminating the square.

More and more people arrived in the crowd, and the larger shops quickly started to grow packed as everyone ran to and fro, trying to finish whatever they were doing in time.

A loud yell echoed from the far end of the market. Arek, who had just finished plating a bowl of shrimp, glanced up. “That didn’t sound good.”

“It kind of sounded like Belmont,” Malissa muttered. “I hope they didn’t get into any trouble.”

The crowd split, shoved aside by a gentle wall of force, and Ming burst free from them, cackling as she sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her. Belmont was hot on her heels, his face red.

“Get back over here and do your job!” Belmont yelled.

“No! I’m going to eat pasta!”

Belmont grabbed at her and Ming dove forward, slipping out of his arms and popping to her feet in a perfectly executed roll. She skidded to a stop in front of Arek’s cart, her nose twitching.

“I smell shrimp.”

“Did you get even a single customer?” Malissa asked, rubbing her forehead with a sigh.

Ming cleared her throat. “I’m working on it. Food?”

Arek rolled his eyes and slid the bowl over to Ming, who devoured it in seconds and gave him a huge grin. “Thanks! I’ll get customers for sure this time.”

She slipped back off just as Belmont jogged up to the wagon, panting. He groaned as she vanished into the crowd. Many of the people were now staring at them in befuddlement.

“She was sampling all the other food trucks to ‘scope out the competition’. I caught her buying her fifth bean bun in a row,” Belmont grumbled. “I better go catch her again before she slacks off. Good luck. I’m sure we’ll find some customers eventually.”

He turned and headed back into the crowd, completely oblivious of all the eyes now staring at Arek and Malissa.

“Oh boy,” Arek muttered.

About half a dozen people wandered toward their wagon, eyeing it warily. Malissa, who had just finished putting together her own bowl of the shrimp, set it on the counter and made eye contact with the closest man.

“Hungry?” she asked.

“I – uh, kind of just wanted to see what the commotion was about,” he hedged, but his eyes were focused on the bowl now that it was in view. “How much, though? It does look okay.”

“A silver?” Malissa offered, glancing at Arek. The orc just shrugged.

“About right. Sure,” the man said, putting the requested coin down. Malissa handed him a pair of chopsticks with the bowl. The man thanked her and popped one of the shrimps into his mouth as he started to head back into the crowd.

He paused, and the eyes of several people flicked back to the cart as the man quickly shoveled through the rest of the food, finishing it off rapidly.

“I think that might have been what we needed,” Arek said out of the corner of his mouth. “Start making more. We’re about to have a line.”

No sooner than he had spoken did a dozen people approach the cart.

“Your food will be out shortly,” Arek said, giving them a close-lipped grin and starting the fire up once more. Excitement built in his stomach as he got back to work, cooking as quickly as he could without sacrificing quality.

This was what he’d been wanting to do for years. It wasn’t a full restaurant, but it was the closest he’d ever gotten, and it felt fantastic.

A laugh slipped out from Arek’s lips as he plated the food. Malissa glanced at him, a wide grin on her own face. If their strange behavior bothered anyone in line, they didn’t show it. More and more people started to line up as the two chefs worked.

The sun traced through the sky and the day dragged on. There was little time for rests or breaks. Even after the initial rush of people looking for breakfast faded, there were still a considerable amount of people passing through the square looking for food.

Now that the ball had started rolling, Arek and Malissa found more and more customers coming by to visit. Several people even returned to eat their food again for lunch.

The rest of the day was little more than a blur. After lunch, Malissa ran off to buy more ingredients before they ran out. Even still, they barely made it through the dinner crowd before they had to shut down. Everything they’d purchased the previous day had been used up.

Arek and Malissa flopped to the ground at the side of the wagon, exhausted and practically glowing with happiness.

“That was intense,” Malissa said, rubbing the sweat from her forehead.

“It was marvelous. I wish I could do that every day.”

“I mean, you could,” Malissa replied.

“Not yet,” Arek said, shaking his head. “Not until the Blessed One curse is dealt with. I don’t know if I’ll lose control of myself. But, for now, I am content. We will deal with that later.”