"It's really rare to get some vacation days like this…"
Karte stretched his hands, enjoying a day-off at home. Yesterday was chaos because the explosion made everyone terrified. As soon the students heard a loud sound from the back of cafeteria, they ran to the outside, saving their own lives. Luckily, Baston blocked the explosion with the puppet or else, it would be horrendous to the students inside.
The teachers and the staffs then came to this side after sensing such a big magic fluctuation. The cafeteria was still open at that time because there was nothing happened to it. By the time everyone headed toward the back, they found the impact of explosion was out of their imaginations. They should be critically wounded by now, but fortunately, one of the students there blocked it with her magic items.
As far as he knew, he heard that a noble girl was the one who saved the day. Karte also believed it because only the noble students had a capability to block the explosion. It wasn't possible to block directly, but using some magic items could do it. Certainly, every noble would have one or two protection magic items on them as a means to defend themselves. The poor and commoner had no such items, yet the merchant side would have a couple of students who could afford such items.
Since there was no casualty, everything was fine but the investigation had to continue. The academy wouldn't let something like this to happen again, so they called help from outside to look further about this. He was just only a waiter, but he was sure the professional who came right away must already have a clue about the explosion.
In his free time, he wondered about what Baston's relationship with Panto and Alicia. He knew the boy was from merchant side and the girl was from the noble side. Both of them seemingly had higher status than the fat boy, yet they treated Baston just like their superior. He was really curious about what Baston's true identity. If only Panto who treated Baston, then he would just pass it away. But if Alicia was also involved, then he
wondered if Baston had a higher status than him.
From the first time he took the order from Alicia, he wondered what her purpose. He thought the first one was only a coincidence, but the second and the third one made him dumbfounded. He thought the girl had a crush on Baston. If this premonition was true, then it would be a shocking news. Alicia had many suitors in this academy, so if the poor boy really struck a gold in Alicia's heart, he didn't know what kind of bloodbath would happen in this academy.
Of course, Karte as the waiter didn't dare to gossip, so he could only see this happened under his watch. He notices both of Alicia and Panto had the same expression when they ordered a meal for Baston. It was a
reverence and nothing else. His guess of romantic feeling wasn't right because there was no such thing.
Day by day, it even turned into competition because there were only two people who paid for special order. It seemed Panto and Aliciavwere trying their best to impress Baston with the food. Actually, Alicia could
win it easily if she ordered the food from noble side. But if he thought more, it would be bad because there was never a case a luxury meal was delivered to the dormitory of commoner. If the news got out, it would spell a trouble to Baston and Alicia.
"No wonder she kept ordering a common food…"
Next time, both of them then ordered food for Baston and they even competed who ordered the first one, even though he as the waiter would deliver it together. He abided their messages about the secret so that
Baston was still in the dark. The competition went for a few days until finally, Panto came as the winner because Alicia was busy at the office. Panto then ordered a big one dish while giving Baston a coupon from nearby restaurant through him. He envied this fat boy because such a poor student, but he got
feed every day which meant Baston didn't have to take care about his food again.
Walking at the street of the town, Karte took care of what he bought today. When he headed for his home, he was surprised to meet with Baston. It seemed he was looking for something, glancing at the coupon on his
hand. The waiter knew what he did and he soon greeted him.
"Hello, student. It's nice to see you out here…" Karte took the initiative to greet him first.
"You are… The waiter?" Baston was surprised.
"Yes, my name is Karte. It's our first-time meeting at outside…"
"Yes, it is…" Baston then introduced his name, "My name is Baston. Thank you for your care after all this time."
"It's alright… It's alright… I'm just doing my job…"
Karte didn't dare to be reckless, even though his status was higher a little bit than Baston. With the backer from Panto and Alicia, he knew this fat boy might have a hidden background, which was more powerful than he could imagine. He asked further about what Baston was doing here.
"Are you looking for something? Can I help you?"
"Well, I'm looking for the address written here…" Baston showed the coupon, "I don't know the area well enough…"
"I know this one. Let me lead you all the way to there…"
Surely, a person like Baston had hidden background. Because he was the commoner, he often explored this side of area. What he knew was a common person surely knew this place, even the poor and the merchant could recognize it. Only a noble and higher that would have difficulty to locate it since they seldom lingered in the area. Karte concluded Baston was a noble, but
he hid it completely among many students at the academy. This was the most sensible reason he could get after seeing how Panto and Alicia treated him.
If his hunch was true, he might have opportunity to get better life then. Many poor and commoner had a dream to work under the banner of noble. Because of status leverage, he believed once he got work under Baston, he would have many chances to see more about society. Just looking at
Panto and Alicia already convinced him that the fat boy would have many people flocked to him. It was better to choose side right now rather than waiting until everyone knew the truth.
After arriving at the place, Karte then excused himself. He didn't want to force his way to be closer than this. It was because once Baston felt he was too bothersome, he would lose his chance forever. There would be next time when they could meet again in the academy. He swore to be his faithful waiter whenever the food order came to him.
Baston on the other hand finally found the restaurant matched by the coupon. It was small one but the place was quite good. The
decoration was nice and the atmosphere was good of having a delicious meal in here. Still, the question here was if the coupon could be used or not. He didn't have money, so it would be embarrassing when it was the time to go, the waiter finally bought a receipt to pay.
"Excuse me, can I use this coupon?"
The waiter looked at it and was flabbergasted before he showed the best smile to Baston, "Of course you can, venerable guest. Let me guide you to the best seat we have. Although our place is not big, I hope you enjoy your time here."
Baston nodded, but he asked the most important thing, "Do I need to pay for the food again? I mean if the coupon works like a discount or something?"
Baston asked this silly question because the coupon didn't tell much information. Regarding the meal here, it only said you just needed to come to the place and enjoyed the served dishes. The waiter thought that the customer was afraid of being scammed, so he patiently explained again. It worked like this. The waiter gave the menu and he just needed to order it. After he finished the dish, he could then continue to order again. All the food and drink were free, yet he had to consume it first so as not to waste it.
After making sure he didn't need to spend a penny on it, Baston then gladly ordered the dishes. He took one dish and one drink first to see whether he could finish it or not. Enjoying such a meal in this quiet place was
awesome. It was just like eating it in his own room, never afraid to disturb others or being disturbed. He ate three portions before he was full. Baston then wanted to leave, but the waiter stopped him.
"Please wait a minute, sir…"
"Oh, no… Is there a need to pay the tip?" Baston thought.
The waiter then brought another coupon for him, "This coupon is for dinner today. Just come again and we will serve you wholeheartedly."
Baston was elated, but he controlled himself so as not to appear enthusiastically. If he jumped up and down happily, the waiter might despise him as poor person who didn't know any situation out there. After thanking for the treatment, the fat boy then left without looking back. The waiter waited for a while before he went ahead to the office.
"How is it?" the bald middle-aged man asked the waiter.
"Everything is good, boss. The customer is satisfied," the waiter beamed happily.
"That's good… That's good…" the boss breathed a sigh of relief, "For dinner, let's provide something simple yet fulfilling the
stomach."
"Huh? Are you sure, boss?" the waiter was confused, "I mean if we are talking about the dinner, usually our guess will ask for more amazing dish. If we do simple dish, I'm afraid the customer will complain about it."
"The one who bought our service before told me that this person like simplicity. He doesn't need any big and luxury dish. As long the food tastes good, it's enough for him."
"I see…" the waiter nodded.
The boss then looked outside the window, "Think about it. If the customer wants to have sumptuous dining, there are many places around here that will be better than us. Even though so, he still chooses us. It means we
have something different than others. We have quiet place with good atmosphere plus a simple dish, yet with many variations. If we can satisfy this customer, I think there will be another business to do then."
Actually, Panto picked this small restaurant because it matched with Baston's inquiry. Before the cafeteria closed down, Baston asked for smaller portion because he always got another one from Alicia. It would be such a waste to throw it if he was unable to eat it all. With small dishes, everything then was better since it fit in his stomach.
It made a kind of misunderstanding that Baston liked small portion, yet with fulfilling and unique taste. Actually, the luxury one was the best, but the expenditure would be so great for Panto's wallet. Fortunately, Baston liked the common one so this small restaurant was very suitable. While others
had their own thinking regarding what happened, so far Baston's life already went on the right track.
"I never thought the service is very good. The restaurant even gives me a coupon for dinner again for the same day. I guess I will stay at that place tonight."
While Baston was humming happily, a rowdy man was lurking behind him. In this dark and damp alley, the person looked at his surrounding before he quickly rushed ahead and snatched whatever Baston held on his hand. The fat boy didn't realize until he felt someone hit his hand and the dinner coupon was grabbed before leaving the victim helplessly. Baston finally came back to his sense that he was being pickpocketed.
"Damn it! Someone steals my dinner!"