Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 820: I Work Here!

Over the month of the new Dark Faction going through its reconstruction, one special thing was occurring at the academy. A noodle shop had undergone rebranding, now calling itself ”Perfect Noodles.”

It had become one of the most popular places to eat in the entire outer academy area, and it seemed that word was spreading outside of the academy as well.

At times, there would be visitors to the academy, claiming that they wished to discuss or meet with certain individuals, but the truth was, they were there to taste what they had heard were some of the best noodles that the world of Pagna had to offer.

This was all because there was a new head chef at the place, and it was all thanks to the one known as Zon.

Currently, inside the establishment, in the back kitchen, Zon was taking a step back, overlooking the line of cooks. He was carefully observing with his hands folded and pointed to one of the bowls. ”Add a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of MSG,” Zon ordered, then pointed to another person who was taking a metal basket filled with noodles out of water. ”Not yet-two seconds more... now!”

On his every command, the cooks followed Zonʼs instructions, all for the sake of making the perfect noodles.

At the end of the line, with a small spoon, there was Rane, personally tasting every single dish. Although his face didnʼt look satisfied, he allowed them to go out. ʼNo matter how much direction he gives them, I still havenʼt been able to experience the same taste as that day,ʼ Rane thought, and then looked out through the small gap at the customers raving about the food.

As they took a sip of the broth and then slurped down the noodles, there was a satisfied delight on their faces. ʼI think of it as a curse. While they are all happy tasting these imitations of the perfect noodles, for me, only one can satisfy that taste.ʼ

There was no doubt that the restaurant had gotten substantially busier since the rebranding and the hiring of the new head chef, but Rane was wondering what the difference was between Zon and the others-why couldnʼt they recreate the perfect noodles again?

As for Zon, who had been swept up in all of this, he was thinking along the same lines as he looked at the cooks. ʼAlthough they canʼt produce the perfect ratios of ingredients that I used, with my direction they are able to get pretty close. But there is something else that is missing with them, and itʼs the perfect mixture,ʼ Zon thought, as he lifted his hand to his face and looked through the gaps in his fingers.

Then he openly said, ”What am I even doing here? Iʼve gotten too caught up in all of this!”

The same words came out of Zonʼs mouth nearly every day, but with nothing else for him to do, he found himself almost drawn to the shop. His leadership skills, ingrained from his time in the Red Fortis Army, were being put to use.

He, too, wanted to create a restaurant with the most skilled workers and make it so every one of them could create the perfect noodles. His obsession, which made him who he was today and the leader of the Red Fortis Army, had now been hammered into this shop of all things. ”A one-hour wait? Come on!” a man shouted so loudly that nearly everyone in the shop could hear him.

They could see a group of five standing by the door, all of them menacing-looking men carrying large clubs by their side. They were ready to enter the restaurant when they received a small raffle-like ticket.

A system designed to fairly allow everyone who was there to be served on a first-come, first- served basis, and just now, this group of people had been told an estimated wait time. ”Are you saying all of these guys are here waiting?” the man in front said, giving them a stare and allowing some of the Qi from his body to be released. ”Look, weʼre Pagna warriors, weʼre busy people that need to get to training.” ”We are part of the Dark Faction and part of the people that even protect this place. So how can you put us warriors in the same queue as the other regular citizens?”

Some of those who were waiting started to notice the bald-headed man in front. His name was Skyler. A talented warrior who had graduated from the academy two years ago.

He was a rising star in the Wu Club Clan, a clan that wasnʼt one of the top five but was fairly active in the Dark Faction. Unlike many of the others who were at the restaurant, they had actually come to greet the new leader, the Dark Magus.

Rather than having an elder who represented the clan, Skyler wanted to see things for himself, and if possible, even get a chance to fight the new Dark Magus. ʼI heard the new leader was a student... if his strength is really that to match up with Murkel, then I want to test it firsthand, and if he sees my strength, then we can get our clan up to new heights!ʼ Skyler thought.

But before a fight, one needed to fill their belly with energy, and seeing such a busy place had caught their eyes and led them to this situation.

A worker quickly came rushing over, bowing his head to the warriors. ”Iʼm sorry, sir, but it is our restaurant policy to treat everyone on a first-come, first-served basis,” the worker stated. ”This restaurant is popular with many Pagna warriors, and if we implemented what you stated, then the regular citizens wouldnʼt be able to enjoy our food.” ”There are many establishments in the city that cater to serving just Pagna warriors.” One of the men behind Skyler walked right past the worker and headed inside. ”And this isnʼt one of the places that donʼt appreciate what us warriors do. When there is a war, we are the first in line to protect the Dark Faction; we are the ones that risk our lives fighting!” the warrior said, and the rest of them nodded.

Skyler walked past into the restaurant as well, looking at the workers and the faces of the people. ”But arenʼt we safe from Pagna business?” one of the customers whispered to the others. ”I mean, warriors are meant to deal with themselves, so even if there was a war, we wouldnʼt be affected, right?” ”You know nothing!” one of the men said, pulling out his club and bashing it on top of the table, knocking the noodles onto the floor and splitting it in half. ”What do you think youʼre doing!” the customer said, standing up. ”Youʼre a warrior and arenʼt meant to get involved in this stuff.” ”And you should know that no kingdom would get involved if a nobody like you were killed on the spot,” the warrior replied. ”Hey,” Skyler said as he walked over to his fellow colleague, a little nervous. ”Donʼt you think youʼre going a little too far?”

It was then that the other warriors started to gather their clubs and bashed the tables next to them, emitting a large amount of Qi, each of them letting out their frustration on the customers. Some of the cooks, seeing what was happening to their restaurant, as well as servers, wanted to go stop the madness.

They were ready to go ahead when another more level-headed person next to them reached out their hand to stop them, knowing full well that they could do nothing against warriors- they were just regular people.

That was until one person stood up. ”What the f*ck do you guys think youʼre doing!” A loud bellowing voice came from the corner of the restaurant, and Rane was seen walking over with his heavy footsteps. Rane was an ordinary person and was not a Pagna warrior, but he still had a heavy presence that they were all aware of in the shop. ”Can you use your ears, or are those things on the side of your head just for decoration!” Rane shouted. ”My shop, my policy, and if you donʼt like it, you can go somewhere else.” ”And now, like a spoiled child, because you guys didnʼt get your way, you start destroying my stuff! You think just because youʼre part of the Wu Club Clan, you can just do what you want!”

Rane recognized them, as did others sitting in the room, yet despite all of that, Zon was impressed—even knowing the warriors in front of him were fairly strong, he was still standing up to them.

The man who had broken the table earlier grabbed his club hard. ”Iʼm tired of it, tired of it-all the way since we got here, there has been a huge disrespect!” the man shouted.

On their journey, there were a number of warrior bandits as well as other issues they had dealt with, including their items being stolen from them in the middle of the night. Due to a lack of food, they were hungrier than they were letting on, and all of that hunger was coming out as anger. ”I see, the reason you disrespect us is because you have no idea what we can do with a simple swing!” the man shouted as he swung his club. ”No, wait!” Skyler shouted, but it was too late to stop his friend.

Rane never thought a warrior would take a swing at him, and seeing how fast it was, it was something he couldnʼt avoid. Being an ordinary person, the club hitting him would have splattered his head open like a watermelon.

That was until the club had been stopped at the last second. ”Who are you?” the warrior asked. ”Iʼm just someone who works here,” Zon replied. ”And heʼs my boss.”