Chapter 251 - Nameless Man
It was afternoon when they decided to go home. The skies burst with its beautiful orange color, white streaks of clouds etched towards the horizon beautifully. The breeze was getting colder, making Florencia sneeze with a high-pitched voice.
"You need this, Flo," Viper said, offering his coat to her. He was a few inches taller than her, considering that his height started spurting a few weeks after receiving the Adventurer system.
"Thanks," Florencia said and wrapped herself with her arms under the coat. They walked to the inn they were staying at while Elliot and his friends brought them there.
"Here we are," Christina cheered. Elliot gulped after seeing the beautiful large white marble inn.
"Y-You said you were staying in an inn," Elliot stuttered. "This is a hotel."
"Father wouldn't let me sleep in beds unless it's Great Horse hair," Florencia said. "And he wants Viper to experience the lifestyle too. And Florencia, since she's our friend."
"The guild is so cheap letting us stay in the that in," Ed shrugged with Connor and Hope agreeing behind him. This earned then an elbow from Elliot, glaring at the three before returning his gaze to his students.
"I think we're going to rest all day tomorrow," Elliot said. "Feel free to visit us anytime. We're going to stay in the inn. Or you can go around town. There should be more stalls since it's almost time for the Battle of Champions."
"We will visit and stroll around," Florencia said, bowing with the other two before entering their hotel. Elliot and his friends waited for them to get inside before they decided to walk back to their inn.
"Damn rich people," Ed sighed. "How much is a night here though?"
"10 gold coins," Lance replied. "It's a hotel previously owned by Lord Plankly."
"Speaking of lords," Elliot muttered, making sure to get Lance's attention. "How come you and Elizabeth are related?"
"We're cousins from a far distant bloodline," Lance said. "We're not exactly considered cousins anymore. She was just raised to think that she is still somehow related to the royals. But she is a noble though."
"That Viper kid," Connor pointed out. "He has a massive amount of locked power. It feels like it's been sealed for some reason."
"That I do not know," Elliot sighed. "I didn't have the time to talk to his father regarding his birth."
"That's something we need to keep an eye on," Lance said, this time his face was serious. "Based on his year of birth, it's the time when the Armageddon Project was finalized."
The four others sighed with Elliot speaking, "What is it now? Another possible threat?"
"It ended, so don't worry," Lance said. "But it was nasty though. The team that started it and the ones who continued and finished are even more vile and disgusting. The Armageddon Project was built to seal multiple Adventurer life forces into one single entity, usually a baby."
"They did this as another attempt to create the strongest Adventurers, ones that can match the Palace Kings," Lance continued. "But it ended because the babies they used to seal the powers to would die not a few minutes after their experiment. This would also kill the Adventurers, so it was a one big massacre."
"That's horrible," Elliot grimaced. Lance only nodded with flattened lips, continuing their walk to their inn.
It was dark when they came back. The sky lost its raging light, replaced with a dark blue hue, holding the stars that littered all across the heavens. It was a beautiful projection of the night.
"I'm gonna go somewhere," Elliot said. He realized it would be more suspicious if he escaped through his room considering they could feel his aura leave the inn. It was much easier to tell them he was going to go out, they would have better reactions.
"Get home safe later," Lance said and was the first one to walk inside.
The three idiots, as Elliot like to call them, whistles after the whiff of awkwardness between them. They all patted Elliot's shoulder one by one before going inside, leaving Elliot confused outside.
"What was that about?" he asked himself, but shoved the thought away. He walked back to the town square where everything got even more busier. The crowd got larger and the space got narrower.
In the corner, where the red restaurant stall sat, had a long line of customers. It had a large number of people in queue, lining for their meals inside the restaurant.
Elliot gulped as he watched the line of people outside. Everyone was excited to come in, and those who want to get inside had satisfied smiles on their faces. "What in the hell?"
"Did you know?" A female Adventurer asked her peers. They were all females who wore buffed out armor, meaning they were tank-type knights. "Jester, the boy who defeated him, Elizabeth, Zeus, and Johnson visited this restaurant."
"They must have a great line of food considering they have such high-class customers," one of the other women said.
"Yeah, I'm so excited to get in," the first woman said. "I just wish the line would die down soon."
Elliot heard his name being called somewhere. He was turning around and saw Ilwoo on the dark side of the stall. He was outside, leaning out of the small alley their stall and the other one created. "Mr. Elliot, come here."
Elliot looked around to make sure no one was looking at him. It was a busy area and everyone was minding their own business. When it was clear, he crept inside the small alley, following Ilwoo inside.
"Your presence paved a way for us to garner more customers," Ilwoo said. "Nobody got in when it was just Mr. Jester visiting considering he had peculiar tastes, but when you, the one who defeated him came, as well as Elizabeth and the two Guardians, they were interested."
"And how was the feedback?" Elliot asked.
"Honestly," Ilwoo sighed. "In this market, only our recipe are from the East. We found substitute spices for the ones we use there so we could deliver our home kingdom's delicacies. These other stalls have changed their recipes, fitting it in with the Westerner's taste. But now they're discovering what the true East feels like."
They arrived inside the kitchen and Jung was there. She bowed slightly at Elliot before going out to serve orders. They had another person inside that seemed like he was also from the East. He was cooking while Jung was serving.
"So you guys maintained your recipe all these years?" Elliot asked. "But why?"
"The man who brought us here told us not to change anything," Ilwoo said. "Jung tried to do it countless of times, but we still failed. Good thing Jester found us twelve years ago or we would've gone bankrupt."
"Jester helped you?" Elliot gasped. "And this man, do I really look like him?"
Ilwoo turned with a disappointed and sorrowful gaze. He sighed and nodded his head, "You even have the same abilities. And he had the red aura from him too. Just like you. Crimson like blood, yet pale like a pink flower."
"Tell me," Elliot gulped. "What was his name?"
"He didn't tell us," Ilwoo sighed. "He just said to call him the man."
When Elliot was about to ask more, a loud angry voice sounded from outside.
"Why does this recipe tastes like sh*t?!" the man yelled.
Elliot took a peek at the window and saw Jung in front of the tall man. His body wasn't buff, but he had enough muscles to put a mark in a regular person if he hits them.
Ilwoo's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. He was trembling in fear, watching his wife in front of the large man who had his hand about to land on her.
"Hasty Aspire."