Lowlife, Scoundrel, Bandit Queen

Chapter 151 - 151 - Working the lunch crowd

I soon sweat quite a bit, despite the fact that the massive vertical skewer with the meat being in between me and the coals. Thankfully my work is not restricted to keeping it turning, as it turns out as soon as the guest room starts filling up when the time for lunch comes around. By then the chef is done with the sauce and the salads and vegetables that will go with the meat too.

Once the first customers start ordering the chef takes over at the spit, cutting off meat from all around the skewer as it keeps turning. I on the other hand get to serve the food. The layout of the place is pretty easy to memorize, which is quite helpful. Most of the people eating here are regulars too, which makes it easier as well. Thus I don't have too hard a time in the end.

I serve the food, I collect the payment and I banter little with the regulars, who of course are not used to see someone else but the chef's wife. I leave most of the talking to the mentioned chef though. I don't even know the exact circumstances after all. I just know that he needed someone to help out on short notice as his respective other fell sick all of a sudden.

Overall I still earn a little progress for my [Etiquette] skill. The real surprise is something else though and it comes in the form of an actual level up notification.

[*Ding!* Your skill Syld (Language & Script) has leveled up to level 6!]

This one counts towards the leveling progress of my scoundrel class which still is a long way from its next level up. I'm getting closer though. There are indirect benefits as well. Like a little improvement of my charm and as a result my magic power too. Overall the casual small talk with the patrons certainly pays off.

Even better though, as the heat leaves me parched and the constant small talk my throat sore, the chef lets me have a cup of beer in between two serving runs. It's not the world, but it speaks well of him as far as I'm concerned. Considering as well, how the patrons speak of the man, I'm inclined to come to the conclusion that he is a pretty decent person. A welcome change to my earlier experience at the gate.

What comes as a greater surprise, at least to me, is how carefully calculated the amount of prepared ingredients is, starting by the sauce and salad to the very meat from the rotating skewer. The man knows his regulars pretty well. Well enough in fact to make sure nothing goes to waste. What little is left by the time the rush around noon is over and he has locked the front door, he divides up into three servings. One for him, another for his sick wife and the last for me.

That is another nice surprise. With just three pennies the actual pay I'll receive at the guild after turning in my papers is not exactly exciting. But if you add a free meal and the drink I had earlier, it certainly starts to look much better.

I eat my portion in silence while the chef takes his upstairs to eat with his sick wife. It's quite delicious. All the more reason to take my time and enjoy it. My work here is not quite done yet anyway. My gaze briefly shifts to the stacks of dirty dishes by the bucket with the wash water. Oh yes, I'm not done here yet. At least I won't have to stand by the hot grill anymore though. Small mercies and all that.

I don't wait for the man to return after I finish my meal either. Not for a simple task like doing the dishes. He'll probably return before I get far anyway. And if I'm doing anything wrong he can let me know then. It should all be simple enough anyway. Dirty dishes on one side. A bucket with soapy water and a sponge of some sort next to it. Then another bucket with clear water and some clean rags for drying everything before it can go back on the shelves. It's pretty self explanatory.

Whistling a little tune to myself I hike up my sleeves and get to work. There are plates that are technically almost bowls. They are earthenware and not wood. The only other thing besides those are, curiously enough spoons. Well, it might be a surprise at a first glace anyway. But once you think about it, spoons are the perfect tool to eat the thin and small slices of meat, dripping aromatic sauce, and the equally finely sliced salad and vegetables. In fact the curvature of the plates is a perfect match for the spoons, which is very convenient, and almost certainly no accident.

The real surprise is that the observation is worth a little progress for my [Perception] skill, which I earn even before the notification I'm actually expecting brushes my mind.

[*Ding!* Your skill Housekeeping has leveled up to level 4!]

This one counts towards the progress of my masked mediator class and the level up results in an increase of my agility too. Agility already is my best ability and it just keeps getting better. I suspect unless I make a determined effort none of my other abilities will ever catch up. I don't see any reason to do that though. Not yet anyway. Maybe I'll think different on the matter one of these days, but not right now.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

For now I simply focus on the dishes, making sure the pile with the dirty ones shrinks while the one with the clean one grows. It's quite simple and almost a meditative exercise.

After a while the chef returns with two more sets of dirty dishes, his and his wife's. He simply adds them to the pile and picks up one of the dish rags to dry off the ones I wash. That way we make much faster progress and before long almost everything is clean and back on the shelves where it belongs. The only things left are the vertical grill and the pots used for the vegetables and especially the sauce.

I get to take care of the latter, and cleaning big and quite heavy pots really isn't very fun. At least my [Housekeeping] skill improves another little bit.

In the meantime my temporary boss takes care of the grill which is a little work than I initially anticipated. Sure the big spit, now empty, and the mechanism used to get it turning need some cleaning, but the real work lies elsewhere. It's the coals from the mesh basket. They aren't glowing anymore, but they obviously aren't really cold yet either. The man takes care off them with great care, emptying them into one of three rather sturdy looking iron bucket instead of throwing them out, or rather handing them off to one of the trash collectors, right away. It seems he noticed that I noticed too.

"They need some more time to properly cool. As they are now they could still light a place on fire if they aren't handled with care. Thus, three buckets for three days."

That makes sense. Three buckets for three days. Then the cold ash and whatever coals remain goes to the trash collector, who might just resell the ash for all I know. Maybe to an alchemist. Maybe a certain witch I know could enlighten me in that regard, if I ever want or need to really know. Right now I'm just glad to be done with the last of the pots.

My temporary boss inspects them briefly. He'll need those again soon enough after all. He appears to be satisfied. Thus, for now, my work here is done and he signs and seals my guild paperwork.

I'm still a little curious about his situation though. Sure, his wife seems to be sick and it seems to have come as a surprise. That much is clear. I'm left wondering about how he handles the situation though, thus I decide to ask before I take my leave.

"Do you usually only work the lunch crowd? No dinner for those who only have time in the evening? Or is this an exception?"

He looks up from where he puts away his seal.

"We'd usually serve meals both at noon and in the evening. Since I didn't know if I would get help from the guild though, I decided to focus my efforts on the lunch crowd first and foremost. And since I'm alone I'll need the extra time in the evening to prepare for tomorrow anyway. The meat doesn't jump on the spit by itself, you know. I'm just glad we got to take care of all the cleaning already."

I nod along with his words, hang the apron, probably his wife's, back where it belongs and fasten my sword belt back in place instead before I shoulder my pack as well.

"Well, best of luck to you and take care. I hope you wife recovers soon."

Then with one final nod and my quest papers in hand I leave. I still have to return to the guild hall to get paid, but afterwards I want to get going to the theater. I really don't want to miss either the play or my appointment with Sezemat. Yes, I especially don't want to be late for the latter. I really don't feel like finding out if the dragon would hold it against me.

After working at the Lamenting Lamb and having another meal, a pretty good one too, I'm just about ready to forget about that annoying guard, at least for now. I'm not in a hurry to return to the guildhall either, unlike earlier when I made my way to the inn, this I take my time instead, to take in some more of the town around me. It's not like anything exciting seems to be happening here, but it's still good to keep my eyes and ears open.

I steer well clear of any guards up and about in the inner city, just in case. I have just gotten back into a decent mood. I don't feel like having it ruined again right away. No thank you. The best thing though is, that my efforts result in my [Perception] skill edging a little closer to its next level up.

It's pretty quite at the guildhall too when I finally reach it. This is expected though. Most adventurers are still out and about at this time of the day. As a result I don't have to stand in line at the counter and the clerk on duty can quickly and efficiently process my papers and pay out my reward.

The latter is just two pennies, but I don't really mind. I already got a meal and a drink out of this job after all. I decide to not mention that in any way. The clerks, being mostly former adventurers themselves, are probably well aware of these additional benefits, but it probably still is for the best to not mention additional rewards that bypass the guild system. I don't want to be the moron who ruins it for everyone after all. I just quietly slip the two bronze coins into my purse and nod in thanks. As far as I'm concerned all is well. I have two more coins in my purse, at least for now, and am on my way to have a good time.

With one last casual wave to the clerk I'm off again. It's time to catch that play at the theater. I don't brave the gate again this time though, just in case that particular moron might still be on duty. Instead I take the rooftop highway across the wall.

Since it's daytime I have to be a little more careful though. Not that I mind. I'm always up to a little challenge. I don't climb to the rooftops this time around. Even in a mostly empty back alley that might draw unwanted attention at this time of the day. Instead I blend in with a crowd of laborers at a warehouse, climbing the stairs inside with some load, getting rid of it only when I'm certain that I can slip out a dormer window unnoticed. My [Stealth] skill immediately benefits.

Once I'm out I take a moment to obscure my silhouette using a chimney for cover. I time the patrols on the wall and map out my course across the rooftops in advance too. Only then, as well prepared as I can be, do I take off at a measured run, slipping in and out of cover provided by various rooftops in general, dormer windows and chimneys, until I'm well outside the wall. My [Balance], [Running] and [Jumping] skills all benefit as expected. My [Stealth] progresses a little more too and so does my [Perception] skill. Overall, as I return to street level, I think it was a pretty good run. I should do this more often. I really should.