novelraw Chapter 318 - 260 - Leduc
Chapter 318 - 260 - Leduc
Vince was thankful that they hadn't gotten in enough trouble for Shouri to need to break them out of jail.
He silently prayed it'd stay that way.
Speaking of the guildmaster, it was quite impressive that Shouri hadn't run into them at all yesterday. Then again, Jenteri was a big city and they were in one of the more distant parts of the festival. Vince didn't realize how far they had wandered that first night until they had to purposefully find their way back the following morning.
Now that it was their third time coming back to this location from the hotel, they basically had it memorized.
"Oh hey! You're back!" Holly greeted the quartet cheerfully as they approached. "I thought for sure you'd ghost us after yesterday," said the zalavan.
"Why? It was funny watching beansprout fumble orders all day," Mila chuckled, ruffling her Maestro's hair.
"It was the ONE order, thank you!" Vince barked in defense of his honor.
"We did nothing wrong, no reason to avoid you," Miro chimed in after consulting his dictionary to figure out what Holly had meant by "ghosting" them.
"Also, the apology dinner was really good," Zephyr added.
"Well buck up kiddos, today is gonna be the worst day," said Holly, motioning for the quartet to join the other three in the back.
"Kiddo? How old are you even?" Mila snarked.
"Eighteen, turn nineteen next month," Holly grinned back at the cat.
"Why is today gonna be bad? It's only the second day of the festival," wondered Vince as they entered the stall.
"It's the big foodie day!" the zalavan declared. Those words hung in the air for a moment before Holly's expression clouded. She turned her head towards the back, her gaze resting on Solana who worked cheerfully on prepping for the day. "You'll see," whispered the nature element. Without another word, she made her way into the back to help get the day's work ready.
A few patrons made their way out to where Solana's little booth was situated, but none really raised a fuss about the oddity of who worked the booth.
That was, until one guy ruined it for everyone.
"Wait, is that Solana Leduc?!"
"Fuck," Holly cursed. She grabbed a pepper and cast Cortina Fumogena. "Oh no! It's burning!" she cried out, as smoke poured out from her hand hidden from view by the pot she had been tending to.
Coughing and panicked screams erupted from around the booth. Mila looked around in a daze, though unhindered by the fire element spell. She watched Solana sneak out the rear. "Go beansprout!" The cat pushed her Maestro out the back where Solana escaped.
"But--?!"
"Go!" Mila hissed.
When the smoke cleared, Holly, Miro, and Lee tried to catch their breath after the zalavan-inflicted smoke blast, while Mila and Vivi waved away the smoke that remained.
The two Maestros that had been there before were now totally gone--and thankfully so was the guy who had spotted Solana before.
"Uhg, my dress is gonna smell like smoke for weeks," Zephyr complained as she sat on Vince's shoulder.
Vince didn't mind his fairy's complaints, and instead focused on the chef he somehow ended up being the guide for. It was impressive how quickly she changed out of her usual attire. Her white chef's coat was traded for a black jacket. Her long copper hair was put up in a bun and hid underneath a newsboy cap, and shades hid her blue eyes from immediate view.
She even went as far as to take out her earrings and pocket her three tuners. It was amazing how she did all this while they were making their retreat.
"That happen often?" Vince asked.
"Not too much these days--today's just special," the chef chuckled, though it was clear the laugh came with strain.
"Today?" Zephyr questioned.
Solana motioned for the two to follow her. They continued to walk through the festival, though they moved away from the city center. The crowds thinned as did the number of vendors that even tried. The quality of booth fell as they made their distance.
Finally, they arrived at a park where only a few locals frequented. An elderly woman watched her two bird Resonators flit about while a businessman talked loudly on his tuner.
Solana took off her sunglasses and let it hang off the collar of her shirt.
"You heard my full name from that man, right?" the chef started.
"Solana Leduc, right?" Vince asked.
"Is that a big deal?" Zephyr questioned.
"Ah, bless you--my family is, ah," Solana hummed as she mulled over her words. The woman toyed with one of her crystal earrings while she considered her phrasing. "Well-known," she decided. "The Leduc family are famous chefs, more than that the family creed is we're only as good as our mastery of Resonators. Good rhythm is the secret ingredient to a perfect meal," she explained.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"What's wrong with that?" was Zephyr's next question, sensing there was more to it than Maestro Chefs.
Solana's smile was strained, but she fought her best to maintain it. "Resonators are… lesser to them."
Vince ground his teeth, his fists balling up tight, a gesture Zephyr noticed. The fairy rubbed the shoulder she sat on and allowed her rhythm to flow into her Maestro.
"Holly said earlier that today would be worse--is that why?" Vince guessed.
The chef sighed, and allowed her smile to slip. She leaned back on the bench they sat and stared up at the clouds that harmlessly drifted by. Her chest rose as she took in a deep breath. Finally, she spoke.
"The pirate Troi, he was the chef of the Pagiola Pirates. He was the result of the forbidden love of a young chef and her Resonator. The chef was a member of the Leduc family," she paused. "When it came to the decision to keep her child or abandon him, well the choice was easy in her eyes."
Zephyr hugged herself but didn't voice her discomfort at the implication. Vince scooped his little fairy off his shoulder and held her--a gesture she greatly appreciated and nuzzled his fingers.
"Troi ended up drifting from orphanage to orphanage, but he never understood why he always found himself drawn to cooking. Years pass and he trained under various chefs, never knowing his origins; just that he took quickly to any culinary techniques," Solana continued.
The young chef chuckled. "It's funny. The same way the Noble Swords granted slashing, piercing, and crushing to lineages of Resonators, Troi inherited cooking from his parents."
Solana took a moment to catch her breath before she resumed the tale.
"Eventually, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time--a naval battle broke out between a band of pirates and the Quiretteh Military. One thing led to another and Troi almost got arrested until Rufus showed up and bailed him out. Rather than going free, Troi noted they didn't have a chef, so he took on that responsibility for the crew."
She sighed and closed her eyes. "So, naturally, my family absolutely hates him. They hate that he was ever associated with the Leduc family. Honestly, he's my hero. So I left home and never looked back. I wish everyone could forget my family association."
Vince and Zephyr remained quiet as the chef poured her heart out. "What are you doing now?" asked Vince.
"We're heading to Dalliva," said Solana.
"Really? We live there," Vince replied.
"Yeah, what are the odds?" Zephyr said with a chuckle.
Solana couldn't help but giggle herself. "We live in a small world," she commented. "I guess since you live there, do you know about the guild that's there?" she questioned, not expecting an answer.
Zephyr and Vince exchanged a glance. "Uhh… you could say we're familiar," said the fairy.
"Why do you ask?" questioned Vince.
"Holly was interested in checking it out, maybe for us to join it even," Solana said offhandedly. "It sounds wonderful, exactly the place that I think me, Holly, Lee, and Vivi could call home. I've read the mission statement a couple dozen times and I can't imagine dedicating my time to anyone else," she continued.
Another glance was traded between Maestro and Resonator. "Uhm, I think PTRS is a pretty good guild," said the solar element.
"Oh! You are familiar!" Solana sat up. "Pruned Trees Re-Sprout, right?" she asked for clarity.
Vince, sick of the pretense just came out and said it. "Miss Solana, Zephyr and I are members of Pruned Trees Re-Sprout."
There was a moment where the chef just stared, her mouth slightly agape, her face rapidly reddened as sweat began to gather. "Y-you are?" she squeaked.
Vince and Zephyr nodded. "Our guildmaster, Shouri, is also in town with us. If you want, we can set up a meeting with him," said the younger Maestro.
"I'm sure he'll take you all in easy," Zephyr added.
"Wait wait wait! Hold on a second! I gotta talk to Holly about this first!" Solana exclaimed, her typical refined veil dropped in a panic. She quickly re-composed herself. "I'll talk to her about it tonight. Give her a chance to decide when we're going to do it. I don't want to bother him while he's on vacation--" She ruminated on that thought for a moment. "You were here on vacation, right?" she asked.
The young guild member nodded. "Yeah. We came here because one of our other members was interested."
"The Natural boy," Zephyr added.
"Oh, he's in your guild too? That's amazing," Solana beamed, her eyes practically shimmering. "I hope that we can get in."
Vince and Zephyr shared a knowing smirk. "I doubt there's gonna be a problem," they reassured her.