Chapter 10: Learning a Bit About the State of the World

Just as the boy said, the food was delicious, and Luke savored every bite like it was his last.

After all, it likely would be if he couldn’t find a legal way to obtain money. He refused to resort to stealing or eating any random thing in the forest or on the streets.

Once he finished the last of his meal, the boy asked, “How was it?”

“It was delicious. I haven’t tasted anything like it,” he said, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

It wasn’t a lie. He had never eaten at this restaurant before, and the food was the best thing he had eaten since escaping the prison.

The owner laughed, his body shaking from laughter as he said, “Glad to hear it. It’s good to know I haven’t lost my touch, unlike what some people say.”

“Hey, what about us? We never said anything bad about your food,” a customer complained, leaning back in their chair.

“Yeah. What about us?” a different customer chimed in.

In response, the owner waved a hand and said, “You guys don’t count. You’re all old, loyal customers. I’m talking about new blood like this one.”

Several customers booed good-naturedly. Luke allowed his mouth to curl into a smile, allowing himself to enjoy the lively atmosphere.

Then he noticed the boy was staring intently at him and asked, “Is something wrong?”

The boy flinched, looking away nervously. Luke stared at the boy, waiting to hear his answer.

After several moments, the boy said, “Uh, if you don’t mind, why are you wearing a hood? You haven’t taken it off even when eating.”

His words caused the restaurant to go quiet.

Many had the same question. They simply hadn’t dared to say anything, not wanting to come off as nosy or rude, but now that someone said something, they wanted to hear Luke’s answer.

Fortunately, Luke had an answer for that.

“I didn’t want to disgust anyone with my face. It’s not something I can show to others,” Luke said, tugging on his hood.

“It can’t be that bad,” one customer said, only to be swatted on the arm by their partner.

“If they don’t want to show their face, they don’t have to,” their partner hissed.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the boy said, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground.

Luke reached out to ruffle the boy’s hair as he said, “It’s fine. You were just curious. That’s all.”

“Well, as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. He should know when and where to ask questions like that,” the owner said, resting his hands on his hips.

The boy wilted.

“If you want to make it up to me, I was actually wondering about the latest news,” Luke said, jumping on the chance to gather much-needed information.

“Oh, what do you want to know?” the owner asked.

“I’m heading for the capital and was wondering what to expect,” Luke said.

“Ah, you’re one of those,” someone said, nodding with an understanding look.

“Shh,” someone else said.

The owner cleared his throat and said, “Well, I only know what people have said about the place, but I heard it’s pretty amazing. That place practically has everything.”

“Not to mention that’s where the heroes lived,” one person chimed in, causing everyone to voice their agreements.

Forcing himself to sound like an excited ordinary citizen, he asked, “Do you think I will meet them?”

“Maybe. They occasionally travel around the country to deal with the remaining monsters lurking around, but you might get lucky and meet them,” the owner said.

“I would love to meet Jackie. She’s so beautiful,” another person said with a sigh.

Someone chuckled and said, “Do you really think she would look twice at you?”

“It can’t hurt to dream,” the person shot back, earning a couple of laughs.

“I think Dominik is pretty cool. Have you seen all those muscles?” someone else said, flexing their arms.

“I prefer Maison. Being able to shoot so many arrows accurately is awesome,” one person said, pretending to shoot arrows.

“You can’t forget Miss Ruthie. If it weren’t for her magic, they wouldn’t have been able to defeat the evil god,” a person chimed in.

“She is the best,” another person said, nodding their head in agreement.

“It’s too bad about their leader,” someone said, slicing through the lively atmosphere.

From beneath the table, Luke curled his hands into fists. His nails dug into his palm as he waited with baited breath to hear what nonsense his ex-comrades had spouted to the public.

Had they claimed he died fighting the evil god, or had they dared to throw dirt on his name?

Either way, he wouldn’t forgive them for betraying him.

Unfortunately, it seemed that he wasn’t going to learn today, as the owner said, “Alright, enough talk. If you’re done eating, pay up and let other people have their chance to eat.”

“Oh, come on,” one person said as the owner went around talking to the other customers.

Even though he had barely learned anything, he still got some valuable information, though he was a bit annoyed not learning what the public thought of him.

Monsters still existed, and the heroes traveled to deal with them.

He thought that after sealing the evil god all the monsters would be dealt with, but that didn’t seem to be the case. That was something he would have to demand answers from the evil god about.

However, this presented him with an opportunity to earn money and deal with the heroes.

While it was true the heroes were expected to deal with the monsters, it was unrealistic to expect them to deal with all of them. As such, people known as monster hunters were needed to help with the monsters so the heroes could focus on the evil god.

It was a dangerous job, but it paid extremely well. It was said monster hunters could obtain wealth that rivaled and even eclipsed the wealth of nobles and merchants.

If he became a monster hunter, he wouldn’t have to worry about money.

It should also give him access to information about the heroes since monster hunters had to coordinate with the heroes to deal with the monsters. It would be a waste of resources to send the heroes and monster hunters to deal with the same monsters.

Now he just needed to figure out how to become a monster hunter.