A Living Armour Owns A Tavern - Chapter 20 Town Feas
After Sarah and the children finally finished up, Gus told them to rest as he will be performing the final touches on the dishes. Everyone was tired and sat down as they quietly watched Gus.
Gus has just finished cooking the remaining Salisbury steak portions. It was an ingenious idea, as the little bits and pieces of meats are being used. By doing this, Gus created more food portions and lessened food wastage. He did the same thing with the porc balls.
He spread the sweet soy garlic sauce all over the crispy fried porc chops and plated them beautifully.
He finished the fluffy mashed potatoes as well. He only needed to add melted butter and salt to the already peeled, boiled and crushed potatoes.
As for both the roasted porc and minotaur loins, he thinly sliced the juicy tenderloins and lined them up on the longest plate they owned. He sprinkled a few more salt on top and garnished every nook and cranny with a special sauce that Gus was able to produce, using Minotaur stock and Meat drippings.
Gus lastly made a final glaze for the ribs, to make the flavors even stick more to the bones.
He plated each dish one by one until he finally placed the cooked unleavened bread baskets on the side. Finally, everything is served as promised!
“Papa that was amazing! I hope I can be as good as you when I grow up!” said Little Sage as she was clapping her tiny little hands.
“No Daughter, you are going to be better than me!” said Gus as he scruffed her hair.
On the Big round table are the following:
French Onion Soup
Unleavened Flatbreads
Buttered Mashed Potatoes
French Fries
Battered Onion Rings
Potato Chips
Roast Tenderloin of Minotaur
Roast Tenderloin of Orc
Orc Bacon
Oven-Baked Minotaur Salisbury Steak
Teriyaki Minotaur
Battered Soy Garlic PORC Chops
Minotaur Roast and Porc Ribs in BBQ Glaze
pORC balls in Tomato sauce
Sarah and the Kids took a moment to appreciate what they have accomplished on the big table.
for visiting.
“So much food!”
“Did we really made… cook… all this?”
The children were discussing among themselves how proud they are of their hard work. They even taught each other the different dishes and techniques they learned from Gus.
“Thank you for teaching us. Seeing the Kids this happy is also my happiness.” said Sarah as she bowed her head toward Gus.
“You don’t have to thank me, Sarah, I would still have cooked anyway. I am a creature that loves to cook you know!” said Gus jokingly. They both laughed at each other while they observed the kids have fun just a bit more.
“Sarah, I’ll go on ahead and head back first inside the Living room. You and the children should enjoy the night.” said Gus.
“But what about you? We can’t simply host the feast without you, and the kids would also not allow this to happen.” asked Sarah.
“I thought about it and realized that I really can’t risk you and the kids. If people find out that you are housing a monster like me…. then, I can’t even imagine the consequences,” said Gus.
“No! Papa! you hafta come!” shouted Little Sage as she dropped her favorite book and hugged Gus tightly.
“Mr. Gus, everything here is only possible because of you. so you have to join us!” said Gretel.
“Please, Mr. Gus?” begged Griffin.
“You promised to make me something sweet Mr. Gus!” said Cindy.
Ray just tugged Gus’ arms as he was trying to bring him back to the table.
“Everyone, I really appreciate what you guys are doing for me, but I really can’t risk all of you just for my sake. You know people will not easily accept me, right?” answered Gus.
Gretel clenched her fist really tight, she was already trembling in anger and frustration.
“I will protect you from anyone Mr. Gus! As you have protected me! I will never let that happen! It’s not fair that we get to have all the fun while you stay here! It’s not fun… It’s no fun to be alone!” shouted Gretel.
Gus realized that Gretel might have abandonment issues from how she reacted.
“Tell me what’s in your bag, Gretel,” asked Gus
“It’s the knives that you gave me!” answered Gretel.
“I made those knives using my Iron Body. So as long as you carry them, I will always be with you! Besides, I don’t have any other home, besides this place, right here!” said Gus.
“So, you will stay here forever?” asked Gretel.
“Well, that’s for your Big sister Sarah to decide, Gretel,” answered Gus as he smiled and looked at Sarah shamefully.
Everyone rushed over to where Sarah stood. The children knelt and begged in front of her, asking the same question.
“Can Mr. Gus stay? Pretty Please?” ——-
After Sarah looked at everyone and smiled, She finally answered them.
“Yes. Mr. Gus can stay,” answered Sarah.
Everybody celebrated! All the Kids hugged Sarah at the same time making it hard for their bis sister to breathe.
“I’ll tell you what Gretel, after the feast and if you guys are still not tired, I’ll show you guys how to really have fun in this living room, okay? I promise you guys an adventure!” said Gus.
“Really? how can you do that?!” Ther’s no dungeon in the living room, Mr. Gus! Don’t be silly!” said Gretel.
“You don’t believe the great cook Gus?”
Some kids nodded while some shook theirs.
“Then you guys go to the feast! You will know the answer to that later. I won’t go anywhere. I promise!” said Gus.
—At the Town Square —-
The feast has started and everyone in town was present. Yellowleaf was a town with only a population of less than a 100. The food everyone prepared can accommodate around 150 or even a little more. It was evident that only either a few women, elderly and the children are left behind in yellowleaf, as the young men and husbands were working far away in the neighboring citadels.
The town of yellowleaf was thankful to the Orphanage and the Bluefox company, for inviting them to this feast.
The town even celebrated more as Sarah has announced that the Orphanage will teach everyone how to cultivate and sell potatoes with Bluefox company’s assistance. She also mentioned that they would be working hand in hand with the Town Council, to make this crop a town commodity.
Everyone Cheered and gave a toast to Sarah and Nico. Afterward, everyone has started eating. Some townspeople also have brought food from their own homes to share with others. It is no surprise that the town absolutely loved the food they prepared. Some even begged Sarah to teach them her recipes for these dishes. As Sarah was preoccupied talking with the other villagers, Gretel and the gang were happily playing with the other kids.
——-‐——————-
“I tell you, boss, I have tried everything on that table, but nothing beats Bacon! I can’t explain it, but the food they make is really somthin’ special!” said the Red-headed adventurer Rhoanne, as she rubbed her full stomach.
Nico has just finished eating as well. He only observed the empty plate in front of him in silence.
“Boss? is anything wrong?” asked
“Rhoanne, don’t you find this situation odd?”
“What do you mean?” asked Rhoanne.
“About these potatoes, nobody can just discover these underground crops so easily. The one who first discovered and cooked this didn’t even bother to know if these things are edible,” said Nico.
“Well, maybe Ms.Sarah and the kids were just lucky enough to find these crops. They must’ve been desperate enough to try and eat it. I heard from the folks that they were having it rough last week.” said Rhoanne.
“Maybe so, but your not the only one asking around, Rhoanne. I’ve heard that Griffin and Cindy have recently got hurt last week while they were in the forest. Ms. Sarah was asking for help, door to door if they might spare a few coins to help aid Griffin’s broken arm. I saw him use that odd-shaped knives on that tough minotaur meat. Rhoanne, No one can grow bones overnight.”
Rhoanne remained silent and crossed her arms as she continued to listen to her boss.
“And as for the matter with Salt and Sugar, it just doesn’t add up. The Majority of Salt and Sugar that crosses our borders goes to the production of medicine in the medical guild. The rest goes to the Royalty. I myself have been monitoring the movements of Salt and Sugar in this country. There are no records of missing sugar and salt.” said Nico.
“Then maybe Ms. Sarah and the kids found a way to make sugar and salt!” Said Rhoanne.
“You cannot produce sugar in our country. The Sugar we use, all came from the south where the weather is warmer. I’ve also heard that harvesting and processing sugar alone requires a lot of manpower, and also requires large hectares of land, to grow what they call sugar canes profitably. Yellowleaf neither has a vast land or manpower. As for the salt, there are only small lakes and rivers nearby. It is almost impossible to create salt from freshwater.” said Nico.
“So the only way possible is that….”
“….Someone is assisting Ms. Sarah from the shadows.” continued Rhoanne.
Nico and Rhoanne can only sigh at each other, as their discoveries only confused them further.
“It just really bothers me, that your intuition to danger is as accurate as ever. I can’t help but worry, especially for Sarah and the children.”
“It doesn’t matter, right boss? You’ve said it yourself that this request is very profitable. And also… I like to be near the kids when this shadow person shows up and makes his move.”
The night continued with the town celebrating under the moonlight.
But not long after, the town’s bell rang loudly, alerting everyone that the town is under attack.