When Cessacioun neared the Red River Inn, he saw a figure curled up at the corner of the alley. The figure was none other than his old friend, Michelle. He quickly walked up to him.
Maybe because he was too concentrated on something, but Michelle didn't even notice the footsteps behind him. He didn't look back until Cessacioun patted him on his shoulder.
"What are you doing here, Michelle?"
"Shhh..." Michelle raised his index finger and continued to look around at the street, then suddenly turned around. "Cessacioun??"
"Yes. Did you forget about me already?" Cessacioun thought Michelle's reaction was funny.
"Tell me, the guy named Moxinke, is he really your friend?" Michelle suddenly grabbed Cessacioun's collars and asked.
"Yup."
"Those friends of your are up to no good then!" Michelle said with a resentful expression on his face.
"What's wrong with you, Michelle?" Cessacioun seemed displeased. "Do not insult others for no reason!"
"You don't believe me?! Hum.. just wait here with me. They will show their true faces eventually!" With that, Michelle turned around again. He gazed at the street and muttered with his teeth gnashing, "Damn! I treated you as my guests and friends, yet you returned the favor by insulting me… Just you wait!"
"What on earth did they do that made you so angry, Michelle?!"
"What did they do?" Veins popped out of Michelle's forehead. He said, "If they don't like my cooking, they can tell me directly. Why play tricks like that? As soon as I served them a plate of roast beef, they threw it away and asked me to cook another one, and then they threw it away again..."
"I understand!" Cessacioun said with a helpless smile. "The guy by the name of Raphael... he eats a lot. In fact..."
"Bullshit!" Michelle jumped up. "I have cooked hundreds of pounds of beef, and my cellar is half-empty now. Are you trying to lie to me as well now, Cessacioun?!"
"You won't believe me no matter what I say. Come with me and you will see for yourself." Cessacioun pulled at Michelle's hand.
"No!" Michelle suddenly swung his arms and shouted, "I must catch them red handed!"
Just when the two were tugging back and forth, a figure pulled open the inn's gates and trotted out from inside. It was Moxinke. He walked directly to the other side of the street with a large plate in his hand, and then poured its contents into the sewer before turning back.
"Stop!" Michelle shouted triumphantly and jumped out all of a sudden.
Moxinke was greatly startled and stammered, "Ah, Cessacioun, you are back... Michelle, why are you..."
"Do you still have a conscience? You despicable, shameless bastard!!" Michelle growled.
"What's wrong?" Moxinke was thoroughly confused.
The anger accumulated in Michelle's heart instantly broke out into a torrent of insults. He bitterly chided Moxinke and his friends for their ungrateful behavior. Michelle chided them with a voice so loud that it not only attracted a crowd of bystanders who came to find out what was going on, but also alerted Sunier and Miss Keekey in the inn.
Cessacioun gave Michelle a hard tug and tried to make him shut up, but the hysterical young man just turned back and shouted with anger, "What?"
Cessacioun pointed to the sewer. Aside from some household garbage in it, there was a pile of clean bones nearly half a foot high. Obviously, whoever had produced those bones took great care in eating them clean, so clean in fact that one couldn't even see a single bit of meat on them.
"Come." Cessacioun let out a sigh and walked Michelle back to the inn with a hand around his shoulder. The latter was still in a daze and simply followed Cessacioun without struggling.
Inside the hotel, Han Jin was sitting in the chair and looking around for something. His hands were still holding the knife and fork.
"Have you had enough, Raphael?" Cessacioun asked with a helpless smile.
"Still a little hungry..." Han Jin replied. The knife and fork in his hands hit each other lightly and produced a crisp sound.
Michelle's face became ghastly pale. He was not stupid. The pile of bones indicated that this guests did not look down upon his cooking skill at all. In fact, they appreciated it very much, as not even a tiny bit of meat was left on the bones. But at this point in time, he would much prefer if they hated his cooking!
"Cessacioun, your friend is so kind and hospitable to us and even offered to feed us for a year," Moxinke laughed in a strange way.
Michelle stood there with a pale face. It was indeed what he had said. Being an honest man, he wouldn't try to deny what he had said.
"Do not bully an honest man like that!" Cessacioun gave Moxinke an angry stare and walked over to Sunier. "How much money do you still have? I've got none."
Sunier opened her space ring and took out a dozen gold coins. "These are all I have left."
Cessacioun grabbed the coins and passed them to Michelle. "Take these."
"No, I can't take your money," Michelle refused.
"They are just joking with you. You really want to provide food for us for a year?" Cessacioun shook his head. "Trust me, they can make you homeless in ten days if you let them eat as much as they like!"
"Ahaha, Cessacioun is right. We were just messing with you. Please don't mind," Moxinke laughed fatuously.
"Take it as I've told you, and please bring me something to eat. They're already full, but I haven't had anything yet." With that, Cessacioun grabbed Michelle's hand and forced the coins into his hand.
"Who said I'm full?" Han Jin held up his knife and said in a serious manner.
Cessacioun rolled his eyes at him. Michelle's face was red from embarrassment already. He took the coins and said, "There is nothing left in my cellar. I will buy something for you."
"Okay, thank you." Cessacioun smiled and patted his shoulder.
But just after a few steps, Michelle stopped and stared at Han Jin as if he was staring at a monster. He asked, "How… how much more can you still eat?"
"As much as you have," Han Jin answered very seriously.
Hearing that, Michelle fled in a panic. Sitting next to them, Miss Keeley had waited for a long time and couldn't help but ask, "Cessacioun, did you find any information?"
"No news about Holy Crown City. Lord Malith of the Depew City has locked down his border with his troops. But... I did find someone from your Morgan Commercial Corp and told them you're in Red River Hotel. I would say they will send someone for you in no time."
Hearing this, a glimmer of joy appeared on her face, but Han Jin suddenly asked, "Are you ready, Miss Keeley?"
"Ready for what?"
"You have no tokens to prove your identity. How can they recognize you? What will you do if they deny that you are the daughter of the Morgan family? And even if they believe you... do you have authority over them?" Han Jin said in a flat voice. "How can you be sure that they are still loyal to you? You don't know their characters, nor their attitudes towards you. Since your family has suffered a drastic change, who knows if they are still willing to serve you?"
The joyful expression on her face slowly faded. "Then… what should I do?"
"I don't know. We will see once they arrive," Han Jin replied in a low voice.