บท 22: Chapter 21

The moment Tom walked through the door; Sam's face began to darken.

"What are you doing here?" Sounded a really scary voice from Sam.

"Ghe, G-Good morning mister, how's your day," said Tom while clearly trying not to flee and never coming back.

"Mhn, fine until you walked into my inn, didn't I tell you the last time that if I saw you again I would beat you out of here?" It seems like it's time to keep my promise" Sam said as he took off his apron and held a frying pan in his right hand.

"DAD! Tom, come in, my father is only joking, of course, you are welcome here, right Dad? " Sara said trying to calm the situation.

"Mhn, well, if Sara says so then you can come in but don't think you can have a single bite of what I have prepared"

"As for you," Sam said as he turned to Allan.

"Why aren't you eating yet, isn't my food good enough for you to try?"

Maybe it was because Tom just arrived, but Sam's voice sounded more terrifying than usual.

Allan picked up his knife and fork and began to eat.

"And?" Maybe it was his own imagination, but Allan had thought he heard Sam's voice shake.

In fact, it wasn't just Sam, Sara and Tom were also curious as to what Allan's opinion would be. After all, in the few months, they have known Allan, they have not seen him eat anything other than bread and water, it is not that Allan has no money, but every time they have asked him why he did not eat anything else Allan only answered them That it was a waste of time and money.

Tom and Sara couldn't understand what he meant; wouldn't one prefer to eat delicious things? Even if Allan prefers to eat light it is unhealthy to eat slices of bread every day, so they couldn't help but be intrigued as to what Allan's opinion would be.

After eating the first slice, Allan opened his eyes slightly and said:

"It's good" Allan replied in surprise.

"DO YOU THINK THAT MY FOOD WAS GOING TO BE BAD?!!!"

The moment Allan gave the culinary criticism of him it seemed that a demon had risen from the depths of hell promising an endless world of pain and despair, clearly Allan had put Sam under a lot of stress without even realizing it.

"N-No, I didn't mean that," Allan tried to explain.

"AND THEN WHAT DO YOU MEAN IF I CAN KNOW?!!!"

Sara and Tom looked into each other's eyes and quietly left the room without making a sound, neither of them wanted to be involved in what was going to happen.

...

After fifteen minutes in which absolutely no one will know what happened, Allan could only raise his hands in surrender.

"You can come in now," Allan said as he glared at the door and saw Sara and Tom enter with uncomfortable smiles.

Actually, Sam's food was pretty good, the reason Allan was surprised was because he tasted much better than expected.

In the virtual reality games that Allan had played before Idle Online, only the most basic of flavors could be appreciated, it was very difficult to differentiate the taste of an orange from that of a cake except that one was sweeter than the other.

So, when Sam served him the food and it tasted exactly like it looked like he was really impressed by what the game had accomplished… even though it cost him a world of pain.

"Eto, how are you?" Tom asked as he tried to not look away.

"Well, tell me why you came here," Allan said, evidently trying to change the conversation.

"Ahh! I almost forget it"

"No, you definitely forgot," Sara said.

"Captain Smith wants to meet you," Tom said as he ignored Sara.

"Captain Smith?" Allan wasn't the only one surprised.

Although Captain Smith is the leader of the guards, due to the mayor's incompetence, Captain Smith also handled the administrative and government affairs of the town.

In practice, Captain Smith was the most powerful person in town, and no one, absolutely no one, wanted to get in his way.

"Why would Captain Smith want to meet me?" asked Allan

"That matters? What time do you have to go? " Sara said not caring about Allan's opinion.

"One of his subordinates direct him that the captain will send someone to look for you in the next few days"

"That means Captain Smith is not coming in person," Sara said with sadness evident in her voice.

"Wow, of course not! The captain is a very busy man, it is not like he has time to visit our little inn" Sam said as he laughed.

"Well I'm going, I have things to do" Allan said as he got up from the table.

Or at least that was his intention, however, before he could stand up and walk away a hand pressed him against the seat.

"Wait" came a voice behind Allan.

"Something wrong?" Allan said to Sam who had gotten behind him.

"You haven't finished your meal," Sam said as he smiled.

"Hey? But it's going to get dark soon and I need- "Allan tried to make excuses, the amount of food Sam had prepared was enough for four people, obviously Allan couldn't finish it alone.

"You haven't finished your meal," Sam repeated.

"B-But, Big Gray"

"You have. Not. Finished. The. Food." He repeated Sam as his tone grew darker with each word.

Allan tried to seek support from his friends, but when he looked for them with his eyes, he realized that they had disappeared again.

(It seems my luck making friends is the same as in the real world) Allan thought as he faced the biggest challenge in the game to date.

An hour and a lost challenge later Allan staggered out of the inn as he wondered if they would take him elsewhere.

After resting the food for a while, Allan prepared to prepare supplies for his trip to the forest.

After many visits to the forest, it was inevitable that Allan would learn what were the necessary tools to enter it.

The inexperienced young man who entered the forest with only a sword turned into a still inexperienced young man who will no longer be defeated by the roots of a tree. Progress is progress.

Allan visited the supply stores to buy all the necessities that he did not yet possess or had run out for a quick visit to the forest.

Rope, a knife, some forest boots, mosquito repellent, a map and a compass, a tent, and kitchen tools are some of the things that anyone who ventures into the forest should have.

Luckily Allan, like every player, has an inventory in which to store what he needs, otherwise, he would have to carry a heavy backpack that in the event of an attack by the beasts of the forest would be an inconvenience that could cost him dearly.

After provisioning himself, Allan left the city while he said goodbye to the guard who was stationed at the entrance.

About fifteen minutes later Allan stood at the entrance of the forest, checked all the belongings that he had on him once more, and went inside.

Time to hunt a wolf.