Helden took in a deep breath as he stood in front of a wooden door. He had been given his first mission by his company leader. If he completed it successfully, perhaps Vur would see him as more than just a chef. He’d be taken on dangerous missions into forbidden areas, and with Vur’s help, his repertoire of skills would increase with every foe he defeated. Eventually, he’d surpass Vur and claim the leadership of the company for himself!

The wooden door opened, and a short woman took a step outside before flinching. Alice stared at the stranger waiting outside her door. Judging from his attire, he was an adventurer, and a pretty highly ranked one at that. A normal person wouldn’t be carrying around a sword with a mithril scabbard. “You are…?”

Helden blinked. “My company leader, Vur Besteck, told me to come here. Are you Miss Alice Lowenherz?” He glanced inside the room and saw the nametag resting on the desk within. Not only did this woman have a shield made with orichalcum, but she was also a guild master! That meant she had access to all the missions—which he secretly suspected weren’t distributed fairly. Helden stared at the woman in front of him with anticipation. What kind of mission would she give him? If she had to ask Vur for help, didn’t that mean it was fairly difficult?

Alice furrowed her brow. “Vur sent you?” she asked. Her gaze went from the top of Helden’s head to the tips of his toes. A frown appeared on her face. “I think there was a miscommunication. You don’t look like a chef.”

Helden’s eye twitched. A sigh escaped from his mouth as he hung his head. “I’m not exactly a professional chef, but I can cook.” He pursed his lips and looked Alice in the eyes. “Are you sure you don’t need a brave adventurer to complete missions for you? I’d like to believe I’m a better fighter than I am a cook—though Vur would disagree.”

“You seem like you have a story to tell,” Alice said. “However, I don’t care. Everyone has a story. Can you cook for a wedding or not? I was just informed nine dragons are going to be attending.”

Helden tilted his head. “I thought cooking for dragons was relatively simple; they like eating raw bear meat. You don’t even need a cook; a butcher would be more appropriate.”

“Great,” Alice said. “Since you know how to feed dragons, you’re hired. Not only do you have to make food for the dragons, but you’ll also have to cook for my relatives. We’re not seeing eye to eye, so I want you to make their meals look delicious but have them taste like day-old bread. Can you do that?”

Helden fell silent. “That’s easily doable,” he said. “As long as the ingredients aren’t fresh, I can make them look good but taste bad. Are you sure you want to do that though? It seems a bit … petty.”

Alice placed her hands on her hips. “Do I look like a petty person?”

“…No.”

“Well, looks can be deceiving,” Alice said. “I’m very petty, and if you cross me, you’ll find out just how vengeful I can be. Will you have any moral or ethical hang-ups if you listen to my request? You’ll also have to lie and say you’re trying your best if they ask you why the food sucks.”

“I won’t feel any sort of emotional distress,” Helden said. “Like I said, I don’t pride myself on being a chef. I’m a bona fide adventurer through and through.”

“Great,” Alice said. “So, you won’t reveal the plan through your facial expressions if anyone asks. That’s reassuring.”

Helden blinked. He wasn’t sure if there was something wrong with this world in general, or if there was just something wrong with Vur and his friends. Why could he never follow their thought processes correctly? “And, I suppose, you’ll want me to cook a regular meal for the groom’s relatives?”

“No,” Alice said. “They’re dead, so they don’t need to eat.”

“Oh, my condolences,” Helden said and lowered his head.

“Wait, no, not dead as in dead,” Alice said. “They’re skeletons. They literally don’t have stomachs and can’t eat.”

Helden scratched his head. “Okay,” he said and nodded. “Is there anything else I need to take note of?”

“The wedding’s happening in two weeks,” Alice said and went back into her room. She waved for Helden to come inside. Alice took a seat at her desk and rummaged through some drawers before pulling out a sheet of paper. She handed it to Helden. “Here’s the guest list. If they don’t have a last name, or if their last name is skeleton, then you don’t need to count them as a mouth to feed. Make me a list of all the ingredients you need by sundown, or they might not arrive in time for the wedding.”

Helden glanced at the list. “And if they’re last name is dragon, I assume they’re….”

“Yes, they’re dragons,” Alice said. “Except for Vur and Tafel. You can count those two as dragons when it comes to feeding them, but I’m sure you already know that.”

Helden nodded. It was a good thing he didn’t have to feed any of the skeletons because they made up the majority of the people on the list. They outnumbered the living humans by ten to one. Not only was the short woman in front of him going to feed her relatives delicious-looking but mediocre-tasting food, but she was also going to intimidate them with an undead horde and a family of dragons. What exactly did her relatives do to make her want to treat them so poorly?

“Any questions?” Alice asked. “Do you need a crew to help you cook? Vur said he’d take care of it, but he only sent you.”

“If it’s only this many people, I’ll be fine by myself,” Helden said and nodded. “However, are you sure you don’t need me to do regular adventurer things? Maybe there’s a rare creature that’s terrorizing a village, and you need someone to slay it.”

Alice raised an eyebrow and inspected Helden again. She raised her arm, and the shield attached to her wrist expanded. “Block this.”

“Huh?” Helden asked. His eyes widened, and he drew his sword, using it to block the incoming shied strike. His sword flew out of his hand and embedded itself in the ground while the residual force knocked him down to his knees.

Alice clicked her tongue and put away her shield. “Just stick with being chef. You’re a bit too weak to be hunting rare creatures.”