"Five minutes? Alr—" Alek was about to nod but stopped suddenly. This is the enemy's restaurant—if there's a chance to make a scene and make them look bad... His eyes lit up before he coughed a few times. "Five minutes?! Why do I have to wait that long?!
I came here to eat, not to wait!"
His shout caused people to look in his direction; they even paused their meals as their eyes bore into the scene maker.
Feeling the intense stares from all the patrons, Alek's lips twitched. He didn't know if they were looking at him with admiration or hate, but now that his voice had reached every corner of the restaurant, he had no choice but to continue.
"Are you just going to stand there?! Is this how you treat your customers, by making them wait?!" Although it didn't make sense, Alek continued, "I want my food right now!"
"Feel free to leave," the waiter's smiling face disappeared, replaced by a cold look as he motioned toward the door with both hands. "There are people waiting in line outside who would gladly take your spot."
Hearing the response, which was the opposite of what he expected, Alek was left speechless. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally found words to say.
"Wow! So you're willing to throw customers out?!" Alek shouted.
"Let the next customer in," the waiter said.
"Wait!" Alek immediately raised a hand, stopping them. "I'll sit down and wait. It's just five minutes, right? It won't take that long."
The waiter stared for a moment before a smile returned to his face. "Then our apologies for the wait."
"Don't worry about it!" Alek replied with a bitter smile. As the intense gazes gradually disappeared, he let out a sigh of relief. Sht, I messed up. Fortunately, they didn't throw me out, or else my mission would have failed!* he thought with worry in his heart.
Alek waited with a red face, feeling both shame and humiliation. He noticed that some of the diners were just commoners, while there were nobles on one side who simply focused on eating their food, unbothered by the lowlife beside them. They were probably just borderline nobles, on the verge of being demoted, Alek thought as he stared at them with disgust.
Although he himself had been a commoner before he gained the position of Assistant, he worked for the great Skyline Savory, so technically, he was higher than most of them, right? He continued to think this as he waited for his food.
Five minutes later, the waiter returned, holding a plate with the golden-brown fried chicken made from the Scavenger.
"Here you go," the waiter said, placing the plate in front of Alek.
Staring at the food in front of him, Alek couldn't help but stab it lightly with a fork before bringing it closer for inspection. Like the other meals, it glistened with some kind of substance, though this particular dish wasn't as excessive as the others. He sniffed it, and his eyes widened.
It was the first time he'd smelled something —strange, but the appearance and aroma were very appetizing.
Hearing the crunching sounds from other diners, Alek gulped. "This better not taste good." He didn't want the food to be delicious—who would want their opponent to have a better product than them? Opening his mouth, he bit into the fried chicken. The crunch echoed inside his head, but it wasn't the end yet as his teeth pierced through the white meat.
Alek chewed, the crispiness echoing in his ears before the soft texture hit his taste buds. With a swallow, he stared at the fried chicken on the plate, his face impassive.
However, deep inside, he was screaming. He was screaming at how delicious this dish was! What the f*ck?! Who made such godly food?! It's so unfair that I've only tasted this now!
Raising his hand, he continued eating his meal, immediately syncing with the symphony of the other diners as crunching sounds echoed inside the room.
Alek had eaten Scavengers too many times to count. The meat of such monsters definitely tasted good, especially those adults with strength almost equal to a Qi Condensation stage. He would never get tired of it. But the Scavenger he was eating now was of a quality he had never experienced before—the way it was cooked surpassed anything he had ever tasted.
It was like heaven and earth!
Furthermore, the rough texture covering the meat was equally wonderful. Even the skin, which he hadn't been fond of before, he ate with relish.
Every order only had one fried chicken, and it didn't take long for the Assistant to finish his food.
Looking at the bone on the plate, Alek couldn't help but lick his lips. "That was good!" And he wasn't even full yet. He started to crave another one, his taste buds still yearning for the dish.
Should I order another plate? Alek thought. He was here to investigate, not to have fun eating this new food. As he felt conflicted, he saw a waiter holding a plate with something yellow on top.
Hmm, I should taste all of them so I can provide a more detailed explanation. With this in mind, his eyes lit up as he raised his hand and called for the waiter.
"What's that yellow food?" Alek asked.
"Oh, that is called scrambled eggs with bread and milk," the waiter explained.
"Then give me that," Alek ordered. As the waiter nodded and was about to go to the kitchen, Alek held him back. "You know what, I also want one of each meal on the menu."
"Oh?" A rich patron? the waiter thought. "But you'll probably have to wait at least 10 minutes."
"10 minutes? Even if it takes an hour, I'll wait!" Alek said.
Back in the manager's room at the Skyline Savory branch, Manager Fu was looking at the documents in his hand. It was the report on the restaurant's sales and expenses. After a while, he put it down and stared at the clock.
"It's been an hour and a half now, and he's still not done?" Manager Fu muttered, a frown appearing on his face. Shaking his head, he stood up from his seat and went to the window to look at the situation across the street.
The line was already almost as long as the line at their restaurant. He looked around and saw that Alek was no longer in line. He was probably inside the restaurant by now. But what's taking him so long?