Temor walked towards them and stopped beside the spectacled woman. His ears perked up when he heard Filly's words.
"Hey, who's that?" Temor nudged Gail with a whisper.
"That's Mr. Beggar," Gail answered in a hushed voice.
"Mr. Beggar?" Temor raised an eyebrow. "But he's just a kid… and a beggar? Why does the boss seem to be placing great importance on him? She even delivered the food herself."
Gail glanced at him with a side eye before a smile formed on her lips. "I guess you still don't know about it."
Hearing the mysterious words, Temor couldn't help but get more curious.
"Well, it doesn't matter, this is good enough," Apollo said. He reached inside his pocket and asked, "How much?"
"No, you don't have to pay," Filly said while waving her hands. "I owe you a lot."
Apollo's hand quickly let go of the coins. "Are you sure?"
Please say yes, the beggar thought.
"I'm pretty sure," Filly nodded. "If you didn't write that… I wouldn't see a chance to go against the restaurant in front." Her last words became a whisper, afraid people would hear her voice.
"Oh? Is that so?" Apollo looked around and counted the number of people. "You have to do well. Take the chance when the hype of the Skyline Savory branch dies down. It will give you a boost."
Filly's eyes widened when she realized what he meant. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"No worries," Apollo said, waving his hand and standing up. "I should get going. Thank you for the food."
"W-wait," Filly hurriedly said. "I'm not properly thanking you enough."
"It's more than enough," Apollo said, shaking his head.
"No, I insist," Filly replied, her eyes filled with determination. She then reached into her pocket and took out a bronze medal with a book engraving along with a big 'K' over it. "This is a family token, only given to someone a core family member deems as their honorable guest."
Temor's eyes widened upon hearing this. He finally realized what was happening and who the beggar in front of them was. It's him? The one who wrote the journal?! He couldn't believe it. How could a kid, and also a beggar, write that otherworldly book?
And how did he even know all those ingredients and recipes? This confused the chef even more.
Seeing Temor's face keep changing, Gail chuckled in amusement. "A Wanderer," she whispered, enlightening the chef.
"W-wanderer? This young?!" Temor whispered back, almost shouting. Of course, he knew what a Wanderer, or Rogue Cultivator, was. They move from place to place as part of their cultivation and like to pretend to be someone else, adopting a different status and lifestyle.
There are many Cultivators who have tried to copy them, but cultivating alone without the backing of a school or organization proved to be more difficult than they thought. There are many dangers involved, unlike when one is inside a school or behind their organization. Those who manage to uphold being a Wanderer are either extremely lucky or very strong.
He glanced at the beggar currently talking with Filly. He's the one who wrote it… A kid and at the same time a beggar can manage to write something like that journal? It's too unbelievable, but if he is a Wanderer, then it makes sense.
Temor's eyes changed from curiosity to amazement. Just like Gail, he stood by the side waiting for the two of them to finish talking.
"What's this for?" Apollo asked while observing the medal closely. It was made of bronze and, after weighing it in his hand, he estimated it had the same weight as ten bronze coins. "Can I sell this?" He asked another question without even waiting for Filly to answer.
Filly couldn't believe her ears. Seeing the seriousness in the beggar's eyes, she immediately shook her head. "Unfortunately, you can't. It's too valuable, and each core family member was only given one token."
"That's a pity," Apollo sighed in disappointment.
"Anyway, you can use that when you want a request from the Kleinford family head," Filly smiled proudly. Although her status within the family had lowered because she wanted to pursue business more than cultivation, she was still undoubtedly a legitimate member. Bringing up her family name still satisfied her, especially when she could see the surprise on people's faces when she mentioned it.
However, to her dismay, the 'beggar' didn't display any particular emotion as he put the token inside his robe like it was nothing but a casual object.
"Is that all?" Apollo asked, glancing around. He noticed that the other patrons were looking in their direction, clearly intrigued by their conversation. I'm drawing attention to myself, he thought. Why did I even bother thinking that I could remain unknown? he thought bitterly.
"Y-yeah," Filly said, scratching her cheek. "That's all… but can yo—"
"Okay, I should get going then!" Apollo said before hurriedly making his way outside the restaurant.
Glancing at the beggar's back, Filly sighed. "It seems asking him for help would be far-fetched."
"Miss Filly, don't worry about it. We will get plenty of opportunities in the future," Gail said to the team.
"Hopefully," Filly nodded. Then seeing the curious gazes from the diners, she coughed. "Let's go inside the kitchen and talk about serious matters."
Temor, who was about to say a word, closed his mouth and followed behind the two ladies. Once inside the kitchen, Filly stared at the plate with a red substance on it.
"So this is it?" Filly tilted her head.
"Yeah, it's the chili powder for the fried chicken," Temor said. He decided to ask about the whole situation regarding the beggar later as his boss went straight to the point. He took out a bowl with flour-coated chicken. He then took the chicken and coated it with the chili spices. "I used that so-called garlic and that onion according to the journal and turned them into a powder.
But I made sure that the chili powder wouldn't be overwhelmed by the two."
Of course, there were also other ingredients that he used, but he only mentioned the main ones.
After coating it with the chili powder, the chicken became reddish-brown. He raised his hand and lit up the wood under the cooking grill. Then he took out the pan filled with oil. This was a specially made pan so the chicken could be deep fried in oil.
After the pan was heated, Temor placed the reddish-brown coated chicken inside. The sizzling sound soon echoed, and the trio waited with bated breath.