The Petite Dungeon Explorer 69 The Chef's Special

Dark brown hair that's neatly braided rest over her shoulder. A two-toned hat with an embroidered emblem, that matched the one hanging above the entrance to the guildhall, rest atop her head. She has a simple pair of wired gla.s.ses on her face and she smiles when she sees us.

Reaching beneath his chest plate Rudolph pulls out a chain that has a golden colored tag with the guild emblem on it. Looking at the tag the attendant gives a small bow and steps to the side.

"Welcome esteemed adventurers," she says in a melodic voice.

Rudolph gives her a small nod, while Eiji gives her a flirtatious wink. Inwardly, I shake my head at his behavior. He was very much the ladies' man, wasn't he?

Giving her a small smile, I quickly head past her and follow the two men that had led me up here. There were only a small handful of people on the upper level. But they all looked similar to Rudolph and Eiji, in the fact that they were all covered head to toe in armor. They looked ready to fight at a moment's notice.

It was refreshing to know that there appear to be some capable adventurers in this city. However, it was still far from enough to save this city from ruin if the goblins manage to break the city walls defense.

Heading towards a table that was not near other we sit down. Sitting at the table the environment at the table was quite somber. I felt a little awkward… should I try and bring up a conversation?

Before, I could decide what to say a girl appears. She's got a cute a smile black dress on and a white ap.r.o.n around it. Her hair is a fluffy platinum blonde and drawn into two twin tails. A kind and bright smile rest on her soft pink lips. Her hazel eyes are sparkling as she looks at us.

"h.e.l.lo! What can I get you all?" She asks in a chipper voice. A simple pad of paper was in her hand.

"I'll start with a pint of beer. I'd also like to order a flame pig steak with a side of vegetables and potatoes," Rudolph quickly answers.

She bobs her head and quickly scribbles down his order. Turning she looked towards Eiji.

"I'll just have a sweet chicken sandwich with brandy," Eiji says with a grin and a wink towards the girl.

Her round cheeks turn a soft rosy red at his wink, and she jots down what he wants, as well. She looks towards me. Her cheeks are still bright pink.

"What about you?" She asks me.

"Do you have a special for the evening?" I ask her.

"We do!" She quickly says. "It's our special fried short ribs from a cloud bison beast. Along with a side of the chef's special soup," she quickly rattles off.

"I'll have that then with a gla.s.s of water," I tell her with a smile.

"Of course, I'll bring that right out to you," she says. With a small bow, she quickly skitters away from the table to go place our order and get our drinks.

With her leaving I turn my attention back to the two men that I am dinning with.

I wonder how I should go about talking to both of them. There were a lot of angles that I could approach them from. Should I just jump straight into asking them for information about the goblins? Or should I play it cool?

Thinking to myself I didn't notice the look that the two of them shared.

"You've come out here to hunt goblins you said," Eiji states.

Looking towards him I find that his green eyes are narrowed into slits. They remind me of cat eyes. Especially when they are stalking prey. Shifting slightly in my seat, I give both of them a simple smile.

"I had just been traveling when I had run into merchants that were in need of help. They had been ambushed by a small h.o.a.rd of goblins and I stepped in and helped them to repel them. In the end, I decided to escort them into the city. Since I now find myself here, I don't see any reason not to hunt goblins," I tell them waving my hand.

Rudolph leans back into his chair and those deep blue eyes of his are looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and distrust.

That did not bother me, in the least. We had just met, and I was in the body of a child saying that I was not one. That would cause anyone to be suspicious. There was no reason for him to trust me, and for me to trust him!

If he began to trust me after our simple interaction, then he was probably nothing more than a muscle head. I felt refreshed seeing a burly man with a good head on his shoulders.

'Then you must be the one that the Governor's daughter brought in," Rudolph says.

"That would be me. I'm actually staying at her residence during my time in the city," I say honestly.

"Really? She normally never lets anyone stay at her residence. She's practically an orc of a woman and a frost queen at heart," Eiji says ruefully.

I raise an eyebrow and fold my hands together in front of me. "She doesn't give me that impression at all. She reminds me of a child that is seeking approval from their parent," I say softly.

"Well, she has a soft spot for cute girls and women in general. You are probably one of the few that would view her that way and even be b.a.l.l.sy enough to say it out loud. She does not seem that way at all to me," Eiji retorts.

"You just have a bad experience because she declines your offer," Rudolph says rolling his eyes.

Eiji shots him a glance and clears his throat.

"I'm a good-looking man Rudy! What women wouldn't be interested in me? I project the aura of mystery women eat that up," he says trying to defend his pride.

The feeling of awkwardness was vanishing rapidly. This was becoming more and more of a comfortable atmosphere to be in.

"I believe most women would consider you a rake if they heard you say that," I laugh.

"Well said," Rudolph nods.

Eiji starts to open his mouth to defend himself but the young Waitress appears with our drink in hand. She quickly places the mug of beer down in front of Rudolph and then a gla.s.s of Brandy for Eiji. Then she gives me my water.

"Here you are! All your food should be out quickly," she bows and scampers off again.

"I'm sure that my charms would work on that girl there," Eiji continues.

I shake my head and take a sip of water.

"You're incorrigible. Don't you know when to give up? You're going to get a knife in the back ones of these days from all the women that you fool around with," Rudolph says raising his mug to drink from.

"Better a knife from a pretty woman than a knife from an ugly monster," he says swirling his amber colored brandy.

"I would have to agree, a knife from a pretty woman is better than an ugly goblin!"

"See! Hollis understands. You lack culture Rudy!" Eiji says slamming his hand on the table. Shaking the drinks resting on the table in the process.

Rudolph puts his mug down and rolls his eyes.

"She's just being nice to you," Rudolph snorts.

Eiji rolls his eyes and keeps nursing his drink. He looked like a puppy that had been scolded by its owner. I wanted to laugh, but I thought that it might be rude to him. So, I kept it all in.

"Hollis you're a half-elf but I've never heard of a half-elf that looks like a child," Rudolph says after a moment had pa.s.sed.

I felt my stomach clench, but I kept an even face. Looking towards him, I find that his eyes are inquisitive. It seems that some of the distrust had fled but he still was curious.

How to answer his question?

A minute ticked by as I contemplated how to answer him. In the meantime, Eiji gave Rudolph a quick jab and a pointed look. Getting that he had asked a rather impolite question he scratches his head.

"You do-"

"It's okay. I just happened to be cursed. I was cursed with the appearance of a child and reduced to the state that you see me in today. It causes a bit of trouble, but it isn't the worse curse that I could be hexed with," I laugh as I drink some more water.

There was some silence…but Eiji breaks the silence.

"Well, you must have been a dazzling woman. Because you're as pretty as a doll," he says.

I almost choke on my water and start to cough.

Wiping my mouth, I look up at him with watering eyes. "I didn't know that you were a lolicon!"

Rudolph burst out laughing and Eiji looks ready to fall over. Plus, before he can even defend himself the Waitress comes back with plates all in her arms. Behind her, I see another girl with more plates.

She quickly deposits everything onto the table. Then the girl behind her does the same, and the mouthwatering smell of food wafts up into our faces.

"Please enjoy, I'll bring you another beer sir," she says as she bows. The other girl behind her does the same and they quickly leave.

Looking down at the large amount of food that been put down in front of us. I feel my mouth water as I look at it. I'd skipped out on all of my meals today, I was starving. Too bad they didn't offer blood, but I should be fine.

A plate of short ribs sat in front of me with steam wafting off of them. The smell of meat was like a punch in the gut, it was so good. The ribs are covered in juicy sauce and oil. There were a few vegetables placed on the plate as well.

Next to that, there was soup in a simple brown bowl. Not to be fooled by the simple bowl the soup smelled delectable. It was a white creamy color with some greens and chunks of pink meat in it.

The boy also had food in front of them. They didn't wait and began to dig in. Looking back at my food and then, I decided that I could question them afterward! For now, I wanted to do nothing more than dig into the food in front of me.