City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Click!
 
I was discussing some things with Carla when the door opened, and Margaux walked in.
 
When I looked at her, I froze, forgetting what I was talking about.
 
“What happened?” I asked. She is angry. I had never seen her this angry. It is a bubbling, raging anger.
 
“I had gone to the head chef to tell him to let Wanda work in a kitchen from today, but he said he will never let a whore work in his kitchen. He will not do it, even if you had asked him.,” she said, with a shaking voice.
 
“That bastard,” cursed Carla, with anger apparent in her voice. 
 
“Is he in the kitchen?” I asked as I got up from my chair. “Yes,” Margaux replied. I nodded and walked out of my office with Carla and Margaux following behind me.
 
I had just stepped out when I saw Wanda. She was crying. Seeing me, she quickly wiped away her eyes, but I could see the tears and pain. She must have been present when she heard those words.
 
I smiled at her reassuringly and walked down the stairs. Soon, I reached the ground floor and walked straight into the kitchen.
 
All the kitchen staff stopped in their preparations. Including the blond bearded middle-aged man, who was checking vegetables, stopped and turned toward me.
 
“Mister Silver,” he greeted after a second of silence. “Allen, you had said something about Wanda working in the kitchen?” I asked directly.
 
His expressions change a little, and he looked at Wanda and Margaux behind me. I could see flashes of anger appearing in his eyes, but he controlled his emotions as he turned to me.
 
“I am fine with my assistants teaching your whores, but I draw the line with them working in my kitchen,”
 
“That is not acceptable to me,” he said, and hearing that, I smiled and could see a slight relief flooding in expressions seeing me smile.
 
“Well, if it is unacceptable to you, then the establishment does not require your services any further. Your employment is terminated effective immediately,” I said without changing my expression. 
 
While my expression had not changed, his has.
 
“You are joking. I am a Level 28 Chef. You will find anyone of my level in this city immediately and if I leave, more than half of the kitchen staff leave with me.” he said with an obvious threat.
 
“It is fine if you take all of them. I have money. I will have a new staff working in the kitchen by tomorrow,” I said, looking at all the kitchen staff. A third of which is brought by Allen.
 
He glared at me before turning to the kitchen staff.
 
“All of you come. I already have an offer. They are willing to give us a better salary and a bigger kitchen to work in.” He said to them with a smile on his face, but within a few seconds, that smile begin to slip away.
 
Half a minute passed and not a single one had taken a step toward him. Even those who had been with him for over a decade, are unwilling to leave with him.
 
“Bastards!” he cursed angrily and turned to me. “You will regret this, Silver,” he said and walked out of the kitchen.
 
I couldn’t help but feel a little regret seeing him leave. He was a good chef. Those levels were for nothing, but he had crossed the line. So, even if he had been Level 30 or above, I still would have fired him.
 
“Go to the employment guild and get a chef at Level 25+. Money is not a problem,” I said to Carla.
 
“I will leave immediately,” she said, walking away. Usually, she sends people, but now the time is of the essence. There are only a six and half hours till opening and I need a chef before that.
 
If I did not find a chef, I will close the establishment for a day. I could not lower the quality of the experience. 
 
I would rather close the establishment than provide a subpar experience.
 
There are some chefs here that are Level 20 and above, but they are not good enough. It is not just about levels, sometimes talents also matter, and these people have quite a road to cross before reaching Allen’s level.
 
“Gentlemen, thank you for staying. You will not regret this choice,” I thanked the kitchen staff before turning to Wanda. “This is Wanda Blanc; she will be working with you from today,” I stated.
 
“Welcome to the kitchen Wanda,” they said in unison. I smiled, seeing that before walking out of the kitchen.
 
“Thank you, Master Silver,” said Margaux. “What’s there to thank?” I ask. That bastard crossed a line and deserved to be fired. I will not tolerate someone like him, no matter how high-leveled he is.
 
Soon, I am in my office working. I had planned to go to the guild, at least for an hour, but it wouldn’t be possible now.
 
I really hope Carla finds the chef; I rather not want to close the establishment. It will give my competitor a chance to claw some ground, small as it might be. Not to mention money. I will lose money, the girls will lose money.
 
….
 
 
Drev
 
“We have arrived, Mr. Drev,” said the guard, who introduced himself Omab as the carriage stopped. 
 
I nodded and walked out of it, and immediately my eyes fell on the brothel. The best brothel in Greltheaven, as people called it.
 
I have seen it many times from the street, but it is my first time seeing it so close. I wanted to come here hearing all the talk about it but didn’t have money. Everything I earn needs to go into paying back Liam.
 
If it wasn’t for him. I would have been rotting in the jail of Teveb.
 
“This way, Mr. Drev,” he said and took me toward the mansion, but not at the main door, but toward the back. There is a garden and building on its right, from where I saw a woman coming out and froze.
 
She is beautiful and glowing radiantly. She seemed to sense me looking at her and turned toward me before smiling enchantingly.
 
“Uhoo,”
 
I was looking at her when the guard coughed, making her laugh, while I turned to the guard apologetically and followed him. Though not before stealing another glance at her, who is still looking at me with a mirthful smile.
 
“If you were hired for the job. I would advise you to keep your conduct professional. Mister Silver does not tolerate any misconduct toward his girls; the head chef is fired due to that,” the guard informed as we entered the building through the back.
 
The owner had fired the head chef, and now they need someone before the business opened in the evening.
 
I think this hurry is the only reason they have come to me. If they had a day more, they wouldn’t have come for me, given my record. Nobody wants to hire someone who burned down the two restaurants.
 
As I entered inside, I got surprised immediately, seeing how well-designed the brothel was. 
 
Sometimes, things look nice on the outside, but bad inside.
 
“Mister Silver is in the chef's office,” said a middle-aged bald guard who was standing by the stairs. Omab nodded and took a turn and soon we appeared at the door of the kitchen.
 
It is of medium size, with around twenty people working. They all looked at me as I entered. They looked surprised as they saw me, and so I am.
 
Of twenty-some people, I saw a woman there. Far more beautiful than a man or woman standing beside her. She is very new. I am experienced in the kitchen enough to tell who is seasoned and who is not.
 
“Mister Silver, I have brought Chef Drev Eshton.” Said Omab as he knocked on the brown door. 
 
Click!
 
A moment later, a strikingly beautiful with flaming red hair opened the door. “Chef Eshton, come in,” she said and invited in.
 
As I entered the small office, I saw another beautiful woman there. 
 
I felt like my mind being frozen. I had seen four women since entering this place, and all four of them were the most beautiful women. I had seen in my whole life.
 
“Mr. Eshton, take a seat,” said the voice and only then, I noticed someone else is present in this small office.
 
I looked at the person and was surprised to see a young man, even younger than me, sitting behind the table while standing on both sides of him, were beautiful women.
 
Remus Silver, the owner of the most famous brothel of Greltheaven. I thought he would be older. With all the things I have heard about him.
 
“Thank you, Mister Silver,” I said and sat down, as I looked at the raven-haired young man. He is handsome with sharp eyes, and feeling those eyes at me, I couldn’t help but feel a little subconscious.
 
I controlled my emotions. I need this job, as short as it may be, as it will go into my resume. 
 
It is the first interview since that incident. It is important I get the job. It could be said, my future depends on it.
 
“You seemed too young to be Level 25. Chef Eshton,” he said. It is a question I heard many times, especially in these past three months. They all said the same thing before throwing me out.
 
“You also seemed to be too young to be running the brothel, Mister Silver,” I said, before I could stop myself, and looked at him, expecting to see anger.
 
These young men from rich families get angry too quickly, but when I looked at him, I saw him smiling, but soon his expression turned serious.
 
“We need a chef urgently, and you fit the requirements. Normally, I would not even see you near the gates of my establishment with your record, but beggars can’t be choosers,” he said with a shake of his head.
 
“I will hire you for a week, but first let me see how good you are,” he added and slid the page toward me.
 
“You can cook them, right?” he asked. All of them are classic dishes of the western Zenid. Though different variation of them exists, they are not noted down.
 
“Yes, I can cook them,” I replied.
 
…
 
I watched the young man cutting the vegetables. His movements are practiced, and his eyes are focused.
 
It shouldn’t be surprising given he is a Level 25 chef. 
 
Though, he does not look like one. He is just twenty-three, and he had to face. That made him look even younger. If he hadn’t been verified by the employment guild, I wouldn’t have believed it.
 
He is a handsome man with aqua-blue hair and maroon eyes, which seemed a little strange to me, despite looking normal.
 
He seemed good, but if I had a choice, I wouldn’t have hired him. 
 
He burned restaurants. Not one, but two, the last he did just a few months ago. He had burned it all to the ashes. There is not much information about it, other than saying he was experimenting.
 
He was experimenting with magical ingredients.
 
Magical ingredients are dangerous; only those with sufficient training could handle them. In the spa, we use a lot of magical ingredients, and the people there follow the strict to handle them.
 
Not all magical materials are dangerous. They turned dangerous when handled wrongly.
 
Time passed as I watched him cook, the more I watched, the more impressed I would become. He not only has a plethora of skills but also seemed quite experienced.
 
I have watched Allen, and he did not impress me as this man is doing. 
 
Finally, he finished cooking and started to make the plates, and I have to say, he is quite a food artist. 
 
Far surpassing Allen in that department.
 
“The food is ready, Mister Silver,” he said as he set plates for three on the table. “Shall we,” I said to Margaux and Carla.
 
We sat at the table and ate as he served us, and I was once again surprised. The quality of the food is equal to the best restaurant I had eaten at in Owlspring. The chef they had was at level 30.
 
Levels are important, but so is talent, and he has both.

An.

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