Chapter 9 <The Ocean Swarm>
I love the night.
Night-time stands as one of my favourite periods of time in life. Without a doubt, the lack of the bustling public masses and the cooling temperature are the sources of my relief. But what especially settles my heart is the light of the stars.
Not the moon, but the stars. The moon is an unpredictable entity, showing itself every now and then as if playing a mischievous prank. The stars, however, remain in their positions and continue to exhibit the faithful shine every night without fail. As weird as it may seem to others, the stars are my source of inspiration. Above all, they are the light that never diminishes, abstaining the night from pure darkness.
Of course, there are several theories dictating the reasons to the phenomenon within the night. Out of which the most common and most recognised are the religious ones. As for me, I do not seek the truth behind the source of my inspiration. I only stand beside the scenes and take the debates as information.
Right now, I am sitting on a protruding rock in the middle of a calm river. With my feet in the gently flowing water, the cooling sensation which I relish in does its work in dispelling the sweat on my uncovered body. In this remote location, my embarrassment levels dipped tremendously which is the reason as to why I took off all my clothing. It is an indescribable feeling.
Complete with the view of the serene night sky, I take my time to slowly enjoy this nightly hobby.
Even after leaving the orphanage, I continue to keep my body in a feasible and appropriate physical condition. It could be said to be a habit of mine, or it could be said to be a simple dislike for being unfit. Regardless, I continue to train anytime I could. At times when my muscles strain and burn from overexertion, I would take a walk to this river place instead and continue to enjoy my calming past time.
Training is important, but spending time alone in a serene night like this is indispensable for me.
As of now, it has been an hour or so since I rested. Hoping that my clothing are all dried out, I reluctantly stood up and left the cooling water. It is about time to prepare for work.
***
A calm before the storm.
Certainly, the phrase that describes an ominous premonition may be too much to use in my everyday job, but personally this phrase is simply not enough. Resignedly, I accepted my fate and continued to wield my knife in a practiced manner.
Currently, I work in a small eatery house as a food preparer as well as a waiter. Way before the sun rises, I report to my workplace and begin to get the ingredients ready for the owner, who works as the main chef. Thereafter, when the customers begin streaming in for breakfast, I would be on standby taking orders and serving out dishes. As a person that dislikes crowds, this is certainly a storm in my head – in other words, a massive headache.
The daytime is the least busy where people are out at work, and it will be when I rest and subsequently prepare the food ingredients again for dinnertime, supper and midnight snacks. Following that would be a gruelling work time from waiting customers to keeping order within the eatery, mainly against drunks. Normally, this would not end until past midnight, and my day only ends on unearthly hours.
Furthermore, since this is an eatery and not a luxury restaurant, the owner insists on the policy to keep the eatery open every day without fail, even if he falls ill. He would still wear a mask, stand from afar, and yell orders in the kitchen. He is a great man that defines diligence in a great manner.
Frankly, this is a tiring job that requires high mental fortitude. However, in a sense, I had not much say in the matter of searching for a career. In my high spirits to pursue my dream of something like a bartender, I end up realising the hard fact of unending difficulties. There are permits, taxes, the location to set up the shop, the authorisation, the certification by the person-in-charge over general matters such as hygiene, and loads more of other head aching matters. Worst of all, the person-in-charge was confused over my description of my ideal job before he clarified that an actual bartender mainly serves alcoholic beverages. I do make alcoholic drinks, but that isn't mainly what I do.
More importantly, there is the issue of my livelihood. Sure, my dream could have become my livelihood, but before that I still had worries over my accommodation and meals. The fact hit me hard when I realised the daily necessities that I would need to obtain myself are previously provided by the orphanage.
It is not as if I regretted leaving; my feelings of disgust awakened by the intensified certainty of being treated like a hound of the orphanage. It was mortifying how I had been in there for years without realising this sense of unnaturalness.
Regardless, I was forced to put my dream on hold and secure my livelihood first. I thought that many others out in the world could have dreams such as eternal youth or resounding fame but could never get it in their lifetime, and realised that my dream was indeed a simple, achievable and content one. I further realised that in order to fulfil one's goal, one first needs sufficient preparation to sustain for oneself; as a human, a dead can fulfil nothing. Dreams and livelihood can possibly coexist, but that didn't mean it was the same for anyone out there in the world. In short, I need to take care of my own wellbeing first.
Indeed, more so than regretting my leave, I cherished the newfound lessons I have come to acquire and the experience of accomplishing more by only myself. It is a despicable emotion of self-satisfaction, but I don't really care.
By fortune, I was able to secure a job at
Since lunchtime was in the midst of noon, as mentioned before, the Ocean Swarm was at its least crowded time period. The owner himself came to serve me my order. He had taken it upon himself to get things done by his own hands during this period of time so his kitchen staff could rest sufficiently for the upcoming busy night. Doing so, he came across my sorry figure slouching over the table. After setting my soup down, he spoke to me.
"Customer, pardon my question and my intrusion of your privacy." (Owner)
Both physically and mentally strained from my job seeking, I only gave him a silent look of affirmation.
"If I may enquire, are you looking for a job right now?" (Owner)
"Hahaha… it is pretty obvious when I noted down the places here isn't it?" (Me)
I slightly waved my notepad while showing a wry smile, before putting it into my bag.
"No, I did not mean to be rude, I apologise." (Owner)
"No no, it is fine. Please drop the formalities, I prefer not to do so in front of someone that isn't interviewing me." (Me)
"You sure joke nicely customer. Relax, I originally did not intend to pick on your failures in the first place. If you'd allow me to, I only wish to help." (Owner)
I gave him a look of question, and waited with slight anticipation. The crab soup in front of me has slightly cooled, but I did not take notice of it.
"Have you considered applying to the guild to be an adventurer?" (Owner)
"No, I had considered but I decided against it for personal reasons." (Me)
As for the personal reasons, it is simply because I felt fed up being in a dangerous environment for the past years due to the orphanage. I wanted to try living a relatively peaceful life, free from fighting and escaping.
"So you've been trying out other options like clothes, finances and the like?" (Owner)
"It is embarrassing, but yes." (Me)
"Then pardon my comment customer, but I think I know the reason to your lack of success." (Owner)
As though a divine blessing, his mouth uttered words of wonder that deepened my curiosity.
"I believe that such non-combative lines of work would look poorly upon the knife you hang behind you." (Owner)
"Ah." (Me)
Certainly, I was applying to sell clothes, manage finances, but not to fight. It was probably due to the ingrained senses I had to be wary of my surroundings at all times that made me subconsciously carry my dagger around. I had come to search for a living free of fighting, but ironically done so with a fighting tool worn behind me.
"Then! I will unequip my dagger and…!" (Me)
"No, I don't think that works anymore. Your first impression as a combatant, or former combatant, has already been imprinted onto the interviewers. Going back would only annoy them. Customer, you must understand that showing yourself with a knife not only tells others you are a fighter, it also implicates that you are possibly a person that excel only in fighting and are useless at non-fighting aspects." (Owner)
…I did not expect an ordinary mistake to leave such a deep scar in my seeking of employment. I thought I had understood the importance of first impressions, but this misstep has only served to tell myself otherwise.
As I began to eat my soup with self-mockery and self-reproach, the owner spoke up with a grin.
"Customer, are you by any chance adept at handling knives?" (Owner)
With that, the owner has kindly hired me into the Ocean Swarm.
It is also then I learnt that I am horrible at cooking. I ended up wasting a large quantity of ingredients while trying to learn the culinary arts. I could never get the timing correct and always end up finishing the food raw or burnt. Rather, I was great at food preparation due to my proficient dagger handling skills, as well as the experiences I possess of dismantling wild animals.
I used to roast meat whole before I came to town. In fear of consuming raw flesh, I always overcook the meat, resulting in a burnt surface. I would pick at the meat underneath the charcoaled skin, sit back and be satisfied with my meagre skills to clear away my hunger. Obviously, this incompetent method of cooking would not work in the eatery here.
As a result, I ended up being a food preparer as well as a waiter in the Ocean Swarm, which I was very grateful for. The staff members are also friendly like the owner himself, welcoming me into their ranks almost instantly.
While working in an eatery may not be a classy line of work, the Ocean Swarm has shown me what a good workplace can be.
Similarly, the Ocean Swarm also strives to be a great eatery to its customers. The origin of its name lies with the numerous seafood dishes that Ocean Swarm offers in the menu. Due to its nature, the eatery is a popular place in this small town
The owner secures his source through trading merchants that comes every half a month, purchasing them in bulk. Since the merchants are unable to provide the seafood every day, the owner stores his large quantity of purchases, using a storage room enchanted with ice magic. This ensures that the ingredients maintain freshness, and since it is nearby the eatery, the accessibility is perfect.
Of course, restaurants in town offer seafood in their menus too, but as an eatery, Ocean Swarm is definitely much more affordable. Add to the near-phenomenal taste brought by the owner himself, it is not difficult to imagine Ocean Swarm as a hub raking in masses of profits.
In truth, that is not the case. Contrary to the thoughts of the business minded, Ocean Swarm only makes enough to meet the wages of its workers. The owner himself, Mr Charlie Jefferson, has barely sufficient makings to pay for the taxes and utility bills with some leftover for his family. When I asked him why, he replied after admonishing me to shorten his address to 'Cheff'.
"It's goodwill." (Cheff)
As a former adventurer, Cheff sympathises not only with just adventurers but the general labour force as a whole, so he put up prices that is low enough for his customers but high enough for his revenues. As a result, the eatery is always filled to the brim with laughter of his old friends, joy of newcomers, contentment of regulars and the excitement of children.
"Besides, I only started because my daughter wanted to be a cook. And my wife earns more than me anyway." (Cheff)
Apparently, his wife is a receptionist at the guild that attends to the adventurers, and that was how Cheff met her.
Personally, I learnt quite a bit from Cheff as a person. Sometimes, I even picture my own place selling drinks that is filled with goodwill just like the Ocean Swarm. Until that dream comes true, I will persist in working my job as both food preparer and waiter to the best of my ability, to earn my livelihood and to gather as many experiences as I can along the way.
"Is Ocean Swarm open!?"
"Come on in! We're about to!" (Cheff)
Cheff's roar in reply to an inquiring customer drowned out the sounds I've been making from chopping the fresh carrots into bite sized chunks. As I slightly flinched, Cheff directed his voice to his staff members in the kitchen.
"The customers are coming, let's start their day well!" (Cheff)
"Ou!" (Kitchen staff)
Following Cheff's declaration, the kitchen staff gave a vigorous reply to fill themselves with fighting spirit. For now, I would have to endure through the bustling morning within the Ocean Swarm. Passing my knife to another member, I resignedly took off my apron and gloves, put on my waiting attire and made my way out of the kitchen.