Tenth Meal - Barbeque skewers (Part 1)

"Did you hear, there's a special event that's happening here tomorrow?"

"Really? What kind of special event?"

"Some kind of summer festival? It's said that they're holding an all you can eat barbeque skewers buffet here."

These kinds of whispers filled the restaurant as customers discussed the flyers that had been hung by the kitchen.

The flyers were advertising an event that was supposed to be held at this store the very next day. From the words that were written on it, it seemed that this event was a special menu that the restaurant was offering for a set price.

No one doubted the taste of the food at this restaurant, so they were all excited about this event since this was something new that they hadn't tasted before.

Or at least that was the case for the new patrons of the restaurant.

For those that had been coming here for a long time now, they were excited because they knew what kind of event this was.

This was an event that the restaurant held yearly and it was always a party that they looked forward to because of how lively it was.

Not to mention…there was the taste of the barbeque skewers and the beer…that was a taste that was hard to forget.

But what they looked forward to the most was what was written in the corner of the flyer.

"Gluttony King, come and see who is the king of all gluttons with this all you can eat event!"

It was an event that the restaurant held each year and it was an event that tested the contestants on how much they could eat.

It was their one chance to just stuff their face with as much food as they could without being judged by others. And at the same time, there was a prize that was offered by the restaurant that greatly enticed them.

The prize that was offered was the same as always, it was a one month all you can eat pass.

Everyone that came to the store would usually order the same meal which they deemed their regular. That was because this dish was the dish that left the greatest impression on them when they came to the restaurant for the first time.

Of course, that didn't mean that they didn't enjoy the other dishes since everything that came from this restaurant was delicious.

They just had their different reasons for eating the same things and not testing new dishes.

Some just couldn't afford it since they saved up their money to buy their favourite dishes, some just wanted to enjoy the taste of their favourite dishes as much as possible, and some just didn't have any motivation to try anything new.

But this one month all you can eat pass was a different story.

After all, who didn't like free food?

With this pass, it would incentivize them to try out new dishes along with their normal dishes, so they couldn't help feeling excited.

Plus, who didn't like free food?

It was so important that it had to be said twice!

At one of the tables, there was a man and a woman wearing strange clothes sitting there.

The top part of their outfit was luxuriously designed, but the bottom half of their outfit looked…very crude.

It was as if there had been no thought put into the bottom half and it had just been casually made.

But the people wearing them didn't mind at all.

That was because the two of them rarely put on the bottom half of their outfits.

The only place that they wore them was usually this restaurant.

These two were naturally the mermaid prince Finn and his childhood friend Amphi.

After they had spread the technique of dry aging fish, they had been able to solve the food problem in the mermaid kingdom. At the same time, after suggesting it to his father, they had found that it was indeed the humans that had been causing the tsunamis.

But to their surprise, as soon as they were caught, the humans ran away and denied all claims of this. Even with the large amount of evidence that had been brought forth by the Mermaid Kingdom, they still denied it.

This had all put a large strain on the relationship between humans and the mermaids, but at the very least, there had been no more tsunamis in the ocean and they had been able to rebuild.

Even though dry curing fish had spread across their kingdom, the technology was still very immature and the product wasn't at the level that Finn wanted it to be at.

It was delicious to his citizens who had never tasted fish like this before, but for Finn and Amphi who had a taste of the sashimi at the restaurant, it was disgusting in comparison.

So they couldn't help themselves from sneaking off from time to time to come to this restaurant for more sashimi.

Finn looked at the flyer and then said, "It seems like there's a special event being held at this restaurant tomorrow. Should we sneak over here and join in?"

Amphi looked around and she could see the excitement, so she could tell that this event wasn't a normal one. Even though their kingdom was still being rebuilt after the tsunamis and they should be there to support them, she couldn't stop herself from being curious about this event.

So Amphi said with a nod, "Alright, let's make sure that the secret tunnel is secure when we get home today."

Finn gave a nod before suddenly taking her hand.

Amphi's face had a blush appear on it, but she didn't resist and revealed a happy smile.

After going through those tribulations together, Finn had realized just how big of a role Amphi had in his life. He no longer ignored her like he had done before and in front of everyone, he had confessed his love and they were now officially dating.

There were even talks about setting their engagement between Amphi's father and Finn's father.

Not to mention that they were very popular right now because they had been the ones to solve the hunger issue, so the citizens all supported their engagement. They already treated the two of them as the future royal couple and they were wondering when a little prince or princess would be born.

As they sat there enjoying each other's company, Finn suddenly noticed something out of the corner of his eyes and raised his hand to wave at someone as he said, "Menchi Katsu, Croquette, over here."

As he called out, there were two people that walked over and sat down at the table they were at.

They were naturally the Golden Emperor Heinrich and the Great Sage Zweit.

Since they had helped Finn out last time, he had tried doing all he could to pay them back, but they never accepted his gestures since they said that it was nothing more than a few simple words.

But Finn had been filled with respect towards Heinrich for his advice, so whenever he met him at the restaurant, he would call out to him and treat him to a meal.

Heinrich didn't mind since he liked this kid and Zweit just followed whenever he was there since it was awkward eating alone.

Over time, the three of them had become quite close friends.

After Menchi Katsu and Croquette sat down, Finn asked, "Do you know about this event that they're holding?" As he said this, he pointed at the flyer that was hanging there.

Both of them had just come into the restaurant, so they hadn't seen the flyer that he had been referring to.

When they saw it, their eyes couldn't help popping out as they revealed excited looks.

Menchi Katsu raised his hand and started counting on his fingers while Croquette stood up and headed over to where Parfait was sitting with a group of orcs.

After counting for a bit, Menchi Katsu gave a nod and said, "It does indeed seem like it's around that time."

Finn was about to say something, but then there was a commotion that came from where Croquette and Parfait were.

Parfait had suddenly stood up after Croquette came over and said a few words. With the way that they were standing, it almost seemed like they were about to start fighting which made Finn and Amphi worried.

They couldn't help looking over at Yami who had just come out of the kitchen carrying a dish for a customer.

After all, they knew that if someone started a fight in the store…they would get punished by Yami.

However, to their surprise, Yami just took one look at the two of them and went back to work. It was as if she didn't care about them at all, which shocked both Finn and Amphi.

When they turned back to look at Croquette and Parfait, they saw that there was a crowd that had already gathered around the two of them.

Seeing that the crowd blocked their line of sight, the two of them looked at each other with confused looks before standing up and heading over to take a look.

Menchi Katsu during this time waved at one of the waitresses and put in his order with a smile on his face.

When they came over, they saw that instead of fighting, Croquette and Parfait had brought out a board out of nowhere and seemed like they were currently taking bets.

As for what was on the board, it was the names of several regulars of the restaurant.

Finn couldn't help asking one of the people in the crowd, "What's happening here?"

That person was surprised to see Finn asking him this, but he still explained, "You must be new here if you don't know about this. It's the bet for the yearly Gluttony King contest. We always take bets to see which of us will win the event."

Then without waiting for Finn to say anything, he turned back to the board and prepared to make his bet.

Finn couldn't help looking at the board and all the people gathered around it before feeling a bit excited by this.

He was a rather straightforward person and things like this easily excited him.

After all, it was in this kind of competition that he could show himself off.

As for Amphi, she shook her head with a bitter smile after hearing the man explain. Then without waiting for Finn, she headed back to the table to put in her order.

Finn didn't mind this as he made his way through the crowd.

He was going to enter this contest too and he would bet on himself to win.