Chapter 96

The winter almost arrived and everyone has been busy with preparing for the winter. Today was the last week of autumn and the people in Labyrinth City were celebrating the harvest festival as they sold their last harvest of this year. The city become more crowded because more people are coming from different countries to do some business in the labyrinth city. And the guild and famous place in the Labyrinth City is full of people.

The same thing happened to the Red Dawn restaurant which became the most famous place in the Labyrinth City. Because more customers come to Red Dawn restaurant, the three of them are almost unable to get all of the work done by themselves. But Ludger suddenly found the helpers who were able to help them with their work. Ludger recruited some orphans from the slums and trained them to help with their work with apprenticeships as the reason.

All three of the orphan that he saved was the child whose parents were died in an accident in the Labyrinth. Ludger decided to help them after he captured them trying to steal some food when he went to the market with his mother. Although he feels a bit suspicious about them and thinks that they might be the God of Chaos's followers in the beginning. But there is nothing wrong with the three of them and they all even work diligently at Red Dawn restaurant.

Ludger's suspicion came from the warning from Darius and Hudson. They warn him after the Duke defeats the adventurer with a black robe and tell him the black robe group might aim for him because of his talents. When Ludger heard about it, he felt as if his body was buried under the snow because he felt chills on his whole body. Ludger realized the true reason for them to set their eyes on him was because it was similar to things that happened to Shia. It makes Ludger worry because he didn't expect they would be able to see through his fake identity as Ludger.

'I think I became too paranoid lately. It really was a problem for me. Tomorrow I will celebrate my ninth birthday with the people in the Red Dawn restaurant because they accidentally heard it when my mother reminded me about my birthday. But I never knew they also hear about it...maybe because of the data that I put when I make my new identity as Ludger.' Ludger was thinking as he helped the owner in the kitchen today.

Ludger was the person who was able to make the plating look good and able to steal the interest of the new customers. And it was also the training for the three new workers to be able to help with the customers. They are a quick learner and hard-working children and they were satisfied with the owner sheltering them and giving them food and other daily necessities. But the owner insisted that she would pay their salary equal to their hard work.

"Bensen, Idana and Shanida, good job. Let's take a break for now. We will get busier when the dinner time so we need to rest when we are able to and keep saving our energy so we are able to work until the closing time." The owner, Caron teaches them about the work.

"But owner, there are some customers that still sit in the restaurant right now. Did we not have to attend them?" Bensen, the eleven-year-old boy with light blue hair and green eyes asks.

"Oh, they are alright because they have some business with our Ludger. But don't be rude to them because they are our loyal customers and they have a great status in this city." Caron peeked at the restaurant and reminded them.

"Owner, I have told you that Darius is coming to talk with my Mom. Not me." Ludger protests at Caron's words.

"Fufufu, but you are also famous because a lot of people keep coming to find you. I don't mind if you are famous because it will also make this restaurant famous and have a lot of customers." Caron said with a teasing tone.

"So that means Master Ludger is someone famous in this city, right? As expected from Master Ludger!" Idana said while giving an admiring gaze to Ludger's direction.

"It was obvious because of that look and behaviour. I still remember the first time he helped us from the slums. He was like the hero or prince in the story even though he was the same age as us." Shanida nodded her head agreeing with Idana.

Both Idana and Shanida are the same age, ten years old. And because Ludger added one year to his age, both of them thought that they were the same age. Because Ludger was the person who helped and gave them their current lives, they respected Ludger and adored him.

"So, you don't want to go and greet them?" Caron said while expecting something.

"Haa, alright, I will go and greet them first." Ludger sighed and went to the restaurant to greet his acquaintance in the restaurant.

When Ludger went out of the restaurant, he saw Darius who was talking happily with his mother. And Alvera and Elviira are waving their hand at him. As the members of Ludger's fan club or more precisely the people who created the fan club, they often come to meet him.

Ludger didn't realize that his fame was caused by the bromance books that he wrote with the pseudonym 'Nero'. One of the characters has a similar appearance and behaviour as Ludger. Although that character is a middle-aged man, the reader starts to imagine when Ludger grow up, he might become that character.

Ludger also unconsciously act like that character because he was the person who wrote that story. And few part of it was based on his imagination so there might be similarities to the 'Ludger' personality that Renneshia made. But because no one knows about this, it causes the reader's imagination to get wilder.

"Hello, Sister Alvera and Sister Elviira. I'm really happy to be able to see that you are getting prettier than the last time we met. I never thought that I would be able to meet both of you today. Is there anything special about today?" Ludger fluently said while making a gesture as if he was thinking.

"Today is your birthday. So, happy birthday." Elviira said while giving him a present.

"Right, I hear today is your tenth birthday. So you can start your apprenticeships from today onwards. Will you celebrate it today? Oh right, this is for you." Alvera said energetically while giving the present.

"Thank you for the gift. It was the first time I got presents and someone other than my family said they wanted to celebrate my birthday. I'm really glad that I am able to come to this city and meet everyone. Even without any presents, I'm really grateful because you remember my birthday. But where do you hear about it? I think I never told anyone about my birthday except when I created my identity card before." Ludger said making a sad smile before he asked them with a confused expression.

"Huh?! How dare they do that to someone as cute as you! Tell your Sister Alvera and I promise you that I will definitely make them regret what they have done to you and beg for your forgiveness." Alvera said with a scary killing intent coming from her body.

"Un, I agree." Elviira nodded her head even though she looked calm and didn't show it on her face, but Ludger could feel that she was also angry.

'Oh my goodness. Even though I want them to do it to that family, but I don't want them to know about my real identity. And they might hate me when they know that 'Ludger' was not a real person that exists in this world but it was the fake identity that I made.' Ludger thought.

"I-I don't want to punish them for what they did to us because if not for them acting like that, I wouldn't be able to meet both of you in this city. No, I might never come here with my Mom. That's why I feel grateful to them rather than angry. I was really glad that I was able to come to this city and meet with everyone in this city." Ludger is panicky making a (fake) reason to make them stop looking for his past.

"I'm also glad to be able to meet you." Elviira said while hugging Ludger's body as if she wanted to cheer him up.

"Alright, because you said so, I won't look for them and punish them. I'm also glad to be able to meet with you too." Alvera reluctantly said but then she smiled brightly at Ludger.

"Then how about we celebrate it today in this restaurant? I should also give you my birthday present because you are the person who made this restaurant become well-known like this. And if not for your help, Red Dawn restaurant might not have existed until today." Caron came and said.

"Oh! That was a great idea! Should I book the restaurant for tonight? Then we could celebrate your birthday together with everyone. I think there will be a lot of people who will come if they hear about it. What do you think, Ludger?" Darius said with a suspicious smile.

"You don't need to do that, Mr. Darius. I already feel really happy if others wish me a happy birthday. It makes me feel awkward if you do that and I won't know what to do about what to do." Ludger said with a wry smile on his face.