Chapter 29: Tom

Since he had found the reason behind his Source Ki not being willing to absorb any more Ki, Kai put the book [Secrets of Source Ki: Great Gift of His Majesty] back into his storage bag.

After putting the book away, Kai felt bored.

In that moment of boredom, he really missed the internet.

Back on Earth, whenever he was bored and had nothing better to do, he would just scroll through the internet.

But what should he do now?

As Kai was lost in thought, his stomach started growling.

It was then he remembered—he had skipped breakfast.

Leaving his room, he headed to the hottest destination for food: the Hunters Market!

Although he had been to the Hunters Market many times, he still hadn't tried all the cuisines it had to offer.

After walking for a few minutes, Kai arrived at the bustling market.

While wandering around, he came across an interesting stall.

[Ramen

Large bowl: 5 Copper coins

Medium bowl: 2 Copper coins

Small bowl: 1 Copper coin]

Ramen—something Kai hadn't eaten much of even back on Earth. Curious, he decided to check it out.

"This is bullshit. Aside from paying rent to the Fairies to get a stall spot, now I even have to pay taxes to the Mayor,"

grumbled the owner of the ramen stall to a customer who was already waiting for his order.

"Right, from whose womb did this Mayor come out of? I don't remember ever voting for a Mayor."

Hearing the ramen guy complain, the man running the barbecue stall next to him also chimed in.

It was already hard enough earning money without leaving the town to hunt monsters—now the new Mayor was imposing taxes as well.

"But isn't the Mayor giving subsidies on weapons, equipment, and skill books for anyone willing to go out and hunt monsters?"

the customer waiting for his order said, feeling they were criticizing the Mayor unfairly.

After all, ever since the Mayor was elected, he had provided subsidies to many new hunters and made sure they didn't die due to a lack of equipment.

"That's easy for you to say. After all, you're a hunter.

Do you have any idea how much the prices of goods fluctuate every day?

Do you have any idea what kind of trouble we have to go through to buy goods from the Fairies?"

Hearing the customer's words, the owner of the ramen stall lashed out.

Who wanted to deal with the Fairies every single day?

If it weren't for his children, he would have happily headed into the wilderness to hunt monsters.

However, if something happened to him, there would be no one left in the world to take care of them.

After venting, the ramen stall owner came back to his senses.

He handed over the customer's order and apologized for his rude behavior.

"Sorry about that. Lately, I've just been under a lot of stress."

Listening to the small episode, Kai took his seat and placed his order.

"One small ramen bowl, please."

After getting the order, the owner of the ramen stall immediately began preparing Kai's dish.

Meanwhile, the customer before Kai silently ate his bowl of ramen and left after paying. It seemed he had taken the owner's harsh tone to heart.

"There goes your other customer. Tom, if you keep acting like this, no one will be willing to come to your stall—no matter how good your ramen is,"

the barbecue guy said.

Hearing those words, Tom didn't seem to care. Recently, he had been thinking about hiring a babysitter for his children and trying his hand at hunting.

After all, his children weren't that small anymore—his son was five years old, and his daughter was six.

He just needed someone to watch over them and make sure they were fed. For that, he had been searching for someone he could trust.

However, due to his grumpy personality, he hadn't been able to find anyone.

After patiently waiting for a minute or two, Kai received his bowl of ramen.

It looked delicious, and he couldn't wait to dig in—but there was a slight problem.

"Can I get a fork?"

Tom had served the ramen with chopsticks. Although Kai had eaten ramen many times before, he had never learned how to use chopsticks.

"Boy, do I need to teach you the correct way to eat ramen?"

Hearing that Kai wanted a fork, Tom was genuinely angry. Although he could tell Kai wasn't from the same lineage as him, he was still upset that Kai didn't respect their traditions.

"Tom, don't be like that. Just give him a fork,"

the barbecue guy cut in again, stopping Tom's outburst.

Tom looked at Kai with an 'I dare you to take it' look in his eyes as he handed over the fork.

Kai didn't dare to meet Tom's eyes and sheepishly took it. At that moment, he regretted stopping there.

Lowering his head, Kai took the first bite of the ramen—and instantly, his eyes lit up.

Back in high school, Kai had ramen as a late-night snack many times. But this was the first time he'd ever had such a delicious bowl of ramen.

"I have to say…"

As Kai was about to compliment Tom, he looked up and met his eyes—and helplessly swallowed his words.

Although Tom tried not to show it, a look of pride clearly appeared in his eyes.

Quickly finishing his bowl, Kai paid and left.

After leaving the ramen stall, Kai wandered around the Hunters Market for a while longer, looking for Ki Crystals.

Unfortunately, he didn't come across anyone selling them.

"Did I arrive early?" Kai wondered to himself, as he didn't find anyone selling Ki Crystals. He decided to look for the person from whom he had previously bought them.

However, that person was nowhere to be found, and the place was now empty.

Kai headed back to the inn. After returning, he gathered all his dirty laundry and paid for the cleaning service.

"It's much better now."

Putting on the clean bed sheets and pillow covers, Kai felt satisfied. As an alchemist, he had become somewhat of a clean freak. For some unknown reason, just looking at a clean room made him happy.