Chapter 19: Them Customers

Nikola woke up, noted that the landscape outside was overflowing with flowers, and then went to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, showered, and then went to the shed to see just how much produce the Land Octopus had farmed him.

The crates were overflowing outside the cabin. Nikola should have been worried that the octopus could get through the door, but he was not.

He took one heavy crate with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and cabbage and went back in the house.

His plan was simple. He was going to wash everything and then cook outside, so that the scent of the food could get him some customers.

As soon as he was done with cutting up the vegetables, he went outside.

There was just one hurdle before him.

He had no idea how to start a fire without burning down the forest. But Jack seemed to be able to do so just fine.

Nikola went around the lake, carrying some cut up vegetables as a peace offering.

"Yo!" Nikola greeted him, as he placed the produce in the bowl before Jack's tent. "Do you mind teaching me how to build a fire?"

"That depends," Jack called out from inside. "Will you use magic to build it? Because if you are, I doubt we can survive it."

Nikola chuckled. Yes, he deserved that one.

"If you teach me how to build a fire, I promise I won't be building it with magic."

Which was a lie. Nikola was going to attempt to use magic, one of those days.

But he didn't want to do so here, where the forest could go down in flames.

He was already making plans to use some of the land in the Octopus dimension, as he liked to call it, to practice the magic he had taken from Dimitri.

"Liar," the ghoul said, not believing a word. "Just give me a moment to dress, and I will make you a bonfire."

Nikola chuckled like the imp he was.

"I would prefer a cooking pit. A massive one."

Soon, Jack was out and with a shovel.

"I get free food, right?"

There was no doubt in Nikola's mind that the ghoul would not agree to help otherwise.

"As much as you can eat!"

Jack looked at the bowl with the vegetables, then he picked it up and ate a piece of cucumber.

He ate another right after that.

"You know, I missed this," the man said, as he took the bowl with him and motioned to Nikola to follow. "To eat fruit and vegetables. I really missed it."

Nikola hummed. He had thought as much.

"Well, now you can eat as much as you wish… if you help out with the food preparation!"

It was very optimistic of Nikola to try to delegate. But the one whom he was trying to con was an old ghoul. Maybe not in appearance, but he was old in age.

"How about no?" Jack asked, as he began to dig the cooking pit. "Do you have a pot?"

Nikola smiled, showing off that he had sharpened some branches. He had no idea if he should bury the Wendigo in thanks. It had broken plenty of branches for him.

Besides, its skull would not make a fine cup.

"Dimitri has one. But I want to grill most of the food over the fire!"

Nikola had always loved to watch outdoor cooking vlogs. Most of them were about people who used cast-iron pans and made bread.

Which was really relaxing to watch.

When the pit was dug, Jack piled up some firewood and then lit it.

"Do you know how to cook with just a fire?" Jack asked.

Nikola nodded.

"I've watched many videos on YouTube!"

Little did he know he would view YouTube the same way he viewed Wikipedia in a couple of hours.

****

The branches he had taken had caught on fire early on. The meat and the vegetables were now cooking over a stone. Jack had even tested it for moisture.

Since Nikola had told him that the stone might explode on the fire if it was even a little wet.

The first customer came together with his entire tribe.

To Nikola, goblins were just creatures in MMOs and the occasional anime.

But they, all forty of them, sat down by the table he had gotten out of the shed, and were now banging it with their forks.

Jack was not doing anything. Dimitri was probably still asleep.

"What sort of service is this? We demand the first serving to be free!"

Now, Nikola was not a fast learner, but he did learn from his mistakes. He had not had enough time to train in his magic.

If he used the staff, he more than likely would need to run for his life.

He was tired of running.

"Have you paid yet?" Nikola asked, wanted to keep his head, but not to have these creatures eat without paying.

"We will pay when we are fed," which Nikola translated as: You sucker, we are not paying, period!

He hummed, took a nice red mushroom, which he had picked from the forest, and threw it on the fire.

Little did he know that goblins never suffered from indigestion.

Plate after plate was filled. The mushroom was cut up and given to each one of them.

This was a mushroom cooked by a druid. A druid with the Monster Chef skill.

The goblins began to glow.

"What?" the chief yelled, as his limbs began to morph.

Nikola hoped that he had given the creature Tree Man Syndrome. Even if that meant that he would get it as well.

"Nothing is out of the ordinary. Do keep eating!"

He watches as the goblins began to grow. To become taller than him, even.

Like a mad scientist, Nikola took out a notebook and began to draw the picture of the red mushroom. It would be useful if he ever decided to grow in high.

The goblins put two and two together, huddling together.

"Should we pay him? He made us stronger!" The alpha female asked.

"We pay him today, he will ask for money the next time as well," her husband countered. "No. Let us con him! Let us become his guards."

The goblins all began to chuckle. Nikola had heard their entire back and forth.

The day he was going to agree to feed goblins for them to sleep under trees and to pretend they were guarding him was not that day.

"I have mines," Nikola said. Which might even be the truth. He had no idea what sort of ores he had in his pocket dimension. "And I can give you a fifty-fifty cut of everything you dig out."

The goblins were green with greed.

The next customer came. This one, a man who had gills on his neck.

"I can trade you pearls for the food," he said, after taking out some lovely black pearls.

Nikola nodded.

He was going to sort this one as well. He just didn't know how yet.