"Oh? You two already know eachother?" Stella asks as I make a complicated expression.
"Well, no actually-"
"He is the kid who saved me the other!" The giant man announces in a loud voice.
Now that I look this man without clear eyes, I couldn't help but notice his savage face with light brown eyes. Three big scars on face, two on cheeks and one on cut through his lips. His chiseled chin with strong jawline on his long straight face clearly screamed a veteran. Only if his nose was not crooked and he had a good beard not clean shaven, I might have mistook him as an giant from the farlands.
"Saved? What is this, Altaris?" Stella leans towards me and asks with much curiosity.
"Heh? I mean he was going to jump in the pit and I just happened to catch him."
Shocked by my statement, Stella stands up and turns to the giant man. "Mr. Red! You attempted suicide? Why?"
Like a sentimental lover, Mr. Red wipes his eyes. "It was a bad week for the business and Maddy's health wasn't getting any good. I was afraid that I couldn't meet the month's ends. Sad and defeated, I chose to jump in the pit so that Marie could get the state money."
"State money?" I whisper to Stella.
"It's term for insurance issued by the guild. They issue money to any experienced war veteran who lost their life in the dungeon. As a sign of gratitude for their years of service."
I take a mental note. 'So, the city's managed by the guild and they are quite generous with it.'
"But this young man saved me and I lived to see my family for one more day."
I sigh loudly as Stella praises my actions. "That's really nice of you, Altaris."
"I know. I know."
"Young man!" Mr. Red smashes his hands on the table which creates this loud sound.
BANG!
"Is your name Altaris?"
Startled, I look up to Mr. Red's towering stature. "Uh, yes?"
"The name of the 5th legion commander suits you." He gently pats my head. "I haven't given you a reward yet. Wait." Mr. Red brings out a red badge which has the letter M on it and puts it on the table. "50 percent discount on every dish on the menu, for lifetime."
I awkwardly take the badge while Stella is jumping on her feet. "By holy emperor, it is the exclusive membership badge of the Madison Red's bakery. Only the guildmaster and few other influential nobles possess this, I heard you can place custom cake orders with this badge."
"You can. Just inform me few days beforehand. Cakes can take a lot of time you know." Mr. red further explains the benefits of the badge.
"Do you want it?" I offer it to Stella.
"What? No! Of course not! This badge was given to you by the owner himself." She immediately raise her hands in rejection.
'Maybe I could get some dessert for the kids.' I put the badge in my pocket and sit down on my seat. "I take the badge."
"Please use it to your heart's content. Now, what are you two craving?" Mr. Red asks with much anticipation. He was super excited to serve me for some reason.
Stella points to menu. "I will take red ribboned pastry with some hot chocolate and for him… Just one white forest with honey and white sprinkles on top."
"Ohhh. Red ribboned pastry is my favourite, I recommend yellow boat special shake with the pastry. It is a must try combo." Mr. Red flips the menu and points at the drink section.
"Hehe. Actually don't want give Miss Marie a hard time since she recently returned from the church."
Mr. Red bursts out laughing. "No. Marie would be delighted knowing you came. Besides if she wasn't well, I wouldn't have opened the bakery in the first place, don't you worry." He turned back and went to the back lobby while still laughing loudly.
As soon he disappears from my sight, Stella leans towards me and whispers with a worried face. "What do you think about the place? I hope you like it."
Unlike her, I smile gently and spoke in normal voice. "The place is nice. But I have to say meeting Mr. Red here was so unexpected."
Stella is clearly happy with my answer as she sits straight and spoke her normally. "Mr. Red is really kind. He may look scary due to his scars and strange way of talking but he is a good person. He runs this bakery with his wife and daughter. Sadly, his daughter was diagnosed with a strange strain of the Emus plague."
Curious about the plague, I decide to interrogate Stella. "Where did this plague come from?"
"It is said in the records that three years ago the 3rd Legion commander fought one of the Alter disasters in the Mount Keplar region. The Alter was said to be one of the most corrupted one's ever record in the history. The siege of the Mount Keplar lasted for 6 months. The legion fought with bravery and discipline in the snowy terrain but the Alter used some evil tactics and struck the commander down. The 3rd commander along with entire legion was martyred in that battle. As a result, the alter manage to spread it's vicious mana all over the world which gave birth to the plague."
"What is an Alter?" Stella narrowed her eyes and chuckled.
"Are you making fun of me?"
"What? No. I am serious."
"I mean how can you not know the alters? The greatest enemy of humanity. They exist only spread diseases and wars. They strive on suffering and chaos. The emperor founded the legions to ward them off."
I kept my poker face to hide my overwhelming interest on the topic. "Keep going."
Stella rolls her eyes. "Altaris, are you an alter? Planning his evil schemes to terrorize Cross dungeon city?"
"I wish I was."
"Yeah… You obviously grew up in those less religious households."
I curl my lips as if I was impressed. "Maybe. Please continue with your religious conversion."
She giggled at my words. "I make sure you turn to the holy light of the emperor. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Basically 3rd commander fell and the world went into full panic mode. Sadly, a niche strain of Emus plague caught Madison, Mr. Red's daughter. Since last year, they have been trying out many different cures but none of them worked on Madison. I even wrote a letter to guildmaster personally, asking for ways to cure her. But she did not reply."
'Hmph. What can one expect from those greedy tree hoarders?'
"But the emperor himself must have heard Mr. Red's cries of help and Madison seems better now."
"I wish that bastard was that kind." I mumbled my thoughts out.
Clueless, Stella tilts her head and asks. "Who?"
Realizing my mistake, I try to change the topic. "Uhh. You know- Hey look! Our order is here."
Like an angel sent from heaven, Mr. Red arrives with our desserts at the right time. "Enjoy!"
I look at my cake, it is a circular white cake with some whipped cream on top, gently sprinkled with white chocolate which gives off snowy vibe. Mr. Red put a small bowl of warm honey next to it. I awkwardly smile at him and grab my spoon.
As soon as the cake hit my mouth, it melted right away. 'Cold!' The cake itself was super cold, enough to sting my teeth. I quickly grabbed a spoonful of honey and stuffed in my mouth. The experience was actually pretty good. Cold cake which melts in your mouth followed by warm honey which left a sugar overload in my mouth. The cake itself was okay, not crazy good or bad. But the with honey, it tasted surely unique.
I look up at Mr. Red. "It is a good dessert."
"Glad you like it. Feel free to call me if you need anything." I nod as Mr. Red turns back to leave.
"How's your pastry?" I ask Stella who is swiftly sipping the shake, it was already half gone.
"It is good. Here, try it yourself." She extends her spoon full of pastry towards me.
Suddenly my face turns bit red and I stand up to eat from her hands. "S-Spicy!"
"Haha! Quick, drink this!"
"W-Wait-" Before I could say anything, Stella inserted the straw in my mouth.
'The drink was actually good.'
She grins widely at me. "How is it? Super creamy, right?"
Flustered, I only nod in agreement. That's when I heard a whisper in my mind. 'Indirect kiss~'
I looked down and saw Dora peeking at me. 'Shut it.'