46 The Hidden Inheritance (2/2)
”...” Bernard kept quiet and whistled a tune in an attempt to play the fool.
”It is unfortunately true. At the height of his prime, he was known as the Lord of Secrets and was reputed to have had an ear in every home, street, alley, and closet in the galaxy. As a result, it was generally considered impossible for anyone to have plotted anything against the Empire or the Emperor without him knowing.”
”Oh, that's… sort of unbelievable. And now, he's just a cook ? In here? Just like that?”
Bernard quietly popped up with two large trays that were filled to the brim with food and said, ”That's not true, lad. I'm not just a cook... I'm also an excellent patissier and confectioner. I was even the Grand Maester of the Culinary Arts once upon a time.”
He put the trays down on the table and said, ”This is a restaurant classic, modified for a certain princess's palate, mind you. Grilled ragewyrm ribs, accompanied with a select house sauce and grandma's world-famous Efeer nectar to wash down your woes. Please.... enjoy yourselves. Feel free to ask for extra refills, too...” Bernard smiled politely and left like a ghost as quickly as he had arrived.
Reed tilted his head in confusion when he heard Bernard's description of the meal. He dumbly stared at the intimidating mountain of ribs, slathered in sauce and thought that he'd mistakenly heard something wrong. Surely, he had gotten something wrong...
Is this her favorite order? It's just... grilled ribs. Even I could order something like this in the slums from a food stall...
He decided that he'd play the gentleman and not make a comment on it. It would be uncouth of him to project his preconceptions onto her. If the princess liked grilled ribs, then she liked them. It had nothing to do with him...
Turned out the ribs weren't half bad when he wasn't begging for sweet mercy. The word 'hot' couldn't even begin to describe what he had experienced in his mouth. Infernal was a better descriptor. Reed wondered if he'd lose his sense of taste after today as he chugged grandma's supposedly world-famous nectar like a madman.
”Was this sauce made in hell or something?! The ribs taste amazing, but it's too damn hot! I can feel my face melting away,” said Reed as he fanned himself in a futile attempt at relief from the horror in his mouth. He wiped the sweat off his brow and chugged another glass of liquid joy. Not a second later, he shoved another rib into his mouth, unaware that he had become his own tormentor.
”We're a family that thrives on the spice , my son. The spice is our reason for existence. Embrace the scorching heat.” She looked calmer than grandma's corpse , seemingly unaffected by overwhelming evil contained within the ribs.
”Y-You're not making any sense at all! Bernard!! What did you put in these ribs!!”
Reed still enjoyed the ribs, despite his protests. Even though at one point, he had accidentally gotten a bit of the sauce in his eye. It was the first time he'd wished for death because of food. Bernard even took a picture with a glowing holocrystal in commemoration.
After their meal, Bernard invited Reed for a man-to-man talk about serious manly stuff when Mom (title subject to change) had disappeared off to the ladies' room. He dragged Reed like a sack of potatoes towards the restaurant's backroom as he spoke candidly about all of his former exploits in his youth.
When he opened the old metal door, Bernard said, ”Welcome to the Starlight Troupe's HQ, lad! The home of the greatest thieves, spies, conmen, and heartbreakers in the galaxy! This is where legends were born, my boy, the heart of romance!”
When Bernard turned on the lights, the only thing Reed saw was an old, dusty room filled with trinkets and faded pictures. It honestly looked depressing, to the point that Reed said, ”This is what, now? A boy's secret club, or something? This is sort of...”
”Amazing, right?! You stand at the doorstep of greatness, my boy, the promised land of all men..... and women, too! We're an equal opportunity employer , mind you...”
”Why did you really bring me here? It's safe to say it wasn't so you could show me this, right?” said Reed as he slowly walked around the neglected room. The pictures on the wall had faded so much that he could no longer make out anything from them. A thick layer of dust had formed on the main table of the room and everything else in the room.
”....You're really hurting my feelings there, lad,” said Bernard as he faked an unconvincing sob. He abruptly stopped once he noticed that Reed hadn't fallen for the bait.
”...”
”A-Alright, alright! Don't get your panties up in a bunch, lad, it was just a joke...” Bernard shuffled over to a broken shelf of books and fiddled with them until he found what he wanted. He pulled out an old book and handed it to Reed with a small smile on his face.
”It's for you... from ya pops, lad. Well, it belongs to you now by rights of succession. You're finally old enough to inherit it. Go on, open it.”
Reed's heart thumped wildly. He opened the book, filled with a million expectations as he opened the book. As soon as he saw what was inside, he said, ”Wait.... that's it? Only this?”
It was a small silver key made of dull crystal . It looked cheap as hell like it might break if you held it too strongly. Reed snorted and chuckled in disappointment.
”Now, now, lad. Don't be like that. That right there is what all the folks in my business wish for — a literal call to adventure! I'll even tell ya what the key opens, lad!” said Bernard as he approached Reed.
Bernard looked around cautiously for a couple of seconds and then, after a long pause, said, ”It's your Pops's key , lad. It opens the hidden door to his secret hideout that he had back in the day when he was in the business, so to speak. Not even your mum knew about this, catch my drift? It was a secret between brothers, ya see....” His voice was so soft that even the flickering crystal lamp that lit the room was louder than him.
There was a firm solemnity in Bernard's tone that scared the living hell out of Reed. It felt as if a horrifying monster had been awoken from its slumber. He froze dead in place and did not dare move.
”It's located outside of the city, in the ruins of an old-world city, from before the collapse, Talfano City. It's where ya pops and I were born in — you as well , lad. I've already uploaded the coordinates on your little servitorum there, your flying book. Go there as soon as you can and....”
A rattling noise resounded in the empty room and the duo hurriedly acted on instinct as if their lives depended on it. Reed violently shoved the small silver key into one of his pockets and Bernard moved like lighting towards the other end of the room.
When the old door opened, Bernard smiled and said, ”Welcome back, my fair lady, I was just regaling the lad with some of our stories, hahaha... Also...” He rummaged around an old cabinet for a bit and pulled out a black cloak of considerable quality. It had the symbol of a golden sun that shimmered under the light.
”I thought it best that the lad take the cloak for his own protection since he's here now. It more or less belongs to him anyway, right?” Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please clickfor visiting.
”.....” It looked like she wanted to say something, but held back in the end.
Bernard quickly thrust the cloak onto Reed and said, ”The cloak's an old keepsake of your pops, lad. There's a very special enchantment weaved into the cloak, granting the wearer... a host of unique abilities... It's also stylish too, heh...”
Reed gazed at the cloak in his hands; it felt warm to the touch although it had been stored away for an age or two. It felt... pleasant to hold and was softer than a cloud. He put it on and found that it matched him perfectly like a glove.
”It's perfect. I'm also a big fan that's self-warming, too. It gets cold where I live, so this'll be a complete lifesaver for me.”
Bernard and Acuecucyoticihuati glanced at each other for an instant and then smiled. They complimented Reed's appearance as they both thought the same thing simultaneously:
It's not supposed to be self-warming at all because... that isn't one of its abilities.
They gazed at Reed and wondered what it meant. They concluded that only the original owner would know what this change meant... After all, he was the one who created it.