"Nathan! Lamb meat for table two!" Uncle Josh shouted from his kitchen that is only a meter away from the closest customer, and I can tell everyone got startled by his sudden shout.

"On it!" I hurriedly ran up to him and grabbed four plates of cooked lamb meat he prepared. 

I placed the plates carefully on my arms so that I could bring all four at the same time, and all the customers were in awe at my amazing balance with bringing the plates. This level of balance is really nothing compared to the training I did, so it was not a big deal for me.

"Nathan, raven soup for table four!"

"Yes! Coming!"

"Nathan! Prepare drinks!"

"O-Okay…"

I was doing my very best to keep up with all the orders, and I think I'm doing really well for my first time. None of the customers complained, and most of their meals arrived in less than fifteen to twenty minutes, so it was still an understandable amount of time.

But, the one who is the most amazing is certainly Uncle Josh. He is the only cook in this big restaurant, and he is cooking six to seven plates of dishes at once very quickly. He is keeping up with the soup in the pot while also cooking the fried chicken on top of the frying pan. None of the food was overly cooked or undercooked, and I can tell because I'm the one serving all those plates to the customers.

He really is… an amazing chef. If there is ever a holy knight or a dark knight figure in the cooking world, then he is definitely one.

Many hours after that, the customers who came became less and less. I noticed that the tasks were much easier compared to before, and I was able to sit down and relax at the tall table.

Uncle Josh then placed down a cup of water on the table in front of me, and I knew he was cheering me up.

"Good job. You did amazing for your first time." Uncle Josh complimented me for doing well, and I laughed a little.

"It was nothing. I'm actually more surprised that you were able to cook so many dishes at once." I returned the compliment, and Uncle Josh folded his hands before explaining.

"Well, things like this don't happen often, but I always prepared myself once it did come. However, it usually wasn't this hard because I always had help before." Uncle Josh mentioned a help that didn't arrive, and I became curious about it.

"Oh? Who was helping you? What happened?"

"My son. He is a little bit older than you, and he usually helps me out on a Sunday evening like this. He works for the knight regiment in the city, but he is always able to excuse himself to help me out every Sunday night.

Unfortunately, he was very busy tonight. Earlier, Jacob and Baltra came over right before the sun set and warned me about not being able to help out in the evening. They said that the knights are being rallied by their higher ups for a discussion, to warn them about a certain event that might come soon."

An event that might come soon… it can only be one thing.

"The academy entrance exam, right?" I guessed, and Uncle Josh nodded heavily.

"It's annoying, but… the city will be very crowded during that time. Above all, plenty of very important nobles and individuals will be coming, so security of the city has increased even further than before. But, if I were to repeat what Baltra and Jacob said… I think it's because the crown prince of the fire kingdom is coming very soon."

Ha… that's the real reason, isn't it?

"I see… if such an important individual were to be coming, then surely protective measures must be taken. Otherwise, it might be considered a disrespect to the kingdom as well as endangering their future leader." I gave my analysis of the situation, and Uncle Josh nodded in agreement.

"It's certainly a hassle if you're an Ellen citizen, but it's an even bigger headache if you're a knight of Ellen. I think they're going to implement a full day rotation of shifts to keep the city on guard all day long."

"Are they not already doing that?" I asked, not knowing anything about how Ellen's knight system works.

"They're not. Only a select number of knights are assigned to the evening shifts. But now, they're really going to split all their firepower into every hour." Uncle Josh continued while finishing up with a soup on the pot, and I was able to fully understand the shift system.

"Then, when is your son coming back?" I asked Uncle Josh out of curiosity, but he took it with a different message.

"Want to go back home already? Come on, the shop is open until nine!" He replied quite annoyedly, and I can't blame him for taking my question that way.

"It's not that. I'm just wondering how long this rally is going to be."

"It shouldn't take too long. He should be back very soon."

To Uncle Josh's answer, I decided to just wait it out and continue helping him. But, even until the shop closes, his son still did not come back.

"I'll be leaving, Uncle Josh!" I shouted inside the restaurant right before I exited the door.

The lights on the restaurant were already turned off, and all the customers are already gone. We've already cleaned up the tables, and all that is left for me was to just leave. Uncle Josh is in the back room, sorting out the ingredients. And when he heard me yelling, he peeked his head out of the door.

"All right! Thanks for your help, little man." Uncle Josh gave me a thumbs up from the opened door, and I nodded at him before leaving.

The night is still quite early, and I'm surprised that Uncle Josh closed his shop that quickly. It's probably because he was all alone, and he didn't want to trouble me by keeping the shop open until midnight. But, thinking about it, I was handling the customers just fine after dinner hour had passed. It's no longer as crowded the later the night gets, so he could've handled the customers even if he was alone.

Maybe he is afraid of special visitors? Like, troublemakers? Who knows.

Anyway… I wonder if Lily is still awake.

"Oh, welcome back." Lily greeted me as soon as I entered the inn, and I smiled at her seeing that she was still awake.

"You're still wide awake? I thought you'd be quite tired since we had a long day." I said to her as I walked closer to the front desk, and she only laughed while shaking her head.

"No, I'm much stronger than I look! Oh, by the way…" Lily quickly turned behind her, where an old lady was found staring at me sternly. "This is Lady Barnes, the owner of the inn."

Behind the front desk, an old lady is keeping her eyes on me intensely. I can't help but notice that my current appearance is being judged by her immensely.

"Good evening… madam." I said to the inn owner, and she snorted at me.

"What's a young man doing, coming back so late at night? Not only are you making a lady wait, but you also look quite tired." The old lady Barnes said with annoyance, and both me and Lily looked surprised.

"A lady wait??" Lily repeated, but she was ignored by the old lady.

"I was helping out an old man with his restaurant. He was flooded with customers, but he didn't have a second pair of hands to assist him with the abundance of customers." I told the truth to Lady Barnes, and for some reason, she knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Josh?? That old widow?"

Widow…….?

"Yes. Uncle Josh said his son was away because of knight duties. He asked me to help him out by becoming a waiter." I explained to the old lady, and Lily overheard what I said.

"You became a waiter?? I'd love to see it!" She said so excitedly, and I only laughed a little at her.

"Well, it's true that the knights are indeed quite busy these days. Because of those damn royals from the other countries coming here, thinking that they're the greatest human beings!" The old lady immediately started ranting about royals… in front of me and Lily.

"Right… the royals…" Lily muttered out of respect, but the old lady did not stop there.

"Those damn royals are really making our jobs harder. Sure, we get a lot of visitors, but now the knights have to stay up all night to keep an eye on the city! The mayor is even dumber for bowing his head to those rich bastards. They're not even a part of our city!! Why bother!?" The old lady continued her rant, and it did not end there.

Lily and I then spent the next five minutes just listening to Lady Barnes ranting about how bad nobles and royals are. If only she knew who the two people who are listening to her really were… then again, it's better if she thinks we're two random kids off the street.

She might rant even longer if she knew who we are. I just hope she doesn't find out.

Lily then excused herself to show me my room, and I was about to complain to her that I already knew. But, apparently it's so that we both can get away from the old lady at the same time, and she seems to have something to say to me.

We both then walked up the stairs in silence, not wanting the old lady to hear anything we say. Once we got to the third floor, which was where my room is at, Lily let out a long tired sigh.

"I'm sorry… that old lady sure does like to talk about random things." Lily started off with an apology, and I didn't really mind it considering it wasn't her fault.

"It's not your fault, it's okay. More importantly, you were waiting for me?" I asked because the old lady said it, but Lily looked like she had trouble admitting the truth.

"That… I admit, I was kind of waiting for you. But you took so long to come back, I was about to just go to bed." Lily admitted in the end.

"Sorry, I was really helping the old man with his restaurant. I can't just ignore him when he needs help that much." I already told this story to Lady Barnes before, and Lily remembers it. "Other than that, why were you waiting for me?"

"I.…" Lily couldn't answer, and she turned her face away. I noticed that I had made her uncomfortable again, and I quickly apologized.

"Sorry, that was wrong for me to ask--"

"It's okay. I was… I wanted to tell you something, actually." Lily turned her gaze back to me, and I was surprised that she was forcing herself to say what's on her mind.

"What is it?"

"I… don't think I can go on another walk with you tomorrow." Lily finally said what's on her mind, and I was quite surprised.

"Oh? Were you busy?" I said a little calmly, which made Lily feel a little bit better knowing that I'm not too disappointed.

"Yeah. I have things I need to do for… the next few days. I will probably be able to come back around the time before the exam." Lily tried remembering which date was the correct one, and I understand.

"In that case, it's no problem. I can wait." I replied calmly, and Lily was quite surprised that I'm taking her reasoning so simply.

"Are you not… disappointed?" She asked a little awkwardly, afraid of being too nosy in my business.

"Well, a little. I mean, we made a promise only a few hours ago that we would do the same thing tomorrow." I told the truth to her, and Lily looked extra surprised by my answer.

"I'm sorry… but it's really not something I can ignore."

"It's okay, because it's not like we're never going to meet again after that. Besides, won't we have plenty of chances to do that once we're in the academy?" I said cheerfully, and Lily seemed to like that idea very much.

"Then, I'll take you up on that offer!" She said with a brighter face, and I felt better seeing her back smiling like this.

Lily then started running down the stairs, and she waved her hand before disappearing out of sight. From the looks of it, she must be in such a hurry to leave. Once she left, I entered my room and immediately laid down on my bed. In my head, I just can't stop thinking of Lily.

For her to leave so quickly like that, and for that long period of time… it must be some important business for her.

I wonder what it might be about.