Chapter 304 - 304: Another One
"Order on table 6!"
"Order on table 2!"
A month had already passed since Charlotte’s death, but the tavern she had built was livelier than ever. Even after a month, the Branch still had no signs of moving and heading to the next realm, Muspelheim. With nothing to do, Van took it upon himself to continue Charlotte’s only legacy, which was her tavern.
Even with it dilapidated the first time that Van had seen it, the tracks of how Charlotte had taken care of it still remained. With her death, no one was left to take care of the place. And so, with Lorei as the tavern’s chef, Van had decided to take care of it. There was also the fact that t was the best place to gather information, as races from all over the 9 realms were currently residing on the Branch.
But alas, besides some juicy gossips, there weren’t any useful information, at least not yet.
With Lorei’s recipes as well as Van’s speed, Charlotte’s Tavern quickly boomed, with a line even persisting outside which garnered even more attention.
"High Human Van, we’re about to run out of ingredients!" Lorei peaked her head out of the kitchen, screaming with all her might to try and drown the noise of the tavern.
And as soon as Lorei’s words reached Van’s ears, he quickly served all of the food he was carrying and left the tavern. And after a few seconds, some of the diners could not help but jump from their seat as a bear, even bigger than most of the giants, barged inside the tavern.
They quickly unsheathed their weapons, pointing all of them to the boar. Most of the diners that remained sitting, on the other hand, burst out in laughter.
"Move, move."
"The boar talks!"
With that, the laughter that was already traversing the air became even stronger.
"What are you guys doing!? You’re blocking High Human Van’s way!" Lorei then stepped out of the kitchen, waving a huge axe and gesturing to the people to make a path.
"High Human Van?" The diners that were on high alert all looked at each other. Some of the giants crouched to the ground, only to see Van beneath the boar, effortlessly carrying it with a casual expression on his face.
"...Move."
With Van repeating his words, all the agitated diners quickly hid their weapons and moved away. Most of the people on the Branch already knew who Van was, as he was the topic of most of the juicy rumors that Van had been hearing for a month.
He was already standing out as being one of the two only High Humans living on the Branch, and with Charlotte’s disappearance, it was inevitable that he would be talked about.
Some say he wasn’t actually a High Human, but a full Aesir as his strength was beyond what High Humans should be capable of.
Some say he was actually an Aesir that was exiled, forced to live on the Branch.
But perhaps the most ridiculous rumor around him was that he was actually a colossal serpent disguised as a High Human. This was due to him leaving trails of golden lightning as he ran, resembling a serpent from afar. The wings of light that flapped on the sides of his feet did not help alleviate that rumor.
Van did not really mind the rumors, as they also helped to bring in the customers.
After Van dropped the colossal boar in the kitchen, he returned to serving the dishes to the customers. It already became a routine for him... and in a sort of skewed way, he found the most normal way of life in a place that was completely foreign to him.
But once they move on to the next Realm, he probably needed to find a replacement for him here. This life was momentary, and Van was cherishing each and every moment of it.
He now somewhat understands why Charlotte decided to build a tavern, it wasn’t a bad way to pass the time. He would lie if he said he wasn’t starting to like it.
"Order on table 9!"
"Order..."
And after a few more hours of this, the two decided to call it a day and closed the tavern. But as the final customer left, the door to the tavern was once again opened.
"We’re closed, please return tomorrow," Lorei said, not even looking at the customer that stepped in as she continued wiping the tables.
"Lorei... so it really is you."
With her name being called, Lorei quickly stopped to look in the direction of the voice, only to see a group of frost giants standing near the door.
"Father? What... are you doing here?" Lorei could not help but furrow her eyebrows as she looked at the group of people one by one, her eyes resting on the man that was in front of the group.
"I could ask you the same thing, Lorei Gruntdottir," the old frost giant stepped forward, "You are supposed to be protecting the Ash giants."
"Father, haven’t you heard? All of the dwarves in Jotunheim have already been contained," Lorei let out a short but deep sigh, "With the River gone, there will also be no unexpected visits from the Aesir."
"Then come back to the city," Lorei’s father said as he continued to approach her, "Stop wasting your time here."
"...Is that why you came here? How do you even know I am-- never mind."
Lorei was going to ask how they knew of Lorei’s location; but seeing as Van attracted all sorts of rumors, she was sure she was included in one or two of those. "I can’t go back, father. Not yet. I am helping High Human Van with his journey."
"All the more reason for you to come home, my daughter. Please, do not involve yourself with the Vanir."
"But why? They’ve helped us for as long as I can remember!" Lorei quickly shook her head as she waved off her father’s hands, which were about to grab her shoulders, "At least here, I have great purpose."
"You call cooking for different races a great purpose?" Lorei’s father started to raise his voice, "You will be returning to the castle today!"
Lorei’s father then raised his hand, and as soon as he did so, the other frost giants he was with all started to rush towards Lorei, tightly grabbing her by the arms and dragging her away.
"G... get your hands off of me!" Lorei wanted to struggle, but as soon as she did so, she was lifted into the air by the other frost giants, with half of them grabbing her by the ankles, "Father! Stop this!"
"Lorei, you will thank me later. The Vanir may have helped us, but their world is far too different from ours. Continuing in this path will only lead you to the darkness their race is hiding." Lorei’s father could only shake his head as he told his men to continue dragging her away. But before they could reach the exit, the door’s small door opened.
"..."
"H... high Human Van!"
Van could only blink a couple of times as he looked back and forth between Charlotte and the random giants that were carrying her.
"...No visitors after operating hours, Lorei."
"T... they’re not visitors!"
"You are High Human Van?"
Lorei’s father immediately stepped forward, respectfully bowing towards Van.
"It would seem that my daughter had imposed herself on you. For that, I truly apologize," he then said, "You do not have to worry, as I, Grunt Lottison, will now be taking her away from your hands."
"Hm," Van casually nodded before looking towards Lorei, "I’ll send you your severance pay next week."
"Oka-- wait, no!" Lorei once again continued to struggle, causing the frost giants that were carrying him to almost stumble, "I don’t want to go! Our journey hasn’t even started yet, High Human Van!"
Hearing Lorei’s words, Van slowly looked at Lorei’s father before letting out a shrug, "You heard her."
"Please, High Human Van. As a member of the royal family, my daughter has a duty to fulfill in Jotunheim," Grunt once again bowed towards Van, his voice slightly trembling, "I can not allow her to run off to another realm."
"Of course she’s from a royal family," Van could not help but let out a sigh as he turned to look at Lorei. One way or another, the people he has met always played a prominent role in their vicinity. A daughter of the strongest Enhancer in the world, a daughter of a king, son of the richest person in the country... the list goes on.
And now, it would seem that he had in his hands another member of a royal family.
"What about it, Lorei? Want to go home?"
"N... no!"
"Please, High Human Van, do not make things difficult for us," Grunt then once again raised his hand, and as soon as he did so, the frost giants that were carrying Lorei gently put her down, "We do not want you as an enemy."
"W... what? No, wait!" Even though Lorei was still trying to recover herself, as soon as she saw her father’s men unsheathing their weapons, she quickly rushed to get in between Van and her kin, "You’re escalating the situation, father. Just go!"
"You are the one escalating the situation, my daughter. It has already been more than a month since the Branch had stopped in Jotunheim, there is a possibility of it leaving anytime soon," Grunt shook his head as he too, unsheathed the sword that was hanging on his waist,
"I will not allow you to leave...
...even if I have to fight a Vanir in the process."
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