Ricky finally managed to squeeze his way to the front of the crowd, and his flabby face trembled at the sight of the slip on the door.

  He had woken up earlier to come to Mamy Restaurant so he could issue an official challenge, but his plan had been thwarted by this hiatus slip. As such, the first thought that occurred to him was that Mag didn’t dare to accept the challenge and had fled under the guise of sourcing ingredients.

  He had absolute confidence in his roast meat. His rotisserie had been passed down through three generations, and was a well-established brand in Chaos City. Even without manipulating the rankings, they were still worthy of a place in the top 50 on the Aden Square food competition rankings board.

  Furthermore, he was very confident as he had also prepared a trump card to use against Mag. However, all his preparations had gone to waste as his opponent had disappeared. That was very infuriating to him.

  “Isn’t that the owner of Ricky’s Rotisserie? I recall he was constantly targeting Mamy Restaurant during last month’s Aden Square food competition, and tried to slander Boss Mag. After that, the Catering Association handed down a punishment to him for manipulating the rankings. What’s he doing here today?” Harrison had identified Ricky, and was rather perplexed.

  Many customers turned to look at Ricky upon hearing that. They were wondering what gave him the courage to appear at Mamy Restaurant again. Was he here to stir up more trouble?

  “I’m here to challenge the owner of this restaurant to a fair and square cooking contest. The contest will decide who is the king of roast meats in the Aden Square!” Ricky’s face became flushed with excitement under such widespread scrutiny, and he made a loud announcement with his right arm raised aloft.

  “Ricky’s Rotisserie! Ricky’s Rotisserie!” The rotisserie employee was also chanting loudly with his arms raised in the air, but he was clearly lacking confidence.

  “Mamy Restaurant doesn’t even sell roast meat, so that’s most likely not Boss Mag’s forte. Besides, Boss Mag never proclaimed himself the king of roast meats. Is this guy retarded?”


  “He must be! He’s trying to use his forte to challenge Boss Mag with a food item that he doesn’t even sell; what a shameless bastard!”


  “That’s not necessarily the case. Boss Mag is a genius; I feel like there’s no dish in this world that he can’t cook. Even if it’s roast meat, I believe Boss Mag’s will be the most delicious!”


  The customers all began to discuss spiritedly among themselves. Some were expressing their disdain for Ricky, while others were announcing their confidence in Mag.

  “Hmph! I’m going to come here again at noon. Let me see if this coward dares to accept my challenge!” Ricky harrumphed coldly and glared at all of the restaurant customers with a haughty expression before slowly walking away.

  At this moment, Mag had just emerged from the union with Amy and Ugly Duckling. He was holding a map in his hands, and after some careful inspection, he dragged his bicycle out from a nearby alley and rode it toward the southern city gates.

  He had secured a map of the area in which Ironhide Bulls were commonly found, but they were clearly going to be more difficult to find than bronze wild boars. He would have to go deeper into the forest for a chance to find them.

  Even though it was going to be a little troublesome, the temptation of the strength point and the mooncake recipe still prompted Mag to give it a try.

  Prior to exiting the city, Mag stowed his bicycle away in a safe place. The path outside the city was very bumpy, and not suitable for cycling. Mag had considered purchasing an off-road vehicle from the system, but decided against it after hearing the expensive quote and taking into consideration the fuel prices.

  The mercenaries emerged from city gates. Among them were massive forest trolls over five meters tall with tree trunks for legs, abyss demons riding atop their porcupine battle boar steeds, goblins lined up in orderly units, and giant dragons gliding through the air overhead. All of them were heading into the wilderness.

  “Father, are we mercenaries as well?” Amy sat on Mag’s shoulders with excitement on her face.

  “We are. We accepted a mission from the mercenary unison, so of course we’re mercenaries.” Mag nodded with a smile. These scenes were also making his heart rate accelerate, and a savage facet of himself seemed to be manifesting in his heart.

  “Mercenaries aren’t caretakers for little girls, buddy,” a knight yelled as he brushed past Mag on horseback.

  His words instantly drew raucous laughter from the mercenaries around them. Many of them turned to look at Mag with curiosity, wondering why he was taking a little half-elf girl into the wilderness without even a horse for a steed.

  Furthermore, aside from the strange-looking backpack on his back, he was only carrying a longish blade that didn’t even look like a proper weapon. As opposed to a professional mercenary, he looked more like a father taking her daughter out on a hike.

  Mag didn’t pay any heed to the ridicule directed toward him by the mercenaries. All mercenaries enjoyed a bit of banter, and they bore no actual ill will toward him. Besides, how were they supposed to know that he was carrying the most delicious condiments in his backpack, and that the blade he was carrying was the ideal weapon for killing Ironhide Bulls, the bull-slaying blade?

  “My father is the best mercenary and the best best best knight!” Mag didn’t pay them any heed, but Amy was not very happy.

  All of the mercenaries began to laugh even more boisterously at the sight of the serious expression on Amy’s little face.

  Right at that moment, a carriage being drawn by three unicorns stopped beside Mag and Amy. A woman was standing on the carriage, and she asked, “Hey, where are you going?”


  Mag turned to discover a beautiful woman with long flowing red hair. The light of the rising sun lent her tanned skin a pink hue, and her red and black leather armor was unable to fully conceal her voluptuous chest. Her miniature leather shorts revealed most of her long and athletic legs, drawing even more attention from the nearby bystanders. There was a boomerang over a meter in length strapped to her back, and she was surveying Mag and Amy with curiosity in her beautiful hazel eyes. She gave off the air of a feral leopard hunting for prey.

  There were seven other mercenaries sitting in her carriage, among which were orcs, demons, humans, and even an elf. It was clearly a small mercenary party.

  A huntress! That was the first thought that occurred to Mag. However, he couldn’t see any of the disdain and ridicule in her eyes that could be seen on the faces of the other mercenaries. He hesitated momentarily before replying, “We’re going to the Illusionary Mist Valley.”


  “Illusionary Mist Valley?” Sivir faltered momentarily before asking, “Are you hunting for Ironhide Bulls as well?”