“Huh?”


  Mag stared at Cayrols with a shocked expression on his face. He had thought of many reasons why Cayrols would perhaps wish to speak with him, but never had he thought that he would extend an invitation for Mag to travel to Rodu and cook for the king.

  “His Majesty’s birthday is coming soon, and Prince Josh asked me to find a suitable present for His Majesty. After tasting your steak tonight, I think there is no better present for His Majesty than for you to cook a few dishes for him.” Cayrols was very pleased with Mag’s reaction. Indeed, it was an immense honor to be able to cook for the king of the Roth Empire.

  A reluctant expression appeared on Mag’s face as he said, “Um…… Ambassador Cayrols, I’m really flattered that you think so highly of me, but my cooking really isn’t worthy of being offered to His Majesty. If something were to go wrong, I would be killed, but most importantly, it would make you and Prince Josh look bad as well, and that would be a heinous crime on my part.”


  Only an idiot would go! Mag rolled his eyes internally. Alex had escaped from Rodu under extremely arduous circumstances three years ago, yet Cayrols was asking him to go back? He certainly wasn’t stupid enough to agree to such a suicidal proposal!

  Josh and the Magus Tower were definitely behind the ambush three years ago.

  He definitely had a vendetta against Josh, but at his current power level, he wouldn’t even be able to take out Josh’s guards, let alone exact his revenge.

  As such, he didn’t have any excuse to go to Rodu before he recovered his full strength.

  Right at this moment, the system’s voice sounded. “Ding! New mission: accept this man’s invitation and travel to Rodu to cook for the king! Reward for mission completion: one super massive reward! On top of that, the restaurant will immediately be upgraded to level three! Punishment for mission failure: three strength points will be deducted!”


  “Did you buy a life insurance policy for me and set yourself as the beneficiary party?” Mag asked internally.

  “The system doesn’t offer insurance services,” the system replied in a serious manner.

  “Then you’re pushing me straight into a fire pit! Are you that keen to kill me so you can find a new host? Is Rodu a place I can go to as my current self? If I go there, there’s going to be nothing left of me soon!” Mag roared internally.

  The system was being downright preposterous! Furthermore, the punishment for mission failure was completely unacceptable to Mag. He current only had 3.5 strength points, and if three of them were to be deducted, he would be borderline disabled again!

  “Why don’t you adjust the punishment for mission failure to a deduction of 3.5 strength points instead? Don’t even bother leaving the half of a strength point for me!” Mag added.

  “If I deduct 3.5 strength points, you’ll be killed right away. That goes against the system’s moral code, so it cannot be done. Also, don’t get so worked up about this. After consulting the database, I’ve deduced that there’s a 50% chance that there won’t be any danger involved with this trip. Hence, you have a very high probability of survival,” the system replied earnestly.

  “I’m fine as I currently am! Why do I have to do something that has a 50% chance of getting me killed?” Mag was still very displeased.

  The system gave a serious reply. “This unforeseen event has triggered one of the system’s hidden missions. On the birthday banquet for the king of the Roth Empire, the best chefs of the Roth Empire would be in attendance. You must challenge and defeat those top-grade chefs during the birthday banquet; that will be a preliminary victory for you on your path to becoming the God of Cookery, and it can take your reputation and renown to greater heights. This is a process that a God of Cookery must go through.”


  “So there’s no way to change this?” Mag took a deep breath. He had already guessed that this would be the system’s intention. It was planning to plunge him into a make-or-break situation at the king’s birthday banquet, but Mag was still reluctant to expose himself to such a massive risk.

  “The system doesn’t have the right to change hidden missions, so this mission must be enforced with absolute strictness. I wish you good luck.” The system fell silent thereafter.

  Cayrols’ expression stiffened upon hearing Mag’s unexpected refusal. However, it appeared that Mag was simply concerned about his own cooking skills, so he offered an encouraging smile, and said, “You’re being far too modest, Mr. Mag. Even after dining at all of the renowned restaurants in Rodu and Chaos City, the steak that you made was still the best thing I’ve ever had. City Lord Michael and President Jeffree have also expressed their approval for your cooking skills. If your cooking doesn’t make the cut, then there’s no one in Chaos City that can even call themselves a chef!”


  “Well……” A hesitant expression appeared on Mag’s face. He had just had what appeared to be a lengthy argument with the system, but only a few moments had passed by in the real world. At this point, he was still scrambling for a way to get out of this situation, and he didn’t know whether he should accept Cayrols’ invitation or not.

  He didn’t want to go to Rodu, but he was even more averse to becoming a cripple.

  Thus, he had no choice.

  Cayrols was greatly assured by the hesitancy that had appeared on Mag’s face, and his smile widened even further as he said, “Mr. Mag, if you agree to travel to Rodu, Prince Josh will definitely reward you handsomely. Not only will you receive immense remuneration just for making this trip, if your cooking can please His Majesty, then you might get a chance to remain in the imperial palace as a chef. Furthermore, His Highness will give you an additional reward that’ll ensure you’re never left wanting for money for the rest of your life.”


  Mag quickly adopted a calm expression as he looked at Cayrols. In a voice that was neither haughty nor excessively humble, he replied, “Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Ambassador Cayrols. However, I’m still running a restaurant and raising a small child at the moment, so I’ll need some time to consider whether I can travel to Rodu or not.”


  “Alright, then I’ll be awaiting a response from you, Mr. Mag.” Cayrols was slightly taken aback by Mag’s response, but he didn’t press the issue any further. Instead, he added, “By the way, I’ll be returning to Rodu in 15 days to attend His Majesty’s birthday banquet, so I hope you can give me a definitive response before then.”


  “I’ll be sure to do so.” Mag nodded before exiting the booth.

  “This is a fantastic present; I wonder if Mr. Mag is going to agree or not. If this weren’t Chaos City, I’d make sure to take him with me even if I had to tie him up!” Cayrols heaved a resigned sigh as he looked on at Mag’s departing figure.

  As soon as he emerged from the booth, Mag was quickly surrounded by a bunch of businessmen. He only managed to shake them off with great difficulty before returning to Amy’s side.

  At the conclusion of the banquet, Amy’s use of magic was only addressed by Michael in a few airy remarks, but he didn’t extend any punishment or warning toward her.

  Mag emerged from the banquet hall behind Amy and Luna while cradling a sound asleep Ugly Duckling in his right arm.

  Luna was walking up ahead with Amy’s little hand in hers. She was wearing a stern expression as she chastised, “Amy, even though you were protecting me today, you can’t use magic so carelessly in a setting with so many people. That man today was a very bad person, but not bad enough that he should be killed. The people around him were even more innocent, and if they ended up being injured or killed by your magic, then you would’ve done something bad.”


  “But…… he insulted Father,” Amy retorted quietly with a pitiable look on her face.

  “Yes, I heard that as well, but we can’t just carelessly take other people’s lives no matter what. That is a rule that you must hold yourself accountable to.” Luna stopped and squatted down beside Amy. She looked into Amy’s eyes with a serious expression, and asked, “Can you do that for me?”


  “Hey, is your wife really dead?” Vivian suddenly asked as she walked along beside Mag.