When Mag came out from the city lord’s castle, it was already close to noon. He had already plastered a hiatus slip onto the door of the restaurant, so he changed his clothes and traveled to several detective agencies. There, he provided some information and also purchased some information as well.

  After what happened at the banquet last night, I’ve attracted a lot of attention. However, I can’t disclose the name, Noya Gould, yet. Still, there should be some people who will make the connection and spread the rumor. When that time comes, all I have to do is wait for the people from the Barkly Family to come and find me. Mag ripped the piece of paper in his hands to shreds and tossed it into the gutter. He then entered an alleyway and changed back into his original clothes, and then ate a bland meal of noodles at a random restaurant before preparing to return home.

  Right at this moment, the system’s voice suddenly sounded. “Ding! New mission: please head to the food market and purchase three required ingredients. Condition: all purchased ingredients must be of the highest quality in the entire market! Reward for mission success: 0.5 of a strength point; punishment for mission failure: 0.5 of a strength point will be deducted.”


  “Huh?” Mag’s feet faltered, and a perplexed look appeared on his face as he asked internally, “System, aren’t you responsible for supplying all of my ingredients? Why are you suddenly asking me to buy ingredients elsewhere? That seems to be very out of character for you. Also, even the best produce in the markets is far inferior to the quality of the ingredients you provide. If we suddenly switch to lower quality ingredients in our dishes, the customers are going to be able to immediately notice a difference.”


  “Only the best ingredients can produce the best dishes, so the ability to pick out the best ingredients is a prerequisite for a brilliant chef. You’re very lacking in this area, so this is a supplementary mission that must be completed prior to your trip to Rodu. You must master the ability to pick out the best ingredients on your own. During your time in Rodu, the system won’t be providing any ingredients other than condiments to you,” the system replied in a serious voice.

  “I see.” Mag’s expression also became quite serious upon hearing this. He could already understand the system’s intentions.

  In the past, he had always relied on the system to provide the best ingredients for him. Due to the closed-off nature of his restaurant, even if someone were to raise suspicions regarding the avenues through which he procured his ingredients, he could always fabricate an excuse to placate him.

  However, if he were to travel to Rodu and cook the king’s birthday feast, he definitely wouldn’t be allowed to bring his own ingredients into the palace. Instead, he would be forced to use ingredients provided by others.

  As such, the ability to pick the best ingredients would obviously become very important.

  “A 0.5 strength point reward? That’s quite generous of the system. Don’t mind if I do.” Mag chuckled to himself as he rode on his bicycle toward the food market.

  After spending a silver coin to convince an old man stationed at the entrance of the food market to look after his bicycle, Mag walked straight into the market.

  The food market in the Aden Square was the largest of its kind in the entirety of Chaos City. Virtually any ingredient that could be found in Chaos City could also be found in this market.

  A tall and broad orc stood beside a massive skinned python as he yelled, “Have a look, everyone, this is a freshly slain 3rd-tier magic beast, a Black Rock Python! Beneath its rock-hard skin is supple and delicious python flesh. If you miss out on this one, it’ll be a blue moon before you encounter another one!”


  The python was as thick as a water tank, and it was over 10 meters long. The entire thing was dripping with blood as it hung from a rack, creating a rather gruesome sight to behold.

  “Live Pine Tree Mice up for sale! Perfect for keeping as a pet or roasted for a meal. There are only three left now, so make sure to get them quick!” An elf was holding in his hand a cage, within which were enclosed three squirrel-like creatures. The rodents were whizzing about in the cage in a very adorable manner, drawing the attention of a few kids nearby.

  A dark-skinned middle-aged man was holding a banner above his head with buckets filled with freshwater lobsters in front of him while he sobbed, and yelled, “Our boss ran away with his wife so no one’s paying our wages, and we can only sell this 1st-tier magic beast, the Skin-Skin Lobster! The price is 300 copper coins per kilogram, and we’re selling only while stock lasts!”


  Mag looked at the Skin-Skin Lobsters that were comparable in size to Australian lobsters, and discovered that they did indeed have a lot of skin on them. However, the story that the middle-aged man was telling seemed to be a little familiar.

  “Look out! The fire chicken escaped from its cage!” Right at this moment, a panicked voice erupted as a fire chicken that was taller than a grown man rushed out from a shop with flames burning all over its body.

  A brawny half-naked man came rushing out behind it while wielding a meat cleaver, alerting everyone to the situation with his loud voice. The passersby all rushed away in panic, and the market instantly descended into complete turmoil. The fire chicken was a magic beast, and could severely injure the average person even just by grazing them.

  Mag just so happened to be on the path directly in front of the oncoming fire chicken, and his brows furrowed as he looked at the slow elderly couple behind him.

  The fire chicken was the main ingredient in his braised chicken, and the first time he had hunted for them, a fire chicken had almost killed him. As such, he knew how dangerous these things were, particularly in a congested market with so many people around.

  The management staff in the market was already rushing in this direction, and some of the more powerful passersby were also preparing to step in, but their intervention would most likely be too late for the old couple behind Mag.

  A scorching aura was already sweeping toward Mag, and as the fire chicken opened its mouth, a lava-like red glow could be seen shimmering within.

  “Let me borrow this for a second.” Mag grabbed a knife from the rack of a nearby vegetable salesman before stepping forward.

  The knife flashed through the air, and Mag already appeared on the other side of the fire chicken.

  A chicken head went flying high into the air before tumbling to the ground. The oncoming fire chicken only charged forward for two more steps before falling to the ground, and the flames on its body also quickly fizzled out.

  “Phew~”


  The brawny man heaved a long sigh of relief as he came rushing over while holding his cleaver. If the chicken he was selling were to kill or injure someone in this market, he would be in deep trouble.

  “Bro, you’re really good at killing chickens!” The brawny man gratefully gave Mag a thumbs-up.

  “Practice makes perfect, I guess.” Mag cupped his fist in a salute before returning the knife to the vegetable salesman, who was still completely flabbergasted by what he saw. Mag smiled, and said, “Your knife is very sharp; thanks for lending it to me.”


  “You’re very welcome!” The vegetable salesman hurriedly shook his head in response.

  A smattering of applause instantly erupted as everyone looked at Mag with approval in their eyes. Many people had come forward to inquire about the price of that knife.

  Mag smiled and nodded to acknowledge the applause before continuing to wander through the market. Mag had been here on several previous occasions, and had been overawed by the variety of magic beast ingredients in this place during all of those instances. If these creatures were living on Earth, all of them would be highly protected species, but here in this market, they were merely ingredients that could be sold without any repercussions.