Mage And Wolf
Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Chapter 167

"This is amazing. Do you eat like this all the time? Restaurants like this must be expensive." The Girl chatters once she gets a few bites in.

"I made that myself, so I’d say we usually eat things like this. It’s not that expensive, but some of the ingredients can be. What’s your name little one."

"Chou Gu Niang. But please call me Betty."

"Betty it is. That’s much easier to say."

[Inscription is over. If you’re clean, come get your cooking award, they’ll be handing them out in 30 minutes.] Karl sends me and I look down.

I’m kind of clean. I mean, the blood on me is wet from giving Betty a bath and my hands and face are clean. I should change.

"I’ll be back in a second, I need to clean up to go get the awards. Once you’re done eating we will go. After being stuck in that place, alone is likely the last place you want to be."

See gives me a single thumb up, focused on the food in front of her.

"Oh, and chew before you swallow, or you’ll make yourself sick." I laugh before going to shower and change into my Sect Robes.

As expected, she’s gasping and reaching for the water when I return. "See, chew, then swallow."

"OK, you were right. Do we have to go?" Betty asks.

"They’ll be giving me a cooking award most likely, so I really should go. Just stay close to me, nobody will bother you. Especially wearing the same Sect uniform that I am."

I usher Betty out the door, holding her hand so we don’t get separated. The old ladies working the food carts near the competition ooh and aah as we go by, thinking we’re out on an excursion to watch the show. But they give us sweets, so it’s hard to be angry. Who can be mad at a grandmother who gives you homemade fudge and caramel? Nobody, that’s who.

Once we get closer, I’m finally recognized "Young Miss, weren’t you kidnapped just a few hours ago? And who is this lovely young lady?"

"This is Betty. She will be staying with me for a while. Indeed I was grabbed by the Kuroki Sect, but they’re kind of idiots, so I left." I shrug and the older cultivator laughs.

"Ah, I thought it might be something like that. We’ve all been waiting for the awards ceremony so we could use it as an excuse to mount a search party for you and not upset the guards."

"You don’t look like you’re too scared of them coming for you again, if you don’t mind my saying." The old man says with a grin.

"Though Shadowed Blade is a neutral Sect, our Inner Disciples are trained to suit an Assassin and Bodyguard Sect, with a portion of the outer compound dedicated to training domestic staff and servants for the nobility as well as our own disciples." I grin back at him and he pats my head before pointing towards the judges stand.

"Best get up there and let everyone know you’re back."

The judges scores are up on the board. My first course walked away with the competition, but my second, the chicken pot pies, only beat what must have been an amazing braised pork belly by 4 points, one per judge. I’m a bit sad I missed out on trying that.

I drag Betty up with me to get the awards and see a look of shock on a family’s faces in the crowd before they quickly look away and move from the front rows. Hopefully she didn’t see that, I suspect that’s her family.

"Thank you all for your kindness, nothing is better than when people actually like your cooking. As many of you already know, a rather inept bunch of cultivators attempted to kidnap me off the street earlier. But I’m glad to say that they had a sudden change of heart and saw fit to release me unharmed."

There’s scattered laughter through the crowd at this and the judges present me a nice plaque with Young Miss engraved on it before clearing the stage for the inscription competitors, as all the other chefs have received their awards already and were just waiting on me.

I walk over to Elder Song, who has a merchant near him that seems to recognize Betty. "Could you watch Betty a moment, Elder? I need a quick word with your merchant friend in private." The merchant nods in agreement and Betty takes Elder Song’s hand, while the trouble maker pops a candy into her mouth. Sure, load the kid up on sugar. Well, it’s not like every old lady we passed didn’t do the same thing.

Once we’re away a short distance I begin to question the merchant. "I take it you know her, and what actually happened to have her end up with that Sect of idiots?"

"Her parents took out heavy loans, mostly from the Kuroki Sect to buy herbs and expand their business. But when it came time to pay up, things went sideways. Eventually the sect took the girl as collateral, thinking it would get them their money, but the parents wouldn’t budge and began denying all knowledge of ever having taken any loans, to the point they are going to court to contest that the contracts their creditors have are real and valid." The merchant says with disgust.

"Well, I might have done them a favor today, unwittingly. I should deal with her parents too, if the local merchant’s Guild isn’t going to?" I day on a questioning tone.

"After the trial they’ll be stripped of their business licenses and run out of town. They do get their day in court though, the merchant’s Guild is very by the book." The man nods.

"That’s good enough. I’ll keep the girl with me then. She’ll likely be better off this way."

We shake hands and return to Elder Song, so the two can continue their conversation. I pick up Betty so she can see, but the crowd parts and lets is through to the front so we can both see past the tall people.

"And now for our top three inscriptions from the Artisans of the Inner Sect. A Rank 5 invisibility talisman from the Sacred Thunder Sect." I cheer along with the crowd as the third place finisher waves to the crowd.

"A Rank 5 calmness charm from the Virtuous Alliance." The applause is scattered and light, as befits the dull and uptight Virtuous Cultivators.

"And finally, our winner of the Inner Sect Disciples Inscription Competition, a Rank 6 Penetrating Talisman from the Shadowed Blade Sect." Karl steps up to get his award and waves at the crowd. I recognize that charm, it’s an updated version of the one they tested with throwing knives back at the sect. This one looks simpler, they must have worked out some redundancies.

"Thank you all for the support. I note we had a minor mishap during the testing, but that was my own oversight, not a flaw with the talisman." The crowd roars in laughter, so I must have missed something good.

I turn to look at the gentleman next to me and he whispers "Right through the target and pegged the judge in the arse."

Once the laughter dies down Karl continues. "Thank you all including the fine folks of the Caledonia Sect Council who organized this competition for the amazing time we’ve had here. It’s unfortunate that the Shadowed Blade could only send a few Inner Court disciples here this year, but we will strive to send more next year."

"Send more cooks!" Black Coffee man, one of the judges from the Cooking competition cheers, making everyone laugh.

"We’ll do our best." Karl chuckles and waves as he heads towards me and Betty.

"Good Job." I greet him with a big hug, and he picks me up and spins me once before turning to Betty.

"And who do we have here? I think you’re a Betty. You look like you should be named Betty." He says and she laughs.

"What should I call you? She said your name is Karl, but is that too personal?" Betty asks, half hiding behind me.

"That’s fine. I don’t stick by formality. You can call this one here Elder Song. Be careful though, he’s a trouble maker." Karl laughs as Elder Song sneaks her more candies.

"So, can we keep her?" I ask Elder Song. "At least until we get back to the Sect anyhow."

"I don’t see why not." Elder Song smiles. "You’ve got Karl to pat your head, I’ll take Betty."

The little girl is laughing so hard her eyes are watering. "Are you guys comedians?"

"No, we’re just weird. You get used to it." Karl smiles. "You’ll grow up plenty strong traveling with us, we’re on an adventure looking for the perfect present to give to a group of potential friends at home. So there will be lots of walking."

"Got it! I won’t let you down." Betty says solemnly. She really has given up on her parents, even out here in the crowd she doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about finding them. That’s good for me, saves explaining to our potential disciple why they didn’t want her back.