“PWEEEUUU!!!” Zeus’ face scrunched up as he brought a spoonful of rainbow goop up to this mouth.

Astor, who was sitting across from Zeus wheezed the moment his spoonful came within a foot of his face.

Sean covered his mouth with one hand to stop himself from hurling onto Astor. The mask, which had done nothing for the smell, rested by his side.

Haru, on the other hand was completely unfazed. Where everyone was working on their first bite, he had already emptied half the plate.

“I DON’T know how YOU can eat this DISH so FAST, IT smells worse than my GRANDADDY after he ESCAPED from A KING LEVIATHIN’S BUNGHOLE.” Zeus craned his neck toward the spoon he was holding as his teeth clattered. “TO THINK MY RESOLVE WOULD BE SO TESTED, AND YET, I HAVE HEARD SO MANY GOOD THINGS!!!”

Astor cast a smug look at the struggling Zeus even though his own spoon was shaking just as violently as he held it an inch away from his lips. The only given force keeping it as stable as it was, was the even greater fear that the smelly substance would stain his clothes with its stink forever.

“I-I-It was your idea to have us partake in the world’s stinkiest curry challenge to get some free food and you can’t even take a bite? Heh. You’ve lost your fang, old man. Maybe you should consider retiring yourself, instead of roping the world’s proper pensioners into another one of your wild adventures, huh?” Astor taunted the giant with watering eyes.

“OHOHO! THE LITTLE KING SPEAKS, AND WITH SUCH DELOCATE AND QUIVERING WRISTS TOO! Should I STABLE your HAND, YOUR DAINTY HIGHNESS, So that you can QUIT mewling and TAKE your FIRST bite? THIS MIGHT BE FUN! Let’s MAKE it a CHALLENGE! If you can GET three SPOONS down without HURLING, I will PERSONALLY carry you BACK to your NURSING home. If I WIN, you must TAKE this ADVENTURE seriously,” Zeus replied with a twinge of annoyance on his face.

“You’re on. Don’t cry to me when you lose,” Astor chortled as he swung his hand to the side in a grand gesture, which unfortunately smacked Sean’s spoon into his mouth, triggering violent coughing and gags as the curry assaulted his throat.

“BLECK! Guys… stop that… other people are looking,” Sean squeezed out words in between his hacking.

Haru meanwhile slammed his empty plate onto the table and raised his hand to beckon the green-haired waitress over.

“Miss, I have finished the Stinky Doom Kari,” Haru nodded, “…The newbies may be struggling with it, but I thought the dish was pretty alright, ha ha,” he chuckled and thumbed at the rest of his party.

“Speaking of WHICH, may I receive my reward?”

“Let me get the Master Chef, he’ll present you with your reward personally…” the waitress replied as she eyed Haru up and down. People had completed the challenge before, but no one had ever put the plate away before in a matter of minutes, much less saying that it was an okay dish. She was dumbfounded.

A few minutes after the waitress left, a lanky man with warm gray hair, emerald eyes, and a thick handlebar mustache appeared from the kitchen. He was levitating a plate of rich brown curry sitting beneath perfectly deep-fried pork cutlets. The dish twinkled with an indescribable divine essence. A kiss from the gods.

Strangely enough, the steam that was rising from the plate froze in place, it was almost as though its time had been stopped. And that, was because it had. This was the Master Chef, and the spectacle drew all the eyes on him as he headed toward Haru.

“May I present unto you, the Curry of the Gods. The one and only Midas Touch, earned by a brave soul who has endured the stinkiest of stink, the stenchiest of stench, the Stinky Doom Kari!” the chef clamored, garnering claps and hoots and haws from the other patrons.

“Yo Iván… long time no see!” Haru gestured a wave.

The chef began sweating bullets the moment he heard Haru greeting him, he immediately bobbled his head unenthusiastically, which for anyone who was familiar with India would know that it indicated a no. “Ah, honorable guest, I know not this Iván whom you are referring to, here is your Midas Touch, enjo—”

“Hey Iván, what happened to your Curry House? I’ve been craving that taste while taking on requests for the Guild in the past several months,” Sean chimed in after he recovered from the spoonful of nasty from earlier. He immediately recognized the gray-haired Iván when he saw him. The pool of stuck-players was small after all.

Meanwhile, Astor and Zeus were engaged in a spiritual showdown. The air between the two men was like an erupting volcano. Both were caught in a Mexican standoff as neither one wanted to take the first bite.

“WHAT’S the matter little KING?! Your royal FOOD not to your LIKING?” Zeus insisted.

“Why don’t you show me how the elder lion feasts on his kill?” Astor retorted.

“NON, I may BE a LION, but YOU are still THE king, it would be RUDE for me to take the FIRST bite. OHO!” Zeus replied.

“I may wear the crown, but elders like you have served our country dutifully. A king knows when to yield to his best subjects, does he not?” Astor gave a yielding gesture.

“Oho…” Zeus trailed off after the exchange, searching for words he did not have. However, the moment he heard Haru and Sean mention Iván, he immediately stood up in an exaggerated manner and used that as a distraction to chuck his spoon of curry right into Astor’s mouth.

“IVÁN, my boy!” Zeus came over to Iván to pat him on the shoulder as Astor’s face slammed into the table the moment the curry’s flavor touched his sensitive palate.

“HEY! IS THAT TRUE? IS THAT STINKY IVÁN?!” one patron shouted after hearing Zeus and the boys.

“OY, THAT’S THE GUY WHO POISONED HIS PATRONS AND REFUSED TO PAY FOR DAMAGES!!!” another chimed in.

“AH! HIS CURRY MELTED MY TOILET!!!” another added to the shouting.

Soon, all the patrons were on their feet with their forks and spoons in the air, steadily turning into an angry mob as Iván tried to abate their misplaced anger.

“No, no, no, I am not Iván, I am Ajván, very similar yes, but not Iván, no no, for I am not he! He sounds like a bad fellow, and I am good! I promise you! Would that stinky curryman make something as delicious as our specialty, the Midas Touch?!” Iván shouted at his patrons.

“Oh yeah… the food here is pretty good.”

“Yeah, other than the Stinky Doom Kari, everything else is actually pretty incredible.”

“Totally agreed. We would have been able to sniff out Iván from a mile away. It’s not the Master Chef here.”

Iván let out a massive sigh of relief as he had somehow managed to calm the mob.

Once all the patrons sat back down, Iván gestured for Zeus and co to follow him out of the restaurant through the backdoor.

Zeus, thankfully, remembered to put Astor over his shoulder before following after.

Stokbon’s chilling night breeze had a salty taste, carried inland from the sea that bordered it.

“…what’s going on, old friend?” Haru asked. “You haven’t gotten in touch with me since the Disappearance… I thought for sure you left with the rest of the Witch Ops guys… I’m kinda shocked to find you here… with a dapper moustache no less…”

“I went by Iván’s Curry House a few months ago, but it was demolished. What happened?” Sean added.

“Oho… and WHAT do they MEAN you POISONED them?” Zeus leaned in.

“It’s a bit of a long story…” Iván replied as he told his old contacts about how a rival curry shop opened their doors across from the Curry House. Despite all the money Iván’s opposition sank into their restaurant’s interior design and countless marketing campaigns, none of it was able to steal the Curry House’s loyal base. And so… they started fighting dirty, sending staff on secret missions to spy on the Curry House and sabotage its good name.

“In the end, they managed to tamper with the curry we served during a special event. A lot of people got a severe case of food poisoning and took us to court. A lot of the Falderen nobles demanded a huge amount of money as reparation. We had no choice but to close shop and run away. I just recently, finally, managed to scrounge together enough funding to open this place here, Ajván’s Curry Palace,” Iván concluded his story with a sigh.

“Either way, it’s really good to see you, Haru, Zeus, Sean, and uh, Astor... I really should have reached out earlier! Sorry! It’s been a tough year,” Iván smiled.

“Why are you guys together now, though? It’s strange to see everyone here traveling together, haha!” Iván chuckled as he glanced over at the gang, stopping his eyes on the unconscious Astor.

“We’re going on an adventure… according to Zeus,” Sean rubbed the back of his neck.

“…I couldn’t turn down a request from the man himself,” Haru smiled haplessly.

“...take me back...” Astor muttered in a fever dream.

“I am SORRY for your troubles...BUT WHAT FORTUNE! I didn’t EXPECT to find YOU here! IVÁN, MY BOY! Adventure CALLS! You MUST join us!” Zeus’ mouth morphed into a gingerly grin as he gestured to the crew, some more conscripted than others.

“Oh man. You saved me before. I don’t think a free meal is nearly enough to cover for that. Let me join you on your quest, Zeus! I just need to finish training my new sous chef so he can spot for me while I’m gone!” Iván beamed as excitement filled him. It’d been a while since he had hung up his adventuring hat, but for the right smile and party, he was ready to give it another spin.

“EXCELLENT! Now our PARTY is complete! We shall CELEBRATE tomorrow night, and MEET my contact the DAY after! GLORIOUS!” Zeus pumped his fist into their air and cheered at the top of his lungs, cutting through the silence of the night with his excitement.

[ Iván has joined the party ]

To be continued...