Open - Iván's Curry House | Page 6

“Why, thank you! It’s a team effort. Perhaps your brother would like to join our staff or maybe apprentice for the time being,” Iván had been standing beside the archer (@Rias), excitedly waiting for her yes to the dres--- ant juice, when he was rudely interrupted by @Corvella …’s fingers on his mask? What? What the hell was going on? Why was the knight touching his red mask that had once been the face of a deadly predator from down in the Spire? Was she--- Was she wiping her hands on his mask? How rude! How disgusting! How--- Why were silverware, drinks, and plates floating in the air, defying gravity? Why was the air itself suddenly heavy and thick, as if humid?

He turned to the @Grand Witch Majolica, finally hearing her speak, while Corvella simply continued getting her hands all over his mask’s five holes. Wow. Majo seemed like she was in a bad mood. Was it the altercation between her and his mom--- mentor? Was it the altercation between her and the space goblin? Was it the altercation between her and @Madison Freebird who was probably still waiting to get served? Did anyone give her a menu list or something? Was it @Darko Ljubicic ’s curry? It was probably Darko’s curry. He was going to have to talk to him later in the day, something Iván did not want to do. Ugh. Talking. Such a waste of time. Why did he need to talk to anyone? Talking is so tedious--- Oh, it was @Jasper.

Dang it, Jasper! I told you to get a shirt! Iván shook his head in disbelief, as Corvella continued touching his mask. “Apologies, my commander,” the masked illusionist, currently plagued by a dark knight and her touchy-feely hands, bowed his head slightly towards the Grand Witch. He then turned to Jasper just in time to realize that the archer had turned Iván’s frown upside down. Well, behind his mask, anyway. To everyone else, he still looked like the sad lead of a failed horror franchise. “Jasper? Could you be a deer and get our most gracious customer, the archer, a small cup of ant juice?”

Mmm… Deer... Venison… Soon…

 

Thank goodness that strange girl (Iván’s mentor, he claimed? Very very strange) was finally gone. Something had seemed… ominous… about the way she’d left, but Janet was honestly just grateful that they could now finish their meal in peace. Considering she’d come into Stinky Iván’s Curry Shop because she thought she’d sensed danger to the Witch Ops, it would be quite upsetting for her unintentional prophecy to come true. Fortunately, such was not the case.

“Oh, do you like it? I thought it was wonderful,” Janet called to @Rias , apparently having decided to get in everyone’s business. It looked like the archer had gotten her recommendation! The brunette’s smile became strained when she heard the masked restaurant owner offer ant juice (surely she’d misheard?). The strain increased tenfold when she saw a shirtless man (@Jasper ) coming towards their table. Did he intend to serve the women food in such a... lewd manner of dress? Janet’s RATED PG-13 warning vision began to heat up and the girl’s nostrils flared, her back straightening indignantly. As much as fireman and cowboy calendar models amused her, she would not tolerate such blatant—

—He wasn’t even looking at her!

Janet wasn’t sure whether to be offended or relieved, but either way the plain-looking teenager deflated a little and crossed her legs haughtily at the table. “Hmph!” she said, and when nobody seemed to hear, she cleared her throat and articulated. “H M P H.” There—that should be all she needed to say about that. @Grand Witch Majolica more than outcompeted her in the necessary department, anyway! Janet wanted to applaud the Commander, but she was busy watching in horror as @Corvella chugged an entire bottle of wine right in front of her. “What are y-you—for goodness’ sake, someone bring us some more water!” Janet snapped for attention, but as usual, nobody paid her any. “Corvella, please—” The knight was already standing up, crossing the tables to Iván…

It was at this point Majolica seemed to lose her temper. Janet jerked when she heard her name and looked at the pink-haired witch, astonished. “M-me?” What was she—Janet took one look at Corvella (her fingers were in Iván’s mask-holes) and stood up, almost knocking her chair over in the process. “She was drugged?” An angry flush was cruising up the girl’s neck, her hands trembling. “How will I…” B-but Janet had no idea how to cure something like that! But if the Commander believed she could... Still, regardless, something had to be done!

As plates and forks began to levitate off the tables, Janet occupied herself with removing Corvella from Iván, first trying to pull the taller woman away by the shoulders and then just wrapping both arms around the shield-bearer’s waist to carry her away. Her Heroic Might had lifted greater, after all! “Stop this! I know you know better,” the teen panted. Nature magic. How do I do this? Hands and arms already in close contact with the blonde, Janet reached out clumsily with her naturamancy and sensed the spores of something odd in Corvella’s body. Concentrating, she hoped she managed to damp some of it down (or at least halt its progress) but Janet refused to release her hold on Corvella anyway until she was absolutely sure. “It’s—for your own—good!” she puffed.

 

The girl was inside of her own world, completely pure and white even in reality the curry house has just become a lot more darker. Suddenly she felt a pull on her waist, looking back revealed a gruesome, devilish entity trying to pull her away from the person in front of her. The scary thing just kept saying unintelligible chanting, while the blonde kept resisting. The resistance did not last long as Corvella was pulled into a state which she cannot do much. Slowly, the peaceful world around her breaks down into a familiar curry house. She was back.

The figure holding her down and kept their hands on her was turned out to be @Janet Reilly. "Uh, Janet? What happened?" The blonde felt very exhausted, in the exchange for a pretty short ecstasy. She looked at her surroundings, trying to make sense from the heightened tension once again. "Hmm. Looks like the curry was so delicious it sent me to the seventh heaven." She cluelessly concluded. "I swear, there's this handsome angel greeting me in front of the stairway! This curry is a-ma-zing. I have to praise the chef for that." Corvella turned to the shirtless @Jasper, winking and giving him a thumb up. "Oh yeah, I was going to order water." She told @Iván Carl, not realizing at all that she have been clawing on his mask for a duration when she was tripping.

She went back into her table with Janet, oblivious to the menacing aura @Grand Witch Majolica's been emitting and the levitating silverwares. For all she know, she might be still lightly hallucinating. "You sure you don't want to try some, Majolica? I know you didn't like spicy foods, but this one is definitely good! How about you, Janet? Here, just try a spoonful." The knight grabbed a spoonful of Magical Fireball Curry and brought it closer to Janet's mouth.

 

Majolica watched as Janet used her magic to bring Corvella back to her senses. When Janet succeeded, Majolica gave her a tired thumbs up.

"Hehe, good job Janet. I knew you could do it, hehe."

Corvella having returned to normal, Majolica turned back to Rias. As she was about to respond to Rias, Corvella, apparently not knowing what just happened to her, began to offer some of the curry to Janet. Before, she could spoon feed Janet, Majolica interceded looking up at Corvella.

"Hehe, it's drugged. You would still be drugged if Janet hadn't cured you. Hehehe, no halucingen.. halucin... hehehe, no mind-altering drugs in the Witch Ops. Hehe, it sets a bad image! Also, it leaves us vulnerable to outside influences and attacks. Which, hehehe, I promise all of you there will be many of in the future. Alcohol is okay though, hehehe, just don't go way overboard. Hehe, I don't know why you'd drink that yucky stuff when you could just have candy though. Hehehe, It tastes much better and gives your brain energy!"

Having finished her, "Say No to Drugs" speech, Majolica grabbed the plate of drugged curry herself. Applying her magic to the dish, the curry began to quickly wither until it disintegrated. Having removed the problem, and assuming that after her display of power Ivan would deal with the issue of cooks drugging food, Majolica finally turned back to Rias.

"Hehehe, perfect! I'll put you down as a preliminary member! Hehe, you won't be a full-fledged member until you go through the initiation trial, but we can all work together and you can meet everyone! Hehe, everyone's very nice and we pride ourselves on team work! Hehehe."

@Corvella @Janet Reilly @Rias

 

"Perhaps, yeah! But he would have to visit this place first...I'll sent him the location and he can come anytime he wants~ He is pretty busy and I don't know how serious he would get the vacation in game...neither of us started leveling that part since we need to become stronger first!" she smiled with a nod towards Ivan thinking a little bit about something before parting her lips to speak up again. "His name is Vladimir and he is a tall, blonde, green eyed Caenis~....very very flirty...." the last words came out as a whisper as she was only giving away that "secret" about him being flirty to Ivan who stood near her. She knew her brother was a good cook in real life but she never got to experienced his skills in the game, mostly because both were trying to level up first before starting their vacations.

Their conversation ended when a girl came up and started touching the mask of the owner. Rias wasn't going to interrupt of course so she returned to her seat and table as she awaited for an approval from the witch but another girl got her attention with her voice being heard a little bit further away from her own table.
"Oh! It's was wonderful~ I am so glad you recommended that! I can't wait to try more now hahah...well I have one here that came from this shirtless chef~" she gave a bright smile to Janet and thanked her about the great choice and excellent taste preference inside her head!

This place got so crowded really fast, must have been displayed somewhere so that everyone knew that a new curry tavern was opening! She only came by accident and was one of the first costumers so it might have been their first or second day judging by the reactions of everyone who walked in and started scanning the place. Hearing the witch her eyes shined excited and she moved her hands in a fist glad that she got accepted for the time being as a fledged member!
"I thank you miss~ I can't wait to meet everyone and get in the action!!!" From the excitement she started eating the spicy curry in one go and slow started to realise that it burned after a bit...where is that ant juice?!

 

Victory! Janet glowed. Why, she was almost like a doctor! Of course it wasn’t that exciting, but still… Accomplishing something—accomplishing anything, really—filled the eighteen-year-old with such a sense of self-worth. She hugged Corvella a little more around the middle than she needed to, celebrating her successful application of magic, before she finally released the blonde. “Phew! That was… quite alarming!” Janet panted, out of breath but feeling very positive nonetheless. “You don’t remember what you were doing?” How could she still be thinking about things like “delicious” and “curry” when seconds ago the knight had been caressing the stinky illusionist’s stinkiest false-face?

Janet huffed, honestly unsure whether she should say anything or just let Corvella forget whatever odd, transcendental experience she’d undergone. “Oh dear,” she managed to say as a spoonful of the deadly curry entered her vicinity. “No, no! I don’t like spicy—what am I saying? That’s not it, it’s—”

Drugged. @Majolica said it. Janet’s heart swelled in approval at the Grand Witch’s no-drugs policy. How wholesome in this dastardly game! Some part of her was curious about the taste, though. Just the tiniest bit. Would I see an angel too? No! Peer pressure was bad! “That’s right, listen to the Commander,” Janet said, crossing her arms over her chest and nodding in agreement (again, like a good witch posse). She didn’t mention that she personally liked to have a sip of cooking sherry every now and then over the stove.

She’d thought the last plate of drugged, experimental curry was taken care of, having withered away under Majolica’s magic touch, but her eyes were drawn with dawning horror to the plate that @Rias had just dug into. The words "shirtless chef" were a dead giveaway to its origins. “Again?!” she demanded incredulously. What curry-flavored seeds of despair had @Jasper sown among them?!

“Wait, no! Please don’t eat that, it’s very spicy—” Janet’s eyes widened in dismay at her own words and she covered her mouth. Why am I starting with that again, it’s not the point! No time for that! “—Oh, bother, I’ll just do it!” Her hands flew out, hovering just shy of Rias (she wasn’t comfortable touching a total stranger!) as she willed the hallucinogenic spores to die down. Unfortunately, since she wasn’t in direct contact with the newest preliminary Witch Ops member, Janet couldn’t be sure her magic had taken effect. I hope I wasn’t too late!

 

Vladimir? Could it be? Iván had met a man named Vladimir before. He was also a member of the Aristocracy, if he remembered correctly, and was pretty useful in helping that astrologer get those fragments of the shooting star despite the Ynglar Brotherhood’s interference. Well, to be precise, they were the interference. The Brotherhood was there first, all three of them, but a jorb was a jorb. Iván was caught surprised to find out that he had a sister and a Player at that! This archer (@Rias ) looked nothing like Vladimir, which was probably because this was an avatar and not the actual sister. Iván didn’t even really know what the real Vladimir looked like, so oof.

“Tall… Blonde… Flirty?” Yep. Sounds like the same Vladimir, all right. “Yes, do tell your brother to come visit.” If it really is the same Vladimir, then he would have a lot of stories to share. Maybe he’s finally found himself a girl. Maybe not. The last time Iván was with Vladimir, he pretty much flirted with their client throughout the quest. He wasn’t successful, though, which was probably because the NPC wasn’t programmed that way. Iván wondered how Vladimir had been, how he has fared with the Aristocracy, and to an extent, if he ever made contact with Monasilva after the quest. Come to think of it, Iván wondered how Monasilva was.

“Hmm?” Iván turned to @Corvella with narrowed eyes behind his red mask. He had been imagining venison and deer and forcing a shirt on @Jasper that he missed all the commotion between @Janet Reilly and the knight. Knightess? Sure. Whatever. He had just gotten his brain back in the real world, well, this world anyway, when the knightess made another order. “Water? Eww. Disgusting. I’ll get you a cup of ant juice, too.”

He turned to the still shirtless Jasper and waved at him, “Jasper, where’s the archer’s ant juice? Make that two cups of ant juice. This knight wants one, too.” Iván just stared at the archer as she started eating Jasper’s curry, too. Oh, no. He was too late. If the knightess hadn’t distracted him, he probably could’ve saved her life. Probably not. He didn’t even know Jasper had slipped her his curry. Iván turned to Janet, mouthing HELP HER, and only realizing a few seconds later that she couldn’t have seen that, only the red mask on his face staring back at her with its five holes.

Iván sighed. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, this restaurant was shaping out to be a hellhole. Was that a bad thing? Probably not. Hopefully, no one ends up dying. Unless of course the masked purple god-machine-thing wills it. No. People dying meant people will stop coming to the curry house. He has three kids here. He can’t let anyone die. Not yet. Not here. Not these people.

 

Gods, this place is noisy.

Madison was content to sit at the counter by herself while she waited. She would've rather wait in peace, but while people were leaving her alone their incessant shouting and screaming and chortling assaulted her ears. The witch had half a mind to stand up, cup her hands against her mouth, and read everyone the riot act seasoned with customized personal insults and swear words.

Instead, she reached into her inventory and pulled out a book to bury her nose in while she waited to be served.

What she wouldn't have given for a set of earplugs, or the ability to load up a custom music playlist in her palm menu to drown out the cacophony around her.

The book she chose to read at the counter was a thick tome, the title of the book emblazoned in gold lettering in a script she did not recognize. The leatherbound book was penned by an archmage from beyond the borders of the known territories in Terrasphere, which wasn't surprising since the game world took up around a third of New England anyway.

What mattered most to the cursemage was the knowledge contained within. Rabuqor Third-Eye devoted the majority of his eighty years alive studying and perfecting the dark arts, having mastered both Black Magic and Necromancy--which is why Madison acquired the novel in the first place.

Hundreds and hundreds of pages on curses, hexes, and rituals. Every facet of the dark arts were chronicled within through words and diagrams. Entire chapters were dedicated to how she could combine the magic she studied with other schools, like Astral Magic and Spirit Magic.

She was most interested in the chapter on Nature Magic. It was her fourth time re-reading the section, committing every word to memory and burning every ritual circle, rune, sacrificial incision, and drawing into her mind's eye. Like, for example, did you know that if you poured your anger and hate into binding vines, they can sprout thorns that cut and tear into the flesh of your spell's intended target? From there, the Black Magic will act as the plant's poison, infecting the victim as they struggle against the vines? Oh, the horrible things you can do to people enemies when you combine masteries!

Madison shut the book almost as soon as she opened it. There was no way she was going to get any reading done here. Too much noise, too many strong, overpowering smells. It was all overwhelming.

But, she decided to stick around anyway. After dragging the apparent owner of the establishment through a cursed village and nearly getting him killed, the least she could do was try out some of the curry he made using recipes learned from the old crippled alchemist's books.

Even if she didn't like curry, and was likely to throw up as soon as nobody was looking.

Madison looked around, frustrated and angry that she hadn't even been given a menu yet. The witch spun around on her stool, looking for the hoodie-wearing bastard. When she finally saw him, she raised a hand up in the air, fingers pressed together and ready to snap.

She rethought this line of approach, and opted to furiously wave at him instead. "Hey! Ivan! Can I get a little service?"

 

Maeve's attention waved and bragged everything and everywhere. She was confused and her head was spinning. 'Oh, goodness.' She blinked rapidly, and her ears could've been steaming. Too many things going on for her. Usually, she was fine with something like this, however, the constant chatter had been eating away at her. This could've counted the fact that she was nervous as well.

Her head turned to the word 'service' and her mind went autopilot from there. She weaved her way through people and tables, reaching the lady who was waving vigorously after snagging a menu. At the moment of her arrival, the autopilot was shut down immediately.

'Wait, what if she actually called the boss and not her? Oh, no. No turning back-- I guess?' She winced to herself, smiling at Madison Freebird. Her smile twitched slightly from her nervousness.

"Welcome to the Curry House! I'm M-Maeve, have you any idea of what to get, or would you like a menu to choose from?" She could almost be sweating, almost. She wasn't sure what to expect. Was she going to yell at her? Tell her that she was calling for the boss, and not her? Maybe she'd actually done the right thing. She could only really hope.

 

Her mouth started to burn...literally burn...was there fire because the tavern definitely needed some fire extinguishers! Slowly it was getting more and more spicy as she parted her lips and wide opened her mouth starting to wave her hand in front of it to let some air get in and hopefully cool it off. "Milk milk milk!" She said even though...who knows if there was some in the game, probably was...she definitely saw farm animals around the map...Suddenly the girl that suggested her the previous curry appeared out of nowhere and started doing some magic with her hands. Rias wasn't sure what her cause was but the burning feeling in her mouth started to die down a little bit. Magic!

The archer quickly shifted her body almost tripping over the chair as she tried getting closer to @Janet Reilly before grabbing her hands and looking straight in her eyes getting ready to phrasing aloud "MORE!" In a suffering tone desperate for the girl to do some more healing to her poor tongue. She even noticed how @Iván Carl was probably aware of the consequences of the curry and just relied on Janet as it looked! Help?

 

“Ah, @Maeve Lox , there you are,” Iván was filled with relief at the sight of the most normal-looking member of the curry house staff, overjoyed that she had a shirt on and wasn’t going around threatening customers with a top hat. She was also already welcoming @Madison Freebird . Thankfully. That showed him a lot of initiative from her, which worth a lot of points in his book, if he actually had a book. With a smile, behind his red mask of course, he went up to her calmly. “Where have you been? The knight (@Corvella ) and the archer (@Rias ) would each like a cup of ant juice please, especially the archer.”

He turned back to the archer and frowned. She looked like hell. “Just small cups for each of them.” The purple god-machine-thing knows what happened to the last person who wasn’t Iván that took more than a sip. “Oh, and you look good today,” the stinky masked illusionist gave Maeve a smile that she couldn’t see. All she would have seen were those creepy five holes in his red mask, previously the face of a predator down in the Spire. It was an attempt to be a better, more comfortable coworker. It would have most likely failed.

After a few awkward seconds of silence, he turned around and grabbed @Jasper , dragging him back into the kitchen. The Witch Ops might not have liked the shirtless Caenis’ curry, and for a good reason, but Iván thought maybe others, namely himself, would like it. After they would be out of everyone’s view, hiding in the kitchen, Iván would most likely ask Jasper for a taste. What could go wrong? He’s died before. Twice. Death is no longer a wrong for him. What’s the worst that could happen?

 

Why was everyone looking to her for help?!
And why did everyone keep talking about ant juice?

Perhaps her scratch-and-sniff sticker premonition had been right after all. There were clearly antagonistic forces at work against the Witch Ops in this tavern of curry, and Janet wasn’t sure she had it in her to diffuse all of them at the same time. She felt faint just at the thought.

She felt more faint when the archer, @Rias grabbed onto her hands like a drowning woman reaching for her savior. Her face turned almost as red as the shopowner's mask, so much so that one might suspect she too had taken a bite of the fiery curry. “M-more?” Her voice came out very high-pitched. More what? More curry? No! “She said she wanted milk, not ant juice Iván!” Nobody was even listening to her shrill complaint as she turned back to the poor girl, her grip unconsciously tightening on Rias' hands. A stab of panic reached Janet. I already stopped the spores! What else am I supposed to do?

As Janet reached out with her naturamancy again, searching for the root of the problem, she felt something different for the first time. Something like heat, tingling in the back of her throat and the roof of her mouth and the tip of her tongue. What was this feeling? Was it… LOVE? Absolutely not, Janet thought in instant irritation, trying to wrap her head around this new sense. A ghostly phantom-pain felt superimposed over her body, an afterimage of the desperation for relief Rias was feeling.

This wasn’t Nature Magic.
It was White Magic.

Janet had never used the healing skill before, but she reached clumsily but insistently for the cleansing light the way she might dig at the bottom of her purse for a cutip. She surprised herself as much as anyone as a small nimbus of light illuminated the roof of Rias’ mouth for a moment, divine magic soothing away the curry burns and briefly making the archer's teeth shine as brilliantly as in a dentist's commercial.

The brunette’s grip went slack again and she released Rias’ hands, rocking back. “Eugh! How tiring!” she complained, rubbing one arm self-consciously. An uncomfortable, squirming feeling felt trapped between her fingers, a residual heat like spots across her vision. I don’t think I like White Magic.

She cleared her throat uncomfortably, looking back at the archer again. “Well? Do you feel better? You probably shouldn’t eat that.” She reached out and took the plate away, setting it out of arm’s reach. “Iván?! Where are you going? Your chef owes this girl and Corvella an apology!” Her words fell on deaf ears, or else @Iván Carl mouthed something else to her she couldn't actually see. Janet sighed, crossing her arms. “Hmph! Oh well. I imagine he’ll have a stern word with him.”

 

"Uh, what exactly is an ant juice? Why did he kept pushing it to everyone?" Corvella asked to the girls beside her if they know what is it. "Hey Ivy, it's not something disgusting, or stinky, right?" Bringing Alpha's nickname for Iván into the table, the blonde's eyes are clearly narrowed on him when she said the word 'stinky'. Too late, he already went back to the kitchen with the shirtless guy. Probably want to warn him about the curry?

It seems that curing people out of hallucinations and flaming hot tongue has become a regular chore for @Janet Reilly. She welcomed her back in the seat after she came back from curing the archer girl. "Somehow, this visit into the curry house has become very tiring." The blonde chuckled. Not everything is that bad, she can count this as bonding moments for the Witch Ops.

"So, Majo. Any plans on when do we go camping and go to the beach? I have to save gold to buy things." She is reminded that she would have to pay for the curry and the wine. She whispered slowly to Janet, "There should be discounts for grand opening, or for Witch Ops members, right? Right?" Corvella is getting nervous by the seconds.

 

That girl was a saviour! Angel in a curry tavern! Light at the end of the tunnel! Whatever that was Rias owned her for sure... @Janet Reilly
With her mouth fully healed and slowly better from the numbness, she would take a minute of deep breaths and sigh relieved each time she realised that it wasn't burning anymore.
"Pheee....you saved me there like...! Tell me your name saviour! I am in your debt!" She phrased loud and clear with no regret whatsoever. Her grey eyes shiny like orbs showed how much grateful she was while staring at the light brown/blonde haired female in front of her with a wide smile.

"And I probably shouldn't eat that, you're right...Got a bit too excited and didn't even look at my plate which led to this...but Hey! I'm glad there are people that help in situations like these~ I never knew a game can be so realistic specially in those kind of things...funny..." Rias muttered as she watched Janet take the plate away from her table and probably planned to hide it away from everyone's eyes...like damn now that Rias knows what a hell of a spice that is even she would keep it away from people's mouths! And of course she won't be able to save them in case the same scenario happens because she doesn't have the skills to do so...

 

Janet, Angel of the Curry Tavern! Of course, the Janet in question had no idea she'd risen to such illustrious heights in the other girl's mind. She was just a humble nature mage in a stinky friend's new restaurant doing what her witch Commander asked her to do, that was all.

"Janet Reilly. And I'm glad you feel better," she said more faintly than usual, giving @Rias a tight smile. The effects of using the healing skill were still draining on her. I wish I'd had time to grow a healing fruit, or do something else to help her. She'd never done anything of the kind before, though, so it made sense that she'd unconsciously triggered that third mastery (the primary attribute of which was curing pain) instead of bending what she'd always used as a disruptive skill into that new avenue. "I know! This game is very realistic, so make sure to be careful! Remember to watch what you eat, and test a little bit if you're not sure before you take a full bite."

Patronizing mom lecture over, the eighteen-year-old sat down, her stiff posture relaxing slightly. "I'm just glad you didn't... well. It's nothing." Her eyes rested on @Corvella , remembering Corvella's persistent manhandling of Ivan's face (mask). Those strange mushrooms had certainly been potent!

At the knight's words, Janet gave a loud, impatient sigh and nodded her head. "It has, hasn't it! At least the meal was very tasty." She did not share Corvella's concern over a lack of funds, but she wrinkled her brow into a deep frown at the question. "Well I imagine so!" she said loudly, "If that Chocolate girl didn't follow through on her promise, that's not our fault. I'm sure @Iván Carl will be generous." Why wouldn't they get a discount?