Chapter 46: Like Stealing Food from an Orphan

  I didn’t bother sneaking in when I got home and headed straight through the front doors to the kitchen. That’s when I noticed something strange. Normally, the tables were laden with all sorts of delicious food left over from dinner. There was nothing. I headed over to the fridge and encountered the same thing. It was practically empty, with only a few scraps of food that only served to make my stomach growl.

  Deciding not to ask Miss Havasu about it, I headed upstairs to bed. I barely made it up two flights before I was accosted by several people all at once. It started with Gordon. He grabbed me by the collar and lifted me off the ground.

  “Put him down!” Beth demanded, practically ripping me out of his grip. She was the one person who could stand up to him.

  “What’s going on?” I gasped.

  Sam took Gordon’s place, grabbing me by the shoulders. “Miss Havasu happened, that’s what. She sold all the food to rich businessmen. There was hardly any left for us.”

  “So that’s what happened,” I mumbled. My stomach growled loudly, reminding me I hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Beth said, prying Sam off of me. “We didn’t think to save you any.”

  “It’s okay,” I replied. “It won’t be the first time I go to bed hungry.”

  “What are we going to do?” Beth asked, sounding nervous.

  I was at a loss as well. “I don’t know. What did Miss Havasu say?”

  “She said fat orphans will raise suspicion,” Gordon grumbled. “You’re going to do something about this, right? I can’t go back to eating table scraps. Not after eating like a king for the last few weeks.”

  Something about the situation was very suspicious to me. Miss Havasu was never that cruel. We may never have had much, but she always took care of us to the best of her ability.

  “Let me see what I can do,” I sighed. “Tomorrow.”

  I added that last part when Gordon crossed his arms, looking like he expected me to pull food out of my bag. Unfortunately, it hadn’t dawned on me to pack anything extra during breakfast, a decision I was living to regret.

  “You heard him, guys,” Beth said finally. “We can deal with this tomorrow. Did you pick up any packages for us?”

  “I forgot,” I wanted to smack myself. “I got distracted when I went to the guild and didn’t pick any up.”

  “That’s okay,” Beth said. “We’ll go with you. That way, we can pick up some food while we’re there.”

  “That should work,” I replied, confident I had enough money to buy breakfast for everyone.

  The problem was that it was a short-term solution. I needed a way to feed everyone while keeping it a secret from Miss Havasu. The wheels in my head already started turning. I wished I’d focused so I could have the Innovate skill. As it stood, I could only use it one time.

  We all headed off to bed after that. I only had to wade through a few kids complaining they were hungry. They left me alone quickly enough after discovering I had no food.

  Just when I was about to fall asleep, disaster struck. A rustling in my sheets informed me that something was wrong.

  “Ollie?” a timid voice whispered. “Are you there? I’m so hungry. Do you have any food?”

  It was my sister, Grace. I’d completely forgotten about her. That did it, I lifted the sheet and patted her on the head. “Don’t worry, sis. I need you to be patient. I’ll go get you some food.”

  She nodded, and her tiny head disappeared once again within my shadow. I quietly slipped out of bed, realizing I wasn’t going to get any sleep once again.

  Walking through Manhattan in the middle of the night was inherently dangerous. I only had one thing going for me. I was an orphan teen boy, and I looked the part. Nobody looking to rob someone was going to pay me any attention, so I made it to The Chrysler Building with no issues.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  A man in a black outfit stood guard at the door. “Sorry, kid. Tower’s closed for the night. Find somewhere else to sleep.”

  “I have business with the guild,” I replied, holding out my Adventurer’s Guild ID card.

  “Oh,” he replied, quickly getting out of the way and holding the door open. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t know who you were.”

  “It’s okay,” I replied, my stomach grumbling loudly as I slipped past him.

  I had to show my card again at the elevator before being escorted up to the top floor. The place was a ghost town. Booths that normally had adventurers clustered together stood empty. Even the receptionist looked bored, not her usual attentive self as I passed by.

  She yawned and nodded at me as I passed her. “You’re here late. Did you forget something?”

  “No,” I replied. “I’m just hungry. Are any restaurants open?”

  She pointed over toward Mishun’s Southern Grill. “I’m pretty sure that woman never sleeps.”

  “Excellent!” I exclaimed, eager to eat whatever she had available.

  Mishun was cleaning the counter when I got there. She looked up in surprise. “What brings you here this late at night? I wasn’t expecting you until morning.”

  My stomach rumbled in response. “We have a huge problem, Miss Aires.”

  She laughed. “I have to admit, I’m a little surprised those kids ate all the food, but I guess you can never underestimate the appetite of kids. Have a seat and I’ll fix you right up.”

  I didn’t argue and did as I was told while she went to the back to make me something. My mind was whirling with the new dilemma that got dumped in my lap. The food problem I thought was solved was back again in full force. It turned out I couldn’t trust Miss Havasu, after all.

  What could have made her do it? I wondered.

  While Miss Havasu did look out for herself first, she generally didn’t let it negatively impact her kids. At least, not to the point of starving them. I was going to have to ask her about it, but not before finding a temporary solution.

  Miss Aires returned a short while later with a bowl of thick stew.

  Gumbo

  Grade: B

  Created by Aires

  Suggestion: Add ground salamander horn for an extra kick.

  “Can I have another?” I asked as I gently lowered the bowl into my shadow.

  “Did you just dump that on the floor?” Mishun asked, looking around the counter at my feet. “I won’t feed a wastrel.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. To all appearances, it looks like I was feeding an imaginary dog under the table. I weighed the pros and cons of explaining my rather unique connection to my sister. In the end, I went with a generic answer.

  “It’s magic. I’m not wasting food, I swear.”

  “Now, tell me about this problem,” Mishun said, seeming to accept my reply as she plopped another bowl down in front of me. “I sent enough food to feed three times the number of orphans in that building. Where did it all go?”

  I sighed. “Miss Havasu is selling most of the food…I think.”

  “Is that so?” Mishin asked, planting her hands on her hips. “I guess I’ll just have to cut her off, then.”

  “No!” I gasped. “Don’t do that. I need to come up with a backup plan first.”

  Mishun crossed her arms. “And I’m just supposed to, what, let this orphanage lady exploit me in the meantime?”

  I shoveled Gumbo in my mouth to avoid answering, and was taken aback as a myriad of flavors washed over my tongue. Mishin could cook, even without my Infusion or Analysis skills. I had to give her that. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if my skill could make it even better.

  “What are you doing?” Mishin asked when I placed both hands on the bowl. “Is my cooking not good enough for you anymore?”

  “Your food’s great!” I replied honestly. “But wouldn’t you use a skill like this if you had it?”

  She waited patiently as I infused the gumbo and watched as I tried a bite. “Well? Is it better?”

  “It’s…different,” I said diplomatically. “The skill gave it a creamier taste, while not drowning out the flavor of the individual ingredients. I do agree with Analyze, though. It could use a bit of spice.”

  Mishin was already taking out several bottles of hot sauce. I stopped her. “Do you have any salamander horn?”

  She threw her hands in the air. “Your skill always asks for exotic ingredients. Adding it to the dish would make it prohibitively expensive.”

  The good news was that I had a way around that. With the Mimic skill, I could duplicate items I’d already made. I wondered if there were any limitations to the skill. Only time would tell.

  The pressing matter was feeding everyone I cared about. While I had enough money to buy food for everyone, I was annoyed by Miss Havasu’s antics. Bringing more food was of little use if she was just going to sell it?

  “I need to find a way to hide food from Miss Havasu,” I explained.

  Mishun gave me a blank stare. “How exactly do you plan on doing that? Do you have another skill that hides things?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted.

  That was the problem. I still didn’t have the Innovate skill, so I was on my own. All I had were the Craftsman class skills. I Analyzed myself to see if anything could help.

  Oliver Evans

  Class: Craftsman

  Level: 6

  Age: 13

  Weight: 117 Lbs

  Height 5’6

  Hitpoints: 600

  Mana: 600

  Stamina: 600

  Skills: Analyze, Research, Mana Link, Observe, Mimic, Repair

  Traits: (Monster Vision - F), Apprentice Chef, Apprentice Tailor, Apprentice Tinkerer, Apprentice Blacksmith, Apprentice Alchemist, Apprentice Leatherworker

  The first skill that stood out was Repair. I hadn’t noticed it before. Did that mean I could fix broken things? Analyze already did that with the broken printing press and luminary. It didn’t fix my problem, so I moved on to my next skill. It was a shame I couldn’t Analyze my problem and magically come up with a solution. I supposed I could always use Mimic to duplicate food for the other kids, but that solution required me to be there whenever anyone got hungry. What I needed was to invent something they could use on their own, while at the same time looking like an inanimate object that Miss Havasu wouldn’t confiscate.

  I went over my skills several more times, but my eyes kept settling on Research. Then I had a lightbulb moment. “The library!”

  “The what?” Mishun asked, raising an eyebrow.

  I grinned and nearly spat gumbo all over the table as I explained. “The librarian told me about a special section in the library where I can get special magic books. I’m sure that monkey will have the solution!”

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