Arcane Chef - Slice of Life x Adventure LitRPG

A nudge broke me out of my stunned silence as the King stood just outside the carriage.

Lily bumped her head into me again, forcing me to my feet as I noticed Liane chuckling behind her.

“Alright, alright, but how can this be my place? I can’t take care of all this,” I said, leaving the carriage.

The King laughed. “You won’t need to take care of anything. It’s fully staffed, and if you wish to change any of the staff with your own, that will not be a problem. This is all paid for by us as a way of apology.”

Lily walked out after me, causing two of the six staff to pass out where they stood, lined up to greet us.

The King grimaced. “I suppose you’ll likely need to get staff who have a bit higher resistance to pressure to be able to work here. No worries. Look, I’ll be blunt with you, Trevor—this was to be a gift for you. To be fully open with you, I want to work with you, not against you, and I didn’t want to be enemies with someone who keeps a circle of the most powerful creatures in this world as friends and guardians.”

Liane took her spot next to me as the next carriage came to a halt and the rest of the party stepped out.

“However, I see that rather than starting from neutral as I had hoped, my subjects have made it their mission to make this difficult. So, this mansion is now my gift as an apology for what’s happened to you, and from here, I hope we can build a positive friendship. But we’ll discuss that more at dinner. For now, I will leave you with my daughter, Kathrine, and Liam to give you a tour,” he said.

Kathrine gave a nod while Liam gave a full bow.

“Excellent. I shall see you tonight,” he said, getting back inside the carriage before it swiftly departed.

As the carriage moved away, Kathrine stepped forward. She appeared to be a little older than Liane, but it was difficult to tell, especially with the King looking as young as he did. She had a very striking appearance: fiery red hair that almost looked unnatural with red eyes, wearing a vibrant purple and white robe. The staff were currently nowhere to be seen.

Unexpectedly, when she spoke, it was incredibly soft. “Please let me lead the way. We have made some alterations to the place in anticipation of your arrival.”

Walking past the staff, who were lined up, the two who had passed out were still on the ground.

“Please get them somewhere to rest. Don’t leave them on the ground,” Jen said.

But they didn’t move. Kathrine sighed. “Listen to them. They are the owners of this residence and your employers now.”

All of a sudden, there was a flurry of movement as they carried the two away.

“They’ll relax soon. They were hired this week and are still very new,” Kathrine said.

We walked up a stone staircase to the entrance, which looked incredibly grand, with two giant wooden carved doors, intricate stone pillars on either side, and entering inside it looked every bit the palace I expected.

The entryway opened into a grand hall with a staircase in the middle that branched off in three directions.

“To your right on the ground floor: your library, reading room, along with the study and the baths. On the left, we have the first living room, dining room, and kitchen—which I think we will leave till last. Behind the stairs, we have the gallery and second living room. In addition, we have the exit to your garden. But first, if you’d follow me upstairs,” Kathrine said, Liam still silently following along.

Everyone followed along as we went through. I’m sure they were as shocked as I was, so far.

As we went up the staircase, Kathrine gestured to the hallway to the left.

“Down there we have five bedrooms, along with a sitting room and balcony overlooking your garden. There is another bath located at the end.” She said before turning to the central doorway. “Through the centre is a grand balcony with a mini garden.”

Turning to the right and walking up that set of stairs, we entered a hallway that was lined with artwork along the wall.

“Down here we have the master bedroom with a private bath. We also have a second study along with six more bedrooms. There is also a staircase to your library, in the reading room,” Kathrine said, walking down the hall, pointing out the rooms as she went.

I couldn’t help but notice that despite the very soft-spoken tone, every step she took was graceful, like she was stepping on air and not the ground.

Opening a set of double doors, I saw the most luxurious bedroom I had ever seen in my life. This room alone felt larger than the entire orphanage, and it was all a bit too much to take in.

“This is the master bedroom. We took liberties in implementing a few customisations to it. Such as adding an extra-large hearth in the middle there. We also created several covers that would allow for significant shadows to always be available in this room, and there is a balcony that looks over the rear garden that is reinforced with defence runes that Liam, I’m sure, will run over with you at a later time to properly protect against any intruders.” She said finally, turning towards me.

It only took a moment for Crisplet to dash forward and dive into the hearth, which erupted into flame immediately, and for the briefest moment I saw a smile on Kathrine’s face before it was hidden by the passive look once more.

“Thank you for the tour, Kath… uh, Your Highness? Sorry, I’m not good with all the formality,” I said, forgetting this was someone from the royal family.

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“It’s fine. It’s a pleasure to have you all here, and please, Kathrine is fine,” she said.

Liane stepped forward, looking around the room. “If I could ask, who lived here prior to its being appropriated for Trevor?”

A slight frown appeared. “This was always owned by the royal family. However, we had it reserved for the Falcone family until recent events, but this will be something for my father to discuss later. I must show you the kitchen,” she said, heading back to the hall.

“Crisplet, we’re going to the kitchen. I don’t think you want to miss it!” I called back.

Everyone was currently just looking around in wonder and keeping in a tight group with Liam at the rear. Only Liane was standing up front next to me—well, besides Crisplet.

Lily had vanished in the room, but I could still feel her, so she was still watching.

While we were walking down the hall, a question came to mind. “Sorry, I was just wondering where the staff live?”

“Ah, there is a house in the back where they stay, along with your personal guards for the residence. Liam will introduce you to them shortly. There is also a training yard out there,” Kathrine said.

I couldn’t help but notice Hari’s eyes light up at that, with Darren and George whispering.

While we walked, it all felt too surreal, but importantly, what was the actual cost of all this? What was I agreeing to by accepting this place?

I’d need to wait until I spoke with the team later, in privacy.

Heading back downstairs, we made our way to the left side of the house, opening another set of double doors into an enormous living room with chairs and an intricately carved stone fireplace. Through that we entered the dining hall, which had a table that was as long as the temple one and could fit dozens of people.

Lastly, we entered the largest kitchen I had ever seen in my life.

There were multiple ovens, a giant island in the middle with pots and pans hanging above with metal hooks, and there looked to be several grills over the top of fireplaces. In fact, there were so many places for Crisplet to go that he seemed frozen with indecision.

“We have provided several ovens and cooking equipment so you can either run with a full staff or cook yourself. We’ve also equipped it with fine-quality equipment that will hopefully be up to your standard. All sinks have the appropriate runes, and you have an ice room, butchery room, and finally the walk-in pantry,” Kathrine said, standing at the doorway.

Crisplet slowly entered the room first, looking around, eventually deciding on the largest stone oven that appeared to be built into the wall itself, and in a flash, dashing forward with the oven erupting into flame.

It was only then I realised the flames from that oven somehow connected to two grills, since a mini explosion of fire erupted from them as well.

“Thank you for the tour, Kathrine,” I said, bowing slightly, thinking that it was appropriate.

“It was my pleasure. I will let you explore the garden, and Liam will lead you to the staff quarters out back, but for now I shall take my leave and allow you to get comfortable. Your horses have been taken to your stables on the grounds,” she said, bowing her head slightly before turning back towards the entrance hall.

Everyone was just standing there, staring at everything in stunned silence.

That was broken by Liane. “I’m going to check out these baths!”

Quickly, Jen and Micca agreed, leaving the room and rushing off to find the baths.

“I’m going to go and inspect this library,” Milo said.

“We’re going to go explore as well,” Darren and George said.

In the end, leaving just myself, Hari and Liam standing there.

“Uh, Liam, don’t take this the wrong way, but are you able to remove the helmet? It’s very difficult to see you with that on,” I asked.

“Oh, sorry!” a slightly muffled voice came, before the helmet vanished.

“There, that should be better. I apologise; I’m required to be in full armour in the presence of any royal family member. Now shall we head outside?” Liam asked with a smile.

Before moving, Hari held up a hand. “Liam, I know you’re likely unable to say anything, and Trevor might not realise with his background, but this house is no small gift. What are the expectations for this?”

Liam grimaced a little. “I don’t know what I can say, but all I will say is the connection with the Phoenix changed everything. Now, please let me introduce you to the staff.”

I called out to Crisplet, who exploded from the oven and was by my side in a flash.

Making our way through the house and through the rear doors, the first thing I noticed was that this was no ordinary garden. I could feel the mana in the air.

I activated Arcane Foraging and was immediately assaulted with the blue glow, but what really surprised me was even after tuning out common, then uncommon, a couple of things still glowed.

This garden contained rare ingredients.

I was about to race forward and complete the quest until I noticed Liam was looking at me.

“Sorry about that. This garden is amazing—has it always been here?” I asked.

Liam started walking. “No, not all of it. I believe a lot of this was planted specially for your coming, after hearing from the temple in Dunhearth that you were a chef.”

“It was mentioned there was a training yard?” Hari asked.

“Yes, next to the staff house. Please follow me,” Liam stated, walking down the path through the garden.

Once we made it past the hedges, it opened up onto a paved area with several wooden targets that were well worn. Off to the side of it appeared to be an archery range. Next to it stood a very nice-looking stone and wooden house that appeared to be two levels high.

It had vines growing up one side of the building, which gave it a much more homely feeling than the mansion.

Liam approached the house, opening the door while knocking. A moment later, several people started coming out: from the six who were out the front of the house earlier, along with five more who I assumed were guards, going by their appearance with leather armour and weapons on their belts.

“I’d like to introduce you to the new owner of the property. This is Trevor,” Liam said, gesturing to me.

“Uh, it’s a pleasure to meet you all, and I’m sorry if Lily made you uncomfortable,” I said, giving them a wave.

There was a chorus of, “Pleasure to meet you, my lord.”

“No, please. I am no Lord—just call me Trevor or Trev,” I said, waving away the formality.

There were looks of confusion, but an older-looking man who was immaculately dressed stepped forward.

“It’s a pleasure, Sir Trevor. I am Archie. I was appointed as head butler of the residence, and it would be my pleasure to assist you.” He bowed deeply.

Hari spoke up. “Perfect, you’re just the one we need, then.”

I was confused, but Liam seemed to understand. “The rest of you are free to go back to your duties,” he announced, as they went back inside, leaving just Archie standing before us.

“Uh, Archie, this is Hari. He’s the leader of the party I’m in and will stay here as well while we’re here,” I said.

Archie nodded.

“I’d best take my leave. I will meet you this evening to escort you in and out of the castle, as per my oath,” Liam said, bowing, before striding away.

Turning back to Archie, Hari spoke again.

“Archie, we will need to find replacements for the staff unable to handle Lily’s presence. We’ll also need to introduce you to everyone else, as there will be several people staying here, I believe.” Hari began.

Archie looked towards me.

“He speaks for me and understands all this far better than I do,” I said with a chuckle.

Understanding crossed Archie’s face.

“Follow me, Archie. Let’s discuss things inside. You can lead me to the secondary study. Leave Trev to explore the garden for a while,” Hari said.

Taking Archie away, leaving just Crisplet and myself.

Time to find three rare ingredients for the quest, I thought to myself.