They shook their heads. "No, boss! You're actually quite kind."

"With all these benefits, you can charge more…to others, of course," Aaron added.

Finn laughed. He stood up and prepared them all tea and some berries for dessert. This was what they sipped and ate while chatting.

"Brother Finn, you're amazing! You must be the best cook in the whole of Aetheria!" Zachary said, eyes bright as always, though his man bun had loosened up because of all the chaos. Next to him, the goblins bobbed their heads in agreement.

"Agreed! Seriously though, brother Finn. I have never eaten something so good! Even the expensive specialty dish I have eaten before felt like mud next to this," Aaron said, eating a combination of the meat. "And I'm a noble."

Aaron would never miss a chance to say he was a noble.

Finn chuckled. "Now, surely, that's an exaggeration…" This was one of the basic dishes he could make.

"It is not, actually," Ren said, and this made Finn pause. Aaron was definitely one whose emotions could cloud his judgment easily and exacerbate some things, but Ren—at least from his impression so far—was quite objective.

Ren looked at the side where the baskets filled with their loot were placed. "I assume you use various ingredients from the Beast Forest in your food."

"Ah, yes, whatever I can find around here."

Zachary blinked at him. "That is amazing…I doubt anyone could make use of these things easily."

Ren nodded. "Precisely, as the nobleman over there can attest to, fresh ingredients from the Beast Forest are good for the body, but they are also expensive and difficult to procure."

Aaron didn't want to agree to whatever Ren said, but it was true, so he nodded.

"The safe zone has far less variety of plants than the danger zone."

"Oh?" Finn had heard something like this from Syl, but he didn't ask too much details because he had so many more important questions at the time.

Now that he had stayed in this place for a few weeks now and now knew some things, he'd like to get more details.

Aaron had always been competitive with Ren, so he was the one who explained after this.

"Well, you know that the world was almost destroyed during the long wars and when the portals opened, right?" the blonde explained. "Well, a lot of plants and animals died out during those times.

When the portals were sealed, magic had to be used to seal them continuously. The plants near the portals ended up reviving more because of the concentration of essence here."

That said, it was also one of the things many adventurers and a few mercenaries (definitely not often) hunt here, though they had to know about plants, so their price range is higher due to the specialization requirements.

They knew a lot of things. Finn couldn't help but turn to look at Pang, who had now joined them at the table and was listening in interest as well.

The panda looked embarrassed when he caught his gaze. "Don't look at me, la! I'm learning these things at the same time you are."

"..." Well, to be fair, the other Innkeepers were born in the world they built an Inn on, so they knew background stories like this one.

Anyway, Finn turned to look at his guests again.

"It must be hard to have limited ingredients," Finn mumbled. Should he be thankful he ended up near the portals, after all?

"Well, with enough money, a lot of ingredients can still be brought into the safe zone," Ren said, and Aaron nodded, though with some reluctance.

He didn't know why Ren knew so much about the upper class, but he couldn't lose! "We do have thornroots, monster meats, and bindergrain among other things."

"Bindergrain?"

"It's a filling grain that expands and softens when placed in water and cooked. It has a mild and neutral taste though, but it's good to balance the palette.

Finn blinked. Even from that description, he already knew what it was.

Rice. Or Wheat. Or Both.

Either way, he wanted it!

"Where do we find this… bindergrain?" he stood up and leaned in excitement, causing the others to blink.

"...it's found nearer the East dungeon."

"I see, noted, thank you."

"Regardless, even if they had the ingredients, the food they make might not even be essence food," Ren said. "From what I know, the chances of the same chef succeeding are actually not high."

Aaron nodded. "I know of a lot of high-ranked chefs with no lack of ingredients and made food inferior to yours."

He wasn't even kidding. Even with the most expensive ingredients and complicated processes, other chefs' food was less tasty than something Brother Finn literally whipped up for less than an hour!

"So would you like to book now?" Finn asked. "There are two rooms left," he said, pointing at the doors.

His current room was on the eastern part of the inn, near the bathroom. "One is facing the rear and the mountains, the other is facing the west."

"I'd like the rear view, please," Ren and Aaron said simultaneously.

"I was the one who inquired first," Ren said, tone cold.

Aaron sneered. "The North sun is best for nobles like myself."

Without another word, the two stood up abruptly and tried to be the first to get in line. Ren looked cool, but his pace was fast, while Aaron could literally jump over furniture to be the first in line.

Zachary was rooming with Ren and the goblins weren't expecting rooms, so they didn't get involved. They just focused on cleaning their plates to the smallest particle.

"What are they doing?" Pang asked, genuinely confused at the commotion. Finn chuckled and kneaded his head.

Twenty-one years old was still a university student back on Earth, and all they thought about were either their studies, games, or their love lives.

Here, they had to think hard to survive.

"Just kids being kids."

And just as how kids should be.

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