Kai and Kurt finally dragged their exhausted bodies to Pete's restaurant. There, they immediately dropped their bodies onto the nearest table and sat down limply.
"What happened? Why do both of you look so exhausted?"
Pete asked worriedly when he saw the condition of Kai and Kurt, who looked like they had lost half of their lives.
"We're fine.... at least our bodies don't have any wounds...."
Kai replied in a weak voice. Whether it was merely luck or truly a miracle granted to him, the two of them survived the chase of the animals without receiving any injuries at all. Even so, he could not deny that the mental burden they received was still heavy.
"Even so.... for some reason, I can't move my body at all...."
Added Kurt, who did not move at all from his seat. He felt very lucky that he was still able to bring his body to that restaurant.
"Hmm.... I don't know what happened to you two... but it seems you've just gone through the worst day."
Pete replied while bringing two cups of energy drinks for them. Of course, he had no intention of charging them, after seeing how weak they were.
""Thank you....""
Both of them replied at the same time in weak voices. Somehow, they were able to raise their hands to take the drinks and finish them.After they finished the drinks, for some reason both of their bodies felt refreshed again like before.
"What is this? Why did all the fatigue I experienced disappear immediately? What kind of drink was that actually?"
Kai asked in a surprised tone while moving his entire body and checking his physical condition.
"Hahaha... that's just an ordinary energy drink... you don't need to overreact like that!"
Pete replied with a wide smile on his face.
"No... that is clearly not an ordinary drink!"
Kai refuted it, not believing his words at all. There was no way all the fatigue he had experienced could disappear just like that with an ordinary drink. That had to be a cure-all potion.
"What are you actually talking about, Kai? Have you never drunk an energy drink before?"
Kurt asked while narrowing his eyes, looking at Kai with a strange gaze.Kai felt deeply offended when he received that look.
"Don't be ridiculous! I've also drunk energy drinks before, but I've never had one that could give an effect like this!"
Kai replied in a sour tone. He did not forget to give Kurt a piercing glare so that the man would stop giving him that strange look.
"You don't need to look at me like that... besides, where do you come from? Don't energy drinks from where you come from restore your energy like before?"
Kurt said while avoiding Kai's sharp gaze. He did not like receiving such an intense stare from a man.
Kai fell silent for a moment after hearing Kurt's words. He was reminded again that this world had different rules from his original world. He should not have been surprised to learn that there was a drink that could restore all his strength with a single sip. That drink was just an ordinary potion.
While Kai was still silent in his seat, the door of Pete's restaurant suddenly opened. Everyone there immediately directed their gaze toward the entrance. Standing there were three beautiful women.
One of the girls looked very happy when she found Kai and Kurt sitting at one of the tables. With light steps, the girl jogged over to where Kai and Kurt were.
"Kai, Kurt... thank goodness you're both alright."
The girl, Elly, said in a relieved tone. She seemed to be truly worried about the condition of the two of them from the bottom of her heart.
"I already told you that those two are like cockroaches that are hard to kill... you don't need to worry about them."
Another girl, Claire, said in an indifferent tone. She also walked over to the table where Kai and Kurt were sitting, then sat down on one of the empty chairs.
Meanwhile, the last girl was seen hugging a jar filled with honey with a wide smile on her face. Kurt's face showed a smile when he saw the girl's smile.
"It seems you managed to get that honey."
Kai said, looking not very enthusiastic when he saw the result of his and Kurt's hard work.
"Why do you look so sullen?"
Claire asked, displeased with Kai's words.
"That's because I had to risk my life just for a jar of honey... and also because you don't seem to be worried about me at all, even though you're the one who made me go through that."
"If you're a man, stop complaining... isn't it a man's duty to protect girls."
Kai's face looked even more sullen after hearing Claire's reply, but he quickly erased that expression when he looked toward Elly, who seemed to feel guilty, then toward Katie, whose smile was beginning to fade.
"Yes, I understand... as long as you're happy, I'll forget my suffering... at least for now."
Kai replied, wanting to end the topic.
"Well, Kai... earlier you said 'my' instead of 'our'... can you explain your reason!?"
But it seemed that Kurt did not want to end the topic, at least before Kai gave an explanation to his previous question.
"Who do you think cares about you anyway."
Kai replied briefly. He looked unconcerned with Kurt's expression, which was clearly becoming angrier.
"Um... Kai... actually..."
Because she felt that Kai and Kurt would end up fighting if she did nothing, Elly finally opened her mouth. The eyes of everyone there eventually turned toward her.
"Hmm... what is it?"
Kai asked after his name was called by Elly. He raised one of his eyebrows to show that he was curious about what Elly wanted to say.
"Actually, I found something that might help us."
Elly replied while reaching for the small pouch at her waist, then taking something out from it.
Kai's eyebrows lifted even higher when he saw the object. Curiosity and confusion mixed together as he looked at it.
"What exactly is that object?"
Kai asked while pointing toward a jar in Elly's hand. Kai realized that the object Elly actually wanted to show was inside the jar, which was why he asked that question.
"You definitely won't believe this, Kai!"
Elly replied as she suddenly smiled very widely and looked extremely enthusiastic. She seemed to have forgotten her reason for wanting to stop the argument between Kai and Kurt. Her mind was now filled only with the object in her hand.
"This is a very rare object and extremely difficult to find again... I never expected that we would be able to find it in a bear's nest."
Elly said while opening the lid of the jar and showing its contents to Kai. The contents of the jar emitted a golden light that blinded Kai's eyes for a moment.
"I'm sure that with this we can fulfill one of my grandmother's requests!"
Inside the jar was a golden-colored liquid.
"What is that object?"
Kai asked, still not understanding what the liquid actually was.
"This is golden liquid."
Alright, Kai was still confused about what it actually was, even after Elly mentioned the name of the object. So he looked toward where Claire was to ask for an explanation from the blonde-haired girl.
Realizing Kai's gaze on her, Claire let out a sigh before finally giving an explanation to Kai.
"Basically, that liquid is a seasoning that can make various foods taste better than usual."
That simple explanation was enough for Kai to understand what was on the girls' minds right now.
"So you mean we're going to cook something using that seasoning, then sell it to people so that people will want to come to this village and make this village lively and famous again."
Claire nodded her head to confirm Kai's words.
Even though the plan did not sound bad at all, Kai immediately realized the weakness of that plan.
"But how are you going to sell that food if there are no outsiders coming to this village?"
Everyone in the room fell silent, especially Elly, who immediately lowered her head with a gloomy expression. Her wide smile instantly disappeared when she heard Kai's reality check.
No matter how delicious the food was, if they could not find people who could spread how good the food tasted, then people would never come to their remote village.
"Hmmmm.... before that.... I think we should decide what kind of dish we should cook using that object."
Kai said with a sense of guilt. He should not have spoken so bluntly earlier. They had just obtained a clue for the next step, so they should have celebrated that first before doing anything else.
Kai would make sure to note that properly in his mind.