Disclaimer: I don't own Gate or Nihonkoku Shoukan as it belongs to its rightful owners.

Chapter 4: Running, Hiding, and Tomatoes

"The great Gordon Ramsay wasn't just a chef before He became the person he is today, the man was an athlete, a promising football player during his younger years until an injury to his knee destroyed it all. Despite all that, the old fire that vanished a long time ago is still there."

-BBC News

Three Years Ago, Saderan Capital

Never he had expected of himself to be running this quick in his life.

No, it wasn't running to chase an opponent in a soccer match, nor running to catch and scold a Hell's Kitchen contestant for being reckless and almost burning the entire restaurant but...

"For fuck's sake! When will this end!?"

It was more of running away for his life as the celebrity chef hailing from Scotland traversed through the huge crowds of people and beast-men while being chased by Roman-like soldiers from someone's fever dream.

"Hey, get back here!"

Until this point, the desperate and enraged chef could still hear the men's yells. In the back of his mind, he wondered how these guys were keeping up with him with all the heavy armor and golden plates on them when he's supposed to have the advantage because he's wearing casual black shirts and pants.

Though despite any setbacks, Gordon Ramsay never stopped running, and for a 50-something-year-old man, he was actually managing well.

"What the fuck is this place?"

It was the second thought that occurred to him. As he observed his current surroundings, he was finally able to process it properly. Aside from the glorious sun rays that glistened on the beautiful ancient-like structures of this mysterious city, it was the chaotic noisy atmosphere that drew his attention...

"Coming through! Man is coming through! Bullocks!

"Excuse me PLEASE! Give me some fucking space!"

"Oh come on! A man is literally running for his dear life and you're all in the way!"

Throughout, he swore, yelled, and exclaimed, alerting the crowd and capturing the attention of all passers-by. Not long after, a mini-stampede formed along the street as a result of his presence and the increasing number of Imperial soldiers chasing him.

Horses, pulling rickshaws, wagons and carriages began to react wildly as well, they too getting swept by what is happening around.

Goods, furniture, food, and other countless objects were flying around and all over the place.

Gordon Ramsay's chances of escaping were increasing as he ran as fast as he could, surprisingly evading every obstacle ahead of him. There was also one time he tried to jump on a horse but failed miserably as the horse left before he could reach the animal, and another event would then occur in the midst of his terrible adrenaline rush and a chaotic environment.

It was in the form of a subtle voice that whispered to his ears that startled him.

"Turn Right! Go to the Right!

The voice kept repeating the words until the man would heed its call.

"Shit, I am hearing voices in my head now!?" He internally screamed inside his mind. He never expected the situation to get even weirder, yet a part of him encourage him to trust whatever the voice is telling him.

It did sound like it genuinely wanted to help him and since he couldn't maintain this once-in-a-lifetime burst of energy, the Scottish man eventually decided to heed the voice's call.

"Aww Shit me!" He exclaimed making a huge turn to his right and finally entered the alleyway.

With Gordon Ramsay getting out of his pursuer's radar for a while, the aftermath of his actions had left a long and wide busy street into a mess.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Please come back again, We promise the food will be better."

For all she remembered, this was not the way how a normal lunch at the cafe would have ended.

A pair of pleading light green eyes stared at a couple of unsatisfied customers, who went straight out of the door, with nothing but disappointment in their faces as they ignored the person's pleas. They finally knew why the place had been falling apart.

From the doors of a certain shophouse, a young and pretty brown-haired woman stood defeated once more as she watched the former customers blend in with the crowd.

No matter how much she wanted to cry at this moment, she still chose to fight it, forcing herself into a smile and state of determination.

"Always show courtesy and never forget to keep that smile, young Anna"

She remembered her grandfather's words, who happened to be the founder and former head of the cafe. Oh, May the Gods bless his departed soul in the afterlife.

Anna was always confident that she would return the family business to its former glory. Since the old man's death, she vowed to herself that she would work even harder than before. However, she has yet to achieve a single goal since taking over as the new owner of the establishment.

The young woman's gaze was drawn to the worn-out wooden sign bearing the name "The Lost Lamb" of the cafe. Her Grandfather did enjoy cooking dishes with lamb meat, and this personal preference led to the establishment of a cafe, surprisingly in the Saderan Capital itself. However, due to some drastic changes, the business had been in a constant struggle.

Add the fact that major competing cafes have sprouted along with the capital, which was not a good sign.

"Miss Anna, Nya!"

Her thoughts were then interrupted by the voice of one of the service staff of the cafe.

"Yes, Selina..." The young woman sighed." What is it this time?"

The young catgirl in her own cafe uniform fell into quietness. she was indeed struggling on how she'll relay the news to the older woman and eventually she managed to muster up the courage.

"I-It's about Chef Rocky... "

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yet the cafe would deal with another big blow

"THIS IS DONE FOR! "

His voice could be heard even from the dining area and luckily, not a single customer was there to hear his announcement or it would be an overall disaster.

A bearded chubby man carelessly threw off his hat on the floor, while heading to a certain wooden counter to packed his things up. His outbursts had somewhat created a scene inside with the rest of the customer-less cafe.

Several of the staff, consisting of humans, fairies, and demi-humans watched the only person, who knew how to cook the dishes, walked off towards the back of the kitchen along with his own goals.

Anna couldn't comprehend the situation as she gave a puzzled look.

"Rocky, What in God's name, are you doing?" She asked, also wondering why the unfortunate events kept continuing.

"Heh! What does it look like?" The chubby man sarcastically said." I am leaving this dump!" He added." This place has nothing for me compared to the other cafes."

The young woman widened her eyes in surprise before fully being engulfed by her little anger.

"Don't you dare say that!" Anna exclaimed, as she tried to approach the man but is then prevented by her fellow staff.

"After all the things he had done for you, and now this is what you're giving in return!?" She added, expressing a genuine furiousness.

And to think the man has the nerve to say such things.

An arrogant smile slipped past the man's lips.

"Of course, I had the right to say that!" He argued." I knew from the start that this cafe's days are numbered and even if I try to work hard, this place won't return back to its prime or at least get back on track." He explained while carrying his bag.

The young woman gritted her teeth.

"We can still bring this place up if we all just worked together." She tried to reason out while glancing at the concerned looks of the staff members.

"We can make a difference!"

Silence returned to the dining area.

The chubby former chef ignored her words and then gave the rest of the staff a warning look.

"Listen, if you all still want to survive and maintain your lives here, I suggest you leave this place and find a new work." The man explained while bringing up a piece of paper, which was revealed to be somewhat of a contract with another establishment.

He then grinned, "Besides, I am on the right track, where I can finally be the best cook in the entire capital." He gave a confident chuckle, which came across as a taunt to the rest of the room, before exiting through the back kitchen.

Another round of silence took over the area.

For the first time, the cafe had lost a long-time chef. Anna began to wonder why she had been trusting a man that work alongside his grandfather, only to leave with this sense of betrayal.

"I don't understand, why a person like that is even the head cook." All eyes turned to a wolf girl demi-human crew member." I mean, he's the sole reason why the food is garbage!" She explained, causing the others to vent their own opinions.

"Agreed, most of the dishes he cooked were either burnt to crisp or raw."

"I never really like the way he treats us, fairies, In fact, he almost placed us into boiling water, when he mistook us for green beans."

"Believed me, He's been sabotaging every lunch and dinner session ever since he became the head chef."

"I lost all my tips too."

"Come on Anna, we can survive move forward, and survive without him."

The heaviness inside the young woman slowly lifted due to the rest of the staffs' encouragement, she smiled because of that, yet she still poured her concern of getting a new cook.

She sighed and shifted her eyes towards them.

"Thank you for your support, and I really do appreciate everything you've done to keep the legacy alive." She explained, before tiredly sighing." I-I think I need a short break." She added with a tired expression.

"Selina, please guide the rest regarding the plans for today." She looked towards the cat demi-human, who nodded in return.

Soon after, Anna went into the kitchen, intending to release her current impurities and hoping to find peace in the back alley. Unaware that a certain Scottish man is in the same vicinity.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gordon Ramsay was definitely exhausted.

To the point that he was finally gasping for his breath and muttering several swear words at the same time.

"Fuck, I am not going to run like that anymore...Shit me"

To his relief, he found himself away from the people who were pursuing him and was now simply walking with his now shaken legs. His entire outfit was now drenched in cold sweat, as if he had not taken a shower in 24 hours. He could still feel his heartbeat, indicating that the nervousness was still present.

He forced himself to continue walking down an empty, quiet alleyway surrounded by somewhat old, sturdy colonial-looking structures. He didn't have time to think about what kind of buildings he was in or where he was.

The Scottish man just wanted to find a spot where he can take the time to rest.

Not too long, Gordon found himself resting on the wall in the middle of the alleyway. That's when the man finally took a deep breath and began to release his emotions in anguish.

He had not cried like this since his mentor, Marco, made him cry on a corner during peak hours more than 20 years ago. Yet the reason was different this time.

He was in a strange land, and he still doesn't know what the heck was going on.

The man thought of his family, his wife, and kids, who must be dead on worry that he suddenly vanished during the filming of his own reality show. Oh, how he really regretted agreeing to a fellow producer's idea.

In his own perspective, fixing a fucking restaurant in 24 hours is really ridiculous, and some restaurant owners eventually would go back to their own ways, some just using the show for free renovation, and some just used the show for fame. It was all nothing but a circus.

Gordon immediately recalled the last restaurant that he and the production crew filmed, and especially the young owner of the said restaurant. From the start, He had a strange feeling about the place, and his suspicions were growing and yet it was too late for him to fully take action.

Why would they select a restaurant that has no problems at all except for the young head chef, who is supposed to have some kind of depression?

There was something really going on with the whole thing, and his problem now was to solve the mystery behind this fiasco.

"I think he went right here!"

At that very moment, the Scottish man was brought back to reality in an instant, as he looked towards his left. His widened as a group of Imperial Guards entered the alleyway.

"Shit!"He cursed again as his heart began to beat faster.

They were closing into his spot and he had to act quickly as possible.

Gordon Ramsay was placed into another dire situation, and fortunately enough, He looked to his right and saw what appeared to be a giant open crate just a few meters away from him.

The man quickly but quietly stood up again from the ground, ignoring the multiple aches on his lower body.

"Fuck My Back!"

He held his back while cringing in pain.

Less than several seconds, he finally reached the giant crate which was loaded on a wagon, upon touching the wooden materials, Gordon started to climb up as fast as he can. Moment by moment, his pursuers were nearing him, but before one of the guards could notice, the Scottish man finally reached the top and entered the crate.

"Hmmm...Strange I thought I saw someone climbing up that crate."

"Must be your imagination..."

"Come, that slave might have run towards the end..."

Gordon Ramsay covered his mouth and stayed quiet as much as he can. He was in a standstill, listening to the men's conversation. He kept hoping that they won't investigate, and he waited for more than a minute before the footsteps disappeared.

He was still in shock as he moved his eyes around his current surroundings and saw hundreds of tomatoes piled up inside the crate.

Before he could speak, the man suddenly looked up and saw the crate being fully covered and sealed off, thus letting the darkness take over his vision.

Meanwhile, from outside of the crate, a certain wagon rider had placed the cover back on the wooden box, before heading back to the front seat to handle horses as he finally finished his short break and would go on to fulfill his responsibility of delivering goods.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She had to admit that it had been one of the worsts mornings she had ever experienced.

What started as a hopeful thought of making a difference ended in a little disaster.

Anna sat on the ground and leaned on the wall of the back alley. Her mind was still in a blank phase as she chose to let herself be alone in these difficult times. She embraced herself in hopes that self-comfort would take away any negative energy.

"W-What am I supposed to do right now?" She slightly stuttered, wondering how she was going to find a new cook that could at least manage and lead the kitchen well.

"I wish you were still here, Grandfather..." She muttered aloud, looking up towards the sky." I wish you were still here to guide us." She added, as her emotions were eventually coming out of her.

Surely, it was quite impossible for a deceased person to be brought back from the dead at this time. Necromancy was a dangerous idea and nowadays, the art itself had been banned in most towns since it has the potential to destroy many lives. In addition, it was pretty disrespectful for a resting soul to be called to the world of the living once more.

The young woman had been continuously praying to the Gods from above, even when Chef Rocky was still on the helm. She wanted to believe that what happened today would be a part of their plans, but she chose to digress.

There was no way that the Gods would allow a person to witness disappointment unless there was a reason for it to happen.

She does believe in miracle interventions, but that kind of scenario is unlikely or rarely to happen in her case.

At that very moment, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a certain sound of a bell ringing.

She immediately turned to her right and caught a glimpse of a huge shadow, she then began to hear the footsteps of a horse and sounds of wooden transportation approaching her. Moments later, the shadow emerged from the foggy atmosphere and a horse-drawn wagon arrived at her spot.

"Is this the Lonely Lamb Cafe?"

The wagon rider then spoke.

"I got a crate delivery of tomatoes..." He said as he began to read the piece of parchment." As requested by Head Chef Rocky?"

"Oh.."

Anna trailed and stared at the man with a slightly confused look. "A Crate of Tomatoes?" She thought to herself, approaching the item which definitely surprised her regarding how massive the crate is.

She never expected the item to be this big unless...

*THUD*

The giant crate then was brought to the ground as the young wagon rider pulled a small lever that released the object via a small built-in slide at the back of the wagon.

"Here you go, Ma'am!"

In a blink of an eye, the wagon rider approached the young lady and handed her the parchment which acted as the invoice for the whole delivery process.

"Uhmm, Thank you," Anna replied back, still unsure if the former chef was really serious about ordering these many tomatoes.

Not too long, the wagon rider left the premises, and silence finally returned once again.

Anna took one last look at the massive crate before returning inside the cafe to request assistance in transporting the large, heavy wooden object into the kitchen. Although, unbeknownst to her, the crate itself began to violently move.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bringing the massive box inside the cafe was somewhat a difficult task.

Difficult, in the sense that it was too heavy to carry and it would take more than 5 stronger, human individuals, to carry it inside. Though fortunately, they had the demi-human crew service members of the service staff to do the job since they have the strength to carry such large objects and as well the fairies for their own part.

"Hold still! We don't have that much mana to stabilize it for a longer period of time," a fairy crew member said as she and a fellow fairy friend cast a small amount of their magic on the wooden object.

"Seriously, What's wrong with this crate?" A Wolf beast's skin complained while struggling to carry the wooden object.

"Yeah, it's been shaking like this for a while now." A fellow draconian demi-human added as he helped his fellow member carry the crate on the other side.

"Don't tell me a little wild dragon got trapped in there."

The rest of the wait staff and Anna stood there watching as the massive crate of tomatoes entered the dining area. They apparently had no choice but to close the cafe for a while because the crate had taken up most of the kitchen's space, so they brought it here since the dining area had enough room to accommodate such a large crate.

Not too long, the demi-human crew members reached the designated spot and slowly placed the crate down. At the same time, the fairies stopped casting their magic.

Silence returned to the area again as the group observed the giant crate.

Various discussions soon erupted among the staff. Some believe that their former chef ordered the crate on purpose to ruin their day, while others believe that the crate contained a wild dragon inside when opened would cause conflict and that this was all a cruel move to destroy the cafe's overall image and reputation.

"I can sense a terrible presence inside..." one of the Demi-human crew members remarked, her words causing some concern among the others.

Seeing the rest in that state, Anna sighed as she stepped in front and face the rest of her crew.

"You don't have to worry, even if a small wild boar or dragon comes out of that crate then we just cast a sleeping spell right away." She explained as she tried to assure them everything will be alright.

At the same time, the crate began to shake violently again,, and in less than a second, the top of the wooden object bursts open, sending the wooden cover flying away and colliding with one of the tables.

Seeing the unexpected scenario, the rest of the staff finally let their own vigilance take over, as each grabbed chairs, forks, tables to be used as their weapons. The fairies force themselves to gather enough mana in an attempt to cast a sleeping spell.

Anna, on the other hand, was accompanied by the loyal Selina as she went in front of the older girl to protect her.

As the quietness remained, the tension continued to grow.

Everyone's anticipation skyrocketed and they were all ready to face the inevitable. Yet by the time the smoke cleared, a hand emerged from the crate, startling the rest. Moments later, the front side of the crate suddenly collapsed bringing more dust and smoke.

Hundreds of Tomatoes began to fall and scatter across the floor, making somewhat of a mess. Yet, everyone was fixated on the certain hand which emerged again from the large pile of tomatoes, followed by a figure in black to which they had never seen before.

"Ms. Anna please stay back! This thing might be dangerous." The bigger Demi-Humans warned the others as they prepared to engage the mysterious creature.

Although, at that very moment, the mystery figure fully emerged from the tomatoes and came in a certain shade of blonde hair.

It was revealed to be Human...A strange-looking one indeed. The man then coughed multiple times followed by spitting the remains of the tomato he had eaten while inside the crate.

Anna's eyes never left the man as curiosity took over her. "Who is he?" She thought to herself.

By the time, the mystery man fully emerged from the big pile of tomatoes, He gave a disgusted look and cringed at the red vegetable and fruit, before glancing at everybody and speaking for the first time, letting everybody know what he thought about it.

"Jesus! These tomatoes are fucking rancid!"

The colorful words emerged from the man's mouth, instantly shocking most of them. For the rest of the staff, they looked at the man as something of an escaped hungry deserter due to the number of tomatoes stains on his mouth. Although, for Anna, the young lady had noticed an incredible presence emanating from the strange man himself.

Unbeknownst to her that the Gods had finally answered her prayers.

Chapter End

AN: So here is another chapter for the story, I apologized for not updating the story since, I was really busy writing another chapter for my other story" Gate: Journey In the New World.", which is also connected to this story. Please do read that story, if you have the free time. Thank you for reading the chapter and for your support as well :)