It was Gael's first day at work today.
Sera had been kind enough to let him sleep on the second floor of the pub, where there were rooms dedicated for the staff.
Gael had woken up before dawn rose. The town chickens had already risen from their slumber, and were clucking up a storm, waking up every single person in the town. Goldenleaf never truly would have peace and quiet, despite being a quaint little town.
Putting on his work clothes, Gael went about his morning routine as fast as he could, even foregoing breakfast in order to finish setting up the pub a lot quicker.
"Welcome."
By five o'clock in the morning, the first customers had arrived. They mainly consisted of hungover men who had partied a bit too late into the night, and perhaps a bit too roughly. These men didn't have the energy to cook meals for themselves, so they instead went for the only eatery in the town.
The first two customers had arrived, and Gael had already had them seated. With a forced smile, he began to ask for their order.
"I'll have the… uhh… What's that say? What's that say there? Purk Rhaish?"
"That's Pork Rice, sir. Would you like it?" Gael responded, filling in the man's broken question.
The man nodded, wobbling his head and almost tipping himself over.
"Perfect. We all know a meal needs to come with a beverage." Gael said. "Would you like anything to drink with that? Maybe a cold glass of beer?"
"I don't know… it's too early, hmm?"
The man was clearly out of it. Gael could easily understand from the way he was acting that he wasn't exactly averse to the idea. His last remaining shred of sanity was preventing him from spending money on beer.
"Sir, a beer works at any time during the day. Think of it as… water, but fermented. Sounds good, doesn't it? You should order it."
"Oh, alright, alright! Since you insist, I'll have a beer." The man turned to his friend, who sat at the opposite end. "How 'bout you, Bert? Have a beer, won't you?"
Unlike the alcoholic, the man named Bert seemed to have more of his sanity intact. He seemed completely opposed to spending any more money than needed.
"I don't know, gramps. My wife's gonna kill me if she finds out I was drinking this early! I think I'll just have what Gramps had, but without the beer."
Gael wasn't about to let that happen. He recalled the lessons Pierre had taught him yesterday. He needed to nudge the customer in the direction he wanted him to, but not openly advise him.
"Is that so? Then, what will you have for drinks, sir?" He asked the man called Bert.
"Hmm… can't really get much out here in the countryside, huh? Do you guys have anything other than beer?"
"Oh, yes. If you don't fancy a beer, how about a taste of the fruit lambic? It looks rather similar to a beer, but it has a fruity taste to it. Aside from that, you could have water. Though, the water is warm, so we apologize for that."
This was one of Pierre's tricks. Gael intentionally laid out two choices that seemed bad at first glance, but he made sure to speak highly of one option so as to lead Bert away from the, as Pierre had put it, "cheapskate" beverage known as water.
The final nail to the coffin was to downplay the beverage he didn't want Bert to choose, which, in this case, was water.
"A fruit limbic, hmm. Never had it. I don't want bland water, either. I guess I'll take the first option, then."
"Excellent choice, sir." Gael smiled. "If that's all, then I will put in your orders."
The rest of the morning went on like this. Thanks to the psychological tricks Pierre had taught Gael, he was easily able to convince patrons to spend much more money than they had planned to.
Gael's greatest accomplishment of the morning was when he somehow managed to persuade a particularly inflexible customer into ordering not one, not two, but three extra glasses of beer.
Lunchtime eventually came around the corner. Unlike most people wanted to believe, this was actually the least busy part of the day.
During lunch, most patrons were either too busy working to bother heading to the pub, or simply couldn't. The only ones that would come around were the steady-minded groups that wouldn't budge an inch, no matter how much Gael tried to convince them to spend more money.
For those people, he simply did his best by providing them with better service. He would have to rely on their goodwill and tips in order to make a profit.
Finally, evening came. The busiest part of the day. Having rested a couple of hours during the afternoon when it wasn't too busy, Gael was ready.
With his smooth tongue–forged in a single session from Pierre's teachings, Gael did his best to sweet talk every single patron possible into spending more. He employed every single method he was taught, from reading body language to suggesting incentives for bets, to even flat-out telling them to order more.
And it all worked out in the end. By the time his shift was about to end, Gael had counted over thirty silver coins in his pocket as the tips he was given.
Jobs in Antoria paid out wages to its workers in the form of coins. These coins ranged from copper, silver, gold, and platinum. A normal construction job in one of the major cities would pay around twenty silver coins a day. Gael had managed to make that amount just from tips.
You know, I think I might have a talent for enchanting people with my words. I deserve a pat on the back for my work.
It was now late in the evening. The last few customers were finishing up their meals, and most of the heavy drinkers had already left. There wasn't much left to gain in terms of profit, so Gael simply left the last of their patrons to themselves.
And right as the last group of patrons had started to leave and Gael was about to get started on closing up the pub, he was suddenly stopped.
Gael's eyes spotted a small figure enter. Shrouded in dark robes that seemed to conceal her very existence, he almost did not notice her. The girl wore a hood, most likely intended to conceal her face, but it seemed to be unsuccessful in that endeavor. Strands of hair, colored a blissful white, poked out from gaps in the fabric, and in the front.
Gael also found it hard to ignore the constant clanging of metal. That, too, was a poorly hidden aspect of her appearance.
And the final nail in the coffin was the two obviously shaped elven ears that stuck out through the hood.
Perhaps she should've donned a different disguise. Maybe something that at least conceals the fact that she's an elf.
"Bring me the usual."
The woman's voice seemed strained. Aside from sounding hoarse, she seemed to have difficulty in voicing her words. Still, Gael didn't find it hard to understand.
The comms my teammates gave would me are far more vague and indecipherable.
There was one problem, however. Gael had no clue what her "usual" order was. Based on her confidence, he could tell that she was a regular. Being the only server currently still here, he wasn't sure as to what to do.
Gael shot Pierre a questioning look. The bartender seemed to understand him immediately and gestured to him to come closer.
"Now, I know it's weird to hear this, but…" His voice trailed off. "Don't mess with her."
"Her?" Gael looked at the girl again. "Why, she doesn't seem like the dangerous type?"
"That's where you're wrong. Strange rumors surround the woman–they call her a witch. Follower of an evil god."
"I know it's your first day here, so I'll spare you the details." Pierre continued. "Just serve her meal, and don't ask questions. That is, if you value your life."
My life's lost its value the moment I found out I could respawn, buddy.
Gael knew firsthand not to let rumors get in the way of first impressions. If he had nothing to lose, then he didn't care if he died.
If what Sera told me is true, then the beds that players sleep in can act as their respawn points. I've slept once since coming here, so I'm eager to test out that theory.
But you'd think that for a game that brags about being realistic, they'd have some sort of punishment for dying. Well, unless people actually do respawn in the real world.
With absolutely no fear in his heart, Gael began listing down the contents of the girl's order, based on what Pierre was now telling him.
