First Night [Open]

Tim had been told the best time to visit the hot springs were on the summer months because it is the time a hot spring’s water was the purest. But Silver Wolf’s hot springs were the exception to this rule where, instead of summer, the guildhall’s is packed with people on the winter months all the way to early spring. Because of the guild’s hot springs keeping its warmth all throughout the year, the coldest months became peak time. Tim had not been with the guild long enough to experience the shift in the number of patrons, but the sheer number of people on the guild’s dining hall were a lot more than what the staff had expected.

“I thought they canceled their reservation!?” “That’s what the front desk told us!” “Damn, pull the waiters back. We need more people in the kitchen-!”

Tim was already helping with restocking the restaurant with the day’s delivery. It mainly consisted of freshly slaughtered meat from the mountain village closest to the guildhall. He overheard the staff’s trouble with oncoming customers as he and a few others were doing their job. He quickly finished arranging some of the packed meat into the cold room and talked with them.

“Was it the clan reunion?” Tim asked one of the staff.

“Fifty of them, Tim! Oh, this is a disaster…” The maître d'hôtel, a woman older than Tim, answered. “They’ll be here any minute now. And one of the long tables haven’t been emptied- ah, here you all are!”

She blew past Tim and talked to the waiters who walked through the swing doors connecting the kitchen and the hall proper. “Have you kept one of the long tables empty?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Oh, thank the gods! Help me get the table runners!” She didn’t even bother looking over the waiters, fully expecting them to follow.

“Tim.” One of them went to him, his eyes never leaving the maître d’hôtel’s way as he spoke. “There’s a couple that had their table set but haven’t been served yet. Mind doing me a favor?”

“He’s been hauling all afternoon, you know?” One of the other staff who came out of the cold room said.

The waiter in question couldn’t even be bothered to say anything else and jogged as they all heard maître d'hôtel call his name. The cooks kept doing their job, but gave an apologetic look Tim’s way. One of the workers who was with Tim patted his shoulder. “I would’ve gone and done it in your stead, kid. But unless you want me out there instead of you…?”

Tim looked at the man’s slightly dusty look. He didn’t have any issue with the clothes, Tim’s personal wardrobe consisted of the cheapest ones he found on Hargeon Town’s flea market. But all of them would be lying if they think the man’s shirt and cargo pants were the best fit serving customers over the other side. On the other hand, Tim was wearing his armor, Servant. It was quite literally a butler’s outfit.

With a sigh of resignation, Tim shook his head. “Why don’t we both go instead? Bet we could do it faster than just me jumping out there.”

He laughed and slapped the young man over his back.

By all accounts, Tim wasn’t obligated to help any of the staff. It was the gnawing experience of having nothing to do in his room that made Tim actively look for jobs to do. If not out of the field, then in the library keeping inventory of the books, cleaning the hot springs or helping the staff resupply the storage. Even as Tim straightened his outfit and headed out into the hall, it wasn’t out of altruism or a sense of service. It was just to keep any of his own thoughts at bay.

Now where are these love birds? Tim basked in the dining hall’s orange tint as the swivel doors swung open. He had taken a metal tray with a bottle of champagne and two wine glasses on top as he went outside. There was a noticeable difference between the purposeful noise of the staff hard at work behind him and the idle chatter of their patrons. It wasn’t his job to notice it, however, so he slightly shook his head and focused.

There were two couples on the hall: The first couple were a pair on their thirties while the second couple, Tim noticed, were in their twenties. The younger couple were on one of the smaller plain looking tables close to the counter, a stark contrast to the first couple’s fully set table. “Poor timing, huh. They would’ve gotten their seats there had it been any other-”

Oh? The first pair, Tim noticed, were already leaving. They were busy chattering as they walked out of the hall and left their table. With a small smile, Tim walked over the empty table and set the two wine glasses over and looked at the young blonde couple.

It would be a waste to just let this perfectly set table empty, wouldn’t it?