Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – Showdown on Main Street

Chapter 12

“Rabid Gorilla Strike!” I shouted.  My fists pummeled my chest like a bloodthirsty primate, increasing my attack speed.  A red hue surrounded me after the skill activated. “Raging Lion Assault!” I roared and charged toward the approaching orc.  The green monster’s aggressive expression promptly changed to an expression of unadulterated fear.  I released a flurry of punches dealing 125% attack damage for three seconds.  These were the longest and most painful three seconds of Vlad the orc’s life.  My fists crushed every part of his body where contact was made. Bones broke, muscles shredded, and organs busted wide open from the violent trauma. Rabid Gorilla Strike increased my attack speed, and I could land twenty pulverizing blows, turning the huge orc into pudding.

Every living creature that witnessed my vicious onslaught stood in shock and awe.  They’d never seen such an act of perfect brutality.  My fists dripped blood and gore while I looked at the remaining members of the Big’s kill squad.  All of them held their hands up and shook their heads in disbelief.  Their comrade wasn’t only dead.  He had been obliterated easily.

“Whoa, whoa, we’re sorry.  We’re going to get out of here.  Holy shit,” one of the gang members cried before turning tail and running out of town.

The others followed except for the leader named Ethan, unbeknownst to Chad, the newly anointed orc slayer. I raised my hand and pointed at the gangster. Bloody goop slung from my fist and splattered the terrified man in the face. “You want to live?”

“Yes, of course,” Ethan stammered as his body shivered in horror. The man didn’t even wipe the nasty blood from his face. He knew that any sudden movement could cause a violent death.

“You have one option and only one.”

“Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Do you want credits? I can get you a shitload of credits. You just say the word.”

“I don’t want credits. I want your gang to leave this town alone… not just this town… all towns.”

“I can’t arrange that. Bubba is the only one who can do that. Hell, man, he’s going to torture and kill me if I go back. He told me if I didn’t kill you, I was done.”

“Such a sad story, coming from the cunt that tried to burn all of us alive a few minutes ago.”

“Kill him!” Koshiro growled.

I cocked an eye at the sudden change in demeanor of the previously charming kitsune girl.

“Shut up, let Chad handle this!” Betty said through gritted teeth.

“You be quiet! This jerk tried to kill us. He deserves to get his head beat in!” Koshiro snapped with angry eyes.

I chuckled under my breath at Koshiro’s ruthlessness. It was kind of scary though. Those pretty eyes were red with rage.

“Don’t listen to her. I’ll do what you want. I’m sorry I was just following orders. This is Bubba’s fault. He’s the man you want,” pleaded the goon.

“We actually agree on something. You’re gonna take me to him and I’m going to end the Big. To hell with you dicks. I just got a job here, and you burned half of it down.”

“You tell him, big daddy!” Koshiro commanded.

“Big daddy?” I said under my breath.

The sheriff, Artemis, stepped forward and pointed to the hills. “Looks like you won’t have to go looking for Bubba Franks. He’s headed this way with some other guys.”

I saw a large man on the back of a huge bear thundering toward Summerstar, with men on horses following him. I counted five men following him in the bear’s dust trail.

Ethan squealed. “Oh shit, he’s gonna send me to the torture room,” the terrified man darted away through two buildings.

If there weren’t a herd of attackers on their way, I would have chased the piss ant down, but I had bigger problems now.

Bubba and his armored bear mountain slowed as they entered Summerstar proper. The large tub of lard looked at a pile of green flesh that used to be Vlad the orc. His eyes widened at the grisly sight.

“Artemis, you need to arrest this man,” Bubba demanded in a deep voice. “Is murder legal in your town?”

Artemis stepped forward meekly and took his hat off and held it to his chest. “Your men set fire to Betty’s restaurant and almost killed four people.”

“Vlad’s sentence was death?”

“No, Vlad attacked this unarmed man here with axes and he had to defend himself. Unfortunately, the orc was killed as a result.”

“He had it coming,” Betty raised her fist and shouted, “your minions burned my restaurant and assaulted me earlier today. You all have bullied us long enough!”

Bubba belly laughed and looked at one of his men, then pointed at Betty. “Did you hear this old hag, bitch? She says we’re bullies. She’s spreading lies about us. Go over and teach her some manners.”

“You got it boss,” the husky man dressed in black leather replied. He dismounted his horse excitedly and chuckled.

Did these Big people not see me standing here? They didn’t notice all of this bloody goo on my fists?

“Feed her to my grizzly mount. Henegar is famished,” Bubba cackled.

There was a cascade of audible inhales from the bystanders.

I grabbed one of Vlad’s battleaxes and threw it toward the man in black. The battle worn steel flipped end over end, cutting the air. The man turned toward the loud sound just in time to see his imminent death whirling toward him. The steel blade cut through his torso completely and sunk into the stone wall of the restaurant. The man with a bloody, gaping hole in his chest dropped to his knees, then fell prone, leaving a cloud of dust.  Crimson fluid puddled under the fresh corpse, emitting disgusting gurgles and other weird, wet noises. My nostrils filled with a metallic aroma that made me gag just a little.

“Sheriff! Arrest this man at once! He murdered my man in cold blood!” Bubba stammered and looked anxious for the first time since he arrived in the town.

“I don’t think that was murder. He was defending Betty. You said you were going to feed her to your bear. That’s intent to kill right there,” Artemis replied. It was the first time that I saw him show any backbone since I arrived.

Bubba glared at the sheriff with dagger eyes. “You better think about what you’re doing. Are you sure you want to defy me in front of all these people? Do you want to humiliate me?”

“I don’t want to do anything other than tell the truth. The truth is, you’re bad for my town. You and your gang have terrorized the people here long enough. I’ve failed them by allowing you to do it. No more. You’re the one under arrest! Now get the hell off that bear!”

The sheriff shocked me. He finally stood up to this creep. I’m not stupid. I realized that having a S-Rank barbarian as a friend gave him some extra confidence. However, whatever it was, I was proud of him.

The large grizzly mount huffed and moved his giant head forward and back. Bubba kicked the bear in the side hard with his boot, directing the beast to take a few steps forward. “Henegar! Kill that man! Go!”

The bear stopped in his tracks. Strong kicks from his fat rider frustrated the beast. Henegar roared and slung Bubba off his back to the dirt, hard.  An embarrassed Bubba stood to his feet as fast as a man of his size could. He cursed at the bear and unsheathed a short sword attached to the saddle on the giant grizzly.

“I’ll teach you not to throw me off,” Bubba growled and stabbed the bear in the throat and retracted the crimson blade. Red blood spurted from the hole like a hole in a large water tank.  Henegar stood on his hind legs, screaming in pain. Blood rained on Bubba, which served him right. Henegar lunged forward and bit Bubba in the face. The grizzly ripped the gang boss’ head off his body and slung it against a building.  The injured bear tried to turn and walk out of town, but he’d lost way too much blood. He fell over onto his side, causing the ground to shake under my feet.

The remaining thugs stared in disbelief at their headless boss. They were unsure what to do.

“Are you gonna do something?” I asked with my fists raised, “I suggest you find another line of work since your boss lost his head.”

A slender gangster sheathed his short sword and held both hands up. “We don’t want any trouble. We’re done with the Big. We fucking hated Bubba anyway. You did us a favor.”

“If you’re bullshitting me, and I see you in town again… you’re a dead man, all of you are.”

This didn’t sound like me at all. I was never a tough guy, so my experience in this area came soley from movies. I’m sure I sounded like an idiot, but it was working. It didn’t hurt that I turned their huge orc comrade into a bag of goo.

The gangster nodded and backed away. “We got it. Thanks for letting us go. We won’t be back — ever.”

Was I doing the right thing? Should I just let them go? There’s no telling what kind of horrible crimes these men committed. Shouldn’t they be jailed or executed?

I saw Koshiro kneeling beside the gigantic bear. The puddle of blood had grown to epic proportions. The kitsune looked like she was standing in a crimson pond.

“Are you okay, Koshiro?”

“Yes, I’m trying to heal the bear, but I am just not strong enough. He’s lost so much blood. That moron just had to stab him right in the jugular vein. It’s sad. He had to have had a shitty life. He had to carry around this fat tub of lard all over the place.”

“May I have a look?” said an old man in a white robe. “I’m an A-rank cleric. Your bear friend may still have a chance with my skills.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Koshiro?  That bear is freaking dangerous,” I interjected.

“He’ll be okay,” Koshiro replied with confidence.  I was unsure how she could be under the impression that this grizzly bear wouldn’t hurt her or someone else here.  This thing was a mount for the Big for the sake of the Nine.  Did he ask for that life?  No, but that’s the one he got.  The more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a bad idea.

I turned to Betty and tilted my head toward the cleric.  “Who’s this guy?”

“I’ve not seen him before.  He must be an adventurer headed toward the dungeon.  We’ve been fortunate this afternoon that they’ve passed by and weren’t jerks.  A Lot of these dungeon divers are conceited assholes.”

You are reading story Barbarian Chef at novel35.com

The entire grizzly bear glowed as the cleric chanted and pointed a staff at the gory wound.  After a couple of minutes, the bear’s torso rose and fall slowly as he breathed once more.

“Wow, he did it.  Shit,” I whispered so as not to interrupt the cleric from completing his work.

“I think he might just be okay.  I’m glad I passed through when I did.”

“Now, what are we going to do when the bear kills us all?” I asked with a dash of sarcasm.

A stocky man that looked like a lizard waddled through the crowd toward the slowly stirring bear. He wore a white shirt with brown pants with boots and a navy blue belt.  The lizard man’s scales were a bluish green, and he had a long spikey tail that fell behind him.  He could use that as a weapon if he wanted to.

“Jamison!  It’s good to see you,” Betty exclaimed.

Jamison turned his head and nodded at the cook.  His eyes were yellow with a black sliver in the center of the eye.  His long, forked tongue flickered before he spoke.  “Betty, I heard the commotion from the stables and I came to take a look.  I can’t believe that Bubba is dead.  This is wonderful.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “The stables?”

Jamison’s tongue flicked once more, then he swung his long tail from side to side.  “Yes, I own the stables here in Summerstar.  I’d like to take in Henegar the bear if it is alright.  I don’t mean to take him as my own bear. I just want to get him back to normal medically and hopefully train the darkness from his soul.”

“I think that would be a great idea.  Please do so at once.  We need to get all of this blood and gore out of our streets as well,” added a new arrival.

“Mayor Brewer,” Artemis audibly cleared his throat and adjusted his shirt, “I have the situation well in hand.  The mess will be cleaned up shortly.”

“You have the situation under hand? Are you kidding me right now?” Koshiro scoffed. “I clearly remember things differently. Chad saved the town and obliterated the Big in about two seconds.”

“Chad, I would love to shake your hand, but your hands are kind of,” the mayor trailed off.

I looked at my bloody hands and back at the mayor with a crooked smile. “Yep, they are kind of nasty.  We’ll have that handshake later.”

Muni held up her index finger. “I’ll get you cleaned up.  Let me get a bucket.”

Koshiro rasberried and walked away.  “I don’t think so.  I’m going to clean him up.”

Muni gave a shallow shrug at the kitsune. “O…kay, whatever.”

I watched Koshiro march off, swaying her plump ass back and forth. Her two bushy tails fluttered in a super cute way that mesmerized me almost as much as her epic ass.  It was a glorious sight, but I couldn’t help but wonder why the kitsune was getting so possessive of me. The kitsune girl was clearly jealous that Muni wanted to help me out, and she cut the blue-haired catgirl off pretty quickly.  I brought myself out of the Koshiro stupor that I was in and focused my attention back on the smiling mayor.

“I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done.  I’m not sure how you did it all by yourself, but thank you.”

“He’s an S-rank barbarian,” Betty interjected proudly.

The mayor’s eyes widened and jaw opened.  “S-rank?  That’s unbelievable.  I’ve never met a S-ranked person in all of my years.  That’s saying something because adventurers waltz through town to the dungeon daily.  Are you here for the dungeon?”

I shook my head.  “I honestly have no clue about what you’re talking about.” I motioned toward the charred restaurant.  “I’m the new cook here.  Well, what’s left of here.”

The mayor chuckled.  “Cook?  You can’t be serious. A S-rank barbarian should tackle dungeons all over the world and battle in arenas. They should lead armies for the king!  You could be a very rich man and a very renown man.”

“I honestly have no interest in any of that.  I just want to be a cook right here for the time being and hone my skills.”

“He’s a genius level cook by the way,” Betty interjected once more.

“Are you a relative of the Nine?  My goodness, you’ve been blessed,” the mayor laughed.

“I have been.  I can’t complain.”

The mayor cleared his throat.  “I must reward you for what you’ve done.”

I held up my hand and shook my head.  “That won’t be necessary.”

“Nonsense, I insist and I will not take no for an answer.  Do you want credits or do you desire something else?  A cottage? An apartment here in town?”

I opened my mouth to reject the mayor’s offer, but I had something wonderful cross my mind.  “I would like you to repair the restaurant.”

Koshiro dropped a bucket of water that she was bringing to clean my hands. “That is so… generous.  You’re so amazing.”

My cheeks reddened.  “I don’t know about all of that.  I just want this restaurant up and running.  I feel I’m to blame for the fire.”

Betty placed her hand on my shoulder.  “What are you talking about?  You aren’t to blame at all.  What you’ve done for this town is wonderful.  Who cares if it caught my restaurant in a little collateral damage?  You’ve freed us all from that gang of thugs. Listen, I don’t want you to use up your reward from the mayor to fix up this restaurant. You use it for yourself.”

I patted her hand.  “I have made my decision.  I want the restaurant repaired.  This would be for me as well.  I want to work here as a cook.”

Koshiro squealed and clapped her hands. “You… are… a… wonderful and generous man.  Thank the Nine for your arrival!”

“If that is what you want.  That is what you will get.  I will get Lennox from the Dwarven Construction Company to work on it at once.  You’ll be back in business in a couple of days.  I hate to run, but I have a few other tasks to complete before retiring for the night.” the mayor gave a quick bow and darted away to do whatever he needed to do.

“I don’t know what to say, Chad.  Thank you so much for helping us with the restaurant.  It’s very generous,” Muni embraced me out of the blue.  I was surprised, but I certainly wasn’t complaining.  The scent of her blue hair bombarded my senses.  She smelled amazing.

“Ah, no problem.  I’m glad I could help,” I stammered.

“Umm, I want a hug too,” Koshiro added through gritted teeth and a hand on her hip.

After releasing Muni, I opened my muscular arms toward the kitsune.  She jumped into my arms immediately and giggled.  I rubbed her back.  Her two tails rubbed the back of my hand, causing me to shiver.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, your tail fur just tickled my hand a little.”

Koshiro grinned.  “I’m sorry. Sometimes my tails have a mind of their own.”

The auburn hair of the kitsune smelled amazing as well.  I felt kind of like a creeper taking deep breaths of her hair, but I couldn’t control it.  Koshiro didn’t want to let go.  Things got a little awkward from the length of the hug, so I slowly pushed her away and smiled warmly with a corny wink.  She winked back flirtatiously.

“Oh,” she said sharply and loudly, causing me to jolt, “You’re going to need a place to stay.  I’ve got an extra room at my apartment.  You need to stay with me.  I insist!  No turning me down!”

The “no turning me down” comment had a subtle, demanding tone that caught me off guard.  “Eh, I don’t know.  I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re not imposing.  I won’t take no for an answer! Got it!”

I could tell that she was serious about not taking no for an answer.  “Are you sure?  You just met me and you want me to stay in your home?”

“We just met, but I know I can trust you.  I feel like we’ve known each other forever.  You can even cook me dinner!  Put those cooking skills to work!  What do you say?”

“You’ve certainly given me an offer I can’t refuse,” I replied in a Vito Corleone voice which Koshiro would have no clue what the hell I was impersonating, seeing that she was from a different world.

The kitsune cocked a brow in confusion at the odd change in my voice.

“Ignore that.  It’s an impression of someone on my planet.”

Koshiro giggled.  “So you’ll come?  Awesome!”

“I can’t wait.  What would you like me to cook you?”

“Gosh, I don’t know.  My kitchen is stocked pretty good.  I’m sure with your skills you can come up with something wonderful.”

I was excited about using my cooking skills again, not to mention spending some time with a beautiful girl.  Was this a date?

You can find story with these keywords: Barbarian Chef, Read Barbarian Chef, Barbarian Chef novel, Barbarian Chef book, Barbarian Chef story, Barbarian Chef full, Barbarian Chef Latest Chapter