Soul Nexus. Volume 1: Before Dawn

5

I finished before Shun and went to rest at our house in the residential area of the castle, a kind of colony of brick huts without plaster, all on reddish earth, in quite deplorable conditions, and clustered at the extreme northeast of the castle, within the perimeter walls.

To enter, we have to exit through the secondary entrance and re-enter the castle. It was ridiculous that there was no internal path directly connecting to the palace or at least to the adjacent military secondary zone near that entrance.

However, there was no such path for two reasons. First: it would pass through the large castle garden behind the palace and the adjacent buildings, stretching from the eastern wall to the western wall, so vast that it resembled a forest; something that would tarnish the clean image of that space full of flowers and trees. And second: we are treated as mere pawns; nobody would care about a simple worker whose job is to serve the castle and the royal family residing within it. It is us who must ensure that their majesties are as comfortable as possible.

The rich disdain the poor, living with the best luxuries and the greatest possible comfort, attended to by many of us who have to work to survive and live as best we can with our own hands. That's how it was.

It truly was an exhausting day. I arrived home very tired. I just wanted to go to rest to be able to wake up early, as we do every day. However, as soon as I put the key in the doorknob, Mr. Roig, the chef's sidekick at the palace, appeared behind me. He was a man of just under 40, short and a bit chubby, whose hair had abandoned his forehead, although his distinctive spiral mustache compensated for it a bit.

Mr. Roig: 『 Oh, young Maximo, it's good to see you. 』

Max: 『 Do you need something, Mr. Roig? 』

Mr. Roig: 『 Yes, I need to ask you for a favor 』

It turned out they needed help in the palace kitchen since some of the waitstaff had fallen ill, and on that day, commemorating the aforementioned evening, it was essential for them to be present. So he begged me to help by taking one of the positions since he couldn't find anyone else who could do it.

The truth is, I was thinking of declining the offer, but seeing him plead with his back completely bent at a 90° angle and his head down made me consider how bad he would feel if I did. So, I had no choice but to reluctantly accept. My rest would have to wait.

He gave me a rather ordinary waiter's uniform, with the same monotonous black and white colors. I changed into it and headed straight to the kitchen, located in the east wing of the palace, on the ground floor. As soon as I arrived outside the kitchen, two carts full of vegetables and meat were parked right next to it, surrounded by several chefs and waiters hurriedly unloading the cargo.

Mr. Roig: 『 Young Maximo! Over here! 』

Mr. Roig called me over one of those carts to help unload the food. Zucchinis, broad beans, peppers, various spices, and cleanly cut parts of pork and beef, everything was so fresh and the high quality of each item was evident. It was incredible how much food there was. With all of that, perhaps a quarter of the entire capital could be fed and easily all the castle workers too. Undoubtedly, something big was being commemorated inside.

With all those people in a hurry, the unloading didn't take as long as I thought. The ingredients immediately entered that long room full of cutting tables, ovens, griddles and people working. All were carefully washed and then passed to the hands of the chefs to slice, grind, cook, and combine into various dishes.

Finally, the last vegetable came out of the cart I was helping with. I stepped down, leaning against the side of the wheel, took a lateral leap. I was about to enter the bustling place to start my task when suddenly...