Chapter 214: Terminal Conflict

"This is the section of the port terminal that our Scarlet Relief Society is responsible for, and it is also where you will be working from now on."

After the agreement was signed, the female attendant from before led Yun Mu and Dunn to the southern part of Frostfall Port.

"What a bustling place this is."

Dunn, disguised as Stanny, said as he looked at the environment with people coming and going before him.

"It really is very bustling."

Yun Mu nodded in agreement; this was her first time coming to Frostfall Port, and at the same time, it was her first time seeing the ocean in reality.

Thus, her gaze wandered around involuntarily, which actually fit quite well with her persona as a naive young lady from a merchant guild.

People from all walks of life worked here; sailors were busy on the ships unloading cargo, loading cargo, checking the condition of ropes and rigging, as well as performing maintenance and cleaning work.

The cargo storage area was piled high with timber, giant conch shells, industrial raw materials, and other import and export goods.

Besides this, the terminal's buildings also included warehouses, a terminal office, and a steam freight service center.

These buildings were constructed of brick, stone, and wood, some of which had likely stood for decades.

The terminal office was where ship owners, freight forwarders, and customs officials handled shipping and customs affairs.

The steam freight service center provided some basic services for dock workers and sailors, such as food, drinks, and lodging.

Because of the labor union, although ships entered and exited around the clock, the workers' shifts generally ended by eight or nine in the evening.

There were no instances of working late into the night.

Uh, although Yun Mu felt that getting off work at eight or nine in the evening was already quite late. As for why you ask she was so knowledgeable about this place, it was mainly because, after knowing she would be working here, she had specifically asked Brenna to help her cram for a while yesterday.

Although she didn't know if it would be useful, learning a bit more could never hurt.

She observed the harbor's moorings and saw many types of ships, among which large merchant vessels were the most numerous, accounting for nearly ninety percent of the entire port.

The remaining ten percent were all fishing boats and small cargo ships.

The main reason for this phenomenon was the primary purpose of Frostfall Port.

This was a large port responsible for import and export goods; fishing was merely a secondary matter.

The vast majority of ships docked here came from Florinda, using that place as a transit hub to transship goods coming from the Heling Empire.

Among them, there was also a considerable quantity of precious New Continent goods that had traveled a long distance from the colonies in the New Continent, passed through the Shattered Star Sea, then traversed the Exile Sea, and finally arrived in Florinda.

"This is a newly expanded area of the terminal, bought with money by our union's investor, Lord Siman. It is precisely because of that lord that we are able to have work here."

"I hope that while you are working, you can keep this in mind and not forget it."

The female attendant recounted the deeds of the noble Siman in a flat tone; looking at her expression, this was likely just a requirement of the job.

She herself probably did not feel the admiration for Siman as an individual that her words suggested.

Come to think of it, judging by the fact that she could write, she should have received a certain level of education.

This kind of rhetoric could probably only fool those honest workers.

Sure enough, seemingly considering the two's identities, the female attendant silently added after finishing this sentence: "Just listen to that and leave it at that; I don't think you would believe it either."

"However, if possible, please do not voice your own superfluous thoughts to the workers; that would cause trouble for me, for you, and for those workers."

"We understand this point very well, please rest assured," Dunn said with a light chuckle, appearing quite graceful.

The female attendant glanced at him, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Remember to put on your work uniforms when working; your current clothes are too conspicuous."

Although, given the appearance of this pair of siblings, they would be conspicuous even if they wore work uniforms.

The female attendant thought casually to herself.

"I will take you to collect your work uniforms and the changing room; follow me." She turned around and walked toward a warehouse not far away.

"Alright."

Yun Mu and Dunn nodded and followed behind the female attendant to the warehouse to each collect a set of brand-new work uniforms.

This stuff was not much different from what Yun Mu had imagined; it was gray-blue overall and felt a bit rough to the touch. It was clearly not an exquisite item, but it had the advantage of being sturdy and durable, and it was also very convenient to wash.

After changing clothes in the changing room, under the female attendant's arrangement, she and Dunn were quickly separated.

Led by a somewhat burly cook, Yun Mu was taken to the public kitchen at the southern terminal, while Dunn went with the old hands at the construction site to move cargo crates.

Unlike the vast majority of dirty and messy kitchens in her impression, this public kitchen looked quite clean.

At least on the surface, there were not many stains, but because they had to cook every day, it was inevitable that some oil stains would be smeared on the counters and corners, making them look a bit greasy.

However, this could also show that this kitchen was quite generous with oil when cooking for the workers... right? Just kidding; how could she judge the kitchen's usual oil usage based on just this? She was just saying it casually.

"Since you're just starting work, you'll be responsible for some odd jobs. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask the other Apprentices. Then watch carefully and learn well. When the time comes, I'll let you handle some simple ingredients."

After bringing Yun Mu to the public kitchen, the burly cook explained to her in a flat tone.

Did odd jobs mean cleaning?

Yun Mu guessed in her heart while nodding earnestly to the other party: "Yes, I understand!"

Before they separated, Dunn had requested that she improve her impression in the eyes of others as much as possible—in game terms, that meant grinding the NPCs' favorability.

After all, many secrets were only told to you once favorability reached a certain level. In short, increasing one's impression in the eyes of others was never wrong.

What's more, her natural affinity would not diminish even if her appearance changed, so making good use of it would surely be very effective.

Hmm, that last sentence was Dunn's original words.

Did natural affinity refer to the special effect she gained after some effects of her "Favorite of the Gods" title were activated? Or did it refer to the effects of the "Charming" and "Seductive" traits, and "Language Affinity"?

Or perhaps all three? Hmm... regardless, Dunn seemed to be able to feel her so-called affinity.

She didn't know if this was detected by his Supernatural ability "Perception" or if it was judged entirely by feeling. She just felt it was somewhat unexpected. And what happened next was indeed as Yun Mu had anticipated: the so-called odd jobs were just cleaning the kitchen.

Carrying water buckets, throwing kitchen trash where it belonged, and scrubbing stubborn stains with steel wool—she didn't have to do any of that!

Perhaps because of the affinity Dunn mentioned, the tasks given to Yun Mu were all light work that didn't require much physical strength, such as sweeping the floor or wiping dust from places like window gaps.

Yun Mu finished all these little tasks in no time.

Considering the requirement Dunn mentioned earlier about maximizing everyone's favorability, Yun Mu, having nothing to do after finishing her work, took the initiative to find the old man responsible for arranging work for everyone, hoping the other party wouldn't have to take such good care of her.

"You've finished all the work I arranged for you earlier?" the middle-aged man, who wore the same work uniform as Yun Mu but with a clean apron over it, asked upon learning of her request.

"Mm." Yun Mu nodded: "I've finished everything!"

Just kidding, as a Transcendental, wasn't that kind of simple work something she could handle with ease, something she could finish in minutes? What's more, this public kitchen was already quite clean; honestly, there wasn't much left to clean.

Among those chores, the things that were truly difficult to deal with were the food waste generated by the kitchen and the large amount of tableware that needed to be washed after the workers finished their meals.

After all, there was no plastic in this era, and those disposable products had not yet entered the historical stage.

Therefore, the workers all used metal lunch boxes to eat. After lining up to receive their lunch and finishing their meal, they had to pile the lunch boxes together, and they would eventually be washed clean by newcomers like Yun Mu who were there to do odd jobs.

However, it wasn't time to eat yet, so there was no dishwashing work for her for the time being.

"Mm." After roughly inspecting the results of her cleaning, the middle-aged man pondered for a moment before asking her: "Can you chop vegetables?"

"I can." Without any hesitation, Yun Mu nodded.

"Very good."

Receiving an affirmative answer, the middle-aged man said with a satisfied look: "It's two hours until lunchtime, and the kitchen usually prepares in advance at this time."

"Since you can chop vegetables, then please go and help the kitchen masters share the load."

"Okay!"

Yun Mu immediately agreed, was then led to the most core area of the kitchen, washed her hands thoroughly in advance, tied on the same white apron as everyone else, and picked up a kitchen knife beside the sink, getting ready.

Mm. Although it wasn't the square kitchen knife she was familiar with, it was still no problem to use it to simply chop some vegetables.

She waited full of confidence. A few minutes later, a fat man holding a huge soup ladle and wearing a gray-white chef's uniform walked into the room. After his gaze lingered on Yun Mu for a moment, he said:

"Prepare lunch!"

"Today we are making salt-baked mashed potatoes, northern grain stew, and kelp fish soup. Everyone, get moving!"

The fat chef gave concise instructions. Because they had to provide lunch for everyone at the construction site, cooking in the public kitchen not only required large pots but also required everyone to perform their own duties and cooperate.

For example, Yun Mu's job right now was chopping vegetables, and beside her, a young man standing in front of the sink had the job of washing vegetables.

The two cooperated, putting all the processed vegetables into the large pot nearby.

Once a pot was filled, a chef would take it away and start cooking that pot of stew.

The taste of doing it this way obviously wouldn't be very good, but it was a public kitchen after all; it was food cooked in a large pot, so it was a victory if it wasn't unpalatable—why ask for so much? What's more, compared to other places, the ingredients used in this public kitchen and the food cooked were considered to be of excellent quality.

It had staples, vitamins, and meat; it wasn't unpalatable and it kept you full—what more could you want?

It was no wonder so many workers jumped ship to come work for the Scarlet Relief Society, and the reputation seemed quite good too. Yun Mu analyzed in her heart while chopping vegetables.

"That newcomer over there... the girl with the golden hair, stop looking, I'm talking to you."

After spending about forty-plus minutes and getting the vegetables mostly chopped, the previously mentioned fat head chef suddenly called out to her.

"Um, is there something you need me for?" Yun Mu put down the kitchen knife and looked at the other person with some confusion.

"Have you cooked before?" the fat head chef asked, his gaze looking at the cutting board behind her, where neatly chopped carrot chunks were placed.

"I have done some..." Hearing the fat head chef's question, Yun Mu said without too much hesitation.

After all, this was the head chef of this public kitchen; being able to improve her impression in his mind would likely help her and Dunn's investigation.

"Mm." Hearing her answer, the fat head chef rubbed his chin: "What is your name?"

"Lilith, my name is Lilith!"

Not forgetting the role she was playing in the slightest, when Yun Mu said her name at this time, she even deliberately struck a greeting pose according to aristocratic etiquette.

Look, this is called professional.

As a merchant's daughter, Lilith had received aristocratic education, and what she did was completely in line with the persona.

"Mm, I see."

The fat head chef nodded, then turned around to continue directing the others in the kitchen.

Huh? Just... just ask for a name, no more interaction?

Yun Mu was stunned for a moment, then felt a bit discouraged. Just when she thought the investigation might make some progress, it actually ended just like that.

However, this small setback wouldn't affect her for long. In less than five minutes, she readjusted her state and continued chopping vegetables.

Soon, as the overflowing aroma filled the air above the pier, the workers' lunch break arrived! Dunn, covered in dust and "looking" exhausted, came to her side with the same lunch box as the one in Yun Mu's hand, sat down casually, and asked her in a low voice:

"How is it? Did you find out anything in the public kitchen?"

"Not yet..." Yun Mu shook her head. She was just about to explain to Dunn what she had done this morning when, at this very moment, a burst of commotion suddenly came from the pier in the distance.

"Did something happen?" Interrupted by the sudden sound, Yun Mu looked toward the direction the sound came from with some curiosity.

"It seems like someone is fighting." Dunn seemed to have seen what happened over there and explained to her.

(End of this chapter)