The Frost Heart

Jack's New Life

Dawn leaves in the eastern horizon by bringing a new time for living creatures under the shade of the sky.

A gray-haired young man who was asleep, woke up when the morning light shone on his face. He soon realized it was morning. He is Jack, a scavenger who takes refuge in a hidden land due to a phenomenon that has left the world in ruins.

Jack's room has two beds. One for her and one for her roommates. His friend Dian was asleep with a snore. Jack then goes to Dian's bed and wiggles her body.

"Wake, Dian. It's morning, you got a job to do this morning, right?"

"Five more minutes..." Said Dian who was even curled up in the blanket.

Jack only sighed heavily at the behavior of his roommate. At the beginning of their meeting, Dian said not to bother Jack when following him. But Dian now broke that remark.

Jack then leaves his room and Dian with the toiletries. Jack thought Dian would wake up on his own later, so he left her alone.

Today, Jack lives in a small inn in the corner of the city of Hedgehade and lives there. It has been 3 months Jack, Dian, and the other refugees are in a hidden land, Dracvale. Jack struggles during that time to adapt well and get his life in Dracvale. As you can see, Jack was lucky to get a place to stay in a small inn. At first Jack felt there was an awkward feeling when he was accepted to stay at the inn. Because it was received so quickly and given ease. Other lodging is not like. But gradually, Jack's thinking was reduced until Jack forgot the thought.

His luck was not there, a day later Jack got a job at a restaurant as a waitress and Dian got a job at a sawmill. Jack and Dian's lives are assured now in Dracvale, compared to 10,000 other refugees who still seem to be hanging.

Jack's room at the inn was on the 2nd floor, so Jack had to climb up and down the stairs to get out of the inn. When Jack came down, he met an elderly woman reading a book with tea at her side table. Kroft's grandmother is Jack's call to the grandmother and she is the mother of the innkeeper Jack lives in.

"Good morning, Grandma Kroft." Greet Jack politely.

"Oh, son Jack. Good morning to you too." Reply Grandma Kroft. "Don't Jack take a shower?"

"Yes, Grandma Kroft. I have a morning job at Happy Time's restaurant."

Happy Time is where Jack works. The place was a bit close to his inn.

"Oh, so. You got a passion for work, Dad. At such a young age."

"If I don't work, I'll starve to death, Grandma Kroft."

Then Grandma Kroft laughed at it. According to Jack, Grandma Kroft has a jovial character, making everyone get carried away in her conversation. Despite looking jolly and smiling easily, Grandma Kroft actually has a disease. Jack does not know the details, but the disease makes Grandma Kroft can not long move.

"Oh, yeah. You should take a quick shower. Early in the morning, Lili had made a breakfast menu. It was really that child, even though she was pregnant."

The owner of this inn belongs to Grandma Kroft's daughter-in-law. His son is named Lili, and Jack usually calls Mrs Lili is 7 months pregnant. Jack then chanted, "Maybe the baby's sister wants to cook breakfast..."

"Ha ha ha, maybe. You gotta hurry, Jack boy. If you don't want to miss this breakfast. Because today's main menu is Acid Fried Duck."

"Ehm! Did ya? Dian will be excited to hear it."

Although small, this inn provides food for the occupants. Madam this owner is kind enough to give that service. Jack did not expect that the main menu today is the same as the menu last week. The main menu point here is the food menu that is served differently every day and is not in the menu book. Actually, not every day is different. It could be the same menu the next day or the next day.

Feeling that a lot of time was wasted, Jack told Grandma Kroft to go out, heading to the public bath.

Public baths are not as common as their names. There are bathrooms that are closed for bathing. The number is very large, enough to make the queue not crowded. After finishing the bath, Jack returned to the inn. He hasn't seen Grandma Kroft read the book. Jack knew that Grandma Kroft was in her room, resting.

He didn't care about it and went straight to his room. Arriving at the room, she sees that Dian is still asleep. Jack does not tolerate it. She then raised her wet hand because after the shower to Dian's neck. It just so happens that there are water droplets that start to fall and Jack points to the nape of Dian to wake her up. That way is really powerful. Dian becomes unstable when dripped with water.

"Flood! It's flooding!" Dian got up and banged in front of him. After a while, Dian fell silent and realized that there was no flood in place.

"You awake, lazy? You have a job today, right? It's about to go into working hours and you need to get ready quickly."

With a flat face, Jack spoke to Dian. Actually Dian's expression when he woke up was quite funny, but it was not enough to make the serious Jack laugh. Hearing Jack's talk, Dian agreed and rushed out with a towel and toiletries.

After Dian left, Jack went to the next room which was the dressing room and changed his work clothes there. A few minutes later, Jack finished changing his clothes. Dian is still not seen in the room and Jack hopes that the boy does not sleep on the street.

Jack went to the ground floor for breakfast. The cost of eating here is distinguished by the cost of staying, but it is not a problem for Jack because the price of lodging and food prices are slightly cheap at market prices. It was Jack's third fortune after getting a place to live and work in the middle of nowhere.

On the ground floor, Jack saw that the place was already crowded and five seats were already filled with people. The noise began to be heard from Jack bathing earlier by mixing the aroma of food that Jack was familiar with. It was Duck Bakar Asam, a typical food of the city of Hedgeshade.

Without lingering, Jack immediately sat on an empty chair and waited for the maid who was the innkeeper's daughter.

"A-what y-y-yang a-you want a-message, sir?"

When Jack was still daydreaming, a servant came to him. Jack looked at the waitress who was shoulder-high and blond. The servant was the daughter of the innkeeper.

"Ah, I'm sorry, sir!"

Lisa immediately looked down apologetically and it caught the attention of everyone on the floor.

"Ehem*you're not wrong, I'm just wondering."

Jack did not care about everyone's gaze leading to him and ordered a serving of rice and sour-baked duck.

Lisa Kroft is a typical daughter of cheerful children and can be the center of everyone's attention. He was not a shy child just because of the crowd that approached him. I just don't know why near Jack he's gonna get nervous and worried like he's scared of Jack.

"W-what are you..want to order another?" Lisa's Saying.

"Just like water."

"A-there's...again?"

Jack shook his head, he did not want to order more because he did not have much money. Then Lisa leaves Jack and goes to another chair.

"What do you want to order, sir?"

Jack immediately scrunched his forehead when he saw Lisa back to normal when serving guests. He was nervous, but not as bad as serving Jack. Jack asks himself, does he resemble the monster that scared Lisa?

He might ask someone else for his appearance.

As Jack waited for his order, Dian had already walked into the inn and climbed upstairs. He seemed to want to change his clothes. When the order had come, Dian had already come and was delighted when the main menu of the dish was the sour-baked duck.

"What today is Fried Duck?" ask Dian.

Jack nodded.

"Why don't you wake me up if you know there's an Acid Duck?"

"Ehm, thank God for waking you up, slacker. You really are like a slow loris?! Aren't you a hybrid slow loris?"

Jack grumbled furiously. He was already upset with Dian's attitude. But it soon cools down when he remembers that that annoying fellow is his friend.

That day Dian spoke in English. It took a lot of effort for Dian to learn English to be fluent. Dian studied with Jack, then finally she taught herself to be able to talk to others.

"Weh, slow bro. I'm just a troll." Then Dian used her slang Indonesian to calm Jack down.

"Lisa's bell, order a one-serving sour-baked duck?"

Dian shouted to Lisa who was walking towards the kitchen. Lisa instantly writes Dian's order and stares at Dian and Jack's desk. Lisa looks at Dian at first, but looks at Jack. He threw away his face and left while blushing.

Seeing Lisa's behavior makes Jack really feel wrong.

"Well, today somehow Neng Lisa's a little sweet blushed so?"

Dian is unaware of Lisa's attitude towards Jack. She admires Lisa's beauty with her Sundanese accent. Jack did not understand Dian's often fickle logic. Sometimes he speaks Madura, sometimes he speaks Sundanese. Maybe because of his residence and family, he can have 2 accents when speaking.

"Hey, Dian. What do I look like now Ugly?" Jack asked Dian.

"Why are you asking like that? You have an unusual appearance, Jack. I was shocked when I found out that your young age was gray and more surprised when I found out your hair color is natural. I'll date you...."

When he heard the last words, Jack immediately walked away from Dian.

"I never thought I'd share a room with a gay."

"Don't misunderstand woi! I'll date you if I'm a woman."

"That doesn't fix your statement."

Dian has to work hard to explain that he is not gay. Jack finally believed Dian.

Then the order came and they ate their breakfast. Especially Dian who likes Acid Burn Duck.