After walking through the portal, I found myself in a dark alley, and she was already there waiting as if 10 whole years had passed even though I literally went in 10 seconds after her at most.
"My, you finally showed up? I was about to close it if you didn't hurry up."
"Calm down, will ya? I went in only a few seconds after you. That aside tho, where are we this time?"
As I asked, I extended my arm and opened my palm, then 2 colored contacts appeared in my hand seemingly out of thin air. Of course though, she had simply made them, so I quickly put them on while waiting for a reply.
"We're in the capital, there's a new restaurant that opened yesterday, and apparently…For their first day, they capped at around 1000 customers."
"On their first day?!"
No wonder she was grinning so fiercely, 1000 customers on your opening day wasn't something every restaurant could get. Obviously, had it been a long awaited and promoted place, then 1000 could even be considered bad, she'd usually tell me about upcoming restaurants and we'd try them on their opening day. However, this time it seemed like not even she knew about it's opening yesterday, so it was most likely a place that had close to 0 advertising, making their first day an insane success.
"It's around midnight though, are you sure they're open?"
"Heh, heh… about that my dear friend…"
She then wrapped her arm around my shoulders, looking at me with a devilish grin which could only mean one thing. It's been only a few hours at most since we had separated with Luna, and given that she hadn't mentioned this once the prior day, it means that she learnt about this place in the few hours we were apart.
Ah, that expression means…
Mio wasn't necessarily a foodie, or anything like that. However, there was an exception. As long as this thing would be included, she'd turn into the fattest, most gluttonous, foodie on the planet. Now you're probably wondering, what is this one thing that could turn even the mighty Mio into a foodie? The answer is, spice.
She has an addiction to pretty much anything that's spicy. Given her excitement about a restaurant she only found out a few hours ago and her expression, this place most likely had some pretty spicy items. Her addiction to spice is so elevated actually, that almost every single time she'd intentionally lower her spice tolerance level just to feel that kick harder if the dish isn't spicy enough to do that on its own.
"They're actually open 24/7! Their best selling and main dishes on their first day and as we speak are either curries or stews, but that's not where the fun is."
"Just tell me how spicy their stuff is supposed to be."
Creepily so, her grin had widened even further as she let go of me and we started walking out of the alley and towards it. Given how there were still many people around even at this hour, granted, still in the capital, meant that we were probably on a more major street, but honestly I'd be lying if I said I had any clue of where we were exactly.
"Apparently, they make you sign a waiver when you order the spiciest of any item, and to make it even better, in the past day, around 10 people have ended up at the hospital because of it… isn't that amazing?!"
"Where's the amazing part?!"
"And furthermore, the general flavor of their base dishes are also great. Perfect for softies like you. Oh and I've heard that while their spicy ones have a serious kick, it doesn't actually overwrite the main flavors, so it's not just a death festival for your tongue, but it's blended harmonically with the base flavors, dancing on your tongue on the path towards a climax of flavors bursting in your mouth."
Yeah so, as you can clearly see… she was pretty passionate about her spice. For that matter, I don't even dislike spiciness, but I'd say that I'm fairly normal when it comes to it. Assuming there's 5 levels of spice from 1 to 5, 7/10 times in just going for either 2 or 3. Mio on the other hand? She'd take 5, 10/10 of times, and also lower her spice tolerance to double the effect, bringing it to a 10.
"Right…"
For the rest of the walk, which was around 5 minutes until we got to the restaurant, she kept telling me about all the ridiculous amount of information she had acquired over the span of a few hours, and at that point as we walked inside, I felt as if I had already memorized the entire menu. Every dish had its regular and multiple spice versions, and she listed all of them on our way.
"There's an empty spot there, let's go!"
It was the same on the street, but of course even as we walked inside the restaurant, everyone had quickly turned around and started staring, not at us, but specifically at Mio. The funny part is that besides making me feel as irrelevant as a kid's drawing compared to an artist's portrait, it wasn't even only the men that were staring at her. The women were doing the same, with even scarier and more intensive lustful intent behind their eyes at that point. You thought I was exaggerating how beautiful she is? Well think again. There wasn't a single person in the whole restaurant that wasn't looking at her. God I was jealous.
That aside, I was fortunately still used to it more than anyone, so it was nothing new.
It's still almost full this late at night, huh?
As you entered the restaurant, right in front there was the eating area with around 30 tables more or less that I could count in a glance, and around 25 of them were not only already taken, but also completely filled up. They weren't small tables either, around 5 people could easily fit around one.
Was this place really a new project with little to no advertisement prior to their opening?
I was genuinely starting to question it as we sat down next to each other at a table, and picked up the menus that were already on the table, staring to browse them.
Though I already know what I'll get thanks to a certain someone.
Around a minute after we sat down, our waiter had already brought out some water for us. My, what great customer service… except for the fact that he was staring at one specific customer the whole time and also accidentally spilled out my water because he was looking at her, twice. But after the 2nd spillage, he managed to fill my cup up, and needless to say, all that happened after he filled hers up, and while she was ignoring his presence as a whole, her eyes almost had stars in them for how excited she was while trying to pick what to get.
she hasn't even realized that her cup is filled with water or that he's here yet…
At that point I just felt bad for the poor waiter who was probably around the wedding scene by now in his mental delusions with the beautiful customer he's serving without her knowing.
"Excuse me, it seems like she's still trying to figure out what to eat, but I'm ready to order."
"Tsk. What can I get for you, miss."
Did this motherfucker just click his tongue at me?! That's it, I'm blowing up this restaurant.
There's no way that me asking for my order to be taken is so annoying to him just because he has to take his eyes off her for a few damn moments, right? Right?!
"Hm, did you say something Maia- oh, when did the waiter come? And you even filled up my water cup? The customer service here sure is optimal."
Not even the gods could comprehend the satisfaction I felt at that moment. Seeing him turn around the instant she spoke, with that stupid grin on his face only to go down faster than a baby bird in its first attempt at flying, because he realized she had no idea he was even here the whole time was priceless. If I had the ability to rewind time, I would relive that moment over and over at least 43 times over until I'd get a fraction of the satisfaction needed to move on.
"Yep, yep. I was about to order just now actually. What about you??? Did you decide, my dear best friend?"
My grin was so wide on my face at this point that I honestly was starting to feel like a creep myself. Although less creepy than her earlier, but still. And now that he had realized that she didn't care about him one bit, the waiter was also paying attention to me, and I've never been more grateful for that in my life. I could see a blood vessel pump up on his forehead from annoyance as he looked at me.
"Yeah, I think I'm also ready, but you can order first while I make sure."
"You heard her, waiter boy. Now then, can you pleeease get me your best chicken curry with rice? Oh, and make it a medium spice, please. I'm a very delicate lady after all, hehe."
"…I understand. Would that be all?"
"Uh huh, that's all for me. What about you, my dear best friend, are you ready?"
How's that you piece of shit? Watch her actually reply to me because my presence is important to her unlike yours!
"Yeah, I'll take the rabbit stew with the highest spice level you guys have, then the beef curry with the same spiciness level."
To make it even better, his reaction to her order was even more entertaining. The confusion on his face was actually the most normal thing this dude had shown so far ever since we walked in. Concern, confusion, then he actually looked at me as if asking if she's serious, and when I nodded, he quickly wrote it down in his notebook, and brought out a waiver for her to sign, which she didn't hesitate a moment on, of course.
"It'll be around 10 to 15 minutes, is that alright?"
"Of course, of course. No problem, tell the chef to take all the time that he needs."
Might be surprising, but Mio was the type to actually get excited when the waiter would tell you that the food would take some time to arrive from the start. Not only did she not mind the wait, she thought it was a great thing that the chef would take his time with her meal, and I think that in her mind it's probably something along the lines of "the longer he takes, the more care he's taking with it." Well, basically, she was a pretty convenient customer to have.
"Yeah, we have no problems with that."
"Understood."
He then walked away with her waiver, and brought in the order to the kitchen. With him out of the way now, she was left humming to herself in anticipation for a few seconds, before casually opening her mouth to ask a question.
"By the way, Maia. Earlier, did you notice?"
"Earlier when? Did I miss something?"
"I guess you didn't, huh?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, I hope you know that-"
"In the alley."
No one else had noticed it other than me, but after saying that, she created an invisible barrier. Given the circumstances, it was probably a filter for our conversation, which she didn't want others to hear.
The alley? I didn't really notice anything particularly weird, after all she was there as well…
Unless it was something I missed before I went to help Cael, then I actually had no idea what she was talking about… oh, actually-
"Wasn't there a weird noise at the end before we went back to Layra's?"
"There sure was."
"Was it really something I'd have to pay attention to though? Could've just been a bird, no? And didn't you also ignore it-"
"As if I'd ask you about it if I had ignored it. I just didn't give it any attention because it wasn't really a problem."
"Right… but what was it then? Something that was supposedly relevant and I just missed."
She was still humming joyfully while talking, definitely not being worried about it one bit.
"A certain lizard with blue hair was ogling us. Though I can't exactly blame you for not noticing him, since his camouflage was pretty good."
A Blue haired lizard? She should really remember sometimes that I can't always know who she's talking about only based on her nicknames… blue haired lizard, blue haired lizard… blue…haired, lizard? Is it-
"Seems like you've finally connected the dots. Good job, good job. That's right, he was there."
"But why would he?"
"Who knows? Maybe he was just on a stroll? Either way, it's not really a problem regardless. Was just curious if you had noticed him or not."
"Could it be that those guys are linked to him?"
I can't really see it as a coincidence, although he does seem like the kind of guy to just go around wherever the wind takes him, the timing was a bit too perfect for him to be in town that same day.
"Well, I guess you could say that? I already looked through the memories of those guys, but they were on the lowest end possible on the power hierarchy. They had no knowledge about any of their higher ups. The only way they got orders was through letters and stuff, specifically designed so they'd recognize them as orders at least."
So assuming he's involved with their association or whatever is accurate? Though I guess there's no point in thinking too much about it in the end. There is something I was always curious about though, which he was involved in directly so this reminded me of it.
"By the way, what's the deal with the whole treason thing? Like with the kings and all. Wasn't Alduin the one who destroyed the main Ashford house back then as well?"
"Hm? Are you curious? It's a pretty lame story though, just letting you know in advance."
"That's fine. I just want to know the story behind why I have to wear eye contacts to hide my eye colors and why he killed my grandparents properly, you know?"
She let out a slightly heavier breath, but kept her casual behavior before she started explaining.
"I'll give you the short answer, since it's honestly too lame to go into details in. Around a year before the fall of the Ashford, the previous commander had mysteriously decided to take down any magic learning institution in all 3 human kingdoms, and about that much you're aware of, right?"
"Yeah, I had read about it in a book before. Is that connected?"
"Let's rewind a little. Around another year prior to that. Many dungeons were getting discovered, and since only adventurers had the authority to go inside, a good bunch of people were starting to get substantially richer, and also gain more status from it. That happened in pretty much all 7 kingdoms."
So in the end, it all started because of money, huh?
"The kings were all frustrated because of it, after all most adventurers were commoners, and for them to go from making a decent living to suddenly being able to stand on the same footing as high end nobles, was a pretty hard thing to accept. Now then, what do you think they did? Simply ban dungeons? Of course not, as it went against the law, and would've caused too much fuss if they decided to just overwrite it because
They're in power. Be happy for them as they are now able to feed their families and live comfortably? This isn't a fairytale. Go with some insanely stupid and drastic measures to prevent the filthy commoners from getting richer? Of course, that was the path they chose."
"And this is where Alduin comes in?"
"Indeed. They all decided to make a deal with him. In exchange for him sealing off any dungeon entrances and keeping adventurers out, they'd pay him a hefty amount for the job. Our blue haired lizard obviously accepted it, but instead of making it a one time thing, he intentionally made it so the barrier would only last around half a year at a time, before it would need a replacement. So he made them sign a contract, which pretty much stated that if they failed to pay the fee every time, he'd not only stop sealing them, but he'd let out all the monsters inside of them, and an all out war would break out. For all we know, he's probably also still to this day bringing in other stronger monsters to lay inside in case that contract gets violated."
"And since it was the dragon prince himself, they couldn't refuse his contract…huh. What about the commander though? Did he just accept it like that?"
"Surprisingly, he actually didn't. However, he had overestimated himself a bit too much. Trying to face off the lizard directly, resulting in him being forced to pay an even larger fee. That's why he demonetized the magic institutions in human kingdoms, as he did actually think we were just too weak either way, and it would be better than going into a war they'd 100% lose."
So that's why she's still paying the fee.
"How did it get to our demotion from that?"
"The king of our kingdom had already convinced every other noble to stay silent about it, since it was treated as an anomaly and mystery of nature that suddenly all the dungeons were off limits. However; when they tried to convince the Ashford, who were the ones of highest power right beneath the king, the Duke was against it. Arguing that it was a despicable thing to do, bla bla bla. Making it short, your great grandpa was kinda the only non putrid at heart noble, so they sent Alduin to silence him, and planted him as the traitor. Storytime is over."
"…it really was a lame story."
"I warned you."
All because they simply didn't want the commoners to get wealthier. Dragging us all on a contract that would result in war with the dragon king himself if we break. Not only our kingdom, but all of them. It was disgusting. I was so annoyed that I almost lost my appetite right there and then, but if I allowed it to get to me more than that, I'd feel like I'd lose all dignity. In the end, the scum will always be scum.
"Now, now. Don't get all gloomy. It's all in the past."
But it was also true that with Mio at power, none of it really mattered anymore. So what if they got a good paycheck from us? It wouldn't affect our economy one bit, since it all comes from our living bank.
"You're right. I'm sick of serious topics for the night though, you can remove the barrier."
"Got it."
Soon after that, the food had arrived. Taste wise, it was actually on the higher end from what I've had so far. and mine was fortunately not that spicy either. As for Mio's, according to her it was spicy enough for her to not need to lower her tolerance, so I'll assume that she enjoyed it.
Finally though, after an insanely long day, and a few interruptions every time I felt like going to sleep, I managed to get back into my tent at around 3 am. We spent some more time just hanging around, and got some dessert as well, but now I could finally, just go to bed for a few hours, until it's time for Cael's second day of training to begin.