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Chapter 08: Madison Square Meeting

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There was nothing like him. While wearing a mask that covers his upper face, the happiness that seeps out of his "Aahs" after every sip made the NPC waitresses and some players in the shop also smile.

Some ladies even giggled and sent winks whenever his gaze wandered on their direction.

Siva removed his ragged cloak to match the atmosphere of the house. All he's wearing right now is his uniquely styled white polo with intricate designs on the left sleeve and his black slacks and deadly weapon shoes.

Paired with his graceful movements and refined style of drinking coffee, this mysterious masked noble became an eye candy for the easily bewitched female souls.

But Siva wasn't minding them one bit. All his mind had right now is the thoughts of his normal student days.

Everything was normal back then. He doesn't have to fight people to protect his family, and he mostly doesn't have to work this hard with a specific goal. Back then, his father would just ask him if he was free or not and the two of them would blend the coffee and then make the Cappuccino out of it later on.

They would watch movie in the sala, talk about school or even women, and they would laugh and laugh until they had consumed their third cup.

"I was happy back then..."

He put the cup on the table and looked at the steady one opposite his direction. The Cappuccino in the cup was still hot, thanks to it being a computer generated object, but the loneliness he felt seeing that was unlike any other he felt before.

Spending a few minutes there, relaxing his back on the soft feel of the cushion, Siva turned to his left when he heard something, or someone, fell on the ground.

Turns out, the girl wasn't the first one.

There were about three, four crowds that gathered around the coffeehouse and in the middle of them were ladies that seemed to have lost their strength.

"Is it hot?" He murmured to himself but was shocked to hear a reply that came from behind.

"No, we're inside a mall. They collapsed because of a certain someone acting like a protagonist of a romance novel featuring noble knights with masks."

"Heh. Why do I feel like it's a slight reference to me?"

"That's because I was referring to you."

"..."

"What you don't believe me? Take a look around."

Taking the prompt, Siva looked around him as his unexpected guest took the seat where the untouched coffee was located.

There were around six pairs of eyes, all belonging to women of different grades and races, locked in him. All of them were wearing flustered blushing expressions, a clear trait of the reference he just heard.

"Were you stalking me old man?" He narrowed his eyes to Janus while the man took the prompt to laugh out loud.

"Hahaha... I should be asking you the same question, kid, I was here first before I saw you got out of Gil's cab."

Siva blinked, "So you know Gilbert?"

"Let's just say I'm one of those friendly people in town that likes to chat with other people."

"Heh. I bet he already took you to see his kids."

"They're lively. It reminds of the smiles lost in the faces of the children on the other side. Somehow, don't you agree that this world reminds us of what we have forgotten?"

"..."

"You, for example. Haven't you been tormenting your soul for the past few months?"

Siva did not reply. Somehow, it felt painful and yet it felt right for that to be pointed out. He just thought of those words not too long ago when he was staring in the window of the cab passing through the city.

He trusted old man Janus like a grandpa. Although he actually never met his own, it felt like what Janus says at times actually has something to do with him.

That's why he smiled and took a sip of the blend and bid the old man in front of him to take the cup. Of course, Janus obliged and raised the cup as thanks.

After the lull of sipping the contents of their cups, Siva let out another "Aah" and ignored the sound of falling bodies in the table.

"So what brought you in Maria?"

He paused for a moment and processed, then he raised his fingers to wipe off a map that displayed in an H-panel. Siva flicked the map towards Janus at which the old man frowned.

"Anazon?"

"I'm going after Excalibur, the real Excalibur."

"I see. You did your research."

"According to my research, the real Excalibur that became a trending topic in the internet not too long ago is in a higher plain than the level of the imitation."

"It is indeed. The real Excalibur is a product of the old race of Terrans called Muans. And from what I know of their culture, they are a race that focused on anti-alien technologies that which became the 'Runes' we have."

Siva chuckled and Janus dropped the cup with a face that told of confusion.

"You sounded like an old man."

This time, it was Janus' turn to narrow his eyes. Though he doesn't look like he was offended, more like, the act seem t be his effort to process the thought 'to think this kid is capable of retaliating like that.'

"By the way, why are you here, old man? Don't you have the job in the NPC shops? Leaving your prentices in Aarun might make them find a new master."

"Hahaha... don't worry about that. Haven't I told you that I'm still a player? I took them to an adventure not too long ago. We're in the middle of a quest right now."

"Quest?" Siva made a mischievous smirk. "Or are you just running away from a debt?"

The sound of air trying to get out of the throat but was stopped by water came from the man in front of him and a few drop of brown liquid fell of the table.

"I was right." Siva said nonchalantly and sipped the still hot brown liquid in his cup. "I bet it's from the owner of the NPC shop you're in dept with."

"Y-You don't have to put it that way, you know."

"Quest... pft... Quest my ass."

"..."

"..."

The silence wasn't an awkward silence. Somehow, it's a silence that actually explained the relationship of the two. And retrospect, it wasn't bad but actually good. He was happy, from the bottom of his heart. Siva was glad that with this small unannounced visit from the old man is the fact that he himself was actually aware of what he was missing.

He just didn't accept it in the first place. Or maybe he already accepted it but just wasn't trying to bridge the gap from here to there...

To there where he could smile like this.

"Well, that's just the time I had." Being interrupted on his thoughts, the old man (actually it's just him who's calling Janus that) with a lively body stood up and took a bag of goods beside him.

"You're leaving for the quest?" Siva teased.

"Let's just say there are people I am not ready to meet yet that's coming here."

"Well, I can't stop you. Let's just meet randomly again someday. "

"Later, kid."

"Yeah, later."

Siva's cup was empty but with just a click of the finger, it can be refilled again. Janus took his exit behind him but he didn't bother to look as it would make things a little awkward later.

What he actually found nostalgic was the empty cup in the table in front of him.

He smiled and sipped the cup, ignoring yet another sound of someone losing her strength again. He spent a whole hour like this before he felt satisfied, exiting the house going towards the inner premises of the mall.

"Alright. That's some diversion. I think I'm gonna be shopping until I drop."

***

"My god, I can't believe you're this famous!"

"Why do I feel like you've suddenly become a celebrity without me noticing?"

"Um..."

"By the way, why are they calling you the Fairy of the Lake?"

"Allow me to answer that question."

Inside the 'lucky' cab that they chose to ride, Kathleen Brew asked the speechless Scion, or Amanda to them, who fidgeted when FlowerLord offered to answer her.

"She started at Salemburg."

Kathleen didn't voice out the "I see" as she nodded but instead got a confused expression just a few moments after she received that reply.

"Wait, the lake in Salemburg is part of the city. There's no monster nor any Predator in there. How did they knew about you?"

"Ummm..." Again, Amanda fidgeted that prompted her best friend, Alice, inside the avatar with the name of FlowerLord to answer the question in her stead.

However, Amanda would have obliged if not for the impish grin the strong willed woman made.

"I'll explain. You see whe..."

"Alice!"

"What? It's not even that embarrassing!"

"But... but..."

"Well, you see miss Kathleen, when she was still lost and in her self punishment of not telling Rex of her all so cherished first love, I pulled her here in Terroa to at least find something worthy of being a distraction. But in some twist of chances, she actually chose Salemburg of all places. In there, she just spent her boring days staring at the lake, agitating the creation of a fan club, oh, and even made adventurers think she was a goddess of the lake."

Kathleen burst into laughter that even the listening cab driver can't help but chuckle and shake his head. The focus of the topic, however, was fidgeting and her face was an image of a rose in beauty and embarrassment.

"They thought you're a citizen?! Hahahaha..."

"That's not all. There are even days where brave men actually tried to court her and prove if she was actually a citizen or not."

"And I bet they despaired when they realized."

"No. In contrary, they actually rejoiced and the problem worsened each day."

"Hmm..." Kathleen threw a thinking gesture and then arched a grin. "I think the problem aroused from when you actually talked and explained to them."

"I thought so too." Said FlowerLord. "But it was too late now. Now that The Fairy is exposed to have left her sanctuary in Salemburg, it's sure to become difficult to move discretely now."

"Hmm..." Against Kathleen threw a momentary motion of thinking hard. "Speaking of being a celebrity, do you want to become a real celebrity?"

"What?! Me? Celebrity? N-No! I don't want to! I'm not really a beautiful person to begin with."

On that reply, Kathleen tried to ask with her eyes to the friend beside her but FlowerLord only shrugged. It was enough to tell her that 'she is not aware of it.'

"Geez," Kathleen tried to put a finger on her temple. "I think I'm having a headache."

And just then, when she was about say something, the taxicab rocked off without warning when FlowerLord suddenly moved towards the left side.

"Shopping Mall?! Is that really a shopping mall?"

"Oh," Kathleen stamped a fist to her palm. "We're in Walled City of Maria right now, it's one of the 30 cities in the continent to join the Alliance of Economy."

"You mean that group that focuses on Business?" asked FlowerLord with honest curiosity.

"Yeah. I think they're a group that gives out quests with rewards not of money but Gold Points. Those points can be used in on of their malls in the whole continent or in other malls around Terroa. There are even rumors going around that when you got plenty of Gold Points stocked up, you can talk to high nobles and buy one of their treasure using the points."

"Whooooaaaaa... that sounded interesting."

"It is! Since there are nobles who secretly have Rare MODs in their possession, who knows, you might get the chance to buy it cheap."

As it was in TV or in Terroa, Kathleen Brew is a player who has deep interest in collecting MODs. But since she also have her responsibility as a TV host of one of the famous TV programs that features RPG: Terroa, she can't always set out in MOD hunting adventures.

On the other hand, the love of shopping is also one of girls' greatest pleasures in life so showing her smile and interest in visiting a shopping mall is not a lie.

"Why don't we go for a stop?" Kathleen proposed and FlowerLord nodded.

"Ah, mister Driver, please get us to the mall."

"My pleasure, ma'am."