The inside of Dai-Yukimono’s Mortal Light Dynasty branch was no different from the one in the East. The waiters were dressed in suits and coattails, with no considerations towards gender, but again, Orb was more progressive when it came to gender differences. After all, if some of the strongest experts in the world was part of an oppressed demographic, the oppressors probably wouldn’t live that long.

For some reason, a whole bunch of people in suits — which were distinctly different from the waiters in the shop — had occupied a few other tables. The whole thing seemed familiar, to the point of déjà vu, and the boy had a feeling he’d seen this up close before. In fact, if Gaius had to put a finger on it, it looked like a scene of a VIP being escorted by a whole bunch of secret forces, and…

“Oh, hell no.” Gaius slapped his forehead.

“Something wrong?” Xanadu asked, Isabelle and Nakama nodding together a moment later.

“Isabelle, do you remember those guys in black?” Gaius asked. “Nakama, do they look familiar?”

The two glanced at the men in black, who were staring back at them. Nakama’s face had turned from confusion to surprise, and then without much ado, pointed at the middle of the shop, where a familiar, monocle-wearing man was staring at them too.

“What is wrong with today?” Gaius murmured. “First Xanadu and now we get the freaking Pinnacle. How is a boy supposed to enjoy his ice-cream like this?”

Indeed, all the seats had been filled up by the Pinnacle’s bodyguards. The waiters were running around, each hand holding on to a platter laden with bowls of sweet, sugary goodness. Gaius now knew why there wasn’t anyone else in the shop — with such a scene, would-be customers wouldn’t even dare to enter. At first glance, it was obvious that there was a big-shot here…

Pinnacle Kolya was soon joined by his trusty aide, the Oracle, who was holding onto a small mountain of diabetes. As she sat down, a few men in black, who were sitting down and eating, got up and brought their chairs over to their table. After placing four extra chairs to the Pinnacle’s table, the men in black retreated swiftly, clearing a path for Gaius and company.

Everything that just occurred had taken place in less than ten seconds. It was somewhat absurd, watching everything fall in like clockwork, but these were the Pinnacle’s guards for a reason.

The waiters of Dai-Yukimono, like Gaius and company, had their mouths open too. A moment later, two of them snapped into action, stepping forward to Gaius. In silence, they gestured at the four seats that had been placed at the Pinnacle’s table, bowing a moment later.

The boy really wanted to beat someone up, but doing so would mean that he would be the headlines an hour later. Reining in his urge to verbally abuse the overly-privileged Pinnacle, Gaius walked towards the Pinnacle’s table and sat down on it quietly.

The others joined him a moment later.

“This is…somewhat disturbing,” Gaius said.

“Those are your first words?” the Pinnacle retorted. “Come on, at least say hi to me or something! And thank me for the space too!”

“Fine, thanks.” Gaius rolled his eyes. “By the way, I want to ask the two of you...what is with this horrible display of privilege and power meant to do?”

“To show off in front of the Oracle?”

Gaius turned to look at the woman beside him, who said, “And if he’s not trying to show off by using his personal army of guards, then he’s trying to escape from them to have fun with activities unbefitting his station. I’m not sure which is better, but I can tell you with certainty that the Secret Service prefers him using them to flex.”

The boy, as well as the others with him, turned to look at the men in black, who were staring at their ice-cream and shovelling it into their mouths mechanically. There was absolutely no hint that they agreed with the Oracle, but somehow, Gaius had the feeling that they were on the verge of crying joyful tears.

After spending a moment or so for sympathy, Gaius said, “Are you here because you predicted our presence, or was this a huge coincidence?”

“The latter. No one can predict what the Pinnacle wants, after all,” said the Oracle.

“Huh?” Pinnacle Kolya looked up in the middle of his snacking. “I’m not a troublemaker.”

“No one said you were, darling,” the Oracle replied. “Can I have some? I don’t want to eat too much, since I don’t like to diet, but it’s too tempting.”

Gaius narrowed his eyes at the pair of lovebirds, and felt somewhat aggrieved for some reason. This overt display of affection was making him feel somewhat down — twelve-year-olds had little in the way of romantic relationships. Nakama was staring at them, her little eyes blinking as the two started feeding each other, while Isabelle had chosen the best course of action…

Which, by the way, was to emulate the men in black and look away. This was a sight meant to aggravate any wounds people with broken hearts or singlehood had, and the less Gaius had to look at them, the better.

“So, about the demons’ invasion,” said Gaius, having decided to bring up the grimmest topic to spoil the atmosphere, “what does the Mortal Light Dynasty intend to do? Are you going to send troops over?”

Xanadu, who was placing her order, pricked her ears up, a gesture that made Gaius smile faintly. The others reacted similarly…well, other than the Pinnacle, who had to reluctantly stop his abuse of single people to address the Lost Star’s questions.

“I just managed to escape from work, but here comes someone to ask me about policy questions.” The Pinnacle sighed. “Fine. Since you’re a special person, I’ll break my rule for once and answer. Be grateful, get it?”

Gaius chose not to dignify his words with a reply, and after a rather awkward silence, the Pinnacle caved in and began to talk about his planned responses to the invasion four years from now.