The time discrepancies took a little to get used to. Skoltor's menu screen had to take a reboot to recalibrate with the world's time, disabling certain perks that benefited his body briefly. He had grown adapted to Skoltor, often saving him from insanity during the earlier days underground.
For the first time not having Skoltor in his vision was a strange feeling, the organized menu screen along with the circular hovering map in the corner not visible was at odds. The mystery still stands. Who created Skoltor and why does someone like David have it to begin with?
Daniel and the entire group relaxed on their seats like a bed as their backs relaxed and softened on the surface. Elizabeth had the shop closed temporarily for them and grabbed an extra seat for herself. Before she got the chance to sit down, she began the ordering. “What drinks can I get for the four of you?”
“I’ll just have a Cola,” Daniel answered.
“The three of us want cold water and beer,” Solomon said.
Elizabeth departed to the kitchen, leaving the four.
“Beer?”
“You don’t drink?”
Daniel slightly grimaced, shaking his head. “No, not that often. I rarely cherished any. Soda is my limit.”
“That sounds boring and diminishing,” Sally commented at Daniel’s lack of enthusiasm for socializing activities.
“Hey, who knows. I might one day, and I’ve never experienced the art of youth…So, I’m a late bloomer on this,” Daniel said while shrugging.
Swoosh!
Five large glass mugs clinked along the tables, dancing to each corresponding seating spot on the table. All four sat still, watching it settle within the next couple of seconds. Impressive. No drop of the drink spilled from the mug. “Did you throw all five mugs?” Daniel asked, turning to Elizabeth who was exiting the counter area.
“Dang right, I did. Life is hard being a normal person, suppressing your soul.”
Hmm? “What’s your skill?”
Elizabeth sat herself down on her chair. “As a Seelekünstler, I can handle anything with food and the kitchen,” she said, taking a sip of beer.
Seelekünstler? Is that the general term? “Explains the customer turnout. And your café crème was excellent.”
“Not a problem, just doing my job.”
The five all then stood, clinking their drinks happily before one big chug. They gulped all their drinks down to their throats and sat back down on their chairs, each exhaling and inhaling the air to settle the lingering drinks in their mouths. All rested for a minute before Elizabeth began taking entrée orders. Using her hand, she thrust it out in the direction of the counter. Air dispersed from her palm and went into the stack of menus and gestured towards the table in a commanding fashion. She leaned back on her chair, keeping a close eye on all four as they searched and read the entire menu.
This reminds me of home on Earth. It would be cool to find out who created these, and if it’s a similar historical event compared to us. Daniel closed his, turning to her. Her green eyes reacted and glared back. “I’ll take two plates of butter noodles & rice with Char siu and roasted pork belly. And one plate of uhm Käsespätzle…that would be it,” he ordered, handing her his menu.
Celeste raised one finger. “I’ll have one plate full of Rinderbrust and crispy fried chicken. To finish it off, four slices of Käsekuchen at the end.”
Her sweetness comes from her taste in sweets. Now I understand. Daniel listened before it was Solomon’s turn. He also noticed Elizabeth didn’t have a notepad or something to write down. She takes all the orders down through her mind and listens to them.
“I’ll take what Daniel had. But only the roasted pork belly.”
Elizabeth took that by surprise, briefly her green eyes flickered away. “That’s it?”
Solomon decisively nodded. “Yes, maybe with some sauce separately but yeah I’m sure that’s enough.”
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“I’ll just have a large bowl of beef noodle soup.”
“Alright. Sit tight for around twenty minutes…And you guys want refills?”
The four simultaneously nodded. Elizabeth took all the mugs away and got them back on the table in the next ten seconds. Knowing she has the usage of qi; the swift glide of the mugs made a lot more sense.
“What’s the plan after this?” Celeste curiously asked.
Swoosh!
Daniel grabbed his mug in a swift grab, taking a sip of cola. “Well, we deal with Thora and David. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s less likely any more new information can be obtained from Thora as all the documents within Solomon’s possessions stated it all. I’ll give her the fate so she wouldn’t bring more indirect harm to all these people.”
Sally grimaced. “How about the ones who left you at the hotel? Don’t tell me we have to deal with them too?”
“Unfortunately, we might. I’ll let the situation play out and see how it unfolds,” Daniel said, leaning up on the table. “However, Mother Elaine and Liam might be easier to reconcile compared to the others.”
Solomon pondered. “Mother Elaine…you did tell us about her more than a brief number of times. It’s the first time I’ve heard of Liam. Does he hold the same significance to you as her?”
“He’s a suffering boy just like me,” Daniel muttered, still haven’t revealed the Earth story since.
Sally’s eyebrow raised and briefly turned to Celeste. “Just like you? I think you need to be more specific than that. Your emotions are too sophisticated at random times. Concerningly more often. Can you elaborate more?”
Celeste, who is pinned and focused on Daniel, notices the sudden change of expression. “Dan, is there something you haven’t told any of us?”
Shit! I looked away for a moment. Daniel took another sip of cola. Darn. I guess they deserved it, being with me for that long. “I’m an alien.”
…
“Alien?!” Sally exclaimed.
Celeste cleared her throat, “Come again?”
“You heard me clearly. I was never born in Kriegshan.”
Solomon jumped in. “Then what about the stories of your life you have told us so far?”
“Now…all the stuff I said before was legitimate. The thing is the stuff I told you was worded in a way that never revealed location, so it wasn’t questionable.”
Sally slumped to her chair, taking all that in. She turned to Celeste, mentioning how it started to add up. The differences in body language and lack of knowledge of Kriegshan’s culture became clear. Sally returned with a question.
“It doesn’t make sense. You sounded fluent. I mean I’m not insane, right? We together have spoken not just Kriegyu but also Englisc. Unless you somehow picked it all up in some qi ability, then wow.”
Daniel unintentionally chuckled. “Not quite…my world has pretty much almost the same languages compared to cultures and communities in Raal. We called Kriegyu German; and Englisc; English. Are you getting the picture?”
Celeste fluttered, almost as if she heard something beyond believable. “My ears and mind are blown. You’re gonna have to tell all of us about your world sometime.”
“Sure, I mean one day when I go back, I’m taking y’all to see it one day,” Daniel said, causing Celeste’s eyes to blossom with anticipation of excitement.
Sally stayed silent, observing Celeste’s reaction prompted her to go along with it. On the other hand, Solomon was uncertain about this “other world” phenomenon as he called it. In rebuttal, Daniel pulled his phone from his overcoat’s inner pockets. His pulling out of the phone felt so alien to the three, all deadlocked at a black thin brick with a glass on one side.
“Is that glass?” Solomon asked with his peaked blacksmith curiosity.
Daniel continuously tapped the screen with the edge of his fingernails, giving a sharp and clicking sound. “Mhm. And click this button on the side.”
The screen brightens, flashing Solomon’s eyes causing him to jerk back. “There’s light too?! Yinhai, this shit burns.”
“I hope you are joking; this shit is not even that bright than the fires in the furnace.”
“Forgive my eye’s hypocrisy. Not a damn joke,” Solomon responded with his hand hovering over his eyes.
He’s gonna have a fun time with the idea of computers, tablets, gadgets, and such usage of screens on Earth. Daniel was dismayed at it before turning back to Celeste and Sally. They aren’t affected by the brightness of the screen or show a reaction to it. To be frank, the screen’s brightness wasn’t halfway adjusted; it was only barely a fourth of the scrolling bar.
He searched for some pictures in his gallery to show the setting of Colemond, eventually finding one with the view from his former office and showing it to them.
“That looks marvelous,” Celeste responded, pointing to the high-rise buildings for Sally.
Solomon eventually saw it too with his doubts cleared.
Thump.
“Now that’s enough of my world. The food’s here early,” Daniel said, turning to the direction of the essence of the smoke where Elizabeth along with the staff and the cashier he ordered for the café crème all carried the meals to serve.
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System Reboot Success!
Initiating protocol
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Chapter 22 concludes.