Spring Day 45, Year 728

After a whole month of vigorous training, the middle of spring finally came. The Royal Academy's team recruitment day will be held next week. Still, before that, the Spring Festival would be celebrated first in Central Town City for an entire week. And today was the first day.

Chatter... Chatter... Chatter...

"Wow, Ryu, this is amazing!"

Blake, a timid person, now showed a lively personality. He grabbed the sill of the window and popped his head out.

"There are so many people attending the festival."

"Careful, Blake. You don't want to fall with your head first from this height."

Ryu and the RGB brothers were at a restaurant's top floor, relaxing and enjoying the festival.

"What is amazing about watching people?"

Gavin argued, gobbling up a large piece of cooked ribs in both hands.

Nomnomnom... Gulp!

"I rather eat good food like these."

"This place is nice."

Roy joined the conversation while taking a sip on a teacup.

"Having a one full week vacation after training to death really paid its worth."

"But really, how did you reserve this place, Ryu?"

YFC Restaurant. The most popular restaurant in Central Town City. Owned by none other than Ryu and company, managed using the fake noble title.

The building has five floors, the only establishment with more than three floors in the city.

First, the restaurant was equipped with high-quality magic devices that copied the earth concept. It was like fast-foods in terms of serving speed, but much faster with the help of magic.

Second, the flavors were unmatched because the unique spices were unavailable in the public market. Combining different cuisine from all over the world. Making this an all-in-one restaurant.

Third, it catered to both commoners and nobles. The second, third, and fourth floors were only available for those with the YFC membership pass. Making the fourth floor the most costly. This made the restaurant popular with wealthy people who liked to flaunt their riches.

Fourth, the fifth floor was privately used by the Shadow Intelligence Guild. Since this was in the center of the Zen Kingdom. It's the best place for rendezvous. It helped them immensely in doing undercovered activities.

Lastly, Ryu made precautions to prevent trade secrets from being stolen. The building was secured with magic. He ensured to employ only their trained staff bought from slave merchants, sealed with loyalty and non-disclosure agreement magic.

"I knew the owner of this restaurant."

Ryu replied. It's not a lie, but he only gave a vague explanation because knowing less might be for the better.

"You guys should stop thinking about it and enjoy the festival."

"Ryu is right. How about we go around the streets?"

Finishing his tea, Roy liked the idea of roaming the street.

"Let's go!"

Blake jumped around and went to the elevator, waving nonstop.

"Hurry, guys! Hurry!"

"Whtt? bht ym stl ething. (What? But I'm still eating)"

Gavin, who has three rib bones sticking out of his mouth, contested.

"Then let's meet at the central fountain in an hour."

Roy stood up and walked towards Blake. He entered the elevator and turned around, looking at Ryu.

"How about Ryu?"

"You traitors!"

Gavin felt left out, yelling.

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"I'll stay here for a while and accompany Gavin."

Gavin's eyes gleamed as he looked at Ryu with puppy eyes.

"Ryu, you are my only real friend. Here, have some ribs and eat with me."

The two were flabbergasted as they made a slow laugh.

"Then, see you guys later."

"Alright."

Ryu nodded before looking at Gavin.

"Thank you, but I'll eat later."

"Uh-huh, you've been staring outside for a while, Ryu. Are you looking for something?"

"You noticed?"

"Well, you'd been like that since you talked with the Lady—or the maid."

"Mm..."

"If you have any problem, don't forget that you still have friends."

"You guys almost killed me that time, though."

Pfff!

Gavin choked on the food he was eating.

"Kuek! Ehem! Hmhmm! Who told you... Ehm! To have ladies looking for you? The last time it was Lady Yume, now her maid. Damn lucky."

"It's not luck."

"Not luck... then what?"

"I'm just handsome."

Gavin looked at Ryu directly in the eyes, somewhat petrified. Yet, Ryu escalated things more by adding wood to the fire.

"And strong."

"Can't. I can't argue about the second one, but the first..."

Both stayed looking at each other and laughed.

"Thanks... And don't worry, everything's still under my control. I'll ask for help if needed."

"Alright."

Gavin resumed eating.

Ryu thought of his confidence as another nonsensical thinking. In reality, he was still waiting for his subordinates to report the whistle he gave Yiyi since she hadn't used it yet.

At first, Ryu thought it wouldn't matter since following the storyline was what he originally wanted. But he couldn't take it off his mind for some reason, and he still waited.

For now, Ryu leaned on the window sill. Remembering when he vowed to himself not to do things that would make Yume unhappy, He had been thinking about this matter since the talk with the maid.

While waiting, Ryu thought of a few plans, like diving into the scene and stopping the assassination or switching Yiyi's body to a fake one. The latter might give way to the abomination, while the former will make Yume miserable. Or... he could just be honest with her, which he was afraid to do.

'She might not believe me.'

Sigh...

'This is tough.'

While in deep thought, Ryu incidentally glanced at one corner of the street. There, he saw two heads with specific hair colors, one was orange, and the other one has black.

'Hmm?'

***

"It's the festival!"

Yiyi said, jumping out of the carriage. She spun around and graciously bowed to Yume as she stretched her hands to assist.

"Let me help you out, Milady."

"Yiyi, assisting me should be Sir Billy's job."

Yume replied. Her maid was eccentric. She noticed a few weeks ago when Yiyi started overdoing things to the point that her frequent nagging stopped. She changed nicer and started smiling more often.

"Well, I'll take your whims for now and wait for you to talk about it after the festival."

"I might lose my job because of Yiyi."

Billy made a humorous side comment. Along with other knights, he was tasked to escort Yume as her personal knight commander.

Yume giggled and started talking to the servants. Then Yiyi carefully pulled her arm as they went to the main streets. It was already time for lunch, so Yiyi led the way.

"I reserved a good restaurant for lunch. Most eateries were already fully booked. Luckily, I managed to make a good reservation."

"Thank you, Yiyi. We can relax and eat without a problem."

It was a known fact that one should reserve a venue months before the festival. Yume wouldn't blame Yiyi even though she couldn't get one. Though she was the daughter of the Valenz household, she still refrained from using her family reputation to gain an advantage over other people who booked much earlier.

"We can roam around the stalls for now since we arrived early."

"Yes, Milady. Oh! How about that one?"

"Which one?"

"There."

Yiyi pointed to a small stall where many people were in line.

"...YFC Cotton Candy? What's that?"

"You can effortlessly read now, Yiyi."

"That's thanks to Milady, of course, for personally teaching me."

"It's my pleasure. Anyway, what's the stall selling?"

"I... I don't know Milady."

"Then why don't we see it?"

Yume, Yiyi, and the Escort Knights went to the side of the stall and saw a bunch of cloud-like things in different colors. As they got curious. One child opened her mouth as she chomped a piece, smiling.

Om!

"Yummy! Mommy! Yummy!"

An adult could eat bad food and still lie about it being good. But a child could never lie with their innocent expression.

"I-It looked good, Milady."

Yiyi wiped out the drool at the side of her mouth. She was feeling hungry.

"S-Should we buy one?"

Yume, with the same thought, stared at the food.

Yiyi nodded. She asked her Lady to sit down somewhere as she waited in line, but Yume immediately refused.

"What's the point of going to a festival if not to enjoy it myself?

Yiyi knew that her Lady was not weak and didn't like when others thought she was some kind of a noblewoman that couldn't do something by herself. So she only asked earlier for courtesy.

While waiting, the two ladies talked and peeked at different food stalls. They checked how the customers reacted after eating their food to know which one was good and which should be avoided. Some stores were already familiar, so they skipped them. Saving them time and money...

Chatter... Chatter... Chatter...

Yume and the others had so much fun that time passed without notice. Now, it was lunchtime.

As the group walked toward their destination, they remembered that stalls with "YFC" on their name were selling the most food they liked. So it intrigued Yume to know who the owner of such good businesses was.

Those unique products were introduced out of nowhere. Yume hoped to learn from a remarkable person in the future.

"Milady, it's almost time for lunch. Do you want to go to the restaurant now?"

The sun reached its highest point. Yiyi reminded her Lady about their lunch reservation.

"Yiyi, we already overindulged in food this morning. Still hungry?"

"My feet are throbbing, Milady. I'm sorry."

Yume forgot that Yiyi was the only one not physically trained. She should be worn out by now, just keeping up with their pace.

"Alright, why don't we go there and rest?"

"Yay! Thank you, Milady. I love you!"

"W-What are you saying? How about the boy you got attracted to last year?"

"That was a crush on first sight, and it ended quickly. But you're different, Milady. You're the best person I've ever known."

Yiyi abruptly hugged her Lady. Even though it was forbidden for servants to touch their masters in public without permission, Yume knew Yiyi didn't mean any harm. So she let things go as usual.

Yume became dependent on Yiyi, and she hoped she would be there with her at all times.

"Milady, you're the best!"