“Of course I won’t read your mind without permission,” Vice replied and patted Anne’s shoulders. Without giving her the slightest warning he hugged her tightly and said, “A new spell. After all these years I finally have a new spell. Also, I don’t think that’s even possible unless I am many times stronger than you.”

‘Somebody’s happy. Well it seems like you won’t be needing new spells from me anytime soon then? Am I right or am I right, dumbass?’ Favian mumbled.

‘Shut up! Let me have this happy moment for once. I haven’t gotten to celebrate about something like this in far too long,’ Vice replied.

Vice quickly pushed himself away from Anne, and sheepishly rubbed his head before saying, “Sorry about that, I was just a bit excited and happy. I’ve been waiting so long to learn a new spell, but none of the ones I’ve tried to integrate have worked out for me. I’m just really bad at learning spells I think.”

“Okay, so dinner?” Vice asked with a wide grin on his face. After Anne gave a nod Vice grabbed her hand and pulled her away. Vice ran through the Treasure Hunters’ Guild with Anne behind him, her hand still intertwined with his.

.…

“I just want to scream out about how happy I am,” Vice said as he ran through the streets of Restok. The sky was slowly darkening as the minutes went by. Vice had first gone back to Anne’s and the two had freshened up by having a bath, separately of course. After this Anne had gotten herself dressed into an exquisite emerald dress which Vice noticed had displayed all of her curves. Vice on the other hand just took out a blue sweater from his spatial pouch and wore that with a pair of black jeans and some polished black shoes.

“Okay well you’re going to have to stop running at some point, Vice, you’ll create a commotion soon enough,” Anne shouted as Vice was getting further away from her.

“Alright, fine. Where did you want to eat at by the way? I’ll pay,” Vice replied as he spun around to look at the girl. He slowly walked back toward her, and once he was in stride with her continued on their stroll.

“I don’t know, I really just crave something heavy and sweet,” Anne said whilst rubbing her finger on her temple.

“Heavy and sweet… I’ve absolutely no clue. What about that fancy restaurant, Gajus I think it’s called?” Vice said. “I don’t know what they serve there, but it sure as hell smells amazing and the interior looks expensive. They must know what they are doing in there. I’m feeling generous today as well, hehe.” Vice smirked.

“I- If you’re paying then sure. But a meal can cost more than ten gold pieces from what I’ve heard. That’s more than a farmer or smith makes in a year,” Anne said.

“After that shit hole we had to go through earlier, we deserve some pampering,” Vice said. “Oh, let me invite Paul, actually.”

“Oh, you’re going to invite Paul?” Anne had stopped walking before saying this.

“Yeah of course. It’ll be like back at the orphanage. Just this time, I’m the one that’s treating you two,” he said. Vice took out the golden card from his spatial pouch, and let his mana seep into it. “Hey, Paul, pick up. Ahh, anyways I’ll leave you a message. When you get this, come and meet me and Anne at that restaurant, Gajus, my treat.”

As the two continued their stroll, Vice noticed that Anne was a lot quieter than before. When he asked her what the problem was, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Nothing, nothing is wrong. Everything is just fine. As fine as it can be. Perfect.”

‘W- What’s up with her?’ he thought before pushing the thought to the back of his mind. A quarter of an hour passed, after which the pair reached a bustling street where there were dozens of people dressed in the most extravagant clothing. One lady Vice saw reminded him of a peacock, her clothing both colorful and just insanely large. All of the men, however, looked a lot less colorful, most donning a simple black suit with a top hat.

‘You’re pretty shabbily dressed for this occasion don’t you think, Vice? Why would you decide to go to the fanciest restaurant in the city but not dress accordingly?’ Favian mumbled.

Vice looked at his own clothes before glancing at the attire the others wore. ‘I guess so I’m under dressed… But who cares, I’m paying good money so they’ll let me in for sure,’ he replied.

A large building that Vice estimated to have about four floors stood in front of him and Anne. A red cloud of letters floated as a sign on the building, with the word Gajus Delicacies spelt out. A waft of umami entered Vice’s nostrils as he walked to the large glass door, and he could taste some pork and chicken fat in the air, causing him to salivate immediately.

“Welcome to Gajus Delicacies how may I hel-” a male clerk donning a black shirt buttoned up to the top said when Vice and Anne walked through the door. He stared at Vice’s horns whilst his legs wobbled slightly. “I’m sorry ma’am, our restaurant is of an extremely high class so we do not allow any servants to stay inside. Think about the other customers, he might make them lose their appetite,” he whispered.

“What? This is not my servant, how could you assume something so nasty! For your information he’s the one that will be paying for the meal so you better look at him with more respect,” Anne shouted. Her eyes burned brightly yellow and the arcana in the surroundings was disturbed as she let her mana burst forth.

“It’s fine, we can go somewhere else,” Vice said and put a hand on her shoulders.

“Absolutely not. We will eat here, and there’s nothing anybody can do to change that. Bring your manager here immediately,” Anne snapped before the clerk ran into the restaurant. The man tripped himself with his own foot and fell to the floor. Just as he was about to hit his head against a glass door Vice jumped forward and grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him onto his feet.

“T- Thank you,” the man said. The frightened man hobbled away before opening the glass door and rushing into the restaurant.

Only a couple of minutes later a woman almost as tall as Vice walked through the door. She wore an elegant red dress, with her shoulders and parts of her stomach revealed, as well as some of her bosom. Her large breasts bounced up and down as she walked up to Vice, after which she gave a deep bow.

“I’d like to apologize for this man’s rude behavior. If you’d wish it so, I will even fire him right on the spot, cultivator Vice,” the woman said before cupping her hands and slightly bowing again. Vice felt a weird sensation as he looked into her red eyes, as if there they were completely made out of magic.

[DING! The user’s assumptions are correct. The woman in front of the host is displaying an innate talent for illusion magic, or more specifically she exudes the ability to suggest and alter emotions in others.] Virtue buzzed.

“That… It’s fine, I’d just like to have a table for three so that me and my companions can eat some food,” Vice replied. “Wait, how do you know my name?” ‘Did her magic just make me almost forget that piece of information?’

The woman twirled her short black hair momentarily as she gave a high pitched laugh. “You’re the only person in this city with such a unique appearance. If you showed yourself more during the day time, I’m sure more people would recognize that you’re not a threat. Also, let’s just say I’m long-time friends with your boss,” she said.

‘She looks like she’s barely over 30… To say that she’s a long-time friend of Master Cally. That’s just plain scary,’ Vice thought to himself.

“Anyways, come in, I’ll personally accompany you two through your dinner here at Gajus Delicacies,” she said.

Vice and Anne followed the woman closely as she brought them into the restaurant. The smell of pork and chicken intensified even further as Vice walked through, and he couldn’t help but frantically move his head around in search for the aroma’s origin.

“Oh you’re going to love the food we serve here. Only the best ingredients are used, and the utmost care has been taken to prepare perfect dishes. Anything other than exquisite will not be allowed to grace your table,” the woman said without looking back, seemingly able to sense Vice’s movements with eyes in the back of her head.

The inside of the restaurant had a very polished feel to it. The chandeliers from the ceiling were suspended low, but not so low that they disrupted his movement. A theme of black and white had been used through the whole restaurant. With a closer inspection Vice noticed that the tables were made completely out of obsidian, an extremely expensive material in this world.

“Here you go, take a seat why don’t you? A server will be with you shortly, and if you don’t mind, would you entertain having a chat with me after your meal?” the woman asked.

“Oh, uhh sure… I still don’t know your name though,” Vice said.