Chapter 3203: Dinner in Time Wheel City

Seeing that it was getting late and Elder Harald still had other matters to attend to in the town, Xia De took his leave of the grandfather and granddaughter in the evening light.

But just as he was walking down the small town's streets holding Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya, wondering where he should go for dinner since no one was home tonight, the small, frail-looking girl with white hair caught up with him:

"Mr. Watson, the Young Lady wishes to invite you to dinner together, as thanks for your rescue last night."

Since no one would be home tonight, and Xia De also wanted to let Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya sample the local specialty fish dishes at the foot of the snow mountain, he agreed.

A place like the Snow Mountain Hall, meant for banquets, certainly couldn't be used for dinner, and eating at the Fish Fork Inn wouldn't seem very formal. So Miss Reinhart had reserved a table at a restaurant in the city in advance. After confirming Xia De had accepted the invitation, Miss Larson told him the restaurant's address, and Miss Reinhart would come to the restaurant to find Xia De directly later.

Miss Larson also had something she wanted to ask Xia De, and when Xia De was about to say goodbye, she hesitantly called out to him again.

The two stood in the dusk light, beside the wooden sign for "Old Gerald's Barbershop." People came and went around them, but few paid them any attention. Miss Larson's white hair was indeed very conspicuous, but she was currently wearing a hat and scarf, hiding her unusual hair color.

The girl's skin was translucent like clear ice crystals, and the abnormality of her complexion and hair color further confirmed Xia De's guess that she suffered from a congenital condition:

"Mr. Watson, the Young Lady says you are one of the Blind Nuns' people, but I heard Elder Harald say today that you might have connections with the 【Winter Choral】—is that true?"

Stela Larson was the shortest of all the witch's apprentices Xia De had ever seen. Though she was a bit taller than Ajelina and Emilia in her fairy form, among ordinary human girls of this era she was still on the shorter side.

She was a little nervous when asking this question, so Xia De answered:

"I have had the fortune to meet that thirteen-ring 【Winter Singer】 lady, but I have no direct connection with the 【Winter Choral】."

Seeing the girl looked a bit disappointed, Xia De added:

"Elder Harald's guess probably came from seeing me use a certain kind of thaumaturgy.

His judgment isn't far off. Although I have nothing to do with the believers of the 【Winter Maiden】 of the North, my thaumaturgy is indeed related to that old god... I can't say too much detail, but you can understand it as me having inherited the power of some ancient divine art."

Miss Larson's eyes suddenly lit up:

"I see... then, sir, have you been to the far north of Draguang?"

Xia De shook his head. Although Saint Byron's was also part of the great northern ice sheet, that probably wasn't what she was asking about:

"No, when I travel around, I spend most of my time in cities. Even when I go out to gather material, I don't stray too far from the city."

The white-haired girl nodded gently, not disappointed:

"Sorry to trouble you, then Mr. Watson, please go prepare for your dinner with the Young Lady."

After carefully saying goodbye, she turned and left, and Xia De continued on his way back to the city with the cat:

"It seems she really is descended from tribespeople on the great northern ice sheet... come to think of it, she might even be related to Ms. Helena Carter."

The drawback of not having found an entrance to the 【Spatial Labyrinth】 locally was that Xia De couldn't use the "go home—then set out again" method to achieve rapid movement. So returning to Time Wheel City from Kyle-Todd Town still required him to walk on his own two legs.

But fortunately, at the town entrance he discovered a public carriage—or rather, a donkey cart—that departed every twenty minutes. The good news was that the donkey cart was "open-topped." Sitting in the swaying carriage watching night gradually descend upon Fatumunst Island, such a journey was also very interesting for an outsider.

【Should I take a little nap?】

"No, I'm afraid that when I wake up, someone will say something like 'Hey, you're awake' to me."

The outsider was again muttering things only he understood, holding the cat and admiring the scenery at the foot of the snow mountain at sunset. Although things were gradually piling up, he could still enjoy the pleasant ease of the journey.

Although Time Wheel City was relatively just a small city, it lacked none of the functional establishments a normal city would have—such as high-end restaurants that required advance reservations.

The "Flash Antler Restaurant" Miss Reinhart had booked was one such high-end establishment, located on the west side of the square enclosed by the central city clock tower and city hall.

The three-story building wasn't very conspicuous in the night, but once inside one could feel the luxury within.

Pets weren't prohibited here, and after Xia De returned to Victoria Street to change into formal attire first, naturally he wouldn't run into any situation where a doorman refused him entry... Come to think of it, since the outsider came to this world, he had never encountered such a thing.

"Being refused entry by a restaurant waiter," "running into a sulking fool at an auction," "running into a young noble who actively provokes at a banquet"—these were things he had been waiting to encounter, and he had thought up many contingency plans, but sadly never once had the chance to use them.

【You're thinking about strange things again.】

"She" smiled gently.

At the window-side table on the third floor of the restaurant, one side offered a view of the snow mountain, the other the most bustling night scenery of Time Wheel City. The table the witch had reserved was the latter. She appeared only after Xia De and Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya were seated, and apologized:

"The scramble for restaurant seats in the city is even fiercer than I expected. The seats on the snow mountain side were booked up last week."

She came alone, having changed out of her thick winter dress. She now wore a bright golden formal gown, with a white buttoned cinch at the waist, the ruby pendant hanging at her neck, and her platinum-blonde hair styled up in an elaborate arrangement. Xia De even noticed she had drawn on her eyebrows, though actually for witches, their eyebrows were already quite lovely on their own.

The two sat down at the table, and Xia De complimented Miss Reinhart's attire as etiquette demanded. The girl across the table thanked him with proper reserve. Dinner had been ordered long in advance, and once they were seated the waiter brought out the dishes in sequence.

Although she said she had specially invited him to dinner to thank him for last night's rescue, after expressing her gratitude at the start, she began chatting about other topics.

First she told Xia De various stories about the island. Xia De was quite interested in the folklore and legends among them, and even inquired whether there were any institutions of higher learning locally with "folklorists" or "historians," keeping an ear out for when he might hear Professor Manning's name again.

Then the two chatted about the well-behaved cat eating its food. Xia De told Miss Reinhart, who was very interested in the cat, amusing stories from when he kept cats, and "complained" that although this cat was actually a good swimmer, every time it needed a bath it would dash all over the place.

The dinner atmosphere was quite pleasant, but when Xia De realized that the witch's face across the table in the candlelight looked especially hazy, he also realized that the mood had even become somewhat... ambiguous:

"Why would I think such a thing?"

She smiled at Xia De. Though few said so, the outsider could indeed be considered a witty and humorous person. The two moved from the topic of cats to Luo De Pai, and Miss Reinhart mentioned that her maternal grandfather had been practically addicted to card games in his youth, while Xia De "modestly" admitted that he was actually quite skilled at cards himself, and could "compete" with Elder Harald sometime.

"Then how did you come to know Vanessa, Emma, and the nun? Especially Sister Sister Daifulin—although she's very upright, she doesn't seem like an easy person to get along with. I'm very curious about your business with Sister Sister Daifulin; the nun has never mentioned you to us."

She blinked at Xia De, her pale golden eyes full of genuine curiosity, but what she really thought was known only to herself. This was the most important topic of the evening, and the reason she started by asking about the nun was half because the nun didn't bear the witch's curse, and half because she felt that judging from the events of this morning, Xia De's relationship with Sister Sister Daifulin was clearly closer.

Xia De used his dinner knife to cut off a small piece of fish fillet and placed it on the little plate in front of the cat on the high stool—the plate Xia De had brought himself. The cat twitched its nose to sniff it, looking uncertain whether to eat it. Although this wasn't the "Famous Dish · Golden Grilled Fish," the cat was still not very interested in fish.

"My meeting with Sister Sister Daifulin was entirely accidental. I didn't grow up within the 【Spirit Cult】, and I've only known the nun since 1853."

The witch did the math and knew that was at most two years ago:

"Then are you and the nun close? Do you also live at the 【Spirit Cult】's ritual grounds? Do you see each other often? Ahem, I mean, I've visited there before. The ritual grounds on the mountaintop are very cold in any season, but the scenery in winter isn't bad."

Xia De shook his head gently:

"No, I don't live there. Although I accepted the flame in the nun's palm, we're more like... cooperative partners. A bit closer than that, but strictly speaking, I don't belong to the 【Spirit Cult】. I wasn't lying in my self-introduction at the beginning—I am free."

Now the witch understood, and she was quite satisfied with this answer. After a slight nod she prepared to move to the next topic. She could no longer remember when she last went out to eat like this, but tonight felt quite nice. The man across from her, who clearly still hid many secrets, was worth her continuing to investigate carefully.

As for Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya, it ultimately did taste that black pepper fish fillet, but didn't seem to like it much. On the other hand, when Xia De gave it the small cherry tomatoes that had been used as garnish, the cat ate them very happily.

"Then how did you come to know Vanessa and Emma? What's your relationship with them?"

She continued with a smile. Of course Xia De had an answer for this question too. After returning home this morning, Silvia and Vanessa hadn't just been bickering over who would go first—with great mischievous pleasure, they had already helped Xia De craft the answer he should give to this kind of question.

(End of this chapter)