After around 10 minutes of driving, the old receptionist, Mei Gui, and I arrived at a restaurant located in the outskirts of District A, fairly close to the slums.
"Why did we come here?" I asked. "There are plenty of better restaurants closer to the central part of the city."
The old woman chuckled. "No no. Those places might look luxurious and posh, but the food here is unbeatable."
I had my doubts, but kept them to myself as we walked into the restaurant. As soon as we entered, a waiter spotted us.
"Ah, Mrs. Fang! Welcome back!" he said cheerfully, as expected of a waiter.
Welcome...back? So is this old lady a regular here?
"Good afternoon," the woman replied with a gentle smile. "Now then...where shall we sit?"
"Right this way, madam!" the waiter exclaimed, leading us towards an empty table near the corner.
Yes! The corner seat is mine!
Once we had settled down, the waiter continued. "What will you be having today, Mrs. Fang and her two companions?"
"The usual for me," the old lady said. "As for these two...why don't you give them the menu?"
"Oh, yes! Of course! I just forgot because you were such a regular here, haha..." the young man quickly ran to the main counter and back, now with two menus in his hands. "Here you go, dear customers."
Handing Mei Gui and I the two menus, he retreated for the time being to let us browse through it. I flipped my copy open and Mei Gui did the same.
"Hm...seems like pretty traditional dishes," I noted. "Stir-fried tomato and eggs, spicy Szechuan beef..."
"They are," the old woman replied.
"But...you said that the food here was unbeatable, so I was expecting some kind of exquisite dish..." I murmured. "But this is fine to-"
"Ah, the dishes may look like the type you would find at any other average restaurant, but the taste here is irreplaceable. You'll see."
Once again, I had my doubts, but I kept them for myself.
"Okay...I'll just have this tomato and eggs combo then. Mei Gui, what about you?"
"I will have the same thing as Master," Mei Gui replied closing the menu gently.
"Alright - hey, waiter?" Mrs. Fang, the old woman, hollered.
The young waiter from earlier immediately rushed over. There were very few other customers in the restaurant, so service was relatively quick. I assumed it would be so when they served the actual food as well. Not only that, but us being pretty much alone here gave us lots of space to talk privately, which was exactly what I asked for.
"Yes, Mrs. Fang?"
"Can we get two orders of the Tomato and Eggs combo for these two here? And just the usual for me," the old lady ordered. "As for drinks, just three glasses of water is fine."
"Understood, Mrs. Fang!" the young man nodded, finishing jotting down everything she said. Then, picking up the menus we had just finished reading, he continued. "Your food will be ready in about ten minutes. Please wait patiently until then!"
With that, the young man left us to our own devices.
"He's quite the enthusiastic young man, isn't he?" the old lady chuckled.
"Yeah...especially when compared to me," I muttered.
He's also not a bad guy. Normally, when men see Mei Gui, they can't take their eyes off of her, but this boy only glanced at her for a few moments, and it wasn't in a lecherous way either.
"By the way, your name is Mrs. Fang?"
She nodded. "Yes - that's my last name. Feel free to call me that."
I nodded. "I see...and do you know that waiter? I could tell you were a regular here, but you two seem to know each other on a personal basis."
Glancing out the window, her face became slightly saddened all of a sudden. "Yes. He's my nephew."
"Ah, that explains i-"
"But he doesn't know that."
"Huh?" I blinked in surprise at the second part of her sentence.
"To him, I am just a regular customer here. But to me...he's my passed brother's son," Mrs. Fang explained.
I sank into thought. "I...see...and forgive me for prying, but is there some reason you don't want him to know you are his aunt?"
"It's just...I don't know how to face him," Mrs. Fang said with a sigh. "You see, his father - my brother - died from a curse. And...according to my brother before he passed, after he dies, the curse will automatically transfer over to his future generation - his son."
"What?!" I exclaimed in shock. "What kind of curse is that?"
Mrs. Fang "It's something called...the 1 Year Curse, I believe?"
My eyes widened, and I looked at Mei Gui. She too, was in shock.
"No way..." I breathed.
"You know of this curse?" Mrs. Fang asked, slowly lifting her head.
"Yes...the mother of one of our friends has been afflicted with it. She has around a little over two months to live now," I explained. "But if what you say is true, then..."
"After her mother dies, the curse will transfer over onto your friend, and in another year, your friend will die as well." Mrs. Fang confirmed.
I clenched my fists tightly. "Looks like we'll have to speed up the search for the remedy then..."
"What?! You know of a remedy?!" Mrs. Fang suddenly stood up, slamming the table.
"Uh...what's wrong?" the young waiter, Mrs. Fang's nephew, hurried over to investigate.
"Ah, no...it's nothing. Sorry about that," Mrs. Fang said, waving the young man off. He was confused, but did as told by his customer.
After he had gone back into the back kitchen, Mrs. Fang turned and looked back at us. "You really know of a remedy to cure this curse?"
I nodded. "Yes...my little sister discovered it in a textbook she read in our old school. I thought it was common knowledge since our school's library wasn't exactly top-tier compared to the Library of Infinite Beginnings, but..."
"I have searched that place clean to find a cure for this curse...that was the whole reason why I decided to work there in the first place," Mrs. Fang muttered in frustration. "And yet...I was unable to find anything. Even if I was an employee there, I could still only access up to Floor 32, which is my current clearance level. I have no doubt the remedy for this curse is somewhere within the Library of Infinite Beginnings - that place has books on just about anything you can think of. But unfortunately...I am not strong enough."
"How long does that waiter have left?" I asked grimly.
"...6 months."
"Got it...looks like that extra Hydra Fang I got might just be useful after all," I muttered.
"What?!" the old receptionist exclaimed. "A Hydra Fang?! Those things are extremely hard to obtain, no?"
"Yeah, well...I did some stuff, and uh...I got it by chance. But never mind that...I can't promise you I will be able to make your nephew an antidote, since I have to prioritize my own friend, but if I do ever get my hands on some extra materials, I will send them your way."
"You...really? You would do that for my nephew?" Mrs. Fang began tearing up.
"Er, well...he's not a bad guy, from what I can tell. He doesn't stare at my companions like most other men do."
Mrs. Fang blinked, stopping the tears immediately. "Oh, that's because he's gay."
"..."
"..."
"...What?"
"Oh, but um, he's still a nice guy! I'm just saying..."
"U-Uh, s-sure...however," I continued, slightly unsure of what to do after hearing that response. "In exchange, I want you to answer some questions I have - and that's also the reason I came to speak with you today in the first place."
"Right...deal. As long as it's something I know of, I will definitely answer you to the best of my abilities."
I nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now then..."
But then, Mrs. Fang's nephew came over once more.
"Dear customers, your food is ready," the young man said, laying out three plates, one in front of each of us. "Please call me over if you have any concerns, and enjoy your meal!"
With a bright smile, he left us again, and I noticed Mrs. Fang's eyes trailing behind him.
"In any case...I want to ask you about a man," I said, getting her attention once more.
"A...man?" she echoed, confused.
"Well, really, I don't even know if he's considered a human man. But he looked like one," I replied. "You see, when I tried challenging the Gatekeeper of Floor 2, I was met with a young man who appeared to be in his twenties. He wore a black mask that covered only his eyes, and had two large white wings."
Mrs. Fang's eyes widened. "And...was he wearing a white robe?"
I nodded. "How did you know?"
"From my knowledge...the person you met should be a Celesticus - a member of the Celestici race."
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