Meanwhile—
Draven calmly finalized his own order.
The projection flickered once as the request registered.
The cultist quietly placed her order afterward as well, though her choices appeared significantly more restrained than Aldric's ongoing culinary disaster.
Aldric, meanwhile, was still scrolling through the menu.
"…What the hell is molten marrow pie?"
Tap.
"Oh."
Tap.
"They have inferno lizard skewers too."
The cultist slowly rubbed one side of her forehead.
"…Are you ordering food or conducting a survival experiment?"
"Yes."
Honestly accurate.
Several more completely questionable selections later—
Aldric finally stopped.
"Alright."
He leaned back proudly.
"If I die after this, blame the menu."
Not long afterward—
the food arrived.
Several waiters entered quietly carrying floating serving trays supported by small mana formations.
The dishes settled across the table one after another.
Steam immediately rose into the warm room.
Draven's order was surprisingly simple compared to Aldric's chaos.
Cooked meat over seasoned rice.
A thick stew made from potatoes, beef, root vegetables, and dark herbs.
Roasted meat.
Fresh bread.
Roasted fish layered with herbs and sauce.
Clean.
Balanced.
Actual normal food.
Aldric looked vaguely offended by that.
"…That's boring."
Draven ignored him completely before glancing toward Nia.
"Eat what you want."
Nia quietly stared at the table.
Draven continued calmly.
"Not the first thing you remembered."
Silence.
Nia slowly lowered her gaze again.
Then looked back toward the food.
Draven calmly reached over afterward, taking one of the fish plates before placing it on the floor beside his chair.
The black cat immediately emerged from beneath his cloak the moment the plate touched the ground.
Draven set the cat beside the food.
The cat looked at the fish.
Then at Draven.
Then immediately began eating without hesitation.
Aldric watched this happen carefully.
"…That thing eats better than most people in Blackwater."
The cat ignored him completely.
Honestly expected.
Meanwhile—
the cultist had already started eating quietly.
Carefully.
Like someone genuinely appreciating proper food for the first time in a very long while.
Nia remained still for several more seconds.
Then she slowly picked up a piece of bread first.
A small bite.
Quiet chewing.
Her eyes shifted slightly sideways afterward.
Everyone else was already eating.
Nobody was paying attention to her.
Seeing that—
she slowly reached toward one of the meat dishes.
Her hand paused briefly.
Then she took a piece and ate it quietly as well.
Aldric noticed anyway.
A faint smirk crossed his face, but for once—
he said nothing.
Honestly, that might have been the most considerate thing he had done all day.
Outside the private room—
Blackwater continued roaring endlessly beneath smoke-covered skies.
But inside—
for the first time since arriving—
the atmosphere finally felt calm.
Time passed quietly afterward.
The plates had long since been emptied.
Lantern light flickered softly across the private room while faint music drifted somewhere beyond the restaurant walls.
The black cat now lay stretched across the floor beside Draven's chair, looking entirely unbothered by existence itself.
Honestly inspirational.
The cultist leaned back slightly in her seat before finally speaking again.
"…What do we do now?"
A brief pause followed.
"Should we still wait?"
Aldric lazily looked up from his chair.
"Hm?"
"The puppet."
"Oh."
Aldric waved one hand dismissively.
"We already forgot about that."
A brief pause.
"At least I did."
The cultist stared at him flatly.
"…How do you casually forget about an assassination attempt?"
"Because it failed."
Aldric tilted the empty bottle slightly before realizing there was nothing left inside.
Disappointing.
He set it aside afterward.
"Besides…"
His eyes drifted lazily around the room.
"It doesn't look like the idiot controlling it is coming."
The cultist frowned slightly.
"…You're sure?"
Aldric nodded toward the restaurant walls.
"Think about it."
A brief pause.
"If the owner of this place was involved…"
He gestured vaguely outward.
"They wouldn't still be serving us like normal guests."
Honestly fair.
The staff had continued behaving completely normally after the puppet attack.
No guards.
No alarms.
No hidden reinforcements storming the room.
Nothing.
Draven remained silent for a moment before finally speaking calmly.
"The puppet was likely disposable."
The cultist immediately looked toward him.
"A probe?"
Draven nodded once.
"To confirm."
Aldric smirked faintly.
"Which means somebody is either watching us right now…"
A brief pause.
"…or deciding whether they're suicidal enough to continue."
Nia quietly sat beside the table, listening without speaking.
The cultist still looked uneasy.
"…I still don't like this."
Aldric leaned farther back into the chair.
"Good."
The cultist blinked once.
"…Good?"
"If you start feeling comfortable in Blackwater," Aldric replied lazily,
"that's usually the moment somebody steals your organs."
Silence.
The cultist slowly looked away.
"…I hate how believable that sounds."
"Because it is."
The room quieted once again afterward.
Aldric lazily glanced toward the broken puppet remains still scattered across one side of the room.
Then toward the cultist.
"…You're a mage."
The cultist already looked irritated hearing him speak again.
"What now?"
Aldric pointed toward the puppet fragments with one finger.
"Maybe cast one of your weird cult spells and track whoever sent that thing after us."
The cultist stared at him flatly.
"I was already planning to."
A brief pause.
"I simply preferred waiting until my food settled first."
Aldric blinked once.
"…That's surprisingly reasonable."
The cultist ignored him entirely.
Instead, she slowly stood from her seat and walked toward the scattered wooden remains.
Her expression sharpened slightly afterward.
More focused now.
More controlled.
"…Having someone track my lord without permission…"
Her eyes narrowed faintly.
"…does not sit well with me."
Aldric leaned back lazily in his chair.
"See? That's the cult energy I was talking about."
No one acknowledged him.
The cultist lowered one hand toward the puppet remains.
Mana spread silently across the floor.
Thin pale threads emerged from her fingertips, weaving through the shattered wooden fragments one by one.
Symbols lit across the puppet head.
The room dimmed slightly.
Then—
HUMMM—
A pulse spread outward.
For a brief moment, faint images flickered above the remains.
Distorted.
Blurry.
Like reflections across broken glass.
A distant room.
Darkness.
Threads.
Then—
CRACK—
The projection shattered instantly.
The mana threads snapped apart violently.
The cultist's eyes narrowed sharply.
"…Hm."
Aldric watched from his chair.
"That sounded unhealthy."
The cultist slowly lowered her hand.
"…The trail was severed."
Silence filled the room briefly.
"Meaning?" Aldric asked.
She calmly looked back toward them.
"I failed."
A brief pause followed.
"Whoever controlled the puppet either noticed the tracking attempt…"
Her gaze shifted toward the shattered fragments.
"…or built protections into the construct beforehand."
Aldric sighed dramatically.
"Well."
He slowly stood afterward.
"Guess that's it then."
A brief pause.
"We should pay up and get the hell out of this place."
His gaze shifted toward Draven.
Silence lingered briefly.
Then Draven moved.
He reached toward the floating triangular menu device still resting at the center of the table.
Tap.
The projection instantly changed.
**Total Payment:
5 Gold, 20 Silver**
Aldric stared at the number for several long seconds.
Then slowly looked up.
"…That's a damn robbery for one meal."
The cultist quietly added—
"You ordered wyvern."
"…That's not the point."
Draven ignored both of them completely.
He calmly pulled out the black card.
Then—
just like before—
a thin strand of crimson mana gathered at his fingertip.
Symbols slowly formed across the card's surface.
5 Gold
20 Silver
The markings glowed faintly.
Then Draven pressed the card against the menu device.
Flash—
The projection pulsed once.
**Payment Confirmed.**
Silence briefly filled the room afterward.
Aldric stared at the card again.
"…I still hate how casually you do that."
Draven stood calmly beneath the dark cloak.
"Let's go."
The black cat immediately lifted its head from the floor.
Nia quietly rose beside him as well.