Know that life is fleeting; everything else is a lie; flowers bloom brilliantly for a time, but their withering is eternal…"*
Humming a tuneless melody, Leonard Mitchell took advantage of his lunch break and stepped out of the Blackthorn Security Company's gates.
He strolled towards the neighboring Halls neighborhood, his mood remarkably cheerful.
If every day were Wednesday, he could spend the whole day in a café without a care in the world!
How come he never realized coffee could be so delicious before?
"Ahem… kid, I have to remind you, you've been indulging in some unnecessary entertainment for the past few days… and tips, you've been giving that café's maid way too many tips!"
A slightly weary voice echoed in Leonard's mind, carrying a hint of exasperation.
"Just relaxing, old man, don't make it sound like I've picked up some bad habit... Besides, I usually save my salary, and I don't have many expenses. What's wrong with me giving her a little tip? It's a necessary expense in dating!"
Like any young person who doesn't want to be criticized by their elders, Leonard was completely unfazed by the lecture in his head.
"Dating? You call this dating?" The slightly aged voice seemed to scoff. "That Miss Alice you fell in love with at first sight, has she agreed to be your girlfriend, or is she willing to let you hold her hand? You don't even know her last name, and you dare to say you're dating?"
Moreover, the owner of the weathered voice had a feeling that the name Alice was probably fake...
But there was no need to say such things; it would damage the young man's confidence.
Leonard remained indifferent.
"Her last name doesn't matter, even if she's actually a member of the Augustus family, it doesn't affect my liking for her..."
—Augustus, now the royal family of Rune. This silly boy Leonard really knows how to think.
The somewhat aged voice was almost speechless at the utterly dim-witted boy, when suddenly he said,
"Hey, old man, don't you think my progress is so slow because you're always watching, making it hard for me to get going? Could you... could you hide somewhere when I meet her next time, instead of sticking to me? And then come back after my date?"
"You rude brat! What do you think I am? A wet nurse you can summon with a wave of your hand and dismiss with another wave when you don't want to see me anymore?"
The owner of the weathered voice was almost laughing in exasperation.
"I was just saying... if you can't, forget it." Leonard knew he was in the wrong, so he decisively backed down and didn't dwell on this potentially fatal question for too long.
The aged voice in his mind was silent for a moment, then softened its tone and said,
"Little one, I don't really want to dampen your spirits... but haven't you noticed that your feelings came too fast and too suddenly? When you look at Miss Alice, don't you think she looks a little familiar?"
"Before actually meeting her, I never thought love would come so suddenly," Leonard hummed a light tune, a smile playing on his lips. "As for looking familiar, I won't deny it. Perhaps she visits my dreams every night."
...Speechless, truly speechless. This fool still hadn't remembered the "Pleasure Witch" on that wanted poster, or even what she looked like!
"Besides, old man, didn't you confirm before? You said she's not a witch, or even an Extraordinary."
The weathered voice took several seconds to reply, "Yes, not an Extraordinary, she's a completely ordinary human."
"Then what's there to worry about?"
"No, she's an ordinary person, but there's some unpleasant force field around her, probably the effect of some Extraordinary item. Heh, you guys are more used to calling these things 'sealed objects'… But even though I've eliminated that negative influence for you,
you still need to be careful and not be fooled." Unfortunately, this earnest advice, which resounded directly in Leonard's mind, was ignored by the young Night Watchman.
"It's dangerous for a lovely girl like her to be out alone, so it's normal for her to take a protective sealed object before leaving home… Hmm, thinking about it this way, she's more likely from a wealthy family. I wonder if her parents are wealthy businessmen or old-fashioned nobles, I personally lean towards the latter…"
Leonard muttered to himself as he walked forward, the café sign clearly visible a few dozen meters away.
"After all, I'm the protagonist of this era. How can a protagonist not have a beautiful, elegant, and noble heroine by his side… Of course, it would be even more perfect if she could also become an Extraordinary One—"
Hearing this silly boy's increasingly outrageous fantasies, the slightly weathered voice finally couldn't help but rebuke him in his mind:
"I told you to read less classical romance novels! Instead of wasting time reading these, you should buy a couple more poetry collections and digest your potion advancement sequence 7 as soon as possible!"
Leonard paused in his steps, then quickly retorted:
"You told me to control my advancement speed, not to get caught by the higher-ups because I mastered potions too quickly, and cause trouble…"
"I was just giving advice, and you can choose to face or solve these troubles." The slightly weathered voice snorted irritably.
"Oh dear, I just…"
Just as he was about to find some excuse to dodge the topic, Leonard suddenly realized with delight that he had arrived at the entrance of the Deville Café, and behind that open door, he could see the girl who haunted his dreams.
Alice, dressed in a black and white long dress uniform, was smiling as she busied herself at the front desk, a cute white maid headband adorning her head and ribbons tied in bows at her ears, looking pure and sweet.
"I'm not talking to you anymore!"
Leonard said simply, no longer paying attention to the voice in his head. He walked briskly up the steps, patiently waiting for the previous customer to finish paying, before straightening his collar and approaching the young woman with a smile.
"Good afternoon, sir."
To him, the voice was like heavenly music.
"Miss Alice, please bring me a Fresher coffee, a spoonful of milk, and two sugar cubes. And, as yesterday, takeaway," Leonard said gently and softly.
"Okay, please wait a moment."
Alice quickly quoted the amount he owed, then turned and whispered a few words to a maid. Someone then went to the other side of the bar, to the maids who were freshly grinding coffee, and brought paper cups to pour the hot, fragrant drinks.
Seeing that it was just him and Alice in the front desk area, Leonard's good mood intensified. He suppressed the urge to hum a song and greeted her with a smile:
"Miss Alice, do you work here every day? I think you mentioned before that you do short-term work here."
"My days off are Saturday, Sunday, and Monday," Alice replied casually, glancing down at the security features on the banknotes.
Three days off, not bad…
Leonard quickly scanned the weekend's entertainment program and immediately found a suitable angle.
"Miss Alice, are you interested in a play? I know there's a wonderful play at the Orkney Theatre this Saturday night, performed by the Golden Acorn Theatre Company. It should be worth seeing."
"Sir, here's your change." Alice handed him back a few coins, a troubled expression on her face. "But I'm sorry, I already have plans for Saturday night."
"Then, how about Sunday? Let me think about it..." This setback didn't discourage Leonard; instead, it slightly fueled his determination. "I remember there's a full-day circus performance on Sunday. How about we go together?"
"This..."
Alice was about to reply when her gaze unconsciously shifted behind the poet-like night watchman, and her answer seemed to catch on.
Leonard then subconsciously turned to look behind him, only to see a young man in a black suit entering through the café's main entrance.
He... no, she had a tall and slender figure, almost as tall as Leonard. Her dark golden, shoulder-length hair was casually tied up in a low ponytail at the back of her head. On her beautiful and pretty face, a pair of bright and charming blue eyes appeared, which, when reflected in her men's clothing, gave her a unique and special temperament.
Leonard, after a quick glance, couldn't help but steal another look at her chest to confirm that the slight rise and fall wasn't an illusion before he dared to believe her true gender.
...Seriously, in terms of height and handsomeness, he was almost defeated by a lady!
Well, if it were someone as petite as Klein, he would have been completely defeated by now.
"I heard someone trying to kidnap my dear Alice as soon as I walked in, and this is the sixth such incident this week... Lord, don't these people have lovers or partners? It's heartbreaking and sad."
The dashing and beautiful woman dressed as a man casually walked past the counter and stopped beside Alice, who was much smaller than her, and put her arm around the girl's shoulder in a very intimate manner.
At the same time, she took the paper cup of coffee from another waiter, put it in her bag, and finally carried the bag to Leonard with one hand.
"Alright, sir, here's your coffee. Ha, since you're at least passable-looking, I'll just say one more thing—goodbye."
The woman dressed as a man spoke politely, but her words carried a sharp edge that inexplicably stung, infuriating Leonard.
"Danetalie."
Fortunately, there was the angelic Miss Alice.
She gave her nominal employer a slightly reproachful look, then slapped Danitalie's hand off her shoulder, took the paper bag from her employer, sealed the opening with tape, folded it into a portable shape, and then presented it to the customer with both hands.
"Sir, your Freshmer coffee, a spoonful of milk and two sugar cubes. Thank you very much for your patronage. Also… please forgive Ms. Danitalia's comment; she… she thought you were in cahoots with the scoundrel from a few days ago."
Alice then briefly recounted her unpleasant experience of being harassed by the scoundrel, which stirred Leonard's indignation, almost making him forget his earlier annoyance.
"Next time something like this happens, you can contact me directly."
Meeting the café owner's slightly questioning gaze, Leonard solemnly pulled his police badge from his casual pocket and proudly showed it to the two ladies.
"Don't let my casual attire fool you; this is just plain clothes… I'm an expert in handling difficult cases at the police station!"
"Seems true…"
His extraordinary hearing allowed him to hear the female Danitalia's low murmur.
Of course it's true! Does he really look like a conman?
Leonard thought unhappily to himself.
"Ha..."
A familiar, aged voice echoed in his mind, seemingly mocking his reaction.
The old man was just watching the show again!
Leonard sighed helplessly, unable to do anything to his ever-present old man, and could only sigh even more helplessly.
"Young man, after we leave this café, I have something to tell you." The slightly weathered voice spoke in his mind.
Couldn't it be said now?
With too many onlookers around, Leonard was afraid of being mistaken for a lunatic, so he was too embarrassed to speak directly, and could only think it in his head.
The aged voice naturally didn't respond to him.
So Leonard had to suppress his curiosity for the time being, his green eyes gently gazing at Alice, and changed the subject back to the weekend's plans:
"Miss Alice, you still haven't told me your answer, your thoughts about Sunday."
After Danitalie's earlier rambling, Alice noticed that the front desk seemed to be attracting too much attention. So she cleared her throat, smiled, and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I also have plans to go out on Sunday, but… well, if we're lucky, we might bump into each other on the street."
Okay… he declined, but not completely.
Leonard was only dejected for a moment before he cheered up again, gradually beginning to think that a romantic chance encounter might not be so bad.
Then, he could chat with her about poetry, tell stories buried in the dust of history, incredibly poetic and romantic… Ah, if only he could write poetry.
As the night watchman with the romantic temperament of a poet turned to leave, he unconsciously listened to the many fragments of conversation behind him.
Dressed in men's clothing, the handsome and beautiful Danitalia complained softly that Alice had neglected her and asked her to accompany her to her private room to sit and rest for a while. Alice seemed to agree with a rather helpless tone, and Leonard could even imagine her expression at that moment. The maids standing a little further away whispered among themselves, betting on how many more days their boss's current girlfriend could hold out before being dumped...
The owner of Deville Café, Danitalia...
Leonard gradually matched this name with an image in his mind, and suddenly it dawned on him.
The one who often appeared in gossip reports, the daughter of Sir Deville, who supposedly changed her lover every month, and seven young girls had already suffered emotional setbacks...
Oh no, could Alice have caught the eye of this fickle lady?!
Leonard then worried about this possibility, and what made him even more uneasy was that the possibility of this happening was not small!
"Young man, it seems you are quite concerned about that woman just now."
The old voice said, and Leonard did not refute it.
"Perfect timing, what I wanted to say is related to her… Ha, if you really become rivals for her affections, that would be hilarious."
"Stop just watching the show, tell me already."
Leonard, carrying a paper bag of coffee, walked towards Zotland Street.
Unlike before, his mood wasn't as cheerful.
The slightly weathered voice seemed to clear its throat, suppressing a laugh, and slowly said,
"If she hadn't 'provoked' you, I wouldn't have realized she was an Extraordinary."
Leonard was suddenly startled.
"Sir Deville's only daughter is an Extraordinary?! Old man, can you tell which sequence she's in?"
"Ha, she's really done a great job digesting potion power, very good, much better than you, and her talent is perfectly suited to the path she chose…" the aged voice sighed with a touch of melancholy.
Leonard, however, couldn't stand the way he was talking about "the neighbor's kid," so he interrupted him, saying,
"I just heard you say she 'provoked' me. What is that? Some kind of extraordinary ability from a sequence?"
"Sigh, how rude, she has no respect for her elders..."
The slightly weathered voice sighed again, finally clearing up the young poet night watchman's doubts in a condescending tone.
"Hunter's Path, Sequence 8 'Provocateur,' and one that has fully digested the potion and could advance to Sequence 7 at any time! Also, don't say I didn't warn you... this is a path of power filled with iron and blood. If you stupidly charge headlong into it and still can't beat them, don't call m