The unusual sensation on Fulen's face made his perception of the world feel strange. Fulen couldn't help but touch his ear with a hand that was cold compared to others, just like when he drank, he would touch his ear with his hand to make sure he didn't get too drunk.
This was a habit of Fulen's; he would blush profusely when caught joking with friends. Fulen had thought that human constitutions varied, and this habit would disappear, but he never expected it to become even more pronounced than before.
Fulen rested his left hand on his forehead and touched his earlobe with his right, a strange display that startled the two people present. Kvedo could only reflect on whether he had made too big a joke, but after thinking it over, he determined that he hadn't made an overly large or inappropriate joke, so he just watched Fulen somewhat awkwardly.
Calming his exceptionally peculiar behavior caused by embarrassment, Fulen returned to his usual composed demeanor. Frankly, being with people like Kvedo and Erich felt more comfortable; he didn't have to humor others and could decide whether to be calm or cheerful, rather than constantly putting on a forced smile.
His cold hands continuously rubbed together in front of his stomach, a posture that was one of Fulen's favorite sitting positions because it was very relaxing: "Uh, haha, that was just a joke I made, hehe, I thought I was the first one here, sigh, I didn't expect this."
Seeing that his friend was fine, Kvedo quickly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "How could that be? I wouldn't let you arrive before me, hehe. A qualified host should have everything ready before the guests arrive. Although I'm not the host, as your guide, I'd rather wait for you than have you wait for me."
After the two finished chatting, Erich also interjected: "However, I should be the first to arrive. I'm a regular at Scarlet Gold Cafe. I like the atmosphere here for reading; it's very quiet, and the candlelight is plentiful, or rather, um, the lamplight."
Hearing Erich's words, Fulen also looked up at the light source in the cafe. The lamplight referred only to the light from kerosene lamps, not electric lights. It seemed Rosell had not directly leaped into the electrical age but was still in the Steam Age. However, it was understandable; after all, the key to the electrical age was fossil fuels, and since this world had no oil, the electrical age was almost out of the question. Of course, an advanced scientist might directly push the era into the coal-fired electricity age, but, well, that wouldn't work either.
Fulen recalled his twelve years of education: oil was not just fuel, but also the raw material for various industrial products. It could be said that oil enabled Earth's progress. Coal, to be honest, not only had inferior fuel performance compared to oil but also lacked oil's versatility. However, it was hard to say; perhaps this world, due to Beyonder powers, might take some miraculous path.
Kvedo, who had just started to feel a bit bored, immediately stood up when he saw the kerosene lamp. Very quickly, he started babbling to Fulen and Erich about Rosell, a Steam Child. Fulen and Erich pretended not to hear, but Kvedo didn't play fair. He continuously lectured them on Rosell's knowledge to trick his companions and to market Rosell, a person unrelated to Fulen and Erich.
However, when Kvedo boasted, there was no teapot full of rat-tail juice, so Fulen and Erich could only silently listen to Kvedo's bragging about Rosell. But honestly, Kvedo was also a fervent fan of Rosell; every time he tried to persuade Fulen, Fulen would hear different arguments. And Fulen was confident in Kvedo's knowledge, so he simply treated Kvedo as a human radio, a talking documentary channel, and thus wasn't annoyed.
Originally, time was long, but during Kvedo's Rosell popularization, time was short. It wasn't until Erich's peripheral vision caught Karl disembarking from a carriage that he stopped Kvedo, who was still reluctantly popularizing various pieces of knowledge. Speaking of which, Kvedo could truly be called a 'Rosell expert.'
After Kvedo stopped, he felt a bit thirsty. He drained his coffee in one gulp and, accompanied by Erich and Fulen, who had already unhurriedly finished their coffee, went to greet Karl.
Karl, on the other hand, was much more astute. After glancing at the street and finding no one, he quickly spotted the oddly behaving Kvedo and Fulen and Erich watching him wordlessly from behind. Feeling that his awkwardness had been exposed, Kvedo could only sheepishly straighten up again, while the two speechless companions behind him continued to approach Karl at their original pace.
Before Kvedo, whose main characteristic was enthusiasm, could speak, Karl greeted them first. "Hello everyone," Karl said in Intis Language with a strong Trier aristocratic accent, greeting the three. Although this accent was not commonly used by ordinary people, for these Intis nobles, the more elaborate it was, the more it could demonstrate their nobility. "I thought you would still have to wait a while to arrive here, after all, arriving a certain amount of time in advance is perfect etiquette, while visiting too early can become a hateful offense."
Intis nobles, unlike Loen nobles who preferred to arrive a little late, had a custom of arriving a little early. Frankly, in the North Continent, Intis and Loen were like Germany and France in Europe: their customs differed, yet they mutually regarded each other as objects of comparison, imitation, and surpassing. Feysac, on the other hand, was equivalent to Russia, and Feynapotter was like a less greedy Britain.
Karl was, after all, a noble, and nobles usually had ways of speaking that could easily infuriate others, like soft needles, to comment on behaviors they deemed inappropriate. However, Kvedo seemed not to have caught the sarcasm in Karl's words; instead, he laughed heartily and responded to the other party's words with a warm embrace.
Instinctively, Karl took a step or two back, but his first impression of Kvedo was that of a friend so simple and impulsive that it was hard to say more. So, he disregarded his own etiquette and responded with an embrace as well.
Fulen recalled Kvedo's image in his mind and had to admit that he was a friend with great personal charm. Perhaps he wasn't incredibly powerful, perhaps he wasn't so polite or knowledgeable of etiquette, but he was a true friend whom you wouldn't want to deny.
Enthusiastic but not overly so, polite but full of warmth inside, Fulen felt that such a friend was someone he could also trust. Frankly, Fulen had previously been full of doubts about Kvedo: after all, a friend he hadn't seen for many years and didn't have a deep impression of suddenly became a closer friend. Although Fulen had Beyonder powers, it didn't completely convince him.
Fulen was a cautious, even timid, person. Illogical things usually startled him. But now, Fulen could be sure that Kvedo was a truly worthwhile friend to have.