‎Norvax stared at the three brats seated around the table with him and Darius.

The four of them made for an odd bunch.

‎Honestly, it was quite despicable that he found himself in.

‎ To think that the commander of the feared kill squad would be babysitting a couple of brats.

‎And all it had taken was the destruction of Praesagius' main headquarters.

‎" Ah... what a time to be alive."

‎It was probably the first time in history that such a thing had happened.

‎To think that the Praesagius wood stoop so low.

‎He absent-mindedly drummed his fingers on the table in front of him.

‎His grey eyes restlessly roamed about the room.

‎The four of them were currently seated in a small, lush cafe.

‎Several other customers sat a short distance away, some of them reading, others engaging animatedly in mundane conversations.

‎And of course, there was a long wall that stood alone quietly engrossed in whatever had them enthralled.

‎ The delicious aroma of freshly made coffee and other confectionery wafted through the air.

‎To be honest, the place was tastefully designed. Norvax had to admit it had quite an aesthetic atmosphere."

‎"At least there's still something beautiful about this horrid mess."

‎He often dreamt of doing such mundane things when he retired.

‎A paradise of not having to chase around potentially deranged, high-powered, Talented people around the world.

‎While occasionally running into insanely strong, freakishly deceptive assassins.

‎In the cafe, beautiful waitresses moved around, carting coffee and other sweet things to their respective tables.

‎" Are we going to order anything?" the dark skinned youth in front of him asked.

‎Norvax spared him a bored glance and then nodded slightly.

‎The youth smiled brightly and then picked up a menu, skimming through it at an incredible speed.

‎Clad in a dark long coat, and brown tunnel neck sweater, and dark pants, the youth emanated an air of regality and authority. "It's almost like he's royalty."Norvax thought in amusement.

‎Placing the menu down, the youth briefly glanced at each of them before announcing.

‎"All right then, I'll go ahead and make my order. "

‎Norvax stared at the youth for a while before shifting his gaze to the glass window

‎" Xander Gray."

‎The Brotherhood of Shadows had insisted on lending its aid to the Praesagius, and that was why the esteemed student council president of their precious academy was tagging along for this mission.

‎ Norvax didn't know much about the boy, but he was quite sure about his skill.

‎ After all, no one could become the student council president of an institution under the Brotherhood without having considerable skill and backing. iInaddition to that, the youth was apparently a novice, one of the youngest to ever exist at that.

‎But in such matters, one could never be too careful.

‎ So he would wait for now.

‎ The chance to test the youth's skills for himself would present itself soon enough.

‎"If he's ordering something, I might as well order something as well," a brown haired kid spoke, reaching for the menu that lay before him.

‎"After all, it's not very often that one gets to enjoy exotic meals in a foreign country."

‎The other two kids were somewhat lucky, depending on how you looked at the situation.

‎"Hey, Warren, are you going to order anything?" the brown haired kid asked.

‎" I'm not hungry."

‎The dark-haired youth's eyes still carried an unsettling darkness.

‎Warren sat quietly, watching his eyes slowly moving around the room in a disquieting manner.

‎Edmund stared at him for a little while before letting out a weary sigh.

‎Norvax's gaze shifted to them for a brief instant, then he resumed observing the passing streams of pedestrians outside the glass pane.

‎ It was quite queer, almost unsettling, really.

‎ In a different part of the world, life was going on normally.

‎Meanwhil,e Eden City's infrastructure had been devastated, and the city had barely recovered from the recent attacks from the masked figure.

From the little information that they had been able to gather amidst the ensuing chaos, one of the founding great houses of the Brotherhood of Shadows was in cahoots with the mysterious figure that was responsible for the attacks on the Praesagius HQ.

‎Everything truly was a mess. But despite the ongoing confusion, rogue Talented continue to pop up in different parts of the world, so even with its resources stretched thin, the Praesagius had no choice but to intervene.

That was why Norvax was sitting in a dainty restaurant with three brats who could only think of their stomachs.

‎He frowned slightly, his eyes shifting to the menu in front of him for a brief second.

‎"But I am really hungry too, maybe I should order something. Norvax thought.

‎The tapping on the table reached a crescendo. His fingers blurred for a brief instant.

‎Xander threw Norvax an amused glance before turning attention back to the menu.

‎Norvax frowned slightly.

‎"While we're on the point, what's taking her so long?"

‎Their fifth companion was supposed to rendezvous with them at the café.

‎The said companion was meeting with one of their informants.

‎Someone in the city who knew about the whereabouts of their target.

‎When dealing with such delicate matters, time was of the essence.

‎Otherwise, in the worst-case scenario, things could often spiral out of hand.

‎The small group was currently in a country located in the Southern Hemisphere of the World, Zolaris.

‎The technology here wasn't yet as advanced as the one in Eden City, but the food at least was to die for.

‎Norvax watched the native people walking with interest.

‎The people here were predominantly black.

‎With the advent of Dark Technologies, third-world countries were mostly a thing of the past.

‎Which made tracking down the rogue Talented they were currently after considerably easier.

‎Xander pressed down on a button on the table in front of him.

‎A holographic screen appeared in front of him, with the different options he could choose from.

‎"Funny thing is, despite the advancement in technology, these people still have the old-fashioned printed menus," Xander said with an amused smile on his face.

‎He quickly placed his order with Edmund, following suit a few moments later.

‎Norvax lazily flicked through the options, settling for a large iced beverage with a side of dark chocolate cookies.

‎" Better safe than sorry"

‎Laming back slightly in his chair, Xander grinned at the gesture.

‎In truth, the idea of spending the entire day roaming the city on an empty stomach was quite agonizing.

‎A few moments later, their orders arrived.

‎Norvax's eyes widened slightly in surprise when their orders arrived.

‎The beverage looked quite appetizing.

‎Large ice cubes floated on top of the dark, creamy rich drink.

‎On the plate before him, a light steam wafted off the large chocolate cookies in small streams.

‎He threw a furtive glance at Warren.

‎The remaining two boys were already digging into their food with gusto.

‎Xander had ordered several small dishes and one large drink.

‎From the expert way he maneuvered through the weird-looking dishes, it wasn't the first time he had encountered them.

‎Edmund's order consisted of several neat rolls and an exotic dipping sauce.

‎A moment later, Edmund dramatically moaned into his plate, leaning back in his chair.

‎Warren stared at him blankly for a few seconds.

‎" This is to die for!" Edmund shouted amidst bites.

‎Noticing Warren's peculiar stare, Edmund sat up straight.

‎" What's wrong? You said you weren't hungry, right?"

‎Warren stared at him in silence for a while before speaking.

‎"Is it that good?"Norvax's eyebrows rose in amusement.

‎"So he can speak, huh..."

‎A grin flitted across his face.

‎A conflict of emotions flashed across Edmund's face.

‎Xander watched the two boys, a smile tugging at his lips.

‎"Fine, you can have some of this, but you only get one," Edmund said, offering Warren one of his rolls.

‎The duck head boy stared at Edmond for a few moments before taking the roll.

‎Norvax took a large bite out of his own cookie pausing to observe Warren's reaction.

‎Warren but into the roll, chewing for a while.

‎ One of his eyes twitched slightly for a brief instant.

‎After a few more bites, the roll was done.

‎Edmund stared at him, with a strange light in his eyes.

‎" Well?" he asked quietly." What do you think it is?"

‎Warren stared at him impassively for a few moments in silence.

‎"I guess it's good."

‎Edmund stared at him incredulously.

‎"You guess?! This is awesome. It's beautiful!"

‎His reaction turned a few heads, eliciting a few chuckles from the other customers in the cafe.

‎Unperturbed, Edmund continued his rant.

‎"The flavors, the richness of the sauce, all of it blending in perfect harmony! It's simply delicious."

‎Xander laughed heartily at his explanation.

‎Warren stared at him for a few more moments.

‎After an awkward silence, with seeming reluctance, he pressed the button in front of him.

‎Edmund pumped his fist triumphantly into the air.

‎A few moments later, the two waitresses approached their table.

‎"Your order, sir," one of them said with a smile.

‎The other places another dish on the table.

‎" We didn't order that..." Norvax said while munching on his cookie.

‎"The chef's compliments," the waitress said with another smile, flourishing a bow.

‎Norvax slowly nodded. Edmund vigorously nodded his head thanking the waitress repeatedly.

‎Just then, the bell at the entrance to the cafe rang, and a green-haired figure stepped in.

‎

‎

‎

‎

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.