Chapter 287: Chapter 287- Coffee Talk
The duo walked silently through the streets of the city. Leen was ahead of Talon by a few steps while the latter followed her from behind, not knowing where they were going. Neither of them said a word the entire trip to their destination.
'Well, this is more awkward than I expected.' Talon thought to himself as he stared at the girl's back. For some reason, this situation felt a little familiar to him.
'Weren't me and Hyun-Jae like that at some point? We barely could talk.' He laughed to himself. 'I guess with how far we came, I have already forgotten that we weren't even meant to know each other. Time does change people.'
Now, Talon could only see Hyun-Jae as a dear friend and a very kind human being. Her cold side was still there, except it rarely showed up when he was with her.
As he was having such thoughts, Talon noticed that his surroundings had shifted again, and yet this time, to something way more familiar.
'Hm? I know this area.' He thought to himself as he looked around. At the same time, Leen stopped in front of a very familiar place.
"Here." She said.
"Remi's diner?" Talon raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, have you ever been here before?" She asked.
"Yeah… I know this place. That's a good choice." He nodded with a smile.
Leen's eyes flashed with a confused glint for a second before she turned away and faced the door. "Let's go."
The duo then walked inside the diner. Since it was still noon, the place was bustling with people more than usual. Looking around, Talon noticed that Remi was busy with work and didn't notice their presence.
So, they simply took an empty table in the corner and sat down. Talon made himself comfortable on the chair before he focused on Leen. The girl seemed very familiar with the place from the way she acted.
'I guess she also likes this place.' He noted in his head.
The two remained silent for a while, not knowing how to start a conversation. So far, Talon and Leen were complete strangers. Apart from a few information they noticed on their own like the other person's name, they had no other information whatsoever. Explore more adventures at m,v l'e-m|p| y r
"Ugh, too awkward for my taste…" Talon muttered before he looked up. "So, tell me why did you choose the Lost Mist region as the location?"
Since Talon didn't want to make the situation even more awkward, he decided to go straight into business with what he wanted to know. If it's work then it was easier to make a conversation rather than not knowing what to say.
"..." The girl stared at him for a moment before she closed her eyes. "Because it's the most dangerous."
"..." Talon frowned for a moment before he replied. "And why did you want to go to the most dangerous region? Isn't that going to lower your chances of passing the test?"
"It won't." Leen shook her head immediately.
"How do you know?"
"Because if I don't, I don't deserve to pass the test." She said. "I might as well die there."
For a normal person, her words would've shocked them speechless. But, for some reason, Talon understood what she meant. Granted, he lacked a lot of context and background information to know why she was this determined to go there.
However, he could guess one possibility.
"You want to become a lot stronger, don't you?" He asked. "Way stronger in a short period of time."
Leen slowly nodded. "That is the perfect place to get stronger, and I'm going to take full advantage of that."
"I see…" Talon looked down for a moment before he nodded. "That is actually perfect."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"I mean that your choice was perfect. I was also looking for a place to get stronger, way faster. It seems the Lost Mist region is exactly where I should go. Very convenient, I must say."
"... Are you sure? That place isn't…"
"I know. It is very dangerous from how people speak about it. But, I am not expecting to get that without risk."
'If anything, the more risky it is, the better.' Talon grinned. So far, Talon had experienced that same thing many times over. The riskier the situation he gets in is, the better the rewards he gets when he overcomes it.
That achievement alone is more satisfying than anything else. He would rather experience it than to get something easy with no hard work.
"So, what's the plan? What do we need?" He asked. "I'm sure you're already thinking of your plan, no?"
"... Yes." Leen nodded her head. "I know what we should do, to some extent."
"I'm all ears." Adjusting his position again, Talon listened to what Leen wanted to tell him.
***
Some time passed as the two discussed their plan for this phase. Turns out, planning to survive a week in a very dangerous place wasn't an easy thing. Not only did it require them to think of every possibility, but to also prepare for worst-case scenarios on every front.
Things like food, water, injuries, shelter, and every single other thing required for survival. Their talk naturally lasted a long time. Each one gave their idea and then they would decide on the better course of action.
Surprisingly, they agreed on most decisions. The two seemed to share the same mindset in many areas which eased up the process quite a lot. Yet, still, an hour passed just like that.
As they were talking, someone approached their table. "Oh my, Leen, you're here."
The duo looked to the side, only to see Remi, the diner's owner standing in front of them with her usual charming smile. "Why didn't you tell me? Also… You!"
"Hi." Talon greeted her with a smile. "It has been a few days."
"Tsk, tsk, I thought you grew tired of my food that quick. You little!" Remi smiled as she wrapped her arm around Talon's neck and tried to choke him. However, the latter couldn't feel much of her strength so he just laughed it off.
"Your food was really good." He replied.
"Then why did you take so long to come back, huh? Were you too lazy for that?" She smiled as she gripped him harder.
"No, I was just busy, Miss Remi." He replied.
"Can I get a cup of coffee?" Leen interrupted the two with her usual cold tone.
"Oh, of course. Your sister came here earlier today. Did you meet her?" She asked.
"No, I didn't," Leen replied as she looked down at the piece of paper in her hand. She had noted down everything they discussed and so she pretended to be focused on it.
Remi noticed that and could only shake her head with a sigh. Then, she turned to Talon. "What about you, Talon?" She asked.
"... A cup of coffee is enough."
"Coming right up!"
With that, Remi left quickly to get their order. That left the duo in the same awkward silence they were in before.
'Am I imagining stuff or is she in a worse mood now?' Talon squinted his eyes as he stared at the girl. It seemed that the moment Remi mentioned her 'sister' the girl immediately changed her attitude, if even subtly. That brought him to believe that there was some kind of problem going on.
'Ah, it isn't my business either way. I'm just here for work.' He shrugged as he looked away. Whatever it was, he didn't really have any reason to ask.
Eventually, Remi came back with the coffee for both of them. The moment Talon took a sip from it, he blinked in surprise. "This is delicious!" He muttered.
"Of course it is. We only serve delicious food in this establishment." Remi laughed proudly.
'I'm not even a fan of coffee. This tastes amazing!' The young man then started drinking happily, forgetting about the entire weird situation he was in.
Meanwhile, Leen just took the cup and put it down before she continued reading the piece of paper without a care in the world.
"Teenagers these days, tsk tsk." Seeing how the two were acting, Remi could only smile wrily as she turned around to leave. "Enjoy your time here, boys!"
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