Chapter 1295: Chapter 1295: Fiona Drago
"Enough."
Seeing the black glass jar damaged, the silent Red Dragon Maid suddenly spoke. After Shard actively pulled his hand out, she put the lid back on and then returned the jar under the counter.
She then walked back, looking at the weakened Shard with vacant eyes:
"Guest, you have acquired my ownership. Would you like the coffee shop to help you manage my body?"
This sounded like something from a slaughterhouse. Shard, pale and feeling close to exhaustion, leaned against the table to barely sit down, his entire body sweating profusely. Yet at the same time, a strange feeling arose in his heart, akin to the arcane technique "Puppetry," making him feel he could completely control the young witch before him—a deeper manipulation than "Puppetry."
This was obtaining "permanent domination." If Shard wished, he could do anything to Miss Fiona Drago.
But fortunately, the Outlander remained the same as when he first arrived in this world:
"I don’t need the coffee shop’s handling. I’ve bought the maid’s permanent ownership, so I hope Fiona Drago can return to normal. Yes, completely return to normal, depriving anyone or anything other than her own self of control over her."
"Master, are you sure you want to release this maid?"
The maid with a large tail spread her arms and slowly spun in a circle in front of Shard, as if displaying herself.
"Yes, yes."
Nearly exhausted, Shard, though seated, still had to support himself against the table with one hand to stabilize his body. At this point, he had no worldly desires.
"No problem, I’ll follow your instructions."
The Red Dragon Girl stood with her hands clasped together in front of her chest, closed her eyes, and slightly lowered her head, as if some machinery had fallen into slumber.
The sound of rain dripped outside, while the flames in the fireplace crackled inside. Even in the city of darkness, Shard felt a long-lost fatigue. The severe consumption of the spirit left the body extremely empty, and the omnipresent sense of crisis and urgency rendered his heart restless and anxious.
Suddenly, his vision darkened, and the unsteady Shard fell from the chair. But he didn’t hit the cold ground; instead, a warm embrace caught him.
"You are... oh, you’re Mr. Hamilton! You’ve returned! Shard! Shard!"
The girl somewhat panickedly hugged him, helping him sit back up. Feeling dizzy with golden stars swirling before his eyes, Shard gradually recovered, the blood once again filling the veins in his brain, restoring his vision, allowing him to see the young witch who bent over worriedly beside him; her eyes of fiery gold looked extraordinarily beautiful.
Her eyes somewhat resembled the vertical pupils of a beast, symbolizing the mix of dragon blood. The young witch’s faintly scented and fair face appeared quite endearing at this moment.
"Long time no see, Miss Fiona Drago."
In Shard’s view, the maid stood before him in triplicate, a result of double vision, which normalized after several seconds.
"Yes, long time no see, Mr. Hamilton. I’m sorry, it’s always you saving me."
The young girl seemed about to cry, though it wasn’t because they hadn’t met for four years, but because of Shard’s current condition:
"It’s all my fault; I didn’t manage to complete the task given by Teacher Orland and Teacher Feliana, and I’ve turned you into this."
"Sorry, do you have anything to eat?"
Shard finally understood that his current condition was actually due to low blood sugar. He did have food in his pocket, but the lackluster spirit wasn’t enough to cast it back into real items.
The Red Dragon Witch hearing this immediately searched her maid dress but naturally found nothing. She didn’t even think to check the menu, murmuring:
"You can eat my flesh."
Holding her large tail, she shyly offered it to Shard:
"My self-healing power is strong, and I’m a half-blood dragon, so you don’t need to worry about dragon poison."
The dragon species in this world possess extremely robust bloodlines, capable of reproducing with almost any race, resulting in numerous hybrid species that puzzle the biologists of the three major academies. The potent bloodline also manifests in dragon blood’s intense corrosiveness, suggesting from folklore that bathing in dragon blood after slaying a dragon would likely result in death due to dragon poison within a week.
"Don’t joke about it..."
Shard pushed away the tail, finding it softer and warmer than expected:
"Isn’t outside food prohibited here?"
"What?"
The Red Dragon Girl hugged her tail in confusion, but Shard already knew the answer:
"As long as it’s not forbidden."
He had Fiona help him sit up straight, requested a piece of paper, wrote down his desired meal content, and then ignited the flame to burn it away.
[Fiona’s Housekeeper] is a very special Arcane Technique. Its peculiarity lies not only in the fact that multiple spellcastings can be performed with a single use of spellcasting materials, but also in the nearly negligible consumption of Spirit. After all, Shard believed, the essence of this technique was actually a contract.
As he ignited the note, using the Arcane Technique, a slight sense of his Spirit being detached made his head a little dizzy again. Fiona held onto his arm to prevent him from tilting over, but unfortunately, Shard wasn’t thinking about the soft touch of the arm.
The young witch curiously watched as a dense white mist rose quickly from the tabletop where the menu had been. This time, the process was quite fast; in just three minutes and twenty-one seconds, the white mist cleared, revealing an array of desserts on brightly colored porcelain plates, including ham and cheese, matcha and red bean cheesecake, strawberry jam golden crispy pancakes, coconut meat tiramisu, and pineapple tarts. Next to them were an inverted porcelain cup and a teapot spout emitting steam with hot tea.
There was a small note leaning against the porcelain teapot:
[I’m actually quite good at making tea and snacks in the living room.]
A sketched smiley face was drawn on it.
"Oh!"
The feeling of hunger was particularly intense now. If not for the lack of Spirit, Shard might have thought of calling for another Blood Feast while exclaiming, "It’s not enough."
He rudely reached out to grab the food, while Fiona said from the side:
"Don’t eat so hastily, or you’ll choke. I used to... I’ll pour you some tea."
She hurriedly picked up the teapot to pour the tea. After three small cakes and two triangular pieces of sachima went down, Shard began to feel alive again.
He received the teacup, allowing the red tea to wash away the overly sweet taste in his mouth, and finally exhaled a breath, saying to the young lady looking at him worriedly:
"I’m fine now. The feeling of being full is truly happiness. Oh, it’s been a long time, Miss Fiona Drago."
He once again offered his greetings, this time with a smile on his face. Being able to meet the founders of Saint Byrons again in the sands of time was indeed a pleasant event for Shard. Seeing Shard’s complexion return to normal and his tone no longer so weak, the young lady also breathed a sigh of relief, perked up, and smiled:
"Long time no see, Mr. Hamilton. You can just call me by my name. Ever since we parted in the Valley of Dead Silence four years ago, I often reminisce about our adventures with Teacher and Miss Samuel in the Gadis Library. Oh, I even remember that event, which I’d originally forgotten. Miss Feliana helped me recover the memory. Miss Feliana has become increasingly powerful over the years; she truly is the most outstanding witch of this era."
She lifted the sides of her maid outfit’s skirt elegantly and curtseyed slightly toward Shard. This etiquette was also seen among the witches who responded to Shard’s Sublimation Incantation during the Pantanal battle.
"Alright, there’s no need to be so formal. Please sit down, I’m really happy to see you. But speaking of which, can you understand my language?"
The Red Dragon Witch pulled a chair over and sat beside Shard by the coffee table, her tail hanging down between her body and the chair back. Noticing Shard glancing at her tail, the young girl blushed slightly:
"It’s a trait of this city. I’ve been here for a long time, sorry, I don’t know exactly how long. Miss Feliana and Miss Orland sent me here for something, yes, something important and unexpected. I’m honored to be trusted by them..."
After speaking, she pursed her lips, thought about it a little suspiciously, and then said dejectedly:
"Sorry, I forgot what it was. I only remember having to traverse this maze-like city, to find the Throne behind the city’s veil, where, according to rumors, the Deity of Darkness sits."
"Don’t worry, just like last time, I’m here this time to help you accomplish what you want."
Shard said, then felt like he had become something designed to fulfill the witches’ wishes:
"Since we parted last time, I’ve been thinking of you all. How are Miss Feliana and Miss Orland? Do they have anything they want to say to me?"
The Red Dragon Girl looked somewhat pitiful:
"Teacher and Miss Feliana are doing well. In those endless nights, during leisurely afternoon teas, we often mention you. As for things they want to say... I didn’t expect you’d show up so soon... Maybe they said something before I left this time, but I don’t remember."
"It’s alright, then tell me about this city. I have twenty-three minutes left this time."
"Okay."
The Red Dragon Girl nodded obediently and picked up the teacup as well:
"This is the City of Eternal Night, slumbering in the darkness, located in the Far North, reachable only by very few means. Outdoors, one must never fall into a completely lightless environment, or it would be impossible to emerge from the long night. The buildings here generally keep their lights on but will extinguish them at irregular intervals. During this period is when you need to enter the buildings."
This was also what Shard had encountered when he arrived just now.