After finishing their statements, neither Ange nor Merlin left. They sat watching Mephistopheles, who remained motionless, neither of them speaking first.
Merlin glanced at Ange, unable to stop himself from thinking Ange had been the one to call the police, yet he didn’t seem afraid of them at all. Was he so confident that his deceptive tricks would never be caught?
And Mephistopheles genuinely looked shaken. That man really had intended to kill him. The police seemed completely above board, simply enforcing the law, and even their registration procedures were entirely standard.
Could it be that Mephistopheles’s situation had been investigated in advance, and the timing carefully chosen to lure him there?
If notified through magical means, that wasn’t entirely impossible either, but Merlin had carefully observed the surroundings at the time and found no trace of any suspicious activity nearby.
This made Merlin hesitate. Was Ange really a swindler? Could all of this be a misunderstanding?
No the moment he started thinking that way, wasn’t he already falling into the swindler’s trap?
Just as Merlin was spiraling into suspicion once again, Mephistopheles finally raised his head to look at the two of them. Though his face was pale, he still managed to force a smile. “I’m very grateful for your help. If you hadn’t arrived in time, I’m afraid I would have died there.”
Since all three had given their statements separately, none of them knew the specifics of the others’ situations. Only Ange, having read the original story, had a slight understanding of Mephistopheles’s circumstance, but given how much time had passed, he had forgotten most of it as well.
So Ange and Merlin could only offer polite platitudes, saying that helping was simply what any normal person would do.
Perhaps because he had truly come out of the ordeal, Mephistopheles’s complexion grew increasingly rosy, and his tone was no longer as weak as it had been at first. “Regardless, the two of you saved my life. You are my saviors, and I will definitely repay you.”
With that, Mephistopheles asked for both of their names.
Ange naturally answered with his real name without hesitation. Merlin, however, froze for a brief moment when he heard the question.
Mephistopheles seemed to have a rather questionable background, and judging by his demeanor and his name, Merlin vaguely recalled that he might be the son of a noble, which meant they belonged to the same social class and would very likely cross paths at banquets!
If he gave a false name now and they met at a banquet later, wouldn’t that be incredibly awkward?
But beside him was Ange that man who was very likely a swindler!
And what if this Mephistopheles was someone in disguise?
Weighing all these concerns in his mind, Merlin ultimately answered with his alias: William Amber.
Mephistopheles firmly committed both names to memory, asked for their addresses, and only then took his leave.
Merlin suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
“I remember now! In the original story, after the protagonist saved Mefitis, the other party shared with him the shares of the magic phone company that he had originally planned to give to that knight. Now that the two of us saved Mefitis, could he split the shares evenly between us? Even if we only get 1%, we’ll be rolling in money in the future! This is a phone, completely different from the various communication spells available now. That long-distance communication spell can only be cast by someone with the power of a grand mage, but the magic phone comes with its own magic stone, so even ordinary people can use it. This is a groundbreaking invention!”
Merlin listened to Ange’s voice echoing in his mind, feeling that the other’s idea was utterly absurd. How could someone with such abilities possibly run into them so easily? Those two must both be con artists!
Merlin became even more convinced that the two of them had teamed up to scam him. Talking about sharing shares no doubt they’d demand money from him later to actually get the shares. If he didn’t pay, they’d probably have him sign something to make him some kind of legal representative or something!
“Now that this matter is resolved, what do I do with this handsome guy? Just say goodbye directly? But he’s a yandere psycho, if I accidentally say something too provocative, he might resort to something like imprisoning me. Wouldn’t that be the end of me?”
Merlin’s face nearly darkened on the spot. If he hadn’t remembered he still needed to keep up the act, he might have resorted to violence.
How could he possibly imprison someone! And besides, they were at the police station right now doing something like that here would just be asking to get himself thrown in jail!
Ange hesitated, about to gently bid farewell to Merlin, when he heard his own stomach let out a loud growl.
At that instant, Ange felt like he wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground. Why was he running into so many embarrassing situations today!
He must be having terrible luck today absolutely terrible luck!
Merlin’s eyes lit up, and he showed Ange a cautious yet pleading expression: “Ange, since we happened to run into each other, would you let me treat you to lunch?”
“Happened to run into each other? This isn’t coincidence at all it’s a stalker forcibly staging an accident!”
I’m a stalker forcibly staging an accident, and you’re a con artist showing up at my door to swindle me! Merlin ground his teeth inwardly. He truly wished he could punch this fraud right now!
“But it seems I can use this opportunity to see whether this guy actually cast a contract on me.” Merlin suddenly heard Ange thinking this in his heart.
Then Merlin heard Ange’s reply: “Then I’ll have to let you treat me.”
Looking at Ange’s face with its slightly shy smile, Merlin felt that the other’s acting was beyond his imagination. If he couldn’t hear the other’s thoughts, he might have been fooled by that face too!
Merlin also noticed that even though Ange’s red eyes carried an eerie, sinister quality, when he smiled, they instead gave off an incredibly innocent impression a strange sort of contrast.
To be honest, at that moment, Merlin felt like his heart had skipped a beat.
But in the next instant, he brushed aside that subtle flutter. He’d just have to see how Ange planned to investigate the truth from him!
They headed to the Emoris Restaurant the very restaurant where they had originally agreed to have dinner together.
To be honest, Ange felt a bit nervous sitting in such an obviously upscale couples’ restaurant. He had never had the money to dine at a place that looked this expensive before, and could only gaze in from outside the glass display windows.
However, in his past life, Ange had also seen all kinds of luxurious restaurants online, so at this moment, he could easily pretend everything was normal without any flaw.
Merlin, however, could hear every bit of Ange’s nervousness clearly through his thoughts.
A poor swindler, Merlin concluded neatly in his mind.
Swindlers were always poor otherwise, why would they deceive people? Though there were also a few who were wealthy yet still enjoyed tricking others.
But when the couples’ set meal was served, Ange was still a bit stunned. Even the most expensive gourmet restaurants he had seen online in his past life were only costly because of the ingredients nothing like this magical world, where everything came with all sorts of flashy effects.
For instance, right now, this so-called steak, whatever it was, actually started dancing the moment it was brought to the table!
Yes, you heard that right the steak was dancing. At first, the two steaks were each dancing on their own, with the vegetables beside them providing accompaniment. Following the rhythmic clatter they made as they landed on the plates, the steaks soon hopped into a single plate and began dancing together.
Ange:
After the steaks finished dancing, they returned to their respective plates. Then, the two glasses of table wine placed before them began to surge like ocean waves, rising higher and higher within the glasses, yet not a single drop of the blue liquid spilled out.
Eventually, the liquid burst forth from the glasses, shooting straight to the center of the table and forming the shape of a heart.
Then, that blue heart slowly turned pink and began to pulse like a real heart.
And the dessert…
Isn’t this restaurant making the couples’ set meal way too interactive? Everything is expressing the meaning of couples being together in pairs, I feel like I’m getting goosebumps!
Ange couldn’t help but look around. He hadn’t paid any attention to his surroundings before, because this couples’ restaurant was divided into small booths. Though they weren’t fully private rooms, unless one deliberately observed others, it was impossible to see what was happening nearby.
Additionally, the restaurant had specially set up magic to muffle sounds, so even discussing matters here wouldn’t be overheard by others.
But now Ange deliberately glanced at another couple not far away. Though he couldn’t hear their voices, he could see the beautiful lady at that table, who, upon watching the couples’ meal perform all sorts of tricks, had already covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes brimming with delight.
Ange:
Ange fell into doubt.
Could it be that my taste is just too poor? Why does it seem like other couples really like this? No, I still can’t accept this it’s just too abstract!
Merlin rarely agreed with Ange’s opinion. He, too, thought this couples’ meal was far too abstract!
He had thought that the whole peacock feathers intact, unplucked, cooked whole, and dusted with gold leaf so it could “dance” was already abstract enough, something straight out of an aristocratic banquet. But now, faced with this couples’ restaurant, there was something even more absurd!
Was this the legendary sense of ritual behind a couples’ meal?
Merlin shuddered. If romance required this kind of effort, then he would never fall in love!
“Good thing I reacted quickly while she was distracted by the liquor surging out of the cup, I already slipped the spores into hers. As long as she drinks it, I can question her and confirm whether she has anything to do with what’s happening to me.”
Merlin tightened his grip on the fork in his hand.