Shadow Slave

It was still very early in the morning, so the streets of Bastion were mostly empty. However, someone had already come to the Brilliant Emporium.

As the door opened, a melodious sound spread through the interior of the Marvelous Mimic. There was a beautiful silver bell affixed above the door, its soft and pleasing ringing welcoming the entering customers.

Of course, it was the Sonorous Silver Bell.

Sunny looked up from what he was doing, then wiped his hands on his apron and left the kitchen. There was an elderly gentleman standing at the door, dressed in a patchy enchanted robe. He had messy grey hair, absentminded eyes, and a pair of bushy eyebrows that seemed to have a life of their own.

Sunny suppressed a smile.

"Awakened Julius. You are here early."

The old man looked at him and smiled politely.

"Ah, Master Sunless! Well, I am a night owl. Plus, you know what they say, the early bird gets the worm. Wait... I am mixing metaphors..."

He hesitated for a moment, then coughed.

"Sorry. I seem to remember that you dislike birds. In any case, it is nice to see you on this pleasant morning."

Sunny nodded.

"Likewise. The usual?"

As the old man assumed his favorite spot near the window, Sunny returned to the kitchen. There, he went about making coffee for his former teacher, while at the same time preparing a light breakfast.

on coffee beans, indeed. I'll have to visit NQSC this week,

tea, and hot chocolate were Sunny's selling point.

the fragrant powder and a little sugar into a copper cezve, then sent a wisp of essence into the stove and placed the cezve on the fire. The stove had been created by him by reversing the enchantment of a long-destroyed charm

Spring off the shelf, poured water into the cezve, and placed it back on the fire. Ideally, he should have been using a pan of heated

Then, Sunny opened the icebox and took out a few eggs, butter, and a jar

enchanted by him, in the best attempt to imitate the luxurious refrigerator he had greatly enjoyed owning in the past. In fact, it was more of a large cabinet than a box, made out of natural wood instead of synthwood.

enchantment, too, activated when the door of the cabinet was open. A third enchantment created a dedicated reserve of essence that powered the first two, so Sunny just had to replenish it

butter on the pan with the other, Sunny mixed the eggs while slowly blending milk in and poured the resulting

folded it, finally

tray, Sunny glanced at Aiko,

he curiously glanced at the book the old man was reading. Its cover was hidden by a leather jacket, but he knew the title from a

The Exploration Report on the Tomb of Ariel, by:

the nobody in question, of

for his previous academic papers, it seemed like a shame to just leave all the knowledge he had accumulated in the Third Nightmare go to waste. So, even knowing that it would cause some problems, he published an research paper

he discovered in the Estuary to himself, though, concentrating on the unique culture of the River Civilization, and especially on

were better left unsaid, but also because some knowledge was simply too dangerous to share. There were very few people in the

his report had caused

furor in

the

Nightmare of the Tomb of Ariel, after all. And since none of them was the author of the report... then

say, the existence of the Exploration Report, written by nobody, was under a lot of scrutiny. Which was why even a respected professor like Teacher Julius chose to hide its cover

coffee, he got

I've been looking

and pointed to the Exploration