Not long after, the same knight came back and led him to the first door to the right. Of course, it was the library. He saluted and wordlessly left. His scalp could be seen drenched in cold sweat.
Sai didn't want to waste anymore time, so he simply entered and went up to Lisa's desk.
As expected, she was there. But there was something different about her this time. Unlike the purple and black outfit she usually wore, she was now wearing a white dress that extended to her knees. The calm and slightly cheerful face plus the lack of the witch hat gave her a completely different aura. She still wore the rose on her hair though. Nonetheless, it was a scene to behold.
Sai momentarily paused with his mouth agape, and her beautiful green eyes went up to his with a smirk.
"Ara? Look who we have here…"
"Ahem… Hey Lisa. How you doing?" He greeted with a smile.
Her gleeful expression slowly faded away until eventually she had her neutral face again.
"To what do I owe the visit?"
"Actually, I came to ask if you would like to have lunch with me? I believe we have plenty to discuss."
Her brows raised slightly. He was behaving a tad differently from the previous day.
"I was planning on doing just that, it almost seems like you read my mind." She softly chuckled. Her eyes acquired a sort of malicious glint.
"How about we go to that Good Hunter? I've heard many good things about the place and I was raring to visit it." Sai proposed.
Lisa raised a hand to her chin, pondering about the proposal.
"How about this: you go and buy something for the both of us and then we eat it here in the garden. How does that sound?"
"The garden?" Sai asked.
"Yes. Just besides this building."
"Hmm. Okay. Will you trust me for picking your food, though? I don't know what you like and dislike…"
"It matters not. Just bring me the house special or the most popular dish from whatever place you choose." She seemed a bit expectant, and he just assumed it to be a kind of thrill, not knowing what your lunch is going to be. He was dead-wrong, though.
"Alright. Then, I'll meet you here again?"
Lisa simply nodded. Sai was about to leave when she stopped him.
"Wait, you don't have any money, do you?"
Those words froze him in place. Sai was ignoring it so he would just put it in her tab or in the Knights of Favonius' tab. Going alone was risky, as they might not believe in him, but he thought that if he dragged Amber along to the Good Hunter they would surely accept it.
"Ha–hahah. I forgot about that part." He nervously laughed.
In fact, having no money was one of the reasons he decided to go to lunch with Lisa. Kaeya could certainly pay for him, but he didn't know where to find him in the first place. Lisa was usually at the library, and they already met before, so she was a good option. Besides, he had to talk to her about the power system and stuff. Next choice was obviously Jean, but he wasn't ready to face her again after that incident.
"I think we will have to cancel our lunch since you have no money…" Lisa sighed.
"No, wait. I can ask Kaeya—"
"Oh, I just had an idea! I can pay for us both and you will just have to do a little something for me. Perfect solution, is it not?" She pretended to have come to a sudden realisation. Of course, Sai could see that it was her plan from the beginning.
"…What little something?" He didn't try to hide his wry smile.
"Just a small thing. You have the afternoon free, I believe?"
"Er… no, I have to go back to—"
"—the knight training? I thought you had given up on that?"
Sai audibly gulped.
"H–how do you know about that?" He had literally just left the instructor's office.
"If you don't like my terms, I guess there's nothing I can do. Please don't waste any more of my time." She pretended to be hurt and started shooing him away.
"Sigh. Alright, I accept it. Give me the money and I'll go get the food."
Lisa brightly smiled once more and took a pouch out of her desk.
"Please bring me the change, okay?" She acted cutely while giving him around 10,000 Mora. It was a single coin, though.
'This viper… What is she planning?'
"Yes, ma'm…"
…
When he finally arrived at the famous restaurant, Sai could hear his belly grumbling. He quickly made his way to the end of the short line and waited for his turn.
"Welcome to Good Hunter. How can I help you?"
Compared to the game's, the real life version was, once again, bigger. It had seats in an area inside that was covered by a roof, and an even larger sitting area outside facing the plaza and a fountain. It was a casual, yet quite good, restaurant, even for modern eyes.
It looked good and comfy, he just needed to test the food. So far, all he had eaten was almost like back on Earth, so he decided to try something new if he could.
"Hello. Uh… do you have a house special or like… a 'dish of the day' kind of thing? I'm new here."
"We have our signature dish, Sticky Honey Roast, or perhaps you'd prefer a steak or chicken?"
"No, it's fine. How much is that roast?"
"8,900 Mora."
"…" Sai looked down at the 10,000 Mora coin in his hand.
'That witch! She definitely gave me too little on purpose!'
"Tell me more about that chicken…"