Asland had been sitting in the Dragonflame Restaurant for so long that he finally caught the pretend passerby, Elvys.
"Cough cough." He gave a suggestive cough.
The black cat, who was just about to slip away, reluctantly jumped onto the table, his eyes full of the annoyance "What else do you want".
Asland was here for business, he had several governmental affairs that he was unsure of and wanted to ask Elvys.
"Lady Lowen has sent an invitation to her birthday banquet, left for attending, right for not attending."
The black cat, without hesitation, reached out his paw and pointed to the top right.
Asland continued, "I've already sent a gift." Seeing the black cat's displeased expression, he had a premonition.
Lady Lowen is one of the elders who hold seats in the ruling council, and also one of the bloodlines Elvys detests. But she is one Elvys can't afford to alienate - no one can see through Lady Lowen's intentions, she hasn't taken sides between Duke Neranka and Duke Safi, even if Elvys can't hope for her to restrain Knox, he can't push her to Knox's side either.
This made Elvys's mood not so good. As Asland had anticipated, for the next few issues, the black cat's paw remained at the top right, representing denial.
"The proposal from the Star Academy regarding whether to allow sponsors' private magical machinery to enter the academy premises and place some facilities..."
Elvys remained still, mulling over the tongue-twisting sentence.
Asland watched the black cat's paw resting on the top right, teasingly asking, "Negate? Are you sure?"
The black cat quickly withdrew its paw, remembering that this was Ina's application!
He coldly looked at Asland, and Asland, facing the duke's angry gaze, explained, "I thought you were distracted, I wanted to tell you something interesting. Rest assured, the academy internally has already passed this bill. Headmistress Helena made an effort, four votes for, three against, it's a good outcome anyway."
As Asland finished speaking, a loud voice rang out next to him, "Knight Commander, I knew you'd come, I guessed you liked cats!"
Ennis, quite tactlessly, stuck his head between Asland and Elvys, looking left and right, "Knight Commander, what game are you playing with the black cat? The paw-touching game?"
Asland solemnly fooled his clueless subordinate, "The black cat is a witch's pet, capable of divination. I had some matters that were difficult to decide, so I asked the black cat to help me make the decision."
Ennis took it seriously and was eager to try. Just as he was about to take the Duke away so Ennis wouldn't be kicked out of the knight squad for stepping into the residence with his left foot first tomorrow, Asland kindly pointed him to the location of the coal ball. "I'm not done with my business, you can find another one."
Ennis grumbled, "But the other one doesn't look very smart..."
He picked up the coal ball and put his fist in front of the confused coal ball, seriously saying, "Choose the left, we'll have pumpkin pie today, choose the right, and we'll have seafood fried rice."
The coal ball completely ignored Ennis's two hands in front of it, chasing its own tail as if it was another creature.
Perhaps because it spun around too many times, the dizzy coal ball almost fell off the table. Ennis quickly reached out to catch it, sighed, and said, "If any witch has a black cat like you, she'd be the laughingstock of the profession."
William of the Miller Merchant Guild, his hand propping up the table, urgently asked the person across the table fiddling with the apparatus, "What exactly is the effect of this potion?"
The Miller Merchant Guild's business is spread all over the empire, and magical potions are just one of its industries. The fact that William Miller, who is busy every day, pays so much attention to it, must mean that the magic potion being tested has a stunning effect.
The tester reminded Mr. William, "For safety, please do not touch any objects in this room, especially the table. A lot of corrosive and highly toxic potions are brought here."
William immediately pulled his hand back. He was so anxious that he kept pacing in place.
Finally, the tester stood up, "The effects of these two potions in restoring mana and physical strength have reached an amazing 50, the medicinal effect is much more pure than the Crownflower potion and Black Marsh potion, almost taking effect immediately after taking the potion."
William's heart immediately started to thump. Although the Crownflower potion and the Black Marsh potion can also restore a large amount of magic and physical strength, due to the rarity of the raw materials, the yield is small and the price has reached an astonishing 100 gold coins per bottle. The price in the black market is even several times higher. But on the day of the opening ceremony of the Star Academy, William met a lady sitting next to him. She shared a delicious milk tea with William and told him the name of the restaurant that sells this milk tea. Thinking that he would only do a small business about tea, William didn't expect that when he came to the Dragon Flame Restaurant, the restaurant owner named Ina gave him a few clear recovery potions and wanted to do potion business with the Miller Merchant Guild.
William is neither a mage nor a warrior. Although Miss Ina warmly invited him to drink the potion to experience the effect, on the one hand, he was cautious, and on the other hand, he could not experience the real effect of the potion. So William specifically sent these two potions to the testing institution in the company and got a surprising result.
William didn't care about the heartache of magic crystals and immediately used magic communication to connect several managers responsible for the company's potion procurement and sales.
"Immediately stop purchasing Crownflower potion and Black Marsh potion, and gradually reduce the purchase quantity of other high-priced recovery potions, we will have better quality channels for procurement." Considering Ina's hint about the numerous quantity of these two potions, in order to reduce the impact of these two potions entering the market on other potions, William immediately discussed with relevant personnel and adjusted the purchase of potions with overlapping effects and not high cost-effectiveness.
After listening to him, the tester on the side interjected: "Um, these two potions have another advantage, they taste like grape wine." The Black Marsh potion, as the currently best magic recovery potion, tastes like its name, as if swallowing a mouthful of black mud dug out from a rotten swamp, oozing with a rotten smell. Compared with that, the white grape wine-flavored potion is simply incredible to drink.
"The ingredients inside indeed also contain a lot of grape wine, but I guess the mage who made this potion deliberately added grape wine that would not conflict with the effect of the potion to cover the original ingredients. It can be said that although we got the potion, we know nothing about the formula or even the materials used." The tester added.
On the other side, William had already rushed out of the room. He needed to quickly sign a contract with Miss Ina to prevent other Merchant Guilds from taking advantage of the situation.
———
With the permission of the Star Academy, several takeaway-exclusive panels quickly appeared in areas with high student traffic, such as the dormitory building and activity square.
Lilith, entrusted by Ina, was to be the first to experience ordering takeout from the Dragon Flame Restaurant within the academy. She stood in front of a screen about the size of a small blackboard, tentatively reaching out to touch the words "Start Ordering" on the screen.
"It really responds!" With her touch, the screen entered a new page. A variety of dishes with pictures and prices appeared in front of Lilith, each dish followed by a prominent "I want to eat this dish", clicking on it would give the option to choose the quantity.
In the end, Lilith ordered a yolk corn crisp and a lemon plum tea. Her finger touched the large "End Order" at the bottom right corner of the screen, and the page immediately showed the price to be paid: 1 silver coin and 30 copper coins.
There was also a line of small print below: Please place coins in the coin slot below the screen, if change is needed, please be prepared to receive it after inserting coins.
Lilith had already found the exact change, but remembering Ina's request for her to test all the features of the takeaway panel, she put away the copper coins and replaced them with two silver coins.
With two crisp sounds, Lilith threw the silver coins in. After a while, the coin slot spits out the excess copper coins.
Lilith was busy picking up the money while amazed thinking: This machine can actually do math.
The picture on the screen changed again.
"You have successfully placed an order! Please take your wristband and wait for the delivery drone to arrive.
Notice: Please do not enter enclosed spaces (such as rooms without windows and doors), as this will affect the delivery of the meal."
What a strange notice, how can there be rooms without windows and doors, Lilith couldn't help but smile at the corners of her mouth. She picked up the exquisite silver wristband that was spat out from another outlet of the machine, ready to find a place to sit down and wait for the delivery drone to bring her takeout.
She found a secluded corner in the small garden of the academy, where there were several tables. Lilith took out a book from her bag and opened it at the bookmarked place.
It was probably 10 minutes, or maybe 5 minutes because Lilith hadn't turned a few pages of the book in her hand when a shadow appeared above her. A mechanical drone, holding a food box, slowly descended. Without needing Lilith to do anything, the drone's claw deftly opened the food box, taking out the paper box containing the yolk corn crisp and the cup of lemon plum tea and placing them on the table.
The mechanical drone flew all the way here without any bumping, not a drop of the lemon plum tea that Lilith deliberately ordered was spilled. The yolk corn crisp was just the right temperature, almost no different from what you get in the restaurant.
Finally, the mechanical drone stretched out its claw toward Lilith. Lilith hung the small silver tag on her wrist on the claw, and the mechanical drone, satisfied, took the food box and the tag and left.
The process of ordering a takeaway was completed.
Lilith thought back, she just walked down to the dormitory building, stood in front of the panel, and operated for a while, and she could sit in the small garden to enjoy lunch.
There was no need to walk out of the academy to find the Dragon Flame Restaurant and then return, which greatly saved her time.
As for Ina's regret that she had to walk to the takeaway panel to operate, this didn't seem to matter at all to Lilith. It was just a few short steps, and if you could order takeaway while lying in bed, as Miss Ina suggested, and have the mechanical drone fly in through the window, then there would be no use for legs at all!
Did all the people in Miss Ina's hometown behave like this, Lilith thought as she ate the crisp and fragrant yolk corn crisp.
In order for the mechanical drones to better perform their duties as takeaway deliverymen, Ina made two small modifications. The original mechanical drone could record sound, such as giving a reminder when the meal was delivered. But after discussions with Dusì and Vilanthe, Ina decided to remove this feature.
A magical machine that can speak, even for the students of the Star Academy who are most adapted to magical machines, is a bit too stimulating.
Another change was to give the mechanical drone the ability to intelligently choose the shortest route. Although the academy allowed the mechanical drone to enter the dormitory building without disturbing others, if going through the window was the fastest choice, the mechanical drone would definitely not bypass the long corridors and winding stairs.
The current takeaway system is still in testing, and many precautions are still being explored. Vilanthe looked at the clause about "Do not enter enclosed spaces" and tilted his head: "A room without windows and doors... Is there such a place?"