The Aodhs are surprised by what just happened. A menu book flew out of the kitchen and landed in front of them!
Though Farah was clueless and asking for more, David and Barbara realized the importance of the situation. This meant that the either person who threw this menu from the kitchen was enhanced, or that the waiter himself was a mage. Moreover, since the restaurant employees hail from the north, the two deduces that they could potentially be the enemy Uriah was escaping from!
'But, what to do?'
'I don't like Uriah, and this is an opportunity to eliminate him... But... But he doesn't deserve to die just because of religion, does he? He's going to make me and Dave stronger, Farah's friends too. He's not even a bad guy... He works for his money. Yeah, letting him die would be bad for my conscience too, let's not.
...Why did I even consider that? Am I really such a bad person? I... I should talk to Dave later. Right, talk. I'll definitely tell him about this place. For now, let's memorize the waiter boy's face.
His hair color and eyes are both a yellowish brown, he's got a pretty big nose and forehead, his lips, his skin condition...' Being a lady who cares about appearance, and an archer, Barbara is able to memorize the boy's detailed face in a short amount of time, and with her education back when she was a child, she knew how to sketch, So, that's the problem solved. For now, she'll act normal and order something interesting.
"I'll have a..." As Barbara scanned through the menu, she saw a dish with an interesting name, so she immediately ordered it.
"Egg fried rice. How big is each portion, by the way?"
"Ah, the small one is for one, and the big one is for, I'd say around four to six, ma'am."
"I'll have a small one, then."
As the waiter jots the order down and repeats it to Barbara, Farah spoke up,
"Me too!"
"I'll make that two, then?" Barbara nods to the waiter's inquiry and turns to warn her daughter about volume. As for David, he is still thinking.
'Hm. I'll obviously tell Uri about that, and by the looks of it, Barb is going to tell him too. Let's just take a look at the menu and order something delicious sounding. Let's see if they have any lamb, I've been craving that lately...'
David turns the pages until he found the page with steaks. There are numerous items displayed, categorized by the type of the meat, some sketches of featured dishes, and the page number.
'Ah, only mutton? Good enough for me! Hoho, I wonder what kind of spices they will use.'
"I'll have one mutton chop, please. Make it medium, just medium." David puts in his order and watches as the waiter walks away.
It was then, that both parents turned to Farah at the same time and started talking. They paused for a few seconds since they both started to speak at the same time, but eventually, Barbara got to go first.
"Farah, we'll be taking a trip to the Conicks later, okay?" Her tone and expression were grave. She is dead serious about this, even if it meant the entire family being turned, she can't bear to see danger possibly come to the village, and she knows David shares the same sentiment.
"Barb's right, we should definitely head there, but that's in the future. Let's talk about the meal we're going to have."
The three engaged in a discussion over what fried rice might be. The parents know what rice is, but they've never had fried rice. Is it deep-fried? Is it stir-fried? The family warmly discusses the possibility until the daughter pointed something out.
"Mom, dad, that thing holding the candles hanging from the ceiling, what is it? It's so cool!"
"Ah, Farah, that's called a chandelier. These originated in the north, where the owner of this restaurant and Uncle Uriah both come from. They didn't come from the same country, though. This design looks like it's from Et, but Uriah is a Shuzian. Ah, these two countries are actually fighting, so don't mention him here, okay?"
Barbara recalls her art lessons back in school, teaching her history of all sorts of architectures and artistic styles. The chandelier is made from bamboo weaved together as frame, with culms attached to hold candles. The style and material are very blatantly Etian, though the building style is more contemporary because they needed to build it anew. Barbara wanted to explain all of this, but she knows that David would definitely beg her to stop and make a funny face if she ever did.
"Ah? Shuzian? Et? What are those, mom?" Farah asked her mother in confusion, since she hasn't had a geography class yet.
"Let me tell you about them!" Barbara's face lights up, David's darkens.
.
.
"And then recently they started another w-"
"Ah, food's here!" David stops Barbara from lecturing further the moment he sees the waiter coming to serve their meals. Then, they awkwardly wait in silence for about a minute until the meal came.
The three thanks the waiter for the food and after he leaves, they talked among themselves, "It looks/smells delicious!" Barbara and Farah turns to the only man at the table since he was the only one who mentioned the smell, then they all laughed.
Then, they looked at the food on the table. David's is a juicy mutton chop, generously cut to be able to fill a healthy adult, a side of potato salad, and a bowl of clear soup with some herbs floating in it. The smell carries a scent of indistinct mixed fruits, pepper, honey, and some unidentified spices. He immediately cut into it and started eating. The meat was cooked perfectly medium. The taste retains juiciness while not being too chewy or hard. The taste was a delicious mixture of saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, and slight sourness from the fruits.
The girls' dishes were the same, egg fried rice. The meal looked simple, it is glistening golden rice, accompanied by fresh vegetables such as cucumbers and spring onions, but when you look closely, there are also something within the golden rice. You can see carrots, onions, garlic, and some bits of egg. As the two put their spoons against the rice, they are surprised by its springy softness. It's as if they were chewing on tiny pillows, making them want more.
As the family was chatting and enjoying their food, the waiter walks in and asks, "May we recommend you a drink from our home? The owner is very proud of it and would like everybody to try it out at least once. Of course, it's on the house."
"Yes, of course. What is the drink called?" Barbara seeks to expand her bank of various knowledge with this question since it can't hurt to know.
"It is called Cha, ma'am. It's essentially Etian tea. Let me bring you a set of three. Now, if you'd excuse me." The young man retreats to the kitchen to retrieve a plate filled with small cups resembling the shot cups David usually sees in bars, albeit a little bigger, and with steam coming off them.
"Please be careful, it's hot." The waiter made a warning and went to wait and observe in a corner. The family drank the Cha, Farah burned her tongue while the parents nodded in admiration.
"Ow, if hof!" Farah shouted in pain as her father tries to hold back his laughter and calls the waiter for some cold water. Her mother, however, was lecturing her ears off.
"Didn't you hear the waiter? He said that it's hot. Pay more attention to what's happening around you. This isn't the first time this happned..." Her lecture went on, and David is not the only one suffering this time. In fact, Barbara is also suffering. After all, what kind of mother would want to lecture their children for no reason? She only did it because it was her duty as a mother.
Eventually, the lecture stopped, and the daughter bounced back to life. The three finish their meals quickly as they dilly-dallied long enough and headed directly to the Conicks'.
"Actually, Farah, we didn't want you to worry back when we were in the restaurant, but we think those people are up to no good!" David turns around to look at his daughter in the eyes and starts to reveal the situation to her.
"Which people? No good?!" Farah jumped at the thought of encountering bad people without knowing it, she doesn't want to have bad things done to her. 'Who could they even be? I don't remember meeting anyone suspicious... That show in the beginning was amazing, though. Wait, the show at the beginning... it's them?!'
"It's the employees?!" Farah shouted in shock, synchronizing perfectly with her father's answer. The two look at each other for a little while before giggling and going back to topic. David explains the abnormalities in the restaurant, and Barbara explains the historical/geographical clues to why they think it is the case.
As the talk went on, the family shifted the topic into gossips, general chatting and teasing, Uriah, and religion. But eventually, the arrive at the Conick brothers' house, or perhaps farm would be more fitting as the actual house itself is far into the distance, and one could see a wide, wide field of various vegetables, wheat, and fruit trees being tended to by workers, one of them being Uriah, who is harvesting wheat with his giant scythe.
The three approached the large man and starts explaining the situation they ran into starting from the time they left the brothers' stand. After listening to the situation, Uriah nods and invites them to his shed beside the Conicks' house. It's small, but clean. As they enter, they see an eye-catching statue of a bearded man made of marble sitting on top of the dining table, which is in the middle of the room, directly across the door.
"Please sit." Uriah gestures toward the seats while he sits at the head of the table. The family thanks and accepts his invitation. It was when they were all seated that Uriah started speaking with a pious expression.
"Thank the lord for sending all of you to me! It is definitely them, and knowing them, they eavesdropped on you all and already sent people to follow you. Why don't I visit your house and perhaps lead your morning prayers to the lord for a certain number of mornings until the problem is resolved?"
Having heard Uriah's offer, Barbara reluctantly agrees since David and Farah have already agreed, and because, obviously, she cares about her family's safety.
"Well, we better go tell the brothers you're taking a leave then. But there are people tailing us..." David stops himself as he was about to set off, the enemy definitely knows Uriah's face. They would definitely be reported the moment they're seen.
"Why don't we just go without him? Is that alright with you?" Barbara proposes an idea and asks for Uriah's approval, which he gave. And so, the family headed out to the market, again, slightly paranoid and stiff this time.
When they reached the stands, the siblings were quarreling again, over a different matter this time. "I'm definitely taller than you! Look! See?! Your forehead is at my eye level!"
"You moron, you're wearing heels today! Of course, you'd feel taller! Take your shoes off and we'll see who's actually the taller one!"
"Huh?! Sure the- oh, hello, Uncle Dave, Big sis Barbara, and lil' Farah. What's the matter? Forgot to buy some vegetables?" Francis was the first to notice the family and greeted them with a warm smile, displaying a sharp contrast to the fierce expression he had earlier. This reminds Farah of her master's difference in attitude yesterday. This is similar to it, in her mind.
"Heh, you sure change fast... Well, we're going to be borrowing Uriah for a few days because..." Barbara explains the situation to the brothers who had a serious expression once she mentioned the word "enemy." and they closed the store and walked home with Barbara when she was done explaining, occasionally switching with David, and with Farah occasionally chiming in with minor details. While walking home, Francis finishes discussing with his brother and turns around to talk to David.
"I'm afraid we can't lend him to you. We also need to ensure that we're safe, don't we? But don't worry, brother has a proposal: You come live with us, and we can come together when the fighting happens, your house won't get messed up either. The field is big enough."
The parents and child slow their paces, deep in thought, and Francis understands that, so he tells them that they have until this evening to give him an answer.