Breakfast was served on a round table near the window. A gentle breeze, coming in through the cracks in the window, stirred the thin veil, making the steam wafting from the breakfast sway.
Shiller and Bruce were dining at the table. Shiller twirled up some spaghetti with his fork, delicately scraped off the excess sauce with his knife, and after putting it in his mouth said, "After breakfast, I'm heading to a party. You may explore some vineyards in the vicinity; no one would not welcome Bruce Wayne."
"What kind of party are you talking about?" Bruce took a piece of German pretzel and cut it into small pieces with a knife.
"A somewhat special banquet, but still for someone's birthday." Shiller glanced at Bruce then sighed, "I don't think you'd like the type of occasion. Besides, you can't appear as you currently do."
"You said, no one would not welcome Bruce Wayne."
"I meant normal people." Shiller paused his meal cutting, contemplated for a moment before saying, "They are not normal, not even slightly. I don't think anyone necessarily needs to deal with them."
"What could be more abnormal than a group of serial killers?" Bruce retorted. He rolled up some spaghetti, allowing the sauce to drizzle onto the bread, then sent it into his mouth.
Shiller lightly tapped his fork indecisively and said, "I am unsure whether you can step into this world... Well, I suppose you've already changed quite a bit, so it's not much of a risk. However, like I said you cannot go like this."
"Then how should I be?"
"No, I meant you may need some special items. After finishing up breakfast, I can accompany you to look around."
About an hour later, Shiller, decked in a three-piece suit and carrying a cane, came down from upstairs. Bruce glanced at him and remarked, "Going by your attire alone, I'd think I had gone back to the Victorian Era."
"Exactly. Go change."
Bruce stood up to flex his slightly stiff arm then ventured upstairs. His formal attire was on the bed of the guest room; it was probably from when he left it at Rodriguez Manor.
Bruce knew Shiller had special storage means, so he wasn't surprised when he saw his clothes. He swiftly changed and came back downstairs to find Shiller, standing by the living room wall and making a call.
"Yes, that's right, the same address I gave you last time. But, I have to take my student with me for a moment. The location remains unchanged. I will double the fare... Okay, see you."
Bruce assumed that he had ordered a private car. So, he opened the front door and went to the porch to look down the road.
Unexpectedly, a shadow swept over his head. Two loud horse neighs echoed in the sky. Bruce lifted his head to see a Victorian era carriage swiftly glide over the roof, take a turn and elegantly land in front of the door.
Shiller had already walked out. He was holding a suitcase in one hand and a cane in the other. After locking the door, he beckoned Bruce by tilting his chin towards the carriage and said, "Get in."
Bruce stepped into the carriage and watched it ascend into the sky. He shook his head and said, "You didn't tell me things were this abnormal."
Shiller lowered his head to check the lock on the suitcase. Just as Bruce was about to inquire further, the carriage jolted violently, and the scenery outside the windows instantly blurred into streams of light. Bruce didn't sense any strong inertia pushing him back, but he knew that the carriage was moving forward at full speed in some magical way.
Several seconds later, the streams of light ceased and Bruce noticed the cityscape emerging beneath him. The glowing morning sun etched out the silhouette of Big Ben, morning mist rose from the Thames River, and the bell chimes from Westminster Abbey had just vanished—They had arrived in London.
The carriage landed quietly in an alley in East London, attracting no attention. Shiller and Bruce dismounted the carriage, and at the corner of the street, they found a red phone booth.
"First, I need to accompany you to purchase some items in preparation for the banquet tonight. Then have lunch there, visit another place to purchase gifts, and in the afternoon, call on old friends in London to make it to the banquet location before nightfall," explained Shiller.
Although Bruce had a bellyful of questions, Shiller had already stepped into the phone booth.
Standing in front of the phone, Shiller didn't close the door. Instead, he turned to Bruce, demonstrated his dialing process, and said, "653822, dial it twice. Don't press the wrong numbers, or you might end up God knows where."
After explaining, he quickly dialed the numbers. Suddenly, the booth's floor vibrated twice, and the open door slammed shut. A gust of wind swept along the street, and just as Bruce raised his arm to block the falling leaves, Shiller's figure disappeared inside the phone booth.
Bruce widened his eyes slightly. He hesitated before placing his hand on the doorknob. Entering the booth, he quickly dialed the string of numbers twice according to Shiller's method.
In an instant, the street view began to blur, innumerable streams of light flew past his ears. It may have been a second, yet it had felt like a whole year. Bruce felt a slight tremor beneath his feet, and when he pushed the door open again, a somewhat dim space appeared before him.
Bruce stepped out and found himself in a bar. The phone booth behind him looked even more vintage, decorated with vines and dried grass.
The bar didn't seem particularly lively in the morning. The flickering yellow candlelight was rather sleep-inducing. The edges of the dark brown tables and chairs were adorned with carvings in naturalistic patterns, and various feather and leaf specimens, and bone decorations hung on the pillars and walls near the doorway.
What struck him the most were the vibrant paintings hanging on the wall near the bar. They were overly vivid, and Bruce believed what he saw – the scenes and figures in the paintings moving – was not an illusion.
Near the left wall, there was a grand staircase leading to the second floor, with an exquisite wall clock hanging beneath it. On the wall were rows upon rows of bookshelves, with numerous books and miscellaneous items strewn about on the floor.
The bar was not entirely deserted, a few waitstaff-like people were playing cards at a green-mat-covered round table, and two seemingly drunk patrons were sleeping on top of the table.
Bruce saw the figure of Shiller in front of the bar, in conversation with a man wearing a blue bodysuit, donning a red cloak, and a large sword strapped around his waist.
This strangely-dressed man seemed to be the bar's owner. Shiller placed his box on the table and received a martini from the bartender's hands.
Quietly, Bruce went and sat near a table not far from the bar. He heard Shiller addressing the man, who seemed to be the bar owner, as Jim.
"I really can't believe it, you've actually managed to get it!" The man known as Jim looked at the box in Shiller's hand with gleaming eyes, he focused on the box, expressing his admiration and commented: "This is rare, you've gained a lot during your years in Gotham."
Shiller shook his head and said, "A student of a friend of mine made it. He is extraordinarily talented in this regard."
Jim nodded and said in admiration, "I admire you educators, especially you, educating people in Gotham. I heard you've been achieving results recently."
"Sort of, I haven't visited in a few years, consider this a welcome back gift."
"Oh my, no, no, that's not okay." Jim immediately rejected, "I can't accept your gift for free."
"Instead of this, you should check if it meets your requirements. I think the effect is not bad, but you can test it."
"One look at it and I can tell it's a good item." Jim reached out and stroked the contents of the box and said, "look at the emerald green veins, the strong and robust roots, the neatly folded creases, I bet it's a healthy little thing."
Bruce, who was eavesdropping, had a bad feeling.
Shiller pressed a button underneath the box. Suddenly, the sound of ice shattering came from the bar, and with a "whoosh", a greenish, healthy and lively, fantastic and mysterious cabbage jumped out of the box.
The longest two leaves of the cabbage were oscillating back and forth, as if it was planning to find a punching bag. As soon as Jim got close, the cabbage gave him an uppercut, sending him crashing into the liquor shelf behind the counter.
"Bang!"
"Ouch!"
Shiller held down the cabbage, Jim rubbed his chin, not angry at all, instead, he looked pretty pleased, "Really nice, now the Forgotten Bar is safer."
"You know, I'm not overly picky, it's just that most of the people who get drunk here are special, the powerful ones and the bodyguards always make a bloody mess, black magicians can bewitch animals with psychic magic. To prevent this from affecting my business, I have to turn to plants."
"But I can't possibly hire a magician 24 hours a day to manipulate some plant as a bodyguard here, but with this little guy, I can give those who would cause trouble a good punch, ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Jim laughed, Shiller pushed the box towards him, "When you don't need it, put it back in the box, press this button, and it will freeze. When trouble arises, open the box, press the button again, and you can release it."
"But remember, it needs to be exposed to sunlight regularly, and when it fights, you better stay far away from it, because you can't expect a cabbage to distinguish between friend and foe..."
JIm closed the box satisfied, then said to Shiller gratefully, "Doctor, forgive me for not even making a phone call to you these past few years. To be honest, we didn't expect you to settle down in Gotham."
"You can say it straight away, many people must have thought I was dead."
Jim showed an awkward smile and said with some emotion, "It's not their fault. After all, Gotham's reputation..."
"Oh, right." Shiller seemed to remember, his gaze swept over the entire bar, and then settled on Bruce. He waved at Bruce, and introduced to Jim, "This is my student Bruce, he just graduated, and he's an outstanding graduate."
"Bruce, this is Master of the Dark Night Jim Luke, the descendant of the greatest hero of Maya's history, Master of the Dark Night, and also the owner of the Forgotten Bookstore and Forgotten Bar."
"Doctor, have you heard? The Forgotten Bookstore now belongs to Constantine. He bought it with twenty bottles of Dust of Souls, so now I can focus on managing the bar."
Seeing the questioning look that Bruce cast at him, Shiller didn't explain but leaned on the bar and drank his wine, saying.
"Welcome to the magical world, Bruce."