The rainstorm was still whistling in the dark night, and the water level on the road was a little exaggerated.

Aina came to the Beland streets alone. This time, everyone in the sect knew she was going somewhere, but no one dared to stop her.

While walking alone in the dark, a little hope rose in her heart. ‘It would be great if I could walk on the street as an ordinary person in the daytime.’

She already knew that the Order was a scourge to everyone. Even if she didn’t do anything wrong, people would still regard her as an evil person.

Over the years, all the believers have told her with a certainty that the investigators of the Anti-Magic Bureau were lunatics, butchers, and daring and insane people.

Therefore, she prayed in her heart not to have come in contact with investigators.

“Here it is.”

Dressed in an exquisite black robe, Aina hid in the alley and stared at the cafe not far away. The lights were still on in the cafe since it wasn’t late yet.

She knew that the people in the cafe must be unusual because her back was burning hot, and the brand would inevitably get hotter as soon as she got close to the thing/person which was related to the Lord of Ashes.

However, it was still tolerable, and even the heat made her feel comfortable.

She didn’t know why she had the strange feeling of coming here, after making up her mind she clenched her hands and headed to the cafe. “I’m going.”

  ……

Standing behind the bar, Shen Yi calmly recalled his last night’s dream. Even after waking up, the memory was still vivid.

“Although I haven’t interacted with the little girl face-to-face yet, I have met her three times, and the situation was entirely strange every time we met.”

The first two times were at the sacrificial site, and the third time was in a dream.

After careful consideration, he said to himself: “But there is still a difference. The third time was not a real person, but just the embodiment of my dream.”

“It’s better to meet in a dream than to meet in reality. Fortunately, neither she nor the cultists know where I live… Otherwise, I will have trouble sleeping and eating in the future.”

The glass door of the cafe was pushed open from the outside, and a small girl in a velvet-stitched black gown walked in through it.

The little girl was completely drenched by rain, water was dripping from her body to the ground, and her long silver hair had become slightly fluffy from the wetness.

“Welcome.”

 When seeing those burgundy eyes, Shen Yi had a feeling that something was wrong.

As soon as he noticed the person’s short stature and the silver-white hair that was faintly visible under the robe, his heart started pounding.

The “Shadow Mask” was in the backroom drawer, so he could not able to change his appearance. So he decisively turned his back, leaving only a handsome and elegant back to the little girl who entered the door.

Upon entering the cafe, Aina curiously looked around the inside. It was her first time in a cafe, and she was a little nervous.

“What would you like to drink?” Shen Yi asked while taking a deep breath and thought.

‘How could she know where I’m living and find his door? It didn’t make sense that there was no intersection between us.’

“Perhaps the cultists have some kind of special channel to find him, such as prophecy or something similar?”

Shen Yi’s ability to conclude the situation was very fast. He knew nothing about the breath and brand of Extraterrestrial god at all, but he guessed that similar beings existed.

I have to find a way to fool her.

“You finally came.”

Shen Yi, who stood behind the bar, kept his back turned, and his tone was full of calm and indifference.

Aina was a little taken aback. Could it be that he had been waiting for her for a long time?

Shen Yi slowly turned around with a professional soft smile on his face.

She had already seen his face twice, so it must be very shocking for her to suddenly come face-to-face with the god she believes in here!

He knew all too well how Aina would react.

  ……

Aina wasn’t shocked at all.

She just stared blankly at Shen Yi, a little puzzled, because this unfamiliar stranger looked very familiar to her.

He….who is he?

“I didn’t expect you to find this place.” Shen Yi shook his head, and with a calm smile, he asked, “Tell me, what’s the matter this time?”

“I, I didn’t have anything…”

She had no idea what to say and didn’t know what was going on. She just thought the other party was mysterious.

Shen Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had saved her twice, it’s not in vain, and it seemed the little girl had no ill intentions.

“Tired? Why don’t you have a cup of coffee? What would you like to drink?”

Aina shook her head: “I don’t know anything about coffee.”

He showed a reassuring smile and said: “Then how about a vanilla latté, which should be suitable for your age.”

“Ok.”

Even though Aina became more confused, she still sat down by the window.

‘What’s going on… This strange adult seems to know her well… Does he know her?’

Shen Yi watched her bewildered face as if she hadn’t recovered from the shock of seeing the Gods so suddenly.

Taking a deep breath, he started making a vanilla latte. No matter who comes to him now, his craftsmanship should not be lost. So, he focused on brewing.

It was July, the weather was hot, so he made a cold vanilla latte.

Aina looked around the cafe, the hot, twisted, and heavy aura of the Lord of Ashes was lingering here.

But…who is he?

The little girl’s head seemed to fill with a lot of little question marks.

“It’s ready.”

After making the vanilla latte, he brought it to her with a smile. For fear of losing his style, he was meticulous in every step.

An elegant manner and a polite smile were essential qualities for a café owner. Fortunately, he had it all.

Placing down the vanilla latte in front of her, he said: “You must be very surprised, why am I here, right?”

“Huh?”

Aina’s face was full of confusion. There was only one thing she could be sure of: that this man must have some sort of connection with the Lord of Ashes.

“I can just feel the great aura of the Lord of Ashes here…”

Rather than attempting to make up for it with her little brain, she just answered it exactly.

Shen Yi was keen in his sense and immediately grasped the key point that he had “that smell”.

It’s over… I don’t know how to get rid of the breath… Since that’s the case, I can only keep it on.

It was so hard to call himself the Lord of the Ashes. In summoning time, it only took him a few minutes to play the role with little effort, but in day-to-day life and in the cafe he could not keep the title of god. 

But she seemed to be not sure of my true identity. In that case, I can pretend to be an “envoy” who conveys the oracle.

Of course, if the little girl didn’t ask, Shen Yi wouldn’t lower himself by taking the initiative to reveal his “true identity”.

Placing the coffee, he turned and walked behind the bar, while saying in a calm tone.

“He’s been watching everything… You seem to be soaked, I’ll go get you a towel first.”

She looked down at the vanilla latte mug, and as if it was an illusion, she felt that the container holding the vanilla latte looked a little familiar.

She stuck out her tongue and touched the latte lightly. It was so cold. Since it was her first time drinking coffee, she only dared to hold it in her hand and drink it little by little.

It was sweet and cold.

Vanilla syrup with thick milk foam, rich in taste and layered, and it was normal for little girls to like it.

Shen Yi took a roll of dry towels from the backroom, and just as he was thinking about how to fool the little girl, the glass door was swinging open once again.

A familiar man in a black trench coat walked in.

George walked into the cafe. His face was blue and purple, and there was some blood on his windbreaker. It was quite obvious that he had experienced a very fierce battle.

To be more precise, George had been attacked by a series of cultists tonight!

All of the attackers were dressed in black robes and used very evil invisible arts, by these, they were sure the enemies were all cultists.

And the only ones who would openly attack an investigator at night in Beland City were mostly like to be the members of the Chaos Remnant Order, which had recently summoned the gods of the world and was in the limelight.

It wasn’t just him who got attacked tonight, but many of his colleagues were as well… Unfortunately, most of them were not strong enough or lucky enough to escape tonight’s attack.

George remained expressionless, but his hands clenched tightly.

With more than twenty years of experience in judgment, he knew that everything had begun on that rainy night.

All the secrets will come out once the child and the object the other party was holding were found. So he needs to find out as soon as possible.

The “Prophet” who issued the “prophecy” of the arrival of an evil god, was often in a coma and had been on the verge of breaking down.

The only way George could think of was to ask for help from the mysterious owner of the cafe.

In the past two months, he had been in the cafe many times and was completely shocked by his knowledge.

Shen Yi often told the story of another world, and George understood that the world he talked about was likely to be real, perhaps a legendary place outside the world.

“I’m afraid only he can tell me the answer, but I don’t know what the price will be.”

After tackling the attack, George immediately came to the cafe despite the rainy night.

He found the owner behind the bar with a calm face, with a dry towel in his hand, obviously prepared for himself.

It seems as if he had been waiting for himself for a long time; was everything under control?

Shen Yi knew that George was probably an extraordinary person related to the event, and his heart began to drum.

Why did he come here… there was still blood on his body… Did he encounter a battle?

Wait a minute… Aina is still at the cafe… What will happen if they meet?

In the worst-case scenario, George and Chaos Embers Religion had a grudge, and once they met, they would kick off the cafe on the spot, but it wouldn’t be such a coincidence, was it?

  “Welcome, Mr. George.”

George was silent for a while, then he slowly walked to the front of the bar counter and took out the blurry photo of the rainy night from his arms.

“I want to ask you for help…find me a very important person.”

Shen Yi glanced at the blurred portrait in the photo and immediately felt it looked very familiar.

  “…”

The residual coolness of the vanilla latte was still remaining in his hand.

“Hmmm?”