After a while, the somewhat plump restaurant owner looked at Darrell again and asked, "Sir, what would you like for breakfast?"
The owner's expression seemed a little restrained, and his tone no longer had the politeness he had maintained earlier.
Darrell was startled, then quickly recovered, pointing at the young man who was enjoying his breakfast and said, "The same as him, a standard set meal."
"Alright, please wait a moment."
The plump owner quickly returned to the back of the restaurant. Darrell felt as if his retreating figure had a hint of fleeing in disarray.
Shaking his head, he retracted his gaze, ready to sit down and wait for breakfast. In the process, he happened to glimpse the man quietly enjoying his breakfast, and his movements suddenly froze.
Due to the angle, he happened to see the other person's full face, which highly matched a portrait he had seen in a newspaper.
"Gehrman Sparrow!" He couldn't control his emotions and exclaimed in surprise.
The young man who was enjoying his breakfast suddenly stopped his movements and gave Darrell a sidelong glance without expression.
The latter seemed to feel a terrifying pressure like a storm and immediately fell back into the chair behind him, his horrified expression still frozen on his face.
Lemon pushed up the glasses on his nose, looked at Darrell, and chuckled, "You're not a pirate, and you don't have a bounty, so why are you so afraid of him?"
"That's the craziest and strongest adventurer famous across the Five Seas, who has hunted down more than one Pirate Admiral."
Darrell swallowed the saliva secreted in his mouth as he explained. His words suddenly stopped, and he looked at Lemon with some disbelief, pondering aloud:
"You recognized him from the start?"
He paused, then, thinking of their abnormal behavior just now, he suddenly realized something and organized his words to ask again:
"You… know him?"
The middle-aged gentleman Charles reached out and pressed his hand in front of him, signaling Darrell to sit properly, then smiled and said, "Who hasn't heard of the strongest adventurer on the Five Seas? In Southern Intis, being a pirate is almost a new profession, the dream of all young adventurers."
"Why?" Darrell cooperatively asked.
"Because Emperor Roselle's eldest daughter, our Southern Intis's eldest princess, Her Highness Bernadette, she is the 'Queen Mystic' of the sea, and also our Southern Intis's First Duke, His Highness Nast, he is also the King of the Five Seas."
"Such pirates who uphold their own principles and morality are highly respected by everyone in Southern Intis. Which young person now doesn't want to join the 'Dawn' or the 'Black Emperor'?"
The plump restaurant owner answered Darrell's question with full vigor, holding a wooden tray in one hand, looking proud.
As he spoke, he had already placed two identical breakfasts in front of Lemon and Darrell.
The steam mixed with the aroma of cooked food entered his nostrils, and Darrell felt his stomach rumble again. He no longer exchanged pleasantries, regardless of whether that person was truly a crazy adventurer, he picked up the pancake on the plate and took a bite.
The crispy and tender texture, along with the well-seasoned meat filling, made Darrell's eyes light up. He took two more bites, and while eating, he couldn't help but exclaim, "This is definitely the best pie I've ever eaten!"
"Haha, of course, this is my exclusive secret recipe, which I developed based on Desi pies combined with the most distinctive local roasted meat."
The plump restaurant owner laughed heartily when he heard someone praise his food.
On the other side of the table, the middle-aged gentleman Charles, who had not yet received his breakfast, was not in a hurry. With a slight smile, he began to ask the restaurant owner about other topics:
"Old Ben, is your Utopia also part of Southern Intis?"
The plump restaurant owner nodded repeatedly:
"Of course, the Judgement Hall is right in the center of the city. If you have nothing to do, you can go visit it. It is the most magnificent and grand building in the entire Utopia."
"We will." Charles nodded, then continued to ask familiarly, "Besides the Judgement Hall, do you have any other recommendations? Our steam train broke down, so we'll probably be staying here for one to two days."
The restaurant owner thought for a moment and replied, "You can go to the bar at the pier for a drink. If you're lucky, you might be able to taste Sonia wine."
"As for other things, Utopia is just an ordinary small city, there aren't that many famous or special things."
"Alright, it seems I had too high expectations." Charles sighed, then said, "You shouldn't have any extra staff in your shop, right? You're here chatting with me, aren't you going to prepare my breakfast?"
Darrell looked at the gentle middle-aged gentleman Charles with some confusion, then at the unhurriedly walking away shop owner. He felt as if they were good friends chatting, rather than a customer and a shop owner.
In the field of vision Darrell couldn't see, Klein, still in the appearance of Gehrman Sparrow, sat at the dining table and expressionlessly looked at Charles and Lemon, who were seated on either side of the table, saying, "Why did you two come here on the steam train?"
Roselle, who was already in the appearance of the middle-aged gentleman Charles, said with a smile, "Isn't your Utopia short of outsiders? We are two high-quality individuals."
"…" Klein expressed his speechlessness with his face.
After a moment of silence, he continued, "Don't tease my Beyonder puppet."
After saying that, his figure quickly faded and disappeared from the restaurant.
As Klein departed, Darrell, who was still in the historical scene from a few minutes ago, returned to reality. He unconsciously reached out and rubbed his abdomen; he felt a bit full from breakfast.
"Burp~ I'm so full. I feel like I ate two breakfasts by myself…" He muttered to himself, then Darrell glanced around and noticed that the crazy adventurer Gehrman Sparrow had left at some point.
He was slightly stunned, then looked at the middle-aged gentleman Charles on his left and asked hesitantly, "Mr. Charles, when did that adventurer, Gehrman Sparrow, leave?"
"Just now. If you chase him out now, you might still see him at the street corner."
As he spoke, Charles rose from the bench and walked out of the shop, saying as he went, "Let's go to the pier and have a look. Although it's not as good as Aurmir red wine, being able to drink Sonia wine is still good."
Darrell scratched his head and asked somewhat confusedly, "Ah? Aren't you eating breakfast?"
"Didn't we already finish eating?"
Charles looked at Darrell and smiled in response, which made Darrell even more confused. He felt that something was off, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
He muttered a few words softly, trying to recall his recent memories, and found that there was indeed a scene of three people eating breakfast together, and the middle-aged gentleman Charles had even eaten the deluxe set meal.
"When did my memory get so bad…" He hesitated to himself, but soon, he put aside the doubts in his heart, ignored the incongruities along the way, and gladly accepted Charles's invitation.
At the Utopia pier, a huge sailboat slowly approached. On the high-flying sail was painted an eye without eyelashes, surrounded by four stars.
Just as they arrived at the pier, Darrell and his two companions, who hadn't yet found a tavern, immediately spotted this exceptionally striking sailboat.
Darrell stared blankly at the approaching sailboat, then, as if returning to his senses from repeated shock, he said, "This is the 'Future' of the 'Queen of Stars'!"
"I've seen news about this newly promoted Pirate King in many newspapers officially published in Loen. It is said that she became a Pirate King during the previous war between Intis and the Southern Continent."
"There are also rumors that this Pirate King has already joined Southern Intis, so it doesn't seem strange for her fleet to appear here. It's just, are we too unlucky? We encountered a crazy adventurer while having breakfast, and then the 'Future' of the 'Queen of Stars' docked when we came to the pier for a drink."
Lemon, wearing brass-rimmed glasses, smiled and then said, "Perhaps it's an opportunity, just like in biographical novels."
Darrell chuckled and said in the tone of an experienced person, "Haha, do you rigorous scholars also read biographical novels? What's described in those novels is just the author's fantasy, it shouldn't be taken seriously."
While they were talking, the "Future" had already finished docking. A brilliant starlight bloomed from the deck, extending all the way to the pier, condensing into a transparent long bridge of dazzling starlight.
Darrell was awestruck by this scene and couldn't help but murmur, "Is this the method of a Pirate King?"
Charles, in the guise of a middle-aged gentleman, casually glanced at the "Future" not far away and said with little emotional fluctuation in his voice, "Of course not. It's just a long bridge condensed from starlight, far from a Pirate King. There's nothing to envy. When your Sequence is higher, you can also have the means to control ice and fire."
"Sequence? As expected, you who know Gehrman Sparrow are also Beyonders."
Darrell sighed with some surprise but not much shock, very quickly accepting this fact.
After a pause, he asked hesitantly, "It sounds like you seem to know which Pathway of Beyonder I am?"
Charles raised his right hand, extended three fingers, and simultaneously said, "First: your steps are very light, not at all like an adult male, looking even weaker than an underdeveloped little girl."
"Second: you habitually place yourself in shadows, or close to shadowy places. This is a habit only Assassins have."
"Third: your eloquence is good, you give people a very reliable and approachable feeling. This perfectly matches the characteristics of an Instigator."
"In summary, we can easily determine that you are a Sequence 8 Instigator, and the kind who hasn't mastered the Beyonder potion very well."