"Oh… hi"
Entering the cafe, Richard was still hung up on his own thoughts when he heard the attendant greet him.
Mari Von Shulz, an Avis, a numan tribe of bird people. Unlike standard fantasy tropes though, the avis did not have feathers growing in strange places nor did they have bird feet. They had the standard humanoid form but with a pair of wings growing along their spine.
Their tribe takes pride in their wings, one of the few Numan races that could fly and although their magical abilities are limited, their wings could passively channel natural etherlite allowing them to generate strong gusts and defy gravity.
Among the races of numan they were one of the many who were "Noble".
Many other numen races such as the Jolis and the Fenris had special traits, such as the extreme dexterity, balance, flexibility and agility of the Jolis or the insane speed, power, and extremely sharp senses of the Fenris.
Though such boosts in ability paled in comparison to the "Royal" bloodlines of the Numan race. The avis are known for their control over the wind and sky or the Vulpis who were legendary for their deceit, charm and natural ability to manipulate minds.
Compared to other races, the royal numan bloodlines had inherent abilities that gave them abilities that could match magic but…
Puremen could emulate their abilities even downright counter them with their own magic.
Although the inherent abilities of the royal numan tribes would overpower similar spells of the puremen, the numen were still limited by their abilities. Flexibility and adaptability was the strength of the puremen and as technology evolved so did their power.
When individual strength became a non-factor, the power balance of the two major races shook and the puremen rose to the top while the numen ended up suffering due to their biological limits.
Of course, that was nothing more than a tale of the past, even Earth had its time where slaves were the norm. Nowadays, the current was more aligned with racism and discrimination, a modern viewpoint that is a problem that would never fade.
Any sort of being with intelligence would do their best to stay at the top.
Was it the puremen who were at fault? Are they evil for pushing down the numen just because they were born different?
No, in the end, the world still followed the standard and most basic law… the law of the jungle.
As a biologist, Richard did not really see eye to eye with many of the philosophers and "free thinkers" who went out of their way to talk all about equality and rights.
All he knew was that a utopia was impossible to achieve, no one would be willing to let go of their advantages. Even Richard had times when he did not wish to part with his money or items easily.
In his past life, "sparing a dollar" was not something he could do easily. Yes, he spent hundreds on watching broadway musicals, premium subscriptions to have uninterrupted music listening sessions or ad-less video viewing sessions.
He lived quite luxuriously but when he was asked if he could spare a dollar his mind would always hesitate. Even when he knew that it wouldn't really hurt him, he would not dare to throw away that "small change".
After all, he knew the difficulty of earning that dollar, each and every luxury he enjoyed came from his own hard work, his own struggles and his own gambles. He took risks and got the appropriate returns.
Was he an asshole for not sparing a dollar for the kids in Africa? Yes
Did he regret it? No
And Richard was not hypocritical about it, he knew that even he benefited greatly from the system. No matter how broken or corrupt it was, he had taken advantage of various loopholes and got what he wanted when he needed.
Because of that, Richard had a pragmatic mindset, even if there were actual issues, most of them, at this current age, were systemic. He could try his hand at resolving such problems but that would be a struggle.
He would need to start his own group, develop a following, acquire resources and work extremely hard just to get his voice across. It was a battle that was hard to win and Richard did not want to spend another lifetime chasing after an impossible dream.
All he wants right now is to enjoy his life, find a few interesting things to keep him busy and maybe find love…
When he thought of that, Richard couldn't help but take a quick glance at the attendant.
Marie is the daughter of the cafe owner, she sported the classical "steampunk" aesthetic. With a corset over a loose white blouse. The standout on her was the black bow held together by a gearlike accessory.
She had a pair of pitch black wings growing from her lower back, a sign of her rather… regal heritage, even among other avis.
She loved wearing skirts and despite wearing long ones that barely went below her knee, she still loved to raise the hem of her skirt to flaunt her wide fishnet stockings and boots.
At 24 years old, she was just a bit older than Richard and her stunning appearance with her short black hair and hazel eyes, matched with an apathetic air made many men grow a deep affection for her.
"The usual?"
As Richard took a seat in his usual spot that still remained empty, Marie had quickly arrived by his table and asked him.
Richard gave her a calm smile and a nod, he didn't speak as he had found his lips getting numb after not being used in a while. It wasn't hard to talk but he was worried that he'd blurt out something inappropriate or his words would be slurred as he was constantly going in and out of daydreaming.
It was an unfortunate habit that Richard had developed.
Although he had assimilated into his current life, there were still some things that left him empty.
A smartphone for example, such a tool allowed anyone to quickly access the internet. Through one's smartphone, it is easy to distract oneself from the world when given a short window of time to think.
In the psychology elective that he took, Richard had studied the effects of smartphones on self reflection and realization. There he found statistical evidence of smartphones and internet connectivity as a source of various psychological issues.
'Instead of thinking about life and reflecting, people spend time looking at the lives of others and comparing themselves, they see fantasies and possibilities and only have a short window to reflect on themselves. Endless amounts of information and knowledge and yet the time to process them is too short'
He recalled his conclusions at that time and could only sigh.
If his conclusions were to be followed, then he should have been living a joyful life. He would have gone through countless moments of self-realization by now.
Instead he found himself day dreaming, reminiscing about the entertainment media that he had watched, the shows he had followed to the end and the shows he could not finish…
"Black Coffee, no sugar, no milk"
A cup of black liquid was placed before him as his usual order was retold to him in a casual tone…
"Hm?"Richard turned to Marie as he gave her an inquisitive stare.
"What?", unperturbed, Marie returned Richard's gaze as she asked.
"Just curious, you sounded a lot friendlier today…"
Richard muttered, his thoughts coming out of his mouth unintentionally and just as he realized this the apathetic woman with a cold attitude suddenly smiled.
Shocked, Richard did not know what to do but before he could say anything, Marie had already made her move.
She calmly sat before him, another cup of steaming hot black coffee already there in front of her. The tray that was used to carry both cups was placed on empty space on the table as this particular table could actually seat four people.
"Actually, I was wondering if you could play a song or two"
Without missing a beat, Marie immediately gave him her proposal, she didn't go in circles or hint at things. She was direct with what she wanted and Richard appreciated that, he preferred such conversations compared to ones where he had to do split second mental gymnastics to understand the implication of an implication.
"Why though?"
He asked before taking a sip of the black coffee that had already cooled down to a warm temperature, enough to drink without burning his tongue.
"Well~ we have a piano, but we don't have anyone to play it", she shook her head while revealing a look of helplessness.
Richard gave Marie a curious look before turning his gaze towards the set of instruments that were displayed on a stage.
It is true that those instruments had been there ever since he started coming to this cafe and not once did he see anyone playing music.
Yet, despite the fact that he had never witnessed a performance, Richard did not believe that the instruments had never been played. After all, from what he could observe, not only the instruments, even the stage was clean, not a sign of dust could be seen.
Marie did not miss the look in Richard's eyes as she continued to explain-
"I spend a lot of time cleaning the shop, even the instruments were taken care of yet never once did anyone attempt to take the stage"
Hearing her explanation, Richard could already guess why she was asking him to play but-
"Why not hire someone?"
His question was something anyone would ask upon receiving such a request, if she wanted someone to play a song and use the instruments, why not hire an artist? There are countless numan, hell, even puremen could be seen playing music in the streets!
She could find countless talents willing to play a song so why not just hire them?
"Do you think it's easy to hire someone?"
Marie gave Richard a look as if she was staring at an idiot.
Of course she would, the idea of "hiring someone" was simple enough but the reality was not so simple.
Yes, she could hire anyone off the streets but… would she? There's a reason an artist would play songs by the side of a busy road and not on a stage. There's a reason an artist would spend the whole day trying to appeal to anyone with little success.
The reality was that not everyone could play a good song, one that people would pay to listen to.
Just like how one would not just buy the first item on a menu or in the market, hiring talents would take lots of time and selection would be harder the wider you spread your net.
If Marie were to hire a bum who couldn't really play songs, she would not only cause a disruption, she might even leave a bad mark for the cafe. For an establishment like theirs, reputation is just as important as the quality of their goods.
Richard did not understand her whole thoughts though, but he did understand the difficulty of hiring talent. Even he would have complaints when watching musicals, tv shows and movies.
Why did they have this artist play that role? Wouldn't X artist be better?
Why did they change the casting? Y actor was the best one to play the J character!
Such comments had flown out of his mouth more times than he could count. Yet, despite coming to an understanding of her plight…
"So why me?"
Richard asked, although he could understand her difficulty in looking for talent to a degree, he still struggled to come to terms with her request. After all, how could she think that he could play a song when he never talked about having such talents?
"Gut feeling", Marie replied immediately. Her words caused Richard to scrunch his brows which made Marie let out a small laugh before waving her previous words as she followed up explaining, "That and the fact that you would stare at the piano constantly"
Richard froze, he stared at Marie's brown eyes, they were human but held a mysterious air about them. The longer he stared at her eyes the more he realized that there was something off about them.
"Mesmerized?", Marie spoke teasingly, causing Richard to turn away calmly.
Looking away, Richard pondered for a moment and then it hit him-
'Avis…'
The raven black wings that folded elegantly behind Marie was a proof of her heritage, she had the magical ability to fly and manipulate wind… but that was the most general and known ability of the avis.
They were well known for their powerful magical abilities that went against regular numan biology but that did not mean that they lacked the physical enhancements that were typical of the numen.
An avis did not only have their inherent magical ability but also a few key physical abilities…
One of the greatest abilities of their race was their sharp eyesight.
Like birds of prey, they could see things from a far off distance with great clarity. Their perception of movement is so sharp that things which would appear as a blur to others would be seen by them in pure clarity.
In the past, they were powerful warriors who were feared for their control of the skies. Although things had changed in the modern day, they still held a powerful edge over others and were well known in the field of combat.
One of the most well known feats of their race in modern combat involved the actions of an avis only squad in the army. This squad of avis were known not for their magical combat abilities but their scouting and sniping.
Taking advantage of their eyesight, this squad had taken out their targets from tens of kilometers away. They are known as the deadliest assassination squad and their capabilities were limited not by their ability but by their equipment.
It was said that they could strike targets from hundreds of kilometers away if their tools could carry such power over that distance.
When he recalled this information, Richard knew instantly that his minute actions were easily seen through by the woman seated before him.
'That's just unfair'
He thought as he let out a sigh before turning back to Marie.
"So?"
"Hm?"
"What do I get from taking your request?"
Although Richard could reject her request, the idea of being seen through had disappeared after he thought of getting the opportunity to play music in front of a crowd.
'Yeah… in front of a crowd'
Before Richard, Marie had been thinking for a while, she had an expression that spoke volumes… about how she was having a difficult time coming up with a method to compensate or fool Richard- probably.
It was purely by accident that Richard snuck a quick glance at her chest… after all, it was quite difficult to not notice the two lumps that were pressed tightly against the table.
Not to mention the fact that they were obviously too big for her shirt!
'Seriously, is she so cheap that she'd use a tiny shirt? Or is that just her own fashion sense?'
Richard thought without breaking his expression, he continued to wait for her response keeping his eyes on her face but-
*smirk*
His eyes shook as Marie suddenly smirked while making eye contact with him the moment he raised his gaze to look at her face.
'Fuck'
Richard looked away, his head still faced forward showing a false image of calm but his eyes had looked away, only Marie could see the cracks in his demeanor.
Although he knew he was the one at fault, it was truly impossible for a healthy man to resist the urge to look! Especially for a man who is currently single! Lacking a partner would leave one lonely, much less Richard who was now truly all alone.
He didn't even have a family to run to!
The friends he used to have had all cut ties with him already…
A man who had no one to talk to, whose only companion were the thoughts in his head… how could he resist the urge?
There was no sin in looking after all!
"What do you want~"
At that moment, while his thoughts were in turmoil, Marie asked in a sultry voice. It was truly fortunate that he was a beat slower and had yet to start sipping on his coffee.
*gulp*
Slowly, Richard's eyes moved to look ahead but the sight before him made the young man audibly gulp.
Before Richard, Marie had leaned forward, her chin resting on her hands, her elbows resting on the table forming a triangle and in between her arms…
"Is there anything I could offer?"
"..."