With a nimble flip, she landed beside a chimney on another rooftop. "See? I have principles. I only ate the fish, didn't steal a single coin from you! You have my word!"
Phaethon accelerated, closing the distance slightly, his tone growing even more unfriendly. "Eat the fish if you want! Who said you could use my face to flirt with my waitstaff?!"
"And what was all that 'Woman, don't you dare leave after your shift tonight' and 'Woman, you've succeeded in catching my attention' nonsense?! You're utterly destroying my reputation!"
Just thinking about the looks the waitresses gave him afterwards—like he was an idiot—and the subsequent gossip made a vein throb on his forehead.
Instead of feeling guilty upon hearing this, Cipher laughed even more joyfully. She even deliberately found the sunniest ridge of the roof to stop on, turned around, basked in the sunlight, and declared righteously:
"Haish, how can you blame me for that? I've been studying the latest masterpiece by the 'Princess Homebody'! According to her writing, you're *sooooo* aggressive, dazzlingly charming, effortlessly flirty!
I thought that was your real personality in daily life, meow~
So I was just trying my best to imitate it, striving for authenticity!" She flicked her tail, putting on an innocent face.
"Alright, alright," she said, watching the nearly upon-her Phaethon and waving a small hand. "Don't sweat the small stuff, Deliverer Chef. You have serious business you want to discuss with me, right? Consider those few fish a prepaid 'meeting gift' for the favor you're about to ask."
Cipher's tone shifted, a teasing glint flashing in her cat-like eyes. "Besides, ever since you became a Council Elder, your days are just filled with official duties and fighting. How boring is that?
I was just kindly adding a little… hm, dramatic color and fun to your mundane life!
Come on, when you returned to the restaurant and saw the beautiful ladies hesitating to speak, their eyes darting around, didn't you find it particularly amusing? Didn't life instantly feel more vibrant?"
She simply stretched out luxuriously in the warm sunlight, exposing her soft belly, completely adopting a "I'm just lying here, deal with it" posture of resigned laziness.
"Alright, alright, the sunlight here is so good, so warm and cozy. It's wonderful. Anyway, I can't escape from you now.
Let's talk here. What's the urgent business that had you chasing me through several streets?" She squinted, enjoying the sunbath, and asked lazily.
Seeing her like this, Phaethon could only stop helplessly, shake his head, and get to the point:
"Do you know where Styxia is? Is there a way… you could take us there?"
Cipher's sunbathing expression froze instantly. Her cat ears pricked up alertly, her blue pupils contracting slightly. "The Nation of the Dead—Styxia, the City of Dragonbone?"
Her voice carried a trace of gravity. "That's no place for sunbathing. It's gloomy, deathly silent, full of restless Black Tide spawn and… even weirder things.
Why do you want to go there? Is it for… the 'PrincessHomebody'?"
"Mm," Phaethon said solemnly, his expression turning serious. "Castorice has made up her mind. She must go to retrieve the Coreflame of Death. It's a destiny she has to face.
I've been thinking, perhaps you're the only one who can get us there safely."
"She… has finally decided?" Cipher put away her playful demeanor, muttering the words a few times. A complex emotion flashed in her cat eyes—surprise, and a hint of barely detectable respect.
But the next second, her merchant-cat instincts immediately kicked in! She placed her hands on her hips, trying hard to adopt a business-like attitude:
"Fine! The customer is God! So, Honorable Council Elder, what price are you willing to pay for this extremely high-risk 'express delivery' service to the Nation of the Dead?" Her little mental abacus was clicking away loudly.
Phaethon's face stiffened, then habitually broke into a smile. He stepped forward, reaching out as if to put an arm around Cipher's shoulders like a buddy:
"Cipher, listen to yourself. What's between us? We go back so many years, right? Talking about money hurts feelings. Why would we need to discuss prices…"
"Hey! Stop! Stop right there!" Cipher jumped back as if her tail had been stepped on, nimbly dodging Phaethon's "hand of friendship," her face full of disdain.
"Deliverer Chef, stay away from me! Cut it out! Good relations are good relations, but even brothers keep clear accounts! You think you can get a free ride from me? No way! Not a chance in hell!"
"Oh?" The smile on Phaethon's face didn't change, but a dangerous, knowing glint flashed in his eyes. "So, Miss Cipher, you insist on… keeping clear accounts?"
"Of course!" Cipher raised her chin, trying to boost her confidence.
"Very well—" Phaethon drew out the syllable, then began counting off on his fingers deliberately. "Then let's calculate properly.
First, Miss Cipher, the money you 'borrowed' when we first met… I believe you only paid back half? If I remember correctly, there's still about… hm, 50,000 balance coins left? Shouldn't we settle this old debt first?"
"Ah—hahaha…" Cipher's eyes instantly began darting around, her ears drooping. She forced a dry laugh. "R-really? I don't really remember exactly how much I 'borrowed' back then… As long as it's paid back, it's fine, right?" She tried to weasel her way out with cuteness.
Phaethon ignored her and continued leisurely. "Second, during several previous banquets, you took advantage of the crowd to make off with a total of seventy-two extremely expensive specially-supplied fish, and… five plates.
Including one gold-inlaid-with-gems plate, three mithril plates, and even one decorative antique painted pottery plate! A rough estimate puts the loss at around one million balance coins. How shall we account for this?"
"Hey! Chef! Now you're going too far!" Cipher's fur was practically standing on end as she jumped up and down. "You left those fish on the side *onpurpose* for me! And those plates! C-can that even be called stealing? That was… that was…"
Phaethon remained smiling and pressed on. "I don't care. Clear accounts, right? Finally, the most recent incident.
Not only did you cause an extremely negative impact at my restaurant using my face, but you also ate the most precious, most valuable Rainbow Dragonfin Fish I kept in the specialty pond, reserved for honored guests!
That was a treasure of the establishment! Add to that the irreversible, significant damage to my personal reputation and the mental well-being of my staff… Let me think. For old times' sake, let's call it three million balance coins. A friendship price."