Meeting The White Rabbit

Having a smile on his face and enjoying the still somewhat lingering taste in his mouth got him even slightly tired. Azrael wiped his lips at the end to signify he was done eating.

Looking at the tower of plates that had built up, he could only smile wryly. So much for his willpower in that regard. In his defense, he had no real food for quite a while.

"Thanks for the meal. The food was amazing.", he said now while stretching a little. Even a Saiyan felt sluggish for just a moment after having finished eating. But the energy he felt flowing through his body currently was something else.

On the other side of the counter, Ryuu was looking at him curiously and Mia came over and took the empty tableware to get it cleaned.

"You sure are still a massive glutton. That you don't even seem to gain the slightest weight with that is remarkable.", she commented.

"Well, like a said, compliments to the chef." Azrael tried to be thankful for the effort.

"Oh, really? Did you hear that Ryuu? Looks like someone is enjoying your food already."

"Huh?" Azrael was confused at that comment and then looked back at Ryuu. "You made the food? Then my thanks go to you."

"You really enjoyed it?", asked Ryuu now with a face without any real emotion in them.

"Yes? Why would I not?", said Azrael back and raised a brow.

Mia started laughing from the side and walked away. The same second the waitress Anya came over. "Nya~. Ryuu is a very bad cook. Most people throw up after eating her food. So it is amazing you ate that much. It should have let her improve a little bit as a chef, nya~"

Azrael could only scratch the back of his head when hearing that bold statement. Looking over back to Ryuu and seeing her look away with a slight pink blush on her face told him enough that it was actually the truth.

"I see...Thinking about it now there were some interesting flavors mixed in it. Looks like Mia is still somewhat mad about me, huh. But don't let your head hanging, Ryuu. If it really is going to be of benefit to you then I am going to keep eating your stuff. It's really not that bad."

When Azrael tried to compliment her she did look at him but somehow frowned a little. That was actually the first real emotion he could discern on her face.

Azrael could only raise his brows in wonder. "Don't tell me you yourself are already convinced about your bad cooking?"

"Yes..." Her short reply was quick and her eyes darted off again.

That got Azrael to grin now. "Then I will be in your care when visiting. Hope you can keep up with the amount I eat."

Ryuu looked confused at first and then nodded to him.

"Well, I'll be on my way then." But before Azrael could stand up from the chair something seemed to call to him and his movements stopped.

His eyes focused and his pupils narrowed to indicate his concentration on his senses. Looking around the surrounding sound of the other people slowly vanished and a clear bell-like sound resounded in the area.

It didn't take long for Azrael to find the origin of the sound and his gaze was fixated on a book behind the counter on a shelf. He didn't even pay attention to it first.

Azrael was literally starring at the book for a few seconds and Ryuu as well as Mia noticed that.

Only after Azrael sat back down did Mia know what he was after.

"That book...Isn't that a grimoire?" Azrael was rather quiet in his question since he knew what such an item was signifying in this world.

Ryuu only looked over to Mia.

"It is. Looks like you know about it. Still, you better don't get weird ideas about taking it. Some very powerful people forgot about it here.", answered Mia with a serious expression.

"Hmm, can I maybe take a look? I won't read it. There is just something I am curious about." Azrael still asked exactly what he should not have.

"Did you even listen to what I said?" Mia frowned now.

"Come one, just touching the cover would be alright?" Azrael smiled.

Mia looked at him for a while and then went ahead and grabbed the book, placing it on the table in front of Azrael. "If you even turn one page I will make sure you will regret it."

Azrael only smiled in response and then placed the book vertically and looked at the side of the cover. There was some intricate golden writing on it.

While he was really looking at only its cover it made Mia somewhat suspicious. She was ready to smack him if he even tried to open it.

But what he actually did instead made her eyes go wide.

Azrael started to grin greatly and seeped to peel the cover of.

"Hey!" Mia shouted and grabbed the book back from him. Inspecting the damgae it surprised her that there was none to be found. "Hmm?"

Looking over to Azrael she could now see him looking at a golden key that had a book design as its head.

"Where did that key come from?", asked Ryuu from the side since she knew there should have been no key there.

"From the book.", answered Azrael and then pocketed the key in his pouch still smiling greatly.

Mia was very confused about that and looked at the book again. She could still tell that the grimoire is unused.

"What does it do?", asked Mia now and placed the book on the counter at the side.

"Who knows?", shrugged Azrael his shoulders.

"You actually took that key and dont even know what it does? You do realize I can just take it away?"

"Oh, you sure about that? Fine, try it." Azrael was kinda amused by that and showed her the key again. When Mia tried to take it and pull it away the key did not even budge.

Getting a small angry tick at her head she used more strength but to no avail.

She was actually amazed at how much strength this little guy had.

"If you would let go of it, then it would make things easier, you know." She seemed to have a small defeated realization about his strength being greater than hers. But that also activated alarm bells inside her head.

"Oh, that's not my doin. Here, try again." Azrael placed the key on the counter.

Mia tried to pick the key up but still could not move it. "What in the?"

"All keys that I find are like that. Only I can pick them up. And generally, I won't know what they do until I find the keyhole for them. So, is it alright to take it with me?"

Mia frowned and did not know what to say about that. In the end, she only nodded lightly. "Fine, after all, you kept your word just like you said you would. But..." She then placed her elbow on the counter in an arm-wrestling position. "I want to test something."

Azrael raised a brow. "My strength?" Even though he did not need to oblige to it he was kinda feeling his blood slightly boil from the direct challenge towards him.

He leisurely agreed and positioned his arm into the armlock. On three both started pushing and part of the counter splintered after a massive force was used on its surface.

At first, Azrael could somewhat keep up but his power was slowly overwhelmed by Mia until his arm lay on the counter in defeat.

"Uff, what level did you reach when you were an adventurer, Mia?" Azrael shook his arm to elevate some of the pain from it.

But instead of an answer, Mia looked at him with a rather complicated look. "You sure that you are only a level 2?"

To that Azrael only smiled at her. "Who knows."

When they both started to stare at each other the atmosphere became somewhat weird.

"Uhm, Mama Mia. Some guests are waiting for their orders." Ryuu tried to change their focus.

Just at that moment another guest entered the tavern and walked over to the counter where the book lay right in front of him.

"Nya~, Bell-kun, welcome~" Anya was the first that registered his presence.

Azrael actually changed his attention towards a boy with white hair and ruby-colored eyes. 'Huh? So it's that part of the story.'

Bell when sitting down and ordering something noticed Azrael's eyes on him. "Uhm, hello." His greeting was rather shy but a polite one.

Azrael smiled at that and nodded. "Hello."

Mia went over to the kitchen, totally ignoring Azrael and Bell.