Chapter 104 Tea house

After Matt and Jade walked for a bit, they finally made their way to the tea house known as the Purple Turtle that they talked about.

The guard up front, almost as if they knew that they were coming, bowed and said. "Good morning, Princess. How may we help you today?"

"Nn, I heard this place just newly opened, can we come in to check it out?"

"Of course." Replied the guard happily as they opened the gates leading to the main building.

As they were about to enter, Matt and Jade's attention was caught by a slight ruckus not too far away.

"Come on, I also want some!"

"You already got yours, it's my turn!"

"No, it's my turn!"

The ruckus was caused by a bunch of children surrounding a lady, all of which are jumping all around the place as the lady handed out sweet treats that essentially poured out of her food-filled arms while her mouth was holding a half-eaten meat skewer.

Seeing that their attention was drawn to the ruckus, the guard then asked them. "Do you perhaps want me to calm them down?"

To which Jade just replied. "No, they're just children, let them have their fun." Before she began to walk through the gate with Matt just behind her.

Just as she was about to cross the bridge, her bracelet, which was the only thing that can be counted as jewelry on her person, got caught in a decorative piece on the gate.

Before Jade could realize, she pulled her hand, snapping the bracelet line and letting the tiny orbs that comprised it free.

"Oh Shit! My bracelet-!" 

As Jade began to realize what happened and was about to uncontrollably yell about it, Matt extend his hand outwards out of pure reflex, attempting to catch the tiny orbs, but only managed to catch some of them.

The rest of them made their way onto the road, rolling down towards the lake that surrounded the town.

As Jade, Matt, and the guard began running after them, they soon realized they weren't going to make it in time before the orbs run off into the water.

Just as they were about to fall, a half-eaten meat skewer was thrown onto the ground before them, stopping them dead in their tracks.

As Jade breathed a sigh of relief, a group of kids picked up the orbs that were stopped by the skewer.

Matt and the guard slowed their approach after seeing them help, but instead of handing the orbs to them, they went ahead and brought it to the lady.

"Do you want these, pretty lady?"

"Here, I have two."

"Hehe, I got three."

"Ha, losers, Four."

As they handed all of the orbs to the lady, the lady exchanged it for the rest of the food in her hands as she said. "Eat up, you never know when your going to run out."

"Yay!" The children cheered around her as they all got their share of sweets.

The kids all then bowed before the lady saying. "Thank you very much, pretty lady."

"You're welcome."

As the children began to leave, Matt approached the lady before tapping her in the shoulder.

The lady then turned around to face him, swaying her blonde hair to the side, showing her purple eyes, and letting her clothes with a lizard marking embedded to it, to go with the wind.

Matt then said. "Can I have those back?"

To which the blonde lady swung her head left to right, causing Matt to look a bit confused. And before he could ask another question, the lady walked past him.

After he saw where the blonde lady was going, Matt just let her do her thing.

Soon, the blonde lady stood before Jade before she casually dropped the tiny orbs into her hands. Matt later then did the same.

"Nineteen, twenty. Phew!" After counting the orbs, Jade breathed another sigh of relief.

When she looked up, she saw Matt to her side, the guard watching from his post, and the blonde lady, walking away.

She then shouted. "Uh, thank you!"

The blonde lady turned around and said politely. "You're welcome."

After seeing that the blonde lady has her attention on her, Jade then took the opportunity to ask. "Can I ask you your name?"

"Um, Hela?" Replied the blonde lady.

"Ah, Hela, perfect. Can I ask if you like tea?"

Hela seemed to ponder for a bit before replying. "Whitey said it's good for the body."

"Then, do you have time to join us over a cup of tea as thanks?"

Hela looked around, looking like a lost child, before replying to Jade, who giving a friendly smile. "Okay."

"Great! Come on in."

As the guard just gave Hela a nod as she passed them before going in with Jade through the gates. Matt, who was just observing their conversation off to the side, just gave a little shrug with his shoulders before going in after them.

A few minutes later, the three of them found themselves in a well-decorated room with an outside porch area.

As they waited, Jade and Hela began fixing up Jade's bracelet by piecing the parts together. Jade then said. "Thank you for helping me out, Hela. You have no idea how much this bracelet means to me."

To which Hela casually replied. "No problem."

After giving Hela a smile, Jade turned to Matt, who was just watching on the side, with a frown as she said to him. "I'd be nice if someone else helped out."

While sitting on a lotus position, doing hand gestures, Matt replied. "Speaking from experience, there is a thing called 'too many chefs in the kitchen'."

To which Jade, face full of disappointment, replied. "Yeah, because most of those 'chefs' were too busy trying to set the world on fire."

To which Matt replied. "Wasn't me."

A bit later, after helping out Jade reattach the bracelet onto her wrist, all three of them was then greeted by a knock on the door before saying. "It is the tea."

After receiving a slight nod from Jade, Matt opened the door, allowing the server to enter.

After pouring three cups, the server stepped to the side. Jade then asked. "Is it really true that this tea is made from poison?"

The server gave a nod before replying. "Indeed, Princess. Though, it's on a non-lethal amount."

"May I ask why, beside the marketing side?"

"The owner's motto is 'everything good, is born from bad, like the antidote made from the very same poison', Princess."

"Oh, very interesting. You wouldn't mind do you?" Jade said before gesturing at the tea. The server just gave a slight nod in response.

"Bottom's up!"

As their attention was drawn by Matt's rather loud shout, they looked at him while he chugged the entire cup without a second thought.

As he set the tea cup down, breathing out a mouthful of steam, Matt casually said. "No reactions. It's all good."

Jade let out a defeated sigh as she gestured towards the server, who after giving a little bow, left the room.

After the server left, Jade then saw Hela gracefully sipping her tea, causing her to do the same.

As he poured himself a new cup, Matt watched over the two like a hawk. As he sipped his tea in a very casual manner, he thought to himself as he watched from the corner.

"Hmm... for someone with that kind of aura... she is quite refined." He thought as he looked at Hela.

"From the way she talks, to the way she walks and acts, I thought for sure she was a bit indecent like a certain someone named Me."

"Maybe my first impression of her is bad considering she said no to me. Hu hu! Poor me!"

"But still, there something about this lady that just... unnerves me. I can smell a lot of things, and she smells like trouble, I don't know why."

"There's also the fact that it feels like something is... perving on me whenever I look her direction."

As Matt continued to think to himself, his eyes landed on Hela's clothes, which bore a large lizard mark on the side.

"Nice design, but... is it the lizard?"

Just as Matt thought of this, he was immediately distracted by something else he saw.

"Oh! She has a bit of a nice body." Matt thought as he looked at Hela's clothes as if she was naked.

"A bit on the chunky side, but she definately moves around a bit."

"Her arms and legs are stacked, the back and core is no doubt strong. What kind of things is she doing? Who are you really, Hela?"

As Matt was thinking to himself, Jade and Hela was talking about life experiences, like having to put on make-up, hunting giant monsters, learning polite manners, and other lady-like activities.

Matt full attention was then drawn away from Hela as he saw a flash of green on the outside walls of the building.

"What was that?" He thought.

"That wasn't trouble, right? I'm sure they wouldn't do something like this."

"I probably should check. On a side note, where is Tat?"

As many more questions flocked in Matt's mind, he began to stand up, causing Jade to turn and ask. "Where are you going?"

"Outside. I think I saw someone peeing on the walls."

"Gross! Not on the table, Matt!"

With a smile, Matt continued. "I mean, come on. Tea looks like someone's afternoon lunch digested and then mixed with their piss."

As Jade formed a disgusted expression, Hela was still casually sipping her tea, like no one was just ruining tea for anyone.

As Matt was about to leave the room, a server's voice echoed from the other side saying. "Princess, we have people claiming to be with the guest you brought."

With a bit of a surprised expression, Jade asked. "Can I ask what they look like?"

"A black haired man with sunglasses and a green haired man in need of a barber, Princess."

Jade turned to Hela asking. "Do you recognise their description?"

To which Hela replied. "It's Goldie and Greenie."

Jade turned to the door saying. "You can let them in while me and Hela finish up here."

As the server agreed and left, Matt thought. "Green hair... was that the flash I saw? Eh, looks like it was a false alarm." Before sitting back down on his corner.

Then, a bit later, the server came back saying. "They are here, Princess."

"Oh, you brought them here? Come on, let them in."

After saying that, door to their room opened. Almost immediately, Matt thought to himself as soon as he saw the people who entered. "Here comes the problem."

The two people who entered the room just now was, a green-haired man, looking annoyed out of his life, and a black-haired man with sunglasses, who is currently wearing a friendly smile with a hint of mischief.

Matt then continued. "So that's what was wrong with her. They all reek with that unremoveable smell of blood, but who doesn't smell like that nowadays."

Matt then focused his glare as he continued. "But..."

"I don't like how that sunglasses guy doesn't smell at all. Not in a way that he has no bad odor. But the fact that there's no odor coming from him at all."

Just as he thought that, the black-haired's smile just got a bit larger.