A few days later, Flora and Lena arrived by carriage at Zhuming City, a large city in the south-central part of human territory.
The best magic academy for humans, Silver Academy, was located in the city center. This city was also a major economic and academic hub, with a very large population.
Flora and Lena also waited in a long line before successfully entering the city.
Of course, Flora was now going by the name Funai, but Lena hadn’t changed; she was still Lena.
Flora currently looked like a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl, slightly shorter than her actual form. Her hair was a light cyan-blue, and her eyes remained golden. She was a fairly pretty human girl.
Lena’s appearance was much more ordinary, with brown hair and eyes, about the same height as Flora. In a crowd, she would be an utterly unremarkable human.
“Finally arrived! So this is Zhuming City?”
Lena looked around happily, like a child who knew nothing and was seeing the world for the first time.
“Mm-hmm, it’s about what I expected. There are quite a lot of people.”
Flora remained very calm, watching the lively Lena with a smile.
“Yeah. By the way, it’s getting late. Let’s find a restaurant for dinner first.”
Lena grabbed Flora’s arm and quickly walked deeper into the city.
“Okay, let’s eat first. After eating, we’ll think about accommodation for these few days.”
This time was exactly the enrollment period for the academy, lasting about two weeks. During this period, students would register and take tests.
Once registration and testing were over, the list of admitted students would be announced on the first day of school.
Every year, they admitted about three hundred students, neither too many nor too few. They would probably have three or four days from after the test until the start of school, so they needed to stay outside for these few days.
The two walked toward the city center. After walking for a long time, Lena suddenly tugged on Flora’s sleeve and pointed at a two-story building with a copper sign on the street corner.
“What’s that? So many people coming and going.”
“This should be a restaurant, and it looks quite upscale.”
Flora smiled and said. Lena had never been to human territory before, but she should still be able to tell that this was a restaurant.
Flora looked the restaurant over carefully. The sign was engraved with three very artistic characters: “Mingjianlu.” This should be the restaurant’s name.
At the entrance stood uniformed waiters, warmly greeting and seeing off guests.
“Eh? A restaurant?”
Lena’s eyes lit up.
“Then let’s eat here tonight!”
Flora glanced at her.
“You’re hungry?”
“I’m hungry!”
“But this place looks expensive.”
Flora said.
“But Her Majesty said we can eat whatever we want, buy whatever we want, no need to save money. Your Highness couldn’t have forgotten, could you?”
Lena said confidently.
Flora couldn’t help but laugh. Indeed, before they left, Ilya had given them a lot of money and specifically said:
“If it’s not enough, tell me, and I’ll have more sent over.”
She had wanted to decline then, but Ilya only said one sentence:
“It’s your first time going far from home. I don’t want you to worry about money.”
“But even if Mother said that, you shouldn’t be the one to bring it up. And now you’re demanding things from me.”
Flora’s eyes curved as she leaned forward, looking into Lena’s eyes.
“Then let’s eat at this place.”
Lena didn’t know what to say and felt a bit awkward.
The two walked toward that restaurant.
“Ha, just kidding.”
Flora patted Lena on the head.
“You…”
“You’re patting my head again!”
“You’re patting my head again!”
Pushing open the door, Flora was hit by a mix of aromas from various delicious foods.
The first floor had over a dozen tables, most of them occupied. The place seemed to be doing good business. The sounds of conversations, clinking utensils, and laughter mixed together.
A young waiter in uniform approached with a smile.
“Two young ladies, are you here to dine?”
“Yes.”
Flora nodded.
“The first floor is full, but there are seats on the second floor. Please follow me.”
They followed the waiter upstairs.
The stairs were wooden, but they didn’t seem like ordinary wood. The sound of footsteps was different. The second floor was quieter than the first, with fewer tables set up.
They sat down at a table by the window, and the waiter handed them two menus.
“This is the menu. Please take a look and see what you’d like to eat. Feel free to call me if you need anything.”
Lena took the menu, lowered her head, and her expression froze.
Flora leaned over to look as well. The food on the menu all looked delicious: roast suckling pig, honey ham, thick cream mushroom soup, black pepper steak, grilled cod, fruit tart…
Each item had a price listed below, much more expensive than what they had eaten in Qinglan Town.
Lena muttered quietly, “I don’t really understand…”
“Which one don’t you recognize?”
“It’s not that I don’t recognize them…”
Lena’s voice grew even softer.
“It’s that every word feels familiar, but when put together, I have no idea what they are.”
Flora almost laughed out loud.
Lena had grown up in demon territory, eating food from the demon race. She had only just started learning human characters, so reading human dish names really was like reading a foreign language for her.
“Okay, let me ask you. Do you want meat, or some sweets? Or both? Or something else?”
“Both.”
Lena said without hesitation.
“Both.”
“Alright.”
Flora waved over the waiter.
“One portion of roast suckling pig, just a small one. One cream mushroom soup, one honey ham, and a fruit tart. What about drinks? Any recommendations?”
The waiter smiled and recommended:
“We have a honey clear drink, very popular among young ladies, quite sweet. Or we have various juices. What would you like to see?”
“Two honey clear drinks, then.”
Flora closed the menu.
The waiter wrote it down and added:
“The roast suckling pig will take a bit longer, about half an hour. The other dishes will come first. Please wait a moment.”
After he left, Lena lowered her voice and asked:
“What were all those things you ordered?”
“You’ll know what you ordered when you see them yourself.”
By the time it was completely dark outside, the first dish arrived.
First came the drinks, fresh and sweet, but they only took a few sips and set them aside, waiting for the food.
The first dish to arrive was the cream mushroom soup.
“So it’s cream mushroom soup.”
Lena looked at the milky white soup in the bowl and smiled.
“Mm, you’ll recognize each one as it comes. Eat now.”
After Flora said that, Lena picked up a spoon, scooped a spoonful, blew on it, and put it in her mouth.
Then she froze completely.
Her eyes went a little blank.
“This soup is really good.”
Lena scooped another spoonful, drank it, and then looked up at Flora.
“What is it?”
Flora asked.
“The milky flavor is strong, and the mushroom fragrance is rich. It doesn’t feel greasy at all.”
Flora nodded earnestly, scooped a spoonful herself, and tasted it.
The flavor was indeed good. The cream was decent.