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“Extra sheet! Old parchment found behind book cover! Groundbreaking invention by long-deceased Emperor Roselle!“
Sitting in a bar, self-proclaimed pirates and adventurers were laughing and roaring in loud voices. The air was heavy with sweat, inducing headaches to whoever entered by accident.
At the counter sat a man with a gloomy but elegant, yet cold air, sipping at his Southville beer from time to time. He listened attentively to the chattering of the costumers, seemingly hoping to hear something that catched his interest. His sharp brown eyes were scanning the faces of the people present, calculating the worth of each one. After a moment, he turned back to his drink in disappointment.
“Look closely. It’s a beverage that lets you taste heaven! W-what? No! It’s not an aphrodisiac! It has a very sweet taste, very refreshing. See the translucent round objects insides? They’re all edible, filled with honey-sweet syrup of different flavors!“
The adventurer’s ears pricked up. ‘Doesn't this sound familiar?‘
“They pop as soon they reach your mouth, spreading the sweet syrup right into your taste buds! The actual beverage, tea, is only complimenting each flavor, combining into a harmony that sends you straight into the Lord’s arms, or the Red Theater!“
Between shining eyes and ‘Ohs‘ a series of violent coughes could be heard. Heads were immediately turned to the source of the noise, the atmosphere instantly changing, temperatures dropping. In an instant, countless eyes were glued to the face of the one wearing gold-rimmed glasses, who somehow looked paler than usual. Nobody dared to speak. It was so silent one could have heard a needle drop.
‘Dear transmigration senior, are you serious?! You even copied THIS?! Don’t you have any shame and dignity at all!‘ As a former resident of the food empire and proud keyboard warrior, he naturally was familiar with the trends of that time. Heck, he even had one himself before deciding it was an outright scam for the money they charged for them!
Klein, currently in his persona of the pirate hunter Gehrman Sparrow, tried to remain a straight face, not letting his indignation seep through. Raising his eyebrow, his stare bore into the eyes of the ones watching him. They could feel a chill running down their spine. How would they dare to offend him ?
He started tapping the surface of the counter, effectively scaring the remaining pitiful souls to avert their gazes. Slowly, as if nothing had happened, chattering began to fill the room again. They didn’t want to be turned into gold pounds just yet.
Standing up, Klein prepared to leave, wanting to postpone further thinking and a possible mental breakdown caused by the greatest plagiarist of the 5th epoch to when he was alone above the gray fog, free from prying eyes. Still wearing a poker face, he threw some copper coins on the counter and headed towards the exit. This just had to be a bad dream.
“Emperor Roselle referred to it as ‘Bubble Tea‘.“
They heard the door slamming shut with a louder thud than usual, unaware of the disgusted face of the person that had just left.
Sitting in his rented room, Klein pondered about the information he gained at the last gathering of the Tarot Club. The Hanged Man had said something about the rise of a new pirate admiral, inducing fear in the local merchants and commoners. He was said to be a sequence 5, pathway unknown, being able to escape the hands of a pirate king previously. The official Beyonders have already raised his bounty to a handsome sum of gold pounds, increasing steadily.
The screeching of the old door interrupted his thoughts. Looking up, he slightly acknowledged the intruder, or rather, the pirate worth a handsome head bounty. Klein’s lip turned upwards, his eyes forming crescents. “Mr. 5000 Pounds.“
Danitz shivered for a short moment before stepping closer, shutting the door behind him. ‘Dogshit! One day the tables will turn! Just you wait!’
“I have the information you ordered me to seek. His ship was seen not far from here, or rather, the remains of it. It seems like someone has already taken care of him, leaving behind a bloody battle field and a sea of corpses. The culprit has yet to be identified.“ Danitz puffed his chest proudly. ‘You see this? It’s just the beginning!‘
Klein shot him an unimpressed look, deciding to divine the details above the gray fog later. He retracted his gaze, wanting to focus at other matters at hand, when he heard a pop and a slurping sound. Glancing upwards, his eyes landed on the pirate in front of him, or rather-
Klein almost choked on air, doubting his eyesight. He needed a second to adjust his mental state, using all his will power to stop Spirit Worms from accidently spilling out before saying in a dry voice, “Why. Do you have this.“
Danitz, being all dull and blissfully unaware of the emotional fluctuations of the other man, tilted his head, blinking twice before looking down at the object in his hand. “Ah, this? It’s a unique invention by emperor Roselle that was just recently found in a lost note book. It’s already a hit!“ He had seen some people selling this beverage on the streets and decided to buy one, and it was indeed very special and unusual. Something only a great mind could have come up with!
Klein felt his sanity leaving him and the last snippets of respect towards his transmigrator senior disintegrating into air. ‘T-this is too absurd! Nobody prepared me for this, I want my money back! I’ll unsubscribe, right here, right now!‘ Without speaking, he stood up, shooting one last glance at the bubble tea in the pirate’s hands, before leaving for the bed room, his eyes dead. He definitely had to cogitate right this instant to prevent risking irreversible brain damage. May the goddess bless him!
‘Dogshit! He could have just asked if he wanted some..’ Danitz,who was following the madman with his eyes as he left the room, came to a highly-questionable conclusion.
In the end, Klein couldn’t resist. The situation was as such: he was sitting above the gray fog in The Fool’s seat, the ‘revolutionary beverage of the times‘ placed in front of him which he had previously sacrificed to himself.
Narrowing his eyes, he carefully examined it from all sides, comparing it with the drink from his memories.
‘Indeed, the plagiarism was thoroughly, as expected of someone of the Savant pathway..‘ Klein put this creation on the list of things he would kindly remind his transmigration senior about if the day they would meet came. It couldn’t compare with the Emperor’s diary and some specific, very interesting lines in it, but he was sure it would be of great use for him someday.
Focusing again, he slowly put the literal straw to his lips, collecting himself. ‘It’s all for research purposes!‘ he mocked himself before taking a sip.
..and instantly regretting it, his facial features contorting.
‘What is this?! Do they want to poison the poor common folk?! I did nothing wrong yet they try to assassinate me with this.. this.. there isn’t even a fitting name!‘
It was, in all honesty, quite disappointing. Nothing like he had expected. Huang Tao, his transmigration senior, was a fraud after all.
..
Rumors had it that there were several cases where the famous pirate hunter Gehrman Sparrow lost his cool after some unlucky pirates accidentally spilled their bubble tea over his clothes, and them being turn into gold pounds right afterwards. Nobody dared to enjoy this drink in a vicinity of 300 meters around him.
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