Chapter 168 A Date

"Order something random and don't act suspicious" Delta said, her eyes pointed towards a random table where a group of noble look-alikes were gathered. They were all looking at their own menus, expressions of thought on their faces as they every so often snuck a glance at our own table.

"Why?" I asked, when I had taken a look at them I could judge them to be weak, just judging by the way they held themselves and the amount of aether that flew through them they couldn't be any higher than high tier 9, at best they were at the beginning of tier 8. It was nothing to sweat about, all three of us could take them out in the time it would take for us to blink. They were no threat to us at all.

"Spies for the king, they keep an eye out on suspicious individuals." Delta stated, her expression blank as always.

"How did you get that information, I thought you only looked for documents pertaining to the realm protectors."

Delta nodded, "I did but do you know how many documents I had to scan before I found them, thousands. Most relevant would be resumes and reports from that very table of people"

My eyes slightly widened from the explanation though I brought them back to normal within a moment's time, fast enough so that the spies would not notice any anomalies. Just to be careful though I looked at the menu as my eyes widened. It made sense, even if we knew they were spies by their demeanor we wouldn't know they were this kingdom's or if they even were spies for anyone and not just most. Well that last one was ruled out when I noticed them taking slight notes with some sort of device but either way it did explain how she knew they were the kingdoms.

"If we want to keep our cover as merchants then it would do us good to keep ourselves out of suspicious situations" Delta explains as the waiter walks further towards our table. With a flick of Delta's wrist the device that had been muting our conversation from wandering ears was taken back right as the waiter had finally reached the table.

"Ready to order now?" The waiter questioned with a smile on her face.

I just nod, pointing to a random item on the menu. "Alright, one special and…"

"I'll have the same," Aoif said.

"I'll have this" Delta pointed, showing the waitress the menu and what she wanted.

"Ok, so two specials and a steak and eggs. I'll be right back with those orders, ok."

…

A soft clang as the dishes were placed down onto the table echoed into my ears. The noise had broken me from my thoughts of distant staring.

The smell wafted into my nose and soon enough the utensils next to me were taken and used to shovel it into my mouth. Of course I didn't just shovel into my mouth I was more elegant, I made sure to eat as one befitting the station that we were portraying.

Soon the food was gone and the waiter had come back for the bill. A couple of coins and a generous tip was given before we started to walk out.

I glanced over to the skies that had been watching us since the beginning and saw that they had conveniently finished their own breakfasts and tipped their hats to their waitress while settling the bill.

With the subtlety of a brick they got up to follow us, their footsteps matching our own as the soft ding of the door rang, signaling our exit from the restaurant.

"What's next?" I ask Delta, my voice a whisper so soft that only people with significantly enhanced senses like Delta or Aoif would be able to pick it up.

"We will split off, you take Aoif out to a romantic evening or something while I shake off my own spy and gather more information."

I nod, my hand taking Aoif's own as I split off. An audible goodbye and I was off, Aoif pulled close to my body.

I noticed a small weight on my side, a bag filled with coins. I couldn't help but smile smugly, it was clear that while they were actual spies the real reason for all this subterfuge was to get me to go on an actual date with Aoif.

There was no way that Delta wouldn't have been able to take care of them on her own. It was just ridiculous, though I couldn't help but admit that her reasoning was sound.

…

I found myself shopping with Aoif, my hand entwined with hers. I could see the great smile that seemed to be ever present on her face. Ever since we had started to shop by ourselves, a date all our own, she had been as happy as could be. It was honestly cute, even if she was usually happy with me it was nice to see Aoif smile unfettered like this.

I could feel a tugging on my arm as Aoif signaled her want. A store in front of us, filled with miniature creatures inside was where she had pulled me. Honestly I didn't even know there was something like that in this city. It seemed too… too militarized to have cutesy stuff like this. Even then the city was heavily militarized, you wouldn't expect a military base to have stuffed animals in display.

Though I didn't very much care for the meaning nor purpose behind the reason such stuff was put on display, no, all I cared for was that Aoif was having fun.

A small smile tugged in my own face as I watched on as Aoif picked out a particular stuffed animal and held it close to her chest. It was so adorable.

It was times like these that I missed the peaceful days back on earth, where simple joys like this could be indulged in. Though I wouldn't give up this competition for anything. It allowed me to meet Aoif in the first place. For all that it was horrible, the death and desecration of the human race, my meeting with Aoif was worth the sacrifice.