The mascot of the wishing shop is a cat.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three sat at a small round dining table, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Lin Xiyue looked awkwardly at the dishes in front of her, not knowing what to say.

How did things develop to this point? It all started with ordering the food.

To change the subject, Lin Xiyue pulled Mo Luosi to order food.

So when ordering, since there were three of us and we hadn't seen many of the dishes before, we ordered a three-person set meal recommended by the chef.

The dish before them, the one that silenced everyone, was the chef's recommendation—a huge black sphere. It filled the entire table, and although there were originally a dozen or so small condiment dishes around it, they were placed on a small cart next to it because there wasn't enough room.

"(⊙o⊙)...Amo, what is this food? How do you eat it?"

Lin Xiyue looked at Molos with an expression that said, "You're a local, you must know how to eat this," her amber eyes full of expectation.

"Um……"

Meros remained silent for a moment, then quietly tapped the little robot that had been waiting patiently beside him.

"Di Di-"

"Welcome to the dining robot! I'm Xiaomei, and it's my pleasure to serve you. ヽ(￣▽￣)?"

The robot that was touched by Meros instantly pulled out two mechanical hands from its round body, and even wore a pair of white gloves on its hands.

"What services do you need? I can feed children, play with them, help remove fish bones, perform shows during meals, and even feed you when you need it..."

"Xiaomei, let me introduce this dish first."

Lin Xiyue wiped non-existent sweat from her forehead and interrupted the robot that was incessantly introducing its many abilities.

"Oh, okay. This is our chef's new invention—Prigo Cecilia Fish!"

"Pah, pah, pah, pah—"

After speaking, the robot Xiaomei clapped for herself.

"Yes, this is how you eat it."

Xiao Mei, the robot, took out a long, serrated knife from the food cart next to her and slashed at the black ball.

Without making a sound, the knife sliced ​​perfectly to the bottom as if cutting tofu, and then the little robot quickly made several more cuts with the knife.

The egg was divided into evenly sized pieces and neatly arranged on a plate.

"Alright, please use these small pieces to dip in the condiments on the side. Distinguished guests, you may now enjoy your meal."

"Do you need any other services?"

After everything was prepared, the robot Xiaomei bowed and then asked the three of them.

"No need, thank you Xiaomei."

After thanking Xiaomei, Lin Xiyue looked at the dish in the middle.

The fruit that Xiaomei called Puli fruit, which had already been cut up, was stuffed with fish meat. After being cut open, its black flesh, combined with the golden fish meat inside, made it look like a large plate of cut-up preserved eggs.

"Try?"

Louis spoke first.

"Okay."

……

Over the next hour, they began to try the new dish.

According to Lin Xiyue, this dish was actually quite delicious.

The slightly sweet and sour fruit pulp on the outside, paired with the tightly stuffed fish meat, plus the dozen or so different kinds and flavors of dipping sauce, makes it really delicious.

Because the food was delicious, the three of them even started drinking a little wine.

Louis was a man who had never drunk alcohol before, but after he drank, he started to talk about everything.

"Let me tell you, my name is Louis, it's the name my mother gave me. She got pregnant from being raped by some other races, so I'm a hybrid of human and other races."

"And so, I was actually the only one among that group of slaves who had awakened my abilities. Ha, how ridiculous."

Louis said, taking a big gulp of his drink.

“My mom said that she used to play a game before she was arrested, and Louis was the name of a character in the game, so she named me that. She said she hoped that I would be like that character in the game and go to the free world.”

"That was the happiest time of my nineteen years of life."

Louis looked down at his hands, which were covered in scars.

"Later...later when I was eight years old, my mother felt that I could live on my own, so...so she died that winter."

"Before she died, she said that winter was the best time for her, so that she wouldn't be a rotting figure in my heart."

"After she finished speaking, she plunged a sharpened shard of glass into her heart."

Louis tilted his head back and took another big gulp of wine, tears streaming down his face and into his hair.

“I was terrified and kept crying until the other adults found me. Then, the other adults buried her together, and they told me that she had run away to freedom.”

"That was the first time I understood that death and freedom go hand in hand."

"Cough cough cough."

Louis drank too fast and choked, coughing several times, but he still insisted on drinking a few more sips.

"The time I learned about freedom again was today, and it was alongside dignity."

“Before we were put on stage, the adults told me that they were going to fight for freedom and dignity, but they didn’t agree to let me join them. They said I was too young and should have a longer life.”

"So, one by one, they came to me with homemade sharp weapons, asking me to poison them. Each of them would hug me, as if asking me to help them live together."

“My ability is to create a lot of poisons under certain conditions. We’ve tried it secretly before. This poison won’t be detected because it’s just a kind of mania-like drug to the alien race.”

"They told me not to do anything no matter what happened, and then they discussed all the plans behind my back."

"I... I never expected them to decide to die together. I... I really never expected it."

Louis, somewhat emotionally distraught, clutched his head and began repeating, "I really didn't expect this."

"It's okay, we all know that wasn't your intention."

Lin Xiyue offered him a word of comfort. She knew that Louis knew everything, but he just couldn't let it go.

Lin Xiyue secretly replaced her liquor with water while drinking, so she remained sober.

She had been listening quietly to Louis's drunken ramblings.

"I... um, thank you. I know they've wanted to do this for a long time. I can't really stop them, I just... don't know what to do, I'm so confused..."

"Boom-"

With a thud, Louis collapsed onto the table and fell asleep immediately.

……