Morning at Café BondGia always begins with the aroma of coffee, customers chatting, and the sound of fish in the aquarium.
Celina, chilling on a chair near the aquarium, was reading the order notes.
"Today's order... is different from usual... I thought the stock was gone." she said, glancing at me.
I was sitting casually at the barista counter, thinking about (What would happen if I had an overpowered ability and defeated a demon lord).
Note: The barista counter is the table or station where baristas prepare drinks.
"If it's 'different,' don't tell me you mean an order to get rid of a cerberus? If that's the case, I'm out."
Celina sighed. "No. This is just a normal delivery. Just black coffee grounds, chocolate dessert, and tea from Ortea Valley."
She looked at me seriously. "Codename: Blue Claw. But the destination... Arthea Tower."
I froze. The name sounded familiar, but it felt like one of those COD delivery flashbacks.
"Arthea Tower... I feel like I've heard of it." I muttered.
"Unfortunately, you're wrong." Celina replied.
I cut in, "Bro I haven't even answered yet."
Celina continued, "Well, Arthea Tower is the home of a pretty mysterious person. Literally that guy is a regular here."
I stared at the bags on the table, then packed them with the spirit of a professional liar.
I answered with a mocking tone, "Yeah, delivering coffee should be easier than fighting a drake."
A thin mist floated outside, covering the stone streets of Caerliona.
I carried the order in a paper bag. After walking for quite a while—around thirty-eight minutes—I finally arrived at the destination.
The tower was tall, glowing faintly with midnight-blue light, and surrounded by chunks of crystal that looked like ice but were pitch-black with shimmering blue veins.
"Whoa this place looks kinda weird." I muttered while staring at the tower.
My steps halted when I looked at the crystals; standing near them alone felt freezing.
I touched one. The moment my hand made contact, an extreme cold and a burning sensation shot up my arm.
"Aggh what is this thing?" A faint voice echoed in my head.
"Don't touch that too long."
I quickly turned. A man stood a few meters away.
Silver hair, a bit messy, gray eyes, cold expression, emotionless but not threatening.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, I noticed he was staring at the package I was carrying.
"I assume you're the one delivering my order. I haven't seen you before." he said calmly.
Then he added, "Looks like Aezher has quit."
"Uh, yeah. Are you the client?"
"Yes. I am Blue Claw." he answered quietly.
He handed the payment, I gave the order.
Then he said, "Ah this dessert... I think I've eaten something like this somewhere before."
A breeze from the crystals passed by, carrying a strange cold scent.
I looked at the client. "What's up with this place?"
He looked at the sky, his voice quiet but firm. "This place is simply like that."
One hour later, I returned to the café.
A long-haired girl with black hair and deep blue eyes was delivering milk tea to a customer.
Celina looked at me from behind the counter. "You're back."
I answered with fake gentleman energy, "Relax, no issues at all, the delivery went perfectly."
Celina stared at me blankly. "Ah whatever. By the way, you now have a new coworker. Her name is Seria."
I replied with an overly dramatic relieved face, "Ah my workload will be so much lighter now."
Meanwhile, somewhere else… The silver-haired man stood in the middle of a forest.
A drake roared loudly before its body was frozen by black crystals with midnight-blue veins. A few seconds later, the drake's body slowly shattered, as if being absorbed by the crystals.