175 Returning to a Normal Life

Barely two hours had passed since Valentine first came into the restricted area and got stuck inside the barrier. Now that the enemies were gone, it was up to the Police to do the cleanup, and he, as an outsider, had no place there. Valentine quietly sneaked out of the central intersection and left the barrier through the gap that Mastro Gianni had created.

"I wonder how long this barrier will last," muttered Valentine as he walked past the barely visible silver lining above him.

Valentine once again felt the warm sunlight on a cold day once he was out of the barrier. Although it was invisible, the barrier somehow made the sky look dull and the sunlight faint. He was grateful that he had managed to stay alive, although it was mostly thanks to the help of others. It made him realize that he himself was weak.

"If not for the Police, especially Paars, we might have died. We are only lucky, G," he said with a genuine feeling of gratitude mixed with slight regret.

There were so many things to think about right now and he just couldn't focus.

"Let's go get breakfast at Don's," he finally decided, "We haven't gone there in days. Now that the Pale Society has been reduced to a couple of people left, they should be too busy to care about us."

To reach Tuinstraat from where he currently was, it would only take him less than ten minutes of walking, especially with his pace. Valentine, who was still concealed, walked past the barricade set up by the Police with ease. The chattering of people congregating in curiosity filled the air, and he tried to listen in to a group of people talking.

"There is no news yet. What in the world is happening over there?"

"I heard that the residents have been evacuated, but I don't know where. How is it possible to relocate that many people?"

"It's the Police we're talking about here. They are ALWAYS efficient."

"True, but I still can't imagine where they might have been relocated. There is nowhere that big to accommodate that number of people, is there?"

"Beats me. I guess for the time being there is no going to the other side. It's a shame because my favorite restaurant is there."

"Yeah, I hope it'll be over soon."

Then there was another group of people who were talking a little more loudly. The expression on the face of one of them was of that terror. Whether he was acting or he was seriously frightened, Valentine couldn't judge.

"It's the end of the world!!!"

"Shush! Stop spouting nonsense! Is it one of your conspiracy theories?"

"It's not a theory-- it's a fact! The Police are hiding it from us, but what's happening over there is actually the first sign of the end!"

"Where did you even hear that from?"

"A friend of a friend told my friend, and he told me! It's true!"

Valentine left the people alone to their own bantering and continued heading south. He was actually rather curious about that 'friend of a friend' of that guy who 'knew' about the apocalypse but he was sure asking that frantic man would take him nowhere.

The street was already packed with people at that hour, and although it hadn't been that long, Valentine kind of missed that atmosphere. Inside the barrier, the fact that not a single resident was around brought about an indescribable feeling of loneliness and worry. Although he spent most of his time alone, there were still other people around him.

"I feel strangely relieved to see all these people, G, although they are total strangers to us. I think I'm growing sentimental for some reason," he mocked himself quietly.

The familiar smell of exhaust gas and bread being baked nearby penetrated his nose and filled him with peace. He knew that he was in the city that he knew of again.

Reaching Tuinstraat made him feel even more nostalgic. It hadn't been that long since he left, but being forced to be away from his home made it feel like years since he had come back. The familiar buildings, the trees, and even the familiar faces of the people who were often there made him strangely happy.

Valentine walked up to a secluded alley and removed all of his Concealments before continuing to Don's Pancake House. Once the yellowish mist enveloping his body was gone, he strolled out of the alley leisurely with his hands inside his pocket and continued onward to the small diner.

The watch on his wrist showed eleven in the morning, and there were already a lot of people there either having brunch or late breakfast, or even lunch. Valentine entered the small, family-owned diner and was greeted by the familiar smile that he hadn't seen in a while.

"Graham! Welcome!" shouted Mirjam.

The cheerful and warm waitress then followed Valentine who was heading to his usual spot which happened to be empty. Or other people just didn't like sitting in the corner where only a couple of people could fit in, despite it having the view of the outside.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in ages!" asked Mirjam interrogatively.

"Something came up and I had to leave the city for several days," replied Valentine, making up a lie.

"But now you're back at least! Didn't you miss this place?" she asked with a sunny voice that sounded all too familiar in Valentine's ears. It brought a slight smile to his face that he quickly hid.

"I did, actually," replied Valentine shortly but honestly.

His honesty made Mirjam smile. She always liked it when the customers said they missed the restaurant where she worked at, since she also loved the place herself. The place and the people there had been like a second family to her, one that she didn't have except for her sister. She was thinking back about how lonely she had been when there were only the two of them.

"So, can I order?" asked Valentine, bringing Mirjam back to reality. She was flustered and a little embarrassed for not paying attention like that.

"Y-yes yes, sure. What are you having today?"

Valentine had thought of what he wanted to order, so without any difficulty, he replied.

"I'll have your turkey sandwich with peanut butter and extra hot sauce. And please add in some sliced bananas in there and a drizzle of honey. A hot cup of chocolate for the drink, please," he said confidently.

Mirjam raised her eyebrow and asked suspiciously, "Are you sure...?"

Valentine nodded firmly.

"Then I'll go tell the chef. Is there anything else, like a bowl of tomato drenched in salt and sugar or turkey smoothie?"

Valentine shook his head while looking at Mirjam like she was crazy.

"Okay then please wait here," she said, embarrassedly and then left the table.

After making sure that Mirjam had told his order to the chef, Valentine rested his head on the wall while leaning far back on his chair. The chair was standing on its hind legs while he balanced it using his head and neck. He closed his eyes and fell asleep not long after; on his face, there was a faint smirk as his consciousness drifted away.

"Val, what in the world were you ordering?!" said Graham the moment he opened his eyes. He carefully moved the chair back and sat straight at the table.

Graham was stupefied by what he had ordered for their lunch. And since Valentine couldn't taste what Graham was eating, he had to suffer from it alone.

"I'll definitely pay you back for this, Val," he muttered.

The sunlight was shining brightly outside, warming up the street. The people, who were wearing even thicker clothes since winter was on the horizon, seized the chance to bathe in the sun as much as they could. Graham was watching with amusement from inside, now leaning back on his chair. Since signing a contract with the Deity of Fire Divination, his body had become warmer, so he could practically wear anything he wanted as long as it didn't get too cold outside.

"Here's your order, Graham!" said Mirjam who came not long after.

She was holding a tray with a place of his 'sandwich' and a cup of hot chocolate that Valentine had ordered. At least he didn't get black coffee like Valentine usually had because he absolutely couldn't tolerate the bitter taste of the coffee.

"Thanks, Mirjam. Do you want to have a taste of my food?" offered Graham as he picked up his food from the tray to help her while she put down his drink on the table.

There was a forced smile on her face as she replied, "No, thank you, Graham. You enjoy the delicious sandwich yourself. It's your special order after all."

Graham wanted to scream that it wasn't him who had ordered, but he couldn't. He could only smile back and pick up the abomination sandwich in front of him. Although at a glance it looked normal, once he lifted the brown bread at the top, he was repulsed by the food. The turkey pieces were all drenched in hot sauce, peanut butter, and honey combination while the lettuce had absorbed the flavor of the banana pieces there. The pickled cucumber slices at the bottom looked like they were trying to hide from the mess happening on top of them, but they couldn't. Their pickle juice had fused with the turkey juice and the abomination sauce.

"Why are you still here?" asked Graham to Mirjam who was standing near his table, staring intently at him and his food.

"I'm just curious. And besides, I need to be here in case you need a hospital carriage to take you there," she answered nonchalantly like it was none of her business. There was a curious smile on her freckled face.

"Nah, go away, please. I will die of a heart attack first if you keep looking at me like that. Leave me alone with my delicious food," retorted Graham. He was rather embarrassed if he showed her his disgusted face as he was eating the food that Valentine had confidently ordered.

"Okay, okay..." replied Mirjam dejectedly. She then went to another customer's table instead and had a chat with the middle-aged woman sitting alone there.

"Phew, she's finally gone. Look what you've made me go through, Val," he muttered.

Graham then focused back on the food in his hands. He brought it closer as he opened his mouth wide. His hands began trembling as the sandwich got closer and closer to his mouth, and once he felt the crusty bread on his lips, he took a big bite. All the things in the sandwich entered his mouth as he chewed slowly, trying to get a grip on the actual taste of the thing.

"What the...!" he exclaimed, "It's actually much more disgusting than I thought! How dare you do this to me, Val!" he muttered angrily with a disgusted look on his face. His mouth became 'airy' as he started to feel the vomit coming up.

Gulp!

He took a gulp of his hot chocolate and swallowed the whole thing in his mouth along with the sweet liquid without finishing chewing it. It was too unbearable for him. He wanted to put the remaining sandwich down but it would be too embarrassing in front of Mirjam, so he forced himself to finish it.

Chomp!

Another big portion of the sandwich was gone as he bit into it. Graham chewed once and then quickly took another sip from his hot chocolate to wash the thing down. He repeated the process until half of the sandwich had been finished, and by the end of his struggle, he was breathing heavily. He felt much more tired than when he was fighting Ghastly or Zeger de Witt and he didn't think he could continue eating it.

"I can't. I can't anymore..." he pleaded. In his moment of weakness, he was begging for the Deity to come down and smite the abomination sandwich away from existence. However, he knew things didn't work like that, but he got an idea instead.

Graham concentrated on himself and began chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Cunningness and Transformation, hereby plant the idea in my own brain that this sandwich is delicious!"

After that, he felt even more tired because a lot of his stamina had been consumed. He didn't know if it would work well either because the idea was too contradictory to reality. He had experienced himself how horrendous the sandwich tasted, so fooling himself into thinking it was delicious might be stretching it too far.

Minutes passed, and he hadn't moved the sandwich that he was still holding even a centimeter. However, slowly, the 'food' in his hand became more and more attractive despite him knowing that it tasted awful. Something in his brain was telling him to eat it and just ignore the flavor, and the more he looked at it, the more his appetite grew.

Graham took another bite of the sandwich and this time, although it still tasted awful, he could somehow ignore most of the flavor and only focused on the texture. The crunch of the lettuce and pickles and the tender turkey pieces were the saving grace, although the peanut butter mixture ruined it to some extent. He took a sip of his hot chocolate to help him swallow it and repeated the process until he had finished all his food.

"Finally!" he said proudly as if he had won a hard and arduous battle.

Mirjam, who was looking at him from the distance, was giggling quietly.