"Welcome!"
Calvin pushed open the doors of the Captivating Fragrance Coffee Shop. As soon as he stepped inside, he was greeted by the jovial smiles of Ashlynn, Bruce, and James. But when the three saw that the customer was Calvin. Their expressions turned ugly as they whispered.
"Damn it! I thought it was a legitimate customer!"
"Fuck..."
"Captain... We should really go ahead and reduce our prices..."
James, Bruce, and Ashlynn voiced out their complaints to their Captain, Ron Samuel.
"Shut up. Do you think that the four of us have what it takes to run a Coffee Shop? It's not so simple! Running a business is not so simple at all!" Ron Samuel scolded.
"Pffft!" James suddenly laughed.
"What is it? Was there something funny in what Captain said?" Ashlynn asked in curiosity.
"N-Nothing..." James immediately froze when he felt Ron Samuel's glare.
Ashlynn noticed the Captain's glare and she immediately nabbed James to the side and started interrogating him.
Calvin approached the counter.
Ron Samuel stared at him and asked, "What would you like to have? The prices for the beverage and snacks are outside. It's made to order so everything is customizable and made fresh straight out of the oven!"
"Hahaha..." Calvin let out an awkward laugh, "Captain, I came here to report for work..."
"Oh? You've already convinced your family that this is a legitimate work?"
Calvin faintly nodded.
Ron Samuel didn't seem to mind that Calvin called him, 'Captain'.
He stood up and walked out of the front desk, "What skills do you have that you think that is useful for us?"
Calvin pondered, "I know a lot of maths... I can also do accounting. I know bookkeeping too..."
"Yeah, those skills are indeed remarkable, but do you think that this Coffee Shop needs it?"
"Then, what do you need, Captain?" Calvin asked in confusion.
How could he answer the Captain's question, when he doesn't even know what exactly does the Coffee Shop need?
"Come here, follow me."
"How strong is your grasp of the universal speech?" Ron Samuel asked.
Universal Speech could be considered as the official language used by all inhabitants of the world of Las Felipinas. But this world could also refer to the language that arose into popularity after the first Cataclysm.
However, Universal Language does not include other languages or dialects dedicated to demi-humans or for use in any given region.
But Universal Speech is widely-understood, even for demi-humans.
Calvin pondered for a moment, unsure as to how he should answer Ron Samuel's question.
Noticing Calvin's hesitation, Ron Samuel didn't ask any further.
"All right, you don't have to worry too much. So long as you can turn these complicated universal speech texts into texts that we can understand without thinking into it too much, then I guess you can start working now."
Ron Samuel and Calvin arrived before an unassuming wall in the kitchen of the Captivating Fragrance Coffee Shop.
Ron Samuel stretched his hand out and placed his palm on the wall and whispered.
"Abli, open up!"
A surge of Mana from Ron Samuel flew towards the wall.
A ripple followed afterwards, and the wall became seemingly connected to another space.
Beyond the space was a library.
"If you were wondering about what Abli means, it's just an Elder Speech for the word, 'Open'. Do you know anything about Elder Speech? If not then you can peruse the library. This place has a lot of information vital for the operation of the Cavaliers. This is basically a treasure trove for you who is looking for answers."
Ron Samuel had a proud smile on his face as he said all of these...
"When it comes to mastery of the Universal Speech. I don't dare to claim that I will be able to do a better job than you and the others, Captain..." Calvin let out a rueful smile.
He guessed that Ron Samuel probably told him all of these and said that translating these texts into more an understandable prose was his job just so Calvin would feel as if he was doing something that deserved the wage of five Joselian pesos a day.
Ron Samuel could feel Calvin's hesitation as he said, "You don't understand... Most of us— most Predators haven't even completed basic education..."
"Even if we're more educated than you, doesn't mean that we're more suitable. After all, most of us aren't good with things that involved books and some had already passed that age..."
Having said these, Ron Samuel gave a bitter smile.
It was obvious even for Calvin that he seemed to be mocking himself.
"What's more, those dry and boring knowledge immediately puts us to sleep. In the past, we would cooperate with historians and archaeologists, but this has a risk of exposing our secrets..."
"Mishaps may befall onto those professors and that is why we absolutely need your help to scan through these documents and make them understandable and not-so-boring to us."
Calvin lightly nodded. He wanted to ask about why wouldn't they groom someone? But then he remembered the fact that the Church keeps everything involving the supernatural top-secret.
The Church probably doesn't want to risk exposing their secrets, so these bunch of Cavaliers couldn't do anything other than suffer while consuming these books with their cut and dry information.
But there was something that Calvin had to ask no matter what, "Why does the Church insist on keeping everything confidential? If they want to protect the Church and its citizens from these monsters. Shouldn't it be a far better choice to let them know what their hidden enemies are?"
Ron Samuel shook his head, "Nope... You don't understand... Humans are inherently greedy. If they came to know of the so-called Spiritualistic Magic that could grant them whatever they wanted. Do you really think that they would exercise caution and stop being so greedy?"
"Humans must never fully put their trust into a god. Relying on faith to survive is basically the same as being a parasite..."
"Relying on faith to survive is basically the same as being a parasite..." Calvin silently recited, but even after a few recitations. He still couldn't understand the underlying meaning of the words.
Ron Samuel saw the frown on Calvin's face and he clapped his hands together as he said, "All right, we're done here..."
"If you want to go back to the Coffee Shop just pull that lever there. But I suggest that you spend a few hours here, I also suggest reading the book about the World's creation myth and the Bestiary..."
Ron Samuel turned around and left before Calvin could even stop him.
He had vanished beyond the walls of the library.
Calvin was left alone inside the dark and cold library.
A rueful smile appeared on his face as he ignited a gas lamp and took a random book from the shelves.
The words, "World's Creation" was plastered across the front page of the book.