1402 The Airan Breakfast
The next morning, Ning and Tim decided to go around the city and see the sights while Jasmine went out to get some tea with Galamor. The young man had arrived in not his Paladin dress, but instead in fancy street clothes that made him look quite good.
After they had left, Ning had come to the third Level to see more about the city.
Due to how packed the city was at this time of the year, the speed at which they walked was somehow just as fast, if not faster, than riding a carriage or a car. There was a main road that went around a giant mountain, spinning around and around it as it went toward the top. Aside from that main road, there were smaller roads all of which interconnected the larger road.
There were also stairs for people who did not want to use the road to climb up through the mountain.
The mountain itself was over 4 kilometers tall and the time it took to get to the peak was just over 2 hours if there was no one on the way. With the amount of people that were there now, it would easily take anyone over 5 hours to reach the peak, if they could even do that.
"So many souvenir shops," Tim commented as the two of them made past another shop selling maps of Airan, a portrait of the Pope, a large poster with the holy chant, and whatnot.
Ning had noticed the shop and had ignored them all. "Do you want to get something to eat?" he asked.
Tim looked around for a shop. "Doesn't look like we'll find any empty diners," he said.
"Doesn't look like it, but who knows. Maybe we can find one," Ning said and pointed far away in the distance. "Let's go there."
Tim couldn't even see what shop Ning was pointing to, but he trusted him enough to go there. The place they went to was so packed that chairs had to be brought outside for people to sit and eat. And even then it was still packed.
They found a place to sit a few minutes later and a waiter came by to take their orders.
"We're new to the place and are trying everything we can," Ning said. "What would you suggest we get?"
"Uhh, gentlemen, if you want my suggestions, I would suggest you try the Airan breakfast," the waiter said, pointing at the menu. "It is something you must experience if you have come here for the first time. We just had a delivery this morning, so most of the ingredients would be fresh too."
"The police stations have guest rooms for people like us," she said. "I just stay there."
"I see," Ning said and looked around, listening to the people around them talk. He heard some say how beautiful everything was. Someone else said how they were excited to see the pope. Some worried that they wouldn't get to see the pope. Some planned on returning sometime soon in the future too.
Everyone was in their own world, but they all had something in common. They all wanted to see the pope up close.
"The pope comes out of his tower every morning to wave at the people, I hear," Ning said. "Is that true?"
"Yes," Tim and Tanaya said at the same time. "I read about it," Tim said.
"I've seen him walk up to his balcony and wave at people," Tanaya said. "But his building is too tall and it's hard to see him properly. So people more so wait for him to go on a tour around the city on his one-in-a-while parade."
"The last time was a while ago, right?" Ning asked. "So he should be coming out soon."
Tanaya frowned at Ning's words. "Why are you so looking forward to him coming out?" she asked. "If you're planning something nefarious, I'll be forced to gun you down."
"You won't be able to," Ning said. "But that's beside the point. I just want to meet with the pope and some of the Cardinals. That's all."
"But why?" Tanaya asked.
Ning simply smiled at her without answering.
The waiter returned with 3 large plates full of different meat, fish, bread, and soup on the side.
"Here you are, the Airan breakfast," he said as he placed them down before the group. "Please enjoy."