A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 157 The Pizza Girl's Arcane Festival Dream (3)

The agreed time was 10:30.

Quinn developed a habit during high school—he would arrive at least fifteen minutes early for the agreed time.

This habit is of course due to Mi Yutong. Perhaps it's because she watched too many Japanese romance manga, or perhaps it's because of the Taiwanese idol dramas that were popular in her childhood. She thinks that arriving early for a date is a very appealing quality.

Quinn couldn't understand why arriving ten or thirty minutes early for a date made one seem gentlemanly or responsible, but he was simply a person who was used to arriving early—whether for work or taking an exam, leaving extra time was essential.

When they first started dating, Mi Yutong would always arrive right on time, and Quinn would naturally wait early. But as their relationship progressed, he learned that she would also arrive early and secretly hide to observe him before coming out at the appointed time.

Quinn wasn't acting like a lovestruck fool. He arrived early simply to see if anyone was escorting the young lady. After all, if her parents found out about their relationship in the beginning, he would probably be kicked out and transferred to another school.

For example, at this very moment, Quinn wanted to see if anyone was secretly protecting Celia. Around 10:10, he arrived at the entrance of Eastwell Railway Station. The bright sunlight bathed the elegant and tall red brick building, and people came and went under the glass canopy.

The stealth characteristic of a thief enveloped Quinn the moment he stood still, making him almost one with the street scene. His presence was so faint that pedestrians would see him but would subconsciously ignore and forget him.

His approach to finding people is different. After a thief's ability to 'identify valuable items' is upgraded to that of a master thief, he undergoes a transformation. The masses inside and outside the train station are instantly sifted through in his field of vision, taking into account their faces, temperament, clothing, and whether they are valuable or not.
Almost at the same instant he glanced over, he spotted Celia under the shade of a tree near the train station entrance.

Quinn didn't step forward immediately, but observed for a while. She didn't find anyone who might be secretly protecting her, but quite a few people came up to chat with the girl. This was East Will, where the citizens were generally well-off and more confident. There were even young people who came from West Will to watch the Arcane Festival, all with roguish smiles.

However, due to the law enforcement officers stationed at the train station entrance, they dared not be too rude, and could only leave dejectedly after being rejected by Celia.

Quinn then slowly walked over and snapped his fingers at the girl who was standing in the shade of the tree, lost in thought.

"morning."

Celia was startled, and only when she came to her senses did she realize that Quinn was already standing in front of her. She quickly bowed in return.

"Good morning, Mr. Quinn!"

The two were teacher and student. Although Quinn was very easygoing, the proper etiquette could not be neglected.

"You're here quite early."

"Huh?" Celia stammered for a moment, "We arrived a little... a tiny bit early."

"Heh, it's only a little past ten o'clock."

My alarm clock is broken.

After all, admitting to arriving early would make it seem like she was really looking forward to it—it wasn't really a date, it was just that Quinn had promised to give her the sheet music.

"You're wearing makeup?" Quinn looked at her in surprise, it was the first time he had ever seen Celia dressed up.

The customs of the other world are generally more simple and honest. Many common women do not learn about makeup and dressing up until they get married. However, it is not strange for a girl of Celia's age to start learning makeup. After all, this is Aishwell, which is known as the "advanced city". There are also many senior girls in the academy who wear makeup to class.

"I learned it from a tutorial in a magazine, but I don't even know if it's good or not. My brother, that jerk, all he does is yell."

The girl, now dressed in casual clothes, leaned against a tree trunk, smiling shyly. Her plain gray sailor-collar fitted top, with lace trim, accentuated her delicate white collarbones. Two straps crisscrossed in an X-shape at the waist of her schoolgirl-style tiered skirt, perfectly highlighting her tall and slender figure. Her long, cool brown hair cascaded down her back, and beneath her firm, slender thighs were pure white boat stockings tied with bows. At the most beautiful age of her life, the girl was dazzlingly beautiful.

Sixteen or seventeen-year-old skin doesn't need makeup at all, but Celia still applied a light layer of foundation—she was originally Caucasian, and as a princess with royal blood, she was the purest and most elegant white. This layer of foundation was to cover the dark circles under her eyes from not sleeping all night. Fortunately, because of her practice of arcane arts, her mental strength had improved, making the fatigue less noticeable, but Quinn could still see the signs of drowsiness.

In addition, she also applied some lipstick—Celia was probably influenced by Amamiya Nene, choosing a bright red with a hint of orange. However, such a mature and sophisticated lipstick didn't quite suit the delicate and refined face of the girl. She was more suited to lighter colors, but it still looked very good.

Quinn nodded earnestly: "It looks great."

This time, Celia didn't hesitate. After all, she wasn't wearing an evening gown she wasn't used to. She smiled and asked, "Really?"

“Really.” Quinn glanced discreetly at the beautiful, clean knees and smooth, straight thighs through the white socks. “Correct, in line with youth values, positive, and thought-provoking.”

"Wow, it hasn't gotten to that point yet."

There were so many people on the street today that it was hard to flag down a carriage, so the two of them walked one after the other toward the end of the street, chatting casually as if they were in an academy.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"How did you figure that out?"

"You applied the foundation too thinly. Also, next time you could try a different lipstick, something more subtle, that would suit you better."

"Mr. Quinn, you know so much?" The tone was suspicious, not questioning his taste, but questioning his previous statement that "I've never been in a relationship."

"She learned it from Professor Cavendish. She doesn't work in the office; she spends all day getting ready and putting on makeup." Quinn chose to shift the blame.

"Speaking of which, I saw your father on my way here."

".ah?"

Celia paused, a complex expression flashing across her face.

"—He didn't say anything to you, did he?"

“Ha, we don’t know each other. I only saw him bring you in at the dinner party yesterday.” Quinn asked curiously, “What will he say to me?”

"Nothing. Where did you see him?"

"The church. The church of the Eternal Church."

Quinn discreetly observed the girl's reaction through the reflection in the shop window on the left, casually remarking, "Perhaps she's praying." "Praying. Oh."

After saying this to herself, Celia fell into deep thought and silently followed behind Quinn.

Quinn takes good care of his student, Celia. This may be partly due to her suspected heroism or her experience in the abyss, but it is also closely related to the fact that the two get along very well. In Quinn's eyes, interpersonal relationships are divided into two types: those where you need to take the initiative to find topics to engage with, and those where you can chat without having to.

Xia Dai'er belongs to the former category. The two have different experiences and ways of thinking. When Quinn goes out with her, it feels more like he is accompanying a little girl, just like when he coaxed Mi Yutong back then.

But Celia belonged to the latter category. Even if Quinn didn't deliberately create topics, the conversation between the two could continue smoothly. He was quite surprised that he could get along with a student of a girl's age. This kind of interaction was always more relaxed.

Amamiya Nene is the same way; they both have a bit of a wicked sense of humor in private, and they're birds of a feather.

This was the first time Celia had suddenly fallen silent like this. After walking for more than ten minutes, Celia finally came to her senses. Seeing Quinn accompanying her in silence the whole way, she subconsciously thought that her coldness might have angered the teacher, and hurriedly stammered, "Um... the wind is really noisy today."

Indeed, the streets were cool today, with a gentle breeze flowing through the mountain streets and alleys. The sky, unlike the usual unpredictable weather of summer, was unusually clear with no clouds and bright sunshine filling the world, making it a sight to behold.

"puff."

Quinn said as they walked, "You were daydreaming in class, weren't you? Every year on the day of the Arcane Festival, the academy uses arcane magic to control the weather around Axwell to ensure that it doesn't rain during the festival. Of course, the wind is noisy; it's an artificial breeze made with real money."

"Oh right, I'm sorry." Celia apologized subconsciously.

"Why apologize?"

"I didn't listen in class."

"Is something on your mind?" Quinn stopped in his tracks, and the distracted girl almost bumped into his back. "Usually, you would probably be complaining to me at this time about not being able to calculate the energy consumption ratio of weather-related arcane spells."

Celia immediately shook her head like a rattle-drum.

"No, no—it's just... I didn't sleep well last night." She forced herself to be cheerful and walked past Quinn. "Let's go! We're going...wait, Mr. Quinn, where are we going?"

Quinn shoved a thick stack of sheet music into her hands with a disgruntled expression.

"The museum has a piano. I'll take you there to practice, and we can see the exhibits along the way."

Normally, he might have pressed Celia for details about her worries—Quinn had a hunch that they were probably related to Britain. But today was his last day in this world, and the prophecy of the Child or the struggle for the throne were no longer his concerns. He was relaxed, like a teacher taking his students on a field trip.

The two resumed their conversation. This time, Celia didn't lose focus, but Quinn could still sense the girl's forced smile, like a student who had experienced some misfortune at home but was still putting on a brave face.

The museum was the venue for the city council's dinner last night. It's not far from the train station, just down in the block below Cloud Avenue. You can see the festive balloons floating high above the museum from afar.

Different countries have different holidays, such as national days or festivals with unique local characteristics. In addition, there are holidays of various religions, such as the "Month of Abstinence" of the Eternal Sect and the "Libra Festival" of the White Sect.
If there is one festival that all of Temuran needs to celebrate together, it is only the Papacy's "Seven Days of Creation," which is written in the Holy Scriptures as the seven days the sun created mankind, the first week of each year, which Quinn considers to be the new year of this world.

The "Arcane Festival" is a festival that has only emerged in Eswell in the last two hundred years. Its original form was an exposition held by various enterprises and merchants to promote their products to the outside world under the arcane revolution. As the scale grew larger and larger, and with the explosive growth in trade brought about by the airship, the exposition has transformed into a celebration like a city open day.

Among the crowds on the streets of Eastwell were Ronians dressed in suits and ties, looking serious and respectable even in the sweltering summer heat; Britons in flashy clothes, tight breeches, and high boots; Easterners with black hair and yellow skin, wearing wide-sleeved kimonos; and even quite a few orcs. Judging from their demeanor and attire, they were all nobles from the Western Continent, and their physiques or fur colors were far more imposing than the refugee orcs of Westwell.

The City Council's exposition was naturally held in the museum. After working through the night, the venue for the banquet had been completely restored. Representative items that embody the history of Eswell, especially the history of the arcane industrial revolution over the past century, were displayed on the stage, and long queues formed at the museum entrance. Many of the exhibits were provided by the Academy, and for security reasons, the number of visitors and visiting hours were strictly limited. Judging from the length of the queue, it would be at least until the afternoon to get in.

Quinn, of course, didn't need to queue and led Celia straight to the gate.

Many people in the line were stealing glances at Celia; after all, who doesn't love looking at a beautiful woman? Celia was also curiously observing the line, "Hey, why are there two lines?"

The queues split into two lines, one long and one short. The shorter line was significantly faster to enter. When we got to the entrance, we found out that the long line required security checks and body searches, while the short line did not.

“The long line is for fourth-class citizens, from Westwell. They have to go through security to get in,” Quinn clicked his tongue. “The short line is for local citizens of Eastwell, who are third-class citizens and don’t need to be checked.”

"What about the second-class citizens?" Celia asked like a curious child.

Quinn pointed to those who could wait at the door to enter without queuing. That group of people had a much more noble air about them than the citizens. Judging from their clothes, they were all from powerful and wealthy countries like Ron, Britain, or the East, which had close ties with Eswell.

"The second class are foreigners."

"And what about the other kind of people?"

Quinn then pulled Celia to wait at the entrance for a while. Soon a carriage arrived, and led by the law enforcement officer, a portly old man and a brightly dressed young woman walked into the museum without even buying a ticket.

“First-class officer,” Quinn said succinctly.

Celia's mouth opened slightly, feeling that the adult world was too clearly ordered.

"And what about us?"

"us?"

Quinn smiled.

An officer maintaining order saw the two blocking the doorway, refusing to come in or out. He was about to tell them to get lost, but his imposing manner weakened upon seeing Celia's appearance. He feared she might be some important person. Although the girl's clothes didn't look particularly expensive, and she didn't wear any valuable jewelry, her demeanor was quite plain. Yet, her appearance inexplicably gave off the feeling of a noble and important figure.

"Have you bought tickets?"

Quinn remained silent, but simply took out his academy identification.

Upon seeing Grindelwald's magnificent school badge, the young law enforcement officer immediately stood at attention and saluted!
Quinn led the dazed Celia inside, saying, "Our Grindelwald's lord is a Celestial Dragon."

(End of this chapter)