323 Chapter 323: The Hei Clan (1/2)
The next day, everyone split up for individual training. I went to a nearby park because I needed a vast expanse where I could freely summon my Constellation spirits. After practicing my summoning spells and reviewing what I already knew, I realized that I had taken a bit longer than expected, and that I was extremely famished.
”Oh…it's time for dinner.”
Rubbing my stomach gingerly, I dismissed my Constellation spirits and departed the park. There were a bunch of onlookers who were staring at me with their mouths wide open, as if they hadn't seen Constellation spirits before.
”Mommy, mommy! Look! I want to ride on that giant eagle!”
”Daddy! That winged horse looks beautiful! I want to ride on that!”
”I want that teddy bear!”
”Cool! A tiger! Why is it so white?”
”Eh…that tortoise is so big!”
”Whoa! A lion! So cool!”
”Can I stroke the fur of that dog?”
In contrast to the adult onlookers, the kids were on a roll. They were pointing and gesturing excitedly, wanting Constellation spirits of their own, or at least wanting a ride or to touch them. a few of them even tried to run toward me, only for their anxious parents to desperately pull them back.
”Don't go near that boy!”
”Sh! Don't approach him! Don't stare!”
”Let's go, let's go. Nothing to see here.”
”Eh…papa will buy you a stuffed toy from Sogo, okay? So don't bother that young man, okay?”
Unlike the innocent and fearless kids, the adults were wary of what they knew must be a massive amount of magic. Anyone who could summon so many Constellation spirits and train with them in the form of sparring wasn't someone their kids could trifle with. Unlike their bright and eager kids, the adults were a bit more…afraid.
And I didn't blame them. If they found out that I had nuke spells capable of leveling their city, they would probably faint on the spot.
”Hmm, where should I go have dinner?” I wondered out loud as I explored the place. There was a row of restaurants and eateries in the town district, in particular, and I wasn't sure what I was craving. Probably some soup, or tofu. So tofu soup.
Fortunately, there happened to be a restaurant named Tofu House that stood at the corner of a street. My eyes lightened up and I hurried inside. Unfortunately, I had chosen quite the inopportune moment. It was crowded as hell, the tables packed with customers. One of the waitresses glanced up when I came through the front door.
”How many?” she asked. I showed her a finger (no, not my middle finger – what exactly were you guys imagining?).
”One.”
”Okay.” She glanced around, as if to confirm that the place was full, and turned back to me apologetically. ”Sorry, but we are currently full at the moment. If you don't mind waiting for about five minutes…”
”Nope, I don't mind.” My craving for tofu soup was stronger than my hunger or impatience. The waitress nodded and beckoned for me to take a seat at the back of the restaurant, where there were a row of chairs for people to wait.
With nothing better to do, I checked the Webnovel app on my smartphone, replying to comments from my readers and surfing through the forums – I sure as hell wasn't going to write my story on my phone. If the wait had gone on any longer, I would have grabbed my Kindle and start reading the eBooks that I had downloaded into it, but I was so carried away with responding to reader comments that I almost didn't realize the waitress calling out to me after about ten minutes.
”We have a table open for you now.” She directed me to my seat, and passed me the menu. I had already decided on what I wanted, but I allowed her to move away to serve other customers after she placed a cup of iced water on my table. Gulping down some water, I then resumed to replying to reader comments before the waitress returned to my table with a notepad in hand. She tilted her head at me. ”Are you ready to make your order?”
”Yeah. Tofu soup, please. Mild spicy.”
It was a Korean restaurant, so they served kimchi with meals. Honestly, I wasn't a fan of kimchi, but eating the spicy, picked cabbage with rice made the taste bearable. I was looking forward to the soup, though, and after waiting for a bit more, the waitress finally brought it to my table.
”Yay!”
”Enjoy,” the waitress told me with a smile, probably amused by my enthusiasm. ”Be careful, it's hot.”
”Will do.” I nodded in delight before cracking the egg that they placed in a plate, and dropping it into the still boiling soup. Then I picked up my metal chopsticks and readied myself to devour the sumptuous meal before me.
Right after I placed the first mouthful of rice into…well, my mouth, the doors to the restaurant were flung open.
”This whole place has been booked!”
Says who?
Apparently a gang of men in suits and sunglasses were waltzing right into the restaurant brazenly and acting all arrogant.
”Everyone else needs to get out!”
”Respected customer, you can't do that!” the waitress began, but they silenced her with a glare. Meanwhile, the other customers in the restaurant immediately jolted up when they recognized the newcomers.
”It's the Hei family's people!”
”Let's go!”
”Stop eating, we had best get out of here!”
”We can't afford to offend them.”
”HELL, NO!” the male chef from the kitchen roared, stomping toward the front. ”I don't care which Great Family you are from. This is my restaurant, so you are to follow my rules! If you didn't book a reservation in advance, you can't just get rid of all my customers like this! Either you wait in the queue like everyone else, or you come back another day!”
Wow. It was rare to see a small restaurant owner display such integrity in the face of such arrogant, wealthy and powerful families.
The Hei Clan henchmen towered over him threateningly, but the otherwise diminutive restaurant owner refused to be intimidated and stood his ground.