Chapter 168: 104. Advertisement Paper from the Pink Pavilion
After searching the kitchen, Fisher felt somewhat troubled. Lady Martha and he hadn’t eaten much, and all that remained in the kitchen was some bread, jam, and a small amount of preserved meat, which didn’t seem enough for Jasmine.
After considering for a long time, Fisher slowly closed the lid on the food storage. If he cooked this food for Jasmine and she couldn’t turn back into her human form, it would be difficult to explain to Lady Martha. Would she think a thief had broken in to steal food?
With no other choice, Fisher decided to go to a nearby restaurant to order takeout. Continuing the tradition of feeding the Dragon Race in the Southern Continent, he ordered several Nali roasted chickens, considered a classic dish in Nali cuisine that is both cheap and delicious.
When he returned to his room with the plates, Jasmine had just finished bathing. She wore Fisher’s shirt, which was rather large for her; the hem hung down her thighs like a skirt, and the sleeves were overly long.
Jasmine, freshly washed, had a faint floral scent, identical to what Fisher had smelled earlier. Given her character, it was unlikely she used any human-made fragrant products, so this pleasant scent must have come from her own body.
However, since Fisher’s shirt was designed for men, its mismatch made her sit awkwardly on the sofa, her softness capturing the attention of any man who happened to see her.
With her light blue hair still damp and uncombed, Jasmine blushed lightly when she sensed Fisher’s gaze. She gently covered her chest with her hands as if to hide her racing heart.
“Because… I didn’t know what to use to dry off so I just…”
Her gaze drifted; she was speaking to Fisher, facing him, yet her eyes awkwardly looked at the door frame beside him, as if she were guilty about something.
“I don’t have a towel you can use. Here’s food; please eat more.”
Seeing the few plates of fragrant roasted chicken, Jasmine’s eyes widened. Fisher clearly saw her swallow hard, but even then, before eating, she cautiously looked up at Fisher and joined her hands together, sincerely saying,
“Thank you, Teacher Fisher, for providing me with food.”
Fisher sat beside her and handed her the utensils, shaking his head as he said, “There’s no need to call me teacher. You can’t go back to Saint Nali University to continue your studies. The Nali authorities will investigate why a subhuman was mixed into a human academy and will probably look for you. I just recently resigned from Saint Nali University and will no longer be a professor there for magical courses.”
Jasmine, about to take her fork and eat, was momentarily stunned by Fisher’s words, looking a bit sad; her long ears drooped, and after pursing her lips, she whispered, “I’m sorry, Teacher Fisher.”
She set down her utensils and gently extended her palm forward. Between her fair fingers, it seemed like countless vitalities were flowing, and the lively streams of water in her gaze soon glimmered.
Yet, upon closer observation, beneath that abundant vitality, certain strands of black water seemed to shadow the glowing water streams.
Upon closer inspection, it appeared that the black water more substantially formed the base color of her pupils, making it challenging to detect, while the glowing water seemed fewer, as if pulled into an abyss by the black streams.
Jasmine could not balance the blessings and curses existing within her Whale Folk body, which others managed to do easily with the help of the accompanying sea beasts.
Though her mother had said that her curse was stronger than any other Whale Folk, Jasmine was not good at blaming others. Only when she could not hide her embarrassment would she secretly attribute the reason for her “wrongdoings” to the romance manga Milica had shown her.
Thus, she always believed that her inability to balance was entirely her fault.
Because of this imbalance, the curse’s power dominated her body, harming humans, exposing her identity as a Whale Folk, preventing her from seeing Milica and Isabel, and forcing Teacher Fisher to resign.
She could not even begin to imagine what expressions Milica and Isabel would have if they learned she was a subhuman.
Feeling somewhat guilty, tears began to fall, dripping onto the floor of Fisher’s room.
“I can’t achieve the balance my mother spoke of. That’s why…”
As Fisher listened, he recalled the characteristics of the Whale Folk Jasmine had mentioned before.
Jasmine would enter a terrifying battle state whenever she faced attacks or was frightened. However, she had expressed that it was a very dangerous state; using it too much would ultimately lead to unpredictable bad outcomes.
The key was how to balance blessings and curses, but Fisher did not understand how other Whale Folk managed to do it, nor could he teach her, though he had other things he could do.
Watching her with her head down and tears flowing, Fisher silently reached under Jasmine, waiting for a drop of her burning tear to gently fall into his palm. When Jasmine noticed his action and looked up in surprise, Fisher tightly clenched that droplet, forming a fist and presenting it in front of Jasmine.
In her tear-filled vision, she still saw the expressionless Fisher.
“Tears won’t help you achieve anything, whether it’s guilt or sadness; after this tear falls, it ought to stop. You must seek your aunt, seek methods to achieve balance; I must also pursue and take revenge on those old fools. Only our fists and rational minds can help us achieve our goals.”
“Though I no longer serve as your teacher, we still have a common goal to achieve, and I’m quite interested in you being a Whale Folk; you promised to let me research you, right?”
“Eh?”
Upon hearing Fisher’s words, Jasmine’s tear-streaked face reddened. She straightened up, instinctively nodding,
“Yes, Teacher Fisher.”
This obedient demeanor made Fisher question whether he was becoming a bad man tricking a pure girl. He shook his head helplessly to dispel that thought and dragged the bag filled with magical materials to his workbench.
“Let’s eat first; Milica, Isabel, and you are true friends. They won’t abandon you, even after learning you are subhuman. You still have opportunities to meet each other in the future, of course, after everything is resolved. Before that, let’s each focus on our own goals.”
“By the way, last night you carelessly forgot to take back the Nali currency I exchanged for you and the items meant for your aunt. Luckily, I stayed back to tidy up before the officials arrived; it’s over there. I will examine the clues your aunt left.”
Jasmine pursed her lips, watching as Fisher had taken out several magical materials. He did not look at her; his calm words felt like both instruction and comfort, warming her heart a bit.
So, she told herself to be strong, wiped her damp eyes, and instinctively nodded. However, she soon realized that Teacher Fisher couldn’t see her action and had to give a silly “uh-huh” in response.
With the conversation over, Jasmine began to eat to replenish her energy, while Fisher took a deep breath and grasped the carving knife beside the table.
He was about to start carving the magical runes he would use.
In addition to carving magic runes on his staff as usual, he had previously bought a deck of cards for magic carving.
Some magic doesn’t work well on a staff; typically, specific carriers are designed to maximize the magic’s effectiveness.
Fisher hadn’t had the budget previously to buy specialized carriers, so he used playing cards instead, especially since his physical condition was strong, he could throw them accurately.
Yes, Fisher’s title of “Frugal Version of Benavides” was well-deserved.
His magical circuits illuminated, and he focused his eyes on the card laid on the table, meticulously chiseling out the magic.
It wasn’t until the evening when Lady Martha returned that his magic carving was interrupted. Martha inquired if he wanted to have dinner, to which Fisher agreed, using this time to take a break.
He relaxed his shoulders and assessed his progress.
After four hours, he had carved three medium-level magic runes.
The speed was not slow.
Rather, it was too fast.
Although his magical power had indeed increased due to previous training, what truly accelerated Fisher’s carving was that he seemed to feel he was becoming more adept at engraving runes, as if his soul were more sensitively resonating with the world.
He looked down at his magical circuits, which had slightly begun to warp, unsure if it was a good or bad thing. However, his intuition told him it was not purely a good thing.
Though it sounded a bit unreliable, there were times when Fisher was quite confident in his instincts, especially when facing certain ladies.
Behind him, Jasmine had already cleared the roasted chicken from her plate, leaving little sauce behind.
While Fisher was carving the magical runes, she had also been busy; seeing the books on magic on Fisher’s shelf, she took one down to read.
Fisher didn’t want Lady Martha to know a subhuman girl lived in his room, so he had gone down to fetch food and eat in his room, bringing up several pieces of cloth as well.
The soundproofing of the rented room was good; unless one was very close, they wouldn’t hear anything. However, Martha was older and had poor hearing, so Fisher was not worried that the softly spoken Jasmine would be discovered.
Downstairs was a sewing machine previously used by Martha; Fisher sometimes borrowed it to make clothes.
Don’t be fooled, Fisher was a twenty-eight-year-old gentleman with many skills.
He could play the piano and use the sewing machine. The clothing he designed for Rafael was an improved version of Nali lady attire specifically for the Dragon Race, and Rafael wore the clothes Fisher made for her until they parted at Krit Port.
Now he still had plenty of fabric left from when he made clothing for Rafael, and Fisher planned to make a piece for Jasmine, ensuring it would fit her Whale Folk physique, yet still cater to her supermodel dimensions.
Well, he didn’t need to make anything for Renee; she would be fine in normal human attire, though she had always insisted he make her something whenever she returned. It was only now that he remembered to make something for Jasmine.
“Take this measuring tape; I’ll take your measurements. It’s a good change of pace after all that magic work; otherwise, you’ll end up going out in your nightgown or shirt.”
Jasmine blushed, standing up obediently, raising her hands for Fisher to measure, her ears flapping.
But looking at the fabric Fisher had laid out on the table, she was somewhat surprised that this Nali gentleman could sew. In Jasmine’s impression, the only beings in the sea that knew how to sew were the jellyfish folk living far above in the Great Maelstrom, so she asked,
“Teacher Fisher can also make clothes?”
“Yeah, I made some money from it when I was a kid.”
The church school taught many children survival skills, like sewing and cooking, as well as more advanced arts like painting and instruments; however, the art education there was quite poor, essentially providing only a beginner’s understanding. Fisher’s music and painting skills were honed at the Royal Academy.
This was because not every child could read; having a basic skill allowed them to have a means of livelihood without starving.
Eager to learn, Fisher acquired good sewing and painting skills there, but he wasn’t all-rounder; he never managed to learn cooking and almost poisoned himself and Trandal during his peak cooking phase.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, the person who taught sewing and painting was that busty nun, which piqued Fisher’s interest, and he learned very well.
The cooking was taught by a very old matronly bishop, and Fisher was reluctant to seek forgiveness from the mother goddess before slaughtering chickens and picking cabbages, so he basically learned nothing and ended up giving up entirely.
After taking Jasmine’s measurements, Fisher turned and drew up the basic dress pattern at his workbench, ready to begin soon.
Fisher planned to settle all the preparations in the next day or two; if the Nali officials couldn’t find Jasmine, there was no telling how long Blake might continue searching for her and acting against her. He needed to take action before him and seize the initiative.
As he determined the shape, he paused for a second or two when measuring the length of the fabric for the chest area. Although it looked exaggerated visually, seeing it in numerical form was genuinely frightening.
He glanced back at Jasmine, who sat upright, obediently allowing Fisher to assess her, thinking he was about to conduct some measurements. But Fisher just shook his head and told her to relax.
For some reason, Jasmine appeared especially obedient in front of Fisher. That timid and shy demeanor was quite far from her image as a “royal” Whale Folk in the ocean, making Fisher find her rather cute.
“Alright, once I get to work, I should have a finished product by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Thank you, Teacher Fisher.”
Jasmine’s voice trailed off abruptly as Martha suddenly knocked on Fisher’s door, startling Jasmine into thinking she had been exposed, causing her to nearly shrink back. She quickly covered her mouth and blinked at Fisher.
Fisher pointed to the washroom, motioning for her to hide inside. He then opened the door to reveal Martha, holding a folded piece of paper with a peculiar expression.
“Fisher, this is… um, a service flyer you ordered? A staff member just delivered it.”
Staff member? A service flyer?
What was that?
Fisher took the paper from Martha’s hand but found it covered in images of voluptuous women and eye-catching artistic text, all gazing at the person reading with flirtatious and provocative messages.
“Special services from the Pink Pavilion. Special discounts on drinks and ladies this Saturday~ All at the Pink Pavilion.”
Fisher’s expression darkened as he covered the images of the voluptuous women and the elegant script above them with his hand.
This was Anna’s way of contacting him; the Pink Pavilion sometimes sent out these promotional flyers to regulars and inns to advertise their sales activities or new ladies.
Anna passed on information in such a way to keep it discreet and distinctive.
When Fisher looked up, he saw that Martha, who had initially turned to leave, had opened her mouth and quietly returned to whisper,
“Listen, Fisher. I know your age comes with certain needs, but you absolutely must not go there.”
“I didn’t go; I just…”
“Don’t even think about it, or Renee will be upset!”
“I understand.”
Fisher, helplessly smiling as Martha began preaching about quick marriage and children, interrupted her and hurriedly closed the door to prevent her from bombarding him further.
After hearing the sound of the door closing, Jasmine peered out from the washroom, examining Fisher and the paper in his hand.
Fisher kept the flyer to his side, preventing her from catching a glimpse of the scandalous images of women, wanting to protect her innocence while pondering Anna’s message which read,
“In two days, 8 PM, meet at Mio Cemetery. Information will be obtained by tomorrow.”
So soon?
Could she ensure obtaining the information she wanted in just a day and a half?
Regardless, he was preparing to go to the cemetery for the meeting, though he would be cautious about whether it might be a trap.
Mio Cemetery was a public cemetery near the outskirts of the city, where many citizens would bury the ashes of their loved ones after their passing. It was quiet there, making it an ideal place for private meetings at night.
With plans forming in his mind, Fisher silently crumpled the Pink Pavilion advertisement into a ball, intending to burn it after returning. He instructed Jasmine to stay in the room for a while and then prepared to head down to help her with her clothing.
