Chapter 548 – A Grand Feast

Mo Lan listened as Rose introduced every dish on the menu. Each one had its own unique character, and just hearing the descriptions made her want to try them all.

She wanted to order everything, which left her somewhat indecisive.

Just then, Rose said, “Running into you today has made me so happy, senior. Tonight’s Merfolk’s Tears are on me — this is absolutely something you can’t miss.”

Dora refused to be outdone. “If you’re covering the drinks, then I’ll treat everyone to dessert! How about a large Runaway Ice Cream?”

“Then the main course is on me — one large Sunken Ship Treasure Platter will do,” Lena said. Before Mo Lan could refuse, she turned and called toward the seawater beside the starshine giant shell, “Glancius, stop sulking over there! Four Merfolk’s Tears, four Runaway Ice Creams, and one large Sunken Ship Treasure Platter.”

Glancius rose from the sea.

“Wait. Medium portions will be fine for the Runaway Ice Cream and Sunken Ship Treasure Platter,” Mo Lan said. “Besides those, I’d also like four cups each of siren’s Lullaby, Bubble Coral, Moonlight Tide, and Pirate’s Regret. One medium portion each of Starfish Caramel, Merfolk Dressing-Mirror Cake, Forgetting Shell Cake, and Crystal Beach Shaved Ice. And for the mains as well — one medium portion each of Seaweed Elf Spiral Pasta, Tidesong Conch Chowder, Coral Reef Fish-and-Chips, and Captain’s Lucky Dinner.”

Rose, Dora, and Lena watched her close the fishskin booklet after rattling off that list, their expressions growing increasingly blank. “Isn’t that… a bit too much?”

The three of them were still in the stage of diligently saving money, far from financial freedom, and they never over-ordered when dining out.

But Mo Lan didn’t need to worry about such things. “I want to try a little of everything! I’m just too curious.”

Once she got busy with work, she couldn’t be bothered to go out to eat. Who knew when she’d come here again? She might as well try as much as she could while she had the chance.

Still, she understood the situation Rose and the others were in. When she herself had been a young witch, Mama Shanna had been even older than them and still that poor — let alone Rose and her friends.

The younger a witch was, the poorer she tended to be. After all, they were all starting from nothing.

Only Alchemy Witches and Potion Witches fared slightly better, and clearly none of Rose, Dora, or Lena fell into those categories.

This merfolk restaurant was a high-end magical establishment — a single dish or drink cost at least thirty gold coins. What she had ordered would require four or five Magic Gold Coins.

“Besides, I want to take a photo of the feast and send it to Vasida and the others. I can only ask everyone to help me eat more so nothing goes to waste. No need to save me money — you all know I’ve got plenty of gold coins!”

What witch didn’t know about the Dawn Society?

They had not just ordinary gold coin cards, but even Magic Gold Coin Cards.

Every witch had benefited from this, now able to accumulate magical power and exchange Gem Coins for gold coins.

The expenses Rose and her friends had incurred after leaving the Wilds, as well as the first month’s rent for the shop they’d leased on the seaside boulevard, had all been paid by exchanging magical power for ordinary gold coin cards.

Mo Lan, founder of the Dawn Society and master of Card Magic — of course she wasn’t short on money.

Hearing her say this, Rose and the others stopped worrying.

Their means were limited, and it was enough that they’d offered what they could. If their senior wanted to treat them to a grand feast, that was her gesture of goodwill too.

At worst, they’d secretly use a Dietary Fortification Card today to boost their appetites and eat a bit more. They were determined not to let a single coin their senior spent go to waste.

After a while, Glancius manipulated the seawater, raising it into a water bridge.

One end of the bridge connected to Lady Aquina’s food service station at the starshine giant shell, while the other reached their table.

The flowing water bridge carried dish after dish to their table.

It was packed full, without a single gap.

At the same time, a portion of Mo Lan’s payment was refunded.

“Lady Aquina says that since it is Ms. Moira’s first visit, she deeply regrets being unable to keep you company. All dishes are half price,” Glancius said.

Mo Lan and the others looked toward the bar area.

Aquina raised her glass to them.

Though she held a wand in one hand and still had the leisure to raise a glass with the other, with all the cookware and bar tools preparing food and drinks on their own, the truth was she couldn’t leave the bar for even a moment.

That was her “mobile kitchen” — if she stepped away, all the busily working cookware and bar tools would go on strike.

Mo Lan and the others also picked up the Merfolk’s Tears that had arrived first, raising their glasses in return.

Merfolk’s Tears was a pale blue wine that looked much like the seawater she had seen today, only more clear and luminous, with a glowing pearl resting at the bottom of the glass.

The first sip was slightly salty. It lingered briefly on the lips and teeth, carrying a faint, sweet wine fragrance.

After that first sip, Mo Lan turned her attention to the laughter of the merfolk servers in the sea. She could understand them, but she was quite certain it wasn’t the wine’s doing.

She had already studied the merfolk language. However, this was her first time hearing merfolk actually speak — when the sounds reached her ears, she still had to mentally translate before she could grasp the meaning.

“Does the taste seem a bit strange?” Rose asked her.

Mo Lan nodded. “This is my first time drinking wine with a salty flavor.”

“Ha ha ha! The first time I drank it, I honestly thought I was drinking seawater. Later I learned that the first sip is the worst — it gets better and better as you keep drinking. The best part is at the very end, when you eat that glowing pearl candy and then listen to the merfolk singing. That’s when it’s truly sublime.”

Rose said.

“I’m different — I actually love that initial salty taste the most,” Dora said, taking a small spoon and scooping out the glowing pearl candy from her glass. “So I usually eat the candy first, then sip the wine slowly.”

“I think it tastes best if you let it sit for three minutes before drinking,” Lena said.

The three of them each had their own way of drinking Merfolk’s Tears.

Mo Lan roughly understood now — the reason Merfolk’s Tears could temporarily let someone understand the merfolk language was entirely because of the glowing pearl candy at the bottom of the glass.

The wine itself was slightly salty, but the candy was sweet. As time passed, the wine’s flavor would change.

Mo Lan didn’t care for salty drinks either, but she was curious about the glowing pearl candy. Like Dora, she scooped it out first to examine it.

She couldn’t tell what it was made of.

She stirred it with the small spoon to speed up its dissolution, then took another sip. Sure enough, the saltiness was gone, replaced by a gentle sweetness that was very refreshing.

The sweetness was just right for her taste, so she took Lena’s suggestion and ate the glowing pearl candy outright. That way, the remaining wine would stay at her preferred level of sweetness throughout.

The moment she ate the glowing pearl candy, the voices of the merfolk servers changed for Mo Lan.

Without having to recall the meaning of each sound and each word, she could simply understand what they were saying.

It was just like when she had first been born and discovered she had no language barrier — she could naturally understand the Witch language and read Witch Script.

“Can you read merfolk writing after drinking this?” Mo Lan asked curiously.

“No,” Lena said. “I’ve tried. After finishing the drink, merfolk writing still looks as tangled as seaweed.”