Chapter 242 - May I Take Your Order?

* * *

"..."

From the moment she had put Limon to work as a gardener, Maia had expected to see something extraordinary. Whenever physical work was involved, he always produced remarkable results.

That was why she had not been surprised when he neatly finished a garden that would have taken a dozen skilled gardeners an entire day in less than an hour, or when she saw that the cut surfaces of the branches he had trimmed were as smooth as glass.

But at this moment, she could only remain silent. The garden's astonishingly dramatic transformation at Limon's hands had left her speechless.

He had not moved any trees or changed the overall landscaping. He had merely trimmed unnecessary branches, removed a few obtrusive decorations, and adjusted slightly uneven proportions. Everything he had done was minor, a collection of tiny tasks.

Yet those small touches had made the garden astonishingly more beautiful, restful, and elegant than before. Had she not watched him work, she might have mistaken it for an entirely different garden.

"... What did you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I asked how you managed to change the very atmosphere of the garden with just a little trimming."

Limon shrugged at Maia's question.

"I wasn't trying to change it. I just noticed a few things that bothered me and touched them up."

"You saw shortcomings in this garden?"

"Rather than shortcomings, there were a few places I felt could be better."

His nonchalant answer left Maia silent once more. This was Quetzalcoatl's headquarters. Naturally, the people who maintained its garden were world-class gardeners, and until now, even she had never found the slightest fault with it.

How on earth could he find anything wanting in it, much less improve on it? It was simply beyond belief.

Yet her surprise was nothing compared with Hermann's.

'... Painting in the dragon's eyes.'

Hermann recalled an old Eastern tale in which a painted dragon had truly come alive and flown into the sky once its eyes were painted in. What Limon had done was much the same: he had supplied the tiny measure of perfection still missing from a garden already arranged to near perfection.

The difference was finer than a single sheet of paper. Yet for artists who had reached the pinnacle of their craft, it was also an immense barrier that months, years, or sometimes even a lifetime of effort could not overcome. As the man known as the world's foremost sculptor, Hermann understood that all too well.

That was why he had to ask.

"... Lee, why didn't you use that carving knife yourself?"

The skill with which Limon had added perfection to this magnificent garden told him everything. Had Limon taken up the carving knife, he could surely have sculpted even the Venus de Milo that Hermann himself had failed to complete without difficulty. Why, then, had he insisted on having Hermann take the knife's test?

Limon shrugged at Hermann's bewildered question.

"It wasn't that I didn't use it. I couldn't."

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, Limon took the glass case out from inside his clothes. He scratched his cheek as he clearly showed Hermann the carving knife, which, unlike when Hermann had picked it up, neither changed shape nor emitted light.

"I'm not qualified."

Perhaps because the answer was so unexpected, Hermann stared blankly.

"... Why? Why aren't you qualified?"

"Well, perhaps it's because I'm not a sculptor?"

"You created a 'sculpture' like this, and you're saying you're not a sculptor?"

In disbelief, Hermann gestured at the garden, completed as though it were a single sculpture. But Limon merely shrugged.

"I told you, I only filled in what was missing. You can't call that sculpting."

Taking someone else's music wholesale and changing only the parts one disliked was called arranging, not composing. In the same way, Limon calmly explained that he had never done any sculpting, so he was not qualified. Hermann was dumbfounded.

"You've truly never sculpted anything?"

"No."

"Not once in your entire life?"

"That's what I'm telling you."

'This garden was made by someone who has never sculpted anything in his life?'

A shiver ran through Hermann.

Of course, gardeners and sculptors were different, and being able to create a splendid garden did not mean one could sculpt well. But Limon was not even a gardener to begin with.

Nevertheless, the perception that had let him spot the garden's deficiencies at a glance, and the dexterity with which he had so easily filled them in, gave Hermann a certain conviction: even if Limon were put to work as a sculptor rather than a gardener right now, he would do it perfectly. That was what gave him an idea.

'With talent like this...!'

The daunting challenge of the platinum-colored carving knife. The debt of gratitude he owed Limon. His own illness, for which a complete cure could not be guaranteed. And above all, the admiration and anticipation inspired by such overwhelming talent, reminiscent of how Salieri must have felt upon first meeting Mozart. All of those feelings mingled and worked upon him until Hermann spoke before he knew it.

"Lee, would you perhaps be interested in learning sculpture from me?"

* * *

["Princess, there's something I wanted to ask you."]

'What is it?'

["We came out to investigate ambrosia, didn't we?"]

'We did.'

Walking with a bluebird perched on her shoulder, the black-haired girl, Li Qingyu, readily agreed with the telepathic message that reached her mind.

["Then why did you come somewhere like this?"]

'To obtain some of this rumored ambrosia for ourselves, of course.'

Yu Na-gyeong blinked. Then, after slowly looking around, she asked with an involuntarily dubious expression.

["... Here?"]

Wide streets without a scrap of litter. Shops adorned with splendid display windows. Skyscrapers springing up everywhere. Apart from the languid pedestrians nodding off on roadside railings or yawning as they passed, everything here was lavishly appointed.

Avenida Paulista. A street at the highest point in São Paulo, a city already situated on a plateau, and also its busiest commercial district. There, Yu Na-gyeong muttered with an even more dubious look.

'No matter how I look at it, I think we've come to the wrong place.'

'Well, we'll know once we check.'

Li Qingyu smiled. Then she addressed the green-haired woman in a light red outfit following behind her.

"Barbara, could you show us to a department store?"

"... A department store?"

"I'm interested in the local specialties."

"Whatever you wish for, I will obtain it for you. You need only ask."

It was a courteous answer befitting someone entrusted with guiding an honored guest. But her eyes were full of suspicion, wondering what dubious scheme Li Qingyu was plotting this time. Seeing that, Li Qingyu chuckled.

"No, that wouldn't be shopping. I'd rather see things and choose them myself."

As Li Qingyu pointedly remarked that looking and choosing for oneself was the fun of shopping, Barbara's gaze grew even more suspicious. But that was all. Though her duties included surveillance, outwardly she was still only a guide, and she answered politely.

"If that is truly where you wish to go, I will guide you there."

"Yes, thank you."

A short while later, Li Qingyu was genuinely impressed by the department store Barbara had brought them to.

'There are quite a few customers here.'

["... Quite a few? It's practically half air and half people!"]

'Apparently they're having a sale, but even allowing for that, I think we've come to the right place.'

["Sure, a crowded shop is usually a good one, barring false advertising and herd mentality... but can we even get inside?"]

Yu Na-gyeong muttered uneasily. It was hardly surprising: the department store was absolute chaos, packed with customers right from the entrance. The crowd was so immense that even an exceptional martial arts master would struggle to stay upright, let alone squeeze through it.

But Li Qingyu smiled.

'There's no need to worry about that.'

["Huh? Why not?"]

'Because we have an apothecary of the Green Dragon Clan as our guide.'

["...?"]

As Yu Na-gyeong tilted her head at those cryptic words, Barbara stepped forward and spoke in a low voice.

"Everyone, move aside."

They were ordinary words, neither particularly loud nor imbued with psionics. Her voice carried only a hint of irritation. Thus, of the hundreds of people gathered at the entrance, only a few who had just left the department store and were trying to escape the crowd heard her.

But the ripple those few created was anything but small.

"...!"

"Hey, will you hurry up and move...?"

"What? What's going on?"

A few people stared with eyes wide, as though they had seen a ghost. Dozens whose way they blocked followed their gaze and froze stiff. Hundreds sensed something strange in the air, looked around, spotted Barbara, and turned deathly pale.

Barbara did not so much as twitch an eyebrow at the people petrified like stone, their eyes fixed on her green hair and clothing. She simply repeated herself coldly.

"I said, move aside."

"Aaargh, it's the Green Dragon Clan!"

"Everyone, get out of the way!"

"My foot...!"

The next instant, the people packed around the department store entrance scattered in every direction, shouting at the top of their lungs. Once the brief commotion was over, the entrance stood so empty that the earlier crowd might never have existed. Barbara gave a short snort, then addressed Li Qingyu politely.

"I believe you may enter now."

"Thank you for your trouble."

"You are too kind."

Barbara modestly replied that she had done nothing in particular. That was not untrue. All she had done was say the same thing twice. It was the result that defied belief.

But unlike Yu Na-gyeong, whose beak hung wide open, Li Qingyu accepted the sight as perfectly natural. She browsed leisurely through the department store before stopping in front of an elaborately decorated shop.

"Would you wait a moment?"

"... Is that the sort of specialty you were interested in?"

"After all, Brazil's traditional specialties are medicine and coffee."

Though she regarded the smiling Li Qingyu suspiciously, Barbara ultimately stepped back and bowed as requested. Leaving her there, Li Qingyu entered the shop.

"Welcome! May I take your order? Will you be having coffee here, or would you like to purchase beans?"

The shop had several tables laid out like a café, with all manner of coffee beans displayed along one wall. Li Qingyu smiled at the girl in a waitress's uniform who greeted her with a bright smile.

"I'm looking for drugs, not coffee beans."

"Oh, is that what you're after?"

"Yes. Do you have any good products?"

"Of course."

The young waitress answered readily, then pointed to a display case filled with assorted bottles on the opposite side from the coffee beans.

"From cocaine, heroin, and marijuana to mixed blends, just name it. Here at Coffee & Drug, we carry every government-approved narcotic."

Yu Na-gyeong's beak fell wide open.