— France, Paris—
Coffee Shop 9:47am
The morning sun swept across the café. A dark-haired man with blue eyes entered the coffee shop.
He walked past groups of chattering people and took a seat in an empty corner, resting casually his chin on his right hand.
A tall waiter, around mid-30s, approached him with a leather-bound menu in hand. "Here are your menus."
Loki took the leather menu in one hand and glanced at the pages.
The waiter adds
"Let me know if you have questions about today's specials."
"I would like a café latte; that's probably it," Loki said, his voice even and smooth, as he gave the menu back to the waiter.
The waiter held the leather-bound menu firmly and nodded. "Right away, sir."
Loki ran his finger over his phone screen, playing video games.
He was dressed in casual clothes—wearing a regular dark jacket and black trousers.
The waiter slid over and set a hot cup on the table. "Here is your order." few curls of black steam could be seen, heading towards the light.
The three girls in navy blazers and crisp white collars were huddling together; their voices could be heard near Loki's table.
They are a third-year high school students from Burgundy Magic Academy.
The one with dark hair Irene, who was bored, asked, "How was school been lately?"
"Why would you even ask that question? It has been just a complete disaster everyday." Lea answered in a stoic tone her red hair swept from the ceiling fan.
Irene spoke, "Ehh... it's because you broke up with your boyfriend recently~." her voice had a mix of teasing.
"That guy is too carefree and never takes relationships seriously," Lea declares, in a annoyed tone.
Irene took a sip of her coffee. "Hmm... hmm..." she nodded and added, "That's true, but isn't he handsome, though?"
Lea responded, "Shut up, don't you dare make this conversation any longer. I don't want to talk about him anymore." her cold tone sent chills on Irene nerves.
Irene raise both of her hands and swinging trying to make Lea calm down, a bead of sweat can be seen drop from her face, "Relax, relax..."
She took her phone from the backpack and checked the time.
Angele, the blond hair girl who had been quiet the whole time, ran her fingers over her phone screen, scrolling through social media, speaking, "Hey, want to hear the recent news?"
Irene gently placed her phone back on the table. She cradled her mug, taking a sip, "What is it again?" she responded after lowering the mug. Her voice was back to being bored.
Lea's fingers touched her sandwich as she held it with both hands and started eating. "Probably some random dull news again; she got it from one of those TikTok reels." Her voice was filled with doubt, as if she didn't believe Angele.
Angele was heard laughing proudly in the background. "Oh, Lea, guess what? I have some big news for you!"
"Royd Sargent came here to France for vacation!!" Her voice was so loud that it echoed through the café.
"Wha—?" Lea choked on her sandwich mid-munch. "Angele! Your voice is too—!" Her words were cut off by Irene pounding on the table.
Irene slammed her left hand on the table and stood up. "No way... y-you... you mean Royd Sargent, the Z-Rank adventurer from America?!!" Her eyes shifted from boredom to starry-eyed excitement.
Lea, still recovering from her earlier choke after finishing her sandwich, she crossed her arms and looked away. "Hmph. Even if he did come, how would such a small thing benefit us?"
Angele spoke in a teasing, playful tone. "Oh~ it definitely benefits me a lot!"
She sat back from the table, nodding and smiling with pride, crossing her arms. "And since he's here, I can finally ask him for an autogra—" her voice abruptly stopped mid-sentence.
— Thud!
Suddenly, the ground trembled violently as the café's window glasses shattered and few of the mugs hit the ground letting out a crack noise.
A deafening roar echoed from afar—something colossal, something monstrous was coming.
Angele hugged Irene's body tightly like a scared child. "Kyahhh~!" she screamed loudly.
"Earthquake!!" Despite the ground shaking, she still acted like she was the drama queen.
Irene, after being hugged tightly, let out a small whimper. "Wai—! Let go of me! I can't breathe—!"
A cross-popping vein appeared on Lea's top right face. She crossed her arms and said, "You're overreacting!
She bonked Angele on the head, eliciting an "Ow!" as she eventually let go of Irene, who was having a hard time breathing.
Léa added, "Anyway, let's get out of here!"
An emergency alarm announcement could be heard across the entire country of France through multiple devices.
A message from the Adventurer Association Council, Secretary Head of France, speaking through a microphone connected in multiple city: "All citizens near Dieppe and in the following cities—Lille, Rouen, Caen, Le Mans, Paris—please evacuate! We will handle the situation as soon as possible!"
"AHHHHH!" "HELP!" people from the café screamed and immediately went into panic, turning the surroundings into chaos.
"I repeat, all citizens near Dieppe and in the following cities—Lille, Rouen, Caen, Le Mans, Paris—please evacuate! The adventurers will handle the situation as soon as possible!"
Loki, unaware of the chaos, was still playing Tekken. He was getting rage-baited by a random player in the match. "How did this dude just stop my combo randomly?"
His fingers ran through the phone in irritation. He was slowly getting annoyed as the game went on and he mumbles, "This is why I don't like playing in multiplayer."
The waiter from earlier approached him and tapped his shoulder. "Uhh... sir, shouldn't you evacuate?"
The question hung in the air. The waiter seemed to be more worried about the customer than about himself.
Loki didn't seem to notice the waiter beside him as he continued to play. He slammed the table in annoyance.
The waiter body jolted from the sudden slam, pondering, "T-the hell is wrong with him?" his hands shaking.
He shook his head and let out a deep breath, then added, "Calm down, calm down, Jerome. I know how to handle situations like this..."
"I should convince him to get out of this place now—?" His voice was cut off by a sudden sound.
"Huh?"