Taste of the crimson age

Once again was the Eden's mage back to the magical place called Rose Garden, home to one of the more famous legal guilds, Black Rose. Home to her friend, Jiyu Kazehime. And just like all the other times she was around, her expectations were far exceeded, the liveliness of everyone and everything around her completely astounding. All of this, of course, meant that there was quite the number of people running and walking about in every single direction. Parents with their children, couples in love and from time to time, some lonely individual who was looking for a bar where they could forget their unfortunate solitude. Leila was looking for a place of a similar nature too, albeit for a different reason. In the distant past when she was merely starting her magical career, she had accepted a contract that was asking for a wine tester. And as they appreciated the girl's examination of the wine greatly, they requested her once more as they produced a new brand, or so it seemed. And even though so much time has passed since then, not that much has changed. She was still no expert in this matter, but she would never refuse a high-quality drink when offered!After few minutes of walking down the main street, she saw the familiar building. Still bearing that same old sign that read 'Wailing Lily', the name of the restaurant where she was supposed to do her task. Large wooden walls, foliage and beautiful roses adorning the windows, several tables in front of the main entrance with a small roof above them, it certainly looked like their business was thriving.

Not hesitating one moment, the silver-haired maiden would smile to herself and push the fancy wooden doors open. Beautiful flowers and magical lights were on every corner of the room where she found herself, people sitting around tables filled with delicious meals that regular people could never really afford. All of those smells were making her hungry already, even though it wasn't too long since she last ate some sweets from a nearby stand. And the overall atmosphere was like nothing like a regular restaurant or a pub, so much more dignified and calm. Finally, she noticed a man that seemed much more familiar than anyone else in the nearby space, the owner who desired her assistance. He was a middle-aged and slightly chubby man who had close to a completely bald head. But the fact that he was talking and laughing alongside his costumers made him look rather sympathetic. The girl carefully approached him and tapped on his shoulder from behind.

"Excuse me... name's Leila Vergious. I believe we have already met, which is why you requested my help again?"

To her words, the man lit up like a Christmas tree, clearly very excited to see the young girl. Without any hesitation, he would quickly shake her hand and lead her toward the back, rooms that were meant for staff only. They went through the well-equipped kitchen, where myriad of chefs worked and back into the cellar, still as cold as ever. When the doors closed behind them, the man turned and looked at her with perhaps even bigger grin than before, if that was even possible.

"Hello there miss! I must be honest, I wasn't expecting to see you looking like this. Hah, I remember that I made a comment that I expected a refined gentleman to come last time we went through this, no? And now look at you, with that outfit! I could not have asked for better!"

He laughed and took out a bottle along with a wine glass. Clearly, he was already prepared for this. Pouring the red wine into the glass and handing it to the girl, he was filled with expectations, his face nearly exploding from it all. Though while Leila might have looked little better now, she still wasn't that refined gentleman he desired. But just as the first time, that did not stop her from trying to act like one anyway! First sniffing the wine and taking in its fragrance was a must. it was actually quite good, or at least she thought it was. The only question was if the taste would be as well. And without delaying it any further, she took a sip. The owner was watching her intently and filled with anticipation, even gulping when she parted the glass from her lips. She took a moment before turning towards him and smiling warmly.

"Yes, it tastes even better than the one before!"

And she wasn't even lying. As far as she remembered that taste from nearly one year ago, this was a great pleasure for her taste buds. The owner laughed again and slapped her back quite forcefully, though he clearly didn't mean to.

"Thank you, miss! I really appreciate this. I believe I rewarded you with a ticket for my restaurant last time? I understand that life of a professional mage is a busy one, so how about we take the bottle upstairs and I treat you to the most delicious items on the menu right now?"

And why refuse such an offer? She already knew just how good the food here could be from watching other costumers, so she just nodded with a somewhat mischevious grin on her face, prepared to stuff herself to full tonight!