I showed Avila the entire old town with all the important sights. We stopped at the shopping center where Jupiter¹Well, it was mentioned in an earlier chapter. was.

"I want to go in there."

Avila pointed to the upper floor where Jupiter was. I nodded and directed her up the escalator.

"Is there something in particular that you want to see?"

"Not really, but the things in the pictures looked interesting."

The escalator led directly into the interior of the shop. Avila stormed off and left Fen and me behind. I turned to the smartphone area because Avila needed her own smartphone. I chose one of the more beginner-friendly models.

I had just decided on a smartphone when Avila came to me with a giant box in her hands.

"Avila, what is that?"

"This? It's a coffee maker."

"You want a coffee maker?"

I asked her, a little confused.

"Coffee here is the same as in our world, isn't it?"

"I think so, but are you sure that device you choose is the right one?"

The name on the box reminded me of those exaggerated long names just to make the device sound kind of cool. The name of the device was Benetto SML 2580 XL Turbo express. I had to roll my eyes while reading this name.

"Let's look at the other devices, okay?"

While we were going to the coffee machine department, I couldn't get one question out of my head, what did Turbo express have to do with coffee? I just couldn't think of a plausible reason.

When I arrived in the coffee machines corridor, I realized that I had very little knowledge about coffee. Of course, I knew how to make coffee, whether with a capsule or a filter, but it was still a bit strange. Many of the devices were simple filter machines, but some were strangely huge and had all sorts of functions. One of the coffee machines even had a voice assistant, all that was missing was an Omadon coffee maker, with its voice assistant Alessia.

“Look, Avila, we don't have infinite money, so you should settle for a simpler model. Look, this machine costs ⅛ of the price."

I pointed to one of the automatic filter coffee machines.

"But it says easy to use?"

She pointed to one of the statements on the box, and I couldn't help rolling my eyes.

"Avila, they are all easy to use because if they weren't, nobody would buy them."

She looked a little indignant.

"And why is it explicitly stated here?"

"Probably to mislead people like you."

Avila started to sulk when I finally convinced her to take the cheap machine. It made a big difference to buy a device for € 80 or € 800.

 

=== A little later.

 

We were on our way back to the apartment when I received a call.

"Hello?"

“Hi, Siana. Can you come to my grandfather's house?"

Desmond was on the other end of the phone. His voice was weak, and he looked exhausted.

"I come over after drop by at home."

"... No problem."

Without another word, he hung up. I was a little worried because his voice sounded weak.

"Avila, Fen, let's go a little faster."

We hurried a bit, but we didn't miss stopping at a supermarket on our way back because our fridge was almost empty. When I got home, I started sorting out the purchases because Avila unpacked the new coffee machine. She read the instruction manual as I had explained to her.

"Hmm... It says I need a filter here."

"Here!"

I took the newly bought coffee filters out of the shopping bag and tossed them over to her. She caught the filters with ease and looked back at the instruction manual.

"Thank you."

She thanked me and devoted herself entirely to the machine again. I prepared food for Fen and gave it to him. Unlike Avila, who had to wait for my return.

“I'm just saying this as a hint! Always be careful when handling the devices! The coffee is over the sink."

I pointed to the cabinet over the sink. She nodded, and I took the smartphone out of my pocket.

"Here. It would help if you had your own smartphone. You can use it to call me at any time if I'm not at school! Please remember to read the instructions before using it.”

I rummaged around a few things, stuffed them into my backpack, and said goodbye to both of them. I left the house and made my way to Desmond Senior's home.

I made sure that nobody was around and let my proper form come out. Why should I run, I thought to myself and decided to fly. I started swinging my wings and soared into the air. The houses grew small below me, and only when they were small enough for me did I fly in the direction of Desmond Senior's home.

As I approached the house, I peeked at Desmond's whereabouts from a distance. To my surprise, he was the only one there. He was on the porch, so I dashed down and landed right next to him.

“Wah!? Siana! Don't surprise me like that!? It's good that you're here."

His face turned from a surprising look to a sad one.

"Des, what happens?"

He stayed silent. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Tell me."

"Come with me."

He waved me into the house and went down to a room in the basement. There were innumerable paintings of the same person on a pinboard.

"Before you should take a look at this, take a look."

He showed me the entrance to this room.

So what is that!!

I hadn't even noticed the first time I entered, but the room's entrance was hidden behind a false wall and a cupboard.

“I found this room by accident while searching the house. Look at that. "

He went back into the room, pulled a picture from the wall, and handed it to me.

"And this woman is?"

The woman said nothing to me.

"Nothing? Then take a look. "

He picked up a mirror and held it so that my reflection was right next to the painting in my hand.

"Do you see the similarity?"

I was lost for words because Desmond was undoubtedly right. The woman looked unmistakable like me. The biggest differences between us were that she was a little older, and her hair was golden.