Chapter 9: When Going Out to Eat, Always Remember to Bring Money or Your Phone

After Tibbles had been let out to vent his frustrations today, he had quieted down considerably. He was no longer clamoring to be released all day long, which brought a much-needed sense of peace to Annie. However, Annie couldn't quite figure out why she had suddenly gained two large followers.

Sitting across from Annie were Uncle Coulson, who looked a bit balding, and Aunt Melinda, who always maintained a stern expression as if everyone owed her several million gold coins. The two of them had scurried back to her side immediately after Annie had finished pummeling those two unkillable green monsters.

Uncle Coulson, being somewhat timid, had been so frightened by a single glance from Tibbles that he had fled and remained nowhere to be seen all afternoon, only peeking his head out in front of Annie as dinner time approached.

Annie sighed. The two before her had just explained that they had become her full-time guides on Earth. To welcome the powerful Archmage Annie from the continent of Valoran to Earth, they were representing Earth's official organization, S.H.I.E.L.D., and were specifically responsible for handling all of Annie's affairs.

Therefore, these two were not going anywhere for the time being! *Fine then,* Annie thought. Since she didn't understand this world yet, and since they were willing to provide her with everything regarding food, clothing, housing, and transportation, she would just let them be! She quite liked having free servants delivered right to her door. Otherwise, she had no idea where she would sleep tonight; she couldn't quite bring herself to set a fire or release Tibbles to seize a beautiful mansion just yet!

However, Annie now felt a bit angry again. Although she had felt much better in the afternoon after letting Tibbles out to beat those two green monsters, and had slowly begun to accept the possibility that she might not be able to go home for a while...

Sitting in this magnificent restaurant and looking at the food placed before her, Annie still felt an impulse to burn the chef down. He must be a bad person! Definitely! And since he was a bad person, he could be burned—and Tibbles agreed!

"What's wrong? Don't you like the steak?"

Coulson and Melinda sat in front of Annie, looking at her with smiling, placating expressions. After fully understanding Annie's background and witnessing her strength with their own eyes, the two had calmly accepted their new mission assigned by the Director: pamper and coax Annie so that she wouldn't cause chaos in this world!

Annie's current status was that of an extraterrestrial friend, a little princess of the Mage organization, and a powerful mage in her own right. S.H.I.E.L.D. could not afford any mistakes. As long as Annie didn't engage in any world-threatening behavior, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have to treat her like an ancestor.

"This beef isn't cooked at all!! Look!"

Fuming, Annie used her dining knife to slice through the steak, revealing bright red streaks of blood inside. How did the chef dare serve beef that was clearly undercooked? If she ate it, worms would grow in her stomach, and she absolutely hated worms! Besides, her mother had never let her eat undercooked food before!

Coulson and Melinda looked at the three steaks on the table. Well, they were all medium-rare! It seemed they had been inconsiderate, ordering a steak that wasn't well-done for a child.

But they couldn't be blamed! Coulson was still a bachelor, living a simple life, and Melinda, though married once, was divorced and had no experience looking after children. One couldn't exactly expect two singletons to know how to care for a child, could they?

"Should we ask the kitchen to prepare it again?" Melinda nodded. It was indeed not good to give a child undercooked food, and she prepared to wave over a waiter.

"Forget it, that's too much trouble!"

Annie refused Melinda. In her eyes, that chef must be an apprentice who didn't even know how to cook; it would be faster to do it herself. Annie was already very hungry!

With that, Annie extended her small, pink hand about an inch above the steak. Coulson and Melinda, sitting opposite her, suddenly felt a wave of intense heat rush toward them. To their amazement, they saw the steak beneath her small hand sizzling; in a short moment, the surface turned golden brown, and the red streaks where it had been cut vanished completely.

"Done! Time to eat!"

Annie picked up her knife and fork, quickly slicing the steak and stabbing a piece into her mouth, eating with great gusto. The taste was excellent! *Hmm... strange spices, delicious! Delicious! Five stars for the spices! But the chef gets zero stars—who lets beef stay undercooked?*

Coulson and Melinda stared blankly at Annie's actions, their own cutlery forgotten in their hands. This mage was truly incredible—even eating a meal could be done with such magic? They wondered if they would ever have the chance to learn a trick or two.

Annie looked up, seeing the two of them dazed, and wondered why they weren't eating.

"Aren't you eating? Oh! Do you need me to reheat it for you?" As she spoke, she began to reach out with both small hands.

"No!"

"Please don't! Thank you!"

The two rejected her simultaneously.

Melinda glanced around. Fortunately, the layout of this high-end restaurant was quite good; their position was perfectly shielded from outside views by the surrounding decorative plants. No one should have noticed what just happened! Otherwise, they would have had to spend a lot of effort on damage control.

"I see." Annie withdrew her hands with regret and continued her battle with her plate.

"I want more! More! Yes! Three more portions!!"

The steak was delicious! It was just a pity the portion was too small.

Annie held up two fingers, thought for a moment, and then held up a third. She decided she wanted three more portions, and she was going to eat them all at once!

Coulson waved over a waiter and whispered a few words, signaling the waiter to bring three more identical portions of steak for the little girl, Annie.

"Make sure they are well-done for a child. Try not to let any pink show, thank you!" Melinda quickly called out to the turning waiter to add the instruction, and the waiter nodded understandingly before departing.

A moment later, three portions of steak were brought out. Seeing Annie focused on her food and no longer causing trouble, Coulson and Melinda finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to enjoy the delicacies before them.

A man, a woman, and a child—the scene of the three dining together looked so much like a family.

Watching this warm scene, Coulson suddenly wondered if he should retire from field work, transfer to a desk job, and hurry up and start a family? He wasn't exactly young anymore! Especially today—thinking back, if they hadn't had Annie's protection, they might have been burned to death by now.

"Annie, since you can't return to Valoran for the time being, what do you plan to do next?"

While eating his steak, Coulson asked Annie. He had just caught a glimpse of students getting off a school bus outside the window, which gave him a wonderful idea!

A wonderful idea that would allow Annie to fully understand and integrate into this unfamiliar environment without causing massive chaos! Although this idea required consulting the Director first, Coulson figured it shouldn't be a big problem.

"I don't know?"

Annie said indistinctly, a piece of steak stuffed in her mouth. Back in the Voodoo Lands, her daily routine was to wake up, eat, go out to play, come back in the afternoon to study magic, and then bathe and sleep at night!

If she was bored, she would play pranks on those long-bearded old mage grandfathers—like burning their beards when they weren't looking—or if a monster in the Voodoo Lands forgot to pay her tribute, she would go out and give it a beating!

"Then, would you like to go to school?"

"School? What is school? A magic school?" Annie was curious.

"No, no, no, not a magic school! They don't teach any magic here. It's just a regular school for learning knowledge! There are many children around your age there; they are your classmates. You can learn things and play together," Coulson explained hurriedly.

Melinda's eyes lit up as well; she thought Coulson's idea was quite good. This way, the two of them wouldn't have to spend all day acting as nannies for the little girl. After all, it wasn't sustainable for two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to follow a little girl around like babysitters every day! If Annie was willing to go to school, she would have much more free time.

"A regular school? With lots of classmates? Okay, I want to go!"

Annie suddenly became spirited. She had heard her mother mention that there was a very, very large magic school in Demacia that specialized in teaching apprentices various types of magic. However, she had never seen what a school looked like. Some of her magic she had discovered through play, some her parents had taught her, and some she had "borrowed" by spying on the stuffy old mages and warlocks of the Gray Order.

She had once told her father, Gregory Haste, that she wanted to study at the magic school in Demacia, but her mother had just laughed and said that if Annie went to a magic school, she would be more than qualified to be the principal!

"Uh, Annie, you really want to go? That's great! But we still need to report to the Director for permission."

"That will be two thousand three hundred and thirty-three dollars. Will you be paying by check or card?"

When it came time to pay, a waiter stood smiling before their table. Looking at the messy plates and the various dessert and drink glasses, he bowed slightly and presented the prepared bill.

"Uh..." Coulson's hand froze in his suit pocket, his expression turning awkward. He was doomed—he had forgotten his wallet! He could only turn his neck stiffly to look at Melinda for help.

However, Melinda gave him a sharp glare, her eyes saying: *What are you looking at? I didn't bring mine either!* She was out on a mission today; she had plenty of guns and ammunition on her, but not a single cent of cash!

This was bad. Coulson hesitated for a moment. Seeing the waiter's expression growing increasingly impatient, he thought it might be better to pull out his phone to call for backup. Fortunately, he never left home without communication tools like a phone.

Two high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents needing to call for backup just to finish a meal—this might be a first! As for the option of using S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials to dine for free? Coulson didn't even dare to think about it. If they actually did that, Director Nick Fury would definitely kill them.

Just as Coulson was so embarrassed he wanted to hide under the table, a series of crisp clinking sounds rang out. Annie tossed several coins onto the table. The shiny Valoran gold coins spun in circles on the tray held flat in the waiter's right hand, making a bright, ringing sound as they collided.

"Here! This should be enough, right?" After tossing the coins onto the waiter's tray, Annie grabbed her teddy bear, Tibbles, and hopped down from her chair.

This... this...!

This was enough to blind the waiter, Allen, with its sheer wealth! He felt that in all his years working as a waiter in this restaurant, he had seen all kinds of people. There were those who wrote checks, many who swiped cards, and even the occasional nouveau riche who paid in cash. But! This was the first time he had ever encountered someone paying in gold coins!

Looking at the spinning coins in the tray, Allen seriously considered them. The weight and craftsmanship of these coins were extraordinary! By the look of them, they seemed to be the real deal. If he were to sell them by weight, they would certainly far exceed the cost of this meal!

Should he accept them? Should he? If the coins were real, perhaps he could kindly cover the bill for them? Yes! That was the way to do it! Allen felt he had always been a warm-hearted person, and one should do good deeds like covering a meal for others; such things were good for one's mental and physical health!

Seeing that no one around was noticing him, and that the restaurant's security cameras weren't facing this direction, Allen swiftly and stealthily tucked the heavy gold coins into his pocket, then briskly signed his name on the bill.

(End of Chapter)