The crowd dispersed after a while, whereas the teachers and Dicus stayed. They were all looking at Luna since she apparently knew the man who had just ridden off.
“Yes, Mr. Hydle. His name is Mag. He is the father of one of my students,” Luna answered. She didn’t understand why they were all fixing their eyes on her.
“Do you know where he lives?” he asked, excited.
“Yes. He owns a restaurant at the far end of the Aden Square. You can find him there. He is really a great cook.”
Now they understood why Mag had said he had a cooking job to do. They had considered it his lame excuse. What was baffling them now was why he had turned Hydle down. The way they saw it, joining Hydle’s project was far more rewarding than running a restaurant since every participant got at least 100 gold coins a month. A normal teacher’s monthly salary was only around 30 gold coins.How did an owner of a restaurant manage to get a pass from Novan? Dicus wondered. I thought he was an official from Rodu or something.
Hydle nodded. “Thank you.” He felt so relieved now that he found out where Mag lived; he could go talk with him whenever he wanted. That bike had really whetted his curiosity.
The black thing wrapping the wheel, the chain, the gears, the light yet strong material… Everything about this bike was driving his crazy.
If it weren’t for his classes, he would have gone to that restaurant right now. He was known as a leading authority in mechanics, but that bike had made him realize how ignorant he was.
Luna nodded and went off. Why is Mr. Hydle so interested in Mag? Suddenly, she stopped. Has he found out Mag is a math genius?
But I don’t think math plays such a great role in mechanics. Then she saw the magic school. Wait, I thought Amy is too young to start school yet?
“Mr. Hydle, how is the project going?” Dicus asked. He was responsible for the funding of this project, so he needed to know the progress.“I’m afraid it’s not going very well. We have managed to convert steam pressure into kinetic energy, but how to use this energy in a machine is still baffling us.” Then he looked in the direction of the Aden Square and smiled. “However, I think I’ve found a solution now. If that man joins us, we may be able to see the first steam vehicle soon. Steam will change the world.”
“I look forward to that day. Good luck!” Dicus also turned to look. Mag…
…
Mag was riding at a normal speed since he didn’t want to sweat and have to take a shower.
He said hello to Black Coal and Green Pea when he passed Urien’s shop. Ugly Duckling also meowed in a tired voice.
When Mag arrived at his restaurant, dozens of people were already waiting there. They were surprised when they saw the bike.
“That’s a fancy ride you’ve got there, Mag,” Harrison said as Mag got off.
“It’s just a bike. I use it to take my kid to school. Nothing fancy about it,” Mag said, smiling. He nodded at the people who said hello to him and pulled out his keys to open the door.
The customers didn’t understand how Mag could maintain balance on only two wheels and how this bike thing could go that fast.
“Good morning, Boss,” Yabemiya said. She also stared curiously at the bike.
“Good morning, Miya,” Mag said, opening the door. “Can you carry the bike inside for me? Don’t worry about Ugly Duckling. It’s just a little tired.”
She nodded. “Sure, Boss.” She walked to the bike and lifted it up carefully. It was much lighter than it looked despite all the metal and stuff.
“Sorry, we will be open in 10 minutes,” Mag said to the crowd with a smile, closing the door.
“Just put it behind the counter,” Mag said to his waitress. It was not very gentlemanly to ask a girl to do the heavy labor for him, but she might be 10 times stronger than him. The bike was as heavy to her as an apple was to a normal human.
“Ugly Duckling doesn’t look so well…” she said, worried.
Mag took a look at the cat curled up in the basket. “Don’t worry. It will be fine.” He went upstairs and changed into his cooking clothes. “Oh, Miya, I think you can have a tofu pudding for breakfast, a tofu pudding and roujiamo at lunch, and the same for super.”
“Thank you, Boss, but you said only two meals every day are free.”
“No, I said you can eat whatever you want with 1,200 copper coins.” Then he made a bowl of sweet tofu pudding for her. “Eat. We’ll open soon.”
