Friends in The City
Ayou arrived at their Office, but his entrance was still the same.
He appeared out of thin air on the Office ceiling, then plummeted straight to the ground.
Guess why the book is titled
After Ayou fell to the ground, he got a mouthful of dust.
"Ptooey, ptooey!"
Then he got up.
"Why does this entrance feel so familiar?"
"Ptooey, it's so dry."
After Ayou stood up, he looked around their Office.
"It seems similar to the Office in the Book World, but there's something not quite right about it, a feeling I can't quite describe."
Just as Ayou was still thinking,
"Oh well, let's check their fridge."
Then, Ayou walked straight to the fridge.
Above the fridge were three fridge magnets, which were headshots of the three of them.
Upon opening the fridge, the limited edition cake came into view.
Ayou looked at the cake in front of him, and tears unconsciously flowed from the corners of his mouth.
"Slurp."
After wiping away the tears from the corners of his mouth, Ayou dabbed a bit of cream with his hand and tasted it.
"Mmm, delicious."
"But it seems to have gone a bit bad because it's been out for a while. I'll just throw it away for them later."
Then, Ayou picked up the cake and carried it out of the Office. After leaving the Office, there was a pathway.
Ayou looked at the pathway that led directly east and west, then looked around for a trash can. He didn't find one at first glance.
So Ayou left with the cake.
"Turn right and walk for 130 minutes... Let's go."
In the distance, a data-corrupted afterimage seemed to appear, existing for only a moment before vanishing.
...
"The supervisor of the old L Corp has been found. He is currently..."
"Let's observe his movements first. The old L Corp has already self-destructed. And that unknown power has spread throughout The City..."
"He went to buy a cake..."
"Buy a cake? What is this?"
"Then, my lord, what about Gallion's remains?"
"...
After Ayou had walked for a long time,
"Damn it, I'm exhausted. I'm going to find something good to reward myself with later."
"I don't feel tired in The Library. But walking out here, I'm exhausted. The Library is truly amazing."
After walking for about another half an hour, Ayou noticed a very long queue ahead.
"Why are so many people queuing?"
Then, Ayou pulled a lucky person aside and asked.
"What? This is the storefront?"
"Damn it, so many people queuing. How long do I have to wait for this?"
"This... I'll just wait."
So Ayou joined the queue and moved forward with it.
The queue kept moving forward, and people kept joining from behind.
In front of Ayou was a hunchbacked old man, queuing with a little girl.
Looking back, the queue was so long that its end was out of sight.
Ayou was now thinking about what to do to keep himself from getting bored while queuing, muttering to himself,
"What should I do?"
Then, a voice of a "High-Quality Male of The City" came from behind him.
"Sir, where are you from?"
Ayou turned his head abruptly upon hearing the voice.
"Huh? Me? How should I put this?"
"Your attire is quite unique."
The man in front of him scrutinized Ayou's Librarian uniform.
Ayou followed the other person's gaze to his clothes.
"Oh, this was made by my superior."
"Hmm, I see. It seems your superior is very skillful."
Ayou remembered a certain popcorn machine.
"Uh, yes, very skillful indeed."
"May I admire it?"
"This... go ahead and look, I have nothing to lose."
Then the man in front of him began to examine Ayou's clothes.
"Exquisite fabric, ingenious design. Just the right amount of gilded patterns. Elaborate yet not..."
10,000 words omitted here.
What Ayou was thinking was,
"This person is so good at praising. Speaking of which, the clothes Angela made are indeed not bad."
"How was this made? Is it really that good? Why can't I feel it?"
After queuing for an unknown amount of time, the person behind him had even made a miniature version of Ayou on the spot.
"Sir, this is for you."
The man behind him handed the mini doll to Ayou.
Ayou looked at the small doll in front of him.
"What is this?"
"This is a little something I made while queuing just now."
Ayou looked at the small doll, which bore a 90% resemblance to himself.
"No, this... how can I accept this?"
"Let's be friends. It's nice to have someone accompany me during such a long wait."
"You also showed me even more exquisite works."
"Alright, then I'll reluctantly accept it."
Then Ayou took the small doll and fastened it to his waist.
The man took a small card from his chest.
"This is my business card, Li Mu Lili. I am a tailor. My tailor shop is nearby; if you're interested, you can come and have a look."
After Ayou took the business card, he also began to introduce himself.
"Oh, okay, my name is Ayou, and my current job is a Librarian."
Li Mu Lili replied upon hearing this,
"That's a very novel job."
"Hey, the two at the back, no more queuing. We're out. Come earlier next time if you want."
"Huh?"
Ayou heard the voice from afar, looked at the shop ahead, and thought those two words in his heart.
"It's over."
"What a coincidence?"
"What's over? It's just the two of us."
Then Ayou recalled what the shop assistant had just said.
"Ah, ah, I misheard."
"The last two happened to be for us."
When they reached the storefront,
"Um, is this okay?"
Ayou pulled out a large iron rod.
"S-sir, what are you doing? We're just a cake shop, there's no need to rob us, is there?"
"Robbery?