Daechir yelled, "Hurry up and keep searching!"
Number Three, as if granted a reprieve, immediately turned and fled, not even bothering to drive the car. Alice and Vega left the mountain forest and walked for seven kilometers, arriving at a small town bustling with people. The town had a permanent population of just over five hundred, mostly tourists. "Auntie, I'm so hungry. Let's find a restaurant to eat," Vega said.
"But we don't have any money. I don't know what kind of currency they use in this era."
Vega put down her backpack and rummaged for a long time, finally finding a gold coin. "This 'Bira coin' should be worth something, right?"
"Alright, let's try," Alice said. They walked into a small shop, and Vega said to the shopkeeper, "Do you accept this gold coin?"
"This is a Luminary Coin, of course, we accept it, but I don't have that many shillings to give you in change."
"Shillings? How many can we get for it?" Vega asked.
"One Luminary Coin can be exchanged for fifteen hundred shillings." Vega had made some preparations for this escape; she had learned the local language. Alice listened from the side, completely bewildered. "Where can we exchange this?" Vega asked.
"There's a bank up ahead, you can go check." The two left the shop again. Ten minutes later, they returned, but they had only managed to exchange it for thirteen hundred shillings. Seeing the two return, the shopkeeper immediately greeted them with a smile, "Ladies, what would you like to eat?" Alice was craving food from her homeland. She said to Vega, "Ask him if he has burritos."
"Auntie, this is Africa. How could they possibly have that here?"
"Try asking, maybe they do."
Vega asked, and indeed, they didn't. The shop owner hadn't even heard of the dish. The two had to make do, ordering a grilled fish, two servings of chicken rice, and a portion of roast lamb with bananas. As soon as they sat down to eat, people kept glancing their way. Vega was rather plain-looking; she had a flat figure and somewhat dark skin. Alice, however, was much more beautiful. She was one meter seventy-five tall, with a small round face, large, jewel-like blue eyes, and long, dark hair. Her figure was slender yet firm, like a female warrior. "Auntie, you're so charming. All the men in the shop are secretly looking at you."
"Don't talk nonsense. Maybe they're looking at you."
Vega chuckled, "I'm not talking nonsense. Look at that man to your left, he's not even blinking, like he's lost his soul." Alice turned her head, and a "pfft" of laughter escaped her. "This person really looks like Billy."
"You mean the eldest brother from the Yurinai family?" Vega asked.
Alice nodded, suppressing her laughter. "Yes!"
As the two were talking, a woman walked in. She was exceptionally ugly. As she passed by the two women, she muttered something. Alice asked, "What did she say?"
"She said, 'What beautiful girls!'"
After the woman sat down, she continued to look at the two and nodded at them amicably. "Auntie, I feel like this woman is quite unusual."
"I think so too. How about we invite her to eat with us?"
"Okay, I'll go try."
Vega stood up and walked over, and after a moment, she actually managed to invite the woman over. The three sat down, and the woman introduced herself, "My name is Uwa. I wander around alone. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Alice and Vega also introduced themselves. Uwa asked, "You two aren't locals, are you?"
"We're out traveling and just happened to come here," Vega lied.
Uwa turned to Alice and asked, "Miss, why haven't you said anything?" Vega quickly explained, "She doesn't understand the language here."
Alice couldn't understand what the two were chatting about and could only smile awkwardly from the side. Uwa ate a lot, her appetite equivalent to that of three adult men. After finishing her meal, she stood up and paid the bill. This time, it cost a total of two hundred and ten shillings; Alice and Vega had actually eaten less than fifty shillings' worth. Watching Uwa walk away, Vega asked, "Auntie, where are we going?"
"When I was with Ronnie, he always had so many ideas. Now, I don't have any good ones either."
"How about we go find Amandine's son?"
"Do you know where he is?"
"I heard Daechir say he has two sons, one named Afastin, and another named De Silva."
"De Silva? That name sounds familiar. I think a professor in the city-state used to have that name too."
"That's not strange. There should be many people with the same name."
"Where are we going to find him?"
Vega shook her head. "I don't know either. We can only ask around slowly."
Vega's actual age was over seventy. She had been killed at nineteen and then imprisoned for so many years, never having been in a relationship; she was still a virgin. She was afraid that one day she would grow old again. She wanted to find De Silva to get the "Telomere Rejuvenation Liquid." Alice hadn't thought that far ahead and simply replied, "Alright, let's leave here first."
Not long after they left, Uwa started following them. Alice was quite alert and quickly noticed someone was tailing them. The two quickened their pace and, at a corner, jogged into a shop to hide. When Uwa caught up, she had lost track of them. She looked around and finally chose the path to the left to pursue them. "Why is it her?" Alice muttered to herself. Vega also said, "Why is she following us?" Just as they were about to leave the shop, Alice cried out, "Wait, look!" Vega followed her pointing finger and saw Number Three appear from the intersection ahead. The two quickly hid again. "Could that woman also be one of Daechir's people?" Vega guessed. "Shh, don't talk. Number Three is coming over."
Uwa hadn't gone far but was hiding at the corner, observing. She had seen everything that just happened. "What are you two doing?" a woman inside the shop suddenly shouted. Hearing the shout, Number Three immediately walked towards the shop. Alice and Vega, frightened, wanted to hide further inside, but the woman grabbed them. "You think you can just damage my things and leave?" Just as Vega was about to plead, Number Three had already entered. He spotted Alice and Vega at a glance and said, "How did you two end up here? Hurry and come back with me." Alice had no choice but to step forward and ask, "Is Daechir nearby too?" Number Three sighed, "She's furious. She said if I don't find you and bring you back, she'll destroy me too." The shop woman, seeing the three completely ignoring her, roared, "How are you going to compensate for the damaged goods?" Vega stepped forward, pointed at Number Three, and said, "He's our dad. Ask him for the money." With that, she pulled Alice and started to walk out.
Just as Number Three was about to follow, the woman grabbed his arm. "Where's the money?" Alice and Vega took the opportunity to break into a run. They ran in the direction where Uwa was. Uwa was watching the commotion and hadn't had time to hide when the two collided with her. All three were quite embarrassed. Uwa, trying to make conversation, asked, "Who was that man just now?" Vega didn't answer, only saying to Alice, "Let's go, quickly."