A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 40 Star Flower

Quinn stood still.

The snow-white ceramic plates were filled with various Western pastries, and bright flames danced on the sterling silver candlesticks, illuminating the slightly sharp corners of Borna's eyes.

As soon as they met, the atmosphere became inexplicably tense.

Borna, who was coldly rebuked by Quinn, stood up, took off the suit jacket on his shoulders, bent down and poured red wine for Quinn himself. The tattoo on the back of his neck was exposed, which scared the waiter who was supposed to pour the wine and he dared not come forward.

"My guests are here, and you give them an empty wine glass. How can they sit down to eat?" Borna said as if talking to himself.

"I'm sorry." The waiter lowered his head in panic.

As a waiter at the top restaurant in Ashwell, it was impossible for him to make such a low-level mistake as not pouring wine for guests.

The wine, however, sat still in the decanter. These discerning dignitaries valued "the first sip of wine hitting the glass," hence the reluctance to pour. Borna naturally understood this, and his words were simply a way to ease the tension. The arcanist, Ful, understood his intention and waved, "Get out of the way."

The waiter nodded quickly and did not forget to close the door of the private room before leaving.

There are no outsiders now.

To the left was a massive floor-to-ceiling window, offering a sweeping view of Mirror Lake. From here, one could spot the law enforcement officers patrolling the lakeshore. Lakeside, the most prestigious and affluent neighborhood in Ashville, had more law enforcement officers stationed along just a few kilometers of the road than in the entirety of Westville. If the jewelry store robbery had occurred there that day, the robbers would have had no chance of escape.

Quinn kept his hands in his pockets, his finger on the trigger, ready to break the glass and run away if anything went wrong.

After Borna finished pouring the red wine, he glanced at Quinn's pocket without leaving a trace. He saw the outline of a gun faintly outlined in the cloth, but he didn't care.
"Oh, Mr. Quinn, you're even younger than I thought. You know, some students who graduated from Grindelwald were only your age, and yet you were able to become their teacher. Young talents like you are the future of this world."

Borna spoke as he cut Quinn's steak. His hands were steady, wielding the fork and knife as he sliced ​​the steak, seared to medium-rare, into small pieces. "This is the Burdingan cattle from my hometown. They were introduced to the southern continent after the advent of airships. They've been raised on the pastures of Bavaria for three generations. There aren't many of them, and this restaurant is the only one in Ashwell that can source them. This piece alone is a full gold pound. Look at the texture of the fat; it's like marble."

He was so low, bent over, with his neck right in front of Quinn, concentrating on cutting the steak. If Quinn pulled the trigger, he would definitely be able to blow his head off.

".Are you Grindelwald's man?" Quinn asked with a frown.

I just received the acceptance letter from Owl this afternoon.

How long has it been since he found out that I am a teacher?
"Oh, I don't have the ability to perform arcane magic. When I was your age, I was a bandit in the Western Continent, starving every day. Of course, I'm doing the same thing now, except I'm not starving. Sit down, sit down, it won't taste good if it gets cold."

Borna made no secret of his gangster identity.

"Although our boss named our gang 'Passion,' everyone calls us Golden Wind. Honestly, I think Golden Wind sounds better, like a poet's nickname. My job title is 'Logistics Manager,' which was the boss's idea, but it's really just about purchasing. I usually buy things for everyone and find strong suppliers, like you."

Seeing that he was so humble, Quinn didn't come to cause trouble. He frowned and sat down, but did not touch the rich and exquisite food on the table.

"You haven't answered me yet. How on earth did you know I was hired? The college shouldn't disclose faculty and staff information to the public, right?"

"Mr. Quinn, it seems you don't know much about our gang."

Borna patted the arcanist Ful sitting next to him affectionately. "As you can see, there are quite a few arcanists among our brothers, like Mr. Ful and Mr. Murata Tatsuya. Naturally, we also have many arcanist friends. Although your employment has not been made public, it is not a secret. After all, we have been keeping an eye on this position for a long time—"

Is For also a member of Golden Wind?
They both applied for assistant teaching positions at Grindelwald.
A flash of enlightenment came to Quinn's mind. Could it be that they were not coming for me, but for this assistant teaching position?

Let the powerful Forle apply. If he's unsuccessful, there's always someone like Murata Tatsuya who's good at networking to connect with other candidates. Regardless, Golden Wind will be able to establish a relationship with the new assistant professor in the Divination Department. Quinn's face darkened as he asked, "So, the deal you're talking about is that you, Golden Wind, want the position I just got?"

He always kept his character in mind, playing the role of a young, promising, eccentric arcanist who had a strong desire for Grindelwald.

Quinn naturally didn't feel good when someone was thinking about his hard-earned job.

"No, no, no, there's no way Grindelwald's position could be transferred. Even if you agree, the academy won't agree." Borna shook his head with a half-smile and finally got to the point: "We want something that only you can easily get."

Quinn remained silent, waiting for what was to come.

"Mr. Quinn, you are not an arcanist trained in a traditional academy, nor do you have the support of a major force like the Clock Tower or the Department of Arcane. Instead, you received the interview invitation through the recommendation of an alumnus."

Quinn looked up solemnly. Even if the fact that he was hired might be known to outsiders, the information fabricated by Ankua would never be known to others.

Unless someone inside the college checked the applicant's file and leaked this information.

"I admire you very much, I really do." Borna looked at him sincerely. "You're self-taught, yet you were hired by Grindelwald at the age of 24. I can hardly imagine how amazing your talent is, or how much more effort you've put in than the average person. But I know for sure you need money and resources to realize your talent, not just living in a shabby apartment like Sewell's and buying expired coffee beans for 28 pence a can."

Quinn remained silent, thinking, "How the hell do you know everything I bought? You're a pervert, aren't you? You opened the box and followed me around."

".What do you want to say?"

"We at Golden Wind have helped many arcanists like you, and we're happy to help you—we can provide funding, or any arcane or transcendental materials that can or can't be bought on the market."

Borna paused, then smiled, revealing his golden teeth. "Of course. To repay a favor, we need a small favor from you. There's a certain flower that's often used in Grindelwald's Divination classes. We need you to bring some out. The more the better."

Flowers?

Quinn asked confusedly, "What flower?"

Borna picked up a painting, put it on the table and pushed it to Quinn.

"Merlin the Brave gave this beautiful plant the fitting name of 'Star Flower'."

Quinn's eyes narrowed slightly.

The flowers in the painting are lifelike, looking like blooming peonies, with fluorescent dots floating among the azure petals, as if stars dotted the blue sky.

He had seen this azure fluorescence before.

In the jewelry store that day, the medicine the robber was about to inject into his body before he died was of this color!

A drug that blocks artificial arcane circuits, it has a name almost identical to Star Flower—

Starlight.

(End of this chapter)