Chapter 17: The Secret Language of Coffee

Shin Garei led me down to the underground parking lot. My mouth was popped open wide enough to fit a quail egg. When she brought me in front of an Audi A8, that quail egg upgraded to a chicken egg; when I climbed inside, the chicken egg upgraded to a goose egg. Hearing Shin Garei’s stifled giggles, I realized I must have looked like a complete idiot at that moment.

"What’s wrong, our top scorer?"

"My God! An Audi A8 4.2 quattro—over 12 million yen! Sister, I had no idea you were this rich!" I exclaimed in disbelief, dragging out the last syllable.

"You actually recognize it?" Shin Garei asked, thoroughly surprised.

"All-aluminum body, adaptive air suspension, quattro all-wheel drive, bulletproof glass, top speed over 200 km/h... Sister, the Audi A8 is the epitome of understated luxury! Can a TV host really make this much money? In that case, I want to become a host too in the future!"

"Haha, I didn’t expect you to know so much," Shin Garei giggled softly, tilting her head and playfully poking her tongue out.

My heart skipped two beats. Only one thought ran through my mind: So cute! How can a woman in her late twenties make such a cute gesture?

"Is that dazed expression of yours a quirk unique to geniuses, or..." She paused, a mischievous glint flickering in her eyes before continuing, "...did you study yourself into a stupor?"

"Haha!" Right after saying that, she burst into unrestrained laughter, tapping her hands on the steering wheel as she laughed.

Looking at her, I thought to myself that she was exaggerating a bit too much. To take her down a peg, I intentionally grumbled, "I was the one who bailed you out back there, and now you’re being so heartless. My heart is completely frozen over."

"Oh? Then let me take you somewhere to get something warm." With that, Shin Garei started the engine.

A short while later, the car pulled up in front of a Kamishima Coffee house. Getting out of the car, a sudden surge of panic and helplessness washed over me. What am I supposed to do in a moment? What if she asks me to order coffee? If all else fails, I’ll just order Nescafé—that instant stuff is the only coffee I’ve ever had. I had read the ingredient list on those packets countless times because I seriously suspected they added something similar to sleeping pills. People always said drinking coffee keeps you awake, but for me, the more I drank, the sleepier I got—knocking me out faster than actual sleeping pills.

"What are you standing there daydreaming for? Hurry up inside!" Standing at the entrance, Shin Garei turned around, looking at me standing there like a statue in confusion.

"Oh, right!" I replied, following Shin Garei into Kamishima Coffee.

The moment we stepped inside, a quiet tranquility enveloped us. The clever blend of bright natural sunlight and rustic wood tones felt instantly refreshing. Sitting with Shin Garei by a small table beside the floor-to-ceiling glass window, bathed in the cozy warmth of the sunlight, made me feel deliciously lazy and comfortable.

"At a time like this, reading a favorite book, ordering a cup of rich, fragrant coffee, and watching the flowing traffic and passing pedestrians outside... in truth, life..." She paused, then continued, "...exudes a subtle sweetness when savored like this."

I had to admit I was moved by her words, but even more than that, I felt a wave of anxiety. She knows so much about coffee, while I know absolutely nothing. How am I supposed to respond? In my uneasiness, my hand instinctively touched the bracelet on my wrist, and my heart instantly settled.

"Summon the Goddess of Wisdom!" I chanted in my mind.

"Little brother, what emergency fire do you need big sister to put out this time?" Athena’s voice echoed.

I stared in shock at Athena—her vocabulary was way too modern! She even knew slang like "put out fires"! "Sis, are you sure you were sealed away for two thousand years? Where did you learn such up-to-date words?"

"You’re underestimating your sister! The seal only restricted my physical body, not my mind. I’ve learned a ton of things over these two thousand years! Otherwise, how do you think I helped you solve those math problems? You think I could help you with probability theory using knowledge from two thousand years ago?"

Thinking about it, she had a point. Two thousand years ago, people didn’t even know what fractions were; no matter how awesome a god was back then, solving probability problems would’ve been impossible. It turned out even high-and-mighty gods had to keep studying—for the first time, I felt a sense of psychological balance. "Sis, you really practice lifelong learning, huh?"

"Of course! Otherwise, if I were clueless about everything, I’d be bringing shame to my title as the Goddess of Wisdom."

"What are you mumbling to yourself over there?" Shin Garei asked.

"I guess you must like Cappuccinos," I blurted out as if possessed. Looking back, Athena had already vanished from beside me, but I could clearly feel her presence right inside my mind.

"You know about Cappuccinos too?" Shin Garei asked in pleasant surprise.

"One-third espresso—its flavor feels like our bitter, tear-soaked youth. One-third steamed milk—its visual texture resembles our helplessness and confusion about the future after graduating from university. And the remaining one-third frothed milk—it teaches us that life is ultimately just a performance where the show eventually ends, the crowd disperses, and the bubbles softly pop under the sunlight. Bitterness first, then sweetness—that is life. I can already taste that subtle sweetness."

Though Shin Garei remained silent, I distinctly caught a flicker of fondness in her eyes. Yes, fondness—akin to recognizing a kindred spirit, or a deep affection for a friend. In short, a kind of fondness that was hard to put into words.

"Waiter, two Cappuccinos please. Add some cinnamon powder—remember, cinnamon powder, not chocolate powder. Don’t say I didn’t warn you," I called out to the waiter.

"Haha, our top scorer really lives up to his title! You actually know coffee so well. How did you know to add cinnamon powder?"

"It cuts through some of the milkiness. Making the bitter parts more bitter, and the sweet parts sweeter. Polar opposites are always far better than a bland compromise," I said with a tinge of melancholy.

"Do you have something on your mind?" Shin Garei tilted her head, asking with genuine curiosity.

When a woman becomes curious about a man, she has already fallen into the trap he painstakingly set. I don’t know who came up with that classic line, but it was absolutely spot on. Shin Garei was starting to fall into my trap.

"I’ve been treated like a genius ever since I was little," I said in a low, solemn tone. "As time passed and seasons shifted, I realized I had only inherited a genius’s eccentricity and aloofness." I put on an intensely lonely expression. "I had no choice but to wrap myself in a camouflage, pretending to be utterly useless—so ordinary I was almost mediocre. It wasn’t until today that I realized..." I paused, then continued with deep emotion, "...yes, just like a Cappuccino, a genius should be even more extraordinary, and the ordinary even more ordinary."

Shin Garei looked at me with a dazed, mesmerized gaze.

"Tell me, should we add cinnamon powder? Is polarization better, or integration?" I asked out of nowhere.

"Excuse me, sir, here is the coffee you ordered." The waiter placed two Cappuccinos in front of us. A thick layer of cream floated atop the coffee-colored liquid, with a cinnamon stick inserted into the cup in place of a spoon.

I picked up the Cappuccino and made a move that shocked Shin Garei—I poured the coffee straight onto the floor.

"Guess what my absolute favorite is?"

"Latte! It has to be a Latte!" Shin Garei said with absolute certainty. "Waiter, an empty glass, please! Thank you!"

The waiter walked over and handed Shin Garei an empty glass. Noticing the spilled coffee on the floor, he looked at the two of us with a puzzled expression.

"I’m so sorry, my friend accidentally spilled it," Shin Garei explained.

"Oh, it’s no problem at all! Just be careful next time. Let me get another cup prepared for you—the spilled one will be on the house," the waiter said with a polite smile.

I looked at him and thought to myself that this shop was way too generous—charging nothing for spilled coffee and even offering to brew a fresh cup for free!

"Oh, thank you so much! We’ll order in a bit, my friend and I have some things to talk about," Shin Garei said.

"Then I won’t disturb you two."