Fairy Fire Dragon Soup

September 15... Oh, come to think of it, today really was his birthday.

Ian quickly remembered that today was his birthday. It was hard to imagine—he seemed to have only mentioned it to Isengard once, yet the other boy remembered it so clearly.

Most of the young man's friends in the Imperial Capital were here—though that sounded like a lot of people, in essence it was only three Fairies, Hua An, Frost Butterfly, and Mo Feng, plus Isengard.

They had prepared a rather lavish banquet for Ian and decorated the house... very festively.

Of course, in Imperial culture, purple represented nobility, red represented war, while festivity and joy were gold and amber, representing windfalls and rich, potent liquor.

"There's no need to make such a big fuss..."

Isengard pulled Ian into the dining room, which was filled with gold and amber decorations. Seeing the table laden with delicacies—some made by cooks, some prepared by these friends themselves—Ian felt unusually embarrassed. "Thank you..."

"What's there to thank us for?"

Isengard looked somewhat baffled. "It's just a small banquet. It's only natural."

"It's only because you rarely come to the Imperial Capital and don't know many people. Otherwise, even without birthdays or holidays, everyone would be itching to find an excuse to take a day off and relax every day—these past two months, you've practically been living in the laboratory. That's not good for your mental health. I've wanted to let you unwind for a long time."

That was true enough, but for Ian, doing alchemy experiments was relaxation. If he really had to socialize with others and ran into someone whose brain did not work properly, his blood pressure might shoot up every day.

"Exactly, exactly." Hua An nodded, looking thoroughly indignant. "Not celebrating your birthday—can you even call yourself a