Cafe Tazza d'Oro.
It was a coffee shop near the Pantheon, serving croissants for breakfast.
Since the Pantheon was where the princess and reporter first met in Roman Holiday, these little shops had benefited as well.
The food was decent, but it was definitely nowhere near as heavenly as tourists made it out to be.
No matter how much they talked it up, it was still just a croissant.
Dejan Lu tossed the travel guide aside and complained, "You can tell a woman wrote this. It equates food with love from beginning to end."
"At least this is the capital."
Roberto Mancini said after taking a sip of coffee.
Holding a newspaper, Vialli said, "Diego Maradona and several others have commented on you. Maradona said you were good, but he was better."
"That's very Maradona."
Dejan Lu said indifferently.
Even if his idol Pelé had been ranked ahead of him, he would not have been happy about it.
Dejan the Football King had not reached that level yet.
"That Juventus player from last time commented on you too. He meant that Juventus losing wasn't their fault—it was because you were just too good at football," Vialli continued.
Dejan Lu took the newspaper and read it carefully before remembering Nicola Napoli.
There was probably nothing much to say about his playing career. If he had been that good, he could not possibly have been unknown. But his coaching career was legendary.
He had served as head coach of Universitatea Craiova in Romania's top division nine times. By the seventh time he returned, fans had already blocked him at the airport, telling him to get lost and stop loafing around the club. Yet he still managed to coach them nine times.
Juventus truly deserved to be called a giant.
Even a random fringe figure was no simple man.
Dejan the Football King had to give him some credit.
He was the god of working men—fired that many times and still able to go back.
When Dejan Lu had first heard that story, he had been completely stunned.
The next time they played Juventus, he had to have a proper chat with him.
He needed to learn some advanced workplace experience. Even though the man had not retired yet, he surely had plenty of wisdom about work.
"The paper also says Marion Ravenwood watched the match in Rome yesterday. She should be here on vacation. Maybe she'll like me," said Roberto Mancini, who was also holding a newspaper.
He had always loved treasure-hunting, spy, and detective films and television shows.
"Then good luck."
Dejan Lu said.
Even when he was young, Dejan Lu had not thought Karen Allen was pretty. By now, her best years had probably passed.
"Rome and Milan always have celebrities around. Genoa gets fewer of them."
Vialli said regretfully, "I wonder when I'll get to meet Stallone."
Stallone was hugely popular at the moment, and the craze for Rocky and First Blood had not yet faded.
"That guy doesn't look Italian at all. The Americans assimilated him," Roberto Mancini mocked.
"His mother was a French astrologer with Jewish ancestry," Dejan Lu said.
He had once seen related information on an online forum.
"Ha!" Roberto Mancini said, holding up his cup. "See? I told you he wasn't a good person. French, Jewish, fortune-telling... Maybe he even has Gypsy blood. I can't imagine a more awful person."
Vialli did not argue.
Italians disliked the French, and they disliked Jews and Gypsy people even more.
The three of them sat there leisurely drinking coffee mainly because the bus would not leave until after ten in the morning.
"Seriously, were you serious about inviting that kid to Sampdoria?" Roberto Mancini asked.
"He's very talented."
Dejan Lu said.
"He's the most punchable young man I've ever met," Roberto Mancini complained.
"You really should look in the mirror more often."
Vialli said with a smile.
Roberto Mancini realized what he meant, and the two began fooling around again.
Dejan Lu got up to pay the bill. As he walked outside, he heard a roar overhead.
"Planes! There are even two of them!!!" Vialli shouted excitedly. The three stood there watching the planes leave trails across the sky.
Only after the planes vanished did Roberto Mancini say, "What a fuss. What's so unusual about two planes?"
Heh.
Dejan Lu smiled and shook his head.
Why not ask your American daddy whether two planes were scary or not?
Once they boarded the bus, quite a few people were still excited.
Yesterday's victory had not worn off yet.
Chiesa took out a CD player and discussed it with Lanna.
Sony WALKMAN players were extremely popular around the world. Japanese products really were in their golden age.
"When we have time, our two families should go on a picnic together. Paolo really wants to discuss something with you," Verchowod said, turning back.
"Some time after a match, then."
Dejan Lu said.
The Tsar's eldest son was quite an interesting guy.
It was just that he would suffer quite a few blows in the future.
Hungary had already dismantled the barbed wire on its border, and East Germans could now travel from Hungary to Austria.
German reunification was close at hand.
When he got home and saw the man squatting by the door, Dejan Lu was not surprised at all.
"Kumatani, how about I hire you as my family's security guard someday?"
Dejan Lu teased.
This guy ganked Dejan the Football King every day. It was getting a little outrageous.
"Teacher, you really know how to joke. I only came to see if there was anything I could help you with. Creators need to eat and drink too—I can make you tea."
Kumatani Gensuke said.
He had already grown used to Dejan Lu's sarcastic tone.
Compared with other manga artists, Dejan Lu was easy to talk to.
Some people simply could not be persuaded by either soft or hard approaches.
"Oh, right, Teacher. I also have a letter for you from another manga artist."
Kumatani Gensuke said as he took a letter from his briefcase.
The moment he saw the name on it, Dejan Lu immediately became serious. This man was truly both famous and politically devoted.
Tetsujin 28 was extremely famous and a renowned anti-war work.
He had even created a manga adaptation of the Long March.
He was very fond of Chinese history and had created many manga related to it.
Mitsuteru Yokoyama had written in brush calligraphy: "I heard that a children's work with progressive ideas has recently appeared. While looking into it, I was delighted to discover that Mr. Lu is Chinese. Please continue using outstanding works to guide children in the right direction. I beg of you."
"I've always admired Master Yokoyama. I heard he draws six hundred pages of original manuscript every month and never misses a deadline," Kumatani Gensuke whispered from the side.
Dejan Lu: ...
Who the hell are you taking a shot at?
Dejan Lu put down his teacup and stared at Kumatani Gensuke.
He rather suspected that this bastard had deliberately asked his Japanese colleagues to find Mitsuteru Yokoyama and have him write a letter specifically to motivate Dejan the Football King.
The Japanese loved doing things like that, things that cost them nothing.
Was he taking advantage of Dejan the Football King's good temper?
Just wait until you meet Yoshihiro Togashi. Then you'll know what missing deadlines really means.
A few hours later.
Looking at the manuscript pages, Kumatani Gensuke asked curiously, "Teacher, have your recent works become somewhat... somewhat simpler in terms of ideological depth?"
"They can't always be so profound. A little warmth isn't bad either."
Dejan Lu said.
When the economy was good, of course he could lecture them about values.
But Japan was starting to decline, so he needed warmer stories to keep readers around.
"But the issue where Ogawa used force to reason with people received an incredibly strong reaction from readers!" Kumatani Gensuke said.
"Female readers?"
Dejan Lu asked.
Kumatani Gensuke looked somewhat embarrassed.
There really had been more opposition, though the magazine staff all thought it had been drawn very well.
"Don't worry about it. They're only a small minority, but they can make more noise. If you really listen to them, it won't end well."
"No, I mean, have Ogawa teach us some ways to protect ourselves."
Kumatani Gensuke put it vaguely, but Dejan Lu understood.
Wasn't he talking about how to fight against them?
Even without experiencing it himself, he could imagine what things were like.
Dejan Lu curled his lip. This was still a case of priests being the natural counter to fairies. They said Eve tempted Adam, and there was really no way to refute that.
But that approach would be hard to make work in Japan. Threatening them with childbirth was useless, because they only liked little boys.
Before you continue