The next day.
Although He Xi repeatedly assured Bruce that yesterday's human experiment had gone perfectly, and that today he was only going to learn a new spell as a reward from the halfling mage,
Bruce kept looking at him with a sympathetic expression that said, "I understand. You don't need to explain."
He Xi had no idea how a dog could have such a wide range of facial expressions.
"Galen, up early again today."
"Good morning, Ms. Cassandra." He Xi sat down at the table.
Before long, Ms. Cassandra brought him a steaming bowl of porridge mixed with oats and beans, along with a slice of golden-brown whole-grain bread.
"Go ahead and eat. I'll fry you an egg, too. Young people who get up early need to eat more."
He Xi quickly polished off the nutritious breakfast.
When he got ready to say goodbye to Ms. Cassandra and leave, he realized she was neither in the living room nor the kitchen.
He had no choice but to turn and leave on his own.
As he walked out of the courtyard, he faintly heard Thomas wailing from his room, "Mom! Why have you been waking me up at this hour these past two days?"
When He Xi stood before the door painted with a frenzied Goblin head again, he was delighted to find that the shop was actually open today.
However, he soon realized he had gotten his hopes up too soon.
Fivik had clearly overslept again. This time, though, she must have worried that He Xi's knocking would wake her, so she had simply opened the door ahead of time.
She had also crossed out the original "Do Not Disturb!" sign and scrawled a new line beneath it:
"Have a seat. You can browse the books on the far-right