"Goodness, what a rare visitor!"
The Collector sat in the main hall with a smile as she watched Lude stroll in. "Mr. Radvasch, you're looking better than ever. What brings you here? Have you used up the materials you traded for last time and come to exchange for something else?"
"Ah, don't ask." Lude gave a bitter smile. "You can't even call it using them. I completely wasted the lot. And on top of that, I've basically been slacking off for days. If the chairman finds out, he'll kill me."
"Hahahahaha!" The Collector burst into laughter and waved to a servant. "Mr. Radvasch, I never knew you had such a sense of humor! Hey, bring us tea! Bring our guest the finest tea!"
The servant soon brought in two cups of black tea. The fine china looked quite exquisite.
The Collector picked up a cup, blew on it, then drained it in one go. In her hand, the teacup looked like a toy.
But when she set it down, she noticed that Lude was only swirling his tea around in the cup and showed no intention of drinking it.
"What's wrong, Mr. Radvasch?"
The Collector asked curiously, "Is black tea not to your taste? Should I have them bring you milk tea instead? Or coffee?"
Lude smiled. "Neither, thanks. I'm just sensitive to both caffeine and tea polyphenols. If I drink this stuff at night, I'll probably be awake until noon tomorrow. That wouldn't be pleasant."
The Collector nodded regretfully, then turned her head. "Come, take Mr. Radvasch's tea away and bring him some snacks and milk instead."
But as the servant came over to remove the teacup, Lude raised a hand and stopped him by the arm.
He smiled at the Collector. "You look a little tired too, Mrs.