Wait until evening.

Partway through your sandwich, your senses first catch it before your eyes, but somebody has approached rather swiftly, and without hardly making a sound. Nyllia's keen hearing, though not as sharp as a bunnyfolk's, catches it as well. It isn't like Xiaoqing is helpless either. She may not have Kitty Sense or the ears of an elf, but she turns her eyes to the stranger soon after the others do. By the time she's fully noticed, she's already occupying the fourth and final seat around the table.

The woman has red hair and a patch over her right eye. She wears a loose, filly white swashbuckler's blouse which covers much of her arms, though you can still barely make out a sleeve tattoo reaching all the way down to her right arm's wrist. Her chest is bound tight by a leather vest, though instead of covering up more of her assets, it moreso nudges them upward, making clear a small anchor on her right bosom. Her legs are bound by tight black pants, and from her vest hangs pouches and a few different length daggers.

"Fancy seeing you here, Kyle," she says with a grin. "How could I have possibly known?"

"Rose! It's great to see you."

"Same here, good sir. Or perhaps I should say Your Majesty."

"That doesn't sound right coming out of your mouth."

"Mmm. I think you're right."

Nyllia greets her with a bow of her head. "I hope you have been well, dear Rose," she says before sipping from her cup.

"This may sound nasty at first, but from all the chaos, I have actually been more successful than before. But don't think too much about that. Anyhow, there is one present here I have yet to meet." Her eye than shifts to lock onto the other.

Xiaoqing finishes the food in her mouth. "Kyle seems to know many people. I'm Xiaoqing."

"That he does," she responds. "I'm Rose, owner of the tavern Rose's Bud."

"So what brings you out here?" you ask.

"You likely know the answer to that already. I would be pretty poor at what I do if I were to sit back on my ass during such a big event."

"I'm assuming you knew pretty much exactly where to find us."

Rose taps her nose. "I also know the colour of your underpants."

"Do you really?"

"No. But if I had guessed, you would have needed to pull down your pants to prove me right or wrong."

"Sorry for ruining your plan."

"If you were sorry, you'd have already pulled down your pants."

Coming out from the building, the girl in the frog-hat greets her new customer with a smile. "Hello there. Would you like to order something as well?" she asks Rose.

But she shakes her head. "Nothing for me. Thank you though. Well, maybe if you serve whisky here I might change my mind."

"S-Sorry. We don't have ****."

"Rats. Then I'm good for now." She leans forward on her elbow, and watches as the girl disappears back inside. Her eyes snap back to you the moment she does. "So what do you think you'll say to all the people in Avana? You know, there will be plenty of people from other places too. Various visitors. No, don't worry. Every town doesn't rush out to see the queen every time she appears. Though given the chaos recently, I'm sure there will be people from Brumberg, Tolis..."

"And how do you know I'm involved?"

"You just told me." She sticks her tongue between her teeth. "Just kidding. It's pretty obvious given the context. Also, look at how much you're dressed up. It's probably for the best that your appearance isn't part of the advertising. It'd be even crazier."

You learn forwards and look her over.

"See something you like, sailor?" she eventually asks.

"You're the second woman today I've spoken to who has a full arm sleeve tattoo."

"Oh really? Tell me where she is then, and we'll fuck."

Xiaoqing can't help but blush at that.

Rose sees her embarrassment and cracks up. "Sorry, girl. Can't help myself."

"Actually, I have a question for you, Kyle," Nyllia chimes in.

"What's up?" you respond.

"You have told plenty of people where you are from. All of Castle Phoenix knows, and now the royal family does. So here is my question. When you speak to Avana tomorrow, are you going to reveal to everybody that Isekai Theory is real, and that you are not from this world, or will you keep where it is now, between allies and beyond that, just rumour and speculation?"

I never really thought about that. I'm beyond keeping that thing a secret, though that's a bold thing to reveal to a huge crowd of people.

"I think... I will say something," you answer. "That doesn't mean I need to go into detail. I don't want to completely confuse everybody. There was a time where I was worried people would see me as crazy, and I'd end up alone here. But I've already been banished once, and I have so many people I care about, and they all know the truth. I'm done with lies. If the people want the truth, they'll have it. Somebody showing up from another world can't be the strangest thing to happen in Absoterra, right?"

Rose taps her finger on the table. "I've heard rumours about Isekai Theory. That there have been a number of people through history that actually came from another world. Such a thing has to be rare. It sounds like you were kidnapped, right? So for when that isn't the case, it must be even less common. It makes you wonder how much was influenced by somebody coming over in the past."

"So far I know William and I," you say, purposely not paying any mind to Xiaoqing's history. "Not to spread secrets about somebody else, but I do know of a powerful mage who is as well." Ealdorman, aka Isaac Hawkins. "That's three. Then there's even uh... one of the parents of the Wizard King Sigeberht. I don't know if it was his mother or father, but I know he was the child of an Earthling and a human from Absoterra. So Vivi is the granddaughter of somebody who came from Earth."

"Your Vivi is related to the Wizard King of Mirious?" Rose asks.

"Small world, huh? But yeah, so that's four we know about." Five in reality. "That's over the past few generations, and two of those were by ****. Breiah kidnapped both William and I for the same reason."

"For all we know, it's usually only one or two a century, or maybe more appear but die almost immediately," Rose guesses. "Or we just never find out."

Lord Barkis is the member of the Circle of the Unicorn who seems to care the most about Isekai Theory. He probably has all sorts of theories on more figures through history. I wonder if he even knew about the Wizard King's parents, or at least had suspicions.

Rose stands abruptly from the table. "I should go for now, but I'll have my eyes on you. One more thing before I go though. A piece of intelligence. It isn't free though, so you'll have to pay me back the next time we meet up, Kyle." Her tone is alluring. You have a feeling she isn't talking about gold. "Your friend in white will be in the crowd as well. The one you already mentioned."

"Do you mean William?"

But she turns. With a wave of her hand, she doesn't look back. Instead, you're gifted the view of her hips swinging as she steps away. "Goodbye for now, Kyle."