Volume 3 Chapter 93: I’m Just a General Store Clerk, but Honestly, I Want to Quit③

“Oh, here he comes.”

“Hi! My friend!”

“Yo, welcome.”

After the welcome party ended, I visited Lion’s Den. As I entered, Letto-kun and Kreis-san greeted me with smiles, while Gulf-san, pouring Letto-kun a glass of Flame Liquor, welcomed me with a nod.

Next to Kreis-san sat my master—who hadn’t participated in the welcome party—casually puffing on his pipe. He raised a glass of whiskey toward me in a silent greeting.

I let out a small breath and took a seat next to Letto-kun.

“Good evening, Gulf-san. Master, thank you so much for everything this time.”

“Oh, it’s good to see you safe.”

“Indeed…”

I greeted Gulf-san and bowed my head to my master, expressing my gratitude for his help during the incident.

In response, Gulf-san placed a glass of whiskey in front of me, as if to commend my survival. My master exhaled a thin stream of smoke and smiled faintly.

“Still, I feel bad. If I’d known about it, I could’ve done something…” Gulf-san said, looking regretful.

“No, no, please don’t worry about it. No one could have possibly known I’d been abducted to the Floating City of Pharmament…” I replied quickly, trying to reassure him. There was no need for him to feel guilty. The fact that my master had noticed the anomaly and rushed to help with unmatched speed was incredible enough.

“Just hearing you say that makes me feel better,” Gulf-san said, giving me a hearty grin. “Tonight’s on the house, so drink as much as you want.”

“…Thank you very much.”

Gulf-san’s manly generosity left me speechless. At first, I had thought of him as someone I didn’t want to get involved with. Yet, every time I met him, my opinion of him improved. He was practically a close friend now.

“Noil, is the welcome party already over?” Letto-kun asked, downing his Flame Liquor in large gulps.

“Yeah, somehow… But hey, don’t just sneak out midway.”

By the time I had realized it, Letto-kun and Kreis-san had disappeared from the welcome party. I found a note left at their seats saying, ‘We’re heading to the Lion’s Den. Come by if you can.’ That’s why I ended up coming here.

I hadn’t expected my master to be here as well, but since it’s him, I wasn’t really surprised.

“Sorry, sorry. But man, that was impossible to sit through,” Letto-kun said with a laugh.

“Yeah, it wasn’t really an atmosphere for us to stick around,” Kreis-san added.

“Well… I guess I can understand that.”

The welcome party had started out peacefully. Everyone was enjoying themselves, eating together cheerfully—or at least that’s how it seemed.

Though, now that I think about it, my drink or fork kept mysteriously changing into something else. Aside from that, everything seemed normal. Even the store manager was happily grilling cheese.

Things started to spiral into chaos when Fiona suddenly clapped her hands together and smiled, saying, “Alright, let’s switch seats!”

There was no context, no apparent reason for the suggestion. Yet, Elle agreed with a serious expression, placed Sophie down from her lap, and Noel drained her mug of ale in one go. Mina silently moved to another table by herself and began ordering dishes. For some reason, a black chain extended from Sierra and wrapped around me, immobilizing me. Tesea blinked in confusion at everyone’s sudden behavior.

Unable to move, I asked the store manager, who was still grilling cheese, to break the chains for me so I could go to the bathroom.

When I returned, Letto-kun and Kreis-san were gone. It was a sad moment.

Moreover, everyone else was sitting at separate tables for some reason, so I returned to my original seat, where the store manager was still grilling cheese.

A lot happened after that, but eventually, the party came to an end. I’d have to visit Sumibitotei later to apologize, but at least Tesea seemed to have enjoyed herself the entire time. I’ll call that a win.

“Still, I’m surprised you managed to come here alone,” Gulf-san remarked.

“Well… Noel fell asleep, and Sierra and Tesea don’t seem to handle alcohol well, so I left them in the care of the store manager and Fiona.”

Fiona had wanted to come along, but she was always bound to that cursed item, Love Lover. I really think she needs to stop relying on it.

“What about Elle?”

“Mina took her home.”

Elle had also tried to come, but Mina stopped her, saying, ‘It’s just those guys, so it’s fine, right? Let him have some time with his male friends!’ She managed to convince the reluctant Elle. Truly, Mina is a dependable close friend.

“So, Sierra and Tesea are the new girls, huh?” Gulf-san asked, swirling the ice in his whiskey glass. His wording wasn’t technically wrong, but it sounded off.

“Yes, they’re my sisters.”

“Sisters, huh…”

“One of them, sure, she’s like a sister. The other one… well, you know.”

“Ah, makes sense,” Gulf-san said with a knowing nod.

What makes sense? Letto-kun and Gulf-san started exchanging cryptic comments that I didn’t understand.

Judging by their slightly flushed cheeks, it seemed the two of them were already drunk. If they had been drinking before I arrived, it was no surprise.

Kreis-san, on the other hand, appeared to be drinking water. Perhaps he wasn’t good with alcohol.

As for my master? My master doesn’t get drunk. He’s my master, after all.

“Whatever you mean by ‘that’… Tesea is properly my sister too.”

I didn’t know what they were implying, but Tesea had officially become my sister. The length of our acquaintance didn’t matter. From now on, I intended to treat her as family.

Thinking that, I took a sip of whiskey. When I looked back at Gulf-san and Letto-kun, they were staring at me with expressions that seemed to say, ‘You just don’t get it, do you?’

“You just don’t get it… Noil.”

“You Don’t Get It.”

Letto-kun let out a small sigh, placed a hand on my shoulder, and then gestured to Gulf-san for a refill of his Flame Liquor. Without a word, Gulf-san began pouring more into his outstretched glass.

“What don’t I get?”

“Everything,” Letto-kun replied flatly.

That’s just cruel. Aren’t we supposed to be close friends?

I turned to Gulf-san for support, but he just shook his head in resignation, as if to say there was no helping me.

“But still!”

Whoa! That startled me.

Kreis-san suddenly stood up, arms spread wide, only to sit back down again just as quickly. What is even going on?

He rested his elbows on the counter, cupped his face with his hands, and flashed a dazzling grin in my direction, accompanied by a wink.

“Even if you don’t understand the people around you!”

Each word he spoke was punctuated by a dramatic wink.

“At least you should knoowww yourself, shouldn’t youuu?”

Finally, he pointed a finger directly at me with a flourish and said it as if delivering some grand truth. But I had no idea what he was trying to say. What is this guy doing? Is he drunk after all?

While I was left at a complete loss for words, Kreis-san slowly and theatrically formed the shape of a heart with his hands over his chest.

“So, who do you like the most right now?”

“Huh?”

“Among the women around you—who do you like the most?”

“Uh, Mar-chan…”

“Non, non, non!” Kreis-san cut me off, waving his hands dramatically. “Let’s leave her out of the equation, okay?”

Then, as if this conversation hadn’t already reached peak absurdity, he stood on his chair, spreading his arms wide and looking up to the heavens.

After remaining in that position for a few seconds, he sat back down as though nothing had happened.

I was utterly bewildered on so many levels.

Still, I understood what Kreis-san was asking. He wanted to know who, among the women around me, excluding Mar-chan, I liked the most. It was already a difficult question to answer under normal circumstances, but with this much spectacle, I felt like I couldn’t escape the topic anymore.

Letto-kun, Gulf-san, and even my master were all watching me intently, clearly curious about my response.

What am I supposed to do in this situation?

I racked my brain, searching for the best answer—or at least some way to dodge the question.

But honestly… how do I feel about them?

…

No answer came to me.

As pathetic as it sounds, I realized I didn’t even understand my own feelings. There was no way I could come up with an answer to this question right now.

And so, I found myself unable to say anything.

“What about Mina?”

“Huh?”

The silence was broken by a low, resonant voice. It was calm, yet carried weight. I looked up to see my master’s deep green eyes fixed on me.

“Ah, sorry.”

“N-no, it’s fine…”

What’s with this sudden change, Master?

“Oh? Now that you mention it, Master’s been rooting for Mina-neesan for a while, hasn’t he?” Letto-kun remarked, tilting his head as he sipped his Flame Liquor.

“Yeah, come to think of it,” Gulf-san added, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“Why is that, Master?”

“Because she’s my daughter.”

“Buuuh!!”

At Master’s outrageous statement, Letto-kun spit out his Flame Liquor, which Kreis-san caught full-on while grinning and giving a thumbs-up. In the very next second, Kreis-san collapsed onto the counter with a thud.

I watched this series of events in a daze.

Daughter…? Daughter, as in…?

Gulf-san muttered in a trembling voice.

“Th-The ‘Black Cat’… is Master’s daughter…?”

“Indeed.”

“Geh-gah! H-huuuuuuuh!?”

Letto-kun, who had been coughing for a while, suddenly let out a shout so loud it made me want to cover my ears. At that outburst, Kreis-san slowly lifted his head.

“Could you please explain what’s going on?”

After dabbing his wet face with a handkerchief, Kreis-san asked Master with an air of gentlemanly composure, far greater than usual. Master was surprising enough, but what happened to Kreis-san as well? Why is he so calm?

“It’s exactly as I said. Mina is my daughter—my one and only.”

Master spoke this shocking truth as if it were nothing, calmly puffing his pipe.

It didn’t seem like a lie or a joke.

In other words, Master was truly Mina’s father.

Now that he mentioned it, their lustrous black hair really was strikingly similar.

Wait, wait. Sorry, let me think for a moment.

My head can’t keep up.

“Could you keep it a secret from Mina that I’m in the royal capital?”

“Ah, sure.”

“My wife already got on my case for being overprotective, but I still worry. I want to stay close by, yet I don’t want her to find out.”

“Y-yes.”

Master’s image in my mind was shattering rapidly. The cool, mysterious, and dashing man I knew was replaced by a doting father who secretly watches over his daughter from the shadows.

He was like a dad who can’t cut the apron strings.

“Anyway, Noil-kun.”

“Ah, yes?”

“About Mina—what do you think of her?”

“I-I guess… she’s a good girl…?”

Trying not to look at Carat-san—my always-cool Master—I mumbled the reply.

◇

Some time passed since the shocking revelation, and we were still drinking at the Lion’s Den.

I’d calmed down by now; when I thought about it rationally, what did it matter if Master was Mina’s father? Master is Master—nothing changes that.

Sure, I was surprised, and his image did shift a bit, but—

“Noil-kun, Mina is… a wonderful girl.”

“Ah… r-right.”

Maybe I can’t handle this after all. Ever since coming clean, Master had been pushing Mina at me non-stop.

I guess it’s because he likes me, but if Mina herself doesn’t like me, there’s no point. Also, it’s really tough having a girl’s father insist I date his daughter.

Please stop telling some random guy how great your daughter is. Mina deserves someone better than me; I’m sure they’re all over the place.

Letto-kun was so shocked he locked himself in the bathroom, Kreis-san, who can’t handle liquor at all, was already fast asleep, and Gulf-san kept avoiding my eyes whenever I pleaded for help. With no escape from Master’s Mina-talk, I felt like I was going to be brainwashed at this rate.

“Mina is…”

“Ah! That’s it!”

Just as Master began to praise Mina’s virtues again in his deep, resonant voice, I remembered something and cut him off. This was it—this topic shift might save me.

“Gulf-san, do you have any writing paper around!?”

“O-oh… yeah, j-just a minute.”

Seeing the desperation on my face, Gulf-san grimaced slightly and disappeared into the back of the shop.

While I waited, I rambled on so Master wouldn’t start talking again.

“Ah, right, I need to send a letter to my father. You know, Tesea joined the Arlens family, but I haven’t told him yet. Hahaha. I’m so glad I remembered—I’m super forgetful, so I almost forgot all about it. Now’s as good a time as any, so I’ll just write it here. It’d be a disaster if I forgot again. My father’s pretty easygoing, so I’m sure it’ll work out one way or another, but I should still send him a letter at least, right? Let me just jot this down real quick. I mean, it’s for my father, after all! Hah!”

“…I see.”

As I sputtered out words without even knowing what I was saying anymore, Master gave a slight smile and nodded. Apparently, taking care of family matters was something Master approved of.

I breathed a quick sigh of relief as Gulf-san returned.

“Here you go. Need a pen, too?”

“Wow, perfect! You think of everything, boss!”

“What’s with that excitement…?”

I gave Gulf-san the same thumbs-up and toothy grin Kreis-san had flashed earlier, so he raised an eyebrow but still handed over the paper and a pen.

Riding on that burst of energy, I started writing the letter… but my hand stopped almost right away.

…There’s nothing to write.

I mean, explaining in detail how Tesea became my sister would be a pain, and knowing him, he’d skip through it anyway.

So I just wrote that a new sister had joined our family. Nothing else came to mind.

Maybe this is enough.

“I have a new sister. Her name is Tesea.”

That should suffice for him.