[V13C7.1] Interlude: A Girl and Two Scary Guys

A certain man owned a restaurant in Sazandol.

He was previously employed as a cook in a noble’s mansion, so his skills were top-notch. Since he served relatively fancy dishes at reasonable prices, his restaurant ended up rather successful.

But a few days ago, all of the gates into Sazandol were closed. Then, a shower of black rain fell on the trapped citizens, sending the city into chaos.

To make matters worse, there were rumors of a black dragon appearing at the harbor. The man initially dismissed this as the nonsense of drunken sailors, but there seemed to be some actual witnesses.

And then, everything was resolved by the Seven Sages.

The man decided to open his restaurant after hearing about the black dragon’s defeat.

After such dreadful events, people sought solace in delicious food. And giving them that was his mission… is probably what a more dutiful man would say. To him, this was merely a matter of putting the ingredients to good use before they started rotting.

The closed gates had disrupted logistics, so some ingredients were scarce. This reduced the number of options on the menu, but the customers kept coming regardless.

On that day, he heard the chime of the door opening.

“Welcome.”

The man greeted the group of three entering through his restaurant.

The first was a man around thirty with an intimidating face. He was dressed in mage’s robes.

The second was a man in his early twenties with a scar above his right eye. He wore a simple shirt and vest.

Hidden behind them was the third person, a teenage girl. She wore a modest but well-crafted blouse and skirt.

(…That’s an odd combination.)

Two scary-looking guys and one young girl. If this had been a more dangerous area, he might have suspected them of kidnapping the girl.

The restaurant owner suppressed his doubts and went over to take their orders.

Apparently, the man with the scar had been to the restaurant before. He was pointing out various dishes on the menu to the other two, explaining which were tasty, spicy or went well with alcohol.

After taking their orders, the owner casually mentioned their strange appearances.

“Interesting-looking combination you have there, huh?”

The owner had never been particularly fond of customer service or casual conversation.

However, he knew that emergencies came with increased chances of malicious actors, such as dine-and-dashers or robbers.

Telling such people that you’re aware of them served as a deterrent.

“What’s the connection between you guys?”

The owner’s question left the three in an awkward silence. Perhaps this was a subject they wanted to avoid.

He was about to seriously suspect them of being kidnappers, when the girl broke the silence.

“D-Disciple! And junior!”

“Oh? So you guys are mages?” The owner asked.

“Yes!”

The girl nodded repeatedly.

Made sense. In that case, the man in the robe would be the girl’s master, and the guy with the scar would be her senior.

Satisfied with this explanation, the owner headed back into the kitchen to prepare their order.

＊　＊　＊

“He probably got the wrong idea…” Isaac muttered under his breath while sipping his drink.

“Ike? What’s wrong?” Monica asked, giving her a curious look.

“It’s nothing, Master.”

“Oi, Ike! You can’t hog all the bacon!”

Isaac had casually placed the plate of thick bacon in front of himself, so Silas shouted in protest.

But Isaac simply ignored him, skewering a piece of bacon with his fork.

“Sorry Silas-niisan, but I ordered this for myself. You used to say ‘the only bacon I’ll eat is the thin and crispy kind’, remember?”

“Well, I’ve grown to appreciate thick bacon, especially with alcohol. Come on, hurry up and hand it over.”

Isaac shook his head at the overbearing ‘Leader’, offering a bite-sized piece of bacon to Monica instead of Silas.

“Here you go, Master.”

“Oh right,” Silas muttered. “You should get one first, Nee-san.”

Apparently, this was Silas’s way of showing respect to Monica. The fact that he called her ‘Nee-san’ was a bit surprising, but it genuinely pleased Isaac to see others admiring his esteemed master.

Monica voiced her gratitude and began nibbling on the small piece of bacon.

“Hey Nee-san, want me to pour you a drink?”

“No, I’m not really good with alcohol…”

“Never let her drink,” Isaac followed. “It will be a disaster.”

He refrained from mentioning who it would be a disaster for.

“I see,” Silas mumbled in contemplation. “Being unable to drink must be tough. What other joy is there in life?”

This was a common sentiment in eastern Ridill. Most husbands would express similar sentiments if their wives tried to ban them from drinking alcohol.

However, Monica could only offer an awkward nod. As someone who never drank, the statement did resonate with her at all.

“Drinking after work is life’s greatest joy!” Silas shouted with additional spirit, now that the alcohol had entered his system.

“I’m pretty sure you said the same thing about collecting bugs when you were kid,” Isaac retorted with a cold stare.

“And you used to collect snake skins.”

“How nostalgic. I remember how Mom scolded me when she found the snake skins I was hiding in my pockets.”

After hearing this, Silas glanced at Isaac’s coat.

“Now that you mention it,” Silas muttered. “I always see you pulling stuff out of your pockets. Is that magic or something?”

“It’s chantless storage magic,” Isaac explained, revealing a hand file from his pocket.

Silas and Monica widened their eyes in surprise.

“Why in the world are you carrying around a file tool?”

Because he forgot to return it.

“Ike, Ike, um… W-What’s that file for…?”

To ensure a smooth conversation with a cantankerous old man.

But Isaac simply twirled the file with his fingers, offering no answer to their questions.

The next moment, the file had vanished from his hand.

“Whoa, it’s gone!?” Silas exclaimed.

“C-Chantless storage magic…!? Ike, Ike, how did you do that just now!? What does the magic formula for that look like!?”

Isaac smiled and, under the table, discreetly pocketed the file hidden in his sleeve.

The next day, Wildianu said, “I’m sorry for lacking the ability to shed.”

View the latest chapters at seeker142.github.io