Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Ten minutes had passed, but the door to the pub... no, the restaurant still hadn't opened.

Bang! Crash!

The only sounds were something breaking and shattering inside, over and over again.

Luna frowned slightly.

"...What on earth is happening inside?"

"Hmph, probably busy covering up some illegal activities. Let them try. See if he can escape my eyes."

"Ha...! Senior! Could he be trying to escape with evidence of a crime? Maybe there's a hidden back alley?"

"Hmm...! That's entirely possible. Luna, could you help me for a moment? We need to check for any escape routes and block them."

"Yep! Just leave it to me!"

And so, Luna and Rodelin vanished into the back of the pub, completely absorbed in their detective game.

Normally, Rezé would have followed, but not this time.

Because...

"Hehe, hehe... I've, I've never seen this pattern before..."

The walls of the pub were filthy with various graffiti and waste.

Perhaps it was fascinating to her. Behind her long bangs, Rezé's eyes sparkled brightly.

After pulling out a few thick cardboard boxes and matching the colors here and there, she finally chose one and started working on it.

She had begun the task of creating a box that looked exactly like the wall pattern of the pub.

The situation was completely out of control.

But, it could be said to be a favorable situation.

‘I needed time to organize the information about Scarlet.’

The puzzle about the character Scarlet.

I started to piece together the puzzle about him in my mind.

Age, place of origin, achievements after the general store, the reason he is working under Caron now, hidden secrets, and so on.

‘...This should be enough.’

I had only organized what I could remember on the spot, but it should be enough.

‘The information Scarlet needs right now. I have that.’

I would have to talk to find out the exact timing, but he couldn’t refuse the information I held.

So, there was no problem with Scarlet. The real problem was.

‘I don’t know what Caron is aiming for...’

Caron is the epitome of efficiency.

He's not the type to waste time on unnecessary things.

Just the act of selecting the most suitable rat for the mission proved that point.

‘There must be a reason he sent me here, a reason he made me meet Scarlet.’Nêww chapters will be fully updated at novelhall.comething else broke inside the pub.

Perhaps, this whole situation, this foolish act, was all part of a plan.

‘It’s a mess at first glance. Is this a strategy to lower Luna’s trust in me? But to think that...’

It was too sloppy.

From Luna's perspective, I must have deceived her by calling this pub a restaurant.

But our relationship isn’t so fragile that it could be shaken by something like that.

Luna would enjoy the food here anyway. Well, she might grumble a bit.

‘Why did he send me here? I can’t figure out his real intent.’

While I was pondering this and that, Rodelin and Luna approached, dusting off their hands.

"We've set up barricades in the back alley. It won't be easy to escape now. Actually, I wish they would try. Then we could arrest them and even enforce it by law."

But that didn’t happen.

Scarlet opened all the curtains of the windows, and the inside of the restaurant was clearly visible.

He was busily preparing the restaurant for business.

"No, that can't be. They're about to run away. Everyone, stay alert!"

As Rodelin's tension and anger rose without end,

Creak.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Please, come in."

Scarlet opened the door and welcomed us.

It was clear that it had been a tough time for him too.

He tried to smile, but he couldn’t hide the sweat dripping down his forehead and neck.

"What? It's cleaner than I thought?"

Luna was right.

The large hall bathed in sunlight, the white tablecloths covering the tables, the dust-free utensils and silverware, and the softly glowing candlesticks.

Though somewhat worn, everything was tidily arranged.

"It's unique. It looks like a pub from the outside."

"Guest, you have a keen eye. That’s the concept of this restaurant. We also sell alcohol in the evening due to budget issues."

"Ah~ I see. How did you find this place? Zero, you must have had a hard time?"

Yeah, quite a lot. I almost died at Caron's hand.

"...This can't be happening."

My hands dove inside the crook of Rezé's arms.

At the same time, I grabbed both of her cheeks and pulled them to the side gently.

"Ah, ahhh..."

Oh, they stretch.

Is it because she's young, or because she hasn't seen sunlight?

Her cute cheeks stretched out to both sides.

‘She'll have to come out of the box soon.’

While I was stretching Rezé's cheeks this way and that, someone reached out with both hands and firmly grabbed my cheeks.

That someone was obviously...

"Hm? Miss Luna?"

"Who said you could bully my friend?"

"Keke, I haven't bullied anyone. Consider it a technique for behavior correction."

"Oh, I see. A technique for behavior correction."

Luna's eyes sparkled.

"Then you should experience some behavior correction too."

Sssnap!

Terrible pain was inflicted on both of my cheeks.

A scream burst from my mouth.

*

Even as Scarlet was busy preparing food, his eyes were fixed on the hall.

The first thing to do now was.

‘Finding out who the cute child mentioned by Caron is.’

The noisy table.

Scarlet's eyes quickly scanned them.

One girl who exuded dignity with every move and spoke like a soldier.

One slit-eyed boy getting hit.

One twin-tailed girl who was brash and violent.

And.

One girl who seemed lost and confused, her eyes hidden behind long bangs.

‘I see. That girl must be the child Caron asked me to take care of.’

There were three girls.

But Scarlet was able to immediately figure out which child Caron was referring to.

‘Haha, but they can't fool my eyes. I'm an excellent rat.’

Of course, it could be a different child. But that noisy twin-tailed one definitely wasn't it.

Cute, charming, and popular.

A violent child like that couldn't possibly be the one.

The most urgent task was completed. Now, what remained was.

‘Providing cuisine comparable to a 5-star restaurant, and extracting information from that boy.’

Scarlet's hands moved busier than ever before.

*

"The appetizer is served! Please enjoy while waiting for the starter dish!"

Something that looked like pudding was placed in front of us.

"Hmm, it's refreshing and appetizing. Quite skillful."

"Definitely...! It's much tastier than the places we usually go to?"

Just as Rodelin and Luna said.

Even with my fussy taste, I could appreciate the quality of flavor.

The strange thing was.

‘The dish in front of Rezé seems a bit better?’

From its appearance to its freshness, and even its size, it was bigger. Twice as big, in fact.

"It's, it's too much..."

"Our Rezé has too small a stomach. Well, since it's a course meal, it's best to keep the stomach as empty as possible. Let's share."

We began to share the pudding left by Rezé.

It was when I moved Rezé's leftover pudding onto a plate.

Thwack!

A knife thrown from somewhere stuck in my pudding.

Turning my head, I saw Scarlet in the kitchen, his eyes gleaming.

Had I said earlier that there was no chance of being attacked in a place like this?

I take it back.

This was a hunting ground. Caron's rat...

A hunting ground set up to hunt me.

--TL Notes--

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