CH 5

“Hey, when did you change your wife?”

Pops, who had been frozen by Sophie’s smile earlier, forgot I was a customer and came at me.

Did he misunderstand I’d switched from Colette to her? Unfortunately not. I could have just ignored him, but rumours like this spread easily.

If we don’t deny it, we’ll be in an awkward position, as we’re both moving here at the same time!

“We’ve just met.”

When I told him the truth, his eyebrows shot up.

“This shop is not a bring-in inn!”

“This erotic old man is! There was no seat available, so I sat down.”

Don’t talk like that in front of a woman like Sophie!

I know you’ve been planning to go to a brothel in a nearby town without telling your daughter Helmine! I’ll tell her everything!

“You’re going to the next town to see your favorite girl.”

“You! You idiot! Stop it!”

He’s got his big fucking hands all over my mouth!

It’s so tough it hurts!

I force him off me and stand up. I joined my hands tightly and started a simple power comparison.

Power is equal. The bones make an unpleasant noise, but I can’t escape.

Faces close enough to hear each other’s breathing and glaring at each other.

The people around us notice us and even start to call. The dirty cheers take over the restaurant and the heat rises.

At the height of the excitement, I felt a dull pain in my head.

“You’re doing something stupid!!!!”

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Helmine standing there with her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised in anger.

The father lets go of his hand and shouted pathetically at his daughter.

“This is not what I meant!”

“Father! I’ve told you many times not to fight with customers!”

“I wasn’t fighting with Lars. …… Yes, I was just welcoming him because I haven’t seen him in a while!”

“Long time no see……? Do you know father?”

Oops, the story is out here. If I lie here, you’ll be in trouble, so I’ll tell her the truth. Pops, you owe me.

“Yes, I do. By the way, I’ve met Helmine-chan.”

“Eh !? Excuse me! I don’t remember …”

“It’s natural. It was five years ago, when your mother was going through a difficult time, so it’s not surprising that you don’t remember me.”

“Five years ago. …… So you were an adventurer then?”

“Yes.”

I affirmed, and the smile returned to Helmine.

She thanked me for adding a drink, saying it was a service.

“I really want to hear a lot of stories, but I have a job to do …… Please take care of father for me.”

Then she went back to her work as a waiter.

Pops, for his part, brought a chair from somewhere and sat down at our table, despite the fact that he was a waiter.

“Don’t you have a job?”

“The time to cook is over. After that, let the customers drink and close the store.”

I envied his freedom. That’s what I felt.

What a shame. I don’t even want to make fun of it anymore. I should eat before the food gets cold.

I put the bread and meat in my mouth and devoured it. I added some more soup and poured it in. Adventurers need to eat quickly. To reduce the chance of being attacked while eating unprotected, everyone eats in the same way. I finished my meal in about a minute.

When my stomach had settled, I looked forward and saw Sophie still smiling at us.

“You two used to know each other, didn’t you? I don’t mean to be rude, but can you tell me the story of how you met? I want to know everything about you.”

There was nothing to hide, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to fulfil Sophie’s request as a post-meal talk(chat).