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CLUTCHING A WINE BOTTLE AT NIGHT

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

The capital of the Nichirin Empire, "Toto."

Berta Andele stood amidst the bustling crowd at the station.

Her voluminous, ankle-length, fluffy golden hair and pale brown skin stood out strangely in a station filled mostly with black-haired Nichirin people. Yet, no one seemed to pay Berta any mind.

(……Seriously, why is he all the way out in the mountains?)

Berta pouted as she checked the map in her head using detection magic, floating along as she moved. Her perception filter magic didn't just alter her appearance; it even mimicked the way ordinary Nichirin people walked, disguising her completely.

Berta caught a train, got off at Akibahara City, and left the station, only to switch to a taxi. Switching from train to taxi was a hassle, but unfortunately, her "World-Crossing" ability only worked for locations she had visited before or could visually confirm.

The taxi sped toward the address Berta had been given, but halfway there, it was flagged down by an unmarked police car that had been tailing them at high speed.

「Mind if we have a word?」

The plainclothes officers, however, didn't indicate the taxi; they instructed Berta, the passenger, to get out. Berta complied, though she wore an annoyed expression.

「――What do you want this far out?」

「I just want to go see Rob, okay?」

Berta stated her purpose bluntly. They didn't really feel like police, but they weren't Alliance personnel either.

「……Who is this 'Rob'?」

The men asked without changing their expressions, but Berta sensed a flicker of irritation that a normal person wouldn't have been able to perceive.

「Don't you guys at least know about the Demon King Slayer?」

「We mean his background beyond that. If you answer truthfully, we’ll let you pass. Don't lie; we have ways of verifying it.」

A truth-verification spell, or perhaps a lie detector? Whether it was magic, science, or a unique ability, Berta would have to adjust her approach accordingly, but either way, it was a pain in the neck.

「If I tell you, you’ll let me through, right?」

「We keep our promises.」

「……Rob is the Hero who slew the Demon King. He was originally from Japan and seems to have been reincarnated via summoning. He's unemployed right now, but he’s under the protection of the Alliance.」

Berta divulged information that would be obvious to anyone on equal footing with the Alliance. It wasn't information she needed to hide, but in the context of this world, even that seemed significant; the men’s eyes clearly changed.

Berta was released as promised and got back into the waiting taxi.

Ten minutes later, Berta stopped the taxi.

「Are you sure, miss? I can see it, but it’s still quite a distance from here.」

A single Japanese house stood at the foot of the mountain in the distance. It was Berta's destination, but it looked close enough that it would still take the taxi another twenty minutes to reach.

「It's fine.」

Berta paid the fare and began walking down the road, which was flanked by nothing but forest on both sides.

A little while later, as if timing it to when the taxi, which had seemed slightly concerned about her, finally drove away, someone blocked Berta's path from the woods.

However, Berta was no longer there. The plainclothes officers who had been secretly tailing her let out groans of frustration and scattered in all directions to search for her.

As for Berta, she was already standing in front of the target house, ringing the doorbell. Just before the plainclothes officers could block her path, she had used her "World-Crossing" ability to jump to a secret base, then immediately jumped again to the front of the house she had visually confirmed. By the time the officers realized what happened, Berta was already inside the house, beyond their reach.

***

Rob was standing at a stalemate with the blue curry on the large low table when the doorbell rang.

(Finally, an excuse!) Rob thought, and though he wasn't the master of the house, he started to stand up, but Saburo stopped him with a wave of his hand and stood up himself.

Before his retirement, Saburo had climbed the ranks to "Grand Marshal" and was even called an advisor to the Prime Minister and a friend to the Imperial family; one would think he’d have a servant or two, but having lost his wife, Saburo lived alone by choice. Answering the door for guests was business as usual for him.

Rob had no choice but to face the blue curry again, but Saburo returned almost immediately.

「She says her name is Berta. Is she an acquaintance?」

「Good evening?」

Saburo seemed to have come back to confirm, but Berta had apparently let herself in and said that lazily from behind him. Berta looked as lethargic as ever; she showed no signs of having been on the run.

「It seems you are acquaintances, after all.」

Saburo looked at their expressions, then sat down in front of the curry without reprimanding Berta.

「……Did you get caught――」

「――I'm hungry?」

Before Rob could finish, Berta sat next to him and snatched the blue curry he hadn't touched yet.

「Hmm~, isn't this too sweet? I think it could use a little more spice.」

「……It’s just right like this.」

Arcelia had her own thoughts about Berta, who had escaped after being captured, but she knew that with her current strength, trying to catch her would be a waste of time. Still, Berta’s mother-in-law-like critique rubbed her the wrong way.

「I hear that those close to the Fairy race love things this sweet, but is it really okay to make even the curry sweet? The aroma is too monotonous, too.」

「It's mild curry, so it's fine. Besides, there's no point in making something that only a limited few can eat by over-spicing it.」

「It's better if it's delicious, isn't it?」

「I think it's plenty delicious as is.」

The two began a battle with no end in sight. Rob was unsatisfied that no one was mentioning the concerning blue color, but he didn't intend to insert himself. He’d only be the one to lose if he got dragged into a fruitless war.

「Want a drink?」

Saburo secretly recommended the wonderful combination of curry and beer, and Rob gladly accepted the glass.

「Is this okay? She's a bounty head in the Alliance, you know?」

「A lively house isn't a bad thing.」

For some reason, Saburo was surprisingly indulgent toward Berta, like a grandfather doting on his granddaughter. This 989th World, where the Nichirin government resided, hadn't yet established full relations. Therefore, they hadn't ratified the bounty system for wanted criminals.

If he claimed he didn't know, that was the end of it.

「More importantly, it’s not half bad.」

Saburo said, eating the blue curry and downing the beer.

***

After dinner, Rob urged her to continue the story.

「The reason I ran? It’s nothing special. I just hate that man.」

She seemed to hate him so much she didn't even want to say his name.

Originally, Berta had intended to use her past and a virtuous attitude to entice Rob. That was why she had let herself be caught, but when she realized the patrolling investigator who was supposed to escort her was *him*, her enthusiasm plummeted. Once she arrived at the detention center, it felt pointless, so she escaped. That was all.

Arcelia stared at Berta as if glaring, and Rob smiled bitterly.

「Did you actually have a best friend?」

「You can make friends with other summoned people, even if you weren't summoned together, right?」

「Were you forced to kill them?」

「Isn't a request backed by the authority of an investigator and the expectations of local powers essentially coercion?」

「Did you stir up the local human relationships and steal their assets?」

「I was suddenly summoned with nothing, but I still had to live, right? Living expenses, reparations... 'Stealing' is such an ugly word. I just asked kind men to donate a little to me.」

What was truth, and what was a lie? Even in Berta's answers, there were parts left unsaid. But Rob withdrew his interest, deciding that was Berta's problem, and the problem of that world.

「――So, will you come with me?」

Rob recalled the recruitment attempt Berta had made once before, accepted the Nichirin sake Saburo brought out, and poured a round for everyone.

「I hate to answer a question with a question, but what is it you want to do?」

She followed him everywhere, hinting at the undercurrents that Arcelia's guidance never revealed. She seemed intent on recruiting him and making money, but he didn't understand why she was so fixated on him.

「――I just want to earn a living easily, okay?」

After sipping the clear, colorless Nichirin sake, Berta answered.

It was humiliating to be looked down upon by Rob, but if she could corrupt him, that would settle her grudge. After that, if Rob ceased to be profitable, she could just discard him—but that, too, depended on Rob.

Rob felt a strange sense of understanding at Berta's overly free response and gave his answer to her invitation.

「Not right now. I owe the Alliance for getting me out of that world. And Arcelia has gone to quite a lot of trouble for me. Besides, I don't really want that much out of life.」

「Don't you understand what the Alliance is doing by now?」

Even so, Rob didn't nod. Berta made an annoyed face at his reaction, but she quickly changed targets and looked at Saburo.

However, Saburo, who was accustomed to such honey traps, immediately saw through Berta's intentions.

「I have no desire to lust after a girl my granddaughter's age.」

Berta was now the picture of displeasure.

「……Seriously, and I came all this way.」

Fully sulking, she downed the sake in her glass and urged Rob to pour her another.

「Think of it as a vacation; it’s a pretty nice place, don't you think?」

Even though it was Saburo's house, Rob acted like the host, saying this, which Berta found hateful, so she flicked her finger lightly.

Immediately, a magic circle appeared, and her familiar dogs leaped out. The dogs immediately found Pashe, and they all rolled around playing together.

Saburo said nothing, instead sipping his sake happily.

「……Go play with them.」

The familiar dogs and Pashe's eyes lit up, and for some reason, they pounced on Arcelia.

「Pfft— wh-why me!」

Naturally, it was just them taking it out on her.

***

As the night deepened, the familiar dogs curled up and fell asleep in a heap with Pashe.

Arcelia, who had ended up playing with the familiar dogs after all, was now somehow asleep buried in Berta’s voluptuous chest after being harassed by a drunk Berta earlier.

Only Rob and Saburo remained awake.

「You're a heavy drinker.」

Rob shook his head slightly. It wasn't that he couldn't hold his liquor.

「……I see. You can't sleep?」

「I'm always up until just before dawn. Habits are hard to break.」

「……Since when?」

Rob struggled to answer.

「Fifteen years of fighting, and habits get burned into your body.」

Saburo had seen through it in a single night. Rob couldn't sleep at night.

「……Well, something like that.」

During the war against the Demon King, Rob had always stood night watch.

Humans generally disliked the night, the darkness. But Rob, aided by the effects of his special abilities, never let prey escape even at night.

Consequently, for the thirteen years or so since he began operating with the army, he had lived a completely inverted life.

He kept his nerves on edge, watching the night, and sortieed when things happened. He almost never slept at night.

Even two years after defeating the Demon King, it remained ingrained in his body.

Still, he could sleep if he drank himself into a stupor, and in the end, whether he slept at night or during the day made little difference to him; it didn't bother him much.

「It's safe here. You can rest easy and sleep.」

Still, it was certain that sleeping at night was better. Drinking too much alcohol would turn into poison, too.

Saburo said only that and laid down right there.

It was two hours later that Rob fell asleep. It wasn't exactly early, but he hadn't drunk himself into a stupor, either.

***

「――I want to go play!」

The next morning, Berta asked Saburo to take them out into the town, acting like she was coaxing a grandfather. It seemed to be a cheeky scheme to get him to treat them.

Saburo looked at Rob and Arcelia, confirmed that they weren't fundamentally opposed to it, and nodded easily.

*****

Berta is so good at goading ojisan

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