NOVEL ONLINE FREE Volume 1 Chapter 96
“I’m home!”
As I was relaxing on the sofa, Kaede-chan returned home.
“Welcome back. I thought you’d be later since you said you had overtime.”
It was now 7:30 PM.
“I hurried to get back early! I have tomorrow off!”
“Nice! I’ll get dinner ready, let’s eat together.”
“Okay! Oh, I’ll go change.”
Kaede-chan went to change, so I headed to the kitchen to warm up the convenience store bento I had bought. By the time I set the warmed bento and beer on the table, Kaede-chan returned to the living room.
“Oh, you even prepared beer! You’re such a perfect guy, senpai!”
Seems the bar for being a perfect guy is pretty low.
Kaede-chan sat down with a smile, so I joined her.
“Cheers!”
“Hard work today.”
We toasted with our beers and started eating the bento.
“I was tired today, but good things happened too. The Level 3 Recovery Potion will definitely sell for a high price.”
“Yeah. Let’s make a big profit. Oh, by the way, Kaede-chan, do you not have night shifts anymore? You used to have them occasionally, but not since we started living together.”
I asked something I had been curious about for a while.
“Oh, that? My night shifts were basically because there had to be someone who could use Appraisal at the guild. But since you gave me those Appraisal Glasses, it’s manageable. So, I almost never have night shifts now. Usually, women avoid night shifts because they can be dangerous.”
Shared Appraisal Glasses, huh…
Maybe I should sell them to other guilds.
“Night shifts are dangerous?”
“Yeah, it’s only a few people. Sometimes we get drunk adventurers.”
That does sound dangerous.
Don’t want Kaede-chan in danger.
“Guess it’s dangerous for women… Good thing I gave those glasses to Satsuki-san.”
“Yeah. But why are you asking about this?”
“Just curious.”
Really, just curious.
“Hmm… You’re not thinking it’s better if I’m not here, right?”
“Of course not. I prefer being together.”
“Then, why are there unfamiliar women’s shoes in the entrance hall?”
Kaede-chan stopped smiling and put down her chopsticks.
“About that… Can you listen without getting angry?”
“Depends on what you’re about to say.”
Not cheating, though.
“Actually, Yoshino-san visited this evening.”
“Yoshino-san? She came to our house!?”
Kaede-chan was surprised.
“I was shocked too because she came suddenly. She said she had something important to discuss, so I let her in.”
“Something important… could it be…”
Kaede-chan seemed to have guessed.
“Right. She came and directly said, ‘You are Eleanor Ocean, aren’t you?’ I think she knows.”
I was surprised.
“Really… just like that? And she even came to the house… Wait, ‘thinks’? ‘I think’? What about Yoshino-san?”
“I couldn’t handle it alone, so I silenced her.”
“Silenced her!? What did you do!?”
Kaede-chan leaned forward.
“I thought it was bad, so I added a special sleep potion by Eleanor-san to her coffee.”
She fell asleep with just one sip.
Really effective.
“What are you doing!? Isn’t that the worst!?”
Kaede-chan got angry.
“Can’t help it. She was the one who attacked without an appointment first.”
Unforgivable!
That busty woman, targeting Kaede-chan’s absence.
Thought she could catch me off guard?
“Being sneaky with a sleep potion is worse… Wait, never mind. Where is Yoshino-san now?”
“She’s sleeping in my room.”
“In your room…”
Just to be clear, I didn’t touch her breasts.
I was too panicked to even think about it.
“It’s cold, so it’s bad to let her catch a cold. I had her sleep on the bed. Your room was locked.”
“Haa… The potion lasts for six hours, right?”
I’ve drunk the sleep potion a few times at night, and it precisely wears off after six hours.
“Right. So she’ll wake up around 10 PM. We need to decide what to do before that.”
“You should have told me sooner. I already drank beer.”
I thought Kaede-chan would be angry.
Just trying to cheer her up a bit.
“This much doesn’t count as drinking.”
“Haa… I’ll call Satsuki-san after we eat.”
“She’s a cousin, so that’s best.”
We’ll have to persuade or bribe Satsuki-san, it seems.
“Let’s eat then. You went through the trouble of preparing this meal.”
“All I did was buy it and warm it up.”
“That’s still cooking.”
Is it?
I didn’t even put it on plates…
—
After we finished eating, Kaede-chan went to her room to call Satsuki-san. During that time, I decided to call Nanapon and sat on the sofa, picking up my phone.
“Hello? Nanaka-san?”
It’s a hassle, but Nanapon is noisy, so I’m still Eleanor-san.
“Hello? Is that you, Eleanor-san? What’s up at this hour?”
“Sorry for calling late. What are you doing?”
“Just at home, organizing the potions you gave me.”
She said she was going to a friend’s house, but it seems she’s already back.
“You said you met Yoshino-san today, right?”
“Yes, I did. On the way back from Mireiyu Road and also when I was going to the guild.”
“The one on the way there was about the recent kidnapping, right? Was that all?”
“Yes. And a bit about Guild Master. It was just a brief talk. I didn’t want to keep you waiting, just a few minutes.”
Hmm… Doesn’t seem like Nanapon’s the reason I was found out.
“Listen calmly. Yoshino-san visited my house this evening.”
“Huh? Your house? Or rather, Okita-san’s house?”
“Yes.”
“…Cheating?”
Why would she think that…
“It’s not cheating.”
“We’re not even dating.”
That’s not what I mean!
“Okita-kun is devoted to Kaede-chan.”
“Say that cool line to her, not me.”
Such a noisy kid.
19 and so loud.
“That’s not important right now. Yoshino-san came to the house and accused Okita-kun of being Eleanor Ocean.”
“Eh? Why?”
“Don’t know. That’s why I’m asking if Yoshino-san seemed off today.”
“Well, not really… Oh, but didn’t she look at you a lot?”
She was…
Looked me over from head to toe.
It felt uncomfortable, but I couldn’t say anything since Okita-kun always looks at Yoshino-san.
“Maybe that’s it? Well, never mind. I’ll contact you if anything happens. Stay at home for now.”
“Huh? Isn’t the conversation over?”
Well, it’s already night, and she visited in the evening.
“I put her to sleep.”
“Eh…”
I could tell Nanapon was taken aback over the phone.
“I couldn’t handle it alone.”
“Um, if it was a bluff or a threat, doesn’t that action kind of confess?”
……………………
“Goodnight. Have sweet dreams.”
“Wait, Eleanor―”
I ignored Nanapon and hung up.
“That kid…”
I felt silly being told that.
“What did Nanaka-chan say?”
Kaede-chan returned to the living room just as I hung up.
“She didn’t really understand.”
“Is that so… Oh, Satsuki-san will be coming over soon.”
“What did she say?”
“‘You want me to visit your love nest? Eww.’ That’s what she said.”
That’s not important!
“I’ll wait as Eleanor-san.”
Better than dealing with it as Okita-kun.
“Satsuki-san said she’ll handle Yoshino-san. She thinks she can persuade her.”
“Did she say that? Let’s wait and see.”
We agreed to wait, and Kaede-chan sat next to me.
“What will happen, I wonder?”
“Who knows? Maybe she’ll keep quiet in exchange for a Level 3 Recovery Potion.”
Might have to resort to that…
We sat on the sofa, waiting, until Satsuki-san arrived at the house.