◈ 709. [Side Story] I fell in love with Monster Front
a little while ago.
A cafeteria in downtown Crossroads.
Evangeline’s favorite place is this restaurant, which serves New Terra food arranged in a southern style.
“Crossroads Female Heroes and Mercenaries Rights Committee, shortened to the Great Women Heroes and Mercenaries Committee! “Irregular meetings that I’ve given up on counting now!”
Heroes belonging to the front lines were sitting together in a huddle.
Evangeline shouted and spread her hands to the sides.
“With our female heroes who graced the occasion by attending today as always!”
Wow….
The female heroes gathered at the table cheered half-heartedly.
“Plus a special guest! This is Mr. Cuilan, Mr. Chain, Mr. Hannibal, and Mr. Zenith! clap-!”
Clap clap clap clap!
Then the atmosphere in the women’s group suddenly brightened and everyone applauded with bright faces.
Kuilan and Chain Zenith didn’t have very good expressions, but only Hannibal, who was sitting between them, was hesitating and laughing helplessly.
“Aw~ It’s so cute~”
The female heroes trembled in front of Hannibal’s innocent smile. Her face, which had become bloated, melted and flowed down like ice cream on a summer day.
Zenith narrowed her eyes as she examined these external enemies.
“Hannibal said he wanted to attend, so I brought him here, but he’s still a minor! No alcohol! No scary stories! Obscene language is also prohibited! “Nothing too sweet is allowed!”
“Why are there so many bans!”
“How long are you going to protect your child like that? “Our Hannibal is now becoming an adult!”
“It’s ‘our’ Hannibal, no matter who we choose! I can’t take my eyes off my son! “Get out!”
Hannibal, who didn’t seem to care much about his father’s campaign, picked up the snacks on the table and ate them with the happiest face in the world.
The female hero Jin was just saying ‘Aww, she’s so cute~’ over and over again.
“Recently, I’ve been hanging out with male friends more often…”
Elise, who was quietly sipping a drink in the corner, asked cautiously.
“Isn’t it okay to remove ‘Yeo’ from the name of the group now?”
“that’s right. I think it would be okay to just call it a gender-neutral meeting and go to a gender-neutral meeting….” The
female members, who secretly wanted to expand the male lineup, watched closely, but Evangeline was adamant.
“No, the Big Yeo Yeong-yong Committee must remain as the Big Yeo Yeong-yong Committee!”
“why? That way, the name will sound more like a cry…?”
“no! “If we remain a women’s group, we can all actively participate in future meetings with other men’s groups!”
“…!”
The women, who belatedly realized the president’s deep intentions, were moved.
“As expected, Miss Evangeline! “The eternal chairman of the Great Women’s Yongyong Committee!”
“Let us stick together!”
“Aja Aja Group Blind Date Fighting!”
While the women were crowding together like that,
“…all the male guests over there are listening too.”
“This place is so uncomfortable…”
Kuilan and Chain said one word at a time. Of course, the women didn’t really care.
“All the men in power go away!”
“Kuilan, go to Yun, and Mr. Chain, buy a gift and go home! “Your wife will be waiting for you!”
Kuilan was even more surprised by these words.
“Eh? Mr. Chain, were you married?”
“…Didn’t you tell me? “I recently had a grandchild.”
Chain spoke calmly and stretched out his arm to pick up the snacks and eat them. No longer bound by chains, his movements were quite awkward.
“No, he had a wife, children, and grandchildren? I really had no idea… Wait a minute. “Then why have you never returned home?”
“That’s because I was kicked out of the house… There’s no way my wife and children would look kindly on a warlock who doesn’t take care of the house and only gambles and fights.”
Chain, who calmly confessed the pitiful reality, rested his chin with a small sigh.
“Well, since I started working here, we’ve been exchanging letters occasionally. “I’m glad I got a decent job now or something.”
“Huh…”
“I’m about to retire from that job, too. “Giggle.”
“The lord will take good care of you, so you can go back with a large severance pay.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be happy to go back… I wonder if I’ll just hand over the money and go wandering again…”
Immediately after, Chain laughed bitterly.
“Well, I’m worried about being full. Now even Nobody has entered the grave. “I am alive and here…”
The atmosphere quickly calmed down.
A funeral was held during the day today, and the current meeting was also an extension of that memorial service.
Evangeline silently placed the empty glass in the middle of the table and poured herself a drink. It was a drink for colleagues who can no longer be here.
“Let’s go to sleep and mourn until the funeral.”
Evangeline brightened the mood.
“This is not a place where we gather to make fun. Even those who went first wouldn’t want us to do that.”
Evangeline then vigorously raised her glass.
“There are still nine thousand miles of hardship ahead! Let’s eat, drink, and be strong!”
“Oooooh!”
As the Chairman said, people started eating and drinking.
As is typical at drinking parties, topics were divided for each table, and laughter rang out along with casual chatter.
After a few toasts and a few drinks, those who were less able to drink were the first to start to get drunk and stumble.
“Yuuuuun.”
Kuilan, who was very drunk, sniffled.
“I told you to wake up in the morning….”
“No, it’s evening now.”
“I steamed the potatoes, but why can’t I eat them? Somehow, I was lucky today…”
Kuilan sobbed as he ate the potato gnocchi that was served as a snack. Chain, who was sitting next to him, got irritated.
“Who poured alcohol on this friend like this?”
“I drank it alone. The chairman said he would pay for the drinks, so just keep going…”
“Uh-huh. Yuuuuun.”
“What appears to be a bandit leader or something is terribly weak. “Ah, don’t stick around, get away!”
Yun was still in a coma, as if it was a lie that he briefly regained consciousness using the sacred relics of the Aryan Kingdom.
Kuilan went to the Arian Kingdom military camp every day to visit Yun, but there was no improvement in Yun’s condition.
The female Hero Jin clicked her tongue as she looked at Kuilan who was snorting.
“So, you should have accepted it when you said you liked it.”
“When Yoon kept dashing, I kept kicking him, but now that he’s unconscious, you start to regret it, right?”
“This is why relationships between people are difficult… because the time and place must be right for each other…” “
But I also like this way of realizing one’s own feelings a beat late and nursing with single-mindedness. “This kind of coupling is delicious.”
“I will nurse you just as much time as Princess Yun! Then the princess will be impressed by your sincerity and will wake up sparkling.”
Everyone laughed, criticized, or criticized Kuilan’s love story together.
“….”
Junior, who was looking there, slowly swallowed his wine glass.
Evangeline looked at Junior’s dark complexion and asked carefully.
“Are you okay, Junior?”
“huh? iced coffee.”
Junior laughed bitterly.
“It’s just… it’s not easy.”
Junior let out a long sigh and twirled the wine glass in his hand.
“The relationships between people and the world itself are not easy.”
“Really. “Why is it so difficult?”
Evangeline and Junior looked at each other and smiled.
At that time, Evangeline noticed that the snacks on the table were falling and raised her hand to pick up the menu.
“Should I order something more? Here!”
Then the young waiter who had been watching Evangeline quickly approached. Evangeline pondered as she looked at the menu.
“What would be good? Is there any dish I haven’t tried today? Um…”
That was then.
The young waiter swallowed dry saliva while examining Evangeline and spoke carefully.
“Hey, there’s Miss Evangeline.”
“Huh?”
Evangeline raised her head in confusion and faced the waiter.
“What’s wrong. “Is there anything on the menu today?”
“Actually, I…”
The waiter, who was stuttering, closed his eyes tightly and said,
“Jo Jo Jo…”
“Jo?”
“I like-!”
He made a confession out of the blue, without any warning.
“…?”
For an instant, the interior of the cafeteria was enveloped in silence.
Evangeline, who had stiffened in embarrassment, stammered.
“You like it? What? Oh, this menu? I like it because it’s delicious too-”
“It’s not like that, Miss Evangeline!”
The waiter, whose face was bright red, hesitated, but realized that the situation was already at a disadvantage and just threw it away.
“I almost died if I stayed in this city during this battle…”
“…?”
“At that time, I decided that if I didn’t die or survive, I would convey this feeling. That’s why I’m just telling you honestly how I feel.”
“yes? So now…”
“Yes. I really… like it!”
The waiter, with his eyes tightly closed, shouted once more.
As Evangeline froze in embarrassment, the excited female heroes around her screamed.
“Kaaaaaa!”
“Confession, confession!”
“Oh my god, this is my first time watching a live performance! “I can’t believe I saw this kind of scenery in this bleak fortress city!”
“Go get the popcorn! hurry-!”
“No, it’s on the table in front… Pick it up and eat it…” While
the members of the Big Women’s Performance Committee went wild and surrounded the two, throwing popcorn in all directions, Evangeline calmly kept her cool.
“Excuse me, but do we know each other before?”
“no. But…”
The waiter hesitated.
“Because you come to this store often…”
Evangeline sighed softly. Well, it was my favorite restaurant in Crossroads, so I came here often.
‘Now that I think about it, I seem to remember… I ate here recently too. It was here when Lord Hecate came with her hair cut short and that idiot Lucas reacted without notice.’
Only then did I remember the face of this waiter who actively served customers every time I stopped by this restaurant.
Immediately after, Evangeline said Ah! I clapped my hands loudly.
“Oh wait. Then, is it true that you always serve five dishes?”
“Yes… I wanted to look good to the young lady…”
The remaining members of the Big Women’s Management Committee broke into a cold sweat.
“No, if you receive five plates of service, you should notice something strange, Chairman.”
“I thought I would just give away what was left over…”
Evangeline laughed awkwardly.
Thanks to this, the atmosphere at the drinking party became more lively, and although the waiter who was flinching in front of me was not particularly unlikable, there was no reason to accept a confession from someone who was almost like meeting me for the first time.
How should I turn this around and reject it?…
‘Ah.’
At that moment, Evangeline realized.
There was a time in this restaurant when Lucas saw Hecate’s new hairstyle and said something stupid without notice.
– After all, a knight’s hairstyle should be functional. It’s cool now, but how about cutting it even shorter next time? If you want, I can shave it with a razor blade myself.
At that time, I thought Lucas was really tactless.
I also learned this when I was in a situation where I had to reject someone else’s feelings.
‘That… you turned it around and rejected it.’
Don’t come any closer than this.
I want to remain friends with you.
Lucas had drawn the line with Hecate. In his own way, he was as gentle as possible, claiming to be oblivious…
“….”
While Evangeline was lost in thought, the heroes from the Women’s Management Committee now targeted the waiter and started shaking him violently.
“Hey young man! This is very courageous! “How can you insult the chairman of our Great Women’s Management Committee, the powerful person who rules this city!”
“Yeah, you should have that much guts when you’re young! But we can’t get to the Chairman until we’ve all been defeated!”
“What do you like about our president?! Speak quickly! Then we can open the way!”
The waiter, who had no idea what to do with the urging, answered cautiously.
“Well, you enjoyed eating everything… It was nice to see, so I kept looking at it…”
Everyone was shocked by the unexpected answer.
Because I ate well…I fell in love with it?
“I…”
Evangeline, who was frozen, muttered softly.
“Do you eat that well?”
Then everyone in the room thought at the same time.
‘huh….’
