kscans

Chapter 509 - The Person Inside

While I struggled to regain my composure after having my emotions scrambled by a certain princess, time marched on, and before I knew it, the clock had ticked over to early evening.

Early evening, which meant…

"—Hey there, it's been since the Four Pillar War. You been well?"

"Ah… yeah, more or less."

"Ahaha, you say that. But you're always playing the starring role in the middle of every commotion."

Just as Ashe had said, it was time for one of the invited guests to join us.

His neatly styled, soft-looking hair and large, innocent eyes gave him the impression of a puppy. Both were a lovely shade of brown, and while the color was different, the overall feel was just as I remembered from our one previous encounter—or so I thought.

"Let me reintroduce myself. Nice to meet you, Mr. Acrobat. Is it okay if I call you Haru?"

The gaze directed at me was from roughly the same height, and the outstretched hand I could easily meet without needing to adjust my posture belonged not to a boy, but to a young man.

His voice, much like in the virtual world, had a boyish quality… though for a man, it was a bit on the high side.

"Please, call me whatever's easiest for you. What should I call you…?"

"You can just call me Uni. It’s nice to meet you, Haru—to be honest, I've really been wanting to meet you."

The hand that clasped mine didn't feel delicate like a boy's. All in all, the Southern Faction's second-in-command, the ‘Little Heavy Tank,’ was—

"…You seem to be around my age, so I'll just ask, but how old are you?"

"Hm? I turned twenty-one last month."

"Three years older, huh."

So in the real world, he was my senior, a bona fide adult.

I mean, for a game avatar, this should be the norm, but in my case, my first, second, and third encounters had all been with people who had the ‘same face’ or ‘nearly the same face’…

"So that means you're eighteen? Whoa, I thought you might be, but you really are young—oh, don't start using polite language on me now. We’re comrades who fought without holding back, aren't we?"

"About that, I believe I was quite the troublemaker…"

"Huh? Ah, ahaha! That trick you pulled completely got me. There wasn't anyone in Istia who would do something like that, so I was totally unguarded."

Don't worry about it, it was fun, he said, so it seemed he wasn't holding a grudge. The possibility had been close to zero from the start, but seeing his frank, cheerful smile in person was a relief.

—And so.

"Uni."

After getting the message from Ashe that he'd arrived, the four of us had gone to the entrance to greet him. He had immediately approached me, showing his interest, and had likely been waiting for me to finish my first contact with the “Acrobat.”

Just as we found a break in the conversation, the host, who had been standing back, stepped up beside him and spoke.

"Hey, Iris. I'm here to hang out again this year."

"Mhm. You can use the kitchen as you please."

"Thanks a bunch, year after year. Well, you can look forward to the food in return. As always, I'll take as many requests as you want."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it."

They were the oldest members of the same faction, both rankers. From an outsider's perspective, it looked like a casual, relaxed exchange between close friends—or so I thought as I watched, but what was that complex expression that flickered across Uni's face for just a moment?

It didn't seem negative, at least.

But I didn't know him well enough to read any deeper into it… so I figured it was best not to worry about what I couldn't understand.

"Right then—are those two young ladies over there Haru's ‘partner’ and the ‘Aquamarine Fairy’ `Milmarinus`?"

Uni's interest shifted to the two girls who had been standing stiffly behind Ashe, so I tucked away my pointless thoughts and stepped aside.

Sora was a little tense, and Nia was a little more tense. Both were slightly nervous, but Sora's expression seemed a bit more relaxed.

As for Nia's ‘voice,’ I’d asked Ashe beforehand to let everyone know about it, so she was probably just nervous about meeting them face-to-face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sora. I look forward to getting to know you, Uni-san."

`A pleasure to meet you. I'm Nia. Nice to meet you.`

"Yep, yep, a pleasure to meet you both—in the real world, that is. Nia-san, we've met plenty of times in the virtual world, haven't we? Why are you more nervous than Sora-chan?"

`Shut up. I've never been to an offline meetup before, you know.`

"Ahaha, what's with that? Well, whatever. It's nice to meet you both."

He was, how to put it, a man who laughed without a hint of malice. His face was rather boyish for his height, giving him a unique air that was both childlike and mature.

Nia's nervousness could be chalked up to being shy in real life. Sora-san's relaxed demeanor was likely due to her being accustomed to ‘meeting people’.

In other words, it was a skill she had acquired as the daughter of the Yotsuya family, and thus… while not exactly a guard, it was probably a form of self-defense.

In the end, neither of their nerves lasted more than thirty seconds.

What I'm trying to say is that his skill—or rather, his talent—for easily dispelling their tension with just a word or two and a smile was truly remarkable.

"For now, I'm tired from the long trip, so I'm going to rest a bit. Is my room the usual one?"

"Mhm, up the stairs, third room on the right."

"Okay. Well then, I'll excuse myself for a bit. Oh, if any of you have foods you dislike, let me know later. And I'll take requests for things you want to eat from anyone, not just Iris."

With that crisp conclusion, Uni left us with a friendly smile and a wink that suited him ridiculously well, waving his hand as he headed for his room.

As they had both said “as always,” they were probably used to this relationship and this situation. Beside Ashe, who had a perfectly composed expression as if to say this is just how it is, I mused.

"What, is he? He's definitely a good guy, like his good-person aura is on full blast, but…"

`I get it. It's like, it's oozing out of him, right? His... quirkiness.`

"I doubt Uni would want to hear that from you two."

"Ah, haha…"

As we watched the back of the adult figure, so different from his boyish avatar in the virtual world, Nia and I offered our own rather rude takes.

Then came Ashe's deadpan, sharp retort, and Sora's usual troubled smile. Well, I suppose it was a given that anyone who made it into the top forty rankers of the virtual world would be quirky in some way, big or small…

"Alright, I'll tell him later I can't stand seaweed of any kind."

`I can't do natto.`

"…………"

"Sora, is there anything you dislike?"

"Um… it's not that I can't eat them, but I'm not a big fan of mushrooms…"

"…What a coincidence. I also dislike them, just a little."

For now, I was happy to welcome someone who seemed fun and easy to get along with.

According to my temporary tutor, Ashe, it looked like I'd have more free time than I thought, so I might as well actively hang out with him when I'm free.