kscans

Chapter 514 - Full Capacity Assembled

"—Well, I'll be damned, you really are young. You look exactly like you do over there. An old guy like me is gonna stick out like a sore thumb. I'm tellin' ya, kid, I've been wantin' to meet ya!"

"You're not so different from over there yourself—gack, what the—?! Hey, tap out, tap out, your arm's too thick, the muscles…!"

Ashe had received a message saying they'd arrived, so I slipped out of the kitchen and headed to the entrance, only to meet this fate in less than thirty seconds.

There was a group of three: two familiar yet unfamiliar faces, and one woman I still wasn't used to seeing even in the virtual world. I gave them a little wave, and a moment later, the burly man strode forward, and his powerful arm had me in an inescapable grip.

I struggled instinctively, but unfortunately, it had absolutely no effect.

While not quite the same as his over-two-meter avatar, he was still an imposing figure, easily over one-eighty in height with a thick, muscular frame.

Judging by the expression of his ‘daughter,’ who was watching me with a look of half-exasperation and half-apology from a short distance away, he had to be at least in his late forties…

Man, you're plenty young yourself. What's with all this muscle? What kind of monster were you in your prime, you real-life titan—

"…Father. That's enough."

"Oops, my bad."

Just as I gave up resisting and went limp, his ‘daughter’ approached with a small, inaudible sigh and chided her rampaging ‘father.’

I was saved. For a second there, I thought my neck was going to be snapped right after meeting him.

"My apologies. When I meet my buddies from the other side here in the real world, I tend to get carried away, forgetting my age…—Ah, you alright?"

"I'm-I'm fine, but… please don't throw your STR around over here. I'll die."

"Gahaha! Sorry, sorry! I'll be careful."

"That laugh is the same here too…"

—Well, anyway.

"Goldow-san and Helena-san, I presume."

"Yeah. Nice to meet ya again, Haru."

"My apologies for my father's behavior. It has been a while, Haru-sama—…Perhaps adding ‘-sama’ is a bit too formal here in the real world."

"It is. Please, feel free to call me whatever's comfortable."

"Yes, understood."

The father-daughter pair both looked almost exactly as they did in the game.

Goldow's dandyish short haircut was a bit new, but it suited him perfectly. Helena-san, on the other hand, was exactly the same. Her eyes seemed a bit softer than her avatar's, perhaps? But that was about it. If she put on a suit, she'd be a perfect match.

As for my first impression of their general vibe… it was probably just my imagination, but they both reminded me of Sora's father, Mr. Togo.

I'd bet they were both the type to be in charge in the real world as well.

"—If you're done with your greetings, I'll show you to your rooms."

"Oh, thanks."

"Thank you very much."

Ashe, who had been standing to the side watching the whole commotion, spoke up.

She must have already exchanged greetings as host and guest before I arrived. And since these two were also ‘regulars,’ their interaction was brief and to the point.

"Uni is already starting on the final touches, so if you'd like, we can have dinner right away."

"Oh, that sounds great! I've been missin' his cooking."

"…Try not to get on his nerves and make him angry again."

Ashe led the two away, exchanging casual words like old acquaintances—leaving one person behind.

"Hmm… I doubt it, but you're not actually the quiet type over here, are you?"

"—Shut up. I was just waiting for the right moment."

It feels weird to think this, but among the guys, his was the voice I was most familiar with in the virtual world. His annoyingly refreshing voice was, of course, unchanged in the real world, and combined with his equally unchanging refreshing face, he was the picture of a handsome man. It was maddening.

In a way, he was the most exactly the same of them all.

If you dressed him in his usual kamishimo and gave him a sword, his resemblance would likely surpass even Helena-san's one-hundred-percent accuracy.

"You're a lot quieter here than you are over there—Haru."

"Hah, I'm actually relieved you're just as annoyingly the same. Don't ask me why, though."

"I take that back. That carelessness is unmistakably you."

"What'd you say, you bastard? Should I start calling you Nate-san?"

"Hey, using my real name is a crime."

Istia's fourth-ranked member, the [Peerless] Irori, wore a bitter expression that probably mirrored my own, and then…

"…We're on vacation, let's just be honest—I've kind of missed you, junior."

It seemed his habit of trading barbs one moment and then suddenly bursting with sincerity the next hadn't changed. Disarmed by the young man's faint, relaxed smile…

"Yeah, yeah—I kind of wanted to see you too, senpai."

I lightly bumped my fist against the right hand he held up as we passed each other—

""Ow…!?""

Our bones connected with a clean, sharp crack, and we both winced at the same time.