kscans

Chapter 515 - 4 vs. 4

"Alright, now that we've all greeted each other again—cheers."

"""Cheers!"""

Following the extremely quiet host's lead, three men—the particularly enthusiastic Goldow, myself, and Uni—filled the space with lively voices.

Sora-san, the very picture of grace; Nia, who tends to get quieter as more people gather; and Helena-san, whom I couldn't imagine ever cutting loose, all raised their glasses with their own expressions, demurely joining in.

As for Irori, who had separated himself from the circle of men, he responded with a calm "Cheers," a refreshing smile on his refreshing face and a refreshing tone in his voice. Damn handsome guy.

In any case, with all the invited guests assembled, the 'trip' had finally begun in earnest.

The lounge, which had served as the party venue for lunch as well, was now a festival of food. An endless array of dishes lined the tables, stimulating both curiosity and appetite. From classic, well-known dishes to eccentric, creative ones, there was no shortage of things to pair with drinks or conversation.

Though we were meeting for the first time in real life, everyone here had shared intense moments with someone else in the 'battlefield.'

The only exception was the artisan (Nia), but it seemed she knew everyone in the virtual world… so while there were varying degrees of familiarity, no one seemed to be feeling any major tension.

—So, for starters.

"Here you go, Goldow-san. As promised, I shall fulfill my duty."

"Oh, much appreciated."

Seeing the General Commander down his glass of wine the moment we cheered, I grabbed a bottle and smoothly approached his side. The setup allowed for either standing or sitting, but he had already settled down comfortably…

"Hmm, in that case, it's not quite 'pouring a drink,' but—"

I stood diagonally to the right of his seat, held the bottom of the bottle with my right hand, and tilted it smoothly towards his empty glass. The key was to maintain good posture and act as cool as possible.

"Well, now… what's this? You look surprisingly natural doing that."

"I am honored by your praise."

After I finished pouring, I raised the bottle and, still in character, replied with a smart, composed expression, completely unashamed. In return, I received a grin of amusement.

I had tried a little impromptu joke, and it seemed to have been well-received by the customer. It looked like the skills I had cultivated during my time as a part-time waiter hadn't faded yet.

I was in my own clothes, not a waiter's uniform, but I hoped he would overlook that—

"What's that, where did you learn that trick?"

"A part-time job in high school. It was at a slightly upscale restaurant where they drilled all sorts of things into us."

Uni, who had approached out of amusement, asked a question, and I answered him concisely.

"High school… which means."

"Oh, he's an eighteen-year-old first-year university student. Young, isn't he?"

Irori casually joined in, and in an instant, a conversational table of four men was formed.

"Huh… I should ask, but is it okay?"

"Just my age? That's fine."

He was probably asking about Uni casually leaking my personal information. I replied just as casually, “Don't worry about it.”

I had already confirmed with him while helping in the kitchen, “Is that information okay to share?” and besides, anyone could tell just by looking at me.

"I see… eighteen, so you're three years younger."

"Wait, weren't you twenty?"

"Until half a month ago. My birthday is in May."

"Oh, huh… really…?"

I questioned the discrepancy with the profile I'd looked up online once, and the answer was extremely simple and clear. I obviously hadn't touched on that kind of personal information.

Wait, should I? Get him a birthday present or something. He's helped me out a lot in total…

"…I know exactly what you're thinking, but don't be weirdly considerate. It's creepy."

"You're one to talk. Keep thoughts like that to yourself, will you?"

"I'm afraid you'll go off the rails if I don't say it clearly."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. If you're going to be so blunt about that, be blunt about your schemes and stuff too. I'm never falling for your tricks again."

"Hah, you've got some nerve saying that after stirring up the entire world just by being your thoughtless, natural self."

"You're one to talk, having had a hand in that whole sequence of events yourself, aren't you???"

As we continued our back-and-forth of light-hearted jabs,

"—I've been thinking this since the time he got the better of me, but you two are really close."

"Oh yeah, these two were already getting along the same day they beat each other up."

I started to feel uncomfortable hearing these unsolicited opinions from the sidelines, so I decided to sheathe my sword for the time being. To be honest, I was aware that we got along pretty well, but it's just embarrassing when other people point it out.

"Ahem… anyway."

"Oh, he's embarrassed."

"You're pretty much like that in the virtual world too, aren't you? Kinda endearing—"

"A-N-Y-W-A-Y."

I bulldozed over their teasing, but the two older guys just cackled—wait, in this group, I'm the second youngest, huh.

I knew it, but at eighteen, I'm a total novice by Arcadia standards…

"It's a bit late to be asking this now that we're all here… but Goldow-san being here makes sense because of Helena-san, but how did you end up getting invited to a Southern Faction retreat, Irori?"

I let it slide when I first heard he was coming, but seeing him here in person feels… unexpected. Well, it's just based on the image I have of him.

For some reason, I had always thought that despite his sociable demeanor, Irori was the type of person who wouldn't be interested in this kind of gathering.

"Ah, that's simple. I invited him. Since last year."

The answer came quickly from Goldow, who had already emptied his glass again.

"He's calmed down a fair bit now, but not too long ago—for a while after he became a ranker, he was so reckless it was worrying to watch."

"That's enough of the exposé. Don't go talking about people as you please."

"Whoa, there…!"

Irori reached out from the side, snatched the bottle from my hand, and began to sloppily refill the General Commander's glass.

I almost laughed at his method of shutting him up, but seeing Goldow frantically steady his glass from the rough pouring, it seemed to have been effective enough.

Well, I got the gist of it.

"You invited him out for a change of pace, something like that?"

"…You don't need to read into it either. Just leave it alone."

What's wrong with that? A boss who looks out for you is a rare thing. We should treasure him.

Looking at Irori's uncomfortable expression, which was both rare and not-so-rare, I briefly considered whether to press on or back off—

"Tch—hey, you! Who lets out killing intent in the middle of a party?! Don't scare me like that!"

"My apologies. It seems there is a junior here who does not know how to treat his senior properly, you see?"

"What do you mean, killing intent? Can you stop casually using Skills in the real world?"

"And you're one to talk for sensing it, kid. Your senses are sharp over here too, huh."

"And besides, you guys really are close. You should both cherish a dear friend you can be yourselves with—whoa, what amazing synchronization. Is it even possible for two people to make the exact same face at the same time?"

"I'm jealous, I tell ya. A male friend you can relax with is a surprisingly rare thing."

"Hey, hey, stop it, stop it! Stop teasing us like that, it's making my skin crawl!"

"Indeed. Don't take this as an opportunity to mock us."

Well, you know.

The way the conversation was going was incredibly unwelcome and embarrassing—but it was a relief that we could get along just fine in the real world too.

One thing was for sure: I wouldn't be bored for the next week.