kscans

Chapter 128 - Ramen Over a Heart

"Stay back."

I stopped the receptionist who was about to try and restrain the kid with the misplaced grudge. She wouldn’t be able to stop him.

"Huh? But..."

"Just stay back. It’s dangerous."

"What?"

I pulled the receptionist back by her shoulder, forcing her to move away.

"I understand you have a grudge against me. But you should stop. If you pull that out, it’s over for you."

The kid had kept his hands in his pockets this whole time. Only his right hand...

"Shut up! Everything would have been fine if you weren’t here!! Even Yuuka would have, I’m sure of it!!"

This is bad. He’s way too far gone. This is a lost cause.

"I’m sure Yuuka-san will understand how you feel, too."

I tried to reason with him somehow.

"Shut up! I confessed and she rejected me! It’s your fault!"

That is not my fault. That’s on you.

"I had nothing to do with that, did I?"

"She said she likes Eleanor-sama better!!"

Wow. First a female university student, and now I’m popular with high school girls too. It seems Eleanor-san was quite the femme fatale.

"Hmph."

I scoffed and flicked my hair with my finger.

"You... you bitch!!"

The boy’s eyes were blazing, and he was completely furious.

Oops. This is bad. It seems the Provocation Skill activated. I got a little carried away with the happiness of being popular with a high school girl.

"I won’t forgive you!!"

The boy finally pulled a knife from his pocket.

"S-Stop it!!"

The receptionist screamed, but it was probably too late.

The boy pointed the knife at me.

"How foolish. Did you really think you could do anything to me with such a pathetic little thing?"

"Y-You bastard!!"

It seemed my provocation had activated again. The boy charged at me, knife in hand.

"Hopeless, as I thought. What an amateur."

Watching the boy charge, I raised one leg to about knee height. I timed it just right, then stepped forward with that raised leg while rotating my body, using the momentum to spin. As I spun, I raised my other leg and kicked out. In short, I unleashed a spinning back kick.

My foot connected with the hand of the boy holding the knife, sending the weapon flying through the air.

"...Guh!"

The boy clutched his kicked hand and collapsed to the ground.

"What are you doing?!"

I heard a man’s voice and turned to see the two security guards from the back entrance running toward us.

"Apprehend him! He attacked her with a knife!"

The receptionist gave instructions to the guards.

"...Wha! Dammit!"

The boy looked up in surprise at the receptionist’s words, then quickly stood up and tried to run. But the guards reached him before he could.

"Don’t move!"

"Dammit! Let go of me! I didn’t do anything wrong! I’m innocent!"

The boy struggled and shouted as the two guards restrained him.

"Are you hurt?"

Figuring the situation was under control, I asked the receptionist behind me.

"Huh? Shouldn’t I be asking you that, Eleanor-sama?"

Well, yeah. She was just standing behind me and didn't do anything.

"It would be a disgrace to be injured by such a small fry."

Idiot.

"Dammit! I’ll never forgive you for this!"

The boy, who had apparently heard my words, shouted a curse at me.

"I don’t need your forgiveness. After all, you attacked a baaad little witch. You’re going to die."

"Huh?"

The boy stared blankly at my words.

"I’ll put a curse on you."

"Wha?"

"I. Said. I’ll curse you. Bye-bye."

I waved at the boy with a smile.

"...S-Stop!"

I could see the color of fear in the boy’s eyes.

"It’s okay for you to attack me, but not for me to do the same? Isn’t that a little strange?"

"N-No, that’s not...!"

I don’t know what’s not.

"Alright! I’ll stop the curse. Instead, I’ll take your heart. I’ll have it for dinner tonight."

""""Huh?!""""

Not just the boy, but the receptionist and the two security guards also stared at me in shock.

"...It was a joke."

"Eleanor-sama, with all due respect, you have no sense of humor."

What did I do wrong?

"Hmph! You brat over there, if you attack me again, I’ll break your arm. Then I’ll heal it with a Healing Potion and repeat the process for all eternity."

I threatened the trembling little punk as I looked down on him.

"Eleanor-sama, is that a joke?"

"I’m dead serious. It means I won’t forgive a second time. Make sure you tell that gorilla of a branch manager and that annoying pretty-boy A-ranker."

"Understood. I will relay the message to the gorilla and the annoying man."

The receptionist nodded obediently.

"Well, I’m heading home. Oh, tell Yuuka-san to keep up the good work."

"Certainly. I’m sure she will be delighted to hear it."

I’ll give her an autograph next time I see her.

"See you."

I raised a hand in farewell and walked toward a taxi that was, for some reason, parked nearby. The rear door of the taxi opened, and I got into the cab, which had a reputation for providing the service of having a blonde woman in the passenger seat.

"Weren’t you two supposed to be my bodyguards?"

I asked Harry, the driver, and Claire, who was sitting in the back seat.

"You didn’t need any help with that guy."

"Besides, he was clearly a high schooler. Dealing with students causes problems, so I’m passing on that one."

Useless bunch. What are they even here for?

"Ugh, today was just a bad day..."

Nothing but trouble.

"Some days are like that. Alright! My treat!"

"It’s ramen, isn’t it."

I’m going to get called scowly-faced again.

"No, no, I made a new discovery the other day."

Has Harry finally awakened to true Japanese cuisine? Sushi, tempura, anything is fine.

"What did you discover?"

"Have you ever heard of tantanmen?"

It’s still ramen!