kscans

Chapter 97 - Also, the Next Day, Kaede-chan Washed the Bedding

Satsuki-san arrived, so we invited her into the house.

"Hmm, you live in a nice place..." Satsuki-san muttered as she looked around the living room.

"We have money, so... This is about right for two people, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so..."

Satsuki-san even wandered over to the kitchen.

"Um, could you please not explore so much? I'm making coffee right now, so please have a seat."

Kaede-chan, who was in the kitchen preparing drinks for our guest, finally spoke up with a note of complaint.

"Beer is fine."

"...Please have a seat."

Kaede-chan said with complete exasperation, and Satsuki-san returned to the table and sat down.

"You're drinking beer?" I asked as I sat down across from Satsuki-san.

"It's a good time for it. More importantly, why are you Eleanor?"

"I was on the phone with Nanaka-san until just now. She gets mad if Okita-kun calls her."

Change! She always says that.

"She's such a handful..."

"I'm used to it. She's always been a little weird."

"Yeah, she is."

As Satsuki-san nodded, Kaede-chan brought over three cans of beer.

"Are you drinking too, Kaede-chan?"

"You're going to drink anyway, Senpai, right? Then I'll have one too."

Kaede-chan replied as she sat down next to me.

"Tch! I hate that 'I know everything about him' attitude of yours, Kaede."

She's turning into a full-on delinquent...

"You're being a pain, so just drink up already."

Kaede-chan sounded genuinely annoyed.

"My sweet little Kaede has been so sharp-tongued lately. Has some guy influenced her?"

"It's definitely your fault. You're so annoying."

Her jealousy and spite are incredible.

"Ah, I hate getting old..."

Satsuki-san said as she popped the tab on her beer can and started drinking. Kaede-chan and I started drinking as well.

"So, about Yoshino-san..." I began, cutting to the chase as we started drinking.

"She just showed up at your house and said Okita-kun was Eleanor, right?"

"That's right. Unannounced."

"Hmm, how bold of her."

Satsuki-san nodded thoughtfully.

"Does this mean the guild headquarters found out? Yoshino-san works for the headquarters, right?"

"No, that's unlikely. The director is a cautious man, and he wants to mend his relationship with Eleanor, so he wouldn't make contact so suddenly. This was definitely Yoshino acting on her own."

Right, he wouldn't do anything to provoke the Golden Witch. I did threaten to close the Gate, after all.

"Why would Yoshino-san do something like this?"

"She probably suspected you, not Eleanor. She must have had some thoughts after adventuring with you."

"I don't think Okita-kun made that many mistakes. Maybe it was a bad idea to team up with her after all."

So it was dangerous.

"She has good instincts. But don't worry about it. I was thinking it would be fine even if she found out."

"Because you can bribe her with money?"

"That's right. And if we get her on our side, we can even get information from the headquarters. It's convenient."

This woman suggested Yoshino-san to me with this in mind from the start...

"Will she betray them so easily? She's definitely greedy, but I think she's fundamentally a serious and good person."

Well, she did abandon her cousin to transfer to another guild...

"It's not like she'd be betraying them, and we're not going to make her do anything against the director. It's just that the director gets information about each guild and the government officials quickly. I just want Yoshino to pass that information on to us. At worst, we can just give the director some healing potions or something. And five percent of the auction profits go to the headquarters anyway. The director won't complain."

What a corrupt adult...

"Do you think Yoshino-san will keep quiet about me and Okita-kun, and about Alchemy?"

"That'll come down to money. When she wakes up, negotiate with her. She'll probably want potions or an Item Bag."

"I already sold her an Item Bag. So we negotiate with potions, then?"

"It might be straight cash, but yeah, something like that. With so many party members, she can never have enough healing potions."

She did say she has over twenty members.

"Satsuki-san, can I ask you to do the negotiating? It seems like it would go more smoothly if you did it."

"Well, I'll be there, but you do the negotiating yourself. You did form a party with her, even if it was temporary, so trust her."

It's a bit much to ask me to trust a money-grubber. Though, she's one too.

"Hmm..."

"Then you wanna kill her? It's the easiest way to keep someone quiet."

"What... No way."

Besides, I'd get caught immediately. And I don't want to kill Yoshino-san. Not when she's so big...

"Then bribing her is the only way."

"Well, yeah... Let's try that."

"Do that... Is it about time?"

Satsuki-san said, looking at the clock on the wall. It was 10 PM, around the time the sleeping potion would wear off.

"You're right. Let's go to my room."

I finished my beer and stood up. When I did, Kaede-chan and Satsuki-san stood up as well. We left the living room and headed to my room.

When the three of us entered my room, we saw Yoshino-san sleeping peacefully on her back on the bed. Honestly, the sight of Yoshino-san sleeping in my bed made my heart pound just a little.

"Her clothes are... still on, and there are no signs of a struggle."

Satsuki-san lifted the comforter and checked Yoshino-san's clothes.

"What do you take Okita-kun for? He would never do something like that."

I'm not a sex offender.

"Well, he is the type to resort to a sleeping potion so quickly..."

Hey, hey, don't say things that make me sound bad. Kaede-chan is trying to defend me, but even she has a conflicted look on her face.

"I couldn't handle it by myself, so I was buying time. It makes a huge difference whether you're here or not."

Yoshino-san and Satsuki-san are cousins, they're family. And Yoshino-san looks up to Satsuki-san a lot. I figured that with her here, the negotiations would go smoothly.

"Well, Kaede is here too, so I guess you wouldn't do anything weird."

"And besides, if Kaede-chan didn't live here, Yoshino-san wouldn't have come, right?"

Yoshino-san wouldn't come to the house of a man who lives alone. Especially a man who stares at her chest.

"Mmm, huh...?"

As Satsuki-san and I were talking, Yoshino-san's eyes opened.

"Yo, Yoshino, good morning."

Satsuki-san called out to the newly awakened Yoshino-san.

"Satsuki-neesan...? Huh? Where am I!?"

Yoshino-san sat up in a panic.

"Okita-kun and Kaede's love nest. Don't you remember?"

I don't care about the rest, but stop calling it a love nest.

"That's right... I came to see Okita-kun... Huh? Why was I sleeping?"

"Okita-kun slipped you something. You shouldn't just drink things so casually when you visit a man's house. Especially when your opponent is a witch."

I'm gonna eat you up. Not in a sexual way, though.

"That coffee... Come to think of it, I don't remember anything after that."

"Anyway, get up. We're going to the living room."

"Oh, right..."

Yoshino-san still seemed confused, but she got out of bed, smoothed the sheets with her hands, and folded the comforter.

"Is this Kaede's room?"

"Does it look like a woman's room? It's Okita-kun's. He said Kaede's room was locked and he couldn't get in."

Satsuki-san answered Yoshino-san's question.

"Apparently, it's always locked."

I wish she'd forget to lock it sometimes.

"Just give it up already."

Never!

"Um, what's the relationship between Okita-kun and Kaede?"

Yoshino-san asked, tilting her head.

"They're a married couple, it seems."

"He's my senpai, and I'm his junior."

Kaede-chan and I answered at the same time.

"...I don't really get it, but good luck, Okita-kun."

Yoshino-san is a good person.

"Tch!"

Satsuki-san is so petty...