Chapter 46: Part.5【Girsch learns of a good restaurant】◆ ◆

　Girsch, Henry’s fellow civil servant, is on his way back from checking on the road construction for work.

（It’s a little early, but I think I’ll take a lunch break. Maybe I’ll look for a nice restaurant while I’m at it.) He was walking along, thinking.

　It was still a little after eleven o’clock, but that much was tolerable. While searching for a restaurant he’d never been to before, he spotted Kyrias. Walking with him were all wizards. Girsch ran up to him and said, “kyrias-kun, if you are going out to eat somewhere, can I come with you?” he asked.

　Kyrias, the leader of the group and head of the magic department, smiled brightly and says, “Go ahead.”

　Walking alongside Kyrias, Girsch spoke to him without much profound meaning.

“I think people can be divided into two groups. Those who don’t find it painful to do the same routine over and over again, and those who can’t stand it. I am the latter. Is that the case with you, Kyrias-kun?”

“Yap.”

　Kyrias answered immediately. Kyrias’ friends around him nodded their heads in agreement. Girsch is much older than Kyrias, but his position at the castle was much lower. However, he deliberately maintained a no-distance attitude.

　Girsch knows that while the people around him are humble in front of the wizards, they treat them like weirdos and talk bad about them behind their backs to, and that the wizards are aware of this. He hates people who talk bad about others, so he consciously treats the wizards as if they were friends.

　Although he doesn’t openly criticize those who are gossiping about him, but he does try to show the wizards how he feels and where he stands by being friendly to them.

“The restaurant I’m going to is cheap, delicious, and has a menu that changes daily. It’s the kind of place I could go to every day and never get tired of it.”

“Really, it’s such a nice restaurant? Is it far?”

“we’re almost there. I think You’ll know right away if it’s a good place or not.”

　Kyrias said, and from there he and his friends began talking about difficult magic. Girsch walked along, looking forward to seeing what kind of food they would be able to eat at the restaurant.

　The restaurant he arrived at was in an inconspicuous location, just before a dead end on a back street.

　He was greeted by the owner’s bright smile and was impressed by the cleanliness of the restaurant. Girsch kept looking at the owner while they all ordered the day’s daily special and waited.

(This is ……)

　　She has a beautiful face and a pretty smile. Looking at the store, you can tell she likes to be neat and tidy. She’s healthy enough to enjoy working standing up. She is also smart enough to manage the accounting for the store.

(And if she’s also a good cook, wouldn’t that make her the best woman.)

　She doesn’t even wear a single earring or ear cuff to indicate that she is in a relationship.

　Girsch began to think about how to get close to that shopkeeper. He noticed that Kyrias was looking at him as if he wanted to say something, but he was too busy looking at the shopkeeper to ask, “What do you want?” he ended up not asking.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

　The daily special that was brought to him was a large, flat, meat dumpling-like dish. A hot iron plate was on a wooden stand. On top of that, a large, flat meat dumpling was sizzling. It looked more tender than any other meat dumpling he had ever eaten.

Illustration (By Mitemin)

“Oh, this is a first for me.”

“It’s so soft. Look, the juices are pouring out.”

“Yum. I love it.”

　After hearing what the wizards had said, Girsch took a bite and said, “Which one?” and thought, “It would be a shame to swallow it.” It was that delicious. And because it was on a hot iron plate, it stayed hot for a long time, which was nice.

　Girsch chewed slowly, enjoying the flavor of the meat and the sweetness of the fat.

“What a surprise, I didn’t know there was such a nice restaurant near the castle. Thank you, Kyrias-kun, for telling me about such a nice restaurant. I’ll tell Henry about it too. He said there were no stores near the castle that he could tell me about.”

 “Really, Mr. Henry told you that?”

“Yeah. He’s a much bigger foodie than I am, so I’m sure he’ll be happy if I show him this place.”

“You’re going to go out of your way to tell him?”

　Although he felt a slight sense of discomfort at what Kirias said, He was so preoccupied by the taste of the  “big meat dumplings” that he soon forgot about the discomfort.

　After eating lunch, he returned to the castle and waited for Henry while working. Henry was not back for a while because he was away on a military mission. He had the feeling that Henry has been showing up at the military a lot  lately.

　A scullery boy who worked odd jobs passed by and he stopped him.

“Geno, you said Henry was going to the military, right?”

“Yes, sir. But he said he was going to take his lunch break.”

“okay. Thank you.”

　If he had to go out, so be it. Henry would not be back from lunch until after three o’clock. Girsch waited excitedly for Henry and approached his seat as soon as he saw him return.

“Henry, I’ve finally met the woman of my dreams.”

“Is that so? I’m happy for you.”

　Henry looks up at Girsch with a smile in his eyes.

　Kirsch was surprised at the gentle expression on Henry’s face, which he had never seen before. (Huh? He can make such a gentle expression?) he thought as he continued speaking.

“It’s a small restaurant called ‘Hideaway’. It’s in an inconspicuous place, but the food there is really good. On top of that, the owner is beautiful. I’ve decided to go there every day as long as I can. I’m sure we’ll become close.”

　Henry puts down his pen and folds his hands on the desk. Even though he was clearly squinting and smiling, his instincts were warning me that (this is not a smile). A shiver ran down Girsch’s spine. From Henry’s unfamiliar smile, a pair of stark white thread-cut teeth peeked out of his mouth. His teeth seemed strangely sharp.

(I hadn’t noticed before, but I didn’t know Henry had double teeth.)

Henry had bowed his head and started looking through some papers so I couldn’t see his expression clearly anymore, but I did notice that he wasn’t smiling.

“Girsch, that store is one of my favorites. Please don’t bother the owner.”

“Oh… okay. I get it. I won’t bother you. I’m going back to work.”*

“You do that.”

　The words were spoken quietly, but Girsch’s heart was clamoring to get away. Girsch quickly returned to his desk, but strangely, his knees were weak. When he picked up a pen to start working, his hands were shaking slightly.

(Huh?　Why am I shaking so much?)

　Henry didn’t raise his voice or glare. His eyes were smiling. And yet his body was terrified, as if a large, carnivorous beast had gone for his throat.

(Could it be that Henry has feelings for the store owner?　No, I think he probably does. Oh man, I’ve really messed up, haven’t I? I shouldn’t talk about that store… or the store owner in front of Henry.)

　When he saw Kyrias later, he asked him about it.

“Did you know, Mr. Kyrias?　Henry and the owner of the Hideaway. Huh?　Did you know?　What the hell? If you knew, you should have told me right then and there.”

　Then Kyrias smiled a vague, aristocratic smile.

“My parents have drilled this into me since I was a child. ‘Don’t stick your nose into other people’s love lives. You may end up being hated, but you’ll never gain anything from it.’ So I tried to hint at it with my looks and words, but only to the extent that it didn’t go against my parents’ teachings.”

“The scent was too weak!”*

“Ahahaha. If it were me, I’d be too scared to mess with Mai. I’d probably get killed both physically and socially.”

　

　Kyrias said, laughing happily as he moved away from Girsch. As he watched him leave, Girsch muttered, “Physically and socially, that’s what it was like.” He remembered Henry’s incisors, strangely white and sharp.

Tomorrow will be Sasaki Riyo (Liyol)’s chapter 

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