NOVEL ONLINE FREE Volume 1 Chapter 37 - I Want to Secretly Hold Hands
Nanapon and I passed through the gate and returned to the guild. We headed back to the reception desk, where we approached Kaede-chan.
“We’re back!”
“Ah, Senpai, welcome back!”
When I greeted Kaede-chan, she returned the greeting with a cute smile.
“Who are these people…?”
Nanapon said something from behind.
“Ah, welcome back, Nanaka-chan. I’m glad you were able to meet up safely.”
Kaede-chan greeted Nanapon as well.
“Did you hear about it too, Kaede-chan?”
I asked, pointing at Nanapon.
“No, Nanaka-chan came after you left, Senpai. Then we listened to the story from the Guild Master in the office.”
I suppose Kaede-chan didn’t know about it either.
Well, she would have told me if she knew.
“I see. I want to complain, but I’ll do it tomorrow. There are some reports to make, and I’ll come with Nanapon tomorrow.”
It’s Eleanor-san who’s coming, but I can just contact her later.
“Nanapon? A tanuki?”
“… See, people think I’m a tanuki. I’m not fat…”
Is there an image of tanukis being chubby?
Besides, Nanapon isn’t fat. She’s slimmer than Kaede-chan.
“Senpai?”
As I looked at Nanapon’s chest, Kaede-chan spoke in a cold voice.
“Ah, Kaede-chan, let’s go out for dinner today!”
“… I have overtime.”
Ah, crap.
“I’ll wait. What time?”
“Around 8?”
“Then, I’ll come around that time.”
“Okay? I’ll hurry and finish my work.”
Good, good.
“Ah, here, I’ll return this.”
I handed in my sword and status card.
“Me too.”
Nanapon also handed in her staff and status card.
“I’ll take care of it. Now, please tell me about today’s results.”
At Kaede-chan’s request, I presented a large number of skeleton swords and had them settled.
After the settlement, I decided to go home once and walked with Nanapon to the station.
“Um, are you really not dating?”
As the two of us were walking, Nanapon asked.
“With Kaede-chan? We’ve never talked about that.”
I want her to be my wife, not just my girlfriend.
Kaede-chan said she would be a parasite for life.
“I see…”
“Did something bother you?”
“No, Okita-san suddenly gets excited, and Asakura-san makes a sweet voice I’ve never heard before, so I wondered who these two were.”
Hmm.
“What’s Kaede-chan like usually?”
“A capable older sister? Something like that.”
Capable? Older sister?
That girl?
Heh…
“Who is that?”
“No, that’s what I said. I wondered if it was because you were in a relationship.”
“Then, let’s just say we’re dating.”
That’s right; we are dating.
She’s been to my house, we’ve traveled to Hokkaido together, and we’re going to live together soon.
This must be dating.
“It’s kind of scary…”
“This is what adults are like.”
“Adults are strange, aren’t they? What about a confession?”
Leave it alone.
If I’m rejected, I’ll be sick.
I’ve finally started to heal, thanks to the money and Kaede-chan’s healing power.
Afterward, when Nanapon and I reached the station, we parted ways and I took the train home.
When I got home, I made a large number of level 2 healing potions and put them in the bag. Then, when it was time, I took a shower, changed clothes, and headed to the guild again.
When I arrived at the guild around 7:30, the media that had been lingering in front of the guild were gone, and instead, Kaede-chan was waiting.
Along with Satsuki-san…
“Kaede-chan, you’re quite early.”
“I worked hard!”
Kaede-chan puffed out her chest.
Yeah, cute.
And a feast for the eyes.
This is her healing power.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
Nanapon and I headed to the izakaya we had been to before.
“A nearby izakaya? It’s a good time; let’s go.”
“……………”
“Why are you coming?”
I looked at Satsuki-san, who was following us even though I tried to ignore him.
“I’m going to drink, right? I’ll go too.”
“No, go home. You have videos to watch, right?”
“Sorry about the Yokogawa thing. I want to talk about that too, so let’s go. It’s a treat from your boss.”
This guy, he’s trying to take away my right to treat Kaede-chan?
My only weapon, money, don’t take it away from me.
But I want to hear about Nanapon, and there’s also the matter of level 2 healing potions…
Alright, I’ll splurge at the second party.
“Well, I guess we’ll go.”
“It can’t be helped.”
Reluctantly, Kaede-chan and I agreed, and the three of us headed to the familiar izakaya.
Once we started walking, we arrived at the izakaya in less than five minutes.
We were guided by the staff and seated in a private room.
Then, Kaede-chan and I sat side by side, with Satsuki-san sitting across from us.
It felt fresh and nice to have Kaede-chan sitting next to me, but Satsuki-san across from us was staring intently at Kaede-chan and me.
“What’s up?”
“I noticed it in the branch manager’s office too, but you two naturally sit next to each other. Isn’t Kaede on this side?”
“She’s obviously on my side, right next to me.”
We’re lovers, after all!
“Does it matter which side? Guild Master, what would you like to drink?”
“Stop calling me Guild Master; it makes the sake taste bad.”
“Then, Satsuki-san, what will you have?”
“A draft beer.”
“Okay.”
Kaede-chan called the waiter and ordered three draft beers.
“Grr… Okita-kun ordered without even asking what we wanted. It feels unpleasant.”
The unpleasant feeling is clearly you.
“The first one is always draft beer.”
Always draft beer, though.
“Satsuki-san, you’ve been annoying lately.”
Even Kaede-chan is complaining.
“Heh!”
No good, this guy…
Soon after, the draft beers arrived, and we toasted and began to drink.
“So what was the deal with Nanapon? You could have said something.”
I took a sip of beer and asked Satsuki-san.
“Nanapon? Yokogawa… Nanaka. Ah, Nanapon, I see… Well, actually, right after you showed me the status card, I immediately contacted Nanapon.”
Satsuki-san referred to her as Nanapon too.
“Immediately?”
“I thought it would be better to do it quickly. Then she instantly gave in and threw up. ‘I’ll do anything, so please don’t tell my parents or university,’ she pleaded over the phone.”
That really was an erotic magazine scenario, huh?
“So why did you bring her to me? You were rambling about having me instruct her.”
Don’t underestimate me.
“Yes, well, that was a bonus. I really wanted her to be Eleanor’s eyes.”
“Eyes?”
“Yes. Nanapon’s insight is quite something. It will help you avoid strange people on the frontier.”
Indeed, she did find monsters for me today and even told me the locations of other adventurers.
“I see. That might be a good idea. Eleanor-san, or rather, Senpai, can be a bit clumsy.”
Kaede-chan laughed.
“I’m not!”
“At first, you were tripping all over the place, weren’t you?”
“I was just a little excited.”
“Eh~”
Kaede-chan laughed again.
“Tsk! Oh, do you two want another round?”
As Kaede-chan and I were talking, Satsuki-san, who had emptied his beer mug, asked.
So fast!
He chugged it.
And stop that clicking sound.
“Then, yes, please.”
Satsuki-san ordered two more draft beers, and the waiter brought them right away, so we started drinking the second round.
“So what happened next?”
I continued the conversation while drinking the second round.
“At first, I told her to team up with you, Okita-kun, but she said she wanted some time to think. I wasn’t in a hurry at the time, so I thought it was fine. Then I got busy with selling healing potions and preparing for the auction, and completely forgot about Nanapon.”
Hey!
“Don’t forget about her…”
“That’s terrible, isn’t it?”
Even Kaede-chan is blaming her boss.
“My bad, my bad. Then, just before noon today, I got a call saying ‘I’m fine with Eleanor-san.’ I was confused for a moment about what she meant.”
“She’s been stalking me.”
“I was surprised she went that far too, but it was easy to explain. So please take care of Nanapon. Train her on the side and aim for A-rank together. With your rare skills, you can do it. Show Yoshino, who whined that he couldn’t grow or earn anything in this guild, that he was wrong.”
The personal grudge is strong.
“Well, I don’t know if we can make it to A-rank, but we’ll do our best. Today, that brat bragged about being D-rank, and it annoyed me.”
“Ah, speaking of which, he was D-rank, wasn’t he?”
“He stopped coming right after becoming D-rank.”
Hmm.
“Considering the gap, shouldn’t he be demoted to E-rank?”
Fall, fall.
“Even I think that would be better.”
Kaede-chan is on point as always!
“Hmm… Maybe we should.”
The conversation continues as they share more drinks and discuss their future plans, with the three of them enjoying the evening together.