156 Glasses Boy got Found Out
I didn’t know what happened, but it seemed that I got ambushed.
At first, I thought the residents of the slums were just being wary of me.
…Who’d have thought that they set me up?
Most of them were muscular men and youths, but there were also burly women in the mix.
They were armed with wooden sticks and knives, but their appearance was shabby, just like their dwelling.
How unexpected.
It was out of the blue.
Everywhere I went, I was always watched, after all. So, I thought it was similar this time around.
Although, I did notice there were a lot of people around.
Or rather, the slum dwellers were just doing their business. They probably weren’t used to fighting or anything like that.
Hence why they didn’t even bother to mask their presence.
These people were probably amateurs who had almost no fighting experience.
The situation was a bit different from that night, during the pervert incident.
…That night, the people who surrounded me were menacing, ready to beat me to pulp. But these people? They were nothing like the former.
If so, their objective was probably to keep me from escaping and restrain me.
No, their purpose was probably to seal off the escape route by surrounding me.
If they had intended to do some harm, I’d sense that kind of hostility and malice beforehand.
—In other words, the people surrounding me were amateurs, and even if I was surrounded, escaping wasn’t a problem.
Then, I only had one option.
“I have something to do at the orphanage.”
I raised my hands to show no resistance.
While I could just escape at any given time, it’d be a great idea to collect information without making waves.
—and that was how I got detained.
Hey, hey…
Just like that night, there were no questions asked.
***
“What kind of filthy pig are you!?”
—When I was made to kneel with both my hands and feet tied with a belt, a girl burst in, pompously sticking out her chest.
Wow, what an attitude.
She was trying so hard to look imposing, it made her look hilarious instead.
…Hm? This hat girl, didn’t I see her yesterday?
“I was about to visit the orphanage to take care of some business, is there a problem?”
For now, I hadn’t been harmed yet, so I decided to wait and see.
“IiS tHaAt SOoO? WhAat KinD?”
…Ugh, she’s so annoying. She’s doing it on purpose. Well, for the sake of establishing a conversation, I can endure it to an extent. Well, she isn’t as annoying as my sister, at least. No, if anything, compared to my sister, this level of pettiness is nothing.
“I came from the brothel district to assess the truth of the rumor. By the way, I saw you last night.”
“Huh?”
Oh, she dropped the act. If you’re going to act like that, can’t you at least follow through?
“Last night? …Certainly, your chest—which is humbler than mine—looks familiar…?”
Just call them modest. Oh, right, I’m using pads.
“The size isn’t that different.”
“A-at least better than you! I’m the lean type!”
Your breasts are just small overall.
Well, it didn’t matter.
“Last night, I was with Zett. I was there at the restaurant when you took off with Zett.”
“Oh, there… You do look familiar…”
Personally, other than my glasses, I don’t think I have other memorable features…
…Also, is there a need to look at my breasts? Ah, I see. She’s insecure about hers, hence why she can’t help but compare them to other people.
“So, you’re from the brothel district. Are you one of those old hag’s friends?”
By ‘old hag’, she was referring to Adyll, right?
“Last night, I was there as an escort for Manager Adyll. You may not remember me, but I’m sure Zett will.”
After all, it’d just happened yesterday, so I was sure it was still fresh in Zett’s memory.
After that chance encounter, Zett wanted to meet me again someday. I didn’t share the sentiment.
“Huh, so you’re Zett’s acquaintance? What did you come here for?”
“I want to investigate that rumor. I heard that the assailant was staying here, so I came to collect information.”
Well, I already knew the rumor was a hoax, so I was just going to confirm if Florentine was safe, before sneaking home.
But since this had happened, I decided to lie instead.
“Hmm.”
As she stared at me, the brim of her hat casted a shadow over her eyes. After some time, she spoke to the two old men holding my shoulders.
“—This guy is irrelevant, so leave him be.”
“—Are you sure? He might be lying.”
Actually, that’s half-correct. Anything other than “what happened last night” is an outright lie.
“…No one with a chest more humble than mine is evil.”
…That’s a HUGE prejudice. Why and how did she attain such a revelation?
No, more importantly, I’m sorry but they are pads. I’m in disguise. I wasn’t even a woman.
***
I was freed from my restraint, and the amateurs who surrounded me returned to the waiting area. It seemed that they were lying in wait for someone.
“I’m Keypick, nice to meet you.”
Don’t introduce yourself to my chest. …No, actually, even my chest is a lie. Sorry about that.
“My name is Elle. I’m under the care of Manager Adyll at the brothel district.”
“Elle? Nice to meet you.”
Where are you touching me? Don’t touch my chest.
…Are you delighted that mine is smaller than yours?
“So, what was that about? I suddenly got detained.”
I asked Keypick, who was patting my chest. By the way, the pads were fastened quite firmly so that it wouldn’t shift even if I moved violently. Unless she squeezed them, she probably wouldn’t find out.
…Even if she found out, in her case, there’d be nothing but despair. Sorry for not being a woman with smaller breasts than you. We were just fundamentally different like that.
“To put it simply, we’re trying to catch those who’re doing bad things using Zett’s name.”
Certainly, that’s putting it simply. It’s very easy to understand.
I see.
Did something happen in a place I didn’t know about?
Somehow, it felt like I was in a country where there was nothing but incidents.
…I see, I can see the whole picture, albeit vaguely.
Those who used Zett’s name to do awful things must’ve had a dispute with Florentine.
Afterwards, Florentine assaulted Zett, whom she thought was the cause of the trouble.
—That was probably the gist of yesterday’s incident, when Zett took off and rumors spread that ‘he was half-killed and driven out of the city.’
“Still, I’ve never seen you around before. So, if I saw someone whose face I didn’t recognize, I’d catch them.”
Ah, so I got caught because she didn’t know my face…
“Isn’t it dangerous to rely on amateurs?”
“Those who are able to fight got beaten up yesterday. Besides, there are still too many unknowns before we can score this city. As such, we decided that for the time being, we’ll just stake out this area, where the culprit is most likely to appear. Right now, the focus is on revealing rumors and proceeding with investigations.”
Hmm…
“By the way, I heard that the culprit who beat Zett is at the orphanage.”
“Is that so? Do you want to see them?”
…
Considering the assignments from Sorichika, it’d be better not to see her, but I just wanted to confirm her safety. I even came all the way here.
“I’d like to.”
Let’s take a quick look and go home.
***
“Hey, you’re tearing my hair out—what are you doing!?”
There she is.
Even from a distance, I could see her silver hair, and she spoke in a rough accent that made it difficult to tell which region she was from.
That’s definitely Florentine.
Enraged by the children, Florentine slowly grabbed several of them in both hands and swung them around at a tremendous speed. Seemingly having fun, the children cling to her while yelling.
…Huh, isn’t that nice?
“I was imagining a slightly worse environment.”
Because of the poor environment of the slums, I thought the children would be sleeping on the streets, but they didn’t.
The splendid stone building resembled that of a church, with a magnificent wall and a gate that seemed to be made of iron.
At first glance, it looked more like an ordinary orphanage or a church rather than an orphanage in a slum.
The gate was closed, but a garden could be seen beyond the iron bars, where more than ten children and Florentine were playing.
If you look closely, there may be various cracks, but anyway—
—I was relieved to see the lively children and Florentine, who was safe despite having fought against Zett.
“Compared to staying with some weird parents, I think it’s a much better place.”
…It seems like it’s going to be complicated, so I’m done with this topic.
“—Keypick.”
The two of us stood side by side looking at the peaceful garden that somehow seemed out of place.
Then, I heard a familiar voice from behind.
“Oh, Cherry, did you buy the seasoning?”
…Oh, it’s Cherry’s voice. I didn’t expect to bump into her in such a place.
I didn’t want to turn around, but it’d be awkward not to.
I secretly made up my mind and turned around.
“Nice to meet you.”
A familiar look, along with a familiar voice. There stood a blonde girl with glasses.
There’s no mistaking it, it’s Cherry.
I see, did she team up with Florentine?
“Ah, nice to meet… you?”
…
“…Huh? Eh? You… Huh!?”
…Yeah.
I know Cherry would notice.
156 Glasses Boy got Found Out
I didn’t know what happened, but it seemed that I got ambushed.
At first, I thought the residents of the slums were just being wary of me.
…Who’d have thought that they set me up?
Most of them were muscular men and youths, but there were also burly women in the mix.
They were armed with wooden sticks and knives, but their appearance was shabby, just like their dwelling.
How unexpected.
It was out of the blue.
Everywhere I went, I was always watched, after all. So, I thought it was similar this time around.
Although, I did notice there were a lot of people around.
Or rather, the slum dwellers were just doing their business. They probably weren’t used to fighting or anything like that.
Hence why they didn’t even bother to mask their presence.
These people were probably amateurs who had almost no fighting experience.
The situation was a bit different from that night, during the pervert incident.
…That night, the people who surrounded me were menacing, ready to beat me to pulp. But these people? They were nothing like the former.
If so, their objective was probably to keep me from escaping and restrain me.
No, their purpose was probably to seal off the escape route by surrounding me.
If they had intended to do some harm, I’d sense that kind of hostility and malice beforehand.
—In other words, the people surrounding me were amateurs, and even if I was surrounded, escaping wasn’t a problem.
Then, I only had one option.
“I have something to do at the orphanage.”
I raised my hands to show no resistance.
While I could just escape at any given time, it’d be a great idea to collect information without making waves.
—and that was how I got detained.
Hey, hey…
Just like that night, there were no questions asked.
***
“What kind of filthy pig are you!?”
—When I was made to kneel with both my hands and feet tied with a belt, a girl burst in, pompously sticking out her chest.
Wow, what an attitude.
She was trying so hard to look imposing, it made her look hilarious instead.
…Hm? This hat girl, didn’t I see her yesterday?
“I was about to visit the orphanage to take care of some business, is there a problem?”
For now, I hadn’t been harmed yet, so I decided to wait and see.
“IiS tHaAt SOoO? WhAat KinD?”
…Ugh, she’s so annoying. She’s doing it on purpose. Well, for the sake of establishing a conversation, I can endure it to an extent. Well, she isn’t as annoying as my sister, at least. No, if anything, compared to my sister, this level of pettiness is nothing.
“I came from the brothel district to assess the truth of the rumor. By the way, I saw you last night.”
“Huh?”
Oh, she dropped the act. If you’re going to act like that, can’t you at least follow through?
“Last night? …Certainly, your chest—which is humbler than mine—looks familiar…?”
Just call them modest. Oh, right, I’m using pads.
“The size isn’t that different.”
“A-at least better than you! I’m the lean type!”
Your breasts are just small overall.
Well, it didn’t matter.
“Last night, I was with Zett. I was there at the restaurant when you took off with Zett.”
“Oh, there… You do look familiar…”
Personally, other than my glasses, I don’t think I have other memorable features…
…Also, is there a need to look at my breasts? Ah, I see. She’s insecure about hers, hence why she can’t help but compare them to other people.
“So, you’re from the brothel district. Are you one of those old hag’s friends?”
By ‘old hag’, she was referring to Adyll, right?
“Last night, I was there as an escort for Manager Adyll. You may not remember me, but I’m sure Zett will.”
After all, it’d just happened yesterday, so I was sure it was still fresh in Zett’s memory.
After that chance encounter, Zett wanted to meet me again someday. I didn’t share the sentiment.
“Huh, so you’re Zett’s acquaintance? What did you come here for?”
“I want to investigate that rumor. I heard that the assailant was staying here, so I came to collect information.”
Well, I already knew the rumor was a hoax, so I was just going to confirm if Florentine was safe, before sneaking home.
But since this had happened, I decided to lie instead.
“Hmm.”
As she stared at me, the brim of her hat casted a shadow over her eyes. After some time, she spoke to the two old men holding my shoulders.
“—This guy is irrelevant, so leave him be.”
“—Are you sure? He might be lying.”
Actually, that’s half-correct. Anything other than “what happened last night” is an outright lie.
“…No one with a chest more humble than mine is evil.”
…That’s a HUGE prejudice. Why and how did she attain such a revelation?
No, more importantly, I’m sorry but they are pads. I’m in disguise. I wasn’t even a woman.
***
I was freed from my restraint, and the amateurs who surrounded me returned to the waiting area. It seemed that they were lying in wait for someone.
“I’m Keypick, nice to meet you.”
Don’t introduce yourself to my chest. …No, actually, even my chest is a lie. Sorry about that.
“My name is Elle. I’m under the care of Manager Adyll at the brothel district.”
“Elle? Nice to meet you.”
Where are you touching me? Don’t touch my chest.
…Are you delighted that mine is smaller than yours?
“So, what was that about? I suddenly got detained.”
I asked Keypick, who was patting my chest. By the way, the pads were fastened quite firmly so that it wouldn’t shift even if I moved violently. Unless she squeezed them, she probably wouldn’t find out.
…Even if she found out, in her case, there’d be nothing but despair. Sorry for not being a woman with smaller breasts than you. We were just fundamentally different like that.
“To put it simply, we’re trying to catch those who’re doing bad things using Zett’s name.”
Certainly, that’s putting it simply. It’s very easy to understand.
I see.
Did something happen in a place I didn’t know about?
Somehow, it felt like I was in a country where there was nothing but incidents.
…I see, I can see the whole picture, albeit vaguely.
Those who used Zett’s name to do awful things must’ve had a dispute with Florentine.
Afterwards, Florentine assaulted Zett, whom she thought was the cause of the trouble.
—That was probably the gist of yesterday’s incident, when Zett took off and rumors spread that ‘he was half-killed and driven out of the city.’
“Still, I’ve never seen you around before. So, if I saw someone whose face I didn’t recognize, I’d catch them.”
Ah, so I got caught because she didn’t know my face…
“Isn’t it dangerous to rely on amateurs?”
“Those who are able to fight got beaten up yesterday. Besides, there are still too many unknowns before we can score this city. As such, we decided that for the time being, we’ll just stake out this area, where the culprit is most likely to appear. Right now, the focus is on revealing rumors and proceeding with investigations.”
Hmm…
“By the way, I heard that the culprit who beat Zett is at the orphanage.”
“Is that so? Do you want to see them?”
…
Considering the assignments from Sorichika, it’d be better not to see her, but I just wanted to confirm her safety. I even came all the way here.
“I’d like to.”
Let’s take a quick look and go home.
***
“Hey, you’re tearing my hair out—what are you doing!?”
There she is.
Even from a distance, I could see her silver hair, and she spoke in a rough accent that made it difficult to tell which region she was from.
That’s definitely Florentine.
Enraged by the children, Florentine slowly grabbed several of them in both hands and swung them around at a tremendous speed. Seemingly having fun, the children cling to her while yelling.
…Huh, isn’t that nice?
“I was imagining a slightly worse environment.”
Because of the poor environment of the slums, I thought the children would be sleeping on the streets, but they didn’t.
The splendid stone building resembled that of a church, with a magnificent wall and a gate that seemed to be made of iron.
At first glance, it looked more like an ordinary orphanage or a church rather than an orphanage in a slum.
The gate was closed, but a garden could be seen beyond the iron bars, where more than ten children and Florentine were playing.
If you look closely, there may be various cracks, but anyway—
—I was relieved to see the lively children and Florentine, who was safe despite having fought against Zett.
“Compared to staying with some weird parents, I think it’s a much better place.”
…It seems like it’s going to be complicated, so I’m done with this topic.
“—Keypick.”
The two of us stood side by side looking at the peaceful garden that somehow seemed out of place.
Then, I heard a familiar voice from behind.
“Oh, Cherry, did you buy the seasoning?”
…Oh, it’s Cherry’s voice. I didn’t expect to bump into her in such a place.
I didn’t want to turn around, but it’d be awkward not to.
I secretly made up my mind and turned around.
“Nice to meet you.”
A familiar look, along with a familiar voice. There stood a blonde girl with glasses.
There’s no mistaking it, it’s Cherry.
I see, did she team up with Florentine?
“Ah, nice to meet… you?”
…
“…Huh? Eh? You… Huh!?”
…Yeah.
I know Cherry would notice.
