Erina left.
After hearing Yuto's words, she didn't say anything more.
She only left behind the promise, "I'll come again tomorrow."
Oh, and one more thing, "To take away."
It was a familiar scene, the tamagoyaki made for her was packed into a paper bag to take home.
Before leaving, Senzaemon once again left a payment of over a hundred thousand yen.
This made Yuto sigh with emotion.
After clearing the bowls and chopsticks, Yuto sat down, leaning against the doorframe between the kitchen and the counter.
He would often do this during the lulls in business.
"What does that young lady mean?" Utaha asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Young lady" was how she referred to Erina.
Yuto thought for a moment before simply smiling. "To be honest, I'm not really sure either."
Utaha couldn't help but be amused by him. "I really don't know what to say about you."
She shook her head with a helpless chuckle, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
Yuto just smiled faintly.
Erina was just a small interlude to him.
If the girl hadn't come looking for him again tonight, he would have already forgotten about the morning's events.
He hadn't given any thought to what happened at the Nakiri estate, compared to that, he'd much rather pay attention to what vegetables were on sale at the supermarket.
Slurp—
Saitama satisfactorily finished the last sip of his broth.
He was a very simple man.
From the moment he entered and started eating his udon, he hadn't said a single word.
He had been eating noodles the whole time.
Even during the tense conversation between Yuto and Erina, he had been peacefully slurping away.
It was as if he had blocked out all external disturbances.
In a sense, this was a remarkable ability.
It made Yuto inexplicably think of an old proverb: 'Remaining calm even if a mountain collapses before one's eyes.'
Perhaps that described someone like Saitama perfectly.
"Saitama-san, you've finally finished eating," Utaha said with a touch of helplessness, though there was still some laughter in her tone.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Saitama put down his bowl, looking around with genuine confusion.
It seemed he truly had been focused only on the udon.
Seeing him like this, Utaha was even more at a loss for words.
She felt an inexplicable urge to laugh for no particular reason.
"No, nothing happened," she composed herself, speaking with equal calmness.
"Oh, that's good." Saitama nodded silently.
Listening to their exchange, Yuto shook his head helplessly.
He stood up and walked over to Saitama.
"How was the udon today?" he asked, beginning to clear the bowl and chopsticks.
Because he had known Saitama for a while, he felt relatively relaxed around him.
Ordinarily, doing something like clearing a guest's dishes right in front of them was quite rude, but Saitama didn't mind.
Moreover, compared to all of Yuto's customers, Saitama was probably the most simple person.
Train, eat noodles, sleep—or train, fight monsters, eat noodles, sleep.
These patterns made up his entire daily routine.
Saitama had talked with Yuto about his world before.
According to him, it was a world filled with villains called monsters that were destroying global peace in various ways.
In response, heroes had emerged, and Saitama's dream was to become one of them.
But Yuto was actually quite worried about him, after all, Saitama looked weak and didn't seem particularly bright.
Could someone like him really face those monsters?
Yuto had once tried to persuade him to consider a safer career out of concern for his safety, but Saitama was firm.
'I will definitely become a hero and protect this world.'
Though he wasn't particularly handsome, Yuto had to admit he looked really cool in that moment.
"This is as amazing as ever! Kamisaka, you're truly the best chef I've ever met!" Saitama exclaimed with genuine admiration.
Yuto just smiled. "There are many chefs better than me, don't say that."
But Saitama thought about it again.
He truly hadn't met any chef better than Yuto.
'However, if Kamisaka said so, it must be true,' he reasoned to himself.
"Speaking of which, Suzuki isn't here tonight." Saitama and Suzuki Satoru could be considered friends.
The two usually ate udon together and were the two major figures of the shop's "poor people alliance."
"Maybe he's too sad about last night's game server shutdown to come." Yuto still remembered how Suzuki had cried last night.
It was truly pitiful.
"That makes sense. That guy drank quite a lot last night. He must have been really heartbroken," Saitama analyzed seriously, crossing his arms.
Yuto nodded silently in agreement.
...
Meanwhile, in a dim yet opulent palace...
"Ainz-samaaaa!"
Gazing at the beautiful succubus Albedo kneeling before him, Suzuki Satoru—no, he was now Ainz Ooal Gown—sighed inwardly.
He was just an ordinary, listless young man.
How had he ended up transmigrated like this? And... why had he turned into this form?!
He didn't want to become a skeleton!
He really wanted to eat udon...
Wait, can skeletons even eat noodles?!
...
"By the way, Saitama, are you really not considering getting a hair transplant?"
Yuto, having already cleared the dishes, stood behind the counter.
Saitama hadn't left yet, he often stayed behind to chat.
Last night, he had stormed off to cool down after being emotionally provoked by his thinning hairline.
"No, I've given up." Saitama calmly took a sip of tea, his eyes holding a profound sense of clarity.
This surprised Yuto a little.
He hadn't expected Saitama's mindset to change so drastically in just one day.
"Did you come to terms with it, or was it for another reason?"
"Well, I don't have the money."
Saitama's calm expression left Yuto momentarily stunned.
So it was simply because he couldn't afford it... and here he thought Saitama had achieved some profound enlightenment.
"Maybe Saitama-san should consider shaving his head completely. That would look better than how it is now," Utaha offered from across the counter.
This method was actually quite feasible.
When is hair at its absolute worst? Not when it's completely bald, but when half of it is gone, yet a sparse, stubborn patch remains.
It's a state of conflict and contradiction.
Not only does it torment one's psyche, but it also draws sympathetic glances from others.
If you're completely bald, most people just glance once and don't pay much more attention.
"Hmm... Shaving it all off... Wouldn't that make me look like a gangster or something?" Saitama hesitated.
"Speaking of bald heads, I actually saw a group of bald delinquents last night, not far from Utaha's place." Yuto recalled the previous night—the group of bald guys he'd taken down, and Makise Takashi lying on the ground, covered in blood.
That guy was supposedly a high school student, though he looked much more like a full-grown gorilla.
Yuto couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.
'High school students these days are inexplicably mature. Utaha, too... she's mature beyond her years.'
"Kamisaka-kun, are you thinking something inappropriate?" Utaha raised an eyebrow.
She suddenly sensed something very off about his gaze, it felt a lot like the looks she got from those obnoxious boys at school.
"No, please don't overthink it." Yuto very seriously denied her accusation.
His thoughts were pure and clear; she was definitely overthinking it!
"Oh? Alright then." Utaha's lips curved slightly, her expression tinged with a hint of pride.
Though she usually hated the looks boys gave her, if it was Yuto... she felt a little happy and proud.
"The bald guys Kamisaka-kun mentioned are probably students from Hosen Academy in the Black Crow District," Utaha explained.
"Hosen?"
"Right. A school full of delinquents, basically a gathering place for violence, completely detached from what a school should be."
As Utaha spoke, both Yuto and Saitama looked astonished.
"There's a school like that in Tokyo?" Yuto asked.
"Why doesn't anyone do something about it?" Saitama added.
Faced with their confusion, Utaha shrugged and sighed helplessly.
"They're minors, and that school has some kids from influential families, so most police stations find it too troublesome to deal with. All the students there are bald, it seems there's a rule about earning the right to keep your hair through strength. Really, it's just like a hot-blooded manga. And besides Hosen, there's also Suzuran All-Boys High School in the Black Crow District."
Hearing this, Yuto thought of Makise Takashi from last night.
That guy was probably from Suzuran.
"Suzuran is the most violent area in the district. They even have full-school brawls with Hosen from time to time. Sigh... these guys are hopeless," Utaha sighed so deeply she lowered her head.
She was clearly genuinely exasperated.
"This setup... somehow feels oddly passionate," Yuto frowned slightly.
"Climbing to the top as the king of delinquents through sheer strength—isn't that classic shonen manga material?!" Saitama thought for a moment, completely stunned by the realization.
"Kamisaka-kun, if you run into those guys again, you have to stay far away. They're all brainless morons who only know how to fight," Utaha warned him very seriously.
But Yuto's expression turned slightly conflicted.
Seeing his odd look, Utaha's heart skipped a beat.
"You didn't get involved with them, did you?!" The girl was utterly shocked.