Utaha glared at Yuto with her cheeks puffed out in frustration.
For a moment, she really did consider using the fact that he had given alcohol to a minor last time as leverage to threaten him, even if only a little.
After all, back then, Yuto had technically done it on purpose.
But then she remembered just how unusual he was.
A threat like that probably would not bother him in the slightest.
In the end, she could only give up on the idea and sit there, helplessly fuming in silence.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm saying this for your own good, you know. Just tell me what you want to eat." Yuto spread his hands, his tone carrying a faint hint of consideration.
Utaha took a deep breath.
She really was underage.
Just a little... special.
Then she exhaled deeply, glaring at Yuto with those beautiful eyes of hers while lightly gritting her teeth.
Although she very much wanted to bite the man in front of her until he bled, there was one thing she had no choice but to admit.
She was hungry!
"Two pieces of tempura."
For once, the girl actually ordered something meaty at night. Perhaps her mood really was that terrible, because a simple vegetable salad clearly would not be enough to soothe the restless frustration inside her.
At a time like this, only meat had any chance of comforting her.
"All right."
Yuto nodded and returned to the kitchen.
Erina and Hisako, who had nothing urgent to do at the moment, were making Yipin Tofu.
Yuto had demonstrated it once earlier, and the two girls had immediately developed the urge to try making it themselves.
For them, this was not just cooking, but also another form of accumulation and experience.
Naturally, Yuto did not refuse their request.
After glancing at the two girls as they focused seriously on their cooking, he walked over to the chopping board and began preparing the tempura.
It would not take long, and while he was working, Ainz and Rimuru arrived.
Those two always came to the restaurant early. Leaving so soon last night had truly been an unexpected situation.
After all, no one had expected Saitama and Son Goku's fight to damage the Great Tomb of Nazarick to such an extent.
The moment they arrived, Yuto already knew what they wanted to ask before either of them even opened their mouths.
"Kamisaka, Kamisaka, did Asuna bring the new helmet yet?"
The moment Ainz spoke, it was obvious that he was an old gamer through and through.
His attention went straight to the new VR helmet.
"Huh? Boss, Fafnir isn't here yet?"
Rimuru's focus, meanwhile, was on Fafnir.
After all, when Rimuru left yesterday, it had already agreed to play VR together with Fafnir today, and it had been looking forward to it all day.
The two of them seemed to be asking about different things, but in essence, both questions came down to the same topic.
Games.
At that moment, Yuto had just finished frying the tempura, so he carried it out first and placed the plate in front of Utaha.
Only then did he turn around and look at Ainz and Rimuru with a helpless expression.
"You two... are games the only thing you think about all day now?"
Yuto's words seemed to make Ainz and Rimuru fall silent.
To others, the two of them might have looked almost ashamed after being called out like that.
But Yuto did not believe it.
These two?
Ashamed?
Impossible!
"To be honest, I really have been thinking about games all day," Ainz admitted.
"Compared to managing the village, playing games is much better!" Rimuru immediately followed up.
Although it was impossible to read their facial expressions properly, both of them carried a strangely serious aura, as if they were discussing something far more important than entertainment.
Yuto sighed inwardly.
'I knew it.'
"Fafnir hasn't arrived yet, and Asuna hasn't come today either. You'll have to wait."
Yuto chose not to continue the previous topic and instead answered their questions directly.
"Ah, then I guess I can only wait!" Ainz said.
"Ah, Fafnir is so slow!" Rimuru complained.
The skeleton and the slime both let out heavy sighs, their disappointment so obvious that it almost felt ridiculous.
"Then do you want something to eat?" Yuto asked helplessly.
"Ah, are you asking me?" Ainz froze.
"Sorry. Wrong person."
"Oh."
Yuto shifted his gaze to Rimuru.
"As for food, I'll wait a little longer."
Rimuru thought about it for a moment. Right now, compared to eating, he wanted to play games even more!
"All right."
Kamisaka Yuto exhaled lightly, turned around, and stopped paying attention to those two. Instead, he looked back at Kasumigaoka.
The girl had already eaten one piece of tempura, and her complexion looked much better than before.
It seemed like Yuto's cooking was still quite effective.
Behind him, Princess Kaguya's eyes had already begun to move, her thoughts turning quickly as she looked at Ainz and Rimuru with barely concealed excitement and curiosity.
"Are you talking about VR games?" she could not help asking.
Ainz and Rimuru paused for a moment before quickly nodding, their delight instantly visible.
Houraisan Kaguya was immediately overjoyed.
"Tell me about it too!"
The princess joined Ainz and Rimuru's conversation without the slightest hesitation.
Yagokoro Eirin watched her princess from the side, and after a moment, she could only sigh.
She really could not control her...
,,,
Crunch.
Utaha lightly bit into the tempura.
Crispy crumbs fell onto the counter, but the girl's eyes remained fixed on Yuto.
"Feeling a little better now?"
Yuto's faintly smiling question made a trace of helplessness appear in the girl's eyes.
Utaha swallowed the tempura in her mouth before letting out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Ahhh~~~ hah~~~ Today is so annoying."
Her body bent slightly forward as she put down her chopsticks and propped her cheek up with one hand, leaning sideways against the wall beside her.
Her black hair spilled softly between her arms, and beneath the restaurant lights, the faint shine along those strands looked especially beautiful.
"What happened?"
"My mom and dad came home from their business trip last night, and I wasn't home. When I got back, I got lectured pretty badly."
The girl, who was usually full of sharp, mature confidence, now seemed almost like a little girl who had been wronged.
"Well, you're a girl. They're only worried about you."
"Yeah, I know that, so I didn't say anything at the time. But they restricted how late I'm allowed to go out at night from now on. At the latest, I can only stay at the restaurant until eight. Sigh..."
Utaha lightly twirled her hair around her finger. Her smooth black hair wrapped around those fair fingers again and again, only to slip loose the moment she relaxed her grip.
Yuto glanced at the time.
It was already past seven-twenty.
In other words, the girl in front of him could only stay here for a little more than half an hour.
"But that's still a small thing. There's another problem."
Utaha sighed again.
Yuto could not help feeling puzzled.
"Do you remember that Horikoshi we ran into at the convention?"
"Mm."
"When Machida-san submitted the application for my novel's publication today, that disgusting old man directly said there were still serious problems with my novel and forcefully rejected Machida-san's request."
"He's the editor in charge of reviewing publication content, so he does have that authority."
"But that disgusting old man never even read my novel! He did it on purpose!"
...
After listening to the girl's angry and indignant explanation, Yuto finally understood.
Back at the convention, he had already heard Machida Sonoko talk about Horikoshi's character.
He was nothing more than a petty man who liked abusing his authority for personal gain.
By blocking Utaha like this, what he wanted was probably for her to send him a "gift."
"The more I think about it, the angrier I get! Ahhh!"
The girl had already sat upright.
Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and her expression was full of outrage and frustration, making her look exactly like an angry leopard with its fur standing on end.
"Then what do you plan to do?" Yuto asked.
The moment he asked that, the girl immediately wilted again.
What could she do?
Although she felt wronged, she also knew that this was one of society's "unspoken rules."
Since Horikoshi could sit in that position and act like this, there was definitely someone backing him from behind.
Reporting him?
That sort of thing only existed for show.
In reality, it was useless.
Utaha let out a helpless and dispirited sigh.
"Then maybe I should just send him some money..."
Asking the girl to give up on the novel she had worked so hard to write for so long was impossible.
But as a weak individual, all she could do was compromise.
Thump!
A crisp sound rang out.
The girl clutched her forehead and looked at Kamisaka Yuto with anger and confusion.
"What are you doing?"
Utaha was very annoyed.
"That was to wake you up. Stop always thinking you have to solve everything on your own."
There was a hint of frustration in Yuto's voice, the kind that came from seeing someone fail to live up to themselves.
Utaha's expression shifted, and for a moment, she looked dazed.
"You need to learn how to ask for help." Yuto spoke with deep helplessness.
He shifted his body slightly, revealing the figures behind him.
Standing there were Ainz and Rimuru.
Utaha had not deliberately lowered her voice just now, so everyone in the restaurant had actually heard what she said.
"That's right! Kamisaka is right! We're all friends. As long as you ask, helping with a small thing like this is no problem at all."
Ainz slapped the table, his tone carrying a touch of anger.
Back when he was still Suzuki Satoru, he had eaten at the restaurant and become friends with Kasumigaoka Utaha and Kamisaka Yuto.
After becoming Ainz Ooal Gown, he treasured his few friends even more.
On top of that, Utaha had previously allowed him to go to the convention with her, so he felt he owed her a favor.
If Utaha asked him, he would definitely help.
He had already thought it through.
When the time came, he would simply cast a [Crush] spell...
That would guarantee this Horikoshi fellow disappeared perfectly!
"That kind of behavior really is disgusting. I don't mind helping either!"
Rimuru was thinking along similar lines as Ainz.
He had also been wanting to find an opportunity to thank Utaha for letting him go to the convention.
Now, that opportunity seemed to have arrived~~~
"See? You've always had people around you who support you."
Yuto could not help sighing. Without thinking, he placed his hand on the girl's head.
That action instantly made Utaha's face turn red.
She silently lowered her head and gave a tiny "Mm" in a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.
"Leave this to me."
"Mm."
Utaha could not say anything else.
All she could do was answer with that small sound.
Right now, the girl's mind had already turned into a thick, muddled paste.
Dizzy and hazy...
The only thing she could still clearly feel was the warmth of the hand resting on top of her head.
It was not until Yuto moved his hand away that she finally came back to herself.
For a moment, her heart felt both nervous and delighted, like the surface of the sea rippling constantly beneath the wind, unable to calm down no matter what.
However, the worries that had troubled her earlier had already vanished completely.
Although she did not know what Yuto would do, she chose to believe him.
Back at the convention, Yuto had already made her a promise.
With his current abilities in every aspect, dealing with something like this was truly simple.
So after agreeing to help Utaha, he did not take the matter too seriously.
He turned around and began chatting with Yakumo Yukari instead.
So few people from Gensokyo had come today, and he still had not had the chance to ask what had happened.
"They all drank too much. I imagine they're probably sleeping right now."