"I see..."
After listening to Ainz and Rimuru's explanation, Yuto let out a long sigh.
Once they told him what the Celestial Dragons had done, he understood why Saitama had acted that way.
Saitama normally looked vacant and a little foolish, but that did not mean he truly cared about nothing.
He was a hero.
He had said so himself, and Yuto still remembered the pride in his eyes when he made that declaration.
As a hero, Saitama naturally had principles he would never abandon.
He fought for those weaker than himself and upheld the justice he personally believed in.
His blank expression might make people laugh, but beneath it, he possessed qualities most people could never hope to match.
Someone like him was not easily shaken.
That did not mean nothing could affect him, however.
Even Yuto felt furious simply hearing about what the Celestial Dragons had done.
For Saitama, the fact that he had managed to remain even that calm was already impressive.
"Absolute privilege always creates the deepest corruption. That truth never changes, no matter where you are."
Yukari spread her hands with a casual smile.
She had lived for an incredibly long time and had witnessed more than enough darkness and decay.
She had long since passed the age when such things could still make her angry.
Yuuka, Ran, and several of the others wore similarly calm expressions. They had all seen comparable horrors to some degree.
"Hmph. Humans are always like that. They're easily blinded by meaningless things they invented themselves!"
Mokou crossed her arms and spoke with clear dissatisfaction.
A faint uneasiness appeared in her eyes, as though she had remembered something unpleasant.
After all, a very long time ago, she had been human too.
"Mm! Mm! Mmm! I never expected a roasted turkey to say something so philosophical."
Reimu looked at Mokou with a strange grin.
Her deliberately mocking tone immediately changed Mokou's expression, and within seconds, the two began insulting each other again.
Their argument quickly eased the heavy mood created by Ainz and Rimuru's story.
Ainz and Rimuru each asked Yuto for a game headset. They were about to begin that night's battle!
This time, the two of them would definitely make Fafnir see them differently!
When Ainz and Rimuru sat beside Fafnir, Yuto entered the kitchen and brought out Yuuka's flower cakes.
While she ate, he took out his phone.
He had added far more people to his contacts recently, so he needed to pay closer attention to any messages they sent.
The moment he unlocked the screen, he could only smile helplessly.
Messages began appearing one after another, and they had not all come from the same person.
Yuto quietly sighed.
Attending a single banquet had caused him to miss quite a few messages.
His finger moved across the screen as he read them one by one.
The messages at the top were from Utaha.
She had sent several.
[Utaha: Kamisaka-kun, I heard you were attending a banquet tonight. I wanted to go a little, but in the end, I decided not to.]
[Utaha: I waited here for a while, but it looks like you'll be returning rather late. It seems I won't be able to eat your cooking tonight. How disappointing. (Cute crying.jpg)]
[Utaha: Actually, there's something else I wanted to tell you.]
[Utaha: I still haven't figured out how to thank you for what happened with Horikoshi. I kept waiting for you to ask for something, but you never did. You've had me feeling nervous this entire time!]
[Utaha: Honestly, playing with an innocent girl's heart like this will bring divine punishment upon you~ (Smirking in sunglasses.jpg)]
[Utaha: But since you refuse to make the first move, I suppose I'll have to take the initiative! (Raised fist.jpg)]
[Utaha: Are you free on Sunday? Let's go shopping together! (Excited.jpg)]
[Utaha: What do you think?]
The messages ended there.
Yuto checked the time.
They had been sent more than two hours ago, and it was already past ten at night.
He knew Utaha would never be asleep at this hour.
Staying awake late into the night was perfectly normal for a light novel author.
When he first read her mention of Horikoshi, Yuto was briefly confused.
He had almost forgotten about it.
Something so minor was hardly worth remembering. If Utaha had not mentioned it, Yuto would never have realized she had been carrying it in her heart all this time.
That genuinely surprised him.
Sunday...
He did not seem to have anything planned.
After thinking it over and confirming that he was free, Yuto sent a reply.
[Yuto: Sure.]
Once that was done, he moved on to the next message.
The one below it was from Kaguya.
...
While Yuto read through his messages, he had no idea how Utaha was reacting as she lay on her bed.
The girl was wearing fairly light clothes.
It was summer, so naturally, she had dressed for the heat.
Had a group of hot-blooded teenage boys seen what Utaha was wearing at that moment, their reactions would undoubtedly have been intense.
She held her phone in one hand while resting the other against her forehead, appearing perfectly calm.
Only she knew what she was actually feeling.
She had been waiting a very long time for Yuto to reply.
Her calmness was nothing more than an attempt to stay composed after hours of disappointment.
"Sigh... He probably hasn't had time to check his phone because of the banquet. Or maybe there isn't any signal in that world. They are two different worlds, after all."
Utaha quietly comforted herself.
She pushed herself up, planning to work on her novel for a while.
At that exact moment, her phone vibrated.
Her attention immediately snapped back to it.
She unlocked the screen at incredible speed and stared at the reply she had been waiting for.
[Sure.]
Yes!
NICE!
This round belonged to Utaha!
She had successfully asked Yuto out!
"Kehahahahahaha."
She was practically laughing like a maniac.
She could not help it.
The past few days had been genuinely frustrating and suffocating.
Back when the restaurant had very few customers, she had been one of its regular visitors and often joked around with Yuto.
At the time, she had been able to enjoy some time alone with him almost every day.
Even if most of it had been spent trading sarcastic remarks, she had still found it comfortable.
Recently, however, the number of customers had increased, and Utaha had begun noticing things change.
She almost never had a chance to be alone with Yuto anymore.
With so many guests in the restaurant, he naturally paid far less attention to her than before.
At first, she had not thought much of it.
As time passed, however, a quiet sense of disappointment gradually began growing inside her.
It became even worse after she realized just how ordinary she was among the restaurant's many visitors.
Every day, Yuto interacted with gods, legendary Heroic Spirits, youkai, and dragons.
What brilliance could an ordinary human girl like her possibly possess?
What did the title of light novel author amount to beside them?
When Yuto helped her deal with Horikoshi, she had been unbelievably happy.
She had already prepared herself for whatever kind of reward he might ask for.
Even if Yuto wanted to do something that crossed the line a little, she might not have refused.
After all...
After all...
After all, he had helped her so much!
Letting him take a few liberties would not have been such a problem, right?
Her thoughts had already gone that far, yet Yuto never asked for anything.
That made her feel uneasy and strangely frightened.
She did not even understand why.
Her emotions felt like a small boat alone at sea, rising and falling with the waves and unable to settle.
Why had he never mentioned it?
Had he forgotten?
Was she slowly disappearing from his thoughts?
Or perhaps...
All kinds of ridiculous ideas kept appearing in her mind.
She was sick of it.
Several times during class, she had become lost in thought because of the matter.
She had even dreamed about it on several nights.
Amid the endless questions, one thought finally appeared.
Was she drifting farther and farther away from him?
She had never seriously considered it before.
But once the idea appeared, she could no longer stop it.
Like weeds that refused to die no matter how many times fire swept over them, the thought spread wildly through her heart.
That's right.
She was only an ordinary human girl!
Her personality was not especially pleasant, and her tongue was often sharp.
How could she compare with the other girls in the restaurant?
Some were gods, some were youkai, and some were dragons.
How was she supposed to compete with any of them?
The more Utaha thought about it, the more worried and discouraged she became.
A young woman's heart was already one of the most difficult things in the world to understand.
Even the smallest matter could leave her worrying about what she might gain or lose, especially when feelings like these were involved.
Even the smartest girl could be blinded by anxious thoughts.
Finally, surrounded by all that noise inside her heart, Utaha gathered every bit of courage she had and decided to act boldly for once.
If Yuto would not make a move, then she would.
She could be the one to invite him.
That was why she had stared at her phone for more than two hours, and why his reply had excited her so much.
Everything was fine now~
Yuto had agreed, and the weight pressing against her heart finally disappeared.
Next, she needed to carefully choose what to wear on Sunday.
She also needed to check the weather and decide where they would go.
Everything had to be properly planned.
While standing in front of her wardrobe and examining her clothes, a sudden thought entered her mind.
Perhaps...
Perhaps...
Perhaps she should try doing something a little bold.
The longer she thought about it, the redder her face became.
...
Meanwhile, Yuto was replying to Kaguya's messages.
Most of them concerned the weapons that had belonged to Gilgamesh.
She had already finished handling everything and only wanted to know when Yuto would have time to collect them.
Yuto told her he would come tomorrow.
Transporting the weapons would be easy. He only needed to pack everything away.
Once he finished replying to Kaguya, he moved to the next message.
A trace of surprise appeared on his face.
The sender was Megumi Katou.
Yuto immediately remembered the quiet and elegant girl.
She was like a peaceful lotus hidden among countless flowers in a summer pond, clearly beautiful yet somehow always escaping notice.
What did she need?
Curious, Yuto opened Megumi's message.
After reading it, he nodded in realization and helplessly tapped his forehead.
What had been wrong with him lately?
Why did he keep forgetting things?
[Megumi: Kamisaka-kun, don't forget that we're watching a movie together tomorrow. Let's meet at the station at eight-thirty in the morning. I'd also like to buy a few outfits afterward. Would you mind coming with me?]
Yuto released a long breath.
His plans with Megumi had been arranged quite some time ago.
Her grandmother had even reminded him several times.
Yet he had still nearly forgotten.
Was something wrong with his brain lately?
Yuto could not help doubting himself.
He quickly replied.
[Yuto: Mm, no problem.]
After sending the message, he put his phone away.
He had dealt with everything.
Now it was time to turn his attention back to the restaurant.
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