Chapter 52.1 : The Pressure of Interview Starting From Ten

I who had finished with my shopping right before our agreed login time, hurriedly headed toward our rendezvous place.

While shopping, I ended up in a heated discussion with the store owner, however, thanks to that I was satisfied with the end result. I wonder how Aoi-san was going to react when she looked at my current appearance.

When I arrived at a certain plaza with fountain in the middle of the city, the three of them who had arrived before me were waving their hand toward my direction as soon as they spotted me.

「Sorry, I was late」

「He~~, Sou-kun you really are………… So cool with that appearance」

「D-Do you think so?」

It became an extremely awkward situation in various way when she saw through me. But, that “Cool” part might be true. I wore slim long pants, black overcoat that draped on top of my bluish-black clothes that would also serve as camouflage in the night. It gave the feeling of some sort of secret agent. One needed to be courageous to wear this kind of attire in real life, but I don't think it'd be a problem to wear this kind of attire in the game. Yup, it should be alright, shouldn't it! ?

「I don't think so~. Fufufu, it's really cool. Super duper cool you know」

「T-Thank you very much」

I mean I bought this on the recommendation of the shopkeeper rather than following my own style, but I'm glad it turned out to be alright. It's rea.s.suring that this style is popular, is it?　I didn't have to care about others opinion, right!?

「Good evening, Sou-kun. That cloth…….. look good on you」

「Eh, Aah……… Thank you」

What should I do………. This………… Is perfect. Great job, shopkeeper-san. I didn't care anymore what the others says about my appearance since Aoi-san said it looked good on me. What an angel you're, Aoi-san. Another angel after Ruri had appeared. Aah, how I wish this moment would go on forever.

「How long are you guys planning to stare at eachother like tha~t」

Forever.

「Hauuu! ? 」

Noo, my beautiful mome~nt………. Oh well, so Aoi-san would be like that when told so huh. Kuh, Yukihime-san. I didn't know what your intention by saying that, but you're going too far.

But then, Yukihime-san placed her finger on her lips while giving a meaningful smile at me.

「Fufufufu」

Ah, she definitely did this on purpose huh. Come to think of it, my blissful moment just got wrecked by her. She's definitely an “S[adist]”.

「Sou-kun……..」

Mop-san was speaking to me with frail tone. But I'm aware. This guy wasn't sympathizing with my situation. He's f.u.c.king envious of my situation. F^ck, don't look at me with envious gaze, and what the h.e.l.l with you blus.h.i.+ng over it!

As soon as the conversation was over, we went to h.e.l.loWork right away even while I was pondering about this newly formed queer-party and the headache it brought me.

■　□　■　□　■

It was our first time came to the h.e.l.loWork of Sasebo city. But the scenery that I saw here wasn't that different from s.h.i.+mabara, boisterous.

The front of the gigantic billboard was jam-packed with players along with numerous invitation coming from here and there. I could even feel someone gaze was locked on me, but……. Nay, their gaze might be locking on to Aoi-san or Yukihime-san. They were cute after all.

「This place is as lively as ever huh. Yukihime is scareeed」

What a coincident, I'm also terrified of this place. But, as for Yukihime-san.

「Aren't you thinking about rude things in your head just now, Sou-kun? 」

「H-How can it be」

「……… Ho~uu」

c.r.a.p, I absolutely mustn't turn this person into my enemy. This girl was definitely going to toy me once I became her enemy.

And Mop-san, don't looked at me with such envious gaze. The moment you spoke, I'm gonna turn you into a beehive. c.r.a.p, wasn't that a reward for him instead. Geez, these people were too extreme.

My shoulder was already slumped despite not feeling tired at all. I took a deep breath to shake off that gloomy feeling of mine and then, the voice of an unknown man entered my ears.

「Oi you, that guy over there」

Quite a provocative tone huh. I'm too exhausted mentally to answer that person.

「Oi that blondie over there, don't cha dare to ignore me! 」

Blonde guy huh. There's many blondies in this world after all. Oi blondie-kun, don't ignore him.

「Kuh, OI THAT BLONDIE WHO WORE BLACK OVERALL!　STOP IGNORING US! 」

Oioioi, don't so unreasonable. How about me erasing your existence once I found out that you're using the codename that used the name of liquor? [TL : Reference to “Black Organization” in Detective Conan]　I guess I should stop playing dumb at this point huh.

「Did you just……….. Call me? 」

Turning around, I said so to the red haired man with flushed red face.

「That's right!　You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, don't be so c.o.c.ky」

Did he come to pick a fight with me? I got these kind of feeling from the very beginning. Well I'm also to blame for acting childish here, but……… I couldn't help but want to do that just once when someone called out to me with that kind of approach.

「I want to have a good talk with you. With such att.i.tude, so do you want to hear my story? 」

Naturally, please by all means. Although I wondered why the direction of this talk was different from my expectation, I still decided to pay some attention to it.

「You hear me! you've to be careful with that att.i.tude of yours. Understand! 」

「Ha~…. 」

「Hump. Here's the talk, I've an offer for you to join our guild」

…….. EH?　What the h.e.l.l was going on with this sudden development. Was this person alright in the head?

「Though you might have noticed from the emblem on my chest already, I'm the member of a great guild called “Azure Sky”」

「He~, I see」

Honestly…….. I didn't know at all.

「You're already one as long as I'm vouching for you to the guild master you know. I've confirmed your abilities in the tournament held by that weak guild from before, so everything will be smooth sailing as long as I vouch for you」

That tournament event huh. s.h.i.+nji and Midori had warned me that I might get an invitation from strange guy, but why could they pinpoint the kind of guys who wanted to headhunt me………… At the very least, I'm not gonna bring a trouble to my comrade.

「If you understand, then follow me. Ah, naturally it's limited to you. The other hindrance won't be taken in you know」

That words. .h.i.t me hard, and made me felt like a raging wave rather than making me feel pleased.