Chapter 16: You Can Hold Out Until Then, Right?

“No way!!”

“Huh? W-What…?”

I was baffled.

All I did was suggest that Alex stay for dinner since it was getting late.

But for some reason, Harp seemed utterly horrified, her ears standing straight up in alarm.

“Why?”

“Well, um… the food we prepared earlier is already gone, and we only have enough ingredients left for ourselves—”

“Oh, no need to worry about that!”

“…Huh?”

“Take a look at this!”

“…What’s that supposed to—”

Before Harp could finish, Alex spun around with a confident grin, revealing the massive bag strapped to his back.

It was the same super-big backpack I’d seen him use before—his personal, oversized monstrosity of a bag.

With a dramatic flourish, he swung the bag around and placed it on the floor with an exaggerated movement.

BOOOOM!

The thunderous crash reverberated through the orphanage, loud enough to make it seem like an earthquake had hit.

“Wah!”

Startled by the sound, I jumped back reflexively.

No joke—the entire orphanage shook slightly when the bag hit the ground.

It was honestly a miracle the wooden floor didn’t crack or splinter under the weight.

What on earth did he have in there? Rocks?

A boulder?

What could possibly make such a noise just from being set down?

“Let’s see here…”

Alex carefully opened the enormous bag, revealing its contents.

Inside, there it was—a massive, shiny greatsword, gleaming brilliantly.

No matter where I looked, it was just an enormous greatsword.

What was Alex thinking, showing us this? Was he trying to brag or something?

“So, what do you think?”

“…About what?”

“What a silly old man.”

It seemed Harp was thinking the same thing as me, as she stuck out her tongue at Alex.

“Hey now, what kind of language is that to use with an adult?”

“Bleh.”

“Harp, no bad words.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Oh, so you actually listen to Eve, huh… Wait a minute, a greatsword?!”

Alex suddenly realized something and hastily pulled the greatsword out of the top of the bag.

“Ahem… Why is this greatsword even here? Anyway, take a look further inside the bag.”

“Further inside?”

What could possibly be in there to make Alex so excited?

Curious, I tilted my head and leaned in to peer into the bag.

But there was a problem.

The bag was so enormous that, with my tiny height, I couldn’t see its contents properly.

Even standing on tiptoe didn’t help.

“…I can’t see.”

“Miss, I’ll lift you up.”

“Oh, thanks!”

Harp, apparently unable to stand it anymore, picked me up, and finally, I could see the inside of the bag.

“Ooh?”

“Miss, what’s in there?”

“Something that looks really delicious!”

“…Really delicious?”

Inside the bag were neatly packed slabs of large, high-quality meat, fresh fruits, clean vegetables, and more.

It was such a plentiful array of ingredients that I felt like we could easily whip up a small buffet with it all.

“Yeah! Vegetables, fruit, meat, all sorts of stuff!”

“…Ah, so it’s basically a basket of food supplies.”

“Exactly!”

I was getting tired of eating just vegetables lately, so this was a lifesaver.

Bringing meat at the perfect time?

This was amazing.

The vibrant red of the meat looked positively radiant.

Slurp, gulp. My mouth was already watering at the thought of it.

“How is it?”

“How is it?! It’s fantastic!”

“Haha, I knew you’d love it. You know, these ingredients were actually given by the villagers. When they heard I was coming to the orphanage, they packed my bag full for me.”

“Really?”

“Yep! They said they picked out the freshest and best-selling items from their shops just for you.”

“…Wow. Yeah, everything looks really fresh.”

“See? Even picky Harp agrees—it must be true.”

I glanced at the familiar-looking fruits and realized they were from the villagers.

No wonder they looked so good.

“But this meat… it doesn’t look that great, does it?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?! That’s a prime Minotaur steak I personally hunted! I made sure to pick only the highest quality—”

“Just kidding. Don’t get so worked up.”

“Haaa… Eve, it feels like Harp only acts mean toward me.”

“Maybe that’s because you keep teasing her, Alex.”

“No way, I only tease you.”

“…That makes it worse.”

Come to think of it, that meat…

So, it’s Minotaur meat, huh?

“Minotaur… you mean that thing with a bull’s head and a massive, muscular body?”

“Not to brag, but my muscles are even bigger,” Alex added confidently.

“…Alex, stay quiet!”

“Nobody asked!”

“Oh dear, seems like all the kids hate this old man.”

Sniffle, sniffle.

Alex turned away and pretended to wipe his tears.

Of course, it was all just for show.

“Anyway, with all this food, our ingredient shortage is solved. Alex, you might as well stay for dinner, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely.”

“Wow, I just planned to drop these off, but now I get to enjoy a meal, too? What luck! I—”

“No!”

Harp’s ears stood straight up again, and she recoiled in horror.

…What now? Was there another reason she was against it?

“Harp, what’s wrong this time?”

“Well… um… Oh! Right! Miss, don’t forget the rules! The rules!”

“Rules?”

“Yes, the orphanage’s rules! The children must always sit together at the same table for meals. That’s the rule!”

“Oh, that rule?”

“Yes!”

Harp looked at me with bright, eager eyes, then occasionally turned to glare at Alex while flashing him a smug smile.

…She’s definitely up to something.

Hmm, what should I do about this?

…Looks like Harp misunderstood the rule.

The rule about the orphanage kids eating together didn’t mean, “only orphanage members can eat here.”

“Harp, that rule doesn’t mean that non-orphanage kids can’t eat with us.”

“…Oh, it doesn’t?”

“Right.”

“But still… no, today, it’s just supposed to be you and me, Miss!”

“…Uh-huh.”

This was tricky.

Harp was usually so mature, but seeing her be this stubborn clearly meant there was something she didn’t like about the situation.

And she wasn’t going to back down until it was resolved.

The problem was, I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Is she still shy around Alex?”

It’s true that half a day isn’t much time to get comfortable with someone.

Even though Harp and I hadn’t known each other for very long either, our circumstances were different—I had saved her life.

It wasn’t quite the same.

“Well, looks like I have to step in.”

No matter how grown-up Harp acted, she was still a child at heart.

And as the adult, it was my job to help her.

“Harp, Harp!”

“Y-Yes, Miss? Wait—what?!”

“Come with me for a second.”

Having learned from the last time not to link arms with Harp, this time, I gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder instead.

Then I led her away from Alex—far, far away into a quiet corner of the room.

“M-Miss, what are you planning to do here…?”

“Harp.”

“Yes, y-yes!”

“Listen closely. I’ll just feed Alex dinner and send him on his way. You can hold out until then, right?”

“H-Hold out? What do you mean…? I-I mean, of course!”

“Good.”

Phew, I was relieved that she agreed.

Even if it was just for a short while, Harp was willing to muster up the courage to eat with a stranger she’d just met.

I’d once had a friend who was an extreme introvert, and if I thought back to how challenging that was for them, Harp’s willingness was truly impressive.

She was brave—so very brave.

“I’m sorry for putting you in this situation. It’s a promise, okay?”

“Y-Yes, it’s a promise!”

I felt a pang of guilt. I’d been so thoughtless, casually inviting Alex to dinner when Harp was clearly struggling with her shyness.

It must have been hard for her to even entertain the idea.

This time, it couldn’t be helped, but next time, I vowed to make sure to consult her first before making any decisions.

“So, what were you two whispering about over there?”

“It’s a secret.”

“A secret… a secret, huh? Huhuhu.”

“…Judging by Harp’s short-circuiting reaction, I think I’ve got a good idea of what went down.”

“R-Really?”

“This old man’s got a lot of life experience under his belt.”

“Hmm…”

Experience, huh?

I’d accumulated a lot of that myself back in the day.

…And all that experience piled up, only for me to get knocked down to civilian status, ending up as, well… this.

“So, where should this old man eat dinner? Out in the freezing, pitch-black darkness? Or at Eve’s warm, inviting table of delicious food?”

“…What’s with the ‘warm table of delicious food’? Just go sit at the dining table already.”

“I knew it! I believed in you, Eve! I knew you’d smooth out Harp’s prickly attitude—I knew it!”

Full of excitement, Alex cheerfully made his way to the kitchen and plopped himself into a chair.

Not just any chair, though—he chose the highest seat of honor, the only one labeled as the “head seat.”

His smug grin as he settled in made him feel extra annoying.

“Miss…”

“Yes, Harp?”

“Should we just throw him out?”

“…Let’s not go that far.”

I could feel the killing intent radiating from Harp.

An angry Harp was seriously terrifying…

“…Harp, I’ll handle dinner tonight.”

“You, Miss?”

“Y-Yeah.”

If I let Harp cook in this mood, Alex’s stomach might not survive the night.

Sure, my last attempt at cooking didn’t go so well due to a lack of ingredients, but this time was different.

I’d show them all what I was capable of.

“I’ll prove myself this time!”

“Ooh, now I’m looking forward to it!”

This was my chance.

A chance to redeem my cooking reputation, which had been unfairly tarnished by the whole ABC Soup (a.k.a. steamed fruit) incident.

“Just watch and see!”

All right, time to get started!