Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: A Holiday at the Hotel (1)
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The sunlight stabbed my eyes as we emerged from the long tunnel.
How long had it been since I’d seen such clear weather?
The clear, cloudless sky felt a little unfamiliar.
“Wow, the ocean!”
Alice shouted from beside me.
Or rather, her gaze was fixed on the window by my side.
After blinking a few times to adjust to the light, I slowly turned my head.
My eyes were met with a sparkling blue sea, like a jewel.
It was a sight I must have seen dozens of times, yet it still managed to stir a sense of excitement within me.
But Raven, sitting in the passenger seat, seemed to think differently.
He spoke nonchalantly, as if to scold the excited Alice.
“Why are you acting like you’ve never seen it before? Nighthaven has an ocean too.”
“Hey, this is different. There aren’t any proper beaches there.”
“It’s still the ocean. It’s not like we can go in with this weather anyway. So there’s not much difference.”
“Ugh, I’ve said it before, Jin. You have no sense of romance! You pessimistic realist!”
“Ha, is that so? Well, a realist is a hundred times better than an airhead with flowers for brains.”
“What did you say! Who are you calling an airhead with flowers for brains!”
Raven in the passenger seat and Alice in the back bickered as usual, growling at each other.
To think they could squabble like that over something so trivial. They were truly a well-matched pair.
But if they were going to argue like this, it would have been better if I had taken the passenger seat.
I felt sorry for the muscular, tanned, bald man, Mr. Olive, who was nervously glancing around from the driver's seat.
“And it’s not just a lack of romance; you’re just so dry. The other day when we watched a movie, you kept annoyingly pointing out how unrealistic it was, completely ruining the mood!”
“But it really didn’t make sense. How could the heroine fall for the main character while he’s stealing? Does she have a robber fetish or something? Is a handsome face all that matters?”
“That’s enough! How much plausibility do you expect from a romance story!”
“Oh… what am I supposed to do about this…”
“…”
I’m sorry on their behalf, Mr. Olive. My companions are a bit immature.
I silently apologized to Mr. Olive, who continued driving with his shoulders hunched.
Still, they’d probably calm down on their own after a little while.
Those two were just bored. They’d stop fighting by the time we arrived.
Accustomed to the situation, I relaxed and rested my chin on my hand, staring blankly at the sea where white waves crashed.
I wonder how much time passed with the sound of Raven and Alice arguing as background music.
Before I knew it, the two had bickered and made up, and we had reached our destination.
“Wow… it’s teeming with people.”
Raven muttered, looking around with a thoroughly fed-up expression.
The area was already crowded with people, even though we hadn’t reached the entrance yet.
It seemed he, like me, preferred fewer people to more.
He scratched the back of his head with an air of ‘I shouldn’t have come if I knew it would be like this.’
Unaware of Raven’s inner thoughts, Alice crossed her arms as if stating the obvious.
“Well, the St. Maria Hotel is a super popular resort. There must be tons of people like us who planned to enjoy Night Week here. Honestly, it was incredibly hard to even get a room, you know?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve heard the story a dozen times about how you tried diligently for a month to book two rooms. Thanks, I really mean it.”
“Hmph, as long as you know. It was *really* hard to pull off, okay?”
Was Alice proud of herself for overcoming the abysmal odds and winning the booking war?
She placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest as if to say, ‘Aren’t I amazing?’
Naturally, the weight on her chest was suddenly much more prominent…
The gazes of Mr. Olive and Raven, who had been looking back, hastily snapped forward. Alice was certainly well-endowed.
But Alice, the only one who didn’t notice, tilted her head as if wondering why they were reacting that way.
Raven cleared his throat, trying to change the subject, and spoke to Mr. Olive in the driver's seat.
“Anyway, Mr. Olive, thank you so much for driving us all this way.”
“Ah, it’s no problem. My boss thought it would be better to just have you dropped off at your destination rather than lending you a car…”
“…Jin, isn’t this because you wrecked a car last time?”
“Ah. I guess so. I did do a spectacular number on one.”
“You’ve completely lost their trust.”
“Ha, haha! It’s not like that! Hahaha!”
Mr. Olive forced an awkward laugh, his face extremely stiff.
It seemed he wasn’t very good at lying.
After all, not long ago, around the time Aisha came with a request, he had spectacularly half-wrecked a rented car.
They probably felt it was better to just give him a ride than to lend him another car.
It just goes to show you should live a clean life.
Well, as long as Raven was a Fixer, he was bound to get caught up in incidents.
Soon after, we crossed a bridge and arrived at our destination, the hotel.
And Mr. Olive, as if his job was finally over, hastily said his goodbyes and quickly departed.
Thank you for bringing us here, and for your hard work.
Hoping my gratitude would reach him, I waved enthusiastically at the back of the disappearing car.
*
The St. Maria Hotel.
It was a luxury hotel so fine that the term ‘first-class’ felt inadequate.
First off, the quality of the rooms, the very basics, was exceptional.
From the ocean-view interior that offered a clear view of the sea to the expensive luxury bedding and excellent amenities.
The meticulously crafted luxurious atmosphere and service were well worth the price.
The diverse restaurants and bars went beyond the mere concept of dining, offering what could be called an experience.
High-end spas, pools, saunas, a casino, and a fitness center. The indoor facilities lacked nothing and were more than enough to keep one from ever needing to leave the hotel.
In particular, the unique entertainment and events by famous artists, which changed periodically, made the hotel a place to visit regularly, not just a one-time experience.
“Of course, since it’s right by the sea… if we had come in the summer, we could have enjoyed all sorts of water sports at the private beach. That part is a little disappointing.”
“Are you a hotel employee or something? How do you know all this in such detail?”
Raven stared incredulously at Alice, whose eyes were sparkling in front of the hotel entrance.
She hadn’t stopped talking, as if she had memorized the entire brochure.
But Alice puffed up her cheeks and reacted vehemently to his response.
“Of course I know! It was my dream to visit this hotel, even back in my hometown! Ugh, do you have any idea how complicated it is for a Metahuman living in Japan to travel abroad?”
“That… is certainly tough. Isn’t it hard to even get into the country?”
“It’s not just tough. It’s practically impossible. It’s probably faster to just renounce your citizenship like I did.”
Alice shook her head vigorously, as if recalling a great hardship.
I wondered just how difficult it really was.
Getting repeatedly slapped by her pink hair as I stood behind her, I felt like I was starting to understand.
‘A luxury hotel. I’ve never been to one, not even in my past life.’
I never imagined I’d get to experience such extravagance.
The vague excitement and anticipation I felt on the way here now filled my chest completely.
Do expensive hotels like this really have beds that feel like you’re floating?
I felt an urge to take a nice bath and then crawl into bed, feeling pleasantly weary.
*Whoosh.*
As I was lost in my own thoughts, a sudden cold wind brushed against the back of my neck.
No matter how warmly I was dressed, I guess there was no stopping the wind that seeped in the moment I let my guard down.
A shiver ran down my spine, and I jumped in place.
“Hey, looks like Yuria’s cold. Can’t we just go in first? We can tell David and the others to find us on their own.”
“No way. We can’t even contact them right now. It’s even more crowded inside, so it’ll be hard to spot them. Yuria. Are you cold? Do you want to wear my coat?”
“…”
“She’s not going to say yes if you ask like that. Here. Put this on.”
*Flick.*
Raven took off the coat he was wearing and, without asking my opinion, tossed it at me.
I didn’t even say I’d wear it. What’s he doing?
Having refused Alice’s coat, I held Raven’s in my hands uncertainly.
At that, he let out a chuckle and suddenly started ruffling the hair on top of my head.
“…!”
“It’ll be a pain if you catch a cold, so wear it. My body temperature is high, so I’m not even cold.”
“That’s right. Jin is the kind of brute who never gets sick. No need to refuse. Oh, or maybe it’s because the coat has that musty old bachelor smell?”
“That one really hurts. Please refrain…”
“Ah, sorry.”
“…”
Raven seemed genuinely hurt by the comment about the bachelor smell.
I guess it was a bigger mental blow than being called an old man.
…To be honest, I think I know how that feels.
I quickly draped the coat over my shoulders and shook my head as if to say it wasn’t true.
In response, Raven nodded in satisfaction, looking slightly cheered up.
Anyway, perhaps because my protection against the cold was now properly sorted…
Alice, who was looking around, squinted one eye in puzzlement.
“They are a bit late, though. I wonder if something happened with their train… We can’t reach them either.”
“You’re telling me. Maybe we should have just come together?”
“How could we have come together when we couldn’t even rent a car… It couldn’t be helped.”
The two seemed quite worried about David’s group, from whom there was still no word.
Still, what could we do? We had no choice but to wait.
We gathered on a bench near the entrance, passing the time by gazing at the distant scenery or at our terminals.
Let’s wait another 30 minutes, and if they still don’t show up, we’ll go inside first.
After agreeing on that, we were sitting and sipping warm coffee when someone approached us.
Could it be David and the others?
Our gazes naturally shifted toward the newcomer.
“Oh my, is that… Alice-chan?”
But betraying our expectations, the person standing there was a beastkin with perked-up ears.
Judging by the long whiskers on her cheeks and the thick tail swaying behind her… she was probably a fox beastkin.
Alice stared blankly at the pretty fox girl in a neat uniform, then suddenly shot up from her seat and shouted.
“Ah! Tamamo!”
“Huh?”
“…!”
It was an unexpected, out-of-the-blue reunion with a friend from Alice’s hometown.