An Unexpected Reunion
Sitting in a corner of the cafe, Airi sipped at her milk and let out a complaint.
“By the way, a wallet-finding request? That’s pretty boring, isn’t it?”
Bang! “Ouch!”
Airi had said something pathetic, so I gave her a solid knock on the head. She had only just come of age, but it was so ridiculous I couldn’t help speaking up.
“Even if it looks trivial in your eyes, it could be something precious to someone else. Don’t speak so carelessly, you foolish disciple.”
This was the line Werner had originally said when Airi broke his favorite plate. She had snapped back asking what the big deal was over a single dish, and he had blown up at her.
Airi rubbed the top of her head and pouted, lips pushed out like a duckling. “You hit me again! Hitting a beautiful girl like me—Master is definitely going to get punished for that!”
“My disciple… my little walking disaster of a disciple… Just taking on someone like you is punishment enough for a lifetime, I think.”
“Tch… Then why did you take me in?”
“Because your father was terrifying, obviously.”
That her father was scary was certainly part of it, but there were other reasons too. Werner had originally been an orphan with nothing but a talent for magic. The ones who had taken him in were the protagonist’s party from Dragnity Fantasy 1. Werner had accepted Airi to repay that debt.
“Anyway, the client was supposed to be here by now… Looks like they’re running late.”
“I really don’t like this.”
It was only two minutes past the appointed time, yet Airi puffed her cheeks out in clear displeasure.
“That’s what happens when you take other people’s money, dear.”
Soon the cafe door opened again, and every man in the room turned to look at the same spot.
“It’s been a while, Werner.”
Long, glossy black hair fluttered in the breeze. Between those strands, sharp ears announced their presence. The beautiful woman with the somewhat cool expression stopped in front of our table.
“It’s been a while, Sister Camellia. You haven’t changed a bit—then or now.”
Camellia Peony. A member of the protagonist’s party in Dragnity Fantasy 1 and a half-elf whose swordsmanship would make anyone claim second place with shame.
“You, on the other hand, have changed quite a lot.”
“Well, I’m human. It’s only natural I’d be different from a half-elf like you, Sister.”
“That mouth of yours is still the same. I’m relieved.”
Camellia had been one of the people closest to Werner in Dragnity Fantasy 1. When the ten-year-old Werner joined the party, it was she and Airi’s mother who had looked after him. Thanks to her looks and performance, she had been enormously popular; I remembered her placing high in the popularity polls. Come to think of it, there had been a flood of one-shot comics pairing her with Werner back in those days.
“Still, I was pretty surprised when I heard the client’s name and realized it was you, Sister.”
“As you know, I’ve never had any talent for finding lost items.”
Camellia shifted her gaze toward Airi, who sat across from me, and asked, “Is this young lady the daughter of him and her?”
Here, “him and her” referred to Airi’s parents.
“Yeah. My brother dumped her on me and left. I wish he’d shown a little consideration for the poor guy stuck cleaning up his mess.”
I grumbled and took a long drink of melon juice. I had tried my best to speak the way Werner would have, and it seemed to land perfectly.
Camellia offered Airi a handshake. “I am Camellia Peony. I was close with both your parents and with your master.”
Airi, apparently delighted to meet one of her parents’ comrades, broke into a bright smile. “Hello! I’m Airi Les. I’ve been taking care of my useless master who can’t even do laundry for twelve whole years. It’s super annoying, though.”
“Yes, he’s always been like that. Back then he couldn’t even wash his own hair, so your mother and I…”
The women had suddenly united and begun roasting me—digging up not only my own past but Werner’s dark history from his Dragnity Fantasy 1 days as well.
“Ladies. Could you stop talking about someone’s flaws right in front of him and discuss the request instead?”
I ignored the slightly uncomfortable looks they gave me and pressed on. “So, Sister, you lost your wallet?”
“Yes. The wallet itself is important, but I’d also like to recover what was inside it.”
“What does it look like?”
“A sky-blue wallet with my initials engraved on it.”
“I see.”
I already knew all this, but I asked anyway for the sake of smooth conversation. In truth I knew exactly where the wallet was and what it contained, but I had to pretend otherwise for now.
“So where did you lose it, Sister?”
“I bought a few things at the crossroads near the adventurers’ guild building. When I went inside the guild, the wallet was gone.”
“Oh, really?”
With a loud slurp the melon juice hit the bottom of the glass. I stroked Airi’s head and stood up.
“Let’s go, my idiot disciple.”
“Master, why do you always call me an idiot?”
“My mistake. You’re not an idiot-like disciple. You’re a disciple who is an idiot.”
That line had also come from the side novel of the original game. I had loved the series so much that I’d bought every drama CD and side story, so I knew them all by heart.
“Master only ever says that stuff to me.”
Airi puffed her cheeks out again. She did it so often that there were even stickers of her puffed-cheek face on the market.
“Sister, we’ll head out first and start looking. Don’t get your hopes up too high.”
“Yes, Werner. Since you’re so unreliable, it’s better not to expect anything.”
Camellia was not the sort of woman who joked. That meant she was completely serious.
I muttered one of Werner’s favorite curses. “Damn half-ear…”
“What was that?”
“Nothing. I said Sister is more beautiful than anyone else.”
“For the youngest who didn’t even know proper table manners to have learned how to give compliments—you’ve grown.”
When we left the cafe, Airi, who had gone out ahead, suddenly linked her arm with mine.
“What was so funny? You didn’t even notice your cute disciple leaving first.”
“You’re the disciple I eat breakfast with every single day. That half-ear—I mean, Sister—is a comrade I haven’t seen in nearly ten, no, fifteen years.”
“Ah~ So it’s because she’s a comrade you haven’t seen in a long time?”
“That’s right, you silly girl.”
The two of them had not been mere comrades. When Camellia heard that Werner had died, she had shed tears for the first time in the entire series. The sight of her—who always wore a poker face—crying had been so shocking that it moved the hearts of many players. The reactions had definitely been something like this…
“Since it’s a ‘comrade’ you haven’t seen in a long time, I guess it can’t be helped. This pretty and kind disciple will specially forgive you.”
“Have all the kind people in the world frozen to death?”
I could admit she was pretty, but kind? Even a passing dog would laugh at that.
“By the way, disciple, could you unlink your arm? It’s hot. Really hot.”
“But Master is so bad with directions you’ll get lost immediately.”
“I’m not an idiot who gets lost in the neighborhood I live in.”
It was true that Werner was hopeless at daily life and terrible with directions. But Airi’s words were just an excuse; she had simply followed him around since she was little. Some fans even shipped the two of them as a couple because of how she clung to him, but to me it looked like Airi simply saw Werner as a father figure.
“Fine, let’s keep arms linked. It’s hot enough to die, but whatever.”
“Hehehe…”
Following the original storyline, we decided to look for the fence first. In the game, Airi hears that the wallet was probably stolen and heads into the back alleys. The moment you step inside, an event triggers as if it had been scheduled.
“Hehehe, mister. Judging by your clothes you look like you’ve got money. How about a donation before you go?”
“The lady next to you is pretty cute too. Leave her with us for some fun and scram.”
As expected of a game world, the dialogue was painfully cliché. Even though they were nothing but generic thug extras, they only came off as comical.
I couldn’t hold back my laughter, and the thugs couldn’t hold back their rage.
“Is this bastard crazy? What the hell are you laughing at?”
“We’ll have to rip your mouth open so you can’t laugh, huh? Let’s see if you can still smile after getting cut.”
Even the threats were lame.
“Kuk kuk… Ah, sorry. You guys are so stupid I couldn’t help laughing.”
“What?”
“Lightning, crawl like a snake.”
Snake-shaped lightning shot from my fingertips and coiled around one of the thugs. The man wrapped in crackling electricity collapsed with the unmistakable smell of cooked pork.
Maybe I should buy pork barbecue for dinner tonight.
“If you don’t want to end up like him, you’d better behave.”
“F-fuck! This crazy bastard just—”
“He’s only unconscious, so don’t worry too much. Want to try it yourself? Or will you quietly show us the way?”
“…Where exactly are you looking for, sir?”
When I told him we were looking for a fence, the thug gave us detailed directions to the fence’s location.
“Master, you were so cool just now!”
“Your master is always cool.”
“Sure, sure~ Of course you are.”
Airi tightened her grip on my arm even more. And the back of my head had been prickling for a while now. Was that thug from earlier still glaring at me? I’d probably have to zap him the same way later.