Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Today, we’re eating out!
After that whole “pitch-black charcoal lump” incident,
I made a decision to deal with the suffocating guilt hanging over the house from Camellia, and Erika’s dead, lifeless eyes.
“Today… shall we eat out?”
…
And so, leaning on my crutches and dragging my casted leg, we arrived at a restaurant.
The air was thick with acrid smoke, and the smell of oil stung the nose.
At a glance, it definitely wasn’t anything fancy.
Still, there was one thing that was certain.
Around here, this place was known for the biggest portions for the best price.
“Uoooooh!!”
Seeing the pile of meat skewers stacked on the table, life returned to Erika’s eyes.
Watching a dragon grab skewers in both hands like a starving bandit who hadn’t eaten for days, I quietly let out a sigh of relief.
“Nasus, say ah. Aaah—”
Camellia, who had sat close beside me, carefully separated the meat and gently brought it toward my mouth.
“No, Camellia. My left hand is perfectly fine. I can eat on my own.”
“No! They said you need proper rest for the bones to heal correctly. And besides… you got hurt like this because of me… so please, at least let me do this much.”
That deep guilt welled up again in Camellia’s clear eyes.
If I kept refusing, she might fall back into that strange “self-loathing mode” again,
so in the end, I reluctantly opened my mouth and accepted the food.
“Mmm, it’s good.”
“Hehe, I’m glad. Here, the next one…”
That was when it happened.
Erika, who should’ve been devouring food like a black hole as usual, suddenly stopped moving.
Her red eyes, smeared with grease around her mouth, were staring intently at me and Camellia.
‘What is it? Did bringing her to a cheap place ruin her appetite?’
A strange moment of silence.
Then Erika grabbed a large skewer and dragged her chair closer, squeezing in on my other side.
“Here, take it.”
She shoved the large skewer right toward my mouth.
“…Huh? Why are you giving that to me?”
“Y-You said you couldn’t eat properly because you’re injured, didn’t you! I—I’m just making a special concession because it would be troublesome if my excellent meat supplier starved to death! Now hurry and open your mouth!”
“No, when did I ever say that— mmph!! Hey! Forcing it into my mouth like that is just harassment!!”
On both sides, two incredibly beautiful girls pressed close, each insisting on feeding me—
to an outsider, it probably looked like the classic setup of a romantic comedy.
But in reality, it felt like I was eating between two ticking time bombs that could go off at any moment.
“I’m seriously fine! Erika, just eat your own food! Camellia, you can stop now too—!”
“Ha! Fuck, what a disgusting sight.”
A rough curse cut in from a corner of the restaurant.
Through the noisy clamor of the cheap diner, a voice reeking of alcohol drifted over.
“Well, well~ look at this guy. Got his limbs smashed and still stuffing his face with two women hanging off him? What a lordly bastard, huh?”
Scarred faces, cheap leather armor—
the typical third-rate mercenaries of the slums.
Empty bottles rolled across their table.
The way they looked at me was filled with jealousy, envy, and blatant mockery toward someone they saw as an easy target.
A half-crippled guy on crutches being waited on by two beautiful women in a place like this—
of course it twisted their insides.
I let out a short sigh.
‘Here we go again. Ignoring them is the answer.’
I’d spent years scraping by in the slums.
If I reacted to every barking dog like that, I’d have been dead long ago.
I signaled to Camellia and Erika to ignore them and keep eating.
When I turned my head without reacting, their faces flushed red, clearly offended at being ignored.
“Hey, you crippled bastard. You deaf too? Tsk tsk, poor ladies. Having to serve a half-dead piece of trash like that.”
The one who seemed like their leader staggered to his feet.
His sticky, lecherous gaze slowly swept over Camellia.
“Hey there, blonde miss. Instead of feeding that useless eunuch, how about you come over here and pour drinks for us? We’re a lot stiffer and stronger than that guy, you know? Heh heh heh!”
“Yeah! We’ll comfort you real good tonight! Way better than that trash!”
“……!”
Camellia’s slender shoulders visibly trembled.
Her face turned pale, as if some terrible trauma had been triggered, and the fork slipped from her hand.
She shrank behind me, terrified.
Blatant, filthy sexual harassment.
Crack!
From across the table, the thick wooden skewer in Erika’s hand shattered to pieces.
“…You filthy vermin.”
Open mockery toward her group.
And on top of that,
the anger of having her precious mealtime disturbed.
Killing intent surged from Erika’s red eyes, as if she might turn them into ashes at any moment.
“Erika, wait!”
I grabbed her wrist tightly with my good left hand.
“Let go. I’ll silence those vermin permanently.”
“If you step in here and this place gets wrecked… then we’ll have to pay for all the damages. Every last bit.”
I lowered my voice as much as possible and struck at Erika’s most fatal weakness.
“If we have to pay all that… we won’t be eating meat anymore. Not even potato soup. We’ll starve.”
“……!!!”
“We’ll starve.”
That one sentence was enough.
The violent killing intent in Erika’s eyes vanished like a lie.
Grinding her teeth, she eventually dropped back into her seat.
For now, the natural disaster that would’ve wiped out both this restaurant and my wallet had been prevented.
But…
my own head felt like it would explode if pushed any further.
I can tolerate being mocked.
But—
Camellia trembling behind me, biting her lips.
The “premium blue-chip asset” I had painstakingly nurtured with my own blood and flesh…
And these third-rate thugs dared to defile its value with their filthy tongues?!
This crossed the line.
‘I’ll tear them apart.’
In my mind, I’d already snapped their necks several times over,
but cold reason barely held me back.
Right now, I was a seriously injured patient who couldn’t use one leg and one arm.
And if I let Erika loose, that ridiculously strong glutton might destroy everything around us.
Clumsy violence only leads to massive expenses.
‘Can’t use force. Can’t unleash Erika. Then…’
I needed the most optimal strategy to destroy them—
legally, and efficiently.
Without spending my own money.
A way to drag them straight into the abyss.
…
That crude but standardized studded leather armor.
And the red emblem engraved on their chests.
They weren’t just random street thugs—
they were officially registered with a mercenary guild.
They had affiliation.
They had responsibility.
In that moment, through the lens of slum-hardened capitalism, those rough mercenaries started to look different to me.
‘Aren’t these basically treasure goblins that walked in on their own? If they were just back-alley trash, they’d refuse to pay even if I demanded compensation. But guild mercenaries? That’s a different story.’
No matter how low-tier the guild, they couldn’t ignore their livelihood—
their reputation.
In a crowded restaurant like this, if they assaulted an already injured patient on crutches?
And if the victim reported them to the authorities and filed a formal complaint with the guild?
They’d face immediate disciplinary action—
and the guild itself would have to pay fines and compensation.
Settlement money.
‘With the right reaction and this cast as a perfect prop, I could squeeze out a pretty decent amount!’
All I needed was to take one clean, well-delivered punch from that big guy.
My broken arm and leg would ache a bit more for a few days, sure…
but if I endured it, I’d have enough money left over to feed Camellia and Erika meat and buy recovery potions!
“Look at that, the pretty blonde is shaking. Don’t worry, big bro won’t eat you~ Come here.”
“Hey! You guys!”
I stood up, planning to naturally provoke them.
‘Come on, sweet settlement money!’
But just as I stepped forward—
Tap.
A small, soft warmth grabbed my good left wrist.
“…?”
When I turned my head, Camellia was looking at me, biting her trembling lips.
Her reddened eyes met mine directly as she shook her head firmly.
[Don’t. Nasus.]
She didn’t say it out loud,
but her desperate, pleading gaze conveyed it clearly.
She had misunderstood—
thinking I was about to recklessly step forward, injured body and all, to protect her from those men.
She was trying to stop me, desperate not to see me get hurt again because of her.
‘No… Camellia, I was just trying to make some easy money…’
My shallow, materialistic plan was completely blocked by her pure concern.
“I-I’m fine… so please… don’t.”
In a voice as small as a mosquito’s buzz, Camellia whispered, gently pulling me back toward her.
There was so much strength in her slender grip that my wrist actually throbbed.
That desperate warmth.
Those trembling eyes.
In that moment, all the coins labeled “settlement money” scattered in my mind and crumbled away.
‘…Ha. Money can always be earned again. Once my body heals, I can grind or invest and make more.’
My precious “premium blue-chip asset” was trembling like that, trying to protect me—
and here I was thinking of throwing myself into harm’s way for money.
That wasn’t a wise investor.
That was just a maggot obsessed with money.
I gently wrapped my hand around Camellia’s and softly patted it to reassure her.
That was when—
The men I had called out earlier were already right in front of us, casting dark shadows over our table.
“Well, well, did you call us over because you’re mad? A crippled bastard with broken legs still trying to act tough—!”
“Red Wolf Mercenary Company.”
“…What?”
“That’s right, isn’t it? That emblem—I can see it clearly up close.”