“Ichigo Ichie,” located on the fifth floor of Amamiya Tower, is a bar directly managed by Crown.
A similar establishment, a restaurant directly linked to headquarters, exists, but it caters to a slightly different clientele as even those who don’t drink alcohol can use it.
Above all, “Ichigo Ichie” is a bar (perhaps) focused on alcohol, with most of its patrons being adventurers.
Furthermore, it operates only at night, completely narrowing its target audience.
The reason Crown manages such a bar is solely based on the expectation that adventurers will use it for information gathering.
Additionally, this bar is operated to be accessible to many adventurers, and there is a system in place where patrons receive a discount if they present their Crown Card at checkout.
For these reasons, “Ichigo Ichie” was bustling with adventurers on this particular day as well.
Among them were several female adventurers who could easily be called “sis.”
It was about an hour after opening when such a customer, who garnered the attention of the adventurers inside, entered “Ichigo Ichie.”
A brief hush fell over the establishment as one man, two women, and a wolf familiar entered.
Then, the interior erupted in a commotion, but for a different reason.
Everyone recognized that the ensuing commotion was about the newcomers, not about the usual miscellaneous information.
The reason the adventurers were so focused on the three people (plus one familiar) who had entered the establishment was quite simple: the two women were incredibly beautiful.
The fact that these two female adventurers attracted the attention not only of the male adventurers but also the female adventurers inside highlighted the depth of their charm.
It was understood by all the adventurers in the establishment that if such beauties were active as adventurers, they would naturally draw attention from their peers, and they must be new to the tower.
However, this assumption was mistaken, although the adventurers who entered the establishment never confirmed nor denied it until the very end.
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Kousuke, who had garnered attention upon entering “Ichigo Ichie,” inwardly thought, “Wow, impressive.”
He fully understood that the gazes were directed not at him, but at the two women.
The two women, Silvia and Mitsuki, wore smiles on their faces, regardless of their inner thoughts.
While Mitsuki might still be developing, Silvia’s composure in the face of such attention was undoubtedly due to her public activities within the Royal Castle alongside Floria.
Amidst the adventurers’ gazes, Kousuke and his companions took their seats at an empty table.
Kousuke and his group had not come to “Ichigo Ichie” specifically to eat, but they didn’t intend to leave without ordering anything.
Moreover, knowing that the food was also good, being a Crown-managed establishment, they had also come to confirm that.
By the time their orders arrived, the commotion in the bar had largely subsided.
Some male adventurers were muttering things like, “You should go talk to them,” but this was within Kousuke’s expectations.
“Yeah. Just as I thought, it’s amazing,” Silvia said. “I think it’s thanks to Mitsuki-san being here as well…”
Silvia, who would normally have denied such a statement, said it deliberately. She had anticipated this outcome and had decided on it beforehand.
Besides, Mitsuki was undeniably on a different level than Silvia.
Of course, there would always be men who preferred Silvia based on personal preference.
However, the real reason Kousuke and his group had come to “Ichigo Ichie” was not to show Silvia and Mitsuki to the adventurers.
Their true purpose was revealed as they had eaten about half of their meal: a person walked into the establishment on their own.
The individual looked around the bar upon entering and immediately wore a surprised expression.
Then, they walked directly towards Kousuke’s table.
Following behind them was a feline-type familiar.
“That’s a rather unusual familiar. A wolf type?” The individual, without showing any hesitation and completely ignoring Silvia and Mitsuki, spoke directly to Nana, the familiar.
The person, Ted, said this with a friendly smile and reached out to Nana before Kousuke could stop him.
“Grrr…”
Seeing Nana growl, Ted retracted his hand with a slightly surprised look.
“Ah, sorry. I was a bit too careless,” Ted said, still smiling, but Kousuke didn’t miss the fleeting grimace on his face the moment Nana growled at him.
It was so brief that even Silvia and Mitsuki, who were standing nearby, couldn’t have noticed it.
Kousuke, deliberately not mentioning it, shook his head and replied, “No. She rarely warms up to people she meets for the first time.”
“Oh, so you mean I might eventually get along with her too?” Ted asked, his intentions unclear as he tried to gauge Kousuke’s response.
Kousuke tilted his head and replied, “Well, who knows? It took these two quite some time to get used to me as well.”
Without specifying how long it took, Kousuke left Ted to interpret his words. Ted simply nodded and said, “I see.”
Then, looking fondly at Nana, Ted gave a slight bow. “Well then, sorry for the sudden intrusion. I have a tendency to want to interact with anything unusual I see.”
“Not at all,” Kousuke replied, offering a polite smile.
Seeing this, Ted seemed to have concluded his business and headed towards the table where his companions were waiting.
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Having finished their meal and drinks, Kousuke and his group, having fulfilled their objective of meeting Ted directly, had already left the establishment.
“So? How was it?” Silvia asked. Kousuke replied without changing his expression, “Just as Riku said. It was ordinary, for better or worse.”
“Ordinary?”
“Yes. Ordinary. I couldn’t tell if he was doing it consciously or unconsciously.”
As Kousuke said this, he recalled Ted’s expression in that brief moment.
Considering Ted’s subsequent actions, anyone else would have simply dismissed it as a coincidence or a misunderstanding.
However, for Kousuke, who could directly view others’ skills, it felt entirely different.
Recalling Ted’s status, which he had read the moment Ted tried to touch Nana, Kousuke muttered, “Still, I’ve never seen someone with skills so specialized in being a Tamer.”
“That…” Silvia started, intending to praise him, but seeing Kousuke’s face, she swallowed her words. Kousuke, sensing this, responded with a wry smile. Silvia was too perceptive at times like these.
“To have such a skill set and act so ordinarily… — it makes me wonder if there’s something behind it… or not, but at least I don’t feel the need to get involved further?”
“I see,” Silvia said, nodding in understanding at Kousuke’s explanation. As Kousuke had said, he never met Ted again after that single encounter. Whether they would ever meet again is unknown even to the author, lol.
