3 bar menu

Chapter 223: Epilogue, part 2

Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama

Lyla and I followed the branch chief to the restaurant which she claimed to be excellent.

「Iris Negan-sama, right? This way, please.」

A formally-dressed waiter showed us inside. The floor of the restaurant was covered in a thick crimson carpet, and its interior was elaborately decorated — truly as amazing as Iris had led us to believe.

「To think that such a restaurant could be hiding in Lahati.」

「Right? I don’t come here often, though.」

「It’s a nice place」, said Lyla, significantly less amazed than we were. 「Befitting of someone like me.」

She nodded as if she was used to places like these. The waiter showed us into a private room at the very back of the restaurant. We ordered drinks and clinked glasses softly when they arrived.

「Have you known Orlando-san for a long time?」

「Yeah」, replied Iris. 「I’ve known her since I was wet behind the ears.」

Back when she was still an ordinary employee, she had taken care of a completely sloshed Orlando, who began receiving quests from her after that.

「She’s a good person, isn’t she?」

「She is.」

「Though she had the right to be furious about the salary incident, all she did was look very sad. I felt like I had to help her somehow.」

Lyla knew that she was also a childhood friend of Rodje’s, but seemed uninterested. She simply attacked the wine and dishes that had been served.

「It’s been a long time since Orlando-san left the forest. She experienced a time when discrimination was much more rampant, and might have kind of accepted it as a result. I’d wager that she felt powerless and believed that openly expressing her disdain would produce zero effect.」

「Discrimination may be less rampant nowadays, but you still see racists pop up every now and then. I was honestly surprised to learn that Imir’s branch chief was one of them.」

「It isn’t surprising even with demi-humans and elves working as employees.」

「I hope you can effect change once you have more power. Change the guild for the better.」

「You will rise before I do, Chief. You will be the one to effect change.」

「That’s true, but I don’t really want to rise that high either…」

Glancing at the wine in the glass she had tilted towards her mouth, Iris chuckled nervously.

「How disrespectful」, said Lyla. 「Talking about work and leaving me out of the conversation.」

Lyla was beginning to slur her words, which might have something to do with the numerous refills she had already ordered.

「Dishreshpectful!」, she repeated.

「Okay, okay.」

An invitation to try her was written all over her face.

Ever since the salary incident was resolved, Orlando had visited our branch from time to time. We had no quests befitting an S-ranked adventurer, though, and we simply made small talk with her. She would go for a round of drinks with Iris after we had closed for the day.

Lyla had told me to pass her the crackers, then the cheese, and now dry fruits. Her mouth was open, obviously gesturing for me to feed her directly. I stuffed a cracker into her mouth and tipped the wineglass for her to drink, fulfilling every request she made.

「That’s nice, Lyla-chan. You can make Roland feed you.」

The chief smiled, but what she felt was obvious. The usually sharp Lyla was too drunk, though, and what Iris was implying didn’t register at all.

「Mhm」, she simply replied, stuffed with both food and happiness.