How to Live as the Terminally Ill Younger Sister of the Villain - Chapter 84
Then Pudding, who had been nuzzling at her side, jumped up and sat his bottom where she had tapped.
After sharing a few pieces of meat with him, Angelina gulped down her non-alcoholic beer and made an “Ahhh~” sound like an old man might make.
The sound was so hearty and loud that it seemed like she was deliberately trying to draw attention from those around.
“Miss……”
“Laura, you should try some too. I’ve had chicken, duck, and pheasant before, but this is my first time having ostrich. It’s not bad. This buffalo meat too. It’s different from beef.”
“Miss.”
Despite her attempts to change the subject, Laura remained steadfast, causing Angelina to finally sigh and point toward the kitchen with her fork.
“I heard the owner here is quite the information broker.”
“…?”
Seeing Laura’s expression that seemed to ask what that had to do with why they were here, Angelina leaned in slightly and whispered.
“And apparently, he’s incredibly curious too.”
It was because of his curiosity that he was so well-versed in everything that happened in the capital.
Being nosy, asking questions here and there, and digging deep into matters naturally led to information gathering.
“Is there some information you need?”
Just as she asked.
“Hey.”
A burly man approached their table. Since they were sitting in a corner, his presence was enough to block their entire view.
He put down a new beer glass in front of Angelina while glaring at Pudding. Then he crossed his arms and puffed up his chest.
Though his series of actions seemed somewhat awkward, Angelina looked him over with bleary eyes, noting his shoulder tattoo and ill-fitting apron.
“Ladies, it’s troublesome to bring something like this in here.”
He said, pointing at Pudding.
Feeling threatened, Laura pulled Angelina closer to herself and discreetly checked the weapon hidden in her sleeve.
However, unlike Laura, Angelina calmly rested her chin on her hand and looked up at him.
“This child is my only guard, so it would be troublesome if not allowed.”
“In these dangerous times with monsters everywhere, do you know how much customers panic when they see a beast?”
“Yes, that’s exactly why those rampant monsters are a problem. When two women need to protect themselves from such scary things, we need at least one dog like this, don’t we?”
As if Angelina’s words were a signal, Pudding began to growl, raising his fur and tail.
When the creature that had looked cute suddenly transformed with flashing eyes, the threatening man flinched for a moment. But without dropping his stance, he spoke more forcefully.
“If this thing goes wild, are you planning to pay for all the damages?”
“Don’t worry. He won’t go wild. Naturally, he’s trained in all the basics, isn’t he?”
“How can I believe that?”
“If he weren’t trained, your head would already be separated from your body.”
Hearing this, several customers fainted and fell backward. Some screamed “Eek!” and hid under their tables.
Somehow, the growling beast seemed to be growing larger before their eyes.
“This child tends to be a bit overprotective of me, you see.”
Angelina gently stroked Pudding’s head and back as he appeared thoroughly excited, and smiled sweetly.
A chilling silence fell for a moment.
“But don’t worry. He can at least tell the difference between people who are ‘pretending’ to threaten, like you, and those who are real threats.”
At Angelina’s casual remark, Pudding immediately stopped growling and lowered his tail.
“Kyu?”
He burrowed into Angelina’s hand with an expression that seemed to ask ‘Is that enough?’ while acting cute.
“Kyu~!”
His previously puffed-up fur quickly settled down, and he returned to his cute appearance. He looked so harmless that it seemed like his previous threatening demeanor had been a dream.
“Huh.”
At this, the man who had been ‘threatening’ them while very tense let out a hollow laugh.
“How did you know?”
“If you had truly felt threatened by this child, you would have at least brought a kitchen knife with you. Not come in that apron.”
“Hahaha! You’re a sharp young lady!”
He burst into loud laughter as if he had never shown any threatening behavior.
“Well, you see, those women over there kept insisting I do something about it, so I just tried putting on a bit of an act. Though I didn’t expect to be seen through so quickly.”
In truth, he was neither a thug nor a hoodlum.
“H-hey! Owner! What do you mean by ‘women’!”
He was just the owner of this place.
“When did we ever s-say such… Eek!”
The customers who had been hiding under tables and fainting in shock were startled again when they saw Pudding trotting towards them.
But Pudding just sat down at their feet and looked up at them with bright eyes.
“How could something this tiny look threatening?”
At Angelina’s words, those who had been hiding behind clothes and chairs peeked their heads out.
“Forget about being a guard, I just keep him around because he’s cute.”
At these additional words, Pudding made a ‘kyu’ sound and wagged his tail gently.
When the customers hesitated to reach out, Pudding took the initiative and rubbed against their feet.
They seemed startled at first, but soon after, they were disarmed by his soft fur and cute charm.
“How can something this cute exist…!”
“To think such a magical beast exists! Here, paw. Hahaha, he’s smart too!”
“Owner! Don’t you have some jerky or something for this little fellow? Smoked meat would be good too!”
It took less than 5 minutes for all the customers in the pub to become desperate for more of Pudding’s attention.
Watching this, Angelina grinned and said to the owner who was still standing beside them.
“At this rate, instead of paying damages, shouldn’t I be getting a commission for increasing sales?”
“Hahaha, you got me there! Alright, your meal’s on the house. Order whatever else you’d like.”
“I’d like something else instead.”
“Something other than food?”
“I heard you’re quite knowledgeable about the capital’s news?”
“Haha, no one’s faster with information than me. What do you want to know? Ah, but I can’t share anything that might cause problems. I’m known for keeping my lips sealed, you see.”
“Tell me more about the monster attacks.”
“Hmm… That I can certainly tell you about. Wait a moment.”
He disappeared into the kitchen.
A moment later, he returned with two new beer glasses and a plate of appetizers. Then he sat down opposite Angelina.
“Since this might take a while, help yourself.”
It was a plate of beautifully cut fresh fruit.
‘Does it really need to be that long?’
Angelina was puzzled but picked up a delicious-looking peach and popped it in her mouth.
“About a week ago… There was suddenly a commotion in the market area uptown.”
She focused on his words while enjoying the fruit melting in her mouth.
“I happened to be there buying seafood, so I witnessed the commotion firsthand. You know how seafood is a premium ingredient only sold uptown, right? Whew~ The clams were so fresh that day, I almost bought too many!”
“……”
She could see why the story was getting longer.
“So there were scallops and pen shells and…”
“Mister, the monster.”
She brought his attention back to the main topic before he could digress further.
“Ah, right, right. So I wondered what all the noise was about, and would you believe it! There was this strange creature, either a hippopotamus or a giant turtle, destroying the market stalls!”
“What happened then?”
“What do you think happened! It was complete chaos! Sheesh, those guards were so slow, it took them dozens of minutes to show up! Those people living off taxpayers’ money, tsk!”
It probably wasn’t dozens of minutes. At most, it would have been 7-8 minutes, but when being attacked by a huge monster, it could certainly feel like dozens of minutes.
“And then?”
“While everyone was fleeing in panic, suddenly the monsters just stopped. Those creatures that had been acting so menacingly, as if they were about to devour everything, just froze like stones!”
“How?”
“Well, you see…”
He leaned in and whispered in a hushed voice, as if sharing a secret that shouldn’t be overheard.
“There was a veiled woman standing in front of the monsters, blocking their path.”
“A woman?”
“I saw it with my own two eyes! And I wasn’t the only one. There were quite a few people who saw that woman!”
While most people didn’t see her because they were running away, those who were too shocked to move or those who managed to observe the situation calmly while fleeing all saw her.
