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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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The color of the sky was even more gloomy than usual.
It looked as though it might rain, but the people who lived around here would have known that a sky of ‘just this’ shade of gray wouldn’t bring rain.
The fumes spewing from the smokestacks of Cloud Park covered the sky.
The notification from my smart mask sounded.
《Contamination detected above recommended levels. Replacement with a standard filter is advised.》
This was because Cloud Park was situated right next to ‘South Pilier,’ the district where Drek’s workshop and home were located.
The air already felt suffocating. But despite that, I couldn’t stop myself from taking deep breaths.
Inhaled, and exhaled.
“…What are you doing.”
Just breathing.
Drek asked, looking at me as I stood frozen in front of the entrance for no reason.
“Just trying to calm my nerves.”
“What the hell.”
Hey, even if you say that… ‘E’ was a process that was impossible to understand.
I glanced around lightly.
Drek’s house was a completely different shape from the ‘condominium’ where I lived.
A wide, grass-covered yard was spread out before us, and a stylish single-family home, separated by a fence, sat handsomely on the lot.
It was a view made possible because this was the outskirts of the city, right next to Cloud Park, an area avoided by most citizens.
Drek subtly positioned himself behind me. It was a move to block my escape route, just in case I decided to make a run for it.
It wasn’t as if I would actually run away from here, but because of the many sins I’d committed until now, I just pretended not to notice.
“Give up and just go inside.”
“…When did I ever say I wasn’t going in.”
I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.
I muttered briefly under my breath and pressed the intercom’s call button firmly with my index finger.
…But.
The owner of the house was standing right behind me. Why did I have to be the one to press the intercom?
The thought was a bit puzzling.
《Who is it?》
A cheerful woman’s voice came through the intercom.
I cleared my throat a few times. Steeling my voice, I offered a greeting to my friend’s girlfriend, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Hello, this is Shiun. I’m here with Drek, could you open the door—.”
That was as far as I got.
Clunk!
The door opened before I could even finish my sentence.
The person who came out was a woman with brown hair.
“…It’s really you.”
Was it because she was a dwarf? From below my line of sight, she continued speaking.
“I thought the front door security camera had been hacked and was showing me a manipulated image.”
“……”
“Ah, my apologies.”
Drek’s girlfriend, Lorenda, belatedly snapped out of her daze and drew a wide smile on her face as she looked at me.
“Oh my, oh my, look who it is.”
I let out a hollow laugh and replied.
“…Haha, it’s been a long t—.”
“The savior of our family! His savior! My savior! The savior of our soon-to-be-born child! The savior who is perfectly fine even if he doesn’t grant the simple request to come for a meal! The savior whose face I hadn’t seen in su~ch a long time that seeing it on a TV show I was watching blankly made his and my day! The savior who made me want to record that broadcast and send it to everyone I know?!”
“……”
Even though I had been cut off mid-sentence, I couldn’t say anything in response.
I just listened intently to Lorenda’s words with my mouth agape.
Wait, but. There was something strange in what I just heard.
“‘Soon-to-be-born child’?”
“Ah, you hadn’t heard? Well, I suppose you wouldn’t know, since we haven’t been in touch at all. You nearly would have found out after the invitation message, or rather, the RSVP (Répondez s’il vous plaît) was sent out.”
RSVP usually meant one thing. It meant asking about attendance for a wedding.
“……Uh.”
I turned my head to look behind me.
Drek, an awkward smile playing on his lips, was looking down at me.
“That’s how it turned out.”
Hmm.
…….
First, I offered my congratulations.
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We followed Lorenda’s lead and went inside the house.
The atmosphere was completely different from Drek’s workshop, where cyberware was strewn about like laundry.
Everywhere you looked, it felt homey and peaceful, as if touched by Lorenda’s hand.
In a way, it looked like a home where a dwarf couple lived. Decorative objects adorned with jewels were placed in every corner.
Inside the reception room, the heat from the meal preparations filled the space. All sorts of dishes, along with a pot from which steam was rising, occupied the dining table.
It was a meal of meat, bread, and mushrooms.
Considering that ordinary citizens made do with things like nutrition tubes for a meal, this looked like a diet from the top 10% of the cyberpunk world.
They probably didn’t prepare this much every day, so I suspected she must have heard I was coming in advance.
Going with the flow, I naturally sat down in a dining chair at the table in the reception room.
Soon after, Lorenda placed a drink that looked like some kind of ‘tea’ in front of me.
“Ah, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s nothing compared to our debt of gratitude.”
I didn’t know what she had heard from Drek, but every single word she said felt burdensome.
Trying to regain my composure, I lifted the teacup that was placed before me.
“…Gack.”
And I almost spat it all out.
…This.
This was beer.
And it was incredibly strong.
The rich scent of barley and the sharp aroma of alcohol attacked my nose.
“Ah, it’s a beer I bought at a high price. It tastes pretty good, right?”
…….
Who gives beer to a guest who just arrived….
But this was the cyberpunk world. A place that couldn’t be explained by any sort of logic.
I put on a clumsy smile and replied.
“Ah, yes, it’s delicious.”
I carefully set down the teacup filled with beer.
You can tell they’re dwarves. Both Drek and Lorenda seemed to really love beer.
Of course, if I were to let such thoughts escape my lips, I could end up standing before a city court for making a species-ist remark.
So I swallowed the thought.
Drek sat down across the table from me. He had already taken off his coat and changed into comfortable clothes.
“Just one glass for me, too.”
“Pour it yourself.”
“……”
Drek, having shut his mouth, quietly poured the contents from the keg—the beer storage container—and filled his glass.
Anyway, She was pregnant?
…….
It felt truly unreal.
Still, it was a relief that the two of them were getting along well. It was a side of them I couldn’t see in the game, so I had always carried a bit of worry in my heart.
Now, that worry lessened.
Once all the food was ready, Lorenda pulled up a chair and sat down next to Drek.
“It’s really been so long.”
Lorenda, having taken off her apron, said as she looked at me.
Beads of sweat were forming and trickling down from her neatly styled brown hair.
“…Has it been about a year since we last saw each other?”
“It’s been longer.”
“……”
I clamped my mouth shut.
“Oh, right.”
Lorenda gestured in the air, manipulating her visual interface.
Soon, a hologram screen appeared in the middle of the table.
Visible on the screen were Rex Nova, Andrea, and….
【…I’m just a civilian.】
It was me.
Hmm.
“…Hey.”
“Like I said earlier, I was so surprised when I saw you on that TV show. So I recorded it without even thinking.”
Please delete it.
I let out a dry cough.
“Ahem.”
Feeling like an outcast caught between popular people, I wanted to go home.
Seeing my reaction, Lorenda turned off the screen.
In an attempt to change the subject, I picked up the utensils in front of me and served myself some food.
To be honest, I had no appetite, but to survive this battlefield, I had to at least eat.
“Oh.”
This is good.
“It’s good, isn’t it?”
Lorenda, who had been watching my reaction, said.
“Yes, it’s delicious.”
Of course, the food Eve made at home was more delicious. She hacked the recipes of the Monolith’s head chef, so it would be a problem if it wasn’t tastier.
[Checking preference.]
“?”
“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“…No, it’s just that I thought I heard something.”
I thought I heard Eve’s voice. It must have been my imagination.
And with that, the conversation continued.
“When are you planning to hold the wedding?”
“We’re thinking next month for now…, but we have to watch the situation a bit more.”
“You should have told me such happy news a little sooner.”
“If someone had just answered his calls on time, I would have told him long ago.”
“……”
There were also occasional mishaps where the conversation was abruptly cut short by someone’s truth bomb.
But thankfully, the meal ended without incident.
It would be nice if there was some coke. But that wasn’t something I could say as a guest, so I quietly wet my throat with the beer in front of me.
After clearing the dishes, Lorenda approached me again.
“Thank you.”
“Cough.”
I coughed at the sudden expression of gratitude.
Huh?
“Just, for everything.”
Lorenda chugged her beer.
Her glass was a different shape from mine, and it looked like it could hold 500cc, but the contents disappeared in a single gulp.
I wondered if a pregnant woman should be drinking, but it was something made possible with ethanol-burning cyberware.
“I was half-joking when I called you a savior, but my gratitude is real.”
This whole ‘savior’ thing again.
“…Well. I didn’t really do anything.”
SLAM!
The beer mug hit the table hard.
“No.”
Lorenda looked at me with an intense gaze.
“What you did, Shiun, is more than worthy of praise.”
I wasn’t used to this kind of atmosphere.
“If you hadn’t helped him and me back then, this moment would never have happened.”
“……”
Was it because I was getting a little tipsy?
I simply nodded my head quietly, without giving any reply.
In reality, when I played the game, an ‘NPC’ by the name of ‘Lorenda’ never appeared.
Because she was already dead.
“It’s not just me; the people around you probably feel the same way.”
Before I knew it, Drek was also looking at me with the same expression in his eyes.
“I don’t know what the reason is, but.”
Lorenda’s hand rested on top of Drek’s.
“I want you to have more confidence in yourself, Shiun.”
Her other hand went to her own stomach.
“…Our child will think so, too.”
I felt my heart become a little lighter.
Because my actions truly had helped a lot of people.
Even if they were actions I took to survive, or because of my own selfishness.
Still, if the result was good, wasn’t that good enough?
Wasn’t it okay for me to think that way?
This world was definitely not a game. I decided to firmly acknowledge this point and move on.
Having lived here for a decade, I already felt that fact in my bones, but still.
That this is my world, my reality. I thought so once again.
…Hmm.
Then maybe I should start thinking about my relationships a bit more seriously.
Catherine, Eve, and Andrea.
And the others, too.
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As I was thinking that, I opened my front door.
“…Uh, welcome home.”
“Welcome home, sir.”
“Welcome back!”
Women dressed in maid outfits were there to greet me.
…….
What is this?
I calmly closed the front door.
As I immediately turned to flee, the three maids chased after me as if ready to pounce.
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