Chapter 102

Somehow, Lakis seemed to be in a better mood than when he first revealed himself in front of me .

“Ms . Yuri . ”

Then after a while, Lakis asked me in a quiet tone .

“Why did you settle in the east of all places?”

It seemed like a light question that was only asked in passing and at the same time, it seemed like a question that was difficult for me to decipher .

“There are other good places to live in besides the East . ”

Somehow, his tone sounded a little strange, so I raised my head to look at Lakis . However, I couldn’t see his expression because his face was turned the other way . It wasn’t exactly a question I couldn’t answer so I just told him flatly .

“It had the cheapest prices . ”

It was a simple and uninteresting reason .

Actually, when I left the destroyed research institute, I had considered the north and south for places to reside in . Only the west, Carnot, was never included .

Even if the research institute had disappeared, it made me uncomfortable to stay there when my identity was that of a test subject who escaped . In addition, at the time, a part of me thought Lakis might come after the test subject to kill them later .

Anyways, that was why I excluded Carnot when I was considering places for me to live in . And consequently, the place I finally chose was the East . Honestly, since it was the setting I saw in the book, I was more familiar with it so a part of that was also why I thought it would be peaceful to live there .

And above all, my main reason for choosing the east was Damon Salvatore’s groundbreaking alchemy products . If I didn’t have memories of my previous life, who knows how things would have gone but it was difficult to give up on household product similar to modern ones once I knew of them .

There was strange enclosure in all the regions so the East’s alchemy as well as their alchemized goods were yet to be commercialized in other regions .

Although, Damon Salvatore in real life was a bit too much of an idiot to be an alchemy genius…Still, I had to acknowledge his achievements at least .

Of course, the genre wasn’t anything like a lively romance comedy and a part of me didn’t want to get involved the protagonists of an angsty romance thriller so that held me back a bit, but it was really only a tiny bit . This was because I had convincingly thought that there was a miniscule chance of me encountering them in this vast land .

However, the East was small…

In the end, with the female lead, Anne-Marie, moving in next to me, I ended up meeting all the characters .

“So if not for that, you don’t necessarily have to live here?”

After hearing what I said, Lakis turned to me .

“I didn’t choose this place because I liked the East itself . ”

His moonlit blue eyes met my gaze . In that moment, I felt something strange that was difficult to describe and after a pause for a second or two, I slowly opened my mouth .

“Well…all places are pretty much the same . ”

“You’re right . They’re all the same . ”

A bright smile bloomed on Lakis’ face . He lifted a hand and gently tidied up my messy hair . From what I could tell, Lakis seemed satisfied by my answer . Seeing that, my mood turned somewhat odd again .

However, since Lakis didn’t add anything more to that, I didn’t bring up the suspicion I felt just now .

Like that, the night walk by the river came to an end .

* * *

The next day, as I was working in the coffeehouse, Mr . Gilbert approached me, looking hesitant . He seemed to have something to say but maybe it wasn’t easy for him to bring it up because he lingered around me for a while, stealing glances at me .

He tidied up the table next to me, glanced, took an order from a customer, glanced on the way to the kitchen then began watering the plants and glanced again…

“Uh, Ms . Yuri…”

And finally, when I was about to talk to Mr . Gilbert first, he called me as if he’d made a decision .

“How is your work with that noble family lately?”

Ah, I guess he was curious about my work with Bastian Crawford . Gilbert roughly knew that I was hired by the old man who came to the coffeehouse and that I was working over there . Of course, he didn’t know that Bastian was from the Crawford family .

“I’ve only been there a few times, so I don’t have much of an opinion yet, but I think it’s okay . ¬ The job is easy too . ”

And the payment was huge .

Of course, I didn’t need to tell Gilbert that later part .

“I, I see . ”

But even with just that, Mr . Gilbert’s eyes shook and there was subtle nervousness in his eyes . Soon enough, he spoke with an oddly desperate attitude .

“Ms . Yuri, if there’s anything that bothers you while working at the coffeehouse, just let me know anytime, no matter what it is! If the working hours are hard, I can reduce those too!”

“Okay, I will tell you if I need it . ”

I nodded to show I understood .

I guess Gilbert was worried that I might quit working at the coffeehouse because I liked the new job I got .

Either ways, since he wanted to be accommodating, there was really no reason to refuse . Of course, I had no plans to quit the coffeehouse right now but even I didn’t know how long that would last .

“Al, Also, if the payment is too small, next month I can…a pay raise…”

“It’s fine . ”

However, I cut Gilbert off before he finished the sentence he began with resolution . Of course, if my salary was increased, that was a good thing but Mr . Gilbert was already treating me more than well . Besides if I need money, it was a hundred time better to suck it out of the great Crawford family of the East than squeeze the sweat and blood of an ordinary citizen like Gilbert .

However, Mr . Gilbert seemed to get more anxious when I didn’t ask for anything .

“M-Ms . Yuri . You’re not going to quit, are you?”

He unconsciously asked desperately then he flinched like he was shocked by himself and shook his head rapidly .

“Ah, no, no . I’m more than thankful for all the help you’ve given so far . You have your circumstances, Ms . Yuri . Of course, you can quit whenever you want…”

Mr . Gilbert tried to assure me it was okay . However, his eyes looking at me were damp, and his lips which were trying to smile were trembling pitifully . He didn’t want me to quit that much it seemed .

But I’m not going to quit, though .

“I have no intention of quitting yet . ”

“R-Really?”

“Yes . Of course, I don’t know about later but for now, yes . ”

I said quite straightforwardly .

At that, Mr . Gilbert’s face brightened .

“Okay, Ms . Yuri! Let’s work together for a very long time!”

Eh, I don’t mean that long .

That said, Mr . Gilbert seemed to be in a much better mood than earlier when he looked like there were dark clouds over him, so I didn’t bother adding that .

* * *

“Hello, Ms . Yuri!”

That afternoon, Snow came to the coffeehouse in flesh . Actually, after I realized that Snow was Genos Sheldon, I wasn’t quite sure how to address him…

Since he was dressed as Snow, I’ll just call him Snow .

“A glass of lemonade, please . ”

He ordered lemonade like he had always done ever since the coffeehouse’s beans changed . While I took his order and went to the kitchen, Mr . Gilbert went up to Snow and expressed his happiness .

“Mr . Snow, I haven’t seen you in a while . ”

Honestly, it hadn’t been that long . After all, he’d come to the coffeehouse a couple of times in the form of Genos Sheldon .

But since Mr . Gilbert didn’t know that, he thought Snow hadn’t come here in quite a while . Perhaps Snow realized that as well because he gave a slightly bashful smile and replied .

“Haha, I started some work a while ago and it’s kept me a little busy . ”

“Oh, you’ve started working lately?”

“Yes, somehow my friend happened to need some help so I’m helping out . ”

“I see! That’s great, Mr . Snow!”

“Uh, yea…I guess…”

Facing Gilbert’s strong reaction, Snow’s response was a little awkward . He looked like he didn’t understand why Gilbert was so happy .

Of course, I knew exactly why .

Mr . Gilbert knew Snow was employed so hearing this, he thought Snow had finally succeeded in getting a job, so he was congratulating him earnestly .

Snow was a regular at the coffeehouse so naturally, he talked to the owner, Gilbert sometimes . So like now, there were times when they had brief conversations . And so, Gilbert was surprisingly intuitive enough to realized that Snow’s work right now meant he was no longer unemployed .

“Ms . Yuri! Please bring a meat pie here!”

Mr . Gilbert even got Snow a gift to congratulate him on the job .

“This is a service on the house, just for regulars . It’s a new menu we’re developing, you can try it out . ”

I figured Snow might feel burdened, so I told him it was a service for regulars instead of the truth . Such a beautiful display of warm affection in this harsh world…

Knowing that Snow was Genos Sheldon, I couldn’t help but feel this situation was a little funny . Anyways, I put the lemonade and meat pie on a tray then I went up to Snow .

“Here’s the drink you ordered and the pie . ”

However, when Snow saw the meat pie, he briefly covered his nose and mouth with his hand .

‘Hm? He looked he was gagging just now . ’

Mr . Gilbert was taking orders from a customer on another table, so he didn’t notice . But Snow also acted like nothing just happened as if he wasn’t aware of his reaction .

“Wow, thank you . It smells really delicious; I guess it’s because it’s a new menu . ”

However, his usual smile was a bit stiffer than usual .