(Old Town in Lothering Town, Abram)

Jill walk beside me along the dim lane in the old town. At the end of the lane, there is a long building with a bar at the corner lot which is the only source of brightness in that area. 

Several drunken men are seen walking out from its entrance.

"This is your the first time here?" I ask as we reach the signboard 'Hiro Pavilion'. 

Jill shakes her head cutely and replies,

"No. Second time. I told you before I came here once with Suzy... You were not here. Your girls treated us with free meals."

We talk to each other while entering the bar. 

There are about a dozen customers in this late night.

Sekrit and Clementine are not here. The lazy girls must be drunken and fallen asleep. Our dwelling is next door after all. 

As we get nearer to bar counter, I see Hanabi smiles sweetly.

The make customers seem to be hitting on Hanabi and Kurotsuchi. Mirai is staring at us lifelessly. 

Irijina? She is sleeping on the table at the corner or the bar. What that silly girl is doing?

 "I can’t give you food for free like last time, but I’ll give you some good discount!" Hanabi directs her words to Jill.

Jill is puzzle.

"That's fine. Tonight is in me." I say while gently touch Hanabi's shoulder. 

The men stare at me with envy shown in their eyes.

Ignoring them, we are led to the same table at the other corner. Customers who we pass look at Jill with great interest. It isn’t exactly a place for a woman wearing noble clothing to hang out in. Mirai follows from behind. But the Mirai’s attitude made it so that no one really talk to us..

"I’m so happy I get to eat in a restaurant with you." Jill says.

"Impressive." I praise Jill.

"What?" She stops her hand that was cutting a steak with a knife. 

I was watching Jill eat the cold appetizer. Her back was straight and the way she handled the knife and fork was a thing of beauty. The only ones come close to her are the two former noble daughters, Sylvia and Ivanna.

"I haven’t learned any etiquette at all. I only have the knowledge."

My knowledge from previous world, to be specific. But that was all it was – knowledge; not actually ingrained in my body.

"…I don’t look like an actual plebeian, do I?" Jill asks as she senses eyes staring at her.

"Kind of."

"Should I tone it down a bit?"

"No, just stay like that."

It’s fine to have a commoner girl whose every little gesture is lovely. I think the way Jill eats is quite pleasant.

"I’ll give it a try as well?" I say.

"You have the knowledge, so I’m sure it’ll take no time at all for you to learn." She speaks nicely even though she eating politely.

"I don’t think it’s something you can learn quickly, though."

We have dinner while talking. Our topic is different than usual, perhaps because the mood changes when in a different place. We mostly talk about fun stuff – Jill’s favourite food, favourite fruits, and even the books she read. Surprisingly, she studied a lot about military during her early teenage years. 

"Welcome. Oh, long time no see."

Unfortunately their fun conversation has come to an end. I cast a glance at the entrance where the voice of Hanabi was coming from and groans.

"Good night, Hiro."

Brita is there.

"Hi, Hiro. And Jill too." 

"Uh… Nice to see you." I answer tiredly.

"Here we are again."

Suzy is with her too.

"What are you guys up to?"

Two more seats are added to their table by Mirai. Kurotsuchi is busy blocking Hanabi from the men who are trying to flirt with Hanabi.

Beside me is Suzy and in front of us are the annoyed Jill and Brita who is smiling awkwardly.

"I just finished work. When reaching old town, I peed. Miss Suzy found me there. So I brought her here so she could thank you." Brita tells her embarrassing story with her usual awkwardness.

"For heaven’s sake!" I scold Brita in a cold tone.

"I told you not to pee outside, didn’t I? You are already familiar with that toilet..." I remind her about the toilet I summoned from the modern world. 

I let her eat and live with us for free. We bought her proper weapons and armour, and even better clothing. Ivanna even try to drill manner into her but this silly girl is still with her old habit. Old habit die hard, people said.

The moment she realized that Brita invites Suzy, Jill couldn’t contain herself. Abruptly, the atmosphere seems to freeze.

"I am realllllly sorry, Ms Jill!" Brita exclaims, bowing deeply with both hands on the table.

"She saw me with my naked butt, was still peeing. So, I accidentally told her about your date."

"I don’t think you’re fit to be a town guard. You should just quit."Jill tells Brita with stern tone.

"Wh-Why…" Brita becomes panic.

Jill continues schooling the girl with a short hair like bird nest.

"There might be quests where you have to keep certain things confidential. Just because someone’s colleague doesn’t necessarily mean you can tell them either."

"Th-That wasn’t… my intention." Brita is becoming even more nervous.

"Hiro-sama, Brita is really sorry about this! I’ll give her a good talking-to as well." Mirai who has been standing motionless behind us, intervenes.

"Sorry, Hiro. It was a stupid thing to do." As Jill is still angry, Brita turns to me, begging me to pity her.

Brita is as pale as a sheet, tears brimming at the corner of her eyes. But Jill couldn’t let the matter slide. She believes those who exposes a secret once would do it again and again. If that happens, she wouldn’t be the only one at risk, but me as well. Suzy wears her cap low over her eyes, sipping her cup of tea.

"Hiro." Suzy says, still with that smile on her face. She is one of the people I really don’t want having info on me.

"Brita is really sorry about what she did. Can you just forgive her? Besides, you’re planning to date with Jill, customer and guild staff. It is not appropriate."

Jill is dumbstruck hearing that from Suzy.

"Actually, it was me who force Jill to date me tonight."

For just a moment, Suzy’s pretty eyes narrow. I lied, of course. I wanted her to think that I was the one who flirt with Jill, although it is actually the other way round.

"I’m sure you girls are not satisfied, so how about this? I will pay for your food here tonight."

"W-We’d be glad to!"

The depressed Brita  immediately replies delightfully.

"After this, I don’t want any further trouble. I would feel awful if you kept apologizing and thanking me over and over again." I tell the silly Brita.

"Y-You got it! Manager, menu please!" Mirai gives them some papers. Menu is listed on there.

The tense atmosphere turns lax. Brita thinks she’d be forgiven after this. Suzy is relieved. Jill, on the other hand…

"………"

…was trying her best to look cheerful though still feeling a bit uneasy. I don’t want to say any more, however. She could’ve given them the cold shoulder and left, but she didn’t want to sow unnecessary discord. As expected of professional with noble upbringing.

Dinner goes on. Brita, who is particularly cheerful, brings up a subject, then Kurotsuchi walks to them and joins. Mirai goes to protect Hanabi. Jill looks composed as always. Suzy is good at controlling the flow of the conversation. The only topic they could all talk about is about Abram and Suzy has extensive knowledge about the subject.

Jill and I join the conversation from time to time, but we are neither too engaged nor distant. The food by Hanabi is great so if they run out of things to talk about, they could talk about the dishes instead. They don’t have too much trouble at all in that regard.

"That reminds me…"

The busty Suzy claps her hands softly and her boobs sway.

"The Mercenaries were making noise about this, about two weeks ago. Margrave Lubreo Lambert hires mercenaries to assist his knights in the imminent war with Dioral Kingdom."

"Is it big war?" Kurotsuchi asks.

Suzy slips her drink and shakes her head. 

"No. It is just a small skirmish at the border. Some lower nobles of Dioral Kingdom collected tolls from the merchants who use that place as trading route. Merchants then complained to the guild. Guild master conveyed that to the Margrave."

When she mentioned knight, I was immediately reminded to Lyla. 

I haven't seen her for two weeks. 

I somehow start to miss her.

The subject changes after that, and the girls go back to talking about random things. Soon they finished eating. As promised, the food is on me.