After leaving the library, some amount of time had already passed. The silver moonlight remained the only light source in the sky, parted from the lampposts whose rays died inches from their bulbs. Thinking that I had left later than usual, I took a few steps outside.

Without warning, a wave of light-headedness washed through my body. My legs felt a little numb from having sat for too long, and they almost gave way to the ground. 

I must be pretty starved.

I shook my head wearily, thinking that I’d only drank a few cups of coffee since morning. My body had become sluggish from the fatigue building up the entire day. I did some heavy lifting in the morning for an E-ranked request after all, but I thought I was feeling more exhausted than usual. It might really be because of a lack of food in my system.

I thought I should retire earlier today to rest up after grabbing a quick bite. I was about to head over to a restaurant and pay a visit to someone I knew there anyway. I heard that they had come up with a new dish recently, so it was pretty convenient I get to resolve my hunger before I turned in for the night today.

Guided by the lamp-posts, the path I was walking in led to the familiar, bustling streets in Halvan. A place where some stores may or may not provide some very specific services for the male population. The entertainment districts were close to the eateries around here after all, it couldn’t be helped that the nightlife was filled with a variety of interesting people.

Cough.

I shied away from the catcalls of several scantily-dressed women with a flushing red face, and picked up my pace. Even when I’m wearing my hood, I could feel those burning gazes on my back. More specifically, around the lower waist area. 

A shiver went down my spine, as I thought about how casual the people here were about their virginities. Although I didn’t have anything against brothels, I didn’t exactly want to lose my first time carelessly in a place like that.

Fortunately, I arrived at my destination before one of them almost caught up to me. At the front of its entrance was the words “Yunosu Diner”. The woman who was hot on my heels just a moment ago, clicked her tongue when she realized that I really wasn’t interested. The woman turned around to glare at me while giving me an obscene finger gesture which probably meant "fuck you" in this world— It didn’t matter what type of services they provided, but competition was cutthroat in this city. You were either a customer, or you weren’t one. It was a little crude, but that was how things were for people who were not born an Ascendant. They didn’t have the ability to become an adventurer, and had to scrape the food scraps left on the table just like everyone else.

I had grown a little more accustomed, empathetic to these things, so I didn’t really pay attention to her. I took off the hood, thinking I finally had a moment of relief.

Suddenly, my shoulders were grabbed.

“?!”

My eyes jolted open, and I saw the woman from earlier looking at me with a strange passion in her gaze. 

Didn't she plan on leaving me alone!?

As if I was being constricted by a snake, my body was coiled tightly by her grip and I squirmed uncomfortably, signalling for her to let go as a warning. 

"You are..."

Before I could push her away, the woman let go of her own. Taking the chance while I was left dazed on the spot, the woman smirked and fished out something from between her two jugs. A name card was placed on my hands before I knew it. 

“Sorry if I hurt you, but I thought you’d leave if I didn’t do anything...” 

Of course I did. I wasn't interested in whatever medicine she was trying to sell me. Yet, she was unexpectedly relentless.

“That is my name card. If you ever feel the urge to blow one out, just call me. I’m Rebecca by the way, please don't forget it~” Rebecca winked at me.

The soft sensation from her well-endowed chest made my body temperature slide up. 

“I...I don’t n—Ughh...” My voice became slurry as she started to coax me with experienced hands. I was beginning to have a reaction.

“—Now, don’t be so hard on yourself sweetie.” Rebecca pushed the card back to me playfully, taking the side opportunity to feel up my chest as she did so. 

"D-don't come... ghh...” My body reacted strongly to where she was touching, and my body jerked away instinctively before I drowned myself in the pleasant sensation of her fingers.

“Oops, sorry~" Rebecca looked at me teasingly.

"You’re just my type, seeing your troubled face I couldn’t help but tease you for a bit.”

"You...! I'm... sorry. I-I'm not interested."

I staggered a few steps away from this woman. She had not given me any personal space ever since she approached me, I didn't have a good impression of her.

"Ara ara, looks like my company isn't very welcomed..."

Rebecca shrugged her shoulders casually when I put a distance away from her. But I thought that she had perhaps been aiming for this from the start, as I could see the faint trace of a sly grin under the fringe of her silky maroon hair. But her face was covered in thick make-up, making me feel less favorable about this woman.

And does she do this to everyone? Sticking her butt up for anyone who paid her a good wad of cash? 

"... Please cherish your body more, miss."

I said those words strongly, before starting to leave. Perhaps it was due to the lack of mental processing of my words, but my true feelings had unintentionally came out of my mouth.

Rebecca's body flinched for a second after hearing what I just said.

"...Fufu, you're so naive." She returned me a soft chuckle, passing what I just said as something inconsequential.

I stopped in my tracks, and turned to look at Rebecca again.

"...What?" I couldn't just ignore what she just said to me.

"...But that's also what makes you so cute hm?"

That flippant remark made me well up in irritation even more. I glared at her, who was taking something out from behind her bosom. She strolled up to me casually, as if knowing that I wouldn't walk away from her this time.

"You're an Ascendant, aren't you. You can say that to me, boy, because you were born lucky."

"..." I couldn't deny that... but... I didn't like it. Her values that depreciated the value of her purity grated on me. 

"Haa, young men like you are just different." Rebecca lamented, as she brought a lengthy tobacco pipe up to her mouth. She lit it up with a mana-lighter, and sucked on it with a relaxed expression.

When she blew out the first puff, the smoke scattered in the air around. I took a small step away from her, feeling discomforted by it.

Rebecca chuckled interestedly as if she had found my subtle action to be rather amusing.

"--Dreams are nice to have when you're young, but everyone eventually grows up and find that chasing clouds just ain't worth a damn mutt."

She slowly exhaled a puff of smoke from the pipe, with eyes that trailed off somewhere else in the night sky. 

"...Besides... It's not like we particularly dislike our jobs. We're good at what we do so we get to make a living from selling our bodies, and we experience love in our own different ways. It's a win-win situation, no? Of course, it must be hard for you to understand that, boy. You have everything that we don't."

...I...

I didn't have a response. Her words made sense. I should stop forcing my ego onto people. I had to learn that this wasn't that nice of a world to live in. People either made compromises, or lived terrible lives because of their inadequacies.

...So should I be prejudiced towards someone like Rebecca who had merely made a healthy compromise? Was I really worthy of judging her profession as like she'd said, someone who just happened to be born... no, isekai'd lucky?

For a moment there, I thought that her appearance covered in washes of make-up had suddenly became more mellow than before. 

I stayed silent, expecting Rebecca to finish what she was saying. But after watching her dumbly as she blew out a few more puffs of smoke, I realized that she had no intent to continue her words.

"..." 

After blowing out a smoke ring perfectly into the air, Rebecca fixed her clothes and smiled at me.

"Anyway, if you change your mind—“ Rebecca shot me a seductive look for the last time.

“—Just ring my name at the front desk whenever you feel like visiting~ I'll give you, a sp-e-cial, discount~”

Tap-tap... The clicking of heels became fainter as she left.

"... ..What is with that woman." 

Throughout the entire encounter, I hadn’t been able to put up much words at all. When I regained my senses, the pushy woman who called herself Rebecca was already gone.

Along with the name card she had sneaked into my pocket thinking I wouldn't notice.

I should want to throw it away immediately, but...

Ah, fuck it. It's just a stupid name card. I'll keep it or whatever.

“...Haaah.” Letting out the largest sigh I had today, I decided to treat the conversation as if it had never happened before. But somewhere deep inside, I knew that the woman, Rebecca had left a considerable impression on me.

... ...

I no longer had any energy to think about anything more for the rest of today, so I quickly walked over to the restaurant to have a change of pace. The night crowd had already receded at this time, so I was able to come in immediately without waiting.

When I stepped into the diner, the moody lighting inside gave off the ambience of a tavern. Customers had mostly left with a few exceptions looking pretty drunk; several wooden mugs were emptied on their tables.

From the way they were drinking, it must've been the type of drinking that just pushed themselves to getting drunk as fast as possible. That way, they would be able to stop thinking about their responsibilities and troubles temporarily.

(...Alcohol. What's so good about getting yourself wasted? Can't all these adults treat themselves better...) 

I went past those tables with narrowed eyes.

Although it may be hypocritical of me to be the one saying that, but I thought that my perspective on things had really changed after so much had happened in one month. People do change, after all; I began to feel more grounded about living out my 'second chance'. So whenever I saw someone who depreciated themselves as how I had in the past, I couldn't help but feel a little angry inside.

But why should I care so much, they were not who I came here for anyway.

I looked away and scanned through the place for the person I was looking for. It didn't take long before I caught sight of her.

There, at one of the tables was a girl whose sleeves were tucked up, revealing her healthy beige shoulders. They were not closed yet, right?

I came to her table, and tapped her shoulder lightly so she would notice me.

“Heyy… Evie-san, wake up… Evie-san...”

“Nngh…”

Evie’s eyebrows furrowed together for a moment from my nudging, “Just a few minutes more, kuso-oyaji…”

I couldn’t help but smirk from what she had just said. This girl even badmouths her own father in her dreams. Their relationship is still like cats and dogs as usual. 

Evie was the daughter of Yunosu Diner’s owner who doubled as one of the waitresses working here. Even when dressed plainly, the girl had a charm that makes even the smallest detail on her features stand out under the orange illumination. She had ochre honey hair tied together in twin tails, and bright aquamarine eyes. The faint scent of the sweat she had worked up during the day was more refreshing than off-putting. It gave off the impression of an adolescent girl hard at work. 

Mm, I wasn’t a degenerate with a smell fetish. I rejected the idea of getting off on sweat vehemently in my head. 

Well back on point.

Evie herself was sixteen this year, younger than me by two years. But from the words she often used in our conversations, I could tell that Evie was probably far more mature than a young adult like me—Having interacted with many people her entire life because of the nature of her family’s work, Evie was very sociable with her customers. It was also one of the few reasons why business here had gone well. 

And right now, the girl had dropped all her guard while dozing off. A trickle of saliva fell out of her mouth and had stuck on to the table she was resting a side of her face on. Somehow, Evie reminded me of a small animal.

Before I knew it, I had already placed my hand on her head and began stroking it. Evie’s face was one of confusion at first, but when she opened her eyes gradually and saw that it was me, she started to enjoy it while looking at me pleasantly. Her eyes narrowed into crescent slits, and that unchanging stare began to make me feel a little embarrassed.

I let go of my hand and admonished myself for giving in to my urges. When I was younger, I used to own a cat as well. I probably adopted a habit of petting cute things ever since I began to feel comfortable with talking to people.

Though, I’m not sure if that was a good thing. Doing this and that to a girl without her consent…

“Nii-chan, why did you stop?” Evie probed me smilingly with a knowing look.

"W-Well, do you want me to continue then?"

"I don't mind though?"

"Eh..."

Wait, no. She's just kidding with me, it must be.

“Anyway, i-it’s great that you’re awake now.” I looked away to avoid her stare.

“...Let’s leave it at that for now then.” Evie stood up from her seat and dusted her bottom with a few light pats. After wiping off the drool on the side of her face, she returned to her usual lively atmosphere. 

“So? What can I do for you, Nii-chan?” 

Evie's unique way of addressing me had returned. But since I was used to it already, I didn't really feel weird when she called me like that.

“Dinner, actually.” I responded dryly.

“Dinner...At this timing? Really?"

“...Yeah, I’ve been reading this, didn't find the to eat.” I scratched the back of my head while pointing at the book I was carrying. 

Taking the book from my hands, Evie grunted.

"Uwooahh... heavy... Just how thick is this book. Not gonna lie, I'm amazed you can even read all this without falling asleep."

By the way, I had smuggled the history textbook out so I could finish it sooner.

I'm sorry Lyndel-san, please do your job better or you're going to lose your job... I'm rooting for you, okay?

“Hmm, let's see… this reads: [The World… History]? What? You're reading history?” Evie flipped through a few pages disinterestedly. It was clear that she didn't understand any of it.

"...Yeah. is that strange? I find it intriguing to me though, learning new things about this world and all."

Evie shot me confused look, but she suddenly had an expression as if she had recalled something.

“Ah… that’s right, Nii-chan, you’re a Stray aren’t you. This makes sense. I would expect everyone else to treat this book as anything but interesting.”

"...Well, the heroes are interesting, right?"

"Heroes, huh." Evie frowned. From her expression, it didn't seem like she favored them so I asked.

"Then... you don't? Otherworlders I mean, people who're just like me."

"Not a complete dislike, I'd say.. was it better to say that I don't really understand them? They just sound so... distant, is that the right word?"

"I mean, that's a given right? You have to know them first."

"Well, I don't like things that turn out to be too complicated. I'm an idiot after all." Evie knocked on the side of her head while sticking out her tongue playfully.

Idiot, huh. I was guessing she meant being illiterate in this world.

But I couldn't help but think that Evie was a little too hard on herself there. Education wasn't easily accessible in this country, as they were almost always exclusively for rich people. Not to mention Evie wasn't an Ascendant, she was just a common folk.

"A-ny-way. Unlike Nii-chan who I can talk to and touch directly. You are real, and I feel more grounded talking to people that are real. I'm not comfortable with things that I'm not familiar with, but who knows. If I ever get the chance to meet a hero one day, I might like them. But I heard from Oyaji that the heroes are powerful and influential people, so I don't think I can approach them so easily anyway..."

"...I see."

Well, that's an Evie-like response, I guess. She could've worded it better, but I could still understand the meaning she was trying to convey.

Put simply, Evie enjoys cycling herself in familiarity. But although she's also acceptable with change, she also wouldn't go out her way to do so.

In a way, there is a small part inside each and everyone of us that's just like Evie. It was normal, human nature.

Speaking of which, most of the people in Halvan were already aware of my identity as a stray. My black hair had been very inconspicuous before I was able to purchase a magic hair dye to blend in after all. And because Yunosu Diner was the first restaurant that I visited in this world, Evie was one of the few who knew of my identity earlier than most.

“ But still Nii-chan, you didn't strike me as someone who was studious you know?”

I retrieved the book and smiled wryly, now strangely expectant of her impression of me.

"What, did you see me for someone who wasn't a geek?" I chided.

"Haha, I guess. I thought you'd be more... wild?"

Wild... Really? I didn't really agree with that sentiment there, but I nodded to go along with her anyway.

“I guess you're wrong then. I'm an academic. Books are the best way for me to learn the language effectively. Although I'm still not confident enough to say that I have complete mastery over the language of this world, I can at least recite all the things on your menu now."

"...Geh. Don’t remind me of that already…” Evie stuck out her tongue as if she had tasted something bitter.

“...Even the new dish oyaji made… aaah, I can't handle the names he gives the dishes.”

"Ah, the names Eric-san makes huh. But... it shouldn't be that terrible, right?"

"...Yeah? Then take a look yourself."

When I looked over at the menu for the new dish added to it, my face turned into a grimace as well.

“This… [Devils on... ...Horseback]—”

“—They’re just prunes wrapped in bacon from a Fire Grunt.” Evie explained helplessly.

(... …)

(Then why the HELL is it called that?!)

I coughed unnaturally from that internal retort. Putting a hand over my face, I nodded. I didn’t really understand Evie’s father way of naming things from the very beginning either. It was fortunate that he had given his daughter a normal name at least. 

"Theatrics, they put something strange in his head again. My dad's in love with avant garde names lately because of the performance last week..." Evie shook his head as she stared lifelessly into the kitchen where his father was. 

"Lately, the theme had been fire, and demons."

Was her father suffering from chuunibyo!?

(...Yup, no amount of treatment can fix that disease. Looks like even adults have this phase in their lives.)

I kept a straight face and patted her back.

“...Cheer up. You told me before that you just had to inherit the restaurant to change those names right?"

"Yeah. It's frustrating, but I'll admit that his cooking skills are better than me. For now! I'll surpass Oyaji's cooking one day, and claim Yunosu Diner as its next successor one day. When that day happens, I'll change all the names back to normal! Aaahhh I'm fired up!!"

...She had suddenly gotten all hot-headed just because of her father's eccentric naming sense. 

That was hilarious, in a sense. 

"...Anyway... Well, if you’re still not closed, I’ll have that new dish you told me you wanted me to try..”

At the mention of my business here, Evie’s eyes lit up and she became a little more energetic again.

“Ah, that's right, you were here to eat my creation. Okay, I’m on it, I'm on it~” The girl clapped her hands together and quickly tidied up her apron. 

"You're going to love it~"

Meanwhile, the sound of cloth being fastened together made me strangely nervous for some reason. As I watched Evie dress up, I noticed that it was also quite tight for her size. As a result, her undersized attire revealed defined lines around her chest and waist, giving off a "healthy-ero" feel. 

Before she entered the kitchen behind the counter, Evie tilted her head and peeked out from behind a wall. “...By the way, Nii-chan.”

“...Do you mind waiting for a few extra minutes?”

“...Huh? I mean, not really. Why?"

“Aaah no, it's just... The thing is, I thought that I should cook more if you wanted…”

Gr~ooowl.

...All excuses were laid bare from the honest sound of a stomach growling. And I knew from a fact, that it definitely didn't come from mine.

“Take your time… a-ahaha... Don’t worry about me.” I nodded awkwardly.

“...Got it.” Left with a small shade of pink on her face, Eva nodded meekly. She made an unintentional twirl while turning back, her pastel apron fluttered as she went deeper into the restaurant with quick steps. I watched her retreating figure while chuckling to myself.

“Oi, you lass! I told you not to come in. A little girl like you has no place in a man's- AHHH OKAY OKAY, MY BONES, MY BONES AREEE… Give-Give!”

There was the indistinct shouts of a man’s voice inside, but I knew it was the usual interaction she had with her father so I didn’t think much of it. With nothing else to do while waiting, I decided to take out the history textbook and read for a bit before the food arrived.