Chapter 12: The Burger and the Boy (2)
As soon as I hugged her from behind, Rurin started to stutter.
“A-a mere human dares to hug me from behind!”
“Didn’t you sneak into my room and hug me to sleep last night?”
“That was because it was cold. You were just a heater.”
“A dragon getting cold? A dragon? You might as well say the sun rises in the west.”
“Aaah!”
“Why do you always end with an ‘aaah’ when you’re losing an argument?”
“Hehe, but you can hug me tighter. I prefer facing you, though!”
“Weren’t you just saying something about mere humans? And now you want me to hug you from the front?”
“Fine! Then, let’s teleport.”
Rurin bit her tongue and started to cast a spell. A black hole of space-time engulfed me. The dizziness that comes with it is quite annoying.
Convenient, yet it comes with some minor discomforts.
In an instant, we arrived right in front of the lord’s castle. Immediately, Rurin sniffed the air, hugged me tighter, and teleported us again.
After a double teleport, my head was spinning even more.
We arrived in a clean room. There was a bed, a wardrobe, and a luxurious carpet. It was neat but had everything one might need, especially the high-end central sofa. The room was empty.
“How about this? I think this is it.”
“If you say so.”
Judging by the absence of anyone, it seems no one’s home. Given the distance, that’s understandable.
“Let’s wait for a bit.”
“I’m not sure what we’re doing, but okay.”
Rurin nodded and began to look around. She patted the sofa. But then, the only door in the room started to creak open.
I hugged Rurin and hid behind the sofa. We peeked to see who entered.
Rurin’s teleportation was precise.
The person who entered was the boy. When I stood up, he pointed at us in shock.
“Oh? You’re from the restaurant!”
He tilted his head in surprise but quickly closed the door. He looked anxious, as if someone might have seen him from outside.
For a lord’s son, he seemed overly cautious of those beneath him.
Usually, noble sons don’t act so timidly around their servants, which piqued my curiosity.
“Did you come to see me? But how did you get to my room?”
“Didn’t you leave money at the restaurant?”
“Money? Oh, right. Even though I didn’t eat, the food was served, so I couldn’t leave without paying. So, I left the money.”
“Exactly. Since you paid, it wouldn’t sit right with me if you didn’t at least taste the dish. It’s a principle of mine.”
“Really? Did you bring the dish with you? I wanted to eat it so badly!”
“Of course.”
“That’s great! But you still haven’t told me. How did you get here? I’m curious.”
The boy’s eyes were filled with curiosity. Maybe he wanted to figure out how I got here to sneak out to town later. He did escape to my restaurant earlier.
But I couldn’t reveal the method, and humans couldn’t use it anyway.
I shrugged and unwrapped the hamburger.
“It’s simple. I’m a wizard.”
“A wizard? Why is a wizard running a restaurant?”
“I’m retired. Does it matter? Living a life doing what you love is the key to happiness. If you want to enjoy this delicious hamburger, could you keep the fact that I’m a wizard a secret?”
“Okay, got it! I also have things I want to do.”
The boy ran up to me.
“But what if I had come to harm you? You seemed pretty defenseless earlier.”
The boy, reaching for the hamburger, tilted his head and replied confidently.
“If you intended to kill me, you wouldn’t ask for my cooperation in keeping your secret.”
“Haha, maybe explaining is just too much trouble?”
“But you have a kind face. It’s not scary at all.”
A kind face, he says. That’s a first. I wonder why he speaks to me so easily but seems so wary around his servants.
“Kind? Well, I am here just to deliver food.”
“I can’t agree! You, kind? You always make me work! If you were kind, you’d hug me more often!”
A disgruntled monster. Of course, I ignored her.
“Come on, it’s getting cold. Eat up.”
“Alright. It looks delicious just by looking at it. The smell is amazing! You’re really a good person.”
The boy bit into the hamburger with an eager face. The sauce dripped down.
“It’s delicious! This is really tasty!”
He took small bites and looked at me. Unlike Rurin, who stuffs her mouth in one go, he ate properly.
“What did you call this dish again?”
“It’s called a hamburger.”
“I’ve never heard of it, but it’s quite unique. Delicious, truly delicious.”
A young customer is still a customer. Compliments are always appreciated. It means I can satisfy everyone’s taste buds.
“Yes, it’s delicious. I just had one. Hehe.”
Then, surprisingly, the dragon chimed in. She never usually interrupts when I’m talking to a human or doing business. But today, she was unusually talkative. Must be because of the hamburger. So, I grabbed her arm.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Why are you yelling?”
“Because you grabbed me too hard.”
“Oh, come on. That hurt?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously? You were planning to snatch that from him, weren’t you?”
“N-no! Why would I do that!”
Rurin turned her head with a guilty look. Her actions already gave her away.
“Ha.”
Out of nowhere, the boy laughed. Sauce all over his face.
“You both seem so free. I wish I could order my subordinates around like you two.”
“Isn’t that an easy thing to do? You’re the son of the lord, Sir Greike, right?”
“Huh? How did you know? Yes, I’m Greike, the baron and future lord.”
The boy nodded, but his expression wasn’t good.
“A noble who can’t control his subordinates?”
When he was dragged away from the restaurant, he didn’t say a word to his subordinates. His behavior was odd, and it seems he’s aware of it too.
“Young master! Is everything alright? We heard a noise!”
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, probably because Rurin yelled earlier.
“Huh?”
The boy started to panic. He spoke freely with me, but why not with his servants?
“Hmm, they seemed to disregard you quite a bit earlier. As the son of a baron and future lord, shouldn’t you assert your authority?”
The current lord of Greike City has been bedridden for a long time. It’s not far off when this boy will become the lord. But if he continues like this, Greike City’s future is bleak.
“But they are so overbearing. They keep saying it’s my stepmother’s orders. I can’t do anything. It’s always ‘my stepmother’s orders’. They don’t listen to me.”
“That’s exactly the point.”
“Huh?”
“Does your stepmother have any children?”
“No! I’m the only son of my father.”
“She’s trying to make you into someone who can’t make any decisions so she can control the lordship from behind the scenes. Do you want to be a puppet lord?”
“No way! My stepmother wouldn’t do that. It’s just that I’m timid… But I want to be a good lord, one that the people praise.”
“At this rate, that’s impossible.”
“But they don’t listen to me.”
The boy drooped his shoulders.
“Have you ever spoken to them forcefully?”
“Forcefully?”
“Not just mumbling weakly.”
“I don’t think so. They’re always scowling, so I’m scared.”
“Sir Greike, you’re a noble. You can’t be intimidated by those beneath you. You were confident when I suddenly appeared, so why now?”
“You seemed like a good person. Your smiling face looked kind.”
“A smiling face can hide something scarier. Those who openly try to intimidate you are the amateurs. The important thing is that you need to act strong. Start by ordering those outside to leave.”
I pointed to the door.
“Young master! We’re coming in!”
The knock on the door turned more aggressive. The stepmother is the lord’s second wife. The first wife died early, leaving this boy behind.
All the pressure on the heir must stem from the second wife’s ambition.
“If you want to be a good lord, you need to act confidently. Those people can’t do anything but glare at you. If you act strong, they’ll back down.”
“A good lord. A good lord… I want to be free like you two…”
The boy repeated “good lord” several times.
The sound of the door being forcibly opened was heard. Then, Rurin, who was lounging on the sofa, mimicked the boy’s voice loudly.
“It’s fine! There’s nothing wrong, so leave! If you don’t listen, I’ll eat you all! You pathetic humans.”
“Huh?”
The boy was startled by the exact mimicry.
“Y-young master?”
A confused voice came from outside. Rurin’s follow-up was a bit over the top, but the water was already spilled, so I urged the boy to take advantage of the moment.
“Do it like that. Can you hear how confused they are?”
“Is that so… Should I be strong?”
The boy walked to the door and, as if making a decision, shouted out Rurin’s words.
“It’s fine! There’s nothing wrong, so leave!”
“Excuse me?”
The voice outside sounded bewildered. I signaled with my fingers for the boy to shout again.
“Hurry and leave!”
The boy, with a reddening face, shouted again.
“U-understood.”
The people outside retreated.
Of course, they had to. No matter how arrogant they might be, they couldn’t dare enter the lord’s room against his orders.
The second wife couldn’t kill this boy as it would result in a change of lordship, which would be disastrous for her. So, if the boy asserts his rightful authority, they’ll have no choice but to back down.
“You see? They backed off.”
“That’s amazing! This is the first time they’ve listened to me.”
“Before, you were just mumbling timidly. To be a good lord, you need to reclaim your dignity step by step. Do everything by your own will. Even if you become a tyrant, it should be by your own will.”
“A tyrant? No, I want to be a good lord!”
“That’s the spirit. Clench your fist and speak directly while looking them in the eyes.”
“Huh?”
“Just like you do with me.”
“Really? But you’re different. I don’t know why, but it’s easy to talk to you, even though we just met.”
“Well, this strange person has a gift for you.”
