The place that was selected for the dinner was a lot fancier than expected. Just a few minutes walk from the main Guild, the restaurant that was selected was a fancy Japanese restaurant.
A large tatami mat covered the entire floor, with several wooden tables spread throughout the room. Recruits and members sat at each one, surrounded by bottles of alcohol and an assortment of dishes.
"Wow, there are a lot of people."
It was also relatively lively.
The moment we came in, all sorts of eyes fell in our general direction. Or to be more precise, in Kyle’s direction.
He was like the star of some sort of show, gaining the attention of everyone.
Seeing how much attention he was getting, I stepped to the side and tried my best to be as small as possible, but...
Giiiiii—
I felt a certain gaze pierce me from the side.
I didn’t need to look to know who it was as I promptly ignored her.
Cra Crack!
"Uh?"
"Careful! The glass broke!"
"What sort of glass is this?!"
"Someone, please help!"
Even as the sound of something shattering echoed, I remained steadfast. I was inwardly shivering, though.
To be able to break a glass with her bare hands...
’Get me out of here.’
"Hey, let’s sit over here."
Kyle pointed towards a certain table and dragged me over. Thankfully, there weren’t many people at the table. There were a couple whom I was unfamiliar with, and that was good enough for me.
Besides Kyle, I pretty much wanted nothing to do with anyone within the Guild.
"Why do you look so tense? This is just a regular dinner party. All you really have to do is eat and drink."
"...I can see that."
It was practically what everyone was doing.
But...
Wasn’t everyone just drinking a little too much? I looked around, and I could already see some people taking several shots.
Wasn’t it a little too early for that?
The dinner had yet to start...
"Don’t worry about them. This is normal."
"What?"
"Well, the things we see during our work... Many of us want to forget, so that’s pretty much why most people here drown themselves with alcohol. Don’t worry about them. They’ll be back to normal in a day or two." \
"Really?"
Staring at one of the people and seeing the glaring black circles beneath their eyes, I struggled to believe him.
They looked even deader than me.
’And here I thought that was hard.’
Seems like I had overestimated myself.
"Hello."
A soft voice pulled me out of my thoughts. When I turned, I saw a small girl with a bowl-cut hairstyle and a cute face. She looked at me shyly, and I felt my heart skip a beat.
Could it be that she’s...
"You’re here for Kyle, aren’t you?"
"Yes."
She didn’t even hesitate as she looked at him. He was busy talking with someone else at the moment. Wait, looking carefully, wasn’t the table a little surrounded?
’Oh, fuck.’
"Here."
I didn’t even hesitate and just stood up from my seat.
’I can see things will escalate soon enough. It’s best if I leave before it’s too late.’
"Thank you. Thank you."
The girl thanked me a couple of times before taking the seat.
I merely nodded at her before looking around.
Now then...
Where should I sit?
As I scanned my surroundings, my gaze eventually fell onto a certain table.
Eventually, our eyes met, and I sighed.
’Well, it’s at least better than being with Kyle.’
And so, I calmly walked towards the first-year recruits’ table, where Myles was located, as he waved at me.
"It’s nice seeing you here. I didn’t think you’d come."
***
’Like I thought, I just don’t like him.’
’I should just be mature about it and—’
’Not him again.’
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