Chapter 172
Tony didn’t look disgusted.
Of course, that didn’t mean he believed my words at face value.
As expected, Tony didn’t believe a damn thing. Then again, even I would find it hard to believe if someone suddenly spouted this kind of nonsense to me…
Still, my feelings were a bit hurt when he mocked me, suggesting we shoot a video to upload on the Net Hub, saying a story like this could rake in sweet traffic with a title like “Crazy Asian Mythomaniac Patient”.
Labyrinth! But teasing me this much was crossing a line!
So I kept my mouth shut and crossed my arms, sulking. Seeing that, he finally stopped laughing his ass off after five minutes and apologized.
“Hey, hey. Are you mad? I’m sorry. Sorry for making fun of you. But honestly, even you have to admit it was a ridiculously unbelievable lie. It was so funny that I just couldn’t hold it in. Ah, I said I’m sorry, okay? Don’t be mad.”
No, how could I stay angry after receiving an apology? If that was a talent, he certainly had it. - a natural-born talent for pissing people off.
As I was glaring at Tony’s smooth back of the head with a hateful gaze, someone opened the door to the employee rest area and walked in.
There was only one person it could be.
“Hello.”
Sey greeted us in her disheveled bartender attire, tying her unusually frizzy hair into a ponytail today.
Her signature sweet grape scent was quite strong. It seemed she had been smoking outside for quite a while before coming in.
Judging by her expression, she didn’t seem to be in good condition. Did something bad happen?
She had seemed a bit off when we returned together from The Consortium Club, but I had a lot on my mind back then too, so I couldn’t pay much attention.
Part of it was also that I had kept my distance a bit out of disappointment because Sey had suddenly disappeared without a word halfway through…
“Hey, Sey! We were just talking about something really funny, and you missed it. Do you know what Aaron just said? He said he went to The Consortium Club. Puhahaha! And this is the funniest part: he went all the way there to play betting chess - .”
Oh, great. At this rate, he’s going to blab about it to all the customers and spread it all over the neighborhood.
To Tony, who was excitedly chattering away with the thought of making fun of me, Sey spoke in a hoarse voice.
“I didn’t know about the chess either. How interesting.”
“Right? He has this quirky side to him sometimes. Thanks to him, there’s never a dull day. It’s hilarious.”
“But the Consortium part is true.”
“Yeah, the Consortium too, that makes no - wait, what?”
At Tony’s dumbfounded reaction, Sey nodded.
“I went with him yesterday.”
“…What?”
He might have lightly laughed off my words, but unable to dismiss Sey’s plain testimony - completely devoid of any playfulness - as a lie, Tony rolled his eyes as if his brain had short-circuited, looking back and forth between Sey and me before shouting.
“Whaaaaat?!”
I’ll admit it.
Watching Tony jump up and down in place, insisting that it couldn’t be true and asking if we were pulling a prank together, was quite an enjoyable sight.
* * *
Despite Sey’s testimony, which was practically a sentence in itself, Tony, trapped in the swamp of confirmation bias, kept his ears shut and tried to deny reality, but justice always prevailed in the end.
“…I admit it. I checked, and something really did happen on the 165th Floor of the Plaza Building yesterday. I can’t say there’s a low chance it’s connected to The Consortium Club…”
“See, what did I tell you? I told you not to doubt people so easily. Hurry up and admit your defeat, and get to work.”
You stubborn, thick-headed Italian-American.
While you were throwing a fit, saying it couldn’t be true and that you’d go find evidence, the bar had already opened for business.
When I spoke through gritted teeth, Tony seemed to have already forgotten the ugly display he had just put on. He lifted his chin with that signature smile of his - the one that made him look like he lived off his own arrogance, which was all the more annoying because he actually had a handsome face.
“Defeat? What defeat? I believed you from the start, man. Beggar. And as for work, there aren’t even that many customers. It’s a bit slow today!”
That’s because I was covering your spot and working while you were away, so of course it feels that way!
I wanted to talk back like that, but it was obvious he would just laugh it off slyly. Getting swept up in Tony’s pace would only be my loss.
As I kept my mouth shut and concentrated on work, Tony must have gotten antsy, because he spoke to me in a small voice.
“So, you really played… chess with Eugene Schneider?”
“Yes. Do you still not believe me?”
“No, I believe you. It’s just that your story is so interesting. I want to hear more. He asked you to work with him as the price for losing? That guy? What kind of work?”
Hah, now that he knows my story is 100% pure truth, he’s suddenly curious?
About what kind of work Eugene Schneider wanted to make me do that he called me all the way there just to play chess.
I looked around once and lowered my voice.
'You really can’t tell anyone about this. It could become a really big deal.'
'Of course. Don’t you trust me?'
No, I don’t trust you.
I carefully brought my mouth to Tony’s ear and whispered.
'Yeah~ I’m not telling you~'
“Ack! Fuck!”
My sticky voice, filled with as much breathy coquettishness as possible, struck his eardrum, making Tony let out a shrill scream.
The sharp gazes of the customers gathered all at once toward the origin of the scream, and Tony gave an awkward smile and bowed his head slightly.
“Ahaha… That was a bit loud, wasn’t it? I’m sorry, everyone.”
Revenge successful!
As I giggled and laughed, Tony finally realized the full picture of my thoroughly planned criminal act and looked dumbfounded.
“Wow, are you seriously doing this because you’re sulking that I didn’t believe you right away? That’s really childish, seriously.”
“It’s no use saying that, right? Everyone in the world already knows who the most childish person here is, right?”
“Hey, don’t be like that and just tell me. You humiliated me once, isn’t that enough? Let’s call it even now. Yeah?”
It was a reasonable proposal.
But people aren’t always reasonable.
I put on a gentle smile and replied in a formal tone.
“Unfortunately, that ship has already sailed. Let’s stop the idle chatter now and concentrate on work.”
“Hey, are you really going to be like this?”
“There are customers coming in over there. You should act responsibly as the deputy bartender, Mr. Antonio Lido di Angelo.”
“I told you not to call me by my full name! Are you my mom? It gives me the creeps every time I hear it!”
It was when I was bickering with Tony like always.
[Irasshaimase-!]
At the booming doorbell sound, I saw the customer who was about to open the door and come in hesitate.
I was about to tell the customer it was nothing and to just come in without worrying, but I blinked at the customer at the very front - a massive presence whose sheer size completely filled the doorway just by entering.
A bald head so slick and dazzling it was like a symbol of the strong and bulging biceps and triceps that seemed to be alive and screaming, 'Testosterone!'
I knew the name of this man, who revealed teeth so white against his copper skin that they looked bleached.
There was no way I couldn’t know.
His physical characteristics alone would have been enough to recognize him, but as if that weren’t enough, this man had entered the bar carrying his trademark - a massive 1-meter-and-67-centimeter Super-Vibrating Jet Engine Saw - on his back.
I shouted in a welcoming voice.
“Chainsaw Man!”
Oops, come to think of it, was his name Chainsaw Man?
* * *
“Aaron, hand butcher! My bro! I don’t know how long it’s been!”
“Uh, well. It’s been a while - .”
Not stopping at a normal greeting, Chainsaw Man approached me with a glad face and hugged me fiercely.
Gah.
Along with the suffocating bear hug, guilt pricked at my conscience.
“No, why does that Yangban know my name?”
Well, I was wearing a name tag, so it was only natural if you thought about it, but…
It bothered me a little that he knew my name while I only knew his nickname, and that even though it had been quite a while since I got to know that Chainsaw Man ronin, I hadn’t even thought to ask for his name until now.
'Even though he has a slightly weird side, he’s a comrade-in-arms who fought against the Luddite Gang with me, and he’s a good person too…'
Was I being a bit insensitive?
I scratched my head, wondering if I should ask for his name even now, or if it would be a bit weird to introduce ourselves properly at this point… It was when I was having those thoughts.
“Ah, hand butcher. Could we possibly sit as a group?”
At Chainsaw Man’s question, I tilted my head.
“A group? You must have companions with you? How many in total?”
He frowned, raised both hands, and folded his fingers one by one.
“Let’s see… five. No, including myself, that makes six! Will there be enough seats?”
“It should be enough if we put the tables together. You must have come with your friends.”
To think he had as many as five friends. He didn’t seem to have such social skills, so it was unexpected.
Or maybe he belonged to a Ronin Team and brought his team members for a get-together?
At my question, Chainsaw Man grinned and replied.
“Yeah. We decided to hold today’s gathering here at Dragon’s Lair.”
“A gathering?”
What Group/Gathering?
Something felt like it was on the tip of my tongue as I narrowed my brow at a certain premonition flashing through my mind.
Chainsaw Man wiped his nose and said.
“Yeah. I’m the chairman. Didn’t I tell you about it and invite you last time?”
With that, he proudly held out an electronic business card.
The moment I saw it, all my memories came rushing back.
《Chainsaw Lovers' Club》
…!!!