Chapter 20
The Great Detective was peculiarly pointing to an Outer Hall Table quite a distance away from the Main Bar.
There seem to be quite a few customers who prefer to sit somewhere other than the Front where the Bartenders are, between the fierce-looking man sitting alone drinking beer over there, and this person. Does this person also want to chew on their solitude?
“Yes. You can sit there. If you press the button, a display will appear with the menu. Please let me know if you need anything. Then, if you’ll excuse me...”
“Look here, Watson! Where are you rushing off to? You don’t seem to have anything to do anyway, so why don’t you keep me company? You’re a new face in the Lair, you know. Are you the Dragon’s new Guardian?”
I sighed deeply and turned around.
*Why do all the crazy people I meet, regardless of whether they’re human or Raver, refuse to let me go easily?*
If you need company, go find a bartender. Why me?
“Guardian, you say?” “Ah... you don’t know? This bar is the Dragon’s Lair, meaning the Dragon’s Den. And surely, it’s *common sense* that the Dragon’s Lair is a place guarded by the Dragon’s Minions, Guardians, and Dragon Tooth Soldiers! Were you working here without even knowing such basic knowledge?”
His tone really makes me want to punch him. I was startled to realize I’d thought that without meaning to. I’m not usually such a violent person.
Calm down. I can’t already get into a fight with a customer.
After all, the person in front of me was a Lunatic who, even at a glance, had been carrying all sorts of dangerous illegal weapons. Though I’d taken all of them and locked them away in the bar’s safe box, I didn’t know what might happen later if I got on his bad side.
Who knows? He might suddenly show up a few days later and say, “You didn”t serve me properly that day,’ and throw a Pulse Grenade right in my face... It was absurd, but it was something that could easily happen in Dusk City. It’s a crazy city where several random murders occur every day. *I need to be extra careful.*
Right, friendly service. For friendly service, I have to be able to smile in front of the customer no matter what they say... I repeated that to myself and forced a clumsy smile.
“Yes, I didn’t know. Aha. So that’s why you asked if I was a Guardian. Because I work at a bar called Dragon’s Lair. That's truly a Great Detective-like deduction ability. I’m impressed.”
“Indeed. Well, it seems you’re not a true Guardian after all.”
I flinched for a moment. If the Guardian that Sherlock Yangban spoke of referred to an Employee here, then I certainly wasn’t a true Employee yet, meaning a Full-time Employee. I was only working temporarily. But how did that person figure that out?
“How did you—”
“Well, don’t you look far too foolish to be a true Guardian!”
“...”
Illegal weapons or not, I really just want to hit him once.
Perhaps sensing the killing intent in my chilling gaze, the Great Detective Ajje patted his shoulder loudly again and burst into hearty laughter.
“Umhahahaha! It’s a joke. Watson, your emotions are written all over your face! It’s as if you’ve bitten into a Wasabi Dango.”
First, a face like I’d bitten into a turd, now a face like I’d bitten into a Wasabi Dango... It seemed I really couldn’t control my expressions.
“Your Demeanor seemed awkward in many ways compared to the other Guardians! You could say you seemed naive, or perhaps stood out. Compared to “Magician” Antonio over there, or “Ice—”
Hmph. No. Compared to Cocktail Mixer Sey, you certainly lack naturalness. You have the air of a Newcomer, you could say! While dullards might not notice, a Great Detective like me couldn’t help but see it.”
As he said that, he subtly glanced at Head Bartender Sey, who was sitting behind his table.
*Should I call it “reading the room”?
It was absurd, but that description was perfectly accurate. He cautiously raised his gaze, as if wondering if she’d heard what he said, but then immediately noticed her cold, piercing stare and yelped, turning his head away.
I also looked, then had to quickly pretend I hadn’t seen anything and avert my gaze. Somehow, I felt like I was an Accomplice to the Great Detective Yangban, as if we’d committed a crime together.
Sey herself exuded an aloof and cold aura, making her difficult to approach.
Every time our Distorted Gray Eyes met, I felt a strange embarrassment, as if my entire body were naked, as if my innermost thoughts were laid bare.
Moreover, because she was a woman, and a beautiful one at that, she seemed like a resident of Another World entirely different from mine. For someone as introverted as me, she was a truly difficult work colleague to deal with. I could only hope it would get better with time.
“By the way, what did you just say?”
“What, what? I didn’t say anything.”
“What did you just say about Sey—”
“Ahem! I said nothing. More importantly, speak quietly, quietly. She might hear us. Watson, you need to be more perceptive. You don’t seem to know how terrifying she is...”
He said this while rolling his eyes towards Sey. I let out a hollow laugh, dumbfounded. She was sitting at an Outer Table, several meters away from the Front Tables. So how could she possibly hear us chattering from here?
He seemed to have some kind of hypersensitivity, befitting a peculiar person. He also seemed to be afraid of Sey. It seems even an arrogant person who seems to care about nothing in the world has a natural enemy.
“Alright. Putting that aside. Magician... Antonio? Are you talking about Tony? That male Bartender over there?” “Precisely. You didn’t think his real name was Tony, did you? His true name is Antonio, one of the Dragon’s two Guardians, a man with the epithet Magician. Hahahaha... Don’t ask me why he’s called that. It’s rude to speak carelessly about someone’s background without permission. And I don’t get along with him very well. It would be better if you asked him directly.”
My hands and feet curled up from the cringe-worthy vocabulary he used, yet he laughed without a hint of embarrassment.
*He’d probably get along better with Mr. Otaku Dragon than me, so I don’t know why he keeps talking to me.*
Thinking I shouldn’t let this topic continue any further, I cut him off.
“Yes, I understand. More importantly, please place your order first. You should quench your thirst before speaking.” “Indeed. This place is a well for the thirsty, and I am the Detective who has sought the Dragon for a drink to quench my soul. Watson, I ask you. Which drink here can satisfy my thirst?”
So... he was talking in circles, but ultimately, he was asking for a drink recommendation. I didn't know much anyway, and I didn’t want to talk to him any longer, so I just blurted it out. There’s only one cocktail I can recommend to anyone.
“How about a Dusk Iced Tea? It’s cool and has a nice, zesty kick...”
“No, that won’t be enough. I’ll order a Fallen Angel. I trust you with it.”
Son of a bitch. If he was going to decide anyway, why did he ask? Anyway, he’s a customer whose every action I dislike.
After receiving the Great Detective Yangban’s order through the Desk System connected to my Cyberwatch, I checked what kind of drink a Fallen Angel was.
Let’s check the list. Fallen Angel... it should start with an F. Ah, here it is.
<F1>"Fallen Angel</F1>
<F1>“All that falls has broken wings.”</F1>
<F1>A Modified Recipe for Angel’s Wing.</F1>
<F1>Sweet and bitter, good for drinking on a day you’ve been heartbroken, and explosive.</F1>
<F1>*Requires Fancy Serving.</F1>
<F1>(Attached Data: Fallen Angel Serving Method)</F1>
<F1>"</F1>
Even though I wasn’t the one drinking it, just looking at the modifiers, I found it hard to guess what kind of cocktail it was. Sweet and bitter, good for drinking on a day you’ve been heartbroken, that much I get. But “explosive”? What do you do to a cocktail to make it explosive?
I touched the Hologram Video that appeared on my Watch, and then I understood why.
“Ah, so that’s why.”
The content described the Fallen Angel Serving Method. It was part of the Employee Menu Description File that Dragon Manager had transmitted to my Watch.
It was a thoughtful gesture to help me quickly get familiar with the drinks served at the bar, with my shallow knowledge of liquor and cocktails, and at the same time...
A kind of Additional Manual providing guidelines to help me cope clumsily if a Cocktail Order requiring additional action from an Employee comes up during serving.
Just as there were dishes in the Restaurant that were only complete after my final touch, it was the same here at the bar. Most of the time, the Bartender would serve directly, or if the tables were far apart, I would just formally carry the glass, but sometimes there were cocktails requiring complex procedures, demanding recipes where even the serving was considered part of the cocktail’s completion.
Dragon President, who gave me the manual, said such cases weren’t common, and that most people ordering such drinks would sit at the Bartenders’ counter and order from them, so I didn’t need to worry about it. But damn it.
This Fallen Angel drink explicitly stated that it requires fancy serving from an employee.
It wasn’t Dragon President’s fault. How could he have known that on my First Day of Work, such a Crazy Person would burst in, sit at an Outer Hall Table where there was no Bartender, and order a Cocktail Requiring Additional Steps?
The problem was simply that this Self-proclaimed Sherlock Holmes was an absolute crazy person. If he was going to order such a cocktail, why didn’t he sit at the Bartender’s counter? There were seats at the front tables, so why did he specifically come here?
Was he trying to test the serving skills of someone he’d never seen before? Was this some kind of initiation?
A sly smile, as if asking, *Can you really handle my order?*, hung on the Detective’s lips. *I feel uneasy.*
The problem was, it didn’t seem like it would be easy to handle. It would be great if I could pull it off splendidly, but things in life rarely go smoothly. The Fallen Angel Serving Method involved holding a glass with beautifully layered liquid and slamming it onto the customer’s table with a <F1>BANG!</F1> to create an Explosive Mixing Performance that mixes it all at once.
The Video Explanation stated to adjust the force appropriately so that the hand touched the table before the glass, but that was easier said than done. Everything in moderation is difficult.
If I applied too much force, the drink would overflow, and if I were too gentle, the cocktail wouldn’t mix, failing to create its unique Explosive Appearance.
That’s why it was written in the data. Unless one was a truly skilled bartender, the drink would usually overflow, so a method of mixing by gently slamming the glass twice was often used, though deviating from the original recipe.
It was truly puzzling why a perfectly good cocktail had to be slammed onto a table, why it had to be such a barbaric and violent method, and why it couldn’t just be stirred or shaken like any other cocktail.
What can I do? The recipe says so.
At least there was an alternative.
Since I wasn’t a skilled Bartender and today was my First Day of Work, I felt I had no choice but to use the Method of Mixing by Gently Slamming the Glass Twice.
There’s no need to take risks, especially not with a customer.
I thought so. I figured I could manage slamming it gently twice to mix it.
***
But there was one thing I overlooked.
“...What did you say?” “Don’t mix it by slamming it twice, but with one <F1>SLAM!</F1> That’s how you should slam it. Why do it in two parts like a coward? That’s not how you make a Fallen Angel! A single explosion, the Big Bang! The Unnatural Harmony within it, the Chaos in the Glass! That, Watson, is how you enjoy a Fallen Angel!”
I had forgotten that the customer I had to serve was the world’s biggest absolute lunatic.