Chapter 34
"Looks like the Boss won in the end. Tony is going to suffer for a month."
"A month?"
"Every month, a New Card or two get added, and after collecting the New Cards, they hold a Regular Event like that. Tony had been winning a lot for a while and was riding high, but since the Boss got his revenge this time, he'll be taking out his pent-up anger on him."
What's with this kind explanation? It feels even more detailed than when she was explaining the Cocktail Recipe.
When I stared at Sey with a blank look, she unexpectedly blushed, her usually ice-cold face turning red as she spoke.
"…For the record, I don't duel. Since those two are Card Game Addicts, I just picked it up from listening to them. Don't misunderstand."
I didn't really misunderstand anything, though.
Unlike Tony or the Dragon President, Sey didn't seem to like dueling very much.
Then again, looking at that state, anyone would develop a negative prejudice against dueling.
[You scrub~ Pushover~ You fucking suck at dueling~]
"This fuuucking Luck-based Shitty Game... How could a single Key Card not come out...?"
[Yeah~ Luck is a skill too, right? It's a Best-of-3 Series, so losing is just a Skill Difference, right? You're an idiot, right?]
"…."
[Are you mad? Are you pissed? But you can't do anything, right? Because your skills are those of a Pushover? You should just quit dueling, right? You have to hand over the card too, right?]
"Kuaaaaaaagh!"
The Dragon President's Annoying Way of Speaking, having shifted into Mesugaki Mode, was enough to make even me, a Third Party, get pissed off along with him.
How miserable must Tony feel, taking those hits directly and being mocked like that?
Sey didn't say he would suffer for a month for nothing.
Thinking about how he'd continue to suffer like that from now on naturally brought up a feeling of pity.
It seemed a card was even on the line in their Bet on Victory or Defeat, and the sight of him wailing as he surrendered a flashy Legendary Digital Card to the Dragon President was truly pathetic.
[Ehehehe... The Cyber Dragon Card has finally entered my Dragon-type Deck. Who can stop me now! Kuhahahaha!]
On the other hand, the Dragon President was... well. The Employee Welfare was excellent; he took good care of bonuses; he was cheerful; and the more you looked at him, the more you realized he was surprisingly warm-hearted.
In many ways, he was a rare, excellent boss in this harsh Cyberpunk World.
But sometimes, at moments like this, he seemed like a complete idiot....
I awkwardly turned my head away from the sight of the Dragon letting out a roar of victory, his face filled with madness.
On the other side, Sey was also looking the other way, pretending not to know them, as if she was embarrassed to be working in the same workplace as such people.
For that moment at least, we shared the same feeling.
It hadn't even been that long since I thought we didn't really click, yet here I was feeling such a deep sense of kinship with another person.
"I... I see. You don't duel. I don't either."
"Yeah. It's better not to. You end up like that."
Sey's voice was filled with sincerity.
No matter how I thought about it, there was no real problem with the Card Game itself, and the problem seemed to lie with those two. But I just quietly nodded my head.
Now I understand why there is so much advice on the internet telling you to find Common Interests or shared ground when looking for tips on blind dates or conversations.
Just having a commonality made me feel much closer to her.
If before she had seemed like a Person from Another World whose thoughts I couldn't fathom at all, now she felt like a human being no different from myself.
Just as we were sharing that strange communion of Sympathy for Fellow Sufferers, an Uninvited Guest barged in.
[Sey, I'm telling you, you should try dueling too! There might be people who have never tried it, but there's no one who has only tried it once. Once you start, you'll keep doing it! It's interesting, thrilling, and intense.]
Just listening to his explanation, you'd think he was selling electronic drugs.
The Wild Duelist Dragon suddenly appeared and launched his offensive like that, but it didn't stand a chance against Sey.
"I hate it. You play it all you want, Boss."
After shooting him a cold glare that felt closer to contempt than mere dislike, Sey stood up from her seat and went into the Staff Lounge.
SLAM—
The door to the Rest Area closed, and silence lingered for a moment.
[Or maybe Nakamura-kun, even you...]
After being rejected so coldly, you'd think he'd stop out of sheer embarrassment, but he immediately turned his head with a creak to look for his Next Target.
I had just seen Tony get mocked to that extent for losing once; did he think I was crazy enough to fall for that?
Following Sey's example, I had already pulled my body away from the table early on, putting distance between myself and that Crazy Duelist Dragon.
"Ahem, well then, since it's almost Opening Hours, I'll go do a final Shop Cleanup..."
I absolutely wasn't running away.
It was strictly because we were opening soon, and I was just preparing in advance.
Really.
* * *
The Duelist Dragon, who had been strutting around in full swing, was finally chased off and exiled to his room.
Bzzzzzz—
Dreary Dark Techno Music was flowing from the Jukebox.
It was the perfect atmosphere for the lights to suddenly go out and an evil Ninja to jump out from the darkness.
I didn't know who picked the songs today, but it was killer. It fit the current situation perfectly.
Right on cue, a man was muttering with his head planted on the table here in Dragon's Lair.
"I'm trash... Polymer Waste that can't even be recycled, Bio-waste that can't even draw a single card properly... a Three-dimensional Vermin that wouldn't even be accepted in the Wasteland. This is why I got kicked out..."
What the hell is he saying?
He was so depressed that just getting close to him made him exude a dark and gloomy aura, as if a dark cloud were hanging over him.
Lacking the courage to speak to Tony, who was trapped in One's Own World with countless pieces of Self-deprecating Vocabulary, I carefully looked at Sey.
"Mr. Tony is going to be okay, right?"
"Yeah. He gets like that sometimes. He'll be fine if you leave him alone."
She answered nonchalantly, as if this was nothing.
Still feeling doubtful, I spoke up once more.
"It's past Opening Hours now, though."
The time had already passed 6 o'clock. It was a situation where customers could barge in at any moment.
However, Sey remained expressionless.
"Yeah."
"What if a customer comes?"
"It's fine. Even in that state, he still does his job. The customers are used to it, so they won't say much."
Thud. Thud. Thud.
As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of Tony slamming his head onto the bar table could be heard.
...Is he really okay?
When I glanced at Sey again, she waved her hand dismissively, as if telling me not to bother her.
"It's fine. The Bar Table is sturdy, so it won't break that easily."
I wasn't worried about the table.
Well, whatever. Being nosy would only be to my detriment.
Since Sey, who had worked together with Tony as his partner for a long time, was saying that much, it seemed right for me to stop caring too.
It would actually be weirder for me to make a fuss here. It wasn't like I had known Tony for that long.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
...So I really wish he'd be quiet so I could stop caring.
After enduring the noise of his banging his head on the table like a woodpecker for quite a while, the First Customer finally walked in.
* * *
"...Why is Tony acting like that again?"
The First Customer asked me as soon as he walked in.
I didn't really have anything to say.
"I heard he lost a card match against the President."
After answering so simply and clearly, I received the Smart Pistol and Small Barrier from the Customer.
Surprisingly, the Customer seemed to understand the situation just from that meager explanation.
"Ah, looks like they held that regular dueling event again. I guess Tony lost this time? And, looking at his state, I'd say he lost by a hair's breadth."
"Wow, you're exactly right."
Is this a prediction based on Big Data or something?
I gave a thumbs up to the android Ladam in front of me, a company employee dressed in a young, casual Light Suit made of carbon fiber material.
"It's not like I've only been coming to Dragon's Lair for a day or two; there's no way I wouldn't know."
He said this while blinking his Digital Eyeballs, which shone black like ants on his Titanium Skin.
His appearance was quite unfamiliar, but this Customer was a rare Exemplary, Excellent Customer here at Dragon's Lair.
This wasn't my first time seeing him; he had already visited the bar twice this week alone. And he was a truly gentle person whenever I saw him.
First of all, the fact that he consistently used honorifics with a Temporary Field Manager like me was a passing grade in itself.
On top of that, he never caused trouble, didn't act out when drunk, handed over his Self-defense Weapon right away without any resistance, and was even a regular customer who came to the bar often...
How great would it be if the world were only filled with customers like him? Seeing an excellent customer come in right from the start, I felt luck was on my side today.
"Looks like I'm the First Customer today, right? Then again, it is a bit early."
"Yes. You came really early today, compared to other times."
Usually, it seemed like he came in the middle of the night after finishing all his work.
At my thoughtlessly thrown remark, the Ladam Company Employee laughed, haha, and replied.
"Yes. Something came up around here. I originally had no intention of coming, but I ended up dropping by."
"Work?"
I raised an eyebrow.
For some reason, I had an ominous premonition.