Chapter 68
A heavy silence settled inside the lavishly decorated dining room.
The chandelier was so enormous that, if its chain snapped, it looked capable of summoning Conan and Kindaichi at once, yet it proudly illuminated the dignified mafia mansion.
Even that brightness couldn't erase the awkward atmosphere that had formed between the two of us.
“……”
“……”
It had been only a few minutes since I had suggested that we talk about why she had arranged this meeting.
But neither she nor I seemed inclined to lead the conversation.
In the end, we naturally focused on eating.
A table knife embossed with an elegant pattern smoothly sliced through the gently grilled steak.
With only the weight of a knife that weighed less than 100 grams, the thick steak began to reveal its red interior.
‘Is this medium-rare?’
I had lived a life far removed from upscale restaurants like Michelin-starred establishments, Blue Ribbon restaurants, and omakase spots.
As someone more accustomed to pork than beef, and fried chicken than pork, the juicy piece of meat felt rather daunting.
I silently tossed the roughly cut chunk of meat into my mouth.
“…!!”
My eyes went round for a moment.
It wasn't quite the reaction one would have to a master chef's cooking, but my mouth was filled with an explosion of savory flavors.
There really was a reason people said that simple was best.
The taste of this steak, which had merely been grilled well without any special ingredients or elaborate techniques, was nothing short of a work of art.
‘…No.’
Come to think of it, “free-range beef” itself was already a special ingredient.
In a world where cultured meat and synthetic meat had become commonplace, cattle raised freely on pasture could be considered a brand all on its own.
Honestly, before sitting down to this uncomfortable meal, I had thought I wouldn't know whether the food was going into my mouth or my nose….
The seat was uncomfortable, but the meat tasted good.
Still….
‘Even if it's delicious, it's only about ten times better.’
The pleasure was only fourteen or fifteen times greater, too.
Where in this lump of protein, which had merely been grilled as it was,
was there value worth hundreds or thousands of times that of an ordinary hot dog sold for two dollars?
I recalled Mr. Biscuit Oliver's famous saying and muttered quietly.
“Another hard-fought victory for hot dogs.”
“…Huh?”
Soft classical music was faintly playing in the dining room.
Perhaps thanks to that, Luciana hadn't heard me talking to myself, and she tilted her head as she looked at me.
“What did you just say?”
“No, I was saying that the food is really delicious.”
“…Hmm, that didn't sound like what you said.”
Fortunately, she didn't press me for long.
I could tell just from her languid gaze, but Luciana seemed to be the type who hated troublesome things by nature.
“Yeah, the food is especially delicious today.”
Luciana mumbled as she chewed on a fresh cherry,
and quietly continued eating.
And so, the simple meal came to an end.
“If you're done eating, shall we start getting up?”
“Sure.”
The feast that had filled the table had all turned into empty plates before I knew it.
As someone who could easily put away several boxes of hot dogs, it felt a little insufficient, but I wasn't so oblivious that I'd order more food here.
‘…I'll go home and eat more hot dogs.’
As expected, quantity was better than quality.
I once again decided the winner and loser in a match no one else would ever acknowledge.
Then I followed Luciana as she headed out of the dining room.
Clip-clop.
The mansion where the mafia boss lived was enormous.
It was so large that even the hallway seemed to stretch on forever.
“Boss, did you enjoy your mea─? No, why is that lunatic here….”
From time to time, organization members we happened to encounter in the hallway exchanged glances with me and either looked astonished or wary.
“Busy.”
“…Understood.”
Even when speaking to someone who appeared to be an executive, Luciana's attitude didn't change much.
As we passed him, I could feel a gaze boring a hole into the back of my head.
Anyway.
Just as it looked from the outside, the inside of the mansion was elegantly decorated.
‘…It feels like this belongs in an art museum.’
Sculptures, antiques, jewels, paintings, and more.
I could see the mafia family's wealth at a glance.
But it was also obvious from our earlier meal that neither Luciana nor I was particularly sociable.
The awkward silence continued in the hallway as well.
Clip-clop.
I stared pensively at Luciana's back as she walked ahead of me.
‘She's shorter than I expected.’
I hadn't realized it because I had only ever seen her sitting down.
At this height, she might even give Rivera, one of the cute mascots at our grocery store, a good run for her money.
(For reference, the other mascot is “Dew.”)
Of course, that didn't mean she possessed the same kind of cuteness as Rivera.
‘It looks like all the nutrients that should have gone toward her height gathered in her chest instead….’
Sadly, there was a physical difference between them that could never be overcome.
While I was entertaining such irreverent thoughts,
“Well, these are the artworks in this mansion. They're the collection our family has gathered over generations.”
“…Pardon?”
Was she giving me a tour so I could look at them?
At my involuntary response, Luciana tilted her head to the side with a nonchalant expression.
“Why? You didn't get a proper look?”
“……Uh.”
I desperately racked my brain, but in the end, nothing came to mind.
That was because I had spent the entire time staring at the back of Luciana's head and thinking things like, ‘I really want to flick her on the forehead….’
For now, I chose the lesser of two evils.
“So…. I was going to say that I liked the painting of the person in the middle best.”
With so many artworks around, there had to be at least one portrait.
Fortunately, my gamble paid off.
“…Really?”
She nodded to herself, gave a small snort of laughter, and started walking again.
‘Phew.’
I secretly breathed a sigh of relief and trailed after Luciana.
Eventually, we arrived at Luciana's office.
“Sit wherever you're comfortable.”
I was starting to want to go home, but I still hadn't heard why she had called me.
Luciana deftly operated what appeared to be a coffee machine, then poured a steaming cup of coffee onto the table in front of me.
“Thank you.”
“You said last time that you liked all kinds of coffee.”
I desperately searched my memory once again.
Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered saying something like that while drinking a cappuccino during my last visit.
“…Well, yes.”
“Hehe.”
What on earth was she planning to bring up that made her pressure me like this?
She had served me a lavish feast.
Personally shown me around the mansion.
And even invited me to a private meeting in her office.
The new 【Iron Will】 trait I had acquired was writhing in agony.
The steadily increasing proficiency was an added bonus.
If I had a vibranium will instead of an iron one, things might have been a little different.
Slurp.
Perhaps Luciana enjoyed the silence, because even though I had followed her all the way here, she didn't bring anything up first.
In the end, I asked Luciana.
“…Did you call me because of the Hakuagumi matter?”
“Hmm?”
At my question, Luciana made a bewildered expression that didn't suit her.
“…Ah, Hakuagumi.”
With that strange response, she tapped the desk a few times.
Judging from her reaction, she looked as though she had completely forgotten that Hakuagumi existed.
“I should mention that too.”
As during my first visit, a massive holographic screen appeared on one wall.
“Hakuagumi is practically finished now. It was an organization built on violence from the beginning. The persistent rat who kept running away is dead, too, so there's no way its unstable state will continue.”
The rat she was referring to was probably Bansho Takemaru.
Luciana continued speaking in an atmosphere completely different from before.
“That doesn't mean the power structure of Area 49 is going to change much. Wherever you look, there are plenty of bastards who want to suck up to corporations. The vacancy left by Hakuagumi will probably be filled by similar pieces of garbage before long.”
Her language had become considerably rougher, but come to think of it, Luciana had used profanity without hesitation from the first organizational meeting where I met her.
It felt as though her public and private selves were slightly different.
“However….”
As she looked at the holographic screen, Luciana's sharp eyes turned toward me this time.
“The organization's interests aren't something so simple and straightforward.”
“…Interests?”
“Even though Hakuagumi was a garbage organization, there were plenty of equally rotten bastards backing it.”
It was a warning with a chilly edge.
“Corporate trash.”
Luciana was telling me to be careful as the person who had caused Hakuagumi's downfall.
“It was commendable that you physically erased the surveillance camera data. And wearing a separate mask to throw off your route through the complicated Old Town was a good move, too.”
Before I knew it, an empty coffee cup had been placed on the table.
“But there’s no such thing as 100 percent. Most companies will probably try to cut their losses publicly, but there will always be some that respond sensitively, if only out of pride.”
Tap—.
The coffee cup she touched spun around in place.
I scratched my head and answered.
“…I'll be careful.”
“Yeah.”
But if she intended to warn me, a phone call would have been enough.
Something about this felt strange.
‘Did she really call me here just to give me a warning….’
It felt strange enough to make me think that.
“Then, that's all I called you for this time.”
Maybe it was just my imagination, but Luciana continued in a slightly spoiled tone.
“My schedule is getting busy, after all. I actually had to squeeze this in at the last minute.”
Even now, a pale halo of light was shimmering in real time above Luciana's eyes.
If modern people had smartphones, this world had smart chips,
and she seemed to be checking her schedule through an interface UI visible only to her.
“I really enjoyed the meal today.”
Since she said she was busy, I had no choice but to quickly drain my coffee (happily).
A long arc formed at the corner of Luciana's mouth.
“I had fun today, too.”
“…Pardon? No, yes. I had fun too, I suppose.”
It was a conversation where something didn't quite line up.
I only realized something was strange after hearing Luciana's next words.
“Next time…. I'll check my schedule first and contact you. Then I'll see you later.”
I was momentarily flustered by the way she casually made plans without discussing them beforehand.
When I came to my senses,
I was already sitting inside the limousine headed back to the grocery store.
Thud.
Just as when I had arrived, the limousine door closed.
“I'll get you home safely.”
“……”
Something was definitely strange…!
* * *
After finishing all the accumulated work, Luciana stepped into the hallway and looked at the painting hanging on the wall.
The only portrait in the hallway
was an oil painting depicting “her.”
Having confirmed that fact once again, Luciana quietly muttered the same thought as last time.
“…She really is audacious.”
Still.
This flirting is pretty decent, though.
Although Abel Anderson hadn't intended it that way.
* * *
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Title: Luciana<<< Isn't this the NPC known as the Special Administrative District's gallery boss?
(Screenshot of a grotesque-looking male character)
A yellow choice reading <If you have time, how about we have a meal together….> popped up, so I thought, Wow, this must be a romanceable character, and clicked it without even thinking….
Suddenly, the mafia put a wanted notice out for me;;
Does this mean I can't go to the black market anymore?
─ LOL, you got baited, lmao.
─ Look at that character customization;; If you had to sit and eat with that in front of you, could you really do it?
─ Not a romanceable character, sorry, GG
─ Meals are something you only have with family in the first place, yeah. You're a newbie and you don't even know this basic common sense, huh
└ (OP) Seriously, fuck, I got a wanted notice for this reason??? This goddamn stupid game, seriously
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Title: Because She Is a Flower That Grew Atop a Cliff, Because She Is Someone Unreachable, She Is All the More Beautiful
Day 522 of holding out for the development of Luciana's romance mode
─ Upvote for the consistency
─ If you've waited 500 days, it's about time you gave up
└ (OP) ㅠ
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Title: So why is ‘having a meal’<< a rage trigger?
(Screenshot of a despairing male character)
I genuinely don't know.
Fuck, my save is from way back.
─ Does the Omertà code look like a joke to you?
─ [Link: Is Luciana a Virgin?] If you read this, there's a reason people have more or less guessed.
└ (OP) The post title alone looks like something I really don't want to click, but is it true?
─ I was curious, so I looked through foreign wikis too. Apparently, one of the mafia family's rules is something like, “Meals are only for family members who won't betray one another.”
In short, your character hit on Luciana by asking her to become family.
└ (OP) Jesus fucking Christ, what the fuck
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