Beauty in a Rotten World (I)

“Here we are!”

The restaurant Freila brings me to ends up being a little hole-in-the-wall nestled away on a quiet city street.

Before we enter, she quickly looks around twice, as if scanning the area for anyone watching.

I have no idea what she’s running from, but she’s certainly cautious.

Once we do get inside the store, we’re immediately greeted by a friendly-looking middle-aged woman.

“Oh, Freila! There you are. I was worried you wouldn’t make it.”

“I’m so sorry for being late, Miss Ancho. I ran into some trouble on my way out.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe. And who’s that friend with you? Ah, don’t tell me you picked up another stray off the street?”

“Hey, don’t say that. You make it sound like I do it all the time.”

“Girl, please. I can’t even remember how many starving brats you’ve brought to this place. You’re the reason I have a kids’ menu now.”

“Unn, sorry…”

The two of them seem rather friendly. Despite the clear age difference, they’re trading banter like they’ve known each other for years.

As they talk, I take a quick look around the restaurant. It’s rather small and it actually looks more like a bar than a diner. There are no other customers, and it seems like the older woman is the only staff present.

“Anyways, Miss Ancho, I promised to treat this man here to a meal. Could you quickly whip something up for him?”

“Sure, if that’s what you want. What do you want, kiddo?”

The older woman hands me a menu with a big grin.

Luckily, I can actually read it. Even though it’s written with a language I’m not familiar with, somehow I understand the words just by looking at them.

Apparently, it’s a gift from the Demon King. I can understand almost every language in this world now.

Now then, what’s on the menu…

I peruse it for a quick minute before deciding.

“I’ll take this house sandwich, then.”

“Oh, is that so?”

The girl quickly grabs the menu from me and takes a gander.

“I see. Okay, then. Miss Ancho. Please get him an Extra Large Lunch Set. With extra meat too.”

“Got it! Coming right up.”

“Eh!? Wait, no, that’s not what I ordered—”

Bonk.

Freila lightly taps me on the head with the menu and flashes a cheeky grin.

“Picking the cheapest thing on the menu, huh? Clever, but a little insulting. I can’t be having you make light of my apology now.”

She saw right through me, huh. I guess it can’t be helped.

“All right, you caught me. I’ll get whatever you recommend then.”

“Good, good. A growing boy ought to be eating a lot.”

She pats me on the head with a gentle smile.

“H-hey, don’t treat me like I’m a kid.”

“Oh, sorry, sorry~ Force of habit.”

While Miss Ancho heads into the back to prepare my meal, Freila moves to the other side of the counter. She takes off her cloak at last, revealing the rest of her body.

Underneath, she’s wearing a fancy and frilly white dress suited for a noble lady.

Hmm, I thought she was some common thief earlier, but could she actually be a rich girl? I wonder…

“Holy shit, Mamoru! Look at her breasts. They’re massive!”

Oi, what are you staring at, you pervert demon!? Don’t say stuff like that! I’m already trying really hard not to look!

Anyways, as we wait for my meal to be ready, Freila begins brewing some tea for us. In spite of her fancy dress, she looks really natural and practiced behind the bar.

“Do you work here, Freila?” I ask, wondering if she was in a rush because she was late for work.

“Me? No. I just come here a lot. Miss Ancho’s an old friend who’s been good to me since I was a child.”

“I see…”

“What about you, Mamoru? Where are you from? You’re not from around these parts, right?”

“You can tell that? How?”

“Hehe, let’s just say that there are some things any resident of Adamsale would know that you clearly don’t.”

Damn, I guess I do stand out like a headless chicken in this city. In that case, I must’ve looked like a practical alien on my first day here. And yet, Ariesa still didn’t believe that I was from another world.

But how should I answer? Up until now, I was trying to tell people that I’m a Demon Lord, so I haven’t come up with a good cover story yet.

“If you wanna play it safe, say you’re from the Eastern Front. You just arrived yesterday.”

Oh, thanks for the save, Satanya.

“Well, I’m actually from the Eastern Front. I just arrived yesterday.”

“Oh. Oh, dear. Is that so? That must’ve been rough…”

Eh? What’s with that reaction? Wait, what kind of sad backstory did I just lie about?

“Well, you can rest easy now, Mamoru. Adamsale’s a good city. You won’t be in danger anymore.”

Freila gives me a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

No, wait, seriously, what kind of yarn did I just spin!? Satanya, what did you make me do!?

“Hehehe~”

“Hmm, if you arrived yesterday, does that mean you’ve already found a place to stay yet?”

“Oh, well…”

How should I answer?

If I say yes, she’ll probably ask where. But I can’t tell her that I’m staying with Ariesa or anything. It might be safer just to say no.

“I… guess I don’t…”

“You guess? What’s that supposed to mean? Hahaha.”

She chuckles lightly at my apparent cluelessness.

Phew, looks like I managed to brush that under the rug. But from now on, I might need to have a good cover story prepared in case of future encounters.

As I ponder that, the food soon arrives.

“Order’s up!”

The older woman slams a huge plate onto the counter, packed with plenty of all the food groups and even more meat. The moment I see it and smell the fragrant aroma, my stomach begins to grumble, despite having already eaten.

Well, what I made for lunch was on the lighter side, though, since there weren’t many ingredients left. Still, this is a lot…

But after Freila went through all the trouble of treating me, it’d be rude not to eat it all.

Ah, screw it! Bring it on!

“Thank you for the food!”

With a hearty cheer, I dig in and start devouring the mountain of nutrition.

“Geez, you don’t have to eat that fast. No one’s gonna take it away from me, hehe~”

Om nom nom nom. Eat, eat, eat.

I just gotta force myself to keep eating. The second I stop and lose momentum, I’m screwed!

“Ahh, careful. You got some on your cheek, silly. Here, let me get that.”

Freila casually pulls out a towel and wipes my cheek with it, making me slow down and blush.

“Oh. Uhhh, sorry…”

“Fufu, be more careful. Make sure you eat carefully and chew properly. Like so.”

She scoops up a spoonful of food and brings it to my mouth.

“Here. Say ahhhhh~”

“Wha— no, no, no, I-I can feed myself.”

I immediately spring back and avoid the flag event.

“Oh. Sorry, you’re right. You just looked so cute I couldn’t help myself.”

“Ehhhh…”

C-cute? She thinks I’m cute?

No, no, she must mean it in a younger guy sorta sense. Calm down, idiot. Don’t be the kind of guy who thinks every girl who’s nice to him must like him. She’s just being friendly.

But even so… why do my cheeks feel so warm?

“Oh brother. This is gonna be a wild ride.”

After seeing me continue to eat, a little less messily now, Freila smiles and then rolls up her sleeves.

“All right. Time for me to also get started.”

“Hm? You’re going to do something?”

“Yup. It’s what I came here for in the first place.”

She opens a few cupboards and begins pulling out all sorts of bowls and ingredients. Once they’ve all been assembled, she proudly declares with confidence,

“I’m baking a cake!”

“Eh? A cake? Is that why you were in a rush to get here?”

“That’s right. For certain reasons, I can’t bake at home, so I asked Miss Ancho to lend me her oven. I’m visiting some friends later and I promised to bake a cake for them. I needed to hurry because I was worried the cake wouldn’t finish baking on time if I didn’t make it.”

“I see… but if you’re really on a time crunch, couldn’t you just buy a cake?”

“Silly. Where’s the fun in that? Besides… I just really love baking for my friends!”

She grins widely as if sharing a silly secret.

“Anything you need help with, Freila?”

Miss Ancho asks as she steps out from the back.

“I should be fine by myself. You need to start preparing for the dinner rush too, right?”

“All right, but don’t hesitate to ask for anything.”

The two head to their own respective cooking stations, all fired up to work, when Freilla suddenly turns around.

“Oh, wait. I actually do have one thing. I have a favour to ask of you, Miss Ancho.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“You have a spare room upstairs, right? Could you let Mamoru here stay with you for a few days?”

… Huh?

“He doesn’t have a place to stay right now. Of course, I’ll cover the cost of room and board.”

“Hey. Don’t be silly, girl. If he’s your friend, he’s free to stay as long as he wants, as long as he’s willing to help out down here during the nights.”

“Really? Thank you so much, Miss Ancho. Isn’t that great, Mamoru?”

“W-wait a minute. Hold on!”

I abruptly get up from my seat and put a stop to this conversation.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Mamoru?” Freila asks, concerned.

“This… isn’t this too much?” I articulate doubtfully. “Aren’t you doing too much for me? I mean, treating me to a meal is one thing. But now you’re offering to pay for my stay too. Isn’t that going overboard? I mean, we just met today.”

That’s not all either. Considering all her actions, she’s been way too nice to a guy she barely knows. I’m basically just some dude she picked up off the street, yet she’s treating me like a good friend. It makes me happy… but it also feels wrong.

“Look. I know you said you wanted to apologize to me or something. But even so, this is too much. If I blindly accepted this, I feel like I’d be taking advantage of your guilt.”

“Oh. I see… so that’s what you mean…”

Freila closes her eyes for a second, takes a breath, and then faces me once more with a gentle expression.

“I think you misunderstand, Mamoru. It’s true I wanted to apologize to you. That’s what the meal was for. But this is different. I would do this even if I didn’t owe you anything. If there’s someone in need, I try to help them however I can. That’s all.”

“But why? Why would go so far…?”

“Well, because it’s the right thing to do!”

A smile that can outshine the sun.

In that moment, I feel as if all the light in the universe was pouring out of your words.

… unbelievable. This girl actually means it. She isn’t just saying it to sound good or avoid the question. She genuinely is acting out of pure-hearted benevolence.

If she sees someone injured, she heals them without a second thought. Even when she’s in a rush, she’ll go out of her way to heal someone who’s hurt. If she thinks she did something wrong, she makes it up to them immediately. If someone’s in need, she won’t hesitate to lend them a hand.

Every fiber of her being is filled with a warm, unwavering righteousness.

… What an idiot.

She’s too kind. She’s way too kind. She puts other people entirely ahead of herself.

If she lives like that, she won’t ever find happiness. She’ll keep cutting away parts of herself to give to others until she ends up empty inside. She’ll never think about what she wants, and she’ll die full of regrets.

Just like me.

“Oh, right, one more thing, Miss Ancho. I was wondering if you had any of these ingredients left.”

“Oh, sorry, girl. I just ran out. I hear there was a storm at sea and the shipment’s a few days delayed. If you want some, you’ll probably have to check one of these grocers here…”

“Oh, dear. That’s across town. I’m not sure I can make it in time. But they’re essential to the secret flavor…”

“Shall I run out and get some for you?”

“No, no, I couldn’t possibly make you. You have to get ready for the dinner shift. I’ll just have to make do, I guess…”

Freila makes an uneasy look, clearly troubled by this unexpected setback.

Seeing that, I can’t hold myself back any longer.

“I’ll do it!”

“Huh?”

She gasps as I abruptly jump out of my seat and yell out of nowhere.

I myself am surprised by my own sudden reaction.

What am I doing? What’s going on? Why do I… feel this strange way?

I don’t know, but I can’t stop myself.

“I can do it. You just need someone to buy some groceries, right? I can do that for you while you get started on the cake.”

“Oh, Mamoru. No, you don’t have to. I couldn’t possibly make you do that for me…”

“Don’t be stupid. And don’t think it’s just groceries either. If there’s anything you need, let me help you out. Heck, consider me your servant for the day.”

What am I saying? Why am I acting like this?

I am just grateful for the kindness she showed me? Do I want an excuse to just spend more time with her?

No… it’s not any of those things. It’s something simpler. Something more natural for me…

Yeah, that’s it. That has to be the reason.

“Now don’t misunderstand, Freila. I’m not doing this out of gratitude or anything. I’m not trying to pay back the favour. My motivation is simple.”

I pound my chest and declare it loudly.

“I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do!”

Yup, that has to be the reason.

For a moment, Freila seems shocked by my bold statement.

But then, just as quickly, she chuckles.

“Fufufu, well, I can’t say no if you say that. I guess I’ll have to rely on you then.”

“Yeah, leave it to me!”

With that settled, I decide to cap things off by extending my hand to her.

“Allow me to introduce myself one more time. I am Mamoru, a man who believes in righteousness. As fellow hopeless do-gooders, let’s get along!”

“Hahaha, likewise. Glad to be working with you, Mamoru.”

Just like that, she takes my hand and softly shakes it, sealing the deal.

Man… what am I doing?

I just said that I would stop caring about doing the right thing. I decided that I was evil now and that I would only do selfish things for myself from now on.

So how come all of that just goes away when I’m with her?

Why do I feel this strong urge to help her? Why am I acting like I used to.

It’s like being around her is making me revert to who I used to be.

I don’t know. But I do know one thing. I said that from now on, I would do whatever I wanted. And right now there’s only one thing I want to do more than anything.

I want to help make this girl happy!