Vol.4 Ch.69 - I Found an Unexpected Delight

In front of me stood a nostalgic building. With walls painted a signature red,and a large letter ‘A’ standing tall above the entrance, this place really didfeel different than the surrounding establishments.Entering it felt strange, as if I shouldn’t be here in the first place, but a largepart of me didn’t care about that at all and just wanted to see an old friendand benefactor once again. I sat down and nervously (yet patiently) awaitedfor Arthur to once again pop out of the back carrying all sorts of assortmentslike he always did, but that didn’t happen.People were getting rung up, made orders, chatted and conversed about allsorts of topics around me. The new workers were being a bit clumsy as wasto be expected, and the overall vibe of an Arthur’s was still the same as ever,but no matter how long I waited, I didn’t see any semblance of Arthur makingan entrance.“Good day, sir!” A youthful voice caught the interest of my ears, “What willyou be having today?”“Ah, yes. Let’s see…” I said to the beautiful young waitress who awaited myorder, “I’ll just take a Latte.”“Will do!” She gave me a wink before swiftly going in the back....What was that?!? Could such a cutie really be working here?! Also, IDEFINITELY noticed that wink? Was she just being cutesy like that toappeal to me as a customer, or… something more? Gahh, what kind of faceam I making? I hope she didn’t notice me crack that hideous smile for amoment after seeing the wink.“Here you are sir, one Latte fresh from the tap!” She joked with a Teehee!But wait, milk doesn’t come from a tap… I thought as I eyed her bosom for amoment. Man, she’s amazing from head to toe, am I really so easy as to fallin love with a woman at first sight? UHH, HELL YEAH I AM!“Well, if that’s all then…” She started walking away from the table.“O-Oh, wait!” I called out to her, “W-Would you mind having a seat with mefor a bit?”“Oh, I would,” She said with a sigh, “But I’ve got a lot on my plate rightnow! Heh, no pun intended!”God, even the way she laughs at her own jokes is adorable… and also a bitfamiliar…“O-Oh, I see.” I said with a dejected tone before remembering somethingimportant, “But could I at least ask you to call Arthur down? I’m an oldacquaintance of his.”She immediately wiped the happy smile away from her face, and the otherworkers who overheard me also stopped dead in their tracks just to watchthe situation unfold. Was it something I said?“Mr. Arthur… passed away a couple of months back.” She said seriously.I immediately lost all strength in my body and almost threw up from theshock. Arthur… is dead? This can’t be! What? Oh Gods… say it ain’t so…!Fuck!“WHAT!?” I finally snapped back to my senses and got up from my chair, “YYou’re lying! He’s not dead!”“Sir, please calm down…” She said with a teary eyed look, “He was simplygetting too old. That’s just how life is…”Although she said this to reassure me that her words were true, I knew fromthe start that she’s lying. First of all, his shoes were still on the porch of theside entrance. Second, I’d definitely hear of this from Anna’s letters. In theend, this brings me to the conclusion that these workers are keepingsomething from me, and I gotta find out what!I decided to use Analyze on this waitress girl to find out her true thoughts. Ialways feel bad doing something like this to another human, but if it’ll helpme get to the bottom of this, then I don’t mind it one bit. Upon activating myability, my pupils glimmering brown the entire time, I stared her downwithout breaking eye contact.“You’re not getting us this time, filthy ITA scum.” She thought whilst glaringback at me, “We don’t owe you guys squat!”Whoa, looks like they’ve aroused the attention of the ITA while Grim and Iwere off in Great Hiana, but how does she know I’m an ITA recruit? Didanything about my appearance give it away? This girl is way too sharp…“But still…” She though whilst looking away from me, “Even thoughGrampa told me to lie about his death to shoo away these guys, I still feeluneasy about it…”So Arthur’s alive?! THANK THE GODS! Hey, hold on, did she just say‘Grampa’? Wait! Does that mean…?!“ANNA!?” I jumped up from my chair as I yelled out her name in sheersurprise.“Whuh?!” She stammered back a bit, “H-How d-do you know my name?Who are you!?”“Who do you think, dummy?” I fixed up my posture in front of her whilstremaining cheeky.“…” She oogled me up, down and all around before blushing a bit. She thenshakily said, with a voice filled with uncertainty, “…Edward?”Cute… But I’m not just saying that for no reason! Looking at her right now,she’s completely changed up her appearance in these past few years we’vebeen apart. She’s a lot less… hydrodynamic, sure, but her childish naturestill shines through. Apart from that, her hair’s also grown out quite a bit (allthe way to her tummy, to be precise). No wonder the aura around her felt sofamiliar!After we both finally recognized each other, she finally agreed to sittingdown with me and help clear up all these misunderstandings, while alsousing the time to catch up a bit.“But wow!” She commented, “You’ve really changed! I barely noticed it wasyou, and that’s solely thanks to that cheeky attitude of yours!”“Speak for yourself!” I replied back almost instantly, “Look at you! You’vereally matured into a fine beauty!”“Oh ho?” She gave me a smug smirk, “Did my sudden glow up make you fallfor me?”I can’t tell her the truth, since it’d definitely make things awkward betweenus. I’ll just laugh it off and switch topics quickly.“…” I sat there in silence, “Yeah, kinda.”“O-Oh…” She sat back down in her chair, before making this confused,blank face at me (all the while blushing, mind you), “I-I see…”“N-Never mind that! You said Arthur’s actually alive?” I quickly changed thetopic to avoid making any mistakes in my words.“Oh? Did I say that out loud?” She got worried.Crap! I made a mistake in my words! Gahh, I got so caught up in changingtopics that I forgot I actually read her mind to find that out!“I-I’m pretty sure you did, yeah.” I decided to double down, “Plus I knewfrom all the letters you sent me.”“Right…” She tensed up a bit, “To tell you the truth, though, whilst the factthat Gramps is alive still holds true, it’s not by much.”“What do you mean?” I now started worrying as well, “Is he alright? Whereis he?”“His condition is stable… for now, at least.” She explained, “He’s downwith some unknown disease, and it’s making him pretty frail. He’s atHarper’s right now, she said she’s gonna monitor his condition just in casesomething happens, but he should be sent back home in a couple of days.”“So this is why you’re here instead of in Cardina like you mentioned in theletters?” I asked.“Well, yes and no.” She then further elaborated, “In truth, I was never inCardina to begin with, nor was I planning on going there just yet. You see,ever since you guys got your passports from the ITA, Gramps and I have beenconsidered your assistants in attaining them, and thus they’re now constantlynagging us about giving them a share of our earnings.”“What?!?” I raised my voice in what sounded like a mix between anger andastonishment, “Those bastards will pay! I’m so sorry for having you gothrough all this trouble, you should’ve told us!”“Eh, don’t worry about it.” She waved her hand at me, “It’s thanks to youguys that Arthur’s is thriving so much, so you shouldn’t feel responsible.Also, it’s not too difficult to shoo them away, since they only send in theirrecruits to scope out the scene on a semiregular basis. I just lied about goingto Cardina to send them on a wild goose chase after me and hopefully wasteas much of their time and energy.”“Wow, you’re diabolical.” I commented, “I like it!”“Oh, thank you very much!” She gave a satisfied grin, “I knew you’dunderstand my plan! Not everyone here did… But never mind that, youmentioned in your letters you were gonna visit your home, but to think you’dstop by here of all places!”“Of course I would!” I added, “Oh, but Grim’s not with me. He’s stillchasing our dream to visit every country in the world one day. I just felt a bithomesick and wanted to drop by and visit my parents for a bit beforecontinuing where I left off.”“I see,” She replied, “But wait, doesn’t that mean he’s all alone over there?”“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” I got ready to tell her the big news,“Since he’s gotten a girlfriend and daughter!”“…” She gave me a confused look before bursting out from laughter,“Phahahah! A girlfriend he said! And a daughter to boot! Wow, you’re a riot,I tell ya’!”“You don’t believe me?” I asked her once again.“Oh come on! Enough with that joke!” She kept laughing, “As if someone asfree-spirited and carefree could ever settle down with a girl.”“You’ll just have to wait and see then.” I gave her a shrug as I said that, “Butyou know, he’s apparently all the way in Sibirus on a very important missionright now, according to my sources.”“Sibirus?” She sat there in utter awe, “I hope he brought a coat or something,I guess.”“That’s what I said too!”“Hehe, we always think the same things.” She replied, “Which reminds me,how long were you planning on staying here in Springwood?”“Oh, I was just planning to visit Arthur and then head back home.” Ianswered, “But now that I know you’re here, I might just stick around a bitmore.”“Mmm…” She bundled up in her chair, “Hehe…”“What’s got you all flustered?” I wanted to tease her a bit more.“N-Nothing!” She jumped out of her seat with a defiant tone, “L-Let’s just govisit Gramps!”“Right!” I jumped out of my seat as well, “Let me just pay, then we’ll headoff immediately.”“Oh, come on!” She sighed before turning back to face me, “This ones on thehouse, consider it a welcome home gift just for you.”Gahh! Stop being cute!As such, Anna went in the back to change out of her work clothes. I waitedpatiently, yet eagerly. I wonder what she’s gonna wear? A beautiful dress?Cute overalls? Oh, I can’t wait to see! This waiting is gonna drive me insane!The doors then clicked open, and a familiar figure emerged. Her silhouettefrom the sunset only served to accentuate the excitement I was feeling in thatmoment as I waited for her to step out. But surprisingly, what she waswearing was actually…“Casual clothes?” I gave a slightly disappointed look.“Yeah!” She replied with a chipper tone, “Doesn’t it feel nostalgic? We allused to wear such casual clothes back when we were still traveling throughTrivis Numerica, so I thought you’d like it.”Well, I certainly appreciate the sentiment, but isn’t this a bit… out of style?Hold on… Did she just say she thought I’d like it? Does this mean… Shepicked an outfit purely for me? IN THAT CASE…!“It’s amazing!” I jumped for joy as I showered her with compliments, “Theoversized shirt really accentuates your youth, and those shorts make you lookreally cute!”“S-Stop smothering me with compliments!” She felt uncomfortable for a bit,“It makes me feel weird! I’ll just change into something more fitting.”Oh no! We’re losing her! Gotta up the ante STAT!“No wait! I-Instead, how about you just compliment my attire.” I reasoned,“That way we’d be even.”“Ooh! I like that idea!” She grinned with a heinous smile, “Well then, let’ssee…”She yet again probed me with her eyes from head to toe. It felt extremelyuncomfortable, and I immediately regretted saying what I said. Is this howgirls feel when they get oogled by guys on the street? Note to self: NEVERSTEAL GLANCES AT GIRLS!“You’re really tall.” She finally spoke out, “And your jaw’s gotten a bit moredefined. You’re way too handsome for your age. Your hair’s getting a bitcurly at the tips, I wonder how you’d look like with completely curly hair?Oh, and while I miss your light green eyes, I could get used to looking at yourBrown Iros.”“…” I couldn’t think of anything to say, instead just blushing and taking thebarrage of compliments, “T-Thank you.”“Heh!” She made a smug little face, “See? Not so easy getting praised!”I didn’t have the heart to tell her that she didn’t mention a single thing aboutmy attire. I was wearing a white shirt with a black vest over it. I guess this isfine too…As such, we finally walked out of the Arthur’s establishment, albeit a bitflustered though. Even still, we went around the corner, making the sametwists and turns as before, and then finally making it to Harper’s clinic to gosee Arthur.