Chapter 11)

"Tickets to go to the coliseum? No thanks."

"Whaaat?! Why not?"

Iris, who was still chewing on pieces of sweet bread, declined the invitation from Barsanti. She still had specks of bread on her face, which she swiped away with her hand as she finished swallowing her food.

"Did you guys just forget that there is a nightmare controlling maniac roaming this city right now? Entertainment should be the last thing on our mind."

"Ehh? But aren't you entertaining yourself by eating sweet foods? You aren't exactly searching for this man yourself, you know~"

This guy needs to shut his mouth sometimes, does he like getting hit in the head?

"I'm going to, I just need to have enough energy to do so. I don't have a sweet tooth at all."

She says this, while continuing to stuff her face with things like powdered bread and cake. She was so into eating her food that she completely forgot that we were even there until I spoke up.

"Come on, you can give it a rest just for a day! A few hours wouldn't hurt you, would it?"

She stopped chewing, then turned towards me like I said something awful. With disgust in her face, she looked towards Barsanti.

"You're awful, you know. You're turning Ogata into another version of you."

"Hey! I can hear you, you know?!"

"Relax, Ogata! She meant it as a compliment! I know, of course, because I'm great! Ahahaha- Ow!"

Iris ended up bonking Barsanti in the head, leaving yet another comically sized bump. That didn't stop him, however, as he continued to laugh while Iris continued to chow down.

These two are so weird...

"But come on, Iris. The least you could do is spend some time having fun."

"I said I'm not going. There are more important things to do."

"Pretty please~?"

"No."

Barsanti looked defeated, as he groaned trying to figure out a way to change Iris' mind. In seconds, it looked like he had found the perfect way to make Iris change her mind.

"What if I make more of those croissants for you?"

That seemed to have caught Iris attention, as she stopped chewing on the half eaten bread and stared at Barsanti with gleaming eyes.

"How many are you willing to make?"

"As many as you need to come with us."

"Uuu-"

Iris thought as she continued to bite down on the bread. As she finished the last bite, keeping her eyes closed, she swallowed, before opening her eyes again.

"Fine."

"Haha! I knew you couldn't resist! Of course, my croissants are like no other, so I expected this."

"BUT..."

Iris stopped Barsanti, as she looked with strict eyes.

"But if there is any sort of reports of the man roaming the city, we will immediately search for him."

"Why are you so stuck up about that guy? You know I can fight him myself, you know."

"Yes, but it's our problem. Having some semi retired pervert do my job for me would be the lowest of the low, and that won't happen. That man is the reason Ogata and I aren't already heading to the next city by now."

"You're so mean... But that doesn't mean you have to confront all of your problems by yourself. You can rely on others, you know."

"Hmph. If I can solve my problems just fine, then there is no need to ask for help."

What the heck are we even doing?

"Listen, guys, I know we have problems and things, but let's just go to the coliseum now. We're going to end up being late."

"Ogata's right! Iris, you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then! It's about time we do something fun!"