Chapter 3 – The 42nd District (Part 3)
“Inside a dream, huh….”
When I deliberately leaked out such words, those men stood up all at once and then glaring at me with scary faces.
Umm, excuse me… That’s scary…. Could you guys stop making such a face?
“W-What? Even I can beat him.” (Yashiro)
“Oi brat, don’t spout nonsense! Or else, I will turn you into a frog!”
To my provocation, the man who was made fun by his friends earlier retorted as such.
I simply stated I could punch him not defeat him, though. Let’s proceed cautiously.
“Well, maybe it’s impossible for the people who were chickened out and escaped here.”
“What did you say?”
“Well, calm down. If I feel like it, I can beat him and come back here intact right now.” (Yashiro)
“Houu… Then, why don’t you show it to us? We’re talking about beating Goffredo, not that uncle next to him, alright?”
Hmm, I wonder if he persistently repeated the words in order to leave a proof in the Conversation Record. He seems to be that kind of person who becomes anxious if the other party doesn’t repeat their words clearly. Does this mean word scams are quite popular around here?
Interesting, but I hope you don’t compare me with the amateurs who waste words uselessly. Fraud is about exploiting the other party the when they think “I won’t be deceived”.
“I will beat Goffredo!” (Yashiro)
The guys leaked a voice of admiration when I proclaimed full of confidence. Listening to their conversation, the dog-eared waitress rounded her eyes.
Oh, getting all nervous now?
“Then, go beat him right now, immediately, this instant!”
The man whose seat was forcibly taken by Goffredo approached me while getting all worked up.
He seems unable to accept it when I said I could beat Goffredo while he could only run away with his tail between his legs. Uncle, a short-tempered person is an easy target for fraud.
“Before that, how about we make a bet? I don’t want to do it for free, after all.” (Yashiro)
“I’m in!”
“Me too!”
“Of course, I’m in!”
“Then, me too!”
The four people in front of me got on board.
“How much money do you bet on?” (Yashiro)
To this question, the four answered “I bet 1,000 Rb!” unanimously.
Stingy uncles! Can’t be helped, let’s rile them a bit more.
“Sigh…. a bunch of poor losers who are all talk. This is why you were underestimated. You guys should just live in the shade for the rest of your life. Oh, how about moving to wetlands? That place suits you all.” (Yashiro)
“What!?”
“Don’t look down on us!”
“Fine, I bet 3,000 Rb!”
“I bet 4,000 Rb!”
“Here, 3,000 Rb!”
“Me too!”
13,000 Rb in total, huh. I guess it’s enough. This should be around 130,000 if I convert it to Japanese yen. I can rent a room with 3,000 Rb.
The men who were provoked handed their money to me in advance.
Too easy!
“Hey, waitress. How about you?” (Yashiro)
“Me? I will pass! I’m not interested in gambling.”
“Come on, don’t be like that! If I beat him, would you please give me a glass of grapefruit juice for free?” (Yashiro)
“Is that all? Hmm… well…he’s always bothering the other customers whenever he comes… Fine, if you beat him, I will treat you a drink.”
“It’s a deal!” (Yashiro)
Thus I got a free drink ticket and 13,000 Rb cash. I started walking towards Goffredo who was sitting on the counter seat. There was no other customer sitting there because afraid of him. The pitiful master who couldn’t escape from the counter, shrunk his body as small as possible, so as not to attract his attention.
The chair made a creaking sound as I sat on it.
“What!? Do you want to complain?” (Goffredo)
Immediately asking if I wanted to complain, he seems to be aware that everyone has a complaint or two against him. Oh well, I didn’t come to pick a fight. I’ve come to talk about business.
“How about we make a bet?” (Yashiro)
“A bet?” (Goffredo)
“Yeah, it will be whether I can knock you out with a single punch on the face….” (Yashiro)
“Hahahaha! You’re going to punch me with those skinny arms of yours!? That’s not even funny! Such a thing isn’t going to be a bet!” (Goffredo)
Goffredo opened his big mouth and laughed heartily.
Yup, everything looks good so far.
“Not going to be a bet, huh….” (Yashiro)
“Got a problem!?” (Goffredo)
“We would never know before trying it.” (Yashiro)
I put 10,000 Rb on the counter.
“You can back off if you aren’t confident.” (Yashiro)
“You brat!” (Goffredo)
Goffredo pounded his hand on the top of money hard, as if he held a grudge against the counter itself.
“Fine, bring it on!” (Goffredo)
It’s scary! He won’t hit me back by reflex, right?
“Okay, get ready!” (Yashiro)
It’s getting scarier the more time passes. Let’s end this quickly!
I pulled his right punch to the back and then shot it straight to the right cheek of Goffredo while focusing my own body weight to it.
*punch!*
A loud punching sound could be heard. No, it was a crashing sound.
IT HUUUUUUUUURTS…….!!!
My fingers!
I'm sure the roots of my fingers are broken!
This seriously hurts like hell!
I want to cry!
Goffredo was surprised with his eyes wide open. The punch seemed much stronger than what he had anticipated.
“Fuuh…. You’re indeed strong just as the rumor said. Very well, you’ve won the game!” (Yashiro)
Having said that, I left the counter seat in hurry. There was nothing to speak any further and I wanted to get away from that place quickly.
Meanwhile, still looking at me with his scary face, Goffredo seemed unable to comprehend the situation yet. After all, someone had suddenly approached him, betting as much as 10,000 Rb of money, punched him on the face, and then just left.
“He looks weak, but he’s actually quite strong.”
“He must have thought that he had a chance of winning against me.”
“Otherwise, he wouldn’t challenge such a reckless game.”
“There’s no idiot who would throw 10,000 Rb for such a stupid thing after all.”
………… and so on. His head must be filled with such thoughts right now.
Well, that’s fine. Because in my eyes, I just got 3,000 Rb or equivalent to 30,000 yen for free. I made a profit. I gave him 10,000 Rb indeed, but it doesn’t hurt my wallet.
I was welcomed by dissatisfied faces of the uncles when I returned to my seat.
“Hey, what’s going on!? Goffredo is still standing healthy!?”
“What? I said I would ‘beat’ Goffredo. Haven’t I done it already?” (Yashiro)
All I said is I will beat him, not defeat him. I managed to do it perfectly, so where’s the problem?
With a thump sound, the dog-eared waitress placed a glass of grapefruit juice in front of me.
“You certainly did beat him on the face, but…. somehow…. I just couldn’t get rid of this complicated feeling from my chest.”
The dog-eared waitress said while cutely pouting.
“That complicated feeling will make you into an adult.” (Yashiro)
You’ll be betrayed by your expectation, sometimes. Going through this kind of experience will make one into an adult.
enjoyed the fresh grapefruit and left the tavern immediately.
I want to eat dinner here, but it doesn’t seem I can enjoy my meal in this kind of atmosphere. Oh well, with this I managed to secure the money for my lodging tonight. 3.000 Rb, the amount of other world money I earned for the first time. I can spend the rest of the day at ease.
From this moment, my other worlder life begins.
Yup, this is a good sign.
I’m sure I can have fun in this world.
Walking on the main street while thinking about the plans for the future, my train of thought was interrupted by a call from an unexpected figure.
“Oh! Found you!”
Looking carefully at the owner of that familiar voice…
“You are…………!?” (Yashiro)
“I’ve been looking for you, Customer.”
Standing in front of me, was a girl from the dilapidated restaurant — Hidamari-tei, where I dine-and-dashed last night. My heartbeat increased and my breathing turned chaotic.
This is bad…
I dine-and-dashed….
Furthermore, I clearly lied to her….
She can turn me into a frog if she want it….
A chills run down on my back.
Fuck, I’m screwed!