บท 34: Chapter 34 - Kidnapping (1)
Lucy was extremely busy, as usual, taking care of the vestals. She had to run to many tables in a row. The robots they bought helped her a lot. These white robots, about a meter tall, were quick to pick up and drop off orders.
Of course, she had to supervise them and check the unnecessary commands for guidance herself. Even when they started earning well, they couldn't buy an advanced model because they had to be frugal. They didn't need to anyway.
Lucy knew that customers would much rather talk to a real vestal when placing an order. For this reason, such robots were mostly used as support in large restaurants. Real vestals always took the orders.
Still, it wasn't much of a problem. He somehow managed in James's absence. That was quite enough.
As she made her way to the table where a young man with pale pink hair was sitting, she asked with a professional smile:
"Welcome, how can I help you?"
This young man with short pink hair had been sitting there for a while. Absentmindedly scrolling up and down the screen of the tablet with the menu, he seemed to be having trouble choosing something suitable for himself. When he heard Lucy's voice, he jumped up.
After a nervous glance left and right, he turned to Lucy.
"Huh? Order, yeah! Right, I don't know. Ha ha! What should I order?"
Lucy was surprised to realize that the young man was speaking incoherently out of panic. But then she smiled. It was clear to her why.
"I think you're waiting for James. He's off today, I'm afraid."
It wasn't the first time. It probably wouldn't be the last. James and Lucy had encountered many fans and James had had to throw some of them out, just like Gray. In such cases, of course, she thought James was right. What kind of psychopath would wonder what time someone went to the bathroom?
Panicked by Lucy's answer, the pink-haired young man's mood suddenly soured. He got up from the table in frustration.
"I understand. Thanks, miss."
With that, he headed for the exit. If James wasn't here, there was no reason for him to be here.
Lucy waved her hand at him and said politely, "Please come back soon." and then went to attend to another customer.
The pink-haired young man was just opening the door when he saw someone running madly towards him. At first, he thought he had seen wrong. But then, when he identified the person, he shouted, "It's James!"
It was undoubtedly James. Quickly, everyone sitting by the window turned their gaze outward. Only a few people continued their meal without a care in the world.
Lucy frowned. She had given him permission to wander around a bit, to relax, and he was coming back not even an hour later?
As she made a mental note to question this later, she took an order from a middle-aged man with orange hair.
The pink-haired young man stood where he was, confident that James would stop moving. Perhaps it was fate that he met him just as he was about to leave. Maybe he could even get some advice from him!
At that moment she heard a shout from one of the people looking out the window.
"Hey! What the hell is he doing!?"
"What the hell is that?"
"Isn't he the owner of Eclipse? H-How???"
He heard the voices and didn't realize what was happening. He was so focused on James at that moment that he couldn't make sense of what was being said.
James, meanwhile, was moving at full speed like a car with no brakes!
Fear filled the pink-haired young man's eyes when he realized that there was no sign of stopping. He tried to run, but unfortunately, his speed was not fast enough and after standing there so stupidly, there was no chance of escape.
He closed his eyes in fear. He was screaming inwardly at him to slow down. His heart was pounding with fear and excitement.
A vestal could not be this fast. But he didn't even think about that. He just hoped it wouldn't hurt too much.
Fortunately, contrary to what he thought, there was no collision. The wind blew past him like a bullet grazing his body. He didn't feel any pain.
When he opened his eyes slightly, James was right in front of him. He gripped the swivel chair in one hand. He was just staring at him.
His hair with white ends was tousled by the wind. He had a smile on his face.
He mockingly said these words:
"Beep, beep."
Standing up straight like a bird, he wondered inwardly if he remembered correctly.
Just then, a bird in another universe raised its head as if it had been called. He looked to his right and left. When he was sure that Coyote was not around, he went back to his meal.
James, meanwhile, shook his head from side to side and fixed his gaze on the young man.
As soon as James saw him, he had to slow down his pace and finally managed to stand exactly in front of the young man.
Victor, who was supposed to be sitting on the sofa... well, he fainted. Or was he half fainted? James wasn't sure if he was fainted or not, but he was sure he brought him to safety.
The pink-haired young man took a few steps back as he took deep breaths in and out. His heartbeat could be heard. The young man wanted to say many words.
But all he could say were these words:
"Shit."
Then he fainted right in front of him. James was left standing in the doorway with two vestal men, one half-fainted, and one just fainted.
James sighed with that. Even with a quick glance, he could see that many people inside the restaurant were taking pictures of him. Everyone was undoubtedly surprised. But some were quick and didn't want to miss the moment.
At that moment almost everyone had forgotten they were at the restaurant. Even the man who was going to order Lucy was no exception.
Lucy dropped everything and hurried towards the door. The first sound to be heard, just before a thud, was Lucy's black heels and a shout of surprise:
"James, what are you doing!?"
And with that came the inevitable thud. Some were anxiously asking about the fainting vestals. Others were trying to make sense of what had happened.
In the midst of all this rumbling, James simply lowered the chair to the floor. Then he straightened up slightly and gave Victor two slaps across the face.
"Wake up, simp! I brought Lucy."
That was undoubtedly the best phrase James had come up with for Victor all the way there. And it was obvious why he said it.
He adjusted his strength so as not to kill him, but with the first slap, he started spinning like a spinning top. And with that, he shouted:
"AAAAAAAAA! FUCK! STOP~!"
With Victor's shout, James stopped the swivel chair, much to Victor's relief. Victor staggered forward, almost falling forward, but recovered with difficulty. But as soon as he straightened up, he and Lucy exchanged glances.
One could see clear terror in the other's eyes and clear excitement in the other's.
It was Victor who was scared. He tried to step back but he hadn't even regained his balance and fell to the ground.
Lucy was nervous. She couldn't understand why James had brought him here. But there was a look of excitement on her face that she could hardly hide. She was excited to see an old friend. Of course, this disappeared very quickly. It was replaced by a skeptical expression.
Victor acted as if he had seen the bogeyman. James, not caring about any of the stares, despite the age difference, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and started dragging him into the restaurant, as if he was preventing a child from running away.
"You're coming with me. It's time to fix this big boy's problem and yours."
James was probably practicing the worst kind of relationship repair possible. But if it wasn't direct, he wouldn't have the time he needed to fulfill the quest's requirement. Well, no gain without risk.
Many would come looking for him because of his excessive speed, and just as many would come looking for him because he had kidnapped Victor. But these were all issues that could be resolved. It would just take time. Well, a few hours didn't matter as long as he made it to tomorrow.
Under the fearful stares of many, James dragged Victor into the restaurant. He was too lazy to drag him faster. He was already overtired from the excessive use of force and speed. He could feel the scaling completely enveloping his legs.
Yes, he could feel this progression now. It was very difficult to describe it. It was like something was coming out of her. You couldn't feel it when you were focused on something, but in these situations it was palpable.
Lucy was confused as he dragged her away like this. She couldn't understand what James was trying to do. Did he want to reconcile them? But why? And why was Victor so scared when he saw her?
With all kinds of questions in her head, she didn't ask anything.
James frowned for a moment when he realized that Esther was nowhere to be seen. But he didn't think much of it, probably thinking that Lucy hadn't put him straight to work.
In this way, they moved towards one of the rooms inside the restaurant. Many of the customers inside the restaurant were speechless at the show they were watching. No doubt this was going to be the biggest topic after the Tournament.
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