When Illya returned home, a huge figure suddenly appeared beside her.
That was the embodiment of madness and also the embodiment of terror.
Just one glance at him was enough to make people feel the violent, frenzied aura coming from him.
However, if one looked carefully at his face... they would be shocked to discover something.
He looked extremely similar to Heracles!
But, there was no clarity in his eyes.
"Sorry, Berserker. I made you worry. I'm fine."
Illya gently patted the body of the giant named Berserker.
There was a soft smile on her face.
She looked like a kitten that had finally found something to rely on.
Berserker did not respond to Illya as he only stood there silently.
Like a giant who could block everything for her.
"Hey, Berserker, I saw you tonight."
"No, I guess I can't really say it was you."
"Maybe I should say it was your past..."
"The you who was still the great hero, Heracles."
"He really... was you. The moment I first saw him, I called him Berserker, but he didn't recognize me..."
"But... he said he would protect me..."
"I was so happy, Berserker!"
"Although I know he isn't you, when I heard him say he would protect me, I still thought of you."
"If... you could also tell me you would protect me... how wonderful would that be..."
"But, you know... I know, Berserker!"
"You will protect me!"
"Right?!"
"...."
Illya had already sat on the bed.
She supported her head with one hand and stared blankly at the wall in front of her as she spoke to herself.
Beside her, Berserker stood silently.
Illya did not look into Berserker's eyes while she spoke.
Because she knew he would not respond.
But she did not know that when she said, "You will protect me"—
A brief flash of clarity appeared in the silent giant's mad eyes.
It was like lightning in the night.
There, for only an instant before vanishing again.
...
When Sakura returned to the restaurant, it was already past three in the morning.
No more customers came after that, but the restaurant still did not feel empty or lonely.
It was not until around five, almost six, that Ainz and Rimuru finally removed the headsets from their heads and said they had to go back.
Because of Hatsune's concert, the two of them needed to return early and deal with all sorts of matters in their own bases first. Only then could they go to the concert with peace of mind.
"Kamisaka, you absolutely must remember to call me!"
Ainz spoke to Yuto in an extremely serious tone.
Someone who did not know better might think he was talking about some life-or-death matter.
Yuto nodded helplessly.
Beside Ainz, Rimuru also entrusted the matter to him with the same serious attitude.
"And me too! Boss, you absolutely can't forget me!"
To show how serious and excited he was, the slime even bounced twice.
Yuto raised both hands and pressed them down in the air, signaling for the two of them to calm down.
"All right, all right. I won't forget."
Only then did Ainz and Rimuru finally relax.
Seeing them like this made Yuto feel both helpless and amused.
He had never seen these two care this much about matters in their own bases!
After that, Ainz and Rimuru left one after another.
The only customer left in the restaurant was Fafnir.
Tonight, Fafnir had truly followed the core rule of an internet-addicted youth—
Nothing mattered while he was playing games.
The whole night, aside from saying a few words when he first entered the restaurant and briefly leaving the game to eat, Fafnir had spent all his time inside the game.
He simply sat there with the headset on.
Like a stone.
The entire night, he did not move at all and did not say a single word.
Yuto glanced at the clock.
'Good grief. It was already past six.'
'In a little while, it would be time to close.'
Should he wake Fafnir now?
After thinking for a moment, Yuto walked over and patted him.
When Fafnir removed the headset, his face looked obviously gloomy.
He looked like someone had interrupted him right when things were getting good.
"We're about to close."
Yuto's reminder made Fafnir's expression change slightly.
Fafnir turned his head and looked at the clock, a little disappointment appeared on his face.
But in the next moment, he returned to calm.
Tap.
Fafnir placed the headset on the table as he breathed out softly.
After all, he had played for an entire night, so he still needed a moment to recover.
Then he looked at Yuto.
"Boss, help me charge it. I'll come earlier tonight."
The SAO headsets Asuna had brought were all portable rechargeable types.
For people like Fafnir and Ainz, after playing every day, they still had to ask Yuto to charge them.
Before the headsets arrived, Ainz and Rimuru had also left their handheld consoles with Yuto in the same way.
"Mm."
Yuto nodded and placed Fafnir's headset into the empty space beneath the counter.
Ainz and Rimuru's headsets were also there, along with their two handheld consoles.
However, ever since Ainz and Rimuru started playing with the headsets, they rarely touched the handheld consoles anymore.
Gamers really were quick to love the new thing and forget the old one!
"Thanks."
Fafnir gave a simple word of thanks and stood up.
He did not even look at Kanna or Tohru before turning around and leaving.
As Yuto watched him go, he noticed something rather interesting.
Fafnir's steps seemed a little unsteady.
Yuto quickly understood why.
This must be a side effect of playing games all night.
After getting used to the game world, returning to the real world would naturally feel a little strange.
It seemed even dragons could not escape that~
After Fafnir opened the door and walked out, Tohru and Kanna sighed at the same time.
That sigh was filled with disappointment and helplessness toward the current Fafnir!
But things had already become like this and there was nothing they could do about it.
As fellow dragons, all they could do was sigh.
"By the way, do you two want to come to Hatsune's concert this afternoon?"
Yuto turned his head and spoke to Erina and Hisako.
The two girls looked at each other.
In the end, they both shook their heads helplessly.
Going to another world to watch a concert... It would be a lie to say they did not want to go.
But Erina and Hisako really could not.
First, the two of them needed to go back and rest.
Second, Erina's identity was special, and she still had many things to handle.
During the day, there were still many matters waiting for her at Tōtsuki.
She simply could not spare the time.
"Then there's no helping it."
After hearing the two girls' helpless explanation, Yuto could only nod.
In that case, the people going to Hatsune's concert would probably be Ainz, Rimuru, Shouko, Tohru, Kanna, Lucoa, and himself.
Seven people in total, most likely.
Originally, quite a few people had agreed to go to the concert.
But later, everyone ended up having their own things to deal with, so they could no longer go.
For example, Saitama had planned to go too, but because he was currently working hard on his training, he gave up on it.
Then there were the people from Gensokyo.
Marisa had casually agreed in a playful way back then, but later forgot about it, so naturally, that could not count.
There were also some others...
But for different reasons, they could not go watch Hatsune's concert either.
Yuto had long since prepared himself for this kind of situation.
Or rather, he had expected it from the beginning.
Whenever a group agreed to attend an event or do something together, by the time they actually had to leave, the number of people would often shrink a lot.
There would always be people who could not come for all sorts of reasons.
It was perfectly normal. ╮(╯▽╰)╭
The fact that seven people were still going was already pretty good.
However, there were still some uncertain factors.
For example, Shouko.
The little girl's schoolwork seemed quite busy lately.
He did not know whether she could take leave and come out.
It was almost closing time now, so there was no need to let Erina and Hisako continue staying here.
Yuto let the two of them get off work.
However, before Erina left, Yuto called out to her.
This made the Nakiri young lady a little confused.
"Nakiri, will you come again this afternoon?"
"I will." Erina nodded and answered.
Coming to work at the restaurant had now become something she truly cared about.
At first, she had still felt somewhat unwilling.
But after these two nights, after seeing so many strange and wonderful people and events, Erina realized that she had already become reluctant to leave the restaurant.
In daily life, her status was very high.
But no matter how high her status was, that was still an ordinary life.
Now, in the restaurant, she had seen a completely new world, one different from everything she had known before.
This kind of change in her heart was easy to understand.
After seeing something so amazing, how could she easily go back to a plain and ordinary life?
"Then help me bring a large freezer. The kind used in hotels."
Yuto's words made Erina even more confused.
'A large freezer?'
'What did he need that for?'
"There doesn't seem to be enough space in the restaurant..." Erina spoke with some hesitation.
Naturally, she knew how big hotel-style freezers were.
Even the smallest type would be hard to fit inside the restaurant.
"You don't need to worry about that. It won't be a problem."
Yuto smiled as he spoke.
The confidence in his words made Erina pause.
'Right.'
How had she ended up looking at this restaurant with ordinary common sense again?
"All right." Erina nodded. "Anything else?"
"No, that's all."
If the people at Tōtsuki saw Erina asking so willingly like this, they would definitely freeze in shock.
This kind of proactive Erina was not the Erina they remembered!
After receiving Yuto's answer, Erina could not help sighing inwardly.
When had she become someone who ran errands too?
The young lady's feelings were rather complicated right now.
The reason Yuto asked Erina to bring a large freezer was to make it easier to store and take ingredients in the kitchen.
Of course, he knew how big a hotel freezer was.
But that was not a problem for the restaurant.
Earlier, Yuto had already asked Ainz for help and Ainz had naturally agreed very quickly.
When the freezer arrived, Ainz only needed to cast several space-related spells on it. Then placing the freezer would become very easy.
...
After Erina and Hisako left, time slowly approached seven o'clock.
After Yuto had Tohru clean the restaurant once, he fell into another important question.
Should he go buy groceries first, or should he handle Kanna's school matter first?
It was seven o'clock now.
In a little while, the elementary school bus would arrive.
After thinking about it, Yuto decided to handle Kanna's school enrollment first.
Buying groceries could wait a little.
It was better to finish the school procedures first.
Also, Kanna wanted to see Shouko, so they had to reach Shouko's home before the school bus arrived.
Fortunately, that was not hard.
Shouko's home was very close to the restaurant. It only took a few steps to get there.
"Kanna, let's go handle your school enrollment now, all right?"
Yuto stroked Kanna's little head.
When the little dragon girl heard this, her eyes immediately lit up.
"Ooooooooh!"
Kanna raised her smoll fist.
She looked like a penguin trying its best to lift one flipper, and it was extremely cute!
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