I didn’t pick up the serie, just wanted to change of text ~~
This is mtl, you are warned.
While I was thinking about that, as the pain in my nose started to recede, that guy came back.
It’s Guzuya.
He runs into the dining room, out of breath.
Maybe he lives quite far away.
“You didn’t have to be in such a hurry.”
“Hey, I have to pay you today or I won’t be able to work tomorrow because I’ll be worrying about it…”
After returning to his home, he calmed down somewhat, but the honorifics disappeared from Guzuya. His expression was also more firm than before.
“By the way, what do you do for a living?”
“I-It doesn’t matter right?!”
“It’s just small talk. Just small talk to entertain a customer, nothing more.”
“…a carpenter! Is that bad?!”
I’m being hated huh.
Ginette looks at me with an anxious expression at the sight of Guzuya. She must be confused, not understanding the situation.
Estella narrowed her eyes as she had guessed something. But she doesn’t seem to have any intention of interrupting, and is silently bringing stewed river fish and hard black bread to her mouth.
“Look, 20 Rb! You’ve got nothing to complain about with this! Tear up that paper!”
I take the 20Rb held out to me and look at an exasperated Guzuya.
Then, in a calm voice, I say
“It’s not enough, though?”
“Huh!?”
Guzuya shouts out loud.
the veins on his neck and forehead bulged so much they look like they could explode at any moment.
“What I ate was fried scrap vegetables! Isn’t it 20Rb!? You trying to rip me off!?”
Guzuya slam his fist on a nearby table.
If you break it, I’ll make you pay for it.
“Sure, that scrap vegetable stir-fry you just ate cost 20 rb. You’re not wrong.”
“So how come…?”
Guzuya chokes on his words as I take out a piece of paper from my breast pocket.
Guzuya’s eyes follow the sentence he had written.
“What does it say here?”
The paper that had been thrust in Guzuya’s face was put on a nearby table.
And Ginette and Estella looked at the paper.
“This……..”
Estella looks at the paper and lets out a small word.
Then she glares at me with very cold eyes.
She was about to open her mouth, but didn’t say anything and quickly went back to her seat.
The look on her face as she sits back suggests that she wants to talk to me later.
While Estella and I are exchanging glances, Guzuya seems to be rereading his writing, and when he finishes, he exclams.
“All it says here is ”I’ll pay for what I’ve eaten and drunk at Hidamari-tei”! So 20 Rb of scrap vegetable stir-fry would be right for you!”
Convinced of his own legitimacy, Guzuya gains momentum.
So I dare to speak slowly and clearly.
“Who’s going to believe it was your first offence?”
There is no way that this guy, who knew that Ginette was going to be holed up in the kitchen and used that time to dine and dash as he was to, was a first time offender.
“do-don’t say such bad thing… you-you don’t even have any proof…”
You’re terrible at lying.
Well, It seems “Judgment of Spirits” hates outright lies….
“When you sat down, you asked Ginette ‘Did you fix the chairs?’ right?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“Doesn’t that mean you came when the chair were still rickety?”
“Uh………that is…”
“Did you pay properly at that time?”
“………”
“You know where the bathroom is, right? I asked Ginette where it was at first, but you knew didn’t you? Did you pay properly that time you were here?”
“…but this time and that…”
“Read the text there again.”
I point to the piece of paper spread out on the desk and says.
It’s written [I will pay for all the food and drink I’ve eaten and drunk at the Hidamari-tei].
“It says to pay whatever food or drink you’ve had at Hidamari-tei you didn’t pay for.”
“Wait, I didn’t mean to write that…?”
“So you want the spirit god to decide?”
“Urgh!”
I slowly point to Guzuya.
“Do you have the courage to be judged?”
Staring straight at Guzuya, he fell to the floor and slumped his shoulders, admitting his defeat.
“Okay, I’ll pay you in full. I’m sorry… I won’t do it again, so please don’t call the Judgment of spirit…”
I don’t know how many times this guy ate and ran. We’re going to have to get him to confess.
It’s extremely unlikely that he’ll tell a lie there.
If he is suspicious, we can just ask ‘How many times did he escape with his food?’ and leave it up to the Judgment of spirit.
When I questioned him, I found out that he had eaten and run away eighteen times, with a total loss of 640Rb.
Did he eat bread or something?
Again, he didn’t have anything on him to pay, so I made him write a new letter of reminder and sent him home.
I don’t think he’s the only one who has done this, but if rumor of this gets around, the thieves won’t come again.
We won’t be able to collect the past amount, but at the moment, it’s more important to prevent future losses.
However, as soon as I find the dine and dash thieves, I’m going to rip them off without mercy.
Even after Guzuya left, Ginette had a worried look on her face.
“… this customer, will he come again?”
“If it’s to dine and dash, it’s better if he doesn’t come back.”
“But… that customer said ‘It’s good’…”
“Ginette.”
This kind of person need to be told off clearly.
“What you’re feeling right now isn’t kindness, it’s stupidity. STU-PI-DI-TY.”
“Stupid…?”
“Yes, and that’s very outrageous.”
“I’m an outrageous…”
I sit Ginette in a chair and sit next to her, not across the desk.
We sit face-to-face, so close that our knees are touching, looking into each other’s eyes and speak.
“Let’s say you were so self-sacrificing that you overlooked Guzuya’s food escape. Then what would be the position of the old lady, who pays you properly and comes to you for tea every day?”
“Ah…..”
This is the first time I thought of that.
With a face screaming that, Ginette looks at me.
Anguish, anxiety, desire for help…
“The old lady isn’t particularly wealthy, is she? Isn’t she contributing to the sales, as small as it may seems, in a way she can so that you can make ends meet?”
“…Yes.”
“You’re trampling on the good intentions of Grandma Mumm, who spends her hard-earned money like that for you, with impunity.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
The old lady, who is cutting back on her budget and paying for her tea.
More than that, it’s Guzuya who is eating overpriced ingredients for free.
To say that both of them are important customers is disrespectful to the old lady, who is following the rules.
And moreover, to overlook it knowing that it was dine and dash…….
“I don’t care if the other customers don’t pay, but does ‘only’ the old lady have to pay to get tea?”
“No!”
“Then, do you want the old lady to get stuff free too?”
“….”
“If you want that, this is no longer a restaurant. Your grandfather’s diner will close.”
“……Such…………”
Ginette turns over and squeezes the hands on her knees.
The hem of her skirt wrinkles and slighty trembles.
“Think again about what’s important and what you should be taking care of.”
“Yes.”
“And hey, dine and dish is a crime. Don’t allow it.”
“But…..”
“Maybe he’s just a poor guy, not a bad person. …is that what you’re trying to say?”
“Yes.”
“Then you better tell them it’s wrong.”
I softened the sound of my voice a bit and said it, and Ginette slowly looked up.
“….Tell them…?”
“Yeah. Tell them ‘Don’t stoop so low as to doing such bad things’. You say that a lot right, ‘Repent’.”
…Repent.
Ginette’s hands move from her knees to the front of her chest and are put together to pray.
“Will that help the person to be saved?”
“At least the charges will be dropped. As long as you get the money, I’m not going to pursue it any further.”
“Yes…”
Squeezing her hand, Ginette’s cheeks loosen up and she smiles softly.
“Then I’ll do my best.”
The ginette that had never denounced anyone was now about to change.
With this, the management of this diner will be somewhat better.
Well, it’s still the Ginette that didn’t realize that I, who gave such a lecture, committed dine and dash and still haven’t paid for it.
It would be a hard blow if she just said ‘You’re in the wrong place to say that!’.”
“That was a great lecture.”
As soon as the smile returned to Ginette, Estella clapped her hands and walked in front of me.
Her eyes… are not smiling.
“Well, I’ll denounce one of the sins… of yours!”
As she says it, Estella taps the paper spread out on the desk with a bang.
It’s a new reminder that she had Guzuya write.
“I told you, didn’t I! that misuse of the Lord’s emblem is a felony!”
“Yeah, you said that, I think.”
“So what’s this all about, then?”
“You’re not abusing the Lord’s emblem, right?”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to say, ‘It’s not abuse because I used it for a good deed’? Private use without permission is considered abuse!”
“I know right. Using this without permission would be bad for a number of reasons.”
“You know that, so why did you…?”
Estella grabbed me.
She tightens her grip on my collar and I choke up a little.
“Well, calm down a little.”
“Do you think this is going to help me stay calm?”
“Just take a good look at this.”
Saying this, I hold out a piece of paper in my breast pocket in front of Estella.
On it is stamped an emblematic seal with a picture of a two-headed eagle and a snake.
Estella releases my collar and takes the paper. She stares at it intently and let out a deep sigh.
“I can’t believe you made this thing…….counterfeiting emblems is an offense punished by beheading, you know?”
“I’m telling you, look carefully!”
I point to the paper emblem that Estella had taken from me.
In particular, near the face of the eagle.
The two eagle heads drawn there are both winking at each other.
“……..what is this?”
“Isn’t that cute?”
“It’s not cute! What’s with this joke of an emblem!”
“It’s my emblem.”
“Huh?”
I don’t have an emblem.
and as I don’t have one, I decided to make it.
At that time, I was looking for something to use as a model, and I happened to find the permit from the lord that you gave me.
“So I used that emblem as a ‘reference’ to create my own original emblem.”
That’s a sham!
‘Well, I’ll admit it’s a sham, but I never forged or abused the ‘Lord’s Emblem’.
“You don’t think that excuse will work…”
“Are you sure?”
“……….”
Estella crosses her arms and ponders.
It’s a very grey area. But it shouldn’t be out.
“And it’s clearly written on it. Look here.”
I point to the snake entwined around the body of a two-headed eagle, Estella and Ginette stare at it as if devouring it.
On the body of that snake, the words ‘OBA’ and ‘YASHIRO’ are written in a way that looks like a speckled pattern.
“See? It’s my emblem, right?”
“I have to admit… I’m stunned.”
“Yashiro-san, it’s amazing. I’m amazed that you were able to carve such fine characters.”
That’s as fine as the tip of a toothpick.
It takes a lot of skill to write such fine and inverted characters.
I’m so proud of myself for pulling it off!
This is where my master’s teachings are alive and well. I remember my master used to say ‘We should be particular about the details, that’s what make the beauty of it.'”
“Alright. I’m going to forget about this case.”
Estella shook her hands with a look of exhaustion on her face.
“But if you keep doing this, one day you’ll catch the lord’s eye and the guards will start moving.”
It is said that the lords of each district have their own vigilante groups to protect the security of the district they govern.
It seems that there are also security guards in the 42 wards to protect the lord, the residents and the security of the district.
It’s like a police in Japan.
“If that happens, the excuse that they are not similar to each other won’t hold. Noblemen’s statements can twisted some trivial truth to fit their wishes.”
“They’re the ones who should be judged by the spirit god.”
“I’m trying to warn you that you won’t be able to stay here if you keep making statements like that?”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll see to it.”
Apparently, I’d better seal off “Operation: My Emblem”.
I did my best to carve it.
“Anyway, your behavior is too outlandish. You just need to pull yourself together a bit more.”
Inserting the stamped paper into my breast pocket, Estella continues.
“If you disappear, Ginette will be sad.”
When I was told that, I looked at the ginette….
Kokuri–
(TN: if it’s what i think doesn’t have a real translation, just marks a moment of palpable tension)
— and she nodded with a soft smile on his face.
… even though it’s only been three days since we met.
This guy must say that to anyone.
The moment anyone who she had even the slightest conversation with was gone, she would feel lonely.
So there is no need for me to feel that way about it.
But, well, I guess I’m going to stay here for a while.
I don’t have anywhere to go.
I don’t even know the city yet.
“… Okay.”
So I answered that for now.
Roartion 
Thanks for the chappy!
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