Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! Chapter 357

"Good day. How is everyone doing?"
"Master!
"Master, welcome!"

After hurriedly changing clothes and leaving the Japanese café, I headed for my next destination, the curry store.
Unlike the Japanese café that's in the prominent location, the curry stone is a little complicated to reach. If not for the word of mouth, people wouldn't gather there easily, but nowadays it's a famous place in the Royal Capital. It's recognized enough to always have a queue.
Today as well, around eight people were lined up. When I entered from the back while delighted by satisfactory sales, the store manager Lars and the employees readily showed me in.

"What about the Japanese café?"
"I went there in the morning. What about here? Are things going as usual?"
"Yes. The newly introduced curry soup is doing well. The number of female customers have increased."

I was happy to hear that.
The curry store had men to women ratio of about 7 to 3, so I wanted to attract more female customers. I introduced the curry soup for that, and it appears to be working.

"I'm sure being full of chunky vegetables did the trick. I wonder if we should next introduce smaller portions for women…"

The so called small serving.
There are women who eat a lot, but not an insignificant number avoids eating the usual large portions. If we can answer all sorts of needs, the number of customers should increase.
While making various strategies, I checked the taste of curry and looked over the store interior. When I roughly finished my business, a customer visited me.

"Lidi."
"Good day."

Who came was Ms. Tithi.
Ms. Tithi also knows about Ilya's older sister, and recently she often contacts me. Today too we arranged to meet at the curry store.

"Sorry, I kept you waiting."
"It's all right. I just finished my business."

I told everyone that I was leaving and went outside with Ms. Tithi. After moving to a place with a good view, I spoke.

"Thank you very much for cooperating with the lottery event some time ago. The event safely ended as a success. Ms. Tithi, it was thanks to you persuading everybody in the association."

I slightly bowed my head and thanked her.
The lottery event only came to fruition because Ms. Tithi used her influence in the association to persuade everyone. When I said my thanks for making the realization of my plan possible, Ms. Tithi said, "Please stop," with an uncomfortable face.

"I didn't really do it just for you. I simply cooperated because it would benefit the association. And the earnings were in fact considerable. So you don't need to bow your head to me."
"… Yes. But it's the truth that I received your recommendation."

I'm still just as grateful to Ms. Tithi. When I told her my thoughts, Ms. Tithi leaned on a nearby wall and said.

"You're earnest…"

Her voice sounded exasperated. But, you should thank for such things properly. Although the event went well, the fact that I forced my plans on everyone doesn't change. I'm aware I made everyone prepare in great hurry while they were busy.
Having thanked her, I presented her a box of Japanese confections I brought from the café.

"Please eat them together with association members."
"You have many fans, so I'm sure everybody will be happy, but you didn't have to force yourself."
"I didn't force myself. I'll be happy if you enjoy it."
"… Thanks."

Although she hesitated for a moment, Ms. Tithi eventually accepted the box of confections.
And then, in a lowered voice she said, "About the thing you asked for," as though she found it difficult to talk about.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any good news. I used various connections to investigate, but at the very least, Philia doesn't seem to be in the Royal Capital."
"Is… that so?"

I nodded to Ms. Tithi's report. I'd expected it, but it was disappointing.

"Be that as it may, my connections are only prostitutes. If Philia hadn't been sold into prostitution, I can't search for her. It might be good that I haven't found her."
"That's… Yes."

She's certainly right. According to Ilya, her older sister was kidnapped by a slaver.
It's unknown who the slaver sold her to, but it could be said that it's good she hasn't been found this time.
Though on the emotional level it feels very complicated.

"Ms. Philia, where are you?"

She hasn't been seen in Irvine, Wilhelm, nor in Tarim.
Of course, the search hasn't covered the entire countries. Only a part of them has been searched, but still, my heart feels like it'll break from the complete lack of hints.

"Well, I won't give up with this either. Now, I've requested the prostitutes I work with to ask the customers if they know anything. I described her outward characteristics while hiding the fact that she's a beastman. I'll give you information if they hear something about that child."
"Thank you. I think Ilya will be delighted as well."

Unfortunately, I couldn't tell Ilya about Ms. Tithi yet. The letters are inspected, so there's a possibility Ms. Tithi or Ilya would get exposed as beastmen. I decided to stay completely silent to avoid that risk.
I'll talk to her in detail the next time we meet, but when will that be? There will be an international conference, but it's unclear whether Ilya will some, so I'm feeling quite impatient.

"Well, don't be impatient. Nothing good comes from it."
"Yes… I understand that."

I'm very much impatient about this situation without any hints.

"I'll make sure to contact you if I learn something. That's why, wait until there's something only you can do. A hint might come from an unexpected place."
"Yes."
"Yup. Then, I'll be going soon."
"Thank you very much for your time."

The time was slowly approaching evening. The number of clients at Ms. Tithi's place will also be increasing, so I couldn't hold her here anymore.
I stated my thanks and parted with her. I also wanted to check on the hamburg steak store, but I had no time. I joined up with Cain, who had been waiting in an inconspicuous place, and with resignation decided to go home for today.

"Hmm… Hmm…"

Having returned to the castle a little earlier than usual, I spun a quill around while facing a sheet of writing paper.
I was thinking of writing Ilya a letter, but I couldn't figure out what to write. I rewrote it many times and each time ultimately threw it in the trash can.

"What should I write to not expose them…"

What I was struggling with was how to tell Ilya about Ms. Tithi.
I wanted to write a letter that won't cause problems during inspection while telling Ilya about Ms. Tithi. Although I'd decided to wait until the international conference, I wanted to quickly talk about Ms. Tithi, so I was racking my brains over how to do it.

"Nothing comes to mind…"

Rena is still fine.
It's a well-known fact that she's a beastman. That's why nobody finds it strange that a letter from her father came from Arcanum Island.
There may be doubts about it passing through Ilya, but the relationship between Irvine and Arcanum Island is famous, so it shouldn't be too suspicious.
However, it's different for Ms. Tithi. Both her and Ilya hide that they're beastmen. Moreover, they're a commoner and Crown Princess. It doesn't make sense for them to have a connection.
Is there no way to tell Ilya, a Crown Princess, about Ms. Tithi?
I was thinking so hard I felt like steam rose from my head.

"… Invisible ink? If I used invisible ink, won't others know?"

I was getting more and more confused.

"How about cipher? If I use cipher, it won't be exposed to others… If I draw draw a picture of a tanuki and write, "This is a hint!" …. Won't it easily be deciphered then!!"

Slam! I unconsciously hit the desk with my hands.
No matter how I look at it, the so called 'ta'nuki cipher1, that was extremely popular in my previous life, is much too ridiculous.

"No good… I overworked my head, so I'm getting nothing but stupid ideas."

Let's give up for today. When I put down the quill with that in mind, I heard a chuckle from behind.
I knew who it was without checking and called that person's name while turning my head.

1) Play on the word tanuki that means skip 'ta'. The cipher involves adding 'ta' then deciphering by skipping them. ↵

Chapter end