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“They’re definitely not here for business,” Joey muttered, his brows knitting together as he stood up beside me the moment the men walked in. Without hesitation, he stepped in front of me, shielding me with his body. Well, that’s just what boys do, isn’t it?

“Whoa! Damn, she’s a real gem! Hey, woman, bring us some drinks! Actually, forget this dump. Come with us to someplace nicer!”

With a sleazy grin, the man leading the group reached out toward me. The proprietress’ voice grew rough as she shouted, “What do you think you’re doing to our girl?!” Joey, however, calmly swatted the man’s hand away.

“You little punk. Hand the woman over to me!”

The proprietress froze at the man’s threatening tone, now booming across the room. Joey, however, casually responded, “In your dreams.”

“Oh, so you’re trying to act tough, huh? You don’t know what happens to punks like you when they try to act all cool!”

The drunken man’s face flushed even deeper as he let out a growl, pulling out a hanger sword, a short-bladed weapon commonly used by sailors—similar to a cutlass.

“Hey, careful where you’re swinging that thing. You might hurt someone,” Joey warned, sounding utterly bored.

The man took Joey’s calm tone as mockery and slashed toward him in a rage, trying to prove his point with a silent strike.

“Shut up!”

An average person might have crumbled under the man’s twisted expression and the threat of a sword aimed their way. But Joey was no ordinary guy—he was an adventurer, skilled in this kind of thing. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, watching the man’s clumsy sword swing. Finding an opening, he swiftly struck the man’s wrist, causing him to drop the blade.

As the man bent down, flustered, to retrieve his fallen sword, Joey wasted no time and drove a knee straight into his face.

“Arrrghhh!”

One of the man’s rough-looking comrades hurriedly dodged to the side as the man was sent flying out the door.

“Aren’t you his buddy? Why are you dodging instead of catching him?” Joey asked, raising an eyebrow.

Joey casually picked up the hanger sword the man had dropped, inspecting it for a moment. He had left his own sword in the kitchen, not wanting it to get in the way while he was serving. For now, this would do as a substitute.

“You little punk, how dare you look down on us!”

One of the man’s comrades shouted angrily as he drew his own weapon.

“You’re the ones who barged into a closed shop. All I did was swat away an annoying fly.”

Heh, looks like he’s gained enough experience to talk back now.

“You’ll pay for that! Now die!” One of the men lunged forward, sword in hand. His swing was basic, lacking any real technique.

“A goblin could swing better than you,” Joey sidestepped the sword as it sliced through the air, casually muttering his insult before countering with the hanger in his hand. With a swift kick to the man’s stomach, he sent him flying out of the shop, just like the first one.

“The nerve of this b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲!”
“You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into!”
“You’re dead meat!”

The remaining men kicked a table out of their path and charged at Joey all at once.

“Need a hand?” I called from behind Joey, finally making my presence known.

Joey glanced back with a bored expression, replying, “With amateurs like these? I might as well handle the boring stuff.”

Well then, I guess I’ll just keep playing the damsel in distress. I shrugged and took a few steps back, giving him more room to maneuver. With all this commotion, I figured there’d be a crowd gathering outside. But instead, the streets were eerily silent, blanketed in darkness, not a single onlooker in sight.

—Looks like someone’s keeping watch out there.

I guessed my overprotective entourage had scared off any onlookers. Just as I was thinking this, Joey took down another thug and tossed him out the door.

Outside, darkness swallowed the fallen man, and for a moment, the eerie sound of something crunching echoed in the night.

“…Hey, Joey. I hate to leave you dealing with this mess alone, but could you leave one of them for me? I’ve got a few questions.”

After all, the three others lying outside were probably beyond questioning at this point.

Joey looked at me skeptically but shrugged. “Alright.” He swiftly kicked one man out the door and knocked the sword from the last man’s hand with ease.

“Is this good enough?” Joey asked, holding the sword at the remaining man’s throat. The man, now sober and drenched in cold sweat, trembled in fear.

“Yes, that was perfect. You’re just like a hero,” I said, giving him a light clap in praise.

“Y-You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲! Do you really think you can get away with this? We’re members of Shrinkus—the Sea-Mountain Cat Order! Just hearing our name is enough to make children cry!”

Facing what could be the final moments of his life, the man decided to act defiant, declaring arrogantly.

Seeing the ‘what, now you’re afraid?’ look on his face, Joey and I reflexively glanced at each other.

“…Well, even if you shout, we’ve honestly never heard of you before.”
“…Sea-Mountain Cat Order? That’s a pretty confusing name. So, are you a sea cat or a mountain cat?”

Honestly, it was hard to associate the name with either. Irked by our unimpressed reactions, the man shouted even louder.

“You must be new around here! Everyone and their mother knows that we, the Shrinkus, are the great pirates of the northern Cornu region!”

“ “ “Pirates!?” ” ”

Our voices, including the proprietress’, overlapped in surprise.

“It… It really isn’t a trivial matter, then! Hiyu, let’s wrap this up quickly!” The pale-faced proprietress rushed to fetch Joey’s magic blade from inside and tossed it back to him in a hurry.

“It’d be impossible to run a business if pirates find out what happened. I’m sorry, but please leave right now!”

She practically pushed us toward the door, while that pirate flashed a smug grin, as if to say, “That’s the terror we bring!”

“…Understood. In that case, please act like you don’t know us, no matter what. If anything happens, contact the guards or an official. I’ll make sure they handle things properly.”

“Huh…? Order the guards, the officials… who are you, Hiyu…?”

I bowed slightly to the wide-eyed proprietress.

“Thank you for standing up for me earlier. It really made me happy when you said, ‘What do you think you’re doing to our girl?'”

I placed my apron on the table, and together with Joey, who had the pirate in a back hold, we left the shop.

I glanced back to see the proprietress, as if wanting to say something, but she only came to the entrance and watched us leave.

“H-Hey! Didn’t you hear me? I’ve got the backing of the Shrinkus family! Let me go!”
“Yes, we heard you loud and clear—and I’m sure we’ll hear more soon.”

I sighed, giving the still-yapping man a glance. Maybe the irritation showed on my face, because his expression stiffened immediately.

“…Well, don’t worry about the rest. Considering what happened to your friends, you’re actually lucky to be in one piece… for now.”

The man’s face drained of color at my remark, and he finally fell silent.

“Anyway, let’s take him to the villa first. Follow me, Hiyuki.” Joey strode ahead, taking the lead—probably trying to be considerate—and I hurried to keep up with him.

Even so, the surroundings were steeped in darkness, making it hard to tell what was happening. There should have still been some time before nightfall, but the main street was completely deserted.

“Right, can’t drag my feet forever, huh.”

Nodding at Joey’s words, I looked up at the sky, where the full moon hung brightly.