Volume 5 Chapter 6 Let me show you Hero's secret technique
The crew cuts guy clenched his fist.
"That bastard, I can't believe he's really with a woman...!"
"Hold on, calm down. It's not confirmed yet that she's the one."
"Yeah, I guess we need more information."
So, we secured a place where we could see them without being easily seen.
"So, what will Souji eat?"
"If we came here, it's definitely the umami chicken."
"Have you ever tried escargot? It's surprisingly delicious."
"What did you guys come here for?"
It would be suspicious if we entered the family restaurant and didn't order anything.
In the end, we ordered drinks for everyone, umami chicken, escargot, and potatoes.
But even though we can see them, we can't hear their voices, so honestly, we don't know if they're lovers or not.
Matsuda, who was sucking on a straw while playing with his phone, muttered.
"Unless we have an eavesdropping device, we can't hear their conversation."
"I don't have that."
From what I can see, it seems to be a stylish woman who doesn't seem to belong in a family restaurant. Maybe she's the one with the stylish beard.
Oh well. I'm not really enthusiastic about it, but since we've come this far, let's use a little trick.
I concentrate my magic power on my ears and sharpen my senses. The voices around me explode, and I can even hear the voices from the kitchen.
This won't do, focus. Ignore unnecessary information and rely on the direction to choose the voice of the stylish beard.
Former Hero's secret technique, power eavesdropping. Moreover, it has a voice function that reproduces the heard voice as it is.
I have eavesdropped on countless conversations between Eris and the girls and the important people. In this distance and noise, it's easy to pick up the conversation of the stylish beard.
'――It's difficult even if you ask me.'
'Why? You can handle it, right?'
'It's different this year. Above all, the crackdown has become stricter every year. You'd better get away from this kind of thing.'
'I don't want to hear such a reasonable argument.'
'I'm not denying Melty Market, but――'
Just as they were about to say that, Matsuda exclaimed, "Ah!"
My concentration was interrupted, and a flood of voices rushed in. It's noisy, so I stopped enhancing my magic power for a moment.
"What's wrong, Matsuda? I can't hear it anymore."
"By the way, how can Yuusuke understand what they're talking about?"
"Lip reading."
"Huh?"
Souji narrowed his eyes as if he didn't understand, but it's more realistic than explaining about magic power and such.
"More importantly, what happened, Matsuda?"
"I understood the whole conversation. If she's from Melty Market, it's not strange for her to be with Takayama."
"What's Melty Market?"
Souji also seemed unfamiliar, so he asked while removing the meat from the umami chicken.
By the way, most of the dishes that were supposed to have arrived while I was eavesdropping are missing. Hey, I won't give you this escargot.
"You guys don't know about Melty Market. What about Yoshiwara?"
"I don't know either. What is it?"
"'What is it'? You guys haven't fully enjoyed your university life yet."
Normally, Matsuda's face would be annoying, but now I'm too busy eating escargot. By the way, was it Yoshiwara? Well, I think it's easier to remember "Crew cuts".
Matsuda took out a pen and notebook from somewhere and started writing something.
"If you don't know about Melty Market, you probably don't know about the others either. Come to think of it, last year, both Souji and Yuusuke left the Souten Festival quickly."
"Well, there's no point in staying too long. But we did participate in the Night Parade on the third night."
By the way, last year, I think it was about two months since I started dating Tsukiko. I remember the two of us participating in the Night Parade.
Oops, this escargot has a bit too much saltiness.
"Is Melty Market related to the Souten Festival?"
"Of course. In the first place, Melty Market is like an unofficial circle."
"An unofficial circle? It's just a gathering of close friends, right?"
I remember that the conditions for creating a circle at our school were very lenient. As long as there were five or more members and you submitted an application, it should have been approved.
However, if you wanted a club room or a budget, it was a different story. You needed some achievements to get those.
"There are almost a hundred participants in Melty Market. Definitely more than our circle."
"What? That many people? Then it's not unofficial, right?"
"It's unofficial. After all, the purpose of their activities is buying and exchanging branded goods."
Huh, really?
"Is that even a thing? At our university..."
"Just use a regular flea market app."
Matsuda answered Souji's question while putting a lot of ketchup on the remaining potato.
"Well, in terms of form, yes. Since everyone is from the same school, there's no need for shipping fees, and it's easy to identify each other, so the trust level is high."
"That's a weird kind of trust."
If you do something strange, your identity will be revealed immediately. Scary, the brand network is scary.
"Just hearing that doesn't say much, but it's not all bad. They distribute good items to financially struggling students who don't mind buying used items, or lend them out for date plans."
"Oh, I see. It's surprisingly functioning well."
"Well, most of the kids involved in that are like potential shopaholics."
Matsuda said with a smirk, but it's not funny at all. No wonder their application didn't get approved.
The crew cuts guy who had been searching for mistakes on the menu raised his head.
"So, what does Melty Market have to do with Souten Festival?"
"Or rather, it's related to the 'Ura Tenmatsuri'."
"Ura Tenmatsuri (The Reverse Heaven Festival)?"
What's with the 'ura'? It's natural for humans to have a public and private side, but to have a 'ura' even in a cultural festival. However, when I hear 'ura', it gives off a bad atmosphere, but when I hear 'ura option', it makes me a little excited. Japanese is difficult. Ura Tenmatsuri had a somewhat exciting atmosphere.
Matsuda twisted his lips cynically and put the potato in his mouth like a cigarette. Disgusting.
"Well then, let me explain a bit to you clueless guys."
"Just get on with it."
"Yuusuke, do you want another serving of umami chicken?"
"Wait, before that, does anyone want to go get drinks?"
You can go get it yourself.
"...Let's cherish the atmosphere a bit more..."
But you look happy though.
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