Chapter 16: A disciple I didn’t know came to visit.

Steren adapted faster than expected.

“Kid! Take the order here!”

“Shut up! Can’t you see I’m working?!”

“Oh, you’re so small I didn’t see you! Hahaha!”

“Shut up, bald head! Just sit down and drink!”

At first, I was a bit worried.

The kid was good at the work, but his attitude towards customers and his language were a bit rough.

However, since most of the customers were adventurers, no one really complained about the staff using harsh words.

In fact, it seemed like they preferred the kid’s energetic attitude…

Also, despite the rough language, it seemed like Steren made sure to avoid being too harsh when speaking to non-adventurers.

“What will you order?”

“One buttermilk chicken and two beers, please.”

“One chicken, two beers. Anything else?”

“Yes. By the way, young lady, is this the owner’s relative? You look young, but you’re quite impressive.”

“Who…! Tch, stop with the nonsense, isn’t that all? I’m going now!”

“Haha, so cute.”

And despite his small frame, his strength and work skills were impressive!

Being a dragon, it was natural for him, but the customers who didn’t know that saw Steren as ‘a slightly aloof but very competent kid’ and found him cute.

Before I knew it, he was seen as the mascot of our store!

Feeling a bit threatened by this, Selly confronted me.

“Boss, he’s a dragon, right? Why is he doing better than me?”

“Uh… because he’s a dragon?”

“And why do the customers find him cute! What if he steals all the customer attention from me?”

“I… can’t really do anything about that…”

What does ‘stealing customer attention’ mean?

Is it like a percentage of staff recognition?

But since Selly seemed so serious, I spent my time comforting her rather than asking about that.

Anyway, with Steren joining, our store regained some breathing room.

The only downside was that after he dominated the menu, he started asking for yakitori as his meal every time, but other than that, it was peaceful.

And then one day,

A sudden visitor broke the peace.

“Master! Here you are! I finally found you!”

“…Who are you?”

Someone who called me “Master” appeared.

Master? What does that mean?

I’ve never had a disciple before.

The self-proclaimed disciple was a woman dressed like a typical adventurer.

She was wearing a sword in one hand, a cape, and light armor.

Just her appearance alone made her seem quite experienced.

With short, dull blonde hair swaying, she answered my question, looking a bit frustrated.

“Master, it’s me! Your disciple, Victoria!”

“No, who? I don’t remember taking on a disciple.”

“This is unbelievable! I heard the rumors about your injured leg, but I didn’t expect you to have memory loss… I should have protected you!”

“No, my head is fine! Who the heck are you?!”

I couldn’t respond properly to the unprecedented situation where a stranger treated me like I had amnesia.

As I stumbled in confusion, the customers who had been quietly watching the scene began to whisper.

“She’s the disciple of [Red Moon Sword]? This is surprising news.”

“By the way, not only was her leg injured, but her memory was also affected… Seems like it was quite a fierce battle, Slater.”

“Boss, did you hit your head?!”

Even Selly was starting to doubt my memory!

To control the situation, I issued an order.

“I don’t know who you are, but if you’re not a customer, could you leave? This is a restaurant, and you’re disrupting the business.”

“Master, but…”

“This is not a request, it’s a warning. Stop causing a disturbance and leave. Right now.”

“…I’ll come back next time.”

Victoria said this and left.

Steren, who had been staring at Victoria’s back, asked.

“She’s not your disciple, right?”

“I told you, I’ve never had a disciple, and I don’t even know who that person is.”

“Really? She looks strangely similar to you.”

Strangely similar? Where exactly?

Steren didn’t answer my question.

He just shrugged and said.

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough. She doesn’t look like someone who will give up easily.”

And as Steren predicted, it was true.

Victoria came to the restaurant at the same time every day and started talking to me.

This rumor quickly spread, and even the branch manager of the guild, Jackson, came to ask me if it was true.

“Is that adventurer really Kyle’s disciple?”

“I’ve never taught anyone, and I don’t even know who this Victoria person is!”

“I see. I heard it was reliable information, but I guess not.”

“Where did you get that from?”

“She kept talking about how she was looking for her master.”

“Is that all?”

“Well, she’s quite a skilled adventurer.”

Guild branch manager Jackson scratched his head and pulled out a document.

It was a document with information about the adventurer Victoria.

“[Moonlight Sword] Victoria. Currently a silver rank adventurer, likely to be promoted to gold rank soon. She’s from Lowell and was originally the daughter of a farmer.”

Lowell? That name sounded familiar.

I paused for a moment, then remembered where it was located on the map.

‘Near Artraus. I’ve been there before.’

But I think that was before I became an adventurer…

As I tried to recall, Jackson continued his explanation.

“Her weapon skills are clearly beginner level, but strangely, her mission completion rate has been high. The guild investigated and found no false reports.”

“Does that even make sense?”

“Of course, it doesn’t. But no matter how much we investigated, we didn’t find any false reports. Instead, we discovered something unusual.”

“Unusual?”

At my question, Jackson, the branch manager, put down the document and looked at me.

“There are testimonies saying that light was emitted from her sword…”

That’s also why her alias became [Moonlight Sword].

At Jackson’s words, I frowned.

“A swordsman who uses sword energy?”

That’s a bit surprising.

I had told Steren that it’s common for people to emit sword energy, but honestly, I hadn’t seen anyone else do it except for myself.

I had just thought that since I could do it, maybe others could too.

But now, someone who can do what I had only imagined appeared in front of me, and I was a bit intrigued.

‘I should at least find out what kind of person she is.’

Maybe, in a very unlikely case, this woman, Victoria, might not even be from this world.

I thanked Jackson for the information.

“Thanks for the information. It’s better to hear the details from her directly.”

“Yes. Call me after work. I’m curious about what’s going on as well.”

“Alright.”

After sending Jackson off, the next day, I closed the shop and waited for Victoria’s visit.

When the time came, as always, Victoria opened the door and shouted.

“Master, good day again!”

“You’ve come again today.”

“Yes! Victoria has come to meet her master once more! But it seems today is a rest day?”

“Yeah. I thought I’d have a chat with you today.”

Victoria looked touched by my words.

“Has your memory finally returned? As expected, the master was right! There’s nothing impossible if you work hard!”

“I’m sorry, but my memory has always been fine.”

“Then why have you been pretending not to know about your disciple…?”

“No. I just didn’t know about you.”

“Th-That’s!”

“So, I plan to find out more about you from now on.”

I looked directly into Victoria’s eyes and asked.

“You’ve met me before.”

“Of course! You can’t serve as a disciple of someone you’ve never met!”

“Where?”

“In my hometown, Lowell!”

“What did I teach you?”

At my question, Victoria scratched her cheek and answered.

“Well… actually, Master, you never taught me! That’s why I came to find you, to receive your teachings!”

“What? What do you mean by that? Then why am I your master?”

“Well, even though you didn’t teach me directly, I learned from you! The one who gives the teachings is called a master.”

The more I spoke with Victoria, the more I felt like I was falling into a labyrinth of confusion.

She said she hadn’t been taught by me but had learned on her own?

What does that even mean…?

I was about to ask more questions, but I stopped myself.

‘If I keep talking, I’ll never understand.’

At this point, I had no choice but to use my last resort.

I stood up from my seat.

“I don’t understand anything you’re saying.”

“Hehe, I hear that a lot!”

“Then, I guess I’ll have to learn in a different way.”

Swish-

I drew my sword and aimed it at Victoria.

At the same time, the sound of the door locking echoed as it clicked shut.

Steren had locked the door at my signal.

Victoria, alternating her gaze between the locked door and the tip of my sword, looked utterly confused.

She had no idea what was going on.

I nodded my head slightly and said,

“Draw your sword. Let me see what you’ve learned from me.”

Right after that,

I swiftly rushed toward Victoria.