Chapter 19: Main Character(2)

One bowl, two bowls.

The name of a small restaurant not too far from the academy.

“Senior, can I order a little more?”

“……Yes.”

It was the name of the restaurant where I took the protagonist of the original story who was running around the playground.

‘……What a bad name.’

To be honest, I didn’t think it was a good name.

Maybe the reason we were the only customers during the golden time of the weekend evening was because of the name of the restaurant.

Objectively speaking, the name of the restaurant, One Bowl, Two Bowls, wasn’t the kind of name that customers would visit often.

And the reason I knew about this restaurant that customers didn’t visit often was simple.

“Wow, the food here is really delicious?”

“……Yes?”

“How do you know about this restaurant, senior?”

Damian nodded, his clear and blue eyes sparkling to the point of being burdensome.

……Hmm.

“Is it really that delicious?”

“I expected you to like it since it received the original certification mark, but I didn’t imagine that there would be such a passionate response.”

“I’m glad you said it was delicious.”

“Yes. It’s really delicious. Senior, aren’t you going to eat more?”

“……Uh. I’m not the type to eat a lot.”

“Then I’ll shamelessly focus on eating.”

After that, Damian Axios ate his food ‘deliciously.’

For me, who had never finished more than two bowls of food since being possessed, the sight was simply a strange sight.

Is it really that delicious?

Honestly, I’ve eaten it myself, but it wasn’t that good.

Suddenly, I had that thought and asked a casual question, but the answer I got was exactly as I expected.

“……Is it that delicious?”

“Yes. It’s really, really delicious. I think it’s the most delicious food I’ve ever had.”

Yes, eat a lot.

Since the fee for today’s request has doubled, I don’t think you’ll be short on money.

Of course, I didn’t understand.

Any food becomes more delicious when you eat it when you’re really hungry.

I didn’t hear it directly, but it was obvious that Damian hadn’t eaten a single meal today.

On weekdays, the restaurants run by the academy were free.

On weekends, you had to pay extra to use the restaurants run by the academy.

‘……There’s no way he would have applied for that.’

And, the current Damian couldn’t have applied for that.

Of course, that would be the case.

Damian was the main character who lived on the basic support provided by the academy before he started earning money through commissions.

Compared to other academy protagonists who were mostly munchkins from the beginning, he was a main character with a rather strange background.

He lost his entire family to a monster that suddenly appeared, and he achieved the feat of entering the academy without anyone from the orphanage helping him.

Even in the academy he entered, he couldn’t eat on weekends because he had no money.

Maybe that was why I was suddenly buying Damian food.

-……Senior?

-Uh. Why are you calling me?

-Why are you suddenly buying me a meal like this?

It was a question that Damian asked me before the food even arrived, as he had kept his mouth shut.

It was a natural question.

A normal person would be suspicious of a favor that came to them out of nowhere.

Of course, I didn’t answer truthfully.

-…..Well. Just?

-Did you say just?

-Uh. Just. I just suddenly wanted to buy it for him.

Just, just.

I just brushed off the question that was difficult to answer with just the word just.

‘……Actually, I don’t really know why either.’

To be exact, I didn’t understand why I approached the main character of the original story and bought him a meal, so I just brushed it off.

I didn’t know either.

Why was I doing this, why was I suddenly buying the main character a meal?

I clearly knew that.

In order to achieve my goal of dying comfortably, the person I had to be most careful of was none other than the main character who was eating diligently in front of me right now.

There was no way I didn’t know.

There was no way I, who had read the original, didn’t know how many incidents would come to Damian while he was attending the academy.

However.

Even though I knew all of these facts, I approached Damian as he was running on the playground and brought him to this restaurant.

It was impulsive.

Very impulsive at that.

“…”.

Something I would never have done just a few weeks ago.

Something I would never have done if I had been more afraid than anything of my fate flowing as in the original.

In the original, Lian was expelled from the academy.

By my fiancée Elena and this protagonist who is still eating diligently in front of me.

After that, he didn’t even appear in the original work.

He only appeared occasionally as a past memory by one of the heroines, Aria Thrice.

And even then, as a villain.

As a spoiled brat who didn’t listen to the family.

Thinking about this, from my perspective of wanting to live a moderate life and die in exile, today’s choice to buy the protagonist dinner might have been the worst choice.

In fact, the probability of that happening was high.

Being involved with the protagonist itself meant that the probability of getting involved in all sorts of incidents increased.

But, even so.

Even so, the reason I did this impulsive thing was simple.

I couldn’t find the reason myself earlier, but now I think I can at least answer to myself.

‘……Because he looks hungry!’

Because he looked hungry.

Because the protagonist training for his goal looked so hard.

Buying food for someone who is hungry.

Do such simple propositions really need difficult reasons?

Especially for me, who can understand the protagonist’s position better than anyone else.

I know how terrible the hunger that comes from working hard to achieve one’s goal is.

I can confidently say that I lived busier than anyone else for a year after the possession.

In order not to follow the original’s future.

In order not to follow the future of Lian Trice that the original suggests, I worked harder than anyone else.

Of course, there was no way there weren’t hardships along the way.

Now that everything is sorted out and things are okay, but for a while, the 1 million won that feels like a lot now felt like a lot of money to sort out Lian’s past in the original felt like a huge shortage.

There were more than a few times when I had to live with my body because I didn’t have enough money.

There were more than a few times when I skipped meals because I didn’t have enough money to eat.

Me, me, who knows better than anyone else the hardships of such efforts.

‘…… How could I pass by!’

How could I pass by the original’s main character who worked hard with the sole goal of living for others?

That was all.

I just couldn’t pass by.

“……Senior?”

“Huh? Why are you calling me?”

“This is fate, but could you tell me your name?”

“My name?”

“Yes. I told you my name earlier, but come to think of it, I haven’t heard your name yet.”

“My name. Are you curious?”

“Yes. I’m very curious.”

“……I don’t need to know.”

This was just insurance for myself, who couldn’t just pass by.

“Yes?”

“Do you really need to know my name? We won’t be seeing each other anymore anyway.”

“You never know. I might meet you again someday. Then I might treat you to a meal…….”

“No problem. I’m fine, so eat comfortably. Don’t think about repaying me.”

“…”

“I don’t think I’ll ever meet you again. Just think of it as a chance encounter with a foolish senior.”

Insurance.

Something to prepare for in advance, afraid of the future that might happen.

In the end, I was still just a coward who was afraid of something that hadn’t even happened yet.

This was a fact that would never change in the future.

An obvious fact that no one, not even me, would deny.

Unlike the person in front of you who will one day become the protagonist shining brightly like a star in the night sky.