I am sorry. Part 1.
[Congratulations, Host, on activating another event for character Megumi.]
It was a lovely evening, and the sun was just about to set. In such a calm atmosphere, Izumi was seated on a chair in the café that sells cakes and pastries as main dishes.
Izumi was able to see a variety of other items they were selling that were both pastries and things that catered to the customer's tastes. Izumi was drawn to the girl seated in front of him despite the stunning surroundings because she appeared to be beaming inside the café.
Izumi felt really complicated about this feeling of his. Despite the fact that he had heard every detail from the system and heard Mineru-san's words as well, he could not help but be amused by Megumi, who appeared to be overjoyed to have met the man.
He was now more unsure of whether he should interfere in it or not.
"Megumi-san, you seemed to be in a rather good mood after coming to this café. Is it a boy who can bring you to smile like that?"
As they waited for the waiter to arrive and take their order, Izumi started the conversation. However, the café was currently full, so it appeared that it would take some time.
"Eh! Of course not. What are you talking about, Izumi-san?" She shook her head in denial, but Izumi made the decision to stop talking about it further because of her rosy face, which was saying otherwise.
Upon approaching their table, a boy with standard attire and black hair gave them a moment to speak before turning to them.
"Welcome, what would sir like to order?" Izumi was taken aback by it and turned to look at the boy, who appeared to be wearing butler attire and had a vigorous look, as he continued to look at Megumi for a moment.
"Yoshi-Kun. Hehe, it looks like today is a busy day." Megumi grinned as she turned to face the boy named Yoshi, who had been staring at Izumi for a while before smiling at her.
"Yeah! But why are you here today? We don't have your shift, and Megumi-san, you should also try to rest from time to time." Izumi could tell from their conversation that they were both friendly and appeared to be familiar with each other's banter.
"Oh, Megumi is here too!" The server of a different table, which was vacant, appeared to have overheard the couple joking around and turned to make fun of them.
She was surprised, though, to see Izumi sitting to the side, as the boy appeared to be quite cute and was conversing easily with Megumi as well as Yoshi, who appeared to have just met.
Izumi, on the other hand, had his own ideas and initially chose to investigate why Mineru and the system were conspiring against him; after all, the gods had given him the system and instructed him to leave at all costs in order to capture the target's future.
Even though the god hid the majority of the information, he only revealed one piece of information: in order to win their love, he would be able to alter their fate for the better.
The most crucial aspect of the story was that although the god did not specify that he would steal the girlfriend from the bad guys, their fate seemed to conflict with that of the conquered target.
[The seed of doubt has been implanted successfully.]
"I see my new acquaintance from the dormitory."
"Hello, nice to meet you, Izumi-san."
"My name is Yoshi; just call me by my first name, please."
"So, what do you think about the pastry?"
That is what Izumi thought when the systems abruptly released 4 options for him to choose from in a very standard dialogue and question.
[Option 1.] [The pastry is truly delicious; I will definitely like to come again sometime.]
[Option 2.] [It lacks sugar; I tend to like those with sugar, but with coffee it would taste just fine.]
[Option 3.] [It is perfect, although it would have tasted a lot better if the maker had also enjoying cooking them as much as he did decorating them.]
[Option 4.] [It tastes like shit.]
Izumi thought the fourth option was really toxic because no one would want to criticize the pastry chef for this particular flavor.
However, he really did not know much about pastry and other related topics, so acting like a master might also not be the best course of action.
On the other hand, the second option appeared to be very viable. Although the first option appeared to be the best, it would be useless to him and useless for attracting the heroine's attention if he used this type of dialogue.
He chose the third option because it seemed the most in-depth and because he could manage to appear calm in this dialogue while still taking a high risk.
"It is perfect, although it would have tasted a lot better if the maker had also enjoyed cooking them as much as he did decorating them."
Izumi tried to maintain his composure while speaking while grinning and glancing at Yoshi, who had fallen silent for a moment, and the other man who appeared to be coming to tease Yoshi and Megumin.
"Izumi-san, can you please take that back?" Megumi was the one who said those words, and although it appeared that she was a little angry, she tried her best to contain it.
Izumi was made to feel a little uneasy because he wanted to curse the system but chose to keep up an air of calmness and carefreeness instead.
"Why should I? After all, I am speaking the truth." He looked at Megumi, who appeared to be a little upset about her own choice to bring him here.
She had never imagined that Izumi could also speak in such a way, and it appeared that her perception of him had become less positive.
"I see, you wanted to impress Megumi and tried to speak some fancy words, but I truly hate those who speak like that. So, I hope you can leave."
[Option 0] [Leave the café.]
With not much choice, Izumi took a bite of the pastry and stood up as he looked at the guy, who was sneering at him with provocation, and spoke to him in a loud tone.
"Also, do you think with this look of mine, I really need a flowery word to impress the girls into dating me?" The individual, who was drawn to the commotion as well, laughed at Izumi's comment and ended up spitting out coffee.
Many others also follow suit and laugh. Even the guy was concerned that his girlfriend might end up stealing his girlfriend because they all believed that Izumi's words were truly sarcastic but with the guy's good looks.
"Is that all? I ask you to leave." Yoshi turned to glare at Izumi, which turned the atmosphere hostile, making Izumi frown as he realized why the system and Mineru said that.
Even someone who does not give much thought to other people felt that this person was a bad influence because, despite being affable with the café employee and somewhat dependable, he had a short fuse and was conceited.
'I even tried to maintain a laughing atmosphere before leaving, but that brat's temperament and conceited mind never allowed it.' Izumi thought as he paid the bill and observed Megumi, who was on the verge of asking the cashier not to accept the bill but was a little late.
…
Megumi apologized to the employee after Izumi had left and looked at Yoshi when the café's chef walked out wearing an obnoxious expression.
Although she was currently in her late twenties or early thirties and had brown hair, brown eyes, and long hair that reached her waist, she appeared much younger than her actual age.
"Yoshi! It's you again... Eh! What happened." Chef and business owner Ichigo Amano was recently contemplating something when she heard a shout and went outside to see Yoshi, a worker in her shop, glaring angrily at the door.
"I am sorry, boss!" Megumi ended up apologizing when the other staff explained what happened. But the moment Amano heard the words of the boy who was the main cause of the problem, she felt stunned and realized that these people were truly mistaken.
"So, you guys just threw him out." This time, when Amano looked at Yoshi, Yoshi became very agitated-looking. Yoshi then turned to look at Megumi.
"What if the boys said those words to help me out, with free will and no ill intent? Do not you think what you did was utter humiliation for that boy, who even joked at the last moment to make the atmosphere alright, if not for an idiot, who turned it to waste due to his anger?"
"Megumi, this time you did a really bad thing to that kid. He was just wishing to help me out with his words, and nothing more." Amano smiled at Megumi's response to her concern, but she was also saddened by the way the Izumi guy seemed to be getting in trouble for helping someone else.
"Umm, master. Was Izumi-kun truly trying to be helpful to you?" She felt bad. She deeply regretted having spoken to him in such a cold manner, but she was unsure. Perhaps to ease her mind, she wanted confirmation that Amano was joking.
"Hmm! I think he just saw through my flaw and tried to help me out. After all, it was the same words that my master said to me a few days ago, and I was trying to think hard about them." Amano continued to speak when she found a tissue folded at the side and saw something written on it.
[Note: The appearance can mean that it is cream, but you can also learn how to bake cakes made up of bread and dry nuts If you can learn to bake those kinds of dry cakes that are usually used in Christmas, try using them as an idea to create base for your pastries.]
Megumi took a look at it as well and noted that it was something she had not written, which indicated that it had to have come from Izumi, who had long since left the café.
'I am sorry.'
Megumi realized how cruel her words were at the time when she did not give him a chance to explain, and for the first time in a while, she experienced a strange and unsettling feeling as she thought of that smiling figure and his misfortune.
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