Chapter 13: The encounter with the Old Man

*Clap clap clap clap*

At the early afternoon, right when I started getting hungry, the Chinese restaurant [Menmen]was bustling from the many visitors and conversations inside and outside the kitchen .

"Thank you for waiting . Roasted pork ramen, Soy ramen and your Gyoza set dinner is ready . "

"Oh, it's here!"

The old man exclaimed as if he was waiting for those meals .

As he promised, the old man took me to eat ramen outside .

I tried to keep silent and wait until the case had settled, but I knew that he would start playing dumb to avoid treating me .

That's why I told him to go with me on the last day of our school 'break' . Rather, I forced him to do so . And as I expected, he tried to feign ignorance at first .

"Aight then, The food is ready and all, shall we eat? Hm, what's wrong?"

"...No, it's nothing, really . "

That's a rather pretty cheerful att.i.tude for someone who was making a grim face all this while . Is it that unpleasant to treat me to a single meal?

I kept silent towards his sudden change of mood, but the old man didn't mind my silence and dug in .

"SUSUSU!! ...…Ah-, Just like the rumors, this ramen is delicious!"

"ZUZUZU!! ...… You're right, this is good . "

As to be expected from something that airs on TV and appears in various magazines . The perfectly boiled noodles, the transparent soup, everything in this ramen tasted great .

Okay now, next is the Gyoza . I moved my chopsticks over, picked one up and carried it to my lips .

Mhmhm… yep, this is delicious . That's [Menmen]ramen for you . I can't find a single flaw in their meals .

"But still, you got quite the unfortunate luck to encounter a terrorist organization right after you finished your second day school began . " The old man spoke while he eating his ramen .

"I know . But hey, I owe that to me now eating such a good meal . Not that bad of a deal if you ask me . "

"Terrorists subjugated for the sake of ramen…"

A bitter smile reached the old man's face as he muttered .

Well, regardless of the motive, It wasn't mine but the terrorist's bad luck . They choose the only school where someone harboring the skills of a different world like me out of ten thousands of schools, after all .

"Well, either way, glad you're fine . "

"There's now way I'd be done at the place you know . "

"Hahaha!! Yeah, you got a point . "

A short while after he chuckled, the old man uttered while making a nostalgic expression .

"Come to think of it, You were like this the first time . "

"First time?"

"The first day we met . "

"Ah…that day you mean . "

Unlike the old man who thought back about that time with an emotional mood, I didn't care the least about it .

"I was seriously startled at that time, you know . Who knew that someone who could do such stuff actually existed . "

The old man closed his eyes to recall the event of that day .

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"Dammit, what did he mean by 'do your job diligently' ?! How about you take it seriously too, you dumba.s.s!!"

At that day, after I got unreasonably rebuked by my boss, I was complaining on my way back from a bar to my place .

Since I was drunk, my steps were rocky . But suddenly, as I was unsteady walking my way through a dark path—-

Gyaaaaah!!

A shriek from the surroundings reached my ears .

What was this scream? Is it from the construction site nearby?

Despite being a bit drunk, I came back to my sense and immediately rushed to the building .

After looking up inside the building, I found someone laying on the ground . I ran up to where he was, but I naturally halted my steps half way .

The reason I stopped was because I glanced at the figure of a single boy surrounded by several delinquents holding knives .

(Woh woh, what's going on in here? I need to save him . )

I made my resolve and prepared to dash in, however, what I witnessed in front of me was something of unpredictable .

A ma.s.s of wind possessing the shape of a sphere appeared out of nowhere and started to attack the delinquents .

"Gyaaaah!!"

"H-Help me!!"

"My bad!! I'm sorry!! Please forgive…Gyaah!!"

They begged the boy with all their might, but he didn't show a sign of stopping that wind ball .

The wind ball remained blowing off the delinquents and the pillar inside the building crashed into the ground resulting in an awful sound .

What the heck is this? What is going on in here?

I lost my words to the spectacle in front of my eyes .

My drunkenness had completely disappeared due to the extreme shock and I remained standing still while gazing at that scene .

It didn't take too long for the boy to realize my presence; he glanced at me, a vigilant look in his eye .

Okay, I knew the situation wasn't good . . At the rate it was going, I would face the same fate as those delinquents .

I thought of saying something .

"Ah- What is this? A magic trick?"

"...…Ha?"

A few seconds of silence followed my words before the boy showed he was perplexed .

Uh? Did I say something weird?

"A… No, wait . I'm not a suspicious person . I'm a cop . "

"Cop?" The boy opened his eyes wide after I said the word, 'cop' .

"What is an officer doing in such a place?"

"Coincidence . I heard some screams and came rushing to find you beating those guys down . "

Despite hearing out my explanation, the boy's gaze seemed to still hold some doubt . I knew there would be no progress if we kept standing like this .

"Tell me, who are you? Was that a magic trick just now?"

"No, such magic tricks doesn't exist in the world . "

I guess he's right .

"Well, how about a change of scenery . Right, want go for some ramen?"

"Ha, Ramen?"

"Yeah, There's a ramen stall nearby . How 'bout it?"

At that moment, I had turned my back to him and slowly started walking, but the boy had urged me to stop .

"Wait . Shouldn't we do something about these guys first?"

The boy pointed at the delinquents who were collapsed on the ground .

"Ah, yeah… just leave them . "

"You're gonna leave them?!!"

"It's not that they're dead or anything . So yeah, let's just leave them there . My shift has already ended today and this would just give me unnecessary work . "

"... Are you really a cop?"

"Yes, I am a splendid officer . So let's go . Somehow, tonight I'm in the mood for some ramen . "

The boy followed after me, his expression still filled with puzzlement .

We arrived at the ramen stall and then, started a conversation as the both of us atel .

"ZUZUZU!!… Hoo, summoning to another world…"

"ZUZUZ!! You believe me?"

"Well, after what I saw earlier, what can I say…?"

Honestly, it wasn't a credible story as he said it, but for me, it didn't sound like a lie .

"A different world…hey, can you check my stats to see if I have some of those skills?"

"Wait a second . "

The boy said as he deliberately gazed at me .

"You got two martial art skills . "

"Seriously? But isn't that because I did Judo and Karate?"

"Probably . "

Doesn't that mean that I have no substantial skills? This makes me sad .

"Well, the fact that you have a skill is impressive . Not everyone has a skill, after all . "

Maybe because it seemed that I was slightly dispirited, the boy made a quick follow up to cheer me up .

Had he been concerned about me? What was this, he's a better person than what I initially thought .

"Thanks . "

"About what?"

I had faintly smiled at the boy who was feigning ignorance; he then turned to his bowl again and resumed eating .

"Come to think of it, what were you doing at that place?"

"Hm? Ah, I was intending to test some new magic skills but soon enough found myself involved with those delinquents . So I decided to beat them at their own game . "

The boy casually declared, not seeming to feel bad about it at all .

Well, those delinquents didn't have the best of luck this time around .

But, for some reason, I had felt a little sorry for them in that moment .

"But still, those skills are pretty convenient, aren't they? Can you do anything you want with them?"

"Not anything I want . But yeah, they're indeed convenient . "

"I see… alright! I've made my decision!"

I had roughly put my chopsticks on top of my bowl and turned to look at the boy .

"If something happens from now on, just come to me for help . I'm a police officer, after all . Pretty sure I can be useful for you one day . "

"Ha? What are you talking about suddenly? Do you get any advantage from doing this?"

"In some cases, I may rely on you to help me out with my job . Don't worry, it should be an easy work for you . Of course, I won't talk to anyone about your skills . What do you think? Wanna team up with me?"

Finished, I extended my hand to the boy .

His gaze went between between my arm and my face for while, only finally did he grab hold .

"I will be merciless if you betray me . "

"Same here . "

Like that, we exchanged our cordial handshake .

"I know it's late to ask this, but…what's your name?"

"It is late indeed…I'm Kamiya Yato . "

"I'm Ijida Tetsuji "

"Ah, old man . "

"Old man!? Could you at least call me Mr . Ijida?"

"An old man is and old man . let's get along from now one!"

"Listen!!…well, whatever . "

And thus, Kamiya Yato and my give-and-take relationship was born .

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MC's POV

"~That's how our first encounter went, right?"

Such a long reflection .

Well, our encounter went like that indeed .

At that time, I still didn't have [Teleportation Magic], so I was forced to choose the construction grounds since I couldn't go anywhere far . Although, I didn't expect to meet with those delinquents .

However, when I think back about it now, I wonder why I didn't erase his memories immediately .

If something like that happened to me now, I would have definitely knocked him down first .

… Who knows why?

"Welp, many things happened until now, but I'm still relying on you, partner . "

"Who's your partner?"

Stop arbitrarily change me into your partner just like that .

"Don't be like that . Give me that Gyoza!"

"Ah, wai-! That's the last one!"

"A real man doesn't let these small matters upset him," the old man said before bursting out in laughter .

This guy is getting too full of himself…

After that, we enjoyed our time as we ate .

Guess this is what we'd call as the inevitable .