221-Suspicious participant ③





....

Awkward...

 Right now, five people, including Julian and Yuto, are sitting across from each other on the sofa seat that Yuto is on.
 Perhaps because of Julian's statement earlier, the tense atmosphere of the participants of this great festival who came mixed in with this seat seemed to be conveyed.
 Yuto casually observed the humans here while holding the glass in his hands.
 Julian sits beside Yuto, and a slightly reddish-brown man with long hair sits happily on a single seat to the right of the sofa arranged in the shape of a U. In front of him, two men with short black hair and sharp eyes, and a man with shaggy hair that looks as if it were burnt, are firing whiskey straight at him while looking at him as if he were trying to price it.

(In this situation........how do I get out of it?)

 Yuto sighed at the thought and turned to Julian, who had created this situation, and Julian grinned and sounded innocent.

''Well, since we're not going to get started like this, let's introduce ourselves, shall we? My name is Julian Knight. I'm not a member of the agency, but I think I'm pretty strong. So how are your brothers?

 Julian suddenly cuts in with a cheerful voice and the sharp-eyed man sitting in front stares at Julian with a jittery stare.

''Tsk, well, that's fine. I'm Alvaro. I belong to the Madrid branch in the agency.

'Heh, I've heard of it. It's not a Catalan [bullfighter].

"! ...you know,

Sure, yeah. So, what's up next?

I'll be remembered in Vagator.

Hmm, are you a member of an institution?

Well it was. Now it's free.

 Yuto observed this self-introduction, which Julian was leading with a soundtrack, without thinking about it.

(.....Each of you seems to have deep experience in actual combat. But I have to confirm the purpose of coming here.......is it simply the name of Shitenji?)

Oh, is it my turn? My name is Douglas Gans. I'm under the care of the agency's New York office now! Nice to meet you, boys! It's nice to be young. Oh, and for the record, I'm young too, okay?

 Suddenly, as if in a zap, their gazes were focused on Douglas. Yuto sensed that the participants who hadn't come to this seat also focused on us.

(Hm? The atmosphere of everyone........ (Oh, by the way, I'm pretty sure.......this guy is a rank A!

 Yuto recalled the names of the participants who had won beforehand and the brief information he had heard from Nina and the others. There was almost no information about Alvaro and Bagatl, but there was a good amount of information compiled about Douglas Guns.

(That's how big a deal he is...)

Wow, you're a real A-lister. It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Douglas.

'Hahaha! Once you're here, there's no rank or anything! All that exists is that the men are here to take the bride, right? Well, I was getting ready to settle down, and then I heard about this festival in Shitennji. And then I heard about this festival in Shitenji, and that beautiful girl was going to be married, so there was no way I was going to miss it as a man! Nice, beautiful dark haired bride! That's going to make you a very interesting woman, huh? Yeah, yeah, 10 years later, mid-20s! That's wonderful. Oh, the boys don't understand, or they seem to be of the same generation.

 Douglas, a jovial and sociable American in his own right, tipped his glass with a smirk on his face.

"Hmmm... Mr. Douglas, that's interesting. Did you simply get married?

'Oh, yes! I'm trying to get married! Hahaha!

"..........

"...what? I'm guessing you guys are too. No way, no! A beautiful girl like that!

 Douglas turns to look at Yuto, Alvaro and the others with a surprised look at everyone's reaction.

(Ah ... there are people like this. That's a lot of different people, I thought.)

 Yuto looks at Douglas, who is aghast, with half a glance. But it's not a bad impression. Rather, it can be said to be, in a sense, straightforward in its purpose.
 However, the reaction of everyone except for Yuto was cold.

''Hmph, you're a pedophile.......big brother.''

I never knew Douglas to be such a f*cking a**h*le.

"...Nonsense. If you're being honest it's not funny.

Oh, hello? Hahaha........that's funny. I don't think I said anything weird........ Is it strange? The "boy

'What? Oh, I don't think it's crazy........

 Yuto replies, making a twitchy, affectionate smile as he is asked back without effort.
 Then, with a concave look on his shoulders, Douglas ordered another bourbon from the master.

'And you? You were talking a lot earlier. There's no one here who can compete with you.

 Alvaro shoots a sharp look at Yuto.

''Yeah! That's not what I said...

Come on, identify yourself, you're here to find out who we are, right?

Oh, yes. I'm....

 Then a new guest entered the lounge in a hurry.
 The girl with that still innocent looking appearance quickly checked the lounge and fixed her face in the direction where Yuto was.

''Dori........''

Mr. Eugene Du Du! You've been hiding out here!

Heh?

 Suddenly, a loud voice called out to him and surprised Yuto shook his head at the owner of the voice, and there was a girl with shoulder-length black hair and lifted eyes that would normally be kind looking down at him.
 Incidentally, no one noticed, but the masked participants at the counter jumped up and were startled by the word "Dou Dou Dou Yuto" uttered by this girl.
 Douglas made a mouthful of hughes and a smile as he checked that girl who suddenly appeared, breathing hard.

'I've got a question for you!

And you are...?

"...You don't remember, how rude are you?

'What? I don't really know about the... yeah? Ah! As I recall, he was at Sanzenin Mizushige's place....

'It's Kotone! Sanzenin Mizushige is my brother! Is this person you are making fun of me!

 Julian's eyes narrowed at the mention of Sanzenin's name, and Alvaro and Bagatl looked at this girl with a jittery look.

''Wait, wait! I didn't even get his name!

'That's when your brother called my name! Oh! You didn't listen to your brother! How much of a man you are I can't believe you haven't listened to your brother.

 As Kotone clenches her fists with wannabe wannabes, Yuto can't even understand why she is so angry with him.
 Then, with a big smile on his face, Douglas steps in between them.

'Well, well, calm down. Is it Kotone? Why don't you just sit here? You've got something to talk about, right? 

"...who are you?

I'm Douglas Guns. You can call me Douglas. Oh, or Doug if you don't like to call me Doug, but...

Get out of my way!

Hey!

 As Kotone approached Yuto, she pointed her finger in front of Yuto's face.

''You are suspicious!''

"...suspicious? Me?

Your brother noticed you coming back from outside!

'Oh....'

(...) Did they see you enter the mansion? (But that's all it takes to get this treatment...)

 As for Yuto, he didn't feel that anyone else was being distracted by his actions other than that. That's how careful he was acting.

''Well, did Mizushige-san say that you were suspicious?''

I didn't say that!

Huh?

'But then, what were you doing hanging around outside just now! You must be up to something bad!

'What...? Ehhhh?

(Yeah I was just making the rounds to see if anyone had any good thoughts about me...)

'You can fool all of mankind, but you can't fool your brother's eyes!

Did you do that, Mizushige-san?

I didn't say that much!

....

(What's this all about? (They just saw you coming in...)

'Wait a minute, Kotone. I didn't do anything fishy! I just got a little bit of fresh air.

'! So you're saying that your brother was mistaken! You are...!

Oh, God, it's not even biting~

 There is a momentary silence in Kotone's swordsmanship, and Julian starts laughing.

''Haha! That's funny, Du Du, you are so funny!