Ch.9Black Velvet 3

<Black Velvet Made by Siho>

Rank: ☆

Effect: None.

Information: A cocktail made by simultaneously pouring stout beer and champagne in a 1:1 ratio.

However, the proportions failed, causing it to overflow.

It’s a properly “ruined drink” with completely messed-up ratios.

“Here’s your Black Velvet.”

I calmly hand the sticky glass to Anna.

Anna stares intently at the dirty plating before asking me.

“Are you telling me to drink this?”

“Yes.”

I said dejectedly while wiping my hands with a dishcloth.

Judging by her expression, she probably doesn’t properly remember her happy past.

That’s understandable.

The girl I saw in those memories still had some rationality left.

Not like now, a psychopath who kills without hesitation.

“A cocktail… made with cheap champagne?”

It’s a fair question.

As Jiwook said, she must have tried all the expensive drinks at the numerous inns she’s visited.

But none of those places survived.

From the beginning, her standard for “delicious drinks” was never about the price.

“Sometimes, soju shared with friends is more missed than expensive liquor drunk alone.”

That was the last thing I could say to her.

Now all that matters is the result; I can only pray silently.

Anna sweeps her elegant silver hair to the side and puts her lips to the glass.

As she tilts the glass, my heart begins to race madly.

Please just drink it all…

“—!”

But Anna barely took a sip before immediately setting the glass down on the table.

She drank such a small amount, perhaps just one mouthful at most.

Seeing this, the debt collectors’ faces turn pale.

“How is it…?”

I ask, looking into Anna’s cloudy white eyes.

Those pupils, not looking like they belong to a living person at all, stare at me blankly.

She had even rejected the Angelic Hand.

There was no way to know if my drink had touched her emotions.

Eventually, the killer silently rises from her seat.

Then she picks up the sword she had placed on the floor.

“—!”

The staff members are startled and back away even further.

They retreat so far that they soon find themselves pressed against the wall.

“We have nothing to do with this! It’s just that bitch who made a terrible drink!”

Anna doesn’t particularly react to that outburst.

Instead, she slowly brings her face close to mine.

As if observing me.

Her smooth, white skin fills my entire field of vision.

A subtle scent of soap lingers at the tip of my nose.

“It’s a mess.”

Anna says in a low voice.

Soon her dark shadow looms over me.

My eyelids tremble.

I simply close my eyes in resignation.

It feels like all the blood in my body is sinking down, sensing death.

I humbly hold my breath, imagining the pain that will soon pour down.

“—?”

However, no matter how long I wait, no blade pierces my neck.

Instead, I feel a sensation I’ve never experienced before brushing against the tip of my chin.

Her gentle touch grips my chin and slowly turns it from side to side.

As if examining a doll she’s considering purchasing.

“Why?”

Soon an emotionless voice taps at my ear.

“W-what?”

“Why did you… give me this of all things?”

I clasp my hands together and avoid her gaze.

Then I speak in a small voice.

“I thought you might have tried beer before, but probably not champagne.”

When I say this, small waves ripple through Anna’s murky eyes.

I muster up courage and raise my head.

Meeting those waves with my eyes, I smile gently.

“They taste good when mixed together.”

Anna’s delicate lips quiver subtly.

She forcibly bites her lip to stop the trembling.

And to hide that expression, she turns her head away.

Only after the killer’s cold hand drops away can I finally breathe.

“It tastes… unpleasant.”

The dull sound of boots grows more distant.

The silver-haired killer walks out after leaving those words behind.

The sound of the front door slamming hard echoes throughout the store.

There’s no sound of the door bouncing back.

Because the door shattered upon impact with the wall.

She, who had remained impassive in any situation, had kicked the door so hard that it broke.

“Ha.”

That sound released the tension that had been constricting my body.

As a result, the strength completely left my legs.

Like a newborn fawn, I collapsed to the floor.

I survived somehow…

I never thought I’d feel such terrible fear again.

My limbs refuse to listen to me.

“Is she gone…?”

Jiwook emerges awkwardly from the kitchen.

Even as he comes out, he double-checks that Anna is gone.

“Yes… I think so.”

“How did you manage to satisfy Anna?”

Was that satisfaction?

She broke the door on her way out.

Well, she didn’t kill me, so maybe that’s a form of acknowledgment from a crazy murderer.

“Sometimes home cooking is more comforting than dining out.”

“What does that mean?”

“You know, that kind of thing…”

I grasp his hand and barely manage to stand up.

By now, the store is in complete disarray.

Thanks to the debt collectors’ disruption and Anna’s appearance.

“Senior, you didn’t end up running away either.”

“I’m also owed three months’ worth of wages here.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Right, money is important.

Especially for insignificant ability users like us.

Come to think of it, that woman left without paying…

As a hired killer, she must have had plenty of money.

To think about money after such a tense situation.

I guess I’ve already become a complete NPC.

“I felt bad about leaving you here alone…”

“That’s actually touching.”

Jiwook takes the initiative to start cleaning up the broken chairs and blood.

I stagger over to help him.

“No, you go rest. Leave the cleanup to me.”

“But it seems like it’ll take a long time to clean all this.”

“Don’t worry. Consider it payment for saving my life.”

He gives me a thumbs up, telling me to trust him.

He wasn’t the only one expressing gratitude to me.

The debt collectors who had been threatening to kill us earlier approach.

Having been thoroughly frightened by Anna, they no longer had any bravado to display toward me.

“Hey, how did you persuade that crazy killer?”

“I’ve never seen such a performance before. Did you learn it at some famous bar?”

The burly men ask me excitedly with animated faces.

Their loud, booming voices hurt my ears.

“Do that thing for us too, it looked fun with all that overflowing and splashing.”

The decibel level in the store rises insanely.

Then the man who appears to be their leader clears his throat loudly.

Only then do the bear-like employees fall silent, respectfully folding their hands.

The middle-aged man with a scar on his face calmly expresses his gratitude to me.

“Well, thanks to you, we survived.”

“Indeed.”

I smiled wryly.

After facing a crazy killer, seeing these men actually puts me at ease.

“I don’t know what you did to Anna, but you drove her away, which is impressive. The director would have been satisfied.”

He says this while looking at the director’s head hanging at his waist.

“He says thank you for keeping his subordinates alive. He’ll visit again next time.”

What nonsense is he talking about with a dead director’s head?

This guy doesn’t seem normal either.

The mountain-like huge men bow to me.

I scratch my head, uncomfortable with their formality.

I wish they’d just cancel the debt instead of coming back.

Jiwook, seeing this scene, folds his arms proudly as if he had accomplished something himself.

He guides them outside with a relaxed voice saying, “It’s fine, you can go now.”

Next are the store’s only customers.

The father and daughter who nearly suffered a terrible fate today address me with flushed faces.

“Thank you for today. We survived thanks to you.”

“Thank you, unnie. You were so cool.”

Says the girl who is several times prettier than me.

She surely meant it as a compliment, but it feels strange somehow.

Unnie?

It’s a form of address I’ve never heard in my life…

It makes my whole body itch with awkwardness.

“The food at the store was really delicious too. I’ll come often.”

The father and daughter leave after saying that.

The girl in particular kept glancing back at me as she left and waved her hand.

“I’ll promote your store for you, hang in there!”

I waved back, thanking her.

But at the same time, I thought to myself:

There’s no way they’d come back after seeing something like this.

The girl’s words were probably just a formal expression of gratitude.

With debt collectors and killers frequenting the place, customers will completely disappear.

Well, that’s probably for the best.

The boss has gone AWOL anyway, so having fewer customers makes work easier.

I’ll just collect my wages when he returns.

The next day.

I set out for work expecting a quiet store.

The debt collectors had been dealt with.

And the store was still a mess with bloodstains, so there wouldn’t be any customers.

I was happy thinking about taking it easy and eating Jiwook’s stew before going home.

That is, until the inn’s silhouette came into view.

“…?”

What is this…

Why…

What is this line I’m seeing in front of me?

Numerous hunters and ordinary people are lined up from the store entrance to outside.

There must be at least ten people.

As I push through the crowd and finally enter the store, Jiwook greets me with a very pitiful face.

“Siho, why are you so late! Quickly come to the counter!”

“What’s going on here? Why are there so many customers?”

“I just found out that our store is now famous on the internet.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know either, just hurry and prepare the drinks!”

He says while frantically shaking a wok.

I hastily put on my apron.

Right in front of the counter, it’s packed with hunters.

They’re touching, licking, and photographing the bloodstains where the debt collector was cut.

Why are they licking that…

While looking at them with strange eyes, I make eye contact with a female hunter.

“…?”

“Ah, could it be this person!”

The red-haired woman who made eye contact with me brings her face close.

“That’s right, the bartender acknowledged by Ranker Anna!”

When she shouts this, all the customers’ gazes fix on me.

This is the moment my peaceful inn life… is destroyed.