Just Because I Have Narrow Eyes Doesn’t Make Me a Villain! - Chapter 76

TN: Thank James Baily for the chapter.

They clearly said they would be at the villa for about an hour.

Siwoo hurriedly checked the time, but an hour had not passed.

Even if he hesitated for some time, not much time had passed.

So how are they here?

“Why are you guys here? You clearly said you’d come after an hour…”

“You believed that?”

“…What?”

“Even if we have luggage, it wouldn’t take an hour. A few minutes at most.”

Seeing Amelia and Dorothy smiling gleefully, he realized.

These girls were watching the whole time.

“So, how was it? Did you have fun?”

“…”

“Huh? How was it? How did it feel to touch Arte’s skin? Huh? Huh?”

A sense of betrayal surged.

He thought he could understand Amelia.

He was already used to her coming up with absurd plans and executing them.

He could brush it off as Amelia being herself today.

But to think even Dorothy was involved.

Thanks to that, he was fooled into thinking it would really take an hour.

“Dorothy, even you…!”

“I’m sorry. But it seemed like it would be so much fun, I just…”

In the end, Dorothy is also a young woman.

He had seen her reading books a few times.

Seeing that, he thought she was the knowledgeable type.

But to think she would use it in a place like this.

“Please forgive me. But seeing you two caring for each other was so fun.”

“Right?”

“…”

What was that saying?

A bad companion ruins good morals?*

Maybe Dorothy has already been influenced by Amelia.

She had shown signs of liking romance before, but after meeting Amelia, it seemed to have intensified in a bad way.

“So? How was it?”

“What was?”

“Arte! I think she’s quite pretty, no? With a guy touching her undefended back with his bare hands…”

“But nothing happened?”

“Don’t lie! We saw from afar so we don’t know the details, but… Be honest, you got excited, right?!”

“I didn’t.”

“…Really?”

It’s a lie.

The touching alone was too much…

And then her embarrassed scream?

There was a big problem that made it hard for him to get up for a while. (TN: Okay dude.)

But Siwoo didn’t tell the truth.

Well, it’s because it subsided instantly as soon as he saw Amelia.

Even when she looked at me suspiciously, there was no evidence.

No matter how pretty she is, so what?

It’s Amelia.

Thanks to that, he was able to hide the evidence.

“Strange. You don’t have any functional issues, right? You shouldn’t…”

“I’m perfectly fine?!”

“Hmm…”

He was dumbfounded by her suspicious gaze.

‘Did this girl forget that I’m a man and she’s a woman?’

If she was in her right mind, there’s no way she would say this…

‘Ah, it’s Amelia.”

That answered everything.

“… What’s with that look? It’s unpleasant.”

“It’s nothing. So? What’s that you brought? It seems like too much to be just food and drinks.”

Ignoring her sharp gaze, Siwoo changed the subject.

Maybe he would have cracked if it was him when he first enrolled.

But to him, who has gotten used to Amelia, that level of gaze is nothing.

“Good question!”

Dorothy took the chance to speak as she laid out her luggage.

“…Oh, it looks delicious.”

“Right? But that’s not all.”

“Huh?”

Among the appetizing meats, there were a few vegetables hidden.

His gaze was captivated by the barbecue ingredients, which clearly showed Amelia’s taste as if she had prepared them.

‘Meat is the best…’

Siwoo’s mouth salivated as Dorothy opened the second box.

Seeing the contents inside, he was quite perplexed.

“…Alcohol?”

“Heh, isn’t alcohol perfect for a trip?”

“Well, I mean… That’s true.”

Her luggage contained numerous bottles of alcohol.

He didn’t know exactly what kind of alcohol they were, but judging by the different colors and shapes, they must all be different.

Just glancing at it, there seemed to be dozens of bottles.

“… We’re going to drink all this?”

“Are you crazy? How can we drink all this? It’s for making cocktails.”

“Have you made them before?”

“Don’t worry. I roughly know how to make them.”

Amelia said with a grin.

“It’ll be getting dark soon. Let’s have dinner. How about a party by the beach looking at the night view?”

“He~, that sounds fun.”

Leaving behind the two smiling happily, Siwoo looked at Arte floating in the middle of the sea.

Before he knew it, she had taken Amelia’s tube and was enjoying her time on top of it.

Seeing her relaxed appearance, he smiled slightly and shouted.

“Arte! Let’s have dinner! Come here quickly!”

***

Sizzle.

The meats and skewers made delicious sounds as they grilled.

Seeing that, the Author started groaning.

[Ugh… I, I’m hungry… Why do I have to just watch this…]

Who knows?

If you’re dissatisfied, you can come down and eat it yourself.

Though if you really come down, I’ll hit you.

Can she even come in the first place? I’m not sure.

“…By the way, you know more than I thought, Amelia.”

“More than you thought?”

“No, I mean…”

I watched as she skillfully measured with a jigger, put it in a shaker, and shook it.

It was quite a serious sight.

“Ah, this? I learned a bit from my Granny. It looked cool.”

“… I’m starting to wonder what kind of person she is.”

“Well, she’s not a weird person. She just knows more and can do more than others.”

The sound of ice colliding noisily inside the shaking shaker could be heard.

…Hmm, it’s quite atmospheric.

“My dad was busy since I was young.”

“Ah, your dad is an active hero, right?”

“It feels a bit awkward hearing that from kids my age. Well, yeah. He’s a famous person, so he was busy every day.”

The shaking shaker stopped, and the alcohol inside was poured into a triangular glass.

Four glasses of alcohol were poured, and Amelia stuck sliced lime as a garnish before bringing it to us.

“That’s why Granny was hired. I’m more familiar with her than my dad, you know?”

“She must be like family.”

“Yeah. Actually, it’s become ambiguous to call it an employment relationship. Neither of us cares about that anymore.”

I downed a glass of the alcohol that was poured into a martini glass.

Maybe because sugar was added? There was a slight sweetness.

And along with that, the freshness of lime and the unique taste of rum rose up.

The sweet and sour taste was exquisite.

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious.”

“That’s a relief. It was my first time serving it to someone else.”

“Why?”

“…Because I had no friends to make it for.”

As I took another sip of the alcohol, I couldn’t taste the sweet and sour flavor of the drink.

Even though there were no bitter ingredients, it felt like I had taken medicine.

“Hmm… I’m quite talented, you know?”

“To say that about yourself…”

“Ah, why, Dorothy? It’s true, isn’t it?”

“…Well, objectively speaking, it is true.”

A talented family, pretty enough to be selected as a heroine.

As Amelia said, she was a talented person.

“Maybe because of that, I was envied a lot.”

“…”

“It’s not like I didn’t have people I could call friends, but, hmm… They approached me because of my looks and family.”

I knew.

The story Amelia was telling leisurely, under the influence of the atmosphere and alcohol, was a story I already knew.

“They were only friends on the surface. There was no one I could really call a friend.”

I knew that story too.

Because it was a setting the Author made.

“So…well, there was no one to make this for. I learned it diligently because I heard students usually rebel once.”

She laughed awkwardly.

As if her younger self dreaming of secretly drinking alcohol with friends was embarrassing.

“Granny thinks it’s okay to have that kind of experience once when you’re young, so I could learn easily. Well, in the end, I couldn’t use it.”

“…I see.”

“I thought I would never get to use it.”

She, who had been sipping the alcohol, downed it all at once and smiled, looking happy.

“I achieved my dream after meeting you guys!”

“… It’s only half. We’re already adults.”

“Hey, what’s with that? Isn’t it enough that I did it?”

“That’s right. It’s fortunate.”

Everyone laughed, looking happy.

…Right, that’s how it was.

The Author said Amelia had no close friends when she was young.

So, she added a setting in which Amelia wanted true friends.

It’s just as she said. Just as she set it up.

Amelia had no friends when she was young, so she wanted friends she could open up to.

…But did the Author decide why that was?

Amelia wanted friends, so she learned how to make cocktails.

She also had the setting of being a rich girl.

So she ended up having a famous hero as a father, and because he lacked time, a butler who raised her in his place was created.

And with all those settings combined, Amelia smiled happily as she made cocktails for us.

Did the Author really set up the setting that Amelia knows how to make cocktails?

I don’t think so. I was skeptical.

“… It’s delicious. Can I have one more glass?”

“Huh? Sure! It seems you like the skills of bartender Amelia!”

“Yes. Please, bartender.”

“Leave it to me!”

I watched her put ice in the shaker again, looking happy.

Perhaps it’s ridiculous for me to think of this world as a puppet show.

In fact, maybe everyone I killed was really human, and this is just another world.

They may have been forced to become villains by the Author’s power.

Or they may have been villains deserving to die, just as I thought.

“Here you go!”

“Thanks.”

I looked at the alcohol in the glass with tipsy eyes.

The sweet taste of sugar, the fresh taste of lime, and the unique taste of rum combine to create a new flavor in the cocktail.

Maybe the Author adds a little grapefruit to the finished cocktail to vary the taste.

…I don’t know. I didn’t want to know the truth.

Looking at Amelia, she was smiling happily.

Maybe it’s because of the setting that she wants true friends?

I took another sip of the alcohol.

Can I really call myself her friend?

Me, who can’t accept the world as it appears.

The alcohol I sipped had a strong scent of alcohol.

Author’s Notes

Name the cocktail whose main ingredients are sugar, rum, and lime. (1 point)