Chapter 182 Bossyboss

"It's got to be auntie for real, this time—"

"Hush, now! Th-They don't have the keys…!"

"Waaa… Waaa…" The boy wasn't as clever, naturally, so he got his hopes high. The healthy-red color of his face stayed rosy, but the boy now cried with frustration. His smile first fell apart, then he was found rolling around, whacking all his limbs around in fury. "Waaah! I can't! I can't! I can't, I can't, I can— Mmmhn!" The only way the boy would shut his trap was by smothering. Or a milder version of it. If the lass was desperate before, now she was well past that point. Her brother finally shut up after his sister told him it could still be a monster, knocking at their door, but she shook her head, biting her lip.

"They definitely heard the commotion, now…"

"N-N-No! You can't open up, big sis'! The monster will… The monster will…"

"I said hush now, boy."

"Waaa…"

"Look. Here. Always got my frying pan, don't I?"

"Wooo… Defeat the bad person!"

"...Hehe."

The girl chose to be true to her word. She didn't open up the door to allow the monster in just yet, but she would soon. Also, she always had her frying pan around if I or any other bad person assaulted her.

My host was slow to tend to her guest, but she eventually came up to the door. It made sense that she was hesitant. She lived in the lawless area, where the crime rate was the highest in all of Roerdenville. She had her right to have all her anxiety and stress gnaw at her empty stomach, too, with what happened earlier. When she came up to me, I was still waiting on the front porch. A door stood between us. She was on the other side of it, with a frying pan locked with her arms, ready to swing at me even with the door closed and locked.

At first, the lass hit me with a hesitant "H-Hello…" and started to ask about who I was rather meekly. I was ready to answer her, but… Halfway through, she must have thought it through and decided that she had to be more fierce, just like her aunt always taught her. "H-Hello… W-Who is it…? It's not you auntie, is it… N-No… …No! Okay. Fierce. W-Who're you and what do you want at my door!"

"...Pfft. I, uh—"

"You have to know that I am armed, sir!"

"Sure, armed, I understand. I actually came here to apologize."

"And I am not alone in this house! …Uh, pardon me, sir? What did you…"

"You're not alone. I see, I've been told that. Sorry. So, I came here to… well, apologize."

"..." The lass marked a pause. "W-What for, sir…?"

With a door between us, it was a little hard to communicate my feelings in a perfectly smooth manner. "If I may first, you don't have to call me sir." Maybe that was especially complicated for her to read me from her perspective. I at least saw the person I talked to, with Mana Perception. I saw her eyes hesitantly drop down to the ground with a less-pained expression, and her frying pan following. From what I understood, I told the lass that we were roughly about the same age, so she could drop the "sir." Strictly speaking, I was actually younger than her kid brother or any two-month-old infant out there, but oh well.

"I can hear it by your voice… but I wouldn't…"

Confession time. Earlier, I was the one who had broken into the house. I told her as much. Uninvited and illegally.

"P-Pardon me?!"

"I know," I awkwardly scratched the back of my head, "and I'd bow to you to express how deeply sorry I am… but there's that door."

"W-Why did you come to our house again…!"

"D-Don't get me wrong!" I acted flustered. "I-I— At first, I had no idea the customer's two children were in here. That's why. I'm deeply sorry for the inconvenience I caused then."

Some young man broke into your house and potentially committed theft, then came back to you to apologize. The hell was wrong with him? At first, the lass was confused. If she kept tripping over her tongue when she was just intimidated by my presence, now that she was also very confused, she was conflicted. She raised her voice first and pushed me for an explanation, while stammering an awful lot, then she became less animated, and as I kept silent, she kept mumbling her natural questions under her breath.

In the first place, if I was remorseful, I should have had said "I'm sorry for doing you wrong," instead of "I was doing you wrong but all I regret was nearly being caught."

"I-I know," I awkwardly laughed, "you must be confused. And so… When I told the boss, he sent me back here to apologize."

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't… The 'boss'...?"

"Sure. Uh, it is Mr. Bossyboss I am the assistant of, working under my lord as his apprentice. Supposedly, the customer—I mean, the owner of this place should have been here." Or that was what I thought anyway. My appointment with her aunt wasn't until about an hour from now, so I apologized again for the inconvenience from earlier.

"Wha… Whaaat?"

"I know, I'm sorry. It's confusing how poorly organized I was. Mr. Bossyboss was ashamed. I can see you are, too, hm."

"No… sir…. I mean, I don't really… Actually, I should be sorry. It seems I don't understand a thing you're talking about. Really."

"Huh? Well, now you have me confused."

"...I apologize, sir. I just don't know what… is…"

BEst

"Hmm…"

"S-Sorry!"

"..Haven't you been told?"

"I'm afraid not, sir."

"Ehhh."

"I—"

"Well, I can say it makes sense." After all, I said her aunt wouldn't overshare about the things her girl didn't need to know. "It makes sense, it does. Well, criminal investigations never bode well. Plus, with the case we're working on—the case your aunt has been willing to come forward to us as a witness—I understand she wouldn't… well. The case is pretty serious. Never mind." No, nothing made sense. The girl who now felt terribly apologetic towards me for being an inconvenience didn't have to know, though. I had quickly made up some story beforehand to be sure not to lose this little game, but I mostly improvised at some point. Mr. Bossyboss wouldn't be proud.

I came here to say I was sorry. Now, the young lady stayed by her door to apologize to me instead. She dropped her frying pan with repeated bows. Soon, her kid brother came up to the door to apologize on behalf of his sister, too.

"It's okay, it's okay, guys!"

"...Is it, sir?"

The door was still acting as a wall between the cat and the mice. "I… can always drop by later."

"Huh, but I would feel…"

"Or I should explain everything to you…? I couldn't possibly burden you with—"

"I'd be ready to hear you! Plus you really seem troubled, so… It wouldn't feel right letting you go without…"

She could barely ever finish her sentences. That was normal. She couldn't let me go without…? What did she know? Possibly, she felt sorry for sending me back to the imaginary Mr. Bossyboss without getting my job done again… or something along those lines anyway.

For a minute, I insisted that I couldn't really burden her with all my stuff, but she also insisted that, if she could be of help, she gladly would. No, she even felt like it was her duty to. When I subtly let her believe that she could be of help to my investigation, she was pumped up like crazy.

"...Well. Then I'd need to start from the start, hm?"

Click, click. Then, click, click again. And then, click, click one last time. Phew. The locks of the door were unlocked. The door opened up. If she wasn't naive enough to open it, I'd have had to pull off yet another tricky trick to fool them. Behind the door, I found the young lady and her kid brother who half-hugged her from her flank. Adorably cute. Both of them. Adorably gullible, too.

And the monster they just opened their door to, smiled at them.

"No worries," I chuckled, "everything's all right..."