Chapter 127 Kurumi's Hidden Hobby
Usually, Akame would just watch as Esdeath and Kurumi argued, but this time, even she couldn't understand her own feelings. She suddenly repeated the words Eric had said to her when they first met.
A complicated feeling stirred in her heart—one she couldn't quite express.
Akame clenched her fists and held them to her chest, her expression somewhere between shy and sorrowful.
"It's nothing. I'm going to get some dango," Akame said, turning around to leave.
"Wait, Akame!"
Eric wasn't comfortable letting Akame go off alone. Although she was strong enough and had the demon sword Murasame, there weren't many in the amusement park who could beat her.
Still, better safe than sorry.
What if she ran into someone like Bartholomew Kuma, who had just become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and whose whereabouts were unknown—or other powerful hidden threats, like Whitebeard Jr.? Akame acting alone would be very risky.
Eric suggested, "Let's all go together, the three of us."
Even if the two girls disagreed, he'd Dragon them along if he had to.
Unexpectedly, Akame nodded in agreement. At the corner of her lips—unseen by others—a barely noticeable smile lifted.
Since the other two had decided, Kurumi had no reason to object.
However, she clearly didn't intend to let Eric off the hook so easily.
"Ara, I didn't expect Eric to be such a smooth talker." Her Akame locked onto Eric.
"..." Cold sweat poured down Eric's forehead.
He desperately searched his memory for every harem anime he'd ever watched—how do those protagonists deal with this kind of situation?!
Too late. In his panic, he forgot everything. He wasn't that all-knowing Katsuragi; nor was he Shido Itsuka, saving spirits; nor was he the perverted Ken from the Baka Student Council. He had no real-life experience to rely on!
Though he enjoyed watching others caught in a love-triangle disaster, he had absolutely no desire to be the center of one himself!
No choice—he'd have to channel Saotome from Macross Frontier!
Eric opened his arms toward both of them and said with a smile , "You are both my wings..."
Bang!
A bullet grazed through his hair, leaving a neat hole.
Eric froze, still holding his pose. His mouth hung open, and his twitching eyes stared straight ahead.
The smoking barrel of the gun was inches from his face. He could even feel the heat radiating from the muzzle. Eric stared nervously at the dark hole, his eyes going cross-eyed.
Carnival-goers nearby who were parading through Carnival City turned their heads at the sound of the shot. Strangely, no major panic erupted—almost like this sort of thing was normal here.
"What was that?"
"What's going on?"
"Cheating? Infidelity? A love triangle showdown?"
"At your age, show some dignity!"
Inside, Eric screamed: 'Who?! Who the hell just said I'm old?!'
The sight of one man with two women made the crowd quickly guess what was happening.
"You can't go waving a gun around like that, young lady."
Nearby, a kind-looking middle-aged man from an ice cream stall chimed in, "Whatever it is, you can talk it out. Put the gun down."
He then looked seriously at Eric and said, "And you, old man, seriously? You've got such a young and beautiful girlfriend, and you're still flirting around outside..." He glanced at the silent Akame. "...Though I can understand why, still—as a man, you need to take responsibility!"
"Hmph, I'm not his girlfriend," Kurumi replied coldly, but her tone clearly said otherwise.
Eric inwardly raged: 'And what do you mean calling me "old man"?! I'm not old!' Completely forgetting he was still dressed like a little old man.
"Here, here!" the stall owner said as he swiftly scooped three balls of ice cream into cones and handed them to the trio. "Have a nice cool treat and calm down."
"Ah" Kurumi let out a long sigh, holstered her refined pistol, and took the ice cream from the vendor. "Thanks, mister."
She passed the other two cones to Eric and Akame.
Akame, innocent as ever, began licking her ice cream, taking small bites.
"...", Kurumi glanced at her own cone and took a small lick as well.
And so, the three of them walked and ate their ice cream, preparing to leave the scene.
Seeing that there would be no dramatic showdown to watch, the surrounding crowd began to disperse.
"Hey, old man!" the vendor called after Eric, beckoning him with four fingers like some shady back-alley merchant trying to lure in customers with pretty women.
'Eh? He's calling me? Do I really look that old?'
Though they were already leaving, Eric hesitated, then turned back. The vendor leaned in close, bringing his chubby face toward Eric's ear. The hot breath from the man's nostrils blew against Eric's neck, making him break out in goosebumps.
Eric was just wondering why the man was being so secretive when his mind leapt to a familiar scene: "Young man, I can see you have amazing potential. Here, take this martial arts manual..."
Alright, maybe he was imagining things.
Instead, the vendor whispered:
"Three ice creams, that'll be thirty thousand Beli."
"Thirty thousand?! Why don't you just rob me?!" Eric hissed angrily at the con artist. He wasn't clueless about market prices. He'd actually thought the vendor was a kind soul—turns out, you couldn't trust a mild-mannered middle-aged man after all!
"Hey hey, don't say that," the man said, throwing an arm around Eric's shoulders. "At least you're no longer getting a gun pointed at you by your cute girlfriend. I basically saved your life. Thirty thousand Beli for a life—that's a bargain, isn't it?"
"...Here." Eric still handed over the money. Even though his life hadn't really been in danger, he rolled three ten-thousand Beli notes into a tight cylinder and secretly passed them during a handshake—just like a spy exchanging documents.
Back with Kurumi and Akame, Eric hadn't even spoken before Kurumi beat him to it. "Expensive ice cream, huh?"
As expected, with her intellect, Kurumi wouldn't be so easily fooled. And she hadn't accused him of being taken advantage of—she merely pointed out that she knew. Her emotional intelligence really was high...
"Ah, look over there," Eric said while glancing around, pretending to be distracted, then pointing ahead.
"Ara, I'm not a child. I wouldn't fall for something that obvious."
"No, really—look at what they're selling over there."
Kurumi reluctantly turned her head. "That is...!"
It was a stall selling eye patches. The stand was covered in all sorts of them—from sleep masks to decorative single-eye patches.
The single-eye patches featured all kinds of designs: fierce pirate skulls, cute heart patterns for edgy girls, and plain white ones.
"Ah..." Coming to her senses, Kurumi realized she had already walked up to the stall and reached for one of the single-eye patches.
Quickly, she pulled her hand back. Her cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment as she angrily turned to Eric.
"So Kurumi likes the simple style, huh." Eric stared at the plain white patch. "I'll buy it for you, okay?"
"I don't want it!" Kurumi snapped, elbowing Eric hard in the side.
"Gah-ow!"
In the end, Eric still bought Kurumi a snow-white single-eye patch.
(END CHAPTER)
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