First Drink of the Evening
(Wow… He looks so sophisticated with the shaker. His serious expression makes him look even more handsome… I can’t look away…)
An orange wedge as a garnish… Here’s your drink.
Thank you so much!
The ombre from blue to orange is so pretty. The golden reflection of the lights… It looks like the ocean.
I made this juice cocktail with you in mind.
Huh?
Your eyes are full of energy, like a fruit receiving the loving light of the sun. You exude compassion that seems to envelop everything.
I’ll call it “Ocean’s Gold”. I hope it’s able to satisfy you. Please, enjoy.
Ah…!
(Now I’m blushing…)
Thank you… Wow… It’s so good…!
Right? Yodaka’s the man. Well, as long as you just ignore the womanizer part of him.
It’d be great if we could have stuff like this every night at the HAMA House, don’tcha think?
……
(I wasn’t sure why he took us to this bar at first, but…)
So that’s what this is about.
That it is.
What is?
Give the guy an explanation. Let’s get that home bar up and runnin’.
No underhanded motives, Manager Daniel. Yodaka-san, this is for you.
This is…
*paper flipping*
That’s a shame. This is much too corporate to be a good love letter.
L-Love letter…?
Haha, apologies. I picked up my habit of bantering from working here, you see. All jokes aside… This seems to be some sort of project proposal, correct?
Right. I can explain it to you.
Hm… I understand. So HAMA Tours wants the city to remain as a tourism region, and you aim to create tour packages in order to achieve that…
So you’re searching for ward mayors for each of the 18 wards to help, and you’ve found mayors for all wards up to Ward 14.
Yes, exactly.
For the Night Team, you want mayors who can provide a relaxing experience to their guests, so you’re primarily searching for small business owners and people who are connected to the local community.
Yes. Our president decided on those qualifications.
You attempted to speak to Nagi from Flower Laundry about this, since you already know him, but he wasn’t there. So you chose to reach out to me, since Danny frequents this bar. Does that sound correct?
I’m so sorry for springing it on you out of nowhere. I know it seems like we picked you as a second choice, so I apologize for the rudeness.
But I knew we had made the right decision when I tried that cocktail you made.
Yumejuya is the ideal place for guests to come in and unwind with a nice drink. No other bar would be more perfect.
……
Please feel free to look over the documents and take your time coming to a decision…
Man, you’re being too damn formal with this. Just listenin’ to you’s got my shoulders feelin’ stiff.
Ay, Yodaka, you wanna be the Ward 17 mayor? Your bar’s set up in Ward 17 anyway.
That sounds fine.
Wh—
WHAAAAAAAAAT?!
Y-Yunyun-san?!
(He looks more shocked than I am at how fast Yodaka-san accepted.)
Okay, hold on. You can’t just get the jump on us like that… No! That’s a no!
What’s wrong all of a sudden? Did you want to be a mayor as well?
That’s not what I meant…
Damn, didn’t expect that. Y’always talk about how free you feel when the boss ain’t around. I thought you’d be throwin’ a party after hearing this.
(So that’s the kind of impression he has of Yunyun-san…)
…But there are lots of people who come here ‘cuz they wanna talk to the boss.
If he starts doing all that mayor stuff, he’ll be too busy to run the bar.
Ah, we’d still want him to prioritize running the bar. The goal of this project is to have the mayors serve customers at their own businesses.
Please rest assured, I’ll do my best to arrange schedules so the mayoral workload won’t get in the way of business.
Well, there you have it.
……
Danny and Nagi are good friends of mine. I’d be glad to help them with whatever they need.
Ah, but I suppose Nagi isn’t a mayor yet.
Are you close with Nagi-kun? I was just wondering, since you’ve been calling him by his first name.
Yes, I forgot to mention it. He comes to deliver new flowers for that vase every week.
Oh, that makes sense!
……
(Um, I forgot to say something, but… Yodaka-san just agreed to being a ward mayor, right…? Does that mean…)
We have a deal…?!
Looks like it.
My full name is Natsume Yodaka. Thank you for having me.
Th-Thank you! Ahh, thank god!
Woah, calm down. Your face is red as a beet. Alright, looks like we’re done with work for today.
I didn’t expect for us to come to a decision this quickly…! I’m sorry for being so loud!
I’m just really happy. Thank you so much!
……
……
It’s alright. I won’t cause you any trouble.
What are you talking about? I’m not worried about that kinda thing.
Alright, let’s have a little party to celebrate! Hiroshi’s treat!
Huh?
We got a really rare Japanese whiskey in recently. You like whiskey, right? Want the whole bottle?
Hohhh, a 25 year old Kokushu! How much?
Hey, you don’t need to start penny pinching. Just buy the thing, c’moooon.
You tryna scam me or something?
(Daniel-san’s involvement aside, we actually found our first new mayor… This must be a sign of good things to come. I hope the rest of the mayors will be this easy too…)
Those two seem to be having a good time. We should strike up a conversation between ourselves as well.
Yes, I’d love to!
It’s adorable how honest you are. What would you like to talk about?
Hmmm, well… Do you happen to know where Nagi-kun likes to hang out? Like, if you’ve ever seen him around town…
I’m sure you don’t know him that well, since you only buy flowers from him but…I just wanted to ask.
Ah, I like that. You sound like a detective. And every detective should have a favorite bar to frequent.
I’ll provide you with some clues to follow up on that.
Does that mean you have somewhere in mind…?
Unfortunately, finding his whereabouts is as difficult as searching for a lost bird. He once ventured across the Pacific Ocean while trying to go to the convenience store, after all.
Huh? He did what?!
It seems the god of mischief has taken a liking to him. I suppose that’s just his lot in life.
(I-I do remember his pet robot calling him accident-prone… He almost got crushed under his motorcycle that one time I met him too…)
I know the perfect place to go if you’re looking for somebody. It just so happens to be in the mayor-less Ward 15. Would that be of any help?
Really…? Yes, I’d love to know about it!
As you wish, Mr. Detective.
There’s a certain man who frequents this establishment quite often. Hm, I’ll call him Kinniku Morio for now. I heard about this from him.
One midsummer night, Kinniku-san was returning home from a business trip, rushing through the streets with a large bag in his hand.
As he passed through a quiet street, he saw a peculiar manor. He approached the building, mind brimming with questions about its existence, before he sensed a presence hiding within its large shadow.
He approached it cautiously, and assuredly, it was there.
It noticed him and quickly turned around. Its singular eye caught sight of Kinniku-san, and it swiftly showed its back and ran off into the night.
That manor’s name was…
Angel’s Eye.
Did you know that there is a particular angel that only has one eye?
If that’s the case, then that might have been an angel.
So this is Angel’s Eye. I haven’t heard about it, but they’re a pretty well-known fortune-teller within the area. Apparently Kinniku-san still stops by regularly…
Hmm… Seems kinda big to be just a fortune-teller’s place. Somethin’ smells fishy.
Does it? I think it’s fine.
(Hmm, the entrance is…over there.)
(We got lost on the way here, so it’s already dark out. I hope they’re still open.)
They’re over here!
Surround them! Don’t let them escape!
Tch…
Huh…?!