2
As Alice and I leave the conference room, I hear a familiar voice from around the corner of the hallway.
“W-we can’t do that… Besides, we already have a supplier for buying ingredients…”
“Ingredients are the same regardless of who we buy them from, aren’t they? One of my acquaintances sells meat for real cheap. We can buy from him and then take the difference…right? I’ll make sure you get a share…”
Alice and I exchange nods as we catch bits of the hushed conversation.
“Caaaaught yooou!”
“Huh?! How dare you!”
I restrain Snow, who was conspiring around the corner.
“Don’t look so upset, Little Ms. Corrupt! We know you’re trying to feed us shady meat!”
Alice uses the opportunity to shoo away the demon in charge of buying food supplies for Hideout City.
Snow turns around to confirm that it is me restraining her and then speaks up.
“Ms. Corrupt?! How dare you! I was just kidding! I haven’t even done anything yet! Yes, this is a Kisaragi joke! The sort of joke that’s common in evil organizations!”
“Kisaragi joke?” The hell is she talking about…?
“You’ve gotten way too comfy with the villain life! You’re still supposed to be a Combat Agent Recruit! I knew you were easily corrupted, but just look at how many times you’ve been caught embezzling money!”
It’s temporary, but Snow’s been transferred to our organization.
Apparently, Snow’s screwed up a few too many times in the Grace Kingdom and is now considered a nuisance by the kingdom’s nobles.
Tillis asked us to add Snow to our ranks as a way of avoiding the royal family getting blamed for Snow’s failures.
Originally the plan was to have her fully transfer to our organization, but it seems even Snow is aware that she wouldn’t have anything left if she lost her knighthood, so after she threw a crying fit, we came to the current arrangement.
She’s a common sight around Hideout City, and she knows my coworkers pretty well.
Aside from that, Tillis mentioned that because Grimm and Rose were being transferred, it’d be mean to leave her out of it… which is why we chose to take her, but…
“Practicing your villainy is totally fine, but don’t do anything shady with the food. A Combat Agent’s body is their bread and butter, so we have to stay properly nourished.”
“Hey, Alice, don’t let Ms. Corrupt off the hook! If you don’t chastise her she’ll just do it again!”
Snow’s been weirdly lively since she got assigned to us. It’s almost like she’s a natural when it comes to evil deeds.
“What’s gotten into you? Why do you look so happy?! What happened to the kicked-puppy face you were making?! I don’t want this Snow! Gimme back the serious knight commander who was always accusing me of espionage!”
“Sh-shut up! I’ve always been like this! …Huh, do you think I’ve looked happy? Dammit, seems I let myself get all giddy over being reunited with my squadmates…”
Snow blushes as though she’s embarrassed by the revelation, but I think she should probably be more ashamed of her embezzling.
As I maintain my hold on her, Alice leans over to ask…
“…So putting aside the fact that you’re here, where are the other two?”
Grimm smiles gently as she sits with a demon at one of the soup kitchens in Hideout City.
“Here you are. Be careful; it’s hot… You seem to be hurt, so please don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Th-thank you… Um, you can let go of my hand now. I’m not so badly hurt that I’ll drop my plate…”
Grimm’s serving a bowl of stew to a male demon with a hand injury, but…
“Are you sure? I can spoon-feed you if you’d like.”
“N-no, I’m fine! U-um… I’m gonna go now!”
The demon blushes as he takes the bowl of stew and runs off.
Grimm, who has been quietly watching over him, seems to have noticed us.
“Oh, what brings you two here? We’re starting to wind down at this station since there are fewer and fewer people coming to get food. There seem to be eateries opening up around town, so I think we can start phasing out these kitchens.”
“I see. Good work. That’s fine, but—”
Just then a demon girl shyly brings a bowl to Grimm.
“Um…”
Before the girl can say more, Grimm quickly fills her bowl with stew and hastily hands it back to her.
“Thanks!”
“No need to thank me. Go eat! But be careful; it’s hot! Next!”
As Grimm practically shoves the beaming girl aside, stirring the stew to cool it down for the next person in line, I can’t help but comment.
“Hey.”
“Yes? We’ve got enough hands here. Just leave it all to me, will you? Hee-hee-hee. I’m going to feed all the innocent young boys. That way, there’ll be boys who grow up with a fondness for kind, older women. I’m investing in the future. I won’t let anyone get in my way. Not even you, Commander.”
Maybe we should isolate her from the kids before it’s too late…
I’m pretty sure she’s the last person who should be in charge of the soup kitchens. She’s way too obvious in how differently she treats the boys and girls.
…Grimm responds to me as she continues her preparations, but then suddenly pauses as she spies the next person in line.
There’s someone in a dog suit standing in front of Grimm, bowl in hand…
“Rose, I know it’s you in there! This soup kitchen is only for the demons of Hideout City! You already get food from Kisaragi!”
Rose stands there dressed in the dog suit, looking for a handout.
“Please give me stew, pretty lady!”
“I’m not giving you any stew even if you try such obvious flattery! Here, I’ll give you my snacks, so go eat those instead! …Why are you taking some, Commander? You should buy your own!”
Grimm, who is more of a softy than she lets on, reaches into her pocket and produces snacks…
As she watches this typical afternoon scene play out, Alice crossed her arms and murmurs, “Man, they’re all useless outside of battle…”
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