Chapter 44

Chapter 44

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 44After walking for about five minutes with the beaming Ji-yoon on my back.

Since I no longer had to match my stride to Ji-yoon's, we arrived at the Maestro's shop [per l‘Imperatore]

in no time.

“Waaah... the building is sparkling...”

Since it was a building infused with the Maestro's aesthetic sense, it apparently looked extremely beautiful in Ji-yoon's eyes.

After slowly lowering the wide-eyed Ji-yoon to the ground, I took her hand and entered with her. A neatly dressed woman bowed and greeted us.

“Thank you for visiting [per l‘Imperatore]

, dear customers.”

“Hellooo. Pretty lady. I'm Ji-yoon.”

Ji-yoon bowed just as deeply toward the employee who had bowed to us, giving her a polite greeting.

At that sight, the in-ear erupted into chaos once again.[Young Lady is so cuuuuuute!][What do we do? What do we do? Should I bow like that whenever I meet Young Lady from now on too?]...

At this point, I was beginning to suspect that some private organization like a Ji-yoon fan club existed within Calione.[The next fan club agenda will be greetings that Young Lady might like.][I agree.][I agree as well.]...

It really exists?

While I was distracted by the conversation between the other organization members through the in-ear, something tugged at my arm, and when I looked down, I saw Ji-yoon staring at me.

“Big Brooo?”

“Hm?”

“The pretty lady says to follow her.”

“Ah, sorry.”

This is seriously dizzying...

It made me wonder what these guys normally did instead of working.

While once again questioning what exactly Calione was, we had already arrived at the ‘room.’

“The Maestro is inside. Please, enjoy your time here.”

The female employee who had guided us all the way to the Maestro's workshop, which I had visited once before, bowed once more before disappearing down the hallway.

“Maestro? Stro means straw!”

Ji-yoon confidently declared the meaning of stro.

The corners of my mouth rose without me realizing it.

“Stro does mean straw, but you shouldn't call the person inside that. He's Papa's friend.”

“Straw? Friend? Okay!”

After stroking her head a few times, I lightly knocked on the door to the Maestro's workshop, grabbed the handle, and turned it.

The moment I opened the door and entered, I saw the Maestro.

“You've arrived. Young Master. And Young Lady.”

Upon spotting us, the Maestro smiled brightly, and Ji-yoon shouted toward him with a mischievous smile.

“Straw!”

The moment Ji-yoon shouted, I remembered something I had forgotten.

Ji-yoon was still only a seven-year-old child.

Wasn't that the age when children wanted to do something precisely because they were told not to?

If there was at least one fortunate thing...

“Yeees~ I'm Grandpa Straw~ Hohohoho.”

Ji-yoon's behavior was far too cute to call rude.

The Maestro smiled along with Ji-yoon as he watched her laugh innocently.

“Kyahaha! Kyahaha!”

“Hahaha! Young Lady certainly has plenty of spirit. Now, fly far, far away~”

“Grandpa Straw is fun!”

The Maestro, wearing a smile that had completely melted at the sight of Ji-yoon, lifted her high into his arms and played with her.

Was this what it meant to be a craftsman who had spent a long time working in a single field?

Just looking at the muscles in his arms as he effortlessly lifted Ji-yoon showed how diligently he maintained his physical condition.

“I heard from the Don. You came today to entrust me with the Young Lady's clothes.”

The Maestro spoke to me while still playing with Ji-yoon.

“Yes. Thanks to that, even though I saw you yesterday, I'm seeing you again today.”

“Haha! That's a good thing. It means such distinguished people recognize my skill. Heave-ho!”

The Maestro carefully lowered Ji-yoon to the ground, crouched down to meet her eye level, and spoke with an exceedingly gentle smile.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Young Lady. My name is Roberto Haber. I'm the old man whom the Don and Young Master call the Maestro.”

“Yeah! You're Grandpa Straw!”

“Haha! That's right. To the Young Lady, I'm Grandpa Straw.”

Roberto laughed and played along with Ji-yoon's mischievous joke.

“From now on, I'll be measuring things like your height, Young Lady. May I have your permission, Lady?”

“Lady...! Yes...!”

“Thank you.”

After hearing Ji-yoon's answer, Roberto stood up and used his ability.

Just as it had with me, a blue measuring tape appeared in midair and began writhing like a living snake as it took Ji-yoon's measurements.

“Kyahaha! Kyahaha! Big Brooo! This is fun!”

Apparently fascinated by the constantly moving measuring tape, Ji-yoon couldn't stop laughing.

At the same time, the measuring tape vanished from the air, and Roberto clapped his hands with a smile.

“We're finished. Thanks to the Lady waiting so patiently, we finished quickly.”...

Was it because her body was so small? It felt like it ended much faster than when it was my turn.

“Ji-yoon was good?”

“Of course. I've never met such a well-behaved Lady in my life.”

“Hehehe! Grandpa Straw is a good grandpa!”

“I'm merely grateful for the compliment.”

The Maestro stroked Ji-yoon's head as he stood up and checked the calendar hanging on the wall.

“Since the Young Lady is small, her clothes should not take long to make. Of course, I am currently working on the Young Master's clothes, so I will make sure there are no disruptions. For now, I will contact you as soon as the clothes are finished.”

The Maestro smiled and bowed his head toward me.

“Thank you for your consideration. Ji-yoon. Shall we go somewhere else now?”

“Hm? We're going somewhere else now?”

Ji-yoon, who had been playing in front of the full-length mirror, quickly turned her head and looked at me.

“We finished Papa's errand, so now we should go have fun, right?”

“Waaah...!”

At the mention that we were going to play from now on, Ji-yoon smiled brightly and threw herself into my arms.

“Big Bro is the best!”

And at the sight, the Maestro watching us also smiled with satisfaction.

It's a little embarrassing... but it isn't bad.

After leaving the Maestro's tailor shop, [per l‘Imperatore]

, we immediately headed toward our next destination.[Young Master and Young Lady have come out.][All teams, move to your positions. Young Master's next destination is... a family restaurant.][A family restaurant? You mean a restaurant operated by Calione?][No, an actual family restaurant. Do you think a restaurant operated by Calione would suit a seven-year-old Young Lady?][Ah, yes.]

Just as the team leader said through the in-ear, our next destination was an ordinary family restaurant.

Of course, there were restaurants operated by Calione nearby... but Calione's restaurants were tailored more toward adult tastes than children, and above all, there weren't many dishes for children.

Most of them were bars

or pubs. Or restaurants serving food that paired well with wine.

That was why the place we had decided to visit was an ordinary... well, not exactly ordinary, but a family restaurant classified as a hidden gem in the game's setting.

“Big Bro, Big Bro! Look at that!”

Ji-yoon, who had been walking obediently while holding my hand, pointed toward the street and shouted.

“Bang-bang guns!”

There was a shop there with a sign reading ‘Survival,’ centered around a game where players used toy guns to shoot down wooden blocks.

“Why, do you want to try it?”

“No... I wanna watch Big Bro do it...! And... the doll too!”

Ah, apparently she wanted the doll being offered as the first-place shooting prize.

The only problem was...[Awakened Individuals May Not Participate.]

That was what the notice attached to the sign said.

“Uh... you want to see Big Bro shoot the gun?”

“Yes!”

This required assistance.

I immediately turned around and pressed a hand to my in-ear.

“This is Mother Bird. This is Mother Bird. Requesting support. Requesting support. Need the shooting gallery ahead bought out.”[Confirmed.]

A confirmation immediately came through, and I quickly crouched down to meet Ji-yoon's gaze and keep her from looking elsewhere.

“Ji-yoon, your hair is messy here.”

I naturally stroked her hair, making Ji-yoon close her eyes.

At the same time, the voices of the security team and the owner came through the in-ear.[Mister. Let us borrow your shop for a moment.][What the hell are you──][Five million credits. Take this and let us borrow it for thirty minutes. Alright?][Why ask something so obvious? Yes. Please make yourselves at home~ Hahaha!][Purchase complete. You may proceed.]

As expected, when it came down to it, they certainly knew how to get things done.

“Alright, shall we go play bang-bang now?”

“Yes!”

After confirming that everything had been settled, I stood back up and looked toward the sign.

The words [Awakened Individuals May Not Participate.]

had already disappeared.

When I approached with Ji-yoon, a man wearing an awkward smile opened his mouth.

“Oh, my! What a pretty little lady and handsome student! Especially since the little lady is so pretty, you can shoot for free.”

“Wow! Thank you!”

Delighted by being called pretty, Ji-yoon gave a deep bow to the security team member disguised as the owner.

At that, the in-ear became noisy once again.[Wow, I'm seriously jealous of that bastard...][What do we do about Young Lady! She's so cute!][I should've been the one to go over there...]

A bow exchanged for five million credits.

The security team member in front of us had certainly earned Ji-yoon's thanks.

Of course, he could probably claim it as an activity expense from the Family...

“Big Bro! Bang-bang!”

Ji-yoon stared at me with sparkling eyes.

Since Ji-yoon was looking forward to it this much, I decided to give it my all.

“Alright, Big Bro will win you the biggest doll over there.”

“Yes!!”

Hearing my declaration, Ji-yoon nodded as though she believed me unconditionally, then clasped both hands together as though praying.

She looked so desperate that her once-sparkling eyes had practically begun burning.

I smiled and loaded a cork-like projectile into the muzzle.

“You have three chances in total. Young Mas── student.”

“Yes, understood.”

I braced the stock against my shoulder, steadied myself, and regulated my breathing.

It would look cool to Ji-yoon if I gave it everything from the very first shot and knocked them all down. After focusing every nerve and aiming at the spot that would bring down all the wooden blocks, I pulled the trigger.──Tap!

The weakly flying projectile lightly struck the wooden block and fell to the floor.

“Oh, what a shame!”

“Big Bro, so close!”

The security team and Ji-yoon exclaimed at the same time.

Even though I had clearly struck the correct spot, the wooden blocks hadn't budged, so it seemed something like adhesive had been applied underneath them.

Or perhaps they had put stones or metal inside to increase the weight of the blocks.

It was an extremely common arcade trap.

If that was the case... there was only one method left.

I naturally loaded another projectile into the gun, activated the in-ear, and quietly muttered.

“Unexpected situation. Adhesive suspected on wooden blocks. Requesting sniper support.”[Confirmed.]

A red dot appeared on the lowest wooden block.

The important thing was for the sniper to fire at the exact moment the projectile struck the wooden block.

Of course, since he was a sniper from the security team, he should be able to watch the cork projectile fly and time his shot accordingly.

I pulled the trigger.

The piece of cork flew in a straight line.

Swoooosh─Whizz──!

At the same time, a brass-colored bullet flew in and struck the wooden block.

Clang─!

And the wooden tower came crashing down.

“Waaaaah!!”

At the sight of the wooden tower collapsing in a heap, Ji-yoon threw both arms into the air in amazement.

“Big Bro is super strong!”

For now, I had succeeded in knocking down all the wooden blocks... but the first-place prize was supposed to require knocking them all down with a single shot.

However, since I had already ‘borrowed’ this shop, that didn't apply to me.

“Congratulations! You've won first place! As your prize, we'll give this enormous doll to the Young Lady!”

“Wow! Big Bear!”

I thought it looked like a character doll I'd seen somewhere. So it was called Big Bear.

Holding a doll almost half her own size in both arms, Ji-yoon toddled over and looked up at me.

“Big Bro!”

“Hm?”

“Ji-yoon is so happy today!”...

While going through all kinds of training and work in this world, had I ever seen Ji-yoon smile like this?

At Ji-yoon's smile, one that made me happy just from looking at it, I stroked her head and said.

“Let's come play again next time?”

“Yes!!”

Because I'd truly had fun too.