At the dining table, the steam from the dishes gradually dissipated.
To be honest, if Makoto and his group hadn't come, Shiho and the others could have endured it, not eating anything tonight. That would have been fine.
But the problem was, with so much food right in front of them, and so many people eating so happily right before their eyes,
The feeling was different.
It was like, in the dead of night, your stomach growling with hunger, and then someone sends you a video of [The Great Food Truck Race]—
Even worse than that.
Finally, Mrs. Shizuka couldn't help but speak up.
"Um... could we have some to eat?"
The Miyano sisters and Kazuha looked at her in surprise simultaneously. Even Aqua paused her chewing.
It was only then that she finally remembered her teammates hadn't eaten yet.
Mrs. Shizuka said she still had some private savings and could pay for it later.
Makoto nodded.
The Miyano sisters and Kazuha hesitated no longer. They picked up their forks and began to eat.
Kazuha almost choked while eating. Hana handed her a glass of water from the side.
But they were all busy filling their stomachs and forgot one thing.
If Mrs. Shizuka really had money of her own, she could have ordered food herself. Why ask Makoto?
Leaving aside Akemi and Kazuha, who weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, even Shiho didn't notice this.
There was no helping it. They were too hungry, and on top of that, they were half dead from anger at their useless teammates Aqua and Megumin. She couldn't think straight.
When the meal was almost finished, Makoto remembered something else. He looked at Shiho, who hadn't transformed into Haibara Ai.
"Do you know about your sister and your brother-in-law?"
"Brother-in-law?"
Shiho looked confused. She turned to ask her sister beside her, "Sis, you're married?"
Akemi quickly shook her head, looking at Makoto with a bewildered expression.
A wave of unease surged in her heart, 'How does he know about Dai-kun's matters?' (T/N: Akai Shuichi's fake identity is Moroboshi Dai.)
She had never mentioned it to anyone. All those secrets related to the Black Organization and that man, she had buried deep in her stomach.
Makoto said with a smile, "Your brother-in-law is quite something, you know. Back when he was infiltrating the liquor factory as a mole, he—"
"Oh dear!"
Akemi's voice suddenly rose several octaves, forcibly cutting off Makoto's words. "I feel like having something sweet after the meal. Miss Luna—"
She waved to the receptionist. "Please bring each of us a monster cream crepe."
The subject change was too obvious.
Everyone's expressions grew even more suspicious, and also more curious about what exactly her boyfriend had done.
Akemi's smile froze on her face. Her fingers twisted together under the table.
Shiho stared at her sister for a good long while, until Akemi grew more and more uneasy, her gaze starting to dart around.
Finally, Shiho turned her head back.
She could see that her sister didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't push.
Makoto watched the interaction between the two sisters with amusement. He didn't press further.
The later part of the Detective Conan manga was overly long and dragged out... he had stopped reading it long ago.
But he was quite curious whether Haibara Ai, the Miyano Shiho before him, actually knew what Akai Shuichi had done to her sister.
Putting himself in Shiho's shoes: Akai Shuichi? That bastard used her sister to infiltrate the Black Organization, and when things went south, he ran off alone, leaving her sister in the fire.
Damn, if he were Shiho, he'd skin that guy alive if he didn't die yet.
Nighttime.
Shiho's group returned to their lodging inn.
They had booked a large room.
But even a large room was, at the end of the day, designed for two people.
Now the team had a full eight people... oh no, plus Megumin, that made nine.
Fortunately, when they arrived at the inn, Makoto, upon learning of this, proactively opened a room for the three Uzaki women.
"Brother-in-law, you're so generous... I love you!"
Yanagi looked up, her thick bangs vaguely revealing the same squinty eyes as her mother.
Yanagi, who had a bit of a little devil personality, never missed an opportunity to tease her sister.
And to be fair, she actually kind of wanted to set up her sister with Makoto.
After experiencing this journey to another world, she understood: to survive in this world, you had to latch onto someone powerful!
Hana's face turned red again, from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears.
She reached out to grab her sister's ear, but Yanagi, prepared, ducked under her armpit, hid behind Tsuki, and stuck half her head out to stick her tongue out at her sister.
Makoto teased Yanagi back: "Why do you want me to be your brother-in-law instead of your boyfriend?"
Yanagi's smile froze.
Hana's mouth hung open, forgetting to close it.
Yanagi, who had just entered high school, also blushed.
Yunyun stood nearby, watching this scene, feeling inexplicably unsettled inside.
It felt like a stone pressing on her chest.
She wondered what was wrong with her.
"What a womanizer..." Shiho took the key from the front desk, watching this scene, and couldn't help but mutter quietly.
"He has the ability for it." Akemi reminded her in a low voice.
Aqua popped up from somewhere, approached Makoto with a silly grin on her face. "Um... could you open a room for me too?"
Yu and the others couldn't help but look at Kazuma.
They felt this woman was practically a gender-swapped version of Kazuma.
"Scram!" Kazuma shouted crossly.
In the end, the Miyano sisters, Mrs. Shizuka, Kazuha, Aqua, and Megumin... six people... squeezed into the large bed.
It was slightly more spacious than before when eight people lived together. At least they didn't need to send someone to sleep in the bathroom anymore.
"Isn't that Yunyun your friend? Why don't you go stay with her?" Kazuha asked curiously, watching Megumin walk in with her.
Megumin was climbing onto the bed. Hearing this, she looked back at Kazuha and said matter-of-factly:
"Aren't we comrades? We should live together."
Kazuha was stunned.
Shiho's page-turning also paused for a moment.
Everyone immediately changed their opinion of this flat mage.
Although her fighting style was pretty useless, and she was quite thick-skinned, unexpectedly, she valued camaraderie.
Shiho glanced sideways at Aqua... well, it seemed they were both useless teammates, but Megumin was still a little better than Aqua.
After all, if Makoto came to poach her, Megumin probably wouldn't agree, but Aqua would definitely jump ship without hesitation.
After returning to the room, everyone busied themselves.
Kazuha, who had carried Aqua all the way from the outskirts, had broken a sweat. She took her change of clothes and went to take a shower.
The sound of water came from the bathroom, muffled by the door.
Shiho sat on the edge of the bed, took out a history book about this world borrowed from the library, and began to read.
Although she had encountered a monster like Makoto, she didn't have the idea of latching onto him.
And because her sister had become a native of this world, she didn't plan to leave either. So she needed to learn more about this world's knowledge.
Akemi sat at the foot of the bed, staring blankly.
She was thinking about how to cover up her affair with Akai Shuichi.
Although she was love-struck, she wasn't an idiot.
If her sister found out what that man had done, that girl would definitely go after him with everything she had.
'Speaking of which, was Dan-kun dead or not? He should have escaped back to his country back then. He probably survived...' She bit her lip and shook the thought out of her head.
Mrs. Shizuka stood by the window, looking out. It was unclear what she was watching.