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Chapter 294: The Gates of Heaven (1)
"Han Daesu, huh..."
After parting ways with Khalid Han.
Left alone in the room, I was sorting through the information I’d gotten from him.
“…Come to think of it, he’s a Han too.”
While organizing my thoughts, I realized that the first outsider and I shared the same surname, but I didn’t pay it much mind.
'It’s not like there are only a handful of people named Han in the Republic.'
And besides, I was an orphan with no parents to begin with.
Just having the same surname wasn’t enough to draw a connection between me and the leader of Eternity.
Still, there was one thing that nagged at me.
‘My name… I was told it was given to me by one of the orphanage’s benefactors.’
Right.
I definitely heard as a child that a benefactor of the orphanage gave me the name “Dale Han.”
“……”
Lost in thought, I turned on my Hero Watch and contacted Albert.
[Ah, D-Dale. What’s up? Did something go wrong with those videos we spread around before?]
A familiar voice came through the Hero Watch.
“No, it’s not that. I just wanted to find the contact info for an orphanage.”
[Orphanage contact info?]
“Yeah. It’s a government-run orphanage… The name was… wait a sec.”
I rummaged through the hazy drawers of my memory, trying to recall the orphanage's name.
“…Sprout.”
[Huh?]
“It was called ‘Sprout Orphanage.’ Can you look up the contact info for that place?”
[Ah, yeah. Of course. Something like that shouldn’t take long.]
With a promise to wait a moment, I heard rustling on the other end.
[Uh… Dale.]
“Yeah?”
[Looks like it’s no longer operating?]
“…No longer operating?”
[Yeah. According to the records, it shut down about four years ago.]
“……”
Four years ago would’ve been right around when I first entered the Hero Academy.
‘It didn’t seem like a place that would’ve shut down.’
The orphanage I stayed at had decent facilities for a government-run institution.
Usually, orphanages struggle financially—sometimes even failing to feed the children regularly—but that never happened at Sprout.
‘In my previous life, I was too busy adjusting to school to notice it had shut down.’
And after graduating, I dove straight into mercenary work, so I never really paid attention to whether the orphanage was still running.
“…Can you look into it for me? Like past operational records or anything like that?”
[Yeah, give me a sec.]
I heard rustling again on the other side.
[Alright, I looked up as much as I could for now….]
After a few minutes of waiting, Albert’s voice came through again.
[This place… It really was government-run, right?]
“Yeah. Why?”
[It’s just that… for a government-run institution, the facilities and finances were really good.]
“Well… it wasn’t a bad place.”
[Hmm… Looks like one of the benefactors donated a lot of money.]
One of the benefactors donated a lot of money, huh.
“Can you find out who that was?”
[That’s the thing….]
Albert hesitated for a moment.
[Since the place shut down quite a while ago, digging up benefactor info might take some time.]
“That’s okay. It’s not urgent. Can you look into it for me?”
[Sure. I’ll send one of our guild members to investigate. Once the digging’s done, they’ll report back to you, okay?]
“Yeah.”
[Hehe. Shouldn’t take too long.]
I couldn’t remember the last time Albert sounded this reliable.
I let out a quiet chuckle and nodded.
“Thanks.”
[Don’t mention it. That’s what friends are for, right?]
“Still, with the last incident and all, I feel like I owe you too much lately.”
Between the video incident and everything else, I’d been relying on Albert more and more lately.
[Th-Then, Dale… I know it’s kinda random, but… could you do me a favor too?]
“What kind of favor?”
[Well… I went to this cosplay café in Valhalla City not long ago….]
“…Cosplay café?”
What now?
[Yeah, you know, one of those places where the servers wear cute outfits and serve you?]
“Oh, right.”
Come to think of it, I’d heard Juliet mention something like that before.
[I met this really cute girl there.]
“Oh ho.”
Looks like spring finally came for Albert too?
[D-Dale, you’re popular with girls, right? So I thought maybe… you could give me some advice….]
“I mean, I don’t know if I’m the best person for that, but….”
[Please!]
Albert’s voice cracked with desperation.
“Uh… do you have a picture of her, at least?”
[N-No. Photography’s banned there, so I don’t have any pics. B-But she’s really pretty! Blonde hair… super slim… kind of like a noble lady type? Ehe.]
This guy….
He’s fallen, and he’s fallen hard.
“Well, I need to know more about her if I’m going to give you any advice.”
[Uh… Then, Dale, if you're free today, want to come to the cosplay café with me?]
“…You want me to go there with you?”
[Y-Yeah! I think she should be working around this time!]
“……”
At a time like this, should I really be casually dropping by a cosplay café? It felt kind of out of place.
‘Then again, it’s not like I have anything else to do sitting around in the dorms.’
We didn’t know what the Cult of Eternity was planning or where their leader was, so it was hard to act first.
‘And training doesn’t do much for me anymore anyway.’
Now that I’d absorbed the Demon God’s Flame, training was more like warm-up stretches to keep my senses sharp.
It didn’t really help me progress further.
“Alright, let’s go.”
[F-For real?!]
“Yeah.”
Might as well return the favor to Albert after everything he’s done for me lately.
[Then let’s meet at the school gate in 30 minutes!]
“Got it.”
I ended the call and got up from my bed.
“Now then….”
Guess I’ll wash up first.
* * *
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“Hey, Albert?”
On his way to the meeting spot, Albert turned his head at the sound of someone calling him.
Golden hair that looked like it had been melted from sunlight, and a face so handsome even other guys would be stunned.
It was Yuren Helios, a school celebrity known by everyone on campus.
“Yu-Yuren? What are you doing here?”
“I was just on my way back to my room.”
“Oh, right. You're in Dorm A too.”
Since the final exams last year, Albert hadn’t had much interaction with Yuren, but recently they had become classmates and would exchange greetings when they passed each other.
“Come to think of it… I heard Albert helped Dale recently?”
“Huh? Are you talking about the orphanage stuff?”
“Orphanage? No, I meant the video incident.”
“Oh, that.”
Albert gave an awkward smile and nodded.
“But what’s this about the orphanage? Did Dale ask for another favor?”
“Uh, yeah. He asked me to look into an orphanage in the Republic.”
“Hm. Is that so?”
“So I sent one of our guild members over there.”
“You’ve really helped Dale out a lot, huh?”
“Well, we’re friends after all. Oh, and today Dale’s going to help me!”
“…Dale is going to help you?”
“Yep!”
Albert nodded with a bright smile.
“With what?”
“Ah… that is…”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if it’s awkward.”
“Hehe. Sorry.”
He wasn’t close enough to Yuren yet to confess that he recently developed feelings for someone.
“So you’re going to meet Dale now?”
“Yep! We’re going to a cosplay café in Valhalla City together.”
“…Cosplay café?”
In that moment—
Yuren’s gaze turned cold and sharp.
“A cosplay café…? Isn’t that the kind of place where the waitresses wear… those kinds of outfits to serve customers?”
“Ugh. When you say it like that, it sounds like some shady place! It’s not like that!”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s just, well… a place where you can escape the boring routine of everyday life and enjoy a bit of fantasy…?”
“Huh.”
His eyes grew even colder.
“A-anyway! You know how it is—you're a guy too!”
“…Yeah. I know exactly what you mean.”
“R-right?”
Ahem.
Albert let out a nervous cough and hurried his pace.
“Anyway, I should get going now. I’m almost late for the meeting!”
“Yeah. Have fun.”
Yuren watched Albert’s retreating back, clenching his fist tightly.
“Heh. So Dale… still has enough energy to hang out after spending time with us, huh?”
He muttered with a chilling tone, then turned on his Hero Watch.
“Hey. Iris? Got a sec? I need to talk….”
* * *
“This is the café Albert mentioned?”
The entrance of the café Albert brought him to was plastered with photos of women in various costumes, enough to make someone instinctively take a step back.
“Y-yeah. This is ‘Heaven’s Door.’”
“Heaven’s Door, huh…”
Huh?
Come to think of it, that name sounded familiar.
‘…Where did I hear it before?’
I couldn’t quite remember if I’d heard it in passing.
‘Well, I’ll find out once we’re inside.’
I followed Albert into the café.
“Welcome, Masters~ Just the two of you?”
“Y-yes!”
“Fufu. No need to be nervous. Relax, relax! Heaven’s Door always welcomes our Masters’ visits!”
“Hehe. Okay….”
“Please come this way and take a seat. Oh, would you like to request a specific staff member?”
“Ah, um… M-Ms. Julian, please…”
“Sure thing~”
With practiced ease, the waitress bowed and walked away.
“Ahem. So? Pretty cute, huh?”
“Uh… yeah, I guess.”
I looked around at the bustling waitresses with narrowed eyes.
‘Something feels… off.’
How should I put this?
There was a strange, instinctive sense of discomfort creeping over me.
‘Why am I feeling like this?’
While frowning at the inexplicable unease—
“Tada~! Nice to meet you, Masters! Your very own angel, Julian….”
My eyes met the waitress who supposedly stole Albert’s heart.
And then.
“……”
“……”
Time froze.
‘No way.’
What is Juliet doing here?
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