I Was Confessed to by the Person I Was Admiring

Chapter 89: Gathering of Memory Holders

He then asks the waiter to bring the dishes inside, and brings us into the restaurant. Inside, it was still like an izakaya(tavern), with many bottles of alcohol lined up and counters and tables polished and waiting for customers.

“Oh yeah, there are some guys I want to introduce you to. Well, most of them are working at this time, so it’s no good, but a few are here.”

Paolo pointed in a direction where there were already several drunken men, even though it was still daytime.

They were picking at the food on the table and raising their voices.

“Hey, Paolo. What’s up? Bringing a girl with you in the daytime? Lucky guy.”

“It’s not like that!”

I could tell from his response that it was a common occurrence and he wasn’t really angry. I was then taken to the kitchen and was amazed when I saw the dishes placed on the counter.

“Wow, did you make all of these?”

“Yeah, well, finding similar ingredients was tough, but making the seasoning was the hardest part.”

He said that and handed me a fork. I guess he meant for me to eat. As I looked at the dishes in front of me, I asked him,

“Can I eat this?”

“Of course, I actually want to hear your opinion.”

That made sense. For now, I picked up what looked like “rolled omelet” with the fork he gave me and put it in my mouth.

“It’s delicious.” 

To speak honestly, Paolo looked at me with a suspicious gaze and asked, “Do you really, really think so?”

“Well, it’s a little different, but this is really delicious. Oh, I’ll get some of the other dishes too.”

Saying that, I tried some other Japanese-style dishes. They were all delicious, but they didn’t have the unique taste of Japan.

There was something crucially missing.

“After all, the seasoning is lacking, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I know. But that’s just how it is.”

Seeing Paolo sigh heavily, I patted him on the back.

“It can’t be helped. This is a different world and a different country. I think we’re lucky if we can reproduce it.”

When I said that, Paolo showed a slight smile. While we were having such an exchange, a male customer who had been drinking earlier came over to us with a smirk and said, “You guys are obviously close. Just be honest and tell your big brother.”

“That’s not it at all. You see, this girl here is the same as me and you.”

When Paolo said that with a slightly annoyed expression, the drunkard’s playful demeanor changed completely and he stared intently at me.

Since he was staring too much, I stared back at him. 

The drunkard is in his late thirties, with black hair, light brown eyes, and tanned skin. He looks older due to his stubble, but from my perspective, which seems to specialize in observation, he doesn’t seem that old. He has a sturdy build, and his body seems to be made for labor.

“Oh, I see. Is this the woman you’ve been talking about sometimes?”

The stubbled man asks, and Paolo nods. I suddenly feel a chill down my spine and reflexively look at Dennis. Ah, she’s angry. Very angry. But I can tell she’s holding back because if she were to act out here, my identity would be revealed.

I prayed that I could endure it with a forced smile.

“Well, I’ll have to introduce you to Cassini-San. Come here, girl.”

“Wait a minute. Um, what do you mean by ‘the same’?”

I was confused by the beckoning gesture and asked Paolo. He nodded reassuringly with a smile.

“They’re all guys who have memories of the same past life as us and are drinking over there. They’re from different countries, but they’re all born in modern times.”

My brain didn’t immediately understand what he said, and I looked at the drunken group in confusion. I know they’re all working-class people, but I never thought there would be so many.

“Are there really six of them?” 

Until now, I could count on one hand the number of memory holders I had met. Moreover, since they were all people from different eras, our conversations didn’t match, and many of them had already passed away. So, I could only be surprised by Paolo’s words.

“It’s true. The story is also reliable, so you can trust it. Would you like to talk a little?”

“Well, until it’s time, sure.”

I nodded and turned towards the drunken group beckoning me over. As soon as I sat down, I was surrounded and bombarded with questions. Where and when were you born? Did you have a job? And so on.

After all, they all looked stern, so it was a little scary. Still, I thought that such an opportunity was rare and tried to answer their questions somehow. However, their stories started in the meantime, and it was challenging to keep up.

“I was a skilled technician over there. There’s nothing like that in this world, so just fixing something a little complicated is enough to receive a storm of praise. But when they’re that happy about it, it feels good.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Anyway, they’re so happy about something that seems impossible to do.”

“Right, right. They even give you food as a bonus and rely on you. Over there, I just did it for work, so I never had this kind of opportunity.”

The group nodded with their cups in hand. 

As I listened to their stories, I felt happy but also a little pathetic that I couldn’t do anything.

But that’s inevitable.

They have something to build on.

“It’s nice, but I died early, so I don’t have anything like that.”

“I see, it must have been tough, but you were born again, so you can definitely do something!”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

In response to my slightly honest remark, they all comforted me at once. Until now, I had no one to talk to like this.

“Thank you very much.”

All I could give them was my gratitude, but I strongly felt that if I could do something, I wanted to do it for them.