Chapter 16
Note: "Kuders" will from this point on be spelled "Qudels," which is the official spelling.
Once Qudels and his team arrived at the village, they were first led to the chief"s house, where they were made to wait in the guest room.
It was here that they would meet those who were responsible for this site.
However, in spite of it being an important moment, Qudels"s enthusiasm was dropping by the second.
"Leader, please don"t put your elbows on the table."
"I cannot help it, Miss Adelia. After all, aren"t all village chiefs fat, bearded men? How can I not be sad at the prospect of facing such a creature in order to discuss our plans?"
Clearly, he was presently speaking while ignoring the fact that he himself was an old man.
Adelia could only sigh.
However, the person that came to them was…
"Welcome to our village. I am the village chief."
The person who said this was a woman who had a dark yet delicate air about her.
Perhaps she was the former chief"s wife and had been forced to take his place after his death during the disaster.
Her waist was thin and looked like it could break easily. This suggested a poor diet and poverty.
She had long eyelashes and almond-shaped eyes. And her long black hair went down to the floor as if water falling from the night sky.
While the unkempt hair had split ends that prevented it from reaching perfection, there was something about it that was alluring in its own way.
After all, she seemed like the very embodiment of what some men with certain fixations would dream of.
If Zanatoria were here now, he would have smelled the danger.
But he was not.
–Click.
In the next instant, Adelia heard what sounded like a switch being turned on.
But before she could find out what it was, Qudels moved forward.
"How wonderful to meet you! I am the leader of this restoration support team, Qudels Tart. I am forty-two and single… What!?"
Just as Qudels was about to take the chief"s hand, there was the sound of flapping cloth, and then he suddenly grabbed his groin and fell to the floor.
Oddly enough, the men behind him also moved to cover their groin at the same moment.
The widow would not have seen it, but the men behind him did.
With unbelievable speed, Adelia had raised Qudels"s robes, and without a moment of hesitation, kicked him hard between the legs.
"I am the deputy leader, Adelia. So, would you be so kind as to explain to us the current situation here?"
Adelia glanced at Qudels from the corner of her eye and then smiled cooly as she introduced herself.
"Miss Adelia…so merciless…gggaah."
Qudels managed to say before her 12-centimeter heel found itself on his face.
All the while, Adelia smiled pleasantly.
–This was rather severe for a jab.
The men closed their eyes and lamented the situation.
When playing the straight man in a duo, it was always important to know the precise amount of retaliation. You could not make your viewers feel repulsed.
However, Adelia knew nothing of proper degrees.
And so funny man Qudels was to feel the cruel wrath of someone who did not fear G.o.d.
Ahh, may the G.o.d of comedy"s mercy visit this promised land.
And punish the witch, Adelia.
What was most unfortunate now, was that the one man who was able to point out Qudels"s folly peaceably was not present.
If only he was here, this would not have happened.
And so the men all looked at the ceiling and imagined that man with the carrot-colored hair.
He was forced to stay in town in order to organize the second group.
"I"m sorry. Our leader is usually a very capable man. But he has an illness. When these strokes come, he must be restrained so that he does not hurt anyone."
"Oh, uh…I see."
Adelia had a look that would accept no objections, and so the widow could only nod back.
What was most frightening, was that she wasn"t entirely wrong about him.
"Well, then. I will go and have the meeting room prepared. Please wait here for a moment."
The chief seemed to shiver but not understand why. She bowed to Adelia and then left the room.
"Phew. I thought I was opening a door to another world."
Qudels muttered unconcernedly after the chief had gone. He had finally escaped from Adelia"s foot.
As for what new world he was talking about, the other men had a good idea. But since this was Qudels, you could never be too sure what he meant.
"Oh? As you"ve proved to be someone whose eyes drift away while still in front of the women you are trying to seduce, I can only hope you do open a door to a new world. Preferably the underworld."
As Qudels showed no signs of remorse, Adelia gave him an icy look. But it seemed to have no effect at all.
Not only that,
"I adore how heartless you can be."
…He flirted with this most revolting line.
However, it suddenly hit Adelia.
"…Do you even know what you are saying?"
"Not really. I copped that from a novel I read the other day."
It was just as she suspected. And he said it so shamelessly.
She couldn"t help but put her hand on her forehead.
He wasn"t exactly stupid, but he became unbelievably close to it when romance was involved.
She was beginning to understand why. The awkwardness in relationships and the lack of knowledge and the thirst for affection.
"In any case, you must take this seriously. You are forbidden from playing any of your love games during work."
"But…" Qudels began to protest, but Adelia ignored him and began to go through the doc.u.ments she held in her hands.
The sight of her seemed to awaken the others to their purpose, and the leads of each department began to prepare as well.
It was the moment that they acquired a very valuable skill. The skill of ignoring Qudels when he began his whining.
"Um…I"ve finished preparing for the meeting…is that man alright?"
After some time, a young boy who had been sent by the village chief came to collect the restoration support team.
What he saw was a group of people who eagerly read through their doc.u.ments, while a single tall man with gla.s.ses sat on the floor doing something very different from the others.
What was he doing?
The boy could not hold back his curiosity…
The somewhat surreal sight was of a middle-aged man repeatedly writing the letters "no" into the carpet.