Kingdom of Valerion?
Haruto had never heard of a kingdom with that name before—not even in the history of his own world.
His eyes widened as he looked at the food the waitress had placed in front of him.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Elina asked while chewing on a piece of chicken, holding the leg in her right hand. She looked at Haruto in confusion.
"…"
Haruto didn't seem to hear her. He kept staring at the meat on the table without moving. It was as if he had gone into power-off mode.
No reaction. No movement.
Elina called out to him several times, but it was like talking to a wall. "Takamori?" she said, starting to get annoyed.
"Haruto Takamori, I'm talking to you!!" She suddenly stood up, leaned forward, and slapped him hard on his right cheek.
Surprisingly, Haruto's head didn't move at all. The sound of the slap echoed through the restaurant, causing everyone to stare at them. Most people assumed it was just a fight between a couple.
"Huh…?" Haruto finally came back to his senses, thanks to Elina's powerful slap.
"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts," he apologized, bowing his head.
"Of course you were! You've been staring at your meal for fifteen minutes straight!" she scolded him before sitting back down.
"I'm very sorry," Haruto apologized again.
"Whatever," Elina sighed as she took a sip of water.
"Tell me, Takamori… are you perhaps a warrior?"
Her expression suddenly turned serious as she locked her diamond-blue eyes onto Haruto's.
Haruto, who had been about to bite into his chicken, paused. "What?" he asked, confused.
Elina didn't repeat the question. She simply continued staring at him with an unusually serious expression.
"I'm not a warrior, but—" Haruto stopped himself. He was about to say that he was from another world. He knew she probably wouldn't believe him no matter how much he explained.
But still—
"I'm from a different world. I don't belong in this world, Elina." He chose to say it anyway. He didn't want to lie about something serious. He wasn't the type of person who lied often.
"Huh…?" Elina's eyes widened in confusion. Water spilled from the cup she had been holding near her mouth.
"Umm… you're spilling it," Haruto said.
"Oh shit, I almost spilled it all over myself!" Elina quickly grabbed some tissue from her pocket and wiped her clothes.
"Are you okay?" Haruto asked worriedly as he started to stand up.
"I'm okay, don't worry about it," Elina replied with an embarrassed smile.
"Oh… okay then, I guess." Haruto sat back down.
"As I said, I am from another world," he repeated.
"So the rumors were true," Elina muttered quietly to herself, placing a finger on her chin.
"Rumors? What rumors?" Haruto asked while chewing his food.
"So apparently—" Before she could finish speaking, a group of thugs suddenly interrupted them.
"Hey there, cutie. You wouldn't mind having a drink with us, would you?"
Haruto looked up and saw three men standing beside their table. The one who had spoken looked muscular and had a large scar across his chest. He had short golden hair and wasn't wearing a shirt, though he at least wore pants. Judging by the sword on his back, he was likely a warrior.
The other two looked thinner but not weak—more like average fighters. They were probably the muscular man's underlings.
"Hey you! I'm talking to you!!" The muscular man grew angry when Elina completely ignored him.
"Sorry, mister. As you can see, I'm having a meal with someone else. Please go flirt with some other girl," Elina replied politely, though she clearly looked annoyed.
"Don't be like that. No girl in this restaurant has breasts as big as yours! Ha! Ha! Ha!" The muscular man and his gang burst into laughter while staring directly at Elina's chest. Even though her clothes covered her chest completely.
"Leave me alone, you pervert!!!" Elina turned around and shouted angrily.
"Pervert?!"
The thug's face twisted in anger. "You dare call me a pervert, you little—" He reached toward Elina's hair. But before his hand could touch her—
"Didn't she tell you to go away?" Haruto suddenly stood up and grabbed the thug's muscular arm tightly. "I don't like the way you talk to her," Haruto said coldly. "You need to apologize." His face clearly showed he was furious.
"Hah… and who are you supposed to be?" The thug looked down at Haruto mockingly.
He was at least a head taller than Haruto. "Mind your own business, brat."
He pulled his arm away and signaled his two men.
"Hehe… don't blame us if you die," the first pawn said.
"We'll make it painless if you want. Haha," the second added while pulling out a dagger.
Haruto stood still. He waited for them to strike first. Carefully analyzing their movements.
Suddenly—
SWISH!
The first pawn attacked, aiming a vertical strike at Haruto's head.
Foolish. Haruto dodged the attack and instantly drove his knee into the man's solar plexus, knocking him down immediately.
The man collapsed, gasping for air.
"You'll pay for that!!" The second pawn rushed forward, wildly slashing with his dagger.
Whoosh… swish…
But Haruto had already analyzed his movements.
As soon as he saw an opening on the thug's left side—
BOOM.
Haruto stepped to the side and delivered a powerful right roundhouse kick.
The second pawn collapsed to the ground.
Neither of them could stand anymore.
"How are you two so useless?!" the muscular leader shouted angrily. "I'll kill him myself." He slowly approached Haruto.
Seeing this, Haruto took a Kyokushin Karate ready stance. His feet were shoulder-width apart, toes pointing slightly outward, knees bent, and weight evenly balanced between his legs. A solid stance between a front stance and a horse stance.
The muscular thug burst into laughter. "Hahaha! What kind of stance is that? Don't make me laugh!"
Even some of the people in the restaurant started laughing.
"Why don't you come and find out for yourself?" Haruto stared directly into the thug's eyes without moving.
The thug smirked. He even put his sword away, clearly looking down on Haruto. Instead, he raised his fists like a boxer.
"You asked for it." He rushed forward and swung his right fist.
That was a mistake.
As his punch came flying toward Haruto—
WHAM.
Something struck his head, making him stumble. "What the hell?!" The thug backed up several steps, shaking his head in confusion.
In reality, Haruto had stepped back slightly, dodged the punch, and countered with a spinning hook kick.
The thug growled in anger and rushed forward again.
Haruto also began running toward him.
The thug tried to punch him again—But before he could even raise his arm—
BOOM.
Haruto jumped and smashed his knee directly into the thug's nose using the momentum of his run.
The thug collapsed to the ground instantly, blood flowing from his nose.
Haruto stood beside the unconscious man. "Don't ever mess with Elina again," he warned.
But the thug didn't respond. He was completely unconscious.
Suddenly—The people in the restaurant surrounded Haruto and began cheering. They clapped and praised him loudly.
Elina stood among the crowd. She looked at Haruto in amazement. A small, sweet smile appeared on her face.
However—
What Haruto didn't know was that someone else in the restaurant had been watching everything. The mysterious person quietly walked outside and looked at Haruto through the window.
"There's another one… but he looks young.
" The person whispered, as if speaking into a communication device.
"Kyokushin Karate, huh…"
The person muttered before disappearing into the crowd on the street.