This House Has A Delicious Restaurant - Chapter 13 - Spy (2) - Part 4

Sidon, who had returned home after dropping off Ding, was yawning.

With the noisy kid gone, he thought he might take a nap. However, as soon as he entered his home, he sensed an unfamiliar presence, and his eyes sharpened.

Since there were only a few people who could be there, Sidon headed to the living room. He soon saw a familiar figure and returned to his usual dazed expression.

“You could have at least called ahead.”

“Sidon, you’d probably ignore me if I did call.”

“……”

The man who turned around with a smile was Zerdan. Dressed in a brown suit and with his hair slicked back, he looked quite dashing, unlike his usual appearance.

Who would believe that this gentleman is the head of a crime organization?

Sidon didn’t bother denying Zerdan’s reality.

It seemed that Zerdan hadn’t expected an answer from Sidon. He leaned against the window, watching Sidon.

Though he was smiling, his eyes were cold, making Sidon tense up.

“Why are you alone? You seem a bit lonely.”

“…Ding is out for a while. I’ll bring her back for dinner.”

“Where did she go?”

“…You’re asking intentionally, even though you know.”

Sidon knew Zerdan was unlikely to be ignorant of the situation, so he spoke cautiously, but Zerdan merely smiled. Sidon sighed and eventually decided to be honest.

“She’s at Obella’s place. She was feeling lonely being at home alone, so she kept saying she wanted to live there. I promised to bring her often instead.”

“You’re not avoiding spending time with her, are you?”

“Oh, come on. That’s not it.”

Sidon turned his gaze away from Zerdan, looking in another direction.

Seeing through the transparent lie, Zerdan smiled as if he expected this.

Although Sidon had visited to check on Ding’s condition, it seemed there were no major issues given Sidon’s demeanor.

Sidon, sitting on the sofa, tapped his foot on the floor and glanced at Zerdan. His fluffy cotton-candy-like hair looked tousled.

Understanding what Sidon wanted to say through his silent gaze, Zerdan spoke up.

“You can’t lie down. Remember, you fell asleep last time while talking.”

“Ah……”

“Staring won’t help.”

Sometimes it was hard to tell whether Sidon or Ding was the child. However, Sidon usually followed instructions well, merely sulking instead of lying down.

“How is Ding doing lately?”

“She still hates being alone in a closed room. It seems the closed space itself triggers her trauma. But her rejection of abilities seems to have eased somewhat. My ability originally had less rejection, but she used to react strongly even to other ability users. Now, it’s less so, even at Obella’s place.”

“So, it’s somewhat better if she’s not using her ability?”

“Yeah. But she’d probably still struggle to face Zerdan and Liffree directly.”

Zerdan remained indifferent to Sidon’s words, seeming not to be overly concerned.

It looked like Zerdan wanted more details, so Sidon scratched his head and reported the current situation.

“There didn’t seem to be anyone at Obella’s place who particularly triggered a reaction from Ding.”

“Still, keep a close watch. Considering Ding’s instinctive aversion to me and Liffree, if she encounters them, she’ll react.”

“Got it……. By the way, it seems like a lot of new ability users have joined there recently. Oh, what’s his name… Oh, Lazis? He was there too.”

Lazis?

Zerdan looked momentarily surprised by the unexpected name but then nodded in agreement.

Although Lazis had always been uncooperative, it seemed Obella had used some method to bring him in.

It must be quite urgent to recruit ability users. Or maybe Lazis simply had a change of heart. He was a somewhat troublesome opponent, but a countermeasure could be found.

“Are there any other ability users you’re concerned about?”

Zerdan didn’t seem to worry much about anyone other than Lazis, so Sidon asked in return.

However, given the rarity of ability users, finding someone useful was challenging. Even good abilities often come with limitations or conditions.

For example, his own ability required a basic condition of being a corpse. Similarly, Sidon had a good healing ability, but it came with conditions.

Even though Obella had outstanding abilities, they seemed almost like a cheat due to the lack of restrictions. He had to self-regulate due to the extensive collateral damage.

Thus, Obella was an exceptional case, and finding a useful ability user was generally difficult.

Lazis is a bit bothersome, but if they press Liffree, he’ll probably offer something useful.

“I haven’t mentioned the other abilities, so you probably haven’t investigated them yet. Please find out what they are and let me know. That’s your job after all.”

“Dealing with such tedious tasks… I was already tired of taking care of Ding.”

“Sidon.”

“Alright……”

Sidon responded willingly despite his reluctance.

Zerdan instructed Sidon to keep an eye out for anyone Ding might react to, and Sidon weakly nodded. He then asked if he could lie down again, which prompted Zerdan to finally sigh.

Was it easy to manage or difficult?

Eventually, with Zerdan’s permission, Sidon lay down on the sofa, finally smiling. Zerdan approached him and patted his fluffy cotton-candy-like hair.

“How’s it going interacting with the people there?”

“It’s tiring because I’m made to do annoying tasks… But if I secretly use my ability to boost healing, my role will be done. However, there’s a woman who’s been bothering me lately. I don’t know why, but she’s irritating.”

“What kind of woman?”

“She’s one of the existing members, the brainwashing ability user you released recently.”

“You mean Diswen.”

Sidon nodded.

When he first joined as a spy for Obella, there was no such feeling, but recently, every time he saw her face, it made him feel strangely frustrated and uneasy.

It was a hard-to-describe feeling.

Zerdan patted Sidon’s head once more.

“Do as you please, Sidon. You can avoid her or confront her directly.”

“But she’s a brainwashing ability user. Aren’t you worried that I might be brainwashed?”

“That’s not a concern.”

It was unlikely that brainwashing could be applied to someone already under Zerdan’s control.

It had been a long time since Sidon, who was nearly driven to death due to having a useful healing ability, had been subjected to Zerdan’s power.

Due to the backlash of turning a living person into a puppet, Sidon had lost his memories and had diminished abilities to share or empathize with emotions, only executing commands.

But recently, whether due to Ding’s influence or because Zerdan’s power was waning, memories of his sister Diswen seemed to be resurfacing. His emotional expression was becoming more varied.

Though mostly expressing annoyance, there was nothing more to say…

If Sidon brings back reliable information using Ding, there would be no need to keep him around anymore.

If that happens, it wouldn’t be bad for him to regain his memories and return to his family. For now, he’s just obedient due to his abilities.

Sidon soon closed his eyes and fell asleep.

He was the type who could easily fall asleep without worrying, so with Liffree included, Sidon was a comfortable person to deal with.

But what about Khan?

Given that Ding shows aversion to ability users and her condition is deteriorating, Sidon is cooperating with him instead of calming Ding down.

If Khan were to find out about the use of Ding, he would probably try to kill him immediately.

What a foolish man.

He probably thinks he’s taking care of Ding because he feels responsible for his misfortune, but the child was never truly alive in the first place.

After all, Ding has not grown at all over the years he watched him.

No growth, and lost memories, but the instinctive aversion remains.

Ding was a corpse revived from the past. A puppet-like corpse.

At that time, there was confusion caused by the sudden appearance of abilities and the resurrection of the dead. Although he later returned, he only found a crying little girl with all her memories lost, believing herself to be a living person—Ding.