CHAPTER 312: YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT.

"Da... te... nte... Dante!"

Dante snapped out of his thoughts, his eyes quickly regaining focus. Looking down, he saw a little girl gazing at him with great concern. Almost panicking, he quickly put on a smile.

"What’s wrong, Ellie? Do you want more chicken?"

"But..."

"C’mon now, you have to eat so you can grow big!" He grabbed a skewer from a nearby plate and handed it to her. "Remember to chew well, okay?"

"Okay!"

Sitting down on his lap, the little girl began nibbling on the fried chicken, quickly losing herself to the delicious taste. As he watched her Dante felt his expression relax, and his smile turned genuine. Then he noticed the noise around him and couldn’t help but grimace.

He was in the Bowl of Fortune, which was far more crowded than what he was used to thanks to the New Year’s eve party Nobara was holding. It was a yearly tradition that drew in acquaintances from surrounding megacomplexes, in addition to the shop’s regulars.

There was food, there was music, and there was a lot of rowdy people celebrating their rare moment of freedom. The chatter was so loud one can only wonder how they hear each other.

The atmosphere didn’t suit Dante’s current mood, an he wanted to go home already. Nevertheless, he tolerated everything and forced himself to stay. Leaving this early could end up sending the wrong message, after all.

Feeling a pang of hunger, he grabbed one of the yakitori skewers from the plate nearby and was about to bite into it. That was when he locked eyes with one of the gloomiest people in the entire event.

Staring at him for a moment, Dante put on a smirk.

"Here, Ellie~, have some more."

"I want some juice." The little girl said.

"Would you like orange? Or strawberry?"

"Orange!"

He grabbed a can and popped it open, putting a straw in it before lowering it to the girl. Instead of taking it with her little hands, the girl leaned in and put the straw in her mouth, drawing in some of the juice before going back to her food.

"Grrrrr..."

Looking up once more, Dante saw that Ross was gritting his teeth.

"How dare you..."

"How dare I what?"

"Grrrrr..."

Weeks had passed since they last met yet the maintenance worker didn’t seem too happy about their reunion, and for a good reason. He came to party so he could celebrate the New Year and have some quality time with his daughter, but as soon as they entered, the little girl abandoned him and went to sit with Dante.

Ever since, little Ellie had been stuck to Dante, refusing to leave his side. Apparently, she missed him a great deal since he hadn’t visited the Owls’ Lantern in some time, so much so that she would rather spend time with him rather than her own father. Ross wasn’t too happy about it, and because of that, he had been glaring at him the entire night.

"C’mon, Ross, this isn’t the time for gloomy faces." Said Jonah. "The lass just misses her big brother, that’s all."

Sparing the old officer a glance, Ross clicked his tongue, returning his glare to the red haired youth.

"I will let you off the hook." He said, "Only this time."

Letting out a chuckle, Jonah turned to the second gloomy face. Glenn was in a much worse state, leaning with his face on the table, a dark cloud hanging over him. He had been like that for some time now, which confused Dante quite a bit.

"How long are you going to be like that, Glenn. This is a celebration, you know?"

The young office worker didn’t as much as twitch, making everyone believe he was dead. Despite it being a holiday, he was the only one still wearing a suit.

"What’s up with him?" Dante asked.

"Your girlfriend rejected him the other day." Jonah replied.

Before Dante could even get confused, the office worker suddenly rose.

"Girlfreind, you say?" As he wasn’t wearing his glasses, his sharp eyes seemed far more terrifying than usual.

"Ah, you’re talking about Suzuka?" Dante said, unaffected by the glare directed at him. He had already guessed that Jonah put it that way to force their friend up.

"You should have seen it." Jonah laughed. "All it took was one look! He fell to his knees right away!"

"Pfffft!"

Unable to resist, Ross discarded his anger and started laughing as well.

"He proposed on the spot! Can you believe this guy!!?" He said.

"It was like a scene from an old drama!" Jonah added.

"Hmph! I did nothing to be ashamed of!" Though he said that, Glen was already beet red, his hands shaking as he tried to put his glasses on.

""The most beautiful flower in this-"hahahahahaha!!!"

Ross tried to reenact what their friend had done, but he was unable to keep a straight face. Jonah laughing as well, although he tried to retrain himself, fearing that he might get a heart attack. Even Ellie was laughing, although she probably didn’t understand what was funny.

"Man, wish I could have seen it."

Dante joined in, but his laugh quickly died out, and he almost slipped back into his own thoughts.

"Well, at least I went straight for my goal, unlike a certain someone." Glenn said, directing a glare at Ross. "Say, where is this baddie you promised to bring tonight?"

That line seemed like a literal gut punch, knocking the air out of the maintenance worker, leaving him in a coughing fit.

"S-s-she had different plans, so..."

"Different plans, huh?" Glenn was quick to put on a smirk. "Guess someone else got rejcted."

"Don’t put me in the same boat as you! At least I got game!"

"What game? You couldn’t even-"

"Alright, you two, cut it out." Jonah quickly stepped in before things got out of control. "Let’s focus on the more important stuff, like when is the wedding going to be held?"

He turned to Dante, and with a smirk, dropped the entire mess on him. Both Glenn and Ross whipped their heads in his direction, and Dante was stunned for a moment. He noticed that Ellie was looking up at him as well, her eyes full of innocence. Sighing, he shook his head.

"C’mon, Mr. Johanson." He said. "Do I look like someone who would get married?"