If she could take that kind of attitude with Ping, a viscount’s son, then she must have been a very important noble indeed. Or at least, that was what Ping thought.
“Oh no, not at all. My apologies. Truly, forgive me. Regardless, what is it you needed? I guarantee you that I, heir to the Waress family, can fulfill any order you care to place!” Even then, he still tried to sell his family’s name. Torpa and Raul hurried over to Miledi as well, hoping to get into her good graces.
However, before they could reach her, Miledi dropped a bomb on Ping.
“Is O-kun, I mean, Oscar-kun here? I came here to see him...”
“Huh? O-Oscar?” Ping’s eyes widened. Torpa and Raul stopped in their tracks. Even the craftsmen stopped working.
Oscar groaned to himself. You idiot! My position in this workshop’s already bad enough and now you’ve made it ten times worse! The other craftsmen couldn’t believe a noble lady would be asking after the least skilled member of the workshop. Even more surprisingly, she’d called him by a nickname.
Everyone turned to look at Oscar’s cubicle.
“Pardon me again for my forwardness, but what business do you have with Oscar? You may not know this, but his skills are, well, lacking... There are many other more skilled craftsmen who would be happy to fulfill your order.”
“Hm? I just wanted to see how O-kun works. I don’t really need anything. Oh, is that where he works? Thanks, Pinwa-san~”
“Umm, my name is Ping War--”
Before he could correct her, Miledi dashed off to Oscar’s workplace. She’d followed the other craftsmen’s gazes to figure out where it was.
Meanwhile, Ping just stood there, dumbfounded.
A high ranking noble lady had come to the Orcus Workshop just to see Oscar work.
She soon spotted Oscar hiding behind his pile of boxes and bounded over to him.
“Ah, there you are, O-kun! It’s me, Miledi-chan! I haven’t seen you since last night!”
Oh great, this is going to cause even more misunderstandings. Oscar’s expression stiffened.
The other craftsmen started muttering to each other about how Oscar had slept with a noble girl.
Ping glared at Oscar, his eyes burning with jealousy and hatred. He rushed over to Miledi and Oscar, trying to act polite as he warned her away from Oscar.
“Miss Miledi. Though he may be a member of the Orcus Workshop, as I said earlier, he’s just a third-rate Synergist. He’s only allowed to work here because the chief took pity on him. Moreover, he’s an orphan. He has no manners and no education. Don’t you think someone as distinguished as yourself should be more careful about choosing the company she keeps? At the very least, I don’t think he is deserving of—”
“Oh, you’re still here, Piress-san? I’m good now, so you can go back to work... Or is it that you don’t have any work to be doing?”
“Pfft...!” A few of the craftsmen couldn’t hold back their laughter. Miledi had been spot-on.
Regardless of whether she’d intended to insult him or had just made a careless comment, she’d hit Ping where it hurt. He blushed in embarrassment, and his fake smile cracked.
“My apologies, but—”
“Umm, Miledi-san! I finished the thing you ordered from me last night. In fact, I was just about to go deliver it right now! Why don’t you join me! And thank you so much for your patronage! I hope you come back to the Orcus Workshop if you need anything else!” Oscar hurriedly cut Ping off.
He wanted to stop this before it turned into a fight. He also emphasized that it was work she’d come to him for to dispel any potential misunderstandings.
Unfortunately, it seemed Miledi didn’t get the hint.
“Huh? Ordered? But O-kun, I didn’t—”
“Come, let’s go!” Oscar loaded his cart with inhuman speed and glared pointedly at Miledi. He was grinning, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Miledi broke out into a cold sweat.
“Crap, I may have gone too far...” she muttered to herself as she followed behind Oscar.
Naturally, his crappy acting did nothing to dispel the suspicions people had.
The craftsmen turned to gossip with one another. No one noticed Ping, who was glaring venomously at Oscar.
“Hey, hey, O-kun. O-kuuun. Stop ignoring me~ Hey, listen to me~”
“......” Oscar silently trotted down the street, pulling his cart laden with work orders behind him.
Miledi followed behind him, occasionally waving a hand in front of his face to try and get his attention.
As Oscar was the only craftsman who took orders from ordinary citizens, he was pretty well known in the area. People recognized his trademark cart, and often they’d stop and chat for a bit when he passed by.
However, no one greeted him this time around. Despite the fact that he was drawing more attention than usual.
There were two reasons for that. The first was the strange girl bouncing around Oscar. The second was the grim expression on Oscar’s face.
It was doubly frightening because none of them had ever seen Oscar without his customary smile, yet the girl following him wasn’t perturbed at all.
“You mad? Like, really mad? Did you really not want me to come see you at the workshop? Hey, hey, O-kun. All the guys think you’re going out with me now! Things are gonna be pretty rough for you working there! But don’t worry, I’m a responsible young woman! I’ll head back with you and tell everyone what’s really going on! I’ll let them know all I’m actually after is you!”
“Are you trying to ruin my reputation for good!?” Oscar suddenly came to a halt, then smacked Miledi, who’d poked her head out from behind him, on the head.
For some reason, that made her happy. Her ponytail swung happily from side to side, mirroring her emotions.
“Yay. You finally responded, O-kun.”
“Because I realized ignoring you only makes you more annoying. Sheesh, you’re like a walking disaster, you know that?”
“Ehehe, you’re making me blush.”
“That wasn’t a compliment. Seriously, would it kill you to act like a normal person for even five seconds?” Oscar tiredly rubbed his temples.
Miledi was right, going back to the workshop now wouldn’t be pleasant. He wondered if his half-assed acting had done anything to stop the rumors. Probably not.
He knew he’d have to keep this walking incarnation of chaos away from the workshop if he didn’t want them getting any worse, too.
“O-kun, what’s wrong? You look like someone who just got fired.”
“And who’s fault do you think that is? I’m begging you, at least realize what it is you’re doing. Anyway, you broke your promise. I thought you were a more sincere person than that, but I guess I misjudged you.” Oscar started walking again.
“Excuse me! I always keep my promises!”
“Not this one. You said last night that you wouldn’t ever come near me or my fami—” Oscar cut his words short, realizing something. When he’d asked her that, all Miledi had said was...
“All I said was ‘I see...’ I didn’t say anything else. You just assumed~”
In other words, she’d just acknowledged that was what Oscar had wanted. She hadn’t actually promised to do anything.
“I-I can’t believe you.” Oscar ground his teeth in frustration. He knew it was his own fault for not squeezing an actual promise out of Miledi, but that didn’t make him any less mad. Especially because she was just rubbing it in now. Still, if he let his emotions get the better of him it’d be over. Oscar adjusted his glasses and did his best to wrest his emotions under control.