I Thought I Had Been Transported Into The World Of A Dating Sim, But As A Mob Overlord, All I Could Do Was Watch The Protagonist’s Love Life

View of Baldy (Long Hair)

“Oscar! How long are you going to sleep! The sun’s been up for ages already!”

At the loud voice that suddenly rang through the room, I answered with irritation.

There was no need to check who the owner of the voice was… Patty was the only one who would make a racket in someone else’s room first thing in the morning.

“…You’re noisy this early in the morning. Unlike you, I don’t need to get up early… and I was working late into the night, so I’m sleepy.”

“That’s because you were working until the middle of the night, right? If you worked properly during the day, wouldn’t you not need to stay up so late?”

That might be true… but I could focus better when it was dark and quiet…

Still, words like that would not get through to Patty, and what she was saying was correct in itself.

It would probably be better not to argue with her strangely.

“If you’re awake, then hurry up and get up! The weather’s nice today, so I want to wash the sheets and stuff!”

“Ahh… right, thanks. I need to go shopping a bit today.”

“Shopping? Want me to come with you?”

“No, I need work ink and parchment. I got too absorbed in it and accidentally ran out.”

“…You’ve seemed super busy lately, but is it really that demanding a job? It’s a request from… Fei-san, right? The one who came here before?”

Fei? …Ahh, right.

I had not told Patty about my big brother’s true identity.

But there was no way a brat like her would ever meet my big brother, who was a king… and while I had not been told to keep quiet, he had gone out of his way to use a fake name, so I could not just casually tell her.

“Yeah, I went over there the other day and signed a proper contract. I got entrusted with a really worthwhile job.”

“Heh… well, it’s fine to get absorbed in something, but you’ve still got to live regularly. Even if you get a good job, it’s meaningless if you ruin your health, got it!”

“I know… if I collapse and the work gets delayed, I’d feel bad for my big brother.”

“…Well, fine then… ah, if you’re going shopping, could you pick up some cooking oil while you’re at it? We were almost out, you know?”

“Ah, got it. By the way, what’s for dinner today?”

“I haven’t decided yet… what do you want to eat?”

“Anything’s fine.”

When I answered that, Patty planted a hand on her hip and spoke with an annoyed look.

“…That’s exactly what makes it the hardest, I’m telling you. At least say something rough like meat or fish!”

“Then, meat.”

“Yeah, yeah. Then hurry up and get dressed. I’ll do the laundry too while I’m at it.”

“Yeah, thanks as always.”

Meals and laundry… she always handled those for me, but yeah… maybe I should buy her something as thanks sometime.

My big brother had given me an absurd amount of pay on top of my research expenses, and honestly, if I didn’t spend it somehow, it just kept piling up and that was frankly scary.

But I had never bought anything expensive besides work tools before, so I had no idea how to spend it… even if I went drinking with those guys, there was a limit to how much that would cost…

Ask my big brother… no, no, my brother was a king, you know? He was not someone I could bring such a trivial topic to.

No… he was a pretty easygoing person, so I felt like he might answer if I asked… but there was no way I could go up to the castle for a reason like that.

“Ah, that reminds me, Pickle said she had something she wanted to ask you, Oscar.”

As I was worrying over how to use my money, Patty started talking in the tone of casual small talk while gathering up my bedsheets.

“Pickle did? Then I’ll stop by the shop before heading out. She’s there, right?”

Pickle was Patty’s younger sister, and since there was a bit of an age gap, she was like a little sister to me too.

“Yeah, she’s watching the shop until noon. Ah, and before you go out, I left breakfast on the table, so eat before you go, okay?”

“Yeah.”

Breakfast would be… the old man’s bread as usual.

It was far better than some clumsy cooking… no, that didn’t mean Patty’s cooking was bad, but she just couldn’t compete with the old man’s years of experience.

I had been fed the old man’s cooking every day when I was a kid, after all. To me, it felt like the familiar taste of home.

When I went to the bakery next door, it seemed the morning rush had settled down, and Pickle was lounging around inside the shop.

“Huh? Big bro, what’s up?”

“Pickle, is it really okay for you to be slacking off that much while minding the shop?”

“It’s fine. The people buying bread for lunch have already stopped coming, see? The next time it gets busy is before dinner, so it’s basically like I’m done for the day already.”

“Even so, there are still customers who might wander in, right? I don’t think it’s good for you to be lazing around that much.”

“Big bro, you sound just like Patty-nee.”

Pickle complained with a childish expression… well, I think she still had technically not quite come of age yet, so it was not that strange.

“You ought to take work seriously. It’s the old man’s shop, and that could hurt its reputation, right?”

“Ugh, okaaay, I got it, I’ll do it properly. Big bro, you’re so serious.”

“That’s what being an adult means. Anyway, Patty told me, but you had something you wanted to ask me, right?”

I did not want to sound too much like I was lecturing, so I decided to get to the point quickly.

“Huh? Ahh, you came all the way over just to ask? I was thinking of dropping by your place later… yeah, rather than something I wanted to ask, I had something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Something you wanted to talk about, huh… should I set aside proper time for it? I need to go buy some things for work after this.”

“Umm… could you just hear me out right now for the time being?”

“Of course, I don’t mind.”

Pickle asked that with a serious expression, completely different from the listless way she had been acting earlier, and I nodded.

It was a concern from an important little sister figure, so there was no option of not listening.

“Um… if it’s okay, I want you to teach me how to study.”

“Study? …Not to put too fine a point on it, but I’m not really that good at studying, you know? Wouldn’t it be better to ask Pretz-nee-san?”

It was a little pathetic, but I tried making that suggestion to Pickle.

Pretz-nee-san was Patty and Pickle’s older sister, and the three of them were called the beautiful bakery sisters by the people in the neighborhood.

From my perspective, having been around them like family since I was little, Pretz-nee-san aside, Patty was like a nagging sister-in-law, and Pickle was still just a mischievous kid. Calling them beautiful felt a little questionable in various ways.

“No, the studying I want to do is magic-tool technician studying.”

Pickle said that while scratching her head a little shyly.

“Magic-tool technician? You wanted to become a magic-tool technician?”

I had never heard anything like that before… what kind of change of heart was this?

“Y-Yeah… with the bakery… well, my sisters are already there, you know. So I want to, well, get a skill of my own, or something…”

“I see… have you talked to the old man and the others about it?”

I had thought of her as still just a kid, so learning that Patty had been thinking seriously about her future filled me with a strange sense of emotion.

“No, not yet.”

“I see. I think you should talk to them once. And if you seriously want to study, I’ll look after you. Though, since I’m doing a rather special job right now, it won’t be practical field study or anything.”

“I seee, but if you’re willing to teach me, then anything’s fine! Thanks, big bro!”

“Yeah! But if I’m teaching you, I’m not going to go easy on you. Don’t cry, got it?”

“I’m not a child! Umm, when can you start teaching me?”

“Let’s see… anytime from tomorrow onward is fine. While I’m at it, I’ll get some things ready today that might work as teaching materials.”

“Thank you! Then I’ll talk to my parents tonight!”

“Sure. If you need me, you can call me too. Anyway, could you wrap up about five pieces of bread for me?”

“Okaaay! Thank you, big bro!”

Pickle, looking a little excited, started packing the bread into a bag.

Still, I had no idea Pickle wanted to become a magic-tool technician.

Well, she had amazing concentration and was good with her hands, so she might actually be suited for it… once she matured a bit, it might not be a bad idea to hire her as an assistant.

Thinking that, I left the bakery behind.

“Hello.”

“…Oscar… welcome.”

“Oh, Mimiru. Is the old man around?”

I had come to the magic tool shop I was familiar with.

This shop had been taking care of me since before I was even starting out… since my parents’ generation, and even now, I wholesaled most of the products I made to this store.

The owner was an old man… but he had been an old man ever since I was a kid, which made him a super-mysterious person whose age I had no idea about even now.

Incidentally, Mimiru was that old man’s granddaughter… but I had never seen Mimiru’s parents.

“Grandpa… went out for a bit. …A delivery?”

Mimiru tilted her head slightly as she said that.

She was probably trying to say that if it was just a delivery, then she could handle it herself.

“No, it’s not a delivery today. I need a somewhat bulk amount of ink for each attribute.”

When I told her that, Mimiru’s mood turned a little dejected.

To make ink by crushing mana stones of each attribute, you needed proper qualifications.

That was partly because mana stones were materials that could explode if handled incorrectly, so letting amateurs handle them carelessly could lead to a disaster, and partly because the country controlled the manufacture of things that could potentially become weapons.

Mimiru helped out at this shop, but she did not have the qualifications to handle mana stones… she had probably gotten depressed because she could not fulfill my request herself.

Incidentally, I also had the qualification itself, but I could not make high-quality stuff like the old man at this shop.

I wanted to steal all kinds of techniques, but this one was pretty difficult… he would not let me watch him while he worked, after all.

“You help the old man here, Mimiru, so you’ll be able to make top-class ink in no time.”

“…I’ll do my best.”

I lightly patted Mimiru on the head as she puffed herself up just a tiny bit and showed some motivation.

“Grandpa… probably… back after noon… once the ink is ready… I’ll bring it over…”

“Would that be okay?”

When I asked, Mimiru nodded with a shy smile while her face turned a little red.

“Then I’ll leave it to you. The amount I want is written here… and also, the old man’s not here, but… this is a bribe. There’s some for you too, so eat it however you like.”

Saying that, I handed Mimiru the bread I had asked Pickle to choose and the order slip.

The old man who ran this shop loved the bread made by the bakery old man, and if you brought it as a souvenir, he would prioritize your work in various ways.

“…I’ll tell him… top priority…”

Mimiru accepted the bread with a slightly more mischievous air than before.

She was a quiet girl, but before I knew it, she had become surprisingly expressive.

At this point, I felt like I could read every one of Mimiru’s emotions as plainly as if they were in my hand.

“Oh? That’s why I’m saying, I’m not trying to eat you or anything. I’m just saying come along with me a little, right? Huh?”

What was… this threatening line that stabbed into my heart in so many ways…?

On the way back from the magic tool shop, I ended up witnessing two skinhead old men harassing a woman.

“L-Let go of me!”

Naturally, the woman did not want it… but the skinheads had grabbed her arm and would not let go.

It was a scene that made my heart hurt terribly… seriously, my chest hurt.

Holding down that throbbing pain in my chest, I stuck my neck into the trouble.

“Ahh, old guys. You should stop that… seriously, there’s a chance you could end up going through something awful.”

At my words, the two of them reacted and turned around. Veins were already bulging on their foreheads, and they were directing murderous intent at me for getting in the way of what, in their minds, was flirting.

“Huh? Who’re you calling old guys, bastard!? Just because you’ve got a little long hair, don’t get full of yourself!”

And then they came at me swinging without a word just because they saw my hair… well, sure, I’d gone and swung at my big brother too, but… weren’t these guys way too short-tempered too? Were they drunk?

As I dodged the wide swing of my opponent’s fist, I slammed my own fist into him with all my might.

And then, without me understanding how it happened at all, the guy got blown away and spectacularly took the other skinhead down with him.

Well… if I won, then fine, I guess? For now, I should call out to the woman who was being harassed.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Ah, yes! I’m okay!”

The woman had been staring wide-eyed at the skinheads I had blown away, but when I spoke to her, she seemed to come back to herself.

“That’s good to hear… ow!?”

I frowned at the sudden pain that shot through my right wrist… apparently I had twisted it when I punched the skinhead.

“Are you okay!?”

I ended up being worried about by the very woman who had been harassed… that was not exactly a great look.

“Yes… I’m fine…”

“What is all this commotion!”

Just as I was about to say there was no problem, we ended up being surrounded by guards.

Well, if you got into a fight in the middle of a public street, this was bound to happen.

“Hmm…? You’re Oscar, aren’t you?”

“Ah, Lily-san.”

I felt a little relieved when I found a familiar face among the guards surrounding us.

She was Lily-san.

She was a slightly important person among the guards in charge of this district, and a friend of Pretz-nee-san’s.

Maybe because she worked as a guard, she was the kind of refreshingly straightforward person who felt almost manly, but her name was cute, and if you teased her about that, she would turn bright red and throw an iron fist at you, so it was best not to push one’s luck too far.

“Come on now, Oscar, another fight?”

“No, well, not enough to say another, exactly…”

That was how I tried to defend myself, but I understood what Lily-san meant too… for some reason, I often ran into scenes where women were being harassed, and then things like today happened.

“Ahh, let me guess, it’s that, right? The woman over there was getting harassed by those bald guys, and you stepped in to save her… something like that, right?”

“Umm… well, something like that, yeah.”

“Good grief, why is it that you always spot trouble before the guards do?”

“I wonder that myself.”

I truly did think that… but Lily-san let out a sigh, shrugged, and gave off the feeling that she had given up on something.

“Well, whatever. I’m going to take statements for now, so you come to the guard post too. You all escort that lady and those idiots lying on the ground.”

After giving orders to the subordinates around her, Lily-san turned to me with a nasty grin.

“So… you’re that type, right? You fall for the girls you save, then get rejected, right?”

“Why would it turn into that!? I’m not going to get rejected anymore! Look at this hair!”

As I said that to Lily-san while combing my fingers through the hair I had received from my big brother, for some reason she looked at me with pity in her eyes.

“I mean, come on… that’s a wig, right?”

“It’s not! It’s my real hair!”

When I indignantly pressed her on that, Lily-san replied in a low voice while giving off a fine, fine, whatever sort of atmosphere.

“Got it, got it. I’ll pretend that’s the case.”

“Believe me, will you!? You can pull it if you want!?”

“No thanks. If your magnificent fixture came loose and it went slip, that’d just get awkward, so I’ll pass.”

She absolutely did not believe me, this woman!

“I’m telling you, it’s my real hair! It’s not gonna go slip!”

“Got it, got it. You can tell me the rest at the guard post.”

“Doesn’t that make it sound like I committed a crime!?”

“You punched people, so it’s not exactly wrong, is it?”

“Urgh…”

While exchanging that sort of conversation, I was taken to the guard post and questioned.

Because the skinheads took forever to wake up, it took quite a long time, and by the time I left the guard post, the sun had completely set.

“Um… Oscar-san. Thank you very much for saving me!”

Right after leaving the guard post, the woman who had come out with me thanked me.

“No, no, more importantly, I’m sorry it ended up turning into kind of a bigger matter. If there really were guards nearby, then even if I hadn’t stuck my nose in, you probably would have been helped anyway…”

“That’s not true at all! I was really, truly happy that Oscar-san saved me. Also… is your hand okay?”

The woman looked at the hand wrapped in bandages and took on an apologetic expression.

“Yes, I had it treated at the guard post. It looks like there wasn’t anything wrong with the bone, so it’s fine.”

“I see… um, I’ll come by sometime soon to properly thank you!”

“Huh? No, it really wasn’t a big deal, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

That was what I said, but shaking her head strongly from side to side, the woman said in a flustered way,

“Not at all! I was really scared at the time, and I was truly happy that Oscar-san saved me! So please let me thank you!”

“Umm… all right.”

I could understand wanting to say thank you, so for the time being, I decided to accept the woman’s words.

“Thank you very much! I’ll visit your shop tomorrow!”

“Understood, I’ll be waiting.”

When I said that, the woman ran off with a delighted smile on her face.

“Wait, she knows me? Ahh, Lily-san probably told her or something, maybe. Also, I didn’t even ask that person’s name, did I?”

Well, she said she was coming tomorrow, so I could just ask her then, I guess…

Thinking that, I was about to head home when I remembered another troublesome thing.

“Ah… I never bought the cooking oil Patty asked for. And I didn’t tell her I’d be this late either… yeah, she’s absolutely going to complain about this… what a pain…”

Apparently, there was still trouble waiting for me even after I got home.

Letting out a sigh, I headed for home.

View of the Mob Overlord

“What kind of dating sim is this?”

For the time being, the next time I saw him, I swore from the bottom of my heart that I would rip out the protagonist Oscar’s hair.