Chapter 256: Apology
She had just seen them yesterday. Lily Hart couldn’t figure out what the two of them were up to, so she braced herself. Suddenly, Frank O’Malley gave her a deep bow.
Lily Hart flinched and took a step to the side. ’Are they trying to give me a taste of my own medicine? Trying to guilt-trip me!’
Just as she moved, she saw Frank O’Malley was still bowed over, shouting, "Boss Hart! I’m sorry! I was wrong that day!"
"I shouldn’t have brought people to cause trouble for you! And I definitely shouldn’t have tried to take your life! I... I know I was wrong! Please, Boss Hart, forgive me." Having finished his shouting, he straightened up.
Ash O’Malley wore an apologetic expression, genuinely feeling that his little brother’s actions that day had been inappropriate.
The surrounding customers looked over, whispering, "What’s going on?"
"I’m guessing... they’re apologizing to Boss Hart."
"No kidding, anyone with eyes can see that. Hey, isn’t that the guy from that video that’s been going viral? Have you seen it?"
"Yeah, I saw it. It was hilarious, but what they did was seriously out of line. A whole group of grown men bullying Boss Hart, a young woman, all by herself. They definitely should be apologizing."
Lily Hart: ’... I should just accept the apology and put an end to this, right?’
"Alright, alright, I accept. Now, please leave."
’Stop embarrassing yourselves here...’
Ash O’Malley breathed a huge sigh of relief. ’This should improve people’s impression of the O’Malley Family, right? They won’t say the O’Malleys throw their weight around to bully people, will they?’
He grabbed Frank O’Malley and was about to leave.
But from a short distance away, a loud voice suddenly called out, "Little Bear!"
The two of them looked over in unison to see a giant brown bear, taller and broader than the convenience store, lumbering toward them.
No, it was running toward the convenience store entrance.
A blond man stood at the store’s entrance, waving at the running bear. The creature stopped before him, suddenly becoming incredibly docile.
As if it had a soul of its own, it held out a paw to the blond man. The man nimbly hopped onto the bear’s shoulder, and the pair of them headed off for a ride.
Frank O’Malley’s blood boiled with excitement as he watched. ’I’ve never heard of anyone in this apocalypse who can tame beasts!’
Lily Hart, who was behind them, must have noticed them staring blankly at the bear’s retreating form, because she explained, "That’s a prize from the scratch-offs."
The next second, Frank O’Malley rushed toward her in a blur. "Which scratch-off is it? I want to play, too!" he said, incredibly excited.
Lily Hart pointed to the most expensive batch of scratch-offs. "There."
"I’ll buy it! I’ll buy it!" Frank O’Malley was about to start scratching when Lily Hart stopped his eager hand. "Hold on. Crystal Cores!"
Frank O’Malley froze. It was his first time being this close to a woman. ’Her hand is so pale and smooth,’ he thought, ’and so soft... How...’
"I’ll pay." Ash O’Malley pulled Crystal Cores from his spatial storage, simultaneously smacking his dumbstruck brother on the back of the head. ’What is this little brat doing, staring at a girl’s hand?’
’So improper.’
Frank O’Malley snapped out of it and tried to cover his tracks. "N-no, I was just looking at the scratch-offs."
Lily Hart took the Crystal Cores and released Frank O’Malley’s hand, saying breezily, "Go on. Scratch away."
Ash O’Malley had given her a lot of Crystal Cores. A quick glance showed thirty or forty of them, and not just the gray Level 1 Crystal Cores—there was a mix of different colors, too.
’As expected of a rich young master, so extravagant.’
So, Frank O’Malley began scratching while Ash O’Malley watched from the side. He went through five tickets in a row and won absolutely nothing...
Lily Hart couldn’t bear to watch any longer. She opened a new booklet of tickets for him. "Here, try these." ’With luck this bad, he’d better not ruin my shop’s reputation,’ she thought.
’Normally, even the unluckiest person only gets three duds. Who gets five in a row with nothing to show for it? Then again, maybe he’s just building up his luck for what’s to come?’
The first three tickets from the new booklet were also losers. Ash O’Malley couldn’t help but ask doubtfully, "Boss Hart, is it actually possible to win anything from these scratch-offs?"
Lily Hart shot him a look and gestured outside at the endless sea of customers. ’Are they all just shills I hired?’ she implied.
Ash O’Malley followed her gesture, then quietly looked away. ’Alright, then I guess we can only blame my little brother’s terrible luck...’
"I got one! I finally got one!" Frank O’Malley exclaimed.
"What is it?" Ash O’Malley leaned in, also asking excitedly.
Lily Hart knew with a single glance. "It’s an orange. Would you like to redeem it now?" she asked, a standard, gentle smile on her face.
"Redeem it! Redeem it!" This was Frank O’Malley’s first time playing scratch-offs, and his first time winning. A huge sense of achievement washed over him again and again.
It also made him completely overlook what Boss Hart had said the prize was: an orange.
When the orange was in his hand, Frank O’Malley calmed down a little. He turned it over and over, examining it from all sides. ’It doesn’t seem to be anything special, though?’
"It’s a real orange," Lily Hart reminded him.
Frank O’Malley had a flash of understanding. "Oh~ That’s fine! I want to keep scratching!" With that, he shoved the orange into Ash O’Malley’s arms.
"Huh?" Ash O’Malley was taken aback but took the orange and started peeling it automatically. Even though they were from The Mysterious Clan, their resources weren’t exactly plentiful.
They didn’t get to eat fruits like this very often.
His fingers were slender, and he peeled the orange slowly and methodically. His movements were so elegant he looked as if he’d practiced it countless times. Once it was peeled, he glanced at his foolish brother, then at Boss Hart.
He asked with some hesitation, "Boss Hart, would you like some?"
’Wouldn’t it be rude not to offer?’ he wondered.
Lily Hart shook her head. Ash O’Malley finally let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He split the orange, giving the larger half to Frank O’Malley and keeping the smaller half for himself.
Frank O’Malley didn’t even look; he just took it and ate it, completely accustomed to these "little services" from his older brother.
"So sweet!" His eyes lit up, but his hands were still scratching furiously. "I got another one! Another one!" he exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
Ash O’Malley played along. "What is it?"
Frank O’Malley didn’t recognize it, but he had just seen what Boss Hart did earlier. Copying her actions, he stuffed the ticket into the Lucky Cat’s mouth and waited quietly.
The Lucky Cat spat out a small card.
Lily Hart raised an eyebrow. ’Don’t tell me he actually won the same kind of prize as Roman Rowe?’
Frank O’Malley picked up the small card and read the words aloud: "Rabbit Doll. Can grow and shrink. Combat Power: Three Stars. Can protect its master, but specializes in being cute."
He suddenly grew excited. "Is this the same kind of prize as that other guy’s? But why is mine a rabbit? What’s next, Boss Hart?"
Lily Hart jutted her chin toward the Lucky Cat. "Put it back in."
"Oh, right." Frank O’Malley obediently put it back in. After a flash of white light, a rabbit doll appeared before the three of them. It was a grayish-white color.
Its fur was about a centimeter long and felt smooth, exceptionally soft, and plush.
Unlike the bear, which had felt coarse to the touch.
Its eyes were vacant ovals sewn from thread, and its mouth was a stitched ’x’. Its ears stood up straight, and its arms dangled down as it sat on the tabletop.
"This thing? It can grow and shrink?" Frank O’Malley was incredulous.