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Chapter 68
A Huge Customer
“No way
 Even if this is Harukara we’re talking about
 Actually, this is Harukara we’re talking about, so it’s completely possible
”
When there’s talk of trouble it’s always Harukara, and when there’s talk of Harukara it’s always trouble, make no mistake. I can only hope it’s not anything too troublesome

“By the by, now that the governor has stepped down, what kind of person is his replacement? If he’s friends with the previous governor, the new one might be plotting revenge. Going by the previous governor, he was someone that would try to frame a friend of the Highland Witch. Though whether that’s because he doesn’t fear death or because he had know idea how frightening the Witch could be is a mystery.  If his successor is similar to him then
”
“What’ll we do! What’ll we do if Harukara gets killed!”
“Of course this might just be a case of overthinking things no
?”
The festive atmosphere had all of a sudden turned heavy.
“Calm down mama! Leica onee-san went to pick her up. If anything had happened she would’ve come back right away”
Farufa’s words calmed me down a bit.
“You’re right
 Let’s wait for Leica. That’s all we can do for now
”
Though having said that, with the guest of honor absent and with nobody in the mood for idle chatter, the air in the house felt pretty heavy.
Before we knew it, it was already two hours past the time when Harukara should’ve come back home.
“Fuaa~h
”
Farufa let out a yawn. What do I do
 they’re already starting to get sleepy

“Hey, why don’t we start eating first? There’s a lot of food after all
”
“Sharusha will wait
”
The solemn Sharusha refused.
“I would also like Harukara to have her fill of the ‘Hell’s Pot’ so I too shall wait.”
She’s definitely going to get a stomach ache if she gets filled with that

“Moreover, the longer the wait, the more potent the spices become. To be frank, this further elevates the dish, and as such there is no problem with waiting.”
Harukara
 even if you make it home, hell is literally waiting for you

And so three hours had passed from the appointed time.
“Zzz
 zzz
”
Farufa had fallen asleep.
Since there was no helping it, I laid a towel blanket[1] over her. I thought about taking her to her room and letting her sleep on her bed but if the party actually started later then she would’ve been really sad if she missed it. I’ll just wake her up when Harukara gets back.
“She really is late though. Shall I head out and check what’s going on?”
Rosary made a suggestion.
“Hmm
 but ghosts don’t move particularly fast in this realm right? It’d be pretty bad if you managed to pass by each other without realizing
”
“I shall upgrade the ‘Hell’s Pot’ even further”
With those ominous words, Beelzebub headed to the kitchen. Harukara. if you don’t come home soon, things are going to escalate past the point of no return
”
But it really is starting to get way too late
 If another hour passes and they’re still not back, we should probably head over ourselves to check on them
 Though I can’t imagine Leica losing to anyone, there’s no telling what dreadful beings there are in this world.
While thinking that–
I heard the leathery beating sound of a dragon’s wings.
I hurriedly rushed outside.
Leica in her dragon form with Harukara on her back had returned home.
“I’m sorry
 for coming home so late
”
Teetering unsteadily, Harukara alighted from Leica’s back.
“What in the world happened
? You seem awfully exhausted.”
“So, you know how the governor was replaced by someone else right”
It can’t be that the new governor really was trying to get revenge?
“The new governor really took a liking to the ‘Nutritious Alcohol’ as well as my other products and when he took it to the castle, the king also took a liking to it
 and so he placed an order on behalf of the kingdom
”
“The kingdom!?”
“The meeting really dragged on
 but since it was a request from the kingdom I couldn’t really push it to tomorrow
 so I ended up doing a ton of overtime
”
“If I knew it would take this long, I would have gone back home first, but I did not realize it had gotten this late
 My apologies
 This was poor judgement on my part.”
The now-human Leica lowered her head. Since it wasn’t really her fault, she shouldn’t worry about it.
“Wow, so in the end, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise[2]”
I was worried over nothing.
“Ooh~ I’m dead tired
 I might just skip dinner and head straight to bed
”
“Ooh, that’d be bad.”
I took Harukara to the hall.
We’d lined up all the food there.
“Huh, what’s all this
?”
“Well you’ve been through a lot right. That’s why we were thinking of having a get together celebration. Although you came home a lot later than we were expecting.”
“Thank you so much! Master!”
Harukara hugged me tightly. I’ve gotten used to it, but the supple plumpness of her chest really was something else.
At the sound of Harukara’s voice, Farufa woke up.
“Huh? Harukara onee-san, you’re back”
“Alright, everyone’s here! Let’s have a celebration for all the hard work that Harukara has done!”
A drink was passed to everyone.
“Well done, Harukara! Keep up the good work!”, said everyone as we toasted Harukara’s efforts.
Harukara was starting to get teary eyed.
She looked beautiful and mature, a small change from her usual hapless self.
“Because of all of you I’m now the president of a company
 I really, truly
 thank you all so much
”
“Now dig in and drink up! You’re the president so tomorrow it’s fine to roll in late like one!”
“I will! I’ll eat everything without leaving a scrap!”
As if on cue, a violently bubbling pot arrived.
“It’s at spice level ten now”
Beelzebub said something disturbing.
“Um
 Beelzebub-san, what is this dish
?”
“It’s a traditional family dish of the demon race called ‘Hell’s Pot’. I would very much like for you to try it. Think of it as a present from a ‘Nutritious Alcohol’ fan.”
Beelzebub served some of the crimson hot pot in a bowl.
“This, it isn’t something spicy is it
?”
“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s not lethal.”
That’s not a word you should ever use to describe food.
Harukara fearfully scooped some into her mouth.
“Ah, it’s actually not that spi– Gah! It’s kicking in! It’s kicking in really hard-!”
“There’s ple~nty more where that came from. Since you said you’ll eat everything without leaving a scrap, I’m looking forward to it.”
“Wait! I just said that in the heat of the moment! I had no idea something like this was here!”
“It can’t be that you’re refusing to eat the cooking of one such as I?”
Ah, a troublesome pattern has appeared.
“I’m getting pretty full so I think I’m about done
”
“I as well
”
“I’m a ghost so unfortunately I can’t eat”
“Farufa is getting pretty sleepy and no longer hungry
”
“One should not eat so close to bedtime, Sharusha knows this.”
“Why is everyone casually trying to escape!? P-please save me!”
The next day, Harukara had a stomach ache and took the day off.
Author’s Note:
This marks the end of the Harukara was Arrested volume. A new arc will start next chapter!
[1] If you want to google this the term is [タă‚Șăƒ«ă‚±ăƒƒăƒˆ], which is a portmanteau of towel and blanket.
[2] Azusa says [うれしいæ‚Č鳎](lit. joyful scream) which means being happy at good events happening, but almost always at the expense of being extremely busy. It’s often used when a store is thriving but also extra busy. Overall it has a positive connotation.