Once again, I observed Angel’s stalker from the corner of my eye.

He was slightly taller than me, about the same height as Dolph and Lange, with brown hair, well-defined features, and a distinctive mole. Personally, I wouldn't say he was as good-looking as Dolph or Lange, but he definitely belonged in the "handsome" category.

...When I first heard about the stalker from Angel, I had a biased assumption that he was some creepy, overweight guy, but that turned out to be completely wrong.

His attire was normal, suitable for walking around town. Lately, even non-adventurers had been frequenting this outdoor shop, so he didn't stand out too much.

"Welcome! Yes, the instant soup is on this shelf."

While assisting other customers, I kept my attention on the stalker.

The man pretended to browse the merchandise, but he seemed to be secretly observing the people inside the store.

After wandering around for a while, he left without purchasing anything.

"For now, it seems like he didn’t do anything..."

"However, he was clearly looking around the store, checking things out. And he seemed to be watching Angel quite a lot."

"Yeah, and in the end, he didn’t buy anything. He definitely wasn’t here as a customer."

In the end, the stalker neither caused trouble nor approached Angel. He simply left the store without doing anything.

Now that the shop had closed for the day, we were holding an emergency meeting. Meanwhile, Dolph had been sent on an errand to a nearby shop.

"Hmm… There’s a good chance he’ll come back. Since we all remember his face now, let’s use Code 4 again if he shows up."

"Got it."

"I don’t think it’ll come to this, but let’s be careful on the way home as well. We’ll tell Dolph that a suspicious person has been spotted in the area so he can be more cautious than usual. Lange, sorry to trouble you, but could you escort Fia to work in the mornings this week?"

"Of course!"

"Thank you, Lange!"

I doubted he would target any of the other employees, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He seemed to just be observing today, but you never knew what stalkers might do.

"I’m really sorry for causing so much trouble for everyone..."

"You don’t need to apologize, Angel! The one in the wrong is the guy who keeps harassing you even after you turned him down! Don’t worry, we’re all on your side!"

"Lange… Thank you!"

Lange really said something great there. Exactly—Angel wasn’t at fault. The problem was the guy stalking her. Lange might be a bit of a flirt, but he genuinely respected and cared for women.

"That’s right, Angel. You don’t need to worry at all."

"Yeah, leave it to us!"

"I might not be much help, but I’ll work extra hard to make up for it!"

"Thank you all so much!"

Two days had passed since Angel’s stalker first showed up at the store. He had come back both yesterday and the day before, always arriving just before noon, wandering around the store for a bit, and then leaving without buying anything.

"I have no idea what he’s trying to accomplish."

"He’s definitely keeping an eye on Angel, though."

After finishing work for the day, I was now heading back to the shop with Lilia after stopping by the Adventurers' Guild and the market.

"Dolph, who’s always quick to notice whenever someone looks at Angel strangely, is probably going to catch on soon. Lange won’t be around next week either, so maybe we should just ban him from entering the store since he never buys anything anyway."

"That might be for the best. If he’s not making purchases, there’s no reason to treat him as a customer."

Luckily, the stalker had never actually bought anything. So, while it was a bit extreme, we could use that as an excuse to ban him from the shop.

Unlike my original world, where the principle was "innocent until proven guilty," this world had real dangers. It was best to eliminate risks whenever possible. There was a chance he might retaliate against the store, but that was preferable to letting him target Angel directly.

Earlier today at the Adventurers' Guild, I had mentioned the stalker to Rizac and Patrice. I had already informed them about him before, and now they would be ready to help if anything happened.

"...Tetsuya."

"Huh!? Whoa, what’s up all of a sudden!?"

For some reason, Lilia suddenly wrapped her right arm around my left, intertwining them.

W-Wait, isn’t this something couples do!?

"...Don’t turn around. Just listen. Someone is following us."

"...!? O-Okay."

So this wasn’t some romantic moment after all!

She was just getting close so the person behind us wouldn’t hear what she was saying!

I quickly regained my composure and continued walking as instructed, resisting the urge to turn around.

How did she even notice without looking? More importantly, why was this person following me and Lilia instead of Angel?

"...It seems like there’s only one person. Judging by his movements, he’s an amateur. It’s probably the stalker. Should we lead him closer to the shop?"

"...Yeah, it should be fine if it’s just one guy. But if anything happens, we run. Once we reach the store, Lange will be there to back us up."