Chapter 150
Karin alternated her gaze between my masked face, Esdal, and Titania.
“Hello!”
“…….”
Esdal flashed her a bright smile first, while Titania quietly nodded her head in greeting.
“……Ah, hello.”
Answering reflexively, Karin sent me a strange look.
It was a look asking me to explain.
“Congrats, Karin. You got promoted.”
“What’s that supposed to mean all of a sudden…… That’s a good thing, right?”
Karin made a puzzled expression, then let out a short laugh.
I answered with a slight curl of my lips.
“When Miss McGrim’s concert begins in a few hours, even more customers will come. You won’t be able to handle it alone.”
“Right.”
Karin nodded as if she understood.
“Fortunately, seniors from the Engineering Department generously agreed to help out.”
“Ah……!”
Karin’s face brightened at once. Then she bowed at a 90-degree angle toward Esdal and Titania.
“You saved me. Thank you so much, seniors!”
“No, it’s nothing. I thought it’d be fun! I wanted to try something like this at least once!”
When Esdal answered, Karin opened her mouth as if she had just remembered something.
”……Ah, we don’t even know each other’s names. Let me introduce myself again. I’m first-year Karin.“
“We’re second-years. Please call me Esdal!”
“……Titania is fine.”
Titania answered while averting her eyes, still seemingly bothered by wearing a maid outfit.
“Karin, you may be the junior at the academy, but when it comes to working as staff, you’re the senior. Teach these two well.”
“Okay, it’s not hard…….”
Trying to hide her awkwardness, Karin calmly continued her explanation.
“Seniors, um……. It’s really simple. When a customer arrives, start by greeting them with ‘Welcome!’, and then hand them the menu. Ah, perfect timing—someone just came in, so I’ll show you.”
“Yes!”
“……Okay.”
Both of them looked reasonably motivated.
‘Good, they’ll handle it well enough.’
Leaving them behind, I entered Rupina’s kitchen.
Focused entirely on cooking, Rupina didn’t even look at me as she spoke.
“Young Master, you’re here?”
“Yeah. The issue with the ingredient box is resolved.”
Rupina finally turned her eyes toward me.
“Really? Did the Knights catch the culprit? Or were they dragged off to the torture chamber?”
“No, they were just some idiots playing a prank. I gave them a proper scare, so they won’t come back.”
“Ah.”
Ignoring Rupina’s mutter of ‘Shame, we should’ve caught them with a bear trap.’, I looked over her cooking.
Her hands moved various cooking tools without a moment of rest. She truly looked like a veteran chef.
‘She’s definitely worth the high cost.’
As the all-purpose employee she was, Rupina handled the work of several chefs all on her own.
Her salary wasn’t cheap, but she was worth every coin.
‘Though now my funds are running out.’
I had donated a large sum to the Engineering Department, and once I paid salaries to Rupina and the others helping the booth, I had nothing left on hand.
‘I’ll have to look for another way to make money.’
Not that I was worried.
With my abilities, I could earn money any time I decided I wanted some.
‘As for Lapin…….’
I looked outside the booth.
Following the rhythm of clapping, Lapin stood silently as a Sea Otter in a suit performed a dance.
The crowd’s reaction was enthusiastic. After watching the Sea Otter, some even became interested in the booth’s food and placed orders.
‘Good, the promotion…… should be going fine.’
Other Engineering Department members dressed as clowns and spread out into the crowded streets around the academy to promote the booth.
‘I handed each of those guys one Ramji too.’
Ramji was adorable.
Every member had hugged Ramji and marveled at it.
Just playing with Ramji in crowded areas would serve as great promotion.
“Welcome!”
“……Uh, w-welcome.”
At some point, Esdal and Titania had naturally begun serving customers alongside Karin.
“So cute!”
“This makes me want to order again!”
Customers were practically melting under Esdal’s smile.
“A-ah, just now, I got chills.”
“A little scary, but somehow that’s good……?”
I wasn’t sure why, but Titania’s stiff, nervous responses had their own mysterious charm.
……As time passed, more and more customers arrived.
“Encore performance! Starting now!”
When Miss McGrim’s encore concert began, the booth hit its peak.
The once quiet park became packed with people, and every table was full.
“Table 31!”
Rupina shouted as she put down a plate of omurice.
Esdal received it and handed her a slip of paper.
“This is the order for table 46!”
Even with three people serving, there was no time to rest.
‘I’m going crazy here.’
Helping with the cooking, creating Ramji copies with my bubble device—my hands didn’t stop moving.
‘Still, it’s certain we achieved huge success on the first day.’
Getting this many customers in such a secluded spot meant nothing short of a major victory.
“Three crêpes, two whipped-cream cakes, three omurice are up!”
Rupina raised her voice so she could serve even one more customer.
Just like that, <Little Friends Café> welcomed customers without a moment to breathe.
Miss McGrim’s encore concert came to an end, and closing time for day one approached.
Once the crowd dispersed, the booth finally regained some calm.
“Seniors, thank you for your hard work! I’ll finish the rest of the cleanup, so please take a break.”
“No, we’ll help too!”
“It’s really fine. There are barely any customers left. And you two worked the hardest today.”
Smiling brightly, Karin offered them a box of cake slices.
“Since you haven’t tried our booth’s cake yet, have you? It’s really delicious, so please relax and try it. It’s a gift from me.”
“……Thank you, Karin!”
Esdal and Titania carried their cake slices and sat at a nearby table.
Esdal lifted her fork, took a bite, and immediately let out a gasp of admiration.
“It’s delicious!”
“…….”
Titania also broke off a small piece and placed it in her mouth, her eyes widening.
This might have been…… her first time tasting such a delicious cake.
While savoring it, Titania suddenly found Esdal’s gaze meeting hers.
“Hehe, Titania.”
Esdal was smiling brightly.
“Working as staff instead of holding a spanner was fun, right?”
“…….”
Titania hesitated briefly, then quietly nodded.
Satisfied with her reaction, Esdal smiled even more brightly.
“Titania, you spent too much time in dark places this semester.”
Esdal held Titania’s hand.
Despite the slightly chilly air, warmth spread through their joined hands.
“Let’s stop staying in the dark.”
“…….”
Titania didn’t avoid Esdal’s gaze.
There was still light in Esdal’s eyes.
Seeing that, Titania thought:
‘How does Esdal manage to smile like that every day?’
It was normal to feel anxious and uneasy when pushed to the edge.
Yet Esdal never lost hope.
……In the end, the one who was right was Esdal.
Unlike herself, who had chosen to live pessimistically, Esdal had moved forward with hope.
Even if it had looked useless at the time, it had become nourishment.
Titania had nearly gotten involved in something disgraceful in exchange for secret bribes.
That was unquestionably shameful.
Never again……
Never again would she make such a choice—Titania vowed firmly to herself.
Esdal squeezed Titania’s hand tightly.
“We belong in the light.”
“……Yeah.”
Titania, belatedly, showed a smile just like Esdal’s.
……Meanwhile, five minutes before <Little Friends Café> closed.
A man wearing a fedora and a formal suit stepped into the booth.
“Welcome! What would you like to order?”
When Karin greeted him, the man silently scanned the menu, then pointed at the ‘strawberry crêpe.’
“Yes, I’ll prepare one crêpe for you!”
It didn’t take long. Karin brought the crêpe and offered it to him.
“One strawberry crêpe, 40 silver!”
The man handed her four silver coins.
Then, quietly receiving the crêpe, he turned and walked away.
“Ah, sir! You can also take an Animal friend with your ord—”
Karin couldn’t finish her sentence.
The man was already leaving the booth, growing distant.
Step, step…….
He walked silently, holding the crêpe.
Walking and walking, he eventually reached a deserted path in the park.
Under the dim sky, a streetlamp cast a faint light.
Beneath that light, a girl sat on a bench.
……The man approached her.
A girl dressed in a gothic doll-like outfit, an elegant mixture of white and black.
Her navy hair cascaded down one side, tied neatly into a side ponytail with a black ribbon.
She truly looked like a young noble lady.
Except for one unusual detail—she wore a black eyepatch over her left eye.
The man in the fedora met the girl’s gaze.
When the girl quietly extended her hand, the man offered her the crêpe without hesitation.
The moment the crêpe touched her hand.
Immediately, the man dissolved into the air and vanished.
Left alone, the girl stared at the crêpe.
A crêpe with a large strawberry resting atop white whipped cream.
Taking a single bite, she smiled happily.
“It’s tasty.”
Step…… step…….
A tall man approached, and the girl lifted the crêpe high to show him.
“Shen. Sheeeen~. Try a bite.”
Shen bent down and took a bite from the crêpe she offered.
“Mmm, it’s good.”
Just as she brought the crêpe toward her mouth again, the girl blinked at it.
……It was gone.
The plump, bright-red strawberry.
The single strawberry that had sparkled within the cream.
It had vanished without a trace.
Tremble……
The girl’s shoulders shook, and she soon wore an about-to-cry expression.
“……Waaah! Stupid Shen! How could you eat the strawberry too! That was the only one! I was saving it for last!”
“Ah……. Sorry, Lu. Should we order another one?”
“Tch, forget it. They’re probably closed already.”
The girl, called ‘Lu,’ grumbled and took another bite of the crêpe as she stood up.
“Is it okay to leave without saying goodbye? You said he’s your closest friend.”
“Yeah, I wanted to introduce Lu before I left the academy. But I can’t get close. Bill’s friend seems to dislike me.”
“That blonde one? Just get along with her.”
“I’d like to, but it’s not that easy.”
“Why not? She might be from the same origin as us. Then she’d be family.”
“Maybe, but something feels different. And also……”
Shen walked beside Lu.
“Her mark is being tainted. She doesn’t have much time left.”
“That’s sad. Can’t Shen save her?”
“The medication we receive is only allotted to us. I can’t help her.”
“So pitiful. She might be our family. We won’t see her next year.”
“Yeah, we won’t.”
Shen answered calmly.
Lu bit her crêpe again with a lonely expression.
“Shen, I’m sad.”
“……Sorry for bringing up something unpleasant.”
Lu shook her head and spoke.
“Shen’s friend has no idea, right? That the blonde one will die soon.”
“Yeah. Bill can’t know.”
“It’s weird. Someone who might be part of our family, why is she friends with Shen’s friend? Is it a coincidence?”
“Yeah. It’s probably a coincidence.”
Shen walked a few steps, then corrected himself.
“……No, actually, I’m not sure.”
“Why?”
“Because Bill seems different.”
Lu tilted her head.
“Normally he didn’t get along with commoners, didn’t run a street stall, and didn’t wear weird masks?”
“Yeah, Bill isn’t the type to do that.”
Shen stroked his chin.
“……Why did he change?”
Lost in thought, Shen continued walking the park path with Lu.