Chapter 71
“Yeah. No. I’m busy.”
“Heeeing.”
“I’m going.”
“Okaaay. Next time, we must have tea together!”
Leaving the disappointed girl behind, Ceres headed toward Kainel, who was waiting a bit farther away.
And she informed him.
“I’m leaving.”
“To where?”
“…Did you skip breakfast today?”
“I ate.”
“Then why isn’t your brain working? I told you yesterday. I absolutely have to go early today.”
“Are you going to see that Chaian or whatever again?”
“No.”
Ceres glanced at the clock standing on one side of the hallway.
It was already pointing past 5 p.m.
“There’s a group reservation today.”
***
“Ugh, here again.”
“I’m going crazy, seriously!”
“Vice Guild Leader! Do something. Why do we always have our gatherings here!”
As always, the place Where your feets rest was packed with countless customers.
But today, the atmosphere was quite different.
The faces of the seated mercenaries were full of dissatisfaction.
Their faces were drenched in exhaustion and irritation.
“I don’t even expect anything when they say it’s a guild dinner anymore.”
“Expectations? Is there still someone dumb enough to have that?”
“What do you expect from our Guild Leader?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
The Black Guild, led by one of the few S-rank mercenaries on the continent, Skal.
Today, the place they gathered at for a meal, invited by their Guild Leader, was again Where your feets rest.
That fact alone made the guild members visibly fed up.
“Didn’t we come here during our last get-together too?”
“And the one before that, also here.”
“And even the one two months ago.”
“No need to try and remember. It’s always the same place.”
“At this point, shouldn’t we give our Guild Leader an award or something? Perfect attendance award?”
“Vice Guild Leader, seriously, do something! Let’s eat something different for once!”
Why stew at a group dinner!
And now, we can’t even drink alcohol freely here!
“……”
Rot, the Vice Guild Leader of the Black Guild, who had been chugging down plain water, set down his glass on the table with a light tap at the intense protests from the guild members.
“There’s only one way.”
“What is it?”
“You guys just stop coming here.”
“Huh?”
“From tomorrow, don’t come here. Then the business will go under, and the Guild Leader will have no choice but to give up.”
“What the heck?”
“Then where are we supposed to eat hangover soup?”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“See? That man seriously has no compassion. You’re gonna shut the whole place down? Are you sane?”
“My point exactly.”
“…Can you all just shut up and eat already?”
Rot, well aware that they were just as much regulars of this place as the Guild Leader, clicked his tongue lightly and picked up his water glass again.
And then.
“You heard that, right?”
“Heard what?”
Rot’s eyes were filled with annoyance as he stared at Guild Leader Skal, who was shoveling stew into his mouth across from him.
Hey, the Guild Leader is right here in front of them, so why are they yelling at me?
Say it to his face, say it!
“They said they don’t want to have our dinners here anymore.”
“Okay. Let’s make the next reservation now too.”
“……”
…My words are wasted.
Rot drained the remaining water in his cup and passed along a recent piece of news.
“You know that corpse we saw last time? They figured out what kind of monster did it.”
“Really? What was it?”
“They said it was a Shakera.”
“Shakera? Seriously?”
For the first time, Skal’s eyes left the stew.
Furrowing his brows tightly, the Guild Leader turned to Rot, who shook his head slightly.
“It’s been officially announced. But isn’t that monster only found near coastal areas?”
“That’s right.”
It’s a rare monster.
It only appeared in the Black Forests that form near coastal regions.
Despite traveling to many places as mercenaries, they had never actually seen the Shakera in person.
But now they’re saying the corpse found in the middle of the capital was killed by a Shakera?
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“The Dukevof Persia says it was a Shakera.”
“Well, that makes sense then.”
“…What is this annoyingly quick change of stance?”
Rot gave Skal a look of disbelief.
“It’s the Duke of Persia, you know.”
Someone who’s encountered way more monsters than any of us.
“If he says so, then it’s true, isn’t it?”
Sycophant.
At that moment, the shop door opened and someone entered quickly.
Jay, who had been busily serving food, lit up with a bright smile.
“Miss Ceres!”
“Yeah. Give me that.”
After returning the greeting with a nod, Ceres rolled up her sleeves to help with the work.
Because they had brought out extra tables and chairs from the storage for today’s gathering, the shop was so crowded it was hard to find a place to step.
“Yes. Please take this to Table 3.”
“Okay.”
Ceres took the food Jay had been about to carry and headed toward the table she mentioned.
Or at least, she tried to.
“Table 3, you said?”
Ceres’ eyes widened slightly upon seeing who had taken the tray from her and was now walking over.
“…Hey.”
Why are you here?
Thud!
“Cough!”
“Pfft!”
The people at the table who saw the face of the one placing food on their table let out startled coughs at the same time.
‘Duke of Persia?’
‘Why is that guy here?’
A man holding a tray with a blank expression.
It was none other than Kainel.
Wait, why is he holding a tray…?
The previously noisy restaurant fell silent in an instant, spiraling into confusion.
“Eat it before it gets cold.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Thank you for the food!”
At Kainel’s single remark, the dazed customers immediately snapped back to their senses and hurriedly picked up their spoons.
As if that were the only way to survive!
Only then did Kainel leave the table and walk back to Ceres.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping.”
Yeah, but why are you helping? Don’t you know not helping is actually more helpful?
“…Haa.”
Seeing the guests frozen in place with their mouths slightly open, Ceres let out a deep sigh.
Only the Guild Leader, Skal, looked at Kainel with great interest in his eyes.
‘Come to think of it, is this the first time those two have run into each other here?’
They both came often, but their timing had oddly never overlapped.
“Food’s up…?”
Mark, the chef who was bringing out food from the kitchen, tilted his head in confusion at the strange atmosphere in the dining area.
Why is everyone so stiff…
“Gasp!”
Then he spotted Kainel standing next to Ceres and took in a sharp breath.
“Which table?”
“Eh? Ah, T-Table 2.”
Ceres took the food from the startled Mark.
“You heard him. Table 2.”
And she handed it straight to Kainel.
‘Fine, since you’re already helping, you might as well go all in.’
Surely he won’t ask for wages later, right? I don’t have any money.
“Ah, no…!”
“We—we’ll take it ourselves…!”
Thud!
“Eat.”
“…Yes.”
The mercenaries jumped up and tried to shout when they saw Kainel bringing food, but the plates were already on the table before they could finish.
Whoa, damn. How is he so efficient in his movements? Is it legal for a server to be this agile?
“This one’s for Table 5.”
“No, we can just—!”
Thud!
“Eat it before it gets cold.”
“…Thank you.”
Food being delivered by none other than the Duke of Persia. Is it really okay to just receive it like this?
Please, can’t we just bring it ourselves?
The mercenaries desperately sent pleading looks to Ceres—
“This one goes to that table.”
Thud!
—but Ceres didn’t even pretend to notice.
Then their desperate gazes turned to Vice Guild Leader Rot.
‘We really have to change the dinner venue next time!’
Rot clicked his tongue lightly at those looks.
“Then you convince the Guild Leader.”
“What? Like that’s possible?”
“Are you nuts?”
“He’s asking us to do what even he can’t. No compassion at all, that guy.”
“…Just shut up and eat already. If you keep whining, I’ll buy you a one-year meal pass and make you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner here for the next year.”
“Ooh.”
“Seriously?”
“Sounds great!”
“……”
…What do you people actually want?
Deciding that speaking to them any further was pointless, Rot turned away from the grinning mercenaries chanting “Free meal pass! Free meal pass!”
Ding-a-ling.
At that moment, a small figure stepped through the entrance.
“Sister.”
The one who came running and hugged Ceres tightly was Yulia.
Ceres’ eyes widened slightly at the child’s appearance.
“I told you to go straight home today.”
Because today would be more chaotic than usual due to the reserved guests, Ceres had warned Yulia in the morning.
“I was going to.”
“You were?”
When Ceres questioned her a bit sternly, Yulia hesitated and turned around.
—
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