The sky was full of clouds that morning. Thick, leaden clouds covered the skies; the mountaintops, just visible in the distance, were shrouded in a white haze. Not one raindrop had fallen from them as of yet, but it didn’t look like it would take long.

The weather is great because it’s never the same, day-by-day. If you were struggling for a topic, the weather was always a suitable stopgap. It didn’t hurt anyone and didn’t cause any discomfort. Truly, weather discussions are formidable.

When I brought this up as a greeting to Linaria, she just asked me, “are you stupid?” She’s been coming out of her sh.e.l.l recently.

“That’s a point, you live in the dorms, isn’t it tough coming all this way every morning?”

Linaria averted her gaze slightly at my question and hid her mouth with her cup of café au lait.

“Well, it’s sort of a morning walk. Besides, I can study here.”

I looked at her fidgeting hands and shoulders before gazing steadily at her, causing her to let out a sigh.

“Alright already, don’t stare so much,” she capitulated.

“So?” I pressed, making her put her head on a hand and sulk, directing her gaze out of the window.

“The dorms aren’t comfortable, it’s always like it’s fit to burst, and there are n.o.bles always sticking their noses in. There’s one of them that’s really annoying as well.”

“Because your grades are good?”

“That’s part of it.”

I’d heard from her before that she was top of her year, and also that that had lead to increased attention from the n.o.ble students. I didn’t know what kind of place the academy was, nor did I really have any comprehension of what made a n.o.ble, I just understood that Linaria was rather ill-disposed towards them.

“So that’s why you head out first thing and come here?”

“Is it a bother?” She asked, still holding her head up and just directing her eyes towards me. Her expression was rather like a young child hiding their unease. Of course, I shook my head.

“Not at all, I was looking for someone I could talk about the weather with. On that note, it looks like it’ll rain today,” I said jokingly, garnering a slight curve to her lips, and that small achievement made me want to pat myself on the back.

“You’re right, it looks like it might start this afternoon.”

“The rain makes coming out a bother, doesn’t it?”

“I get what you mean. But it’s nice to curl up with a book on rainy days.”

“Ah, that sounds good. You should have some coffee and snacks off to the side.”

“Well, you could do that right away here.”

“I’ll look forward to you visiting on a rainy day.”

“It’s a bother to come out in the rain, so I’ll pa.s.s.”

Our pleasant conversation was rather enjoyable as it rallied between us, much like a tennis match. The two of us couldn’t help but break into smiles. Talking about the weather was indeed formidable.

By mid-afternoon, the light drizzle that had started to fall before noon became a real downpour. It would be a slight exaggeration but calling it a shower was too much of an understatement. The rain was heavy enough that it would make you falter at the door if you went to leave.

The torrential rain seemed to form a natural curtain. It was almost as if the café was isolated from the rest of the world. Inside, there were several customers that had come to shelter from the rain, each of them spending their time as they wished.

At an inner table, a dwarf had spread out a thick cloth on the table. Atop that were lumps of material bigger than a clenched fist and several ingots of a dark grey metallic material. Next to them were a hammer, a chisel, and a set square.

He was using a fairly large loupe to look at rocks and gems, striking them with the hammer, breaking the stones with his chisel. At his side was a large tankard of hot milk. That’s what he had ordered, so there was nothing I could do but serve it.

The usual elf was sitting in her usual seat by the window reading a hefty book. She had a gla.s.s of water beside her and a platter of various fresh fruits. She was a regular customer now, but I still hadn’t had a conversation that was really worthy of the term with her. There were opportunities to take up the weapons of weather conversation and talk with her, but I couldn’t muster the will.

And then, there was the girl at the counter in front of me, resting her head on her arms.

“…Everything would be so much more peaceful… if everyone died,” came a m.u.f.fled voice from within her arms.

Well, she’s not wrong. If there wasn’t a single person then yeah, it’d be peaceful. If there was no afterlife that is. More importantly than that, how on Earth does a ten-year-old end up saying stuff like that? Actually, age should have no bearing on whether that opinion is right or wrong. The person giving an opinion shouldn’t be used to make judgements on the opinion itself. A great person once said that.

Thoughts spun absently through my mind as I wiped a cup; while they did, the girl began to stir, hauling herself up slowly much like a man coming around with a hangover. She put both hands around her porcelain bowl and began to almost lap up the especially milky café au lait.

It was almost like within the entire café only the girl, only Noltri, was being rained on. Over an entire week, I’d only heard her name, and being able to not have a proper conversation over that week was even more impressive.

“So what’s wrong today? I thought you normally went to the academy,” I asked softly, prompting her to move her eyes slowly to look up at me. She wasn’t glaring at me, that’s how she always was.

“…It was a pain…” she said gravely and earnestly, so I nodded back at her.

“I’ve had days like that.”

“I didn’t… want to go there.”

“Because it’s raining, right?”

“I really… wanted to come here…”

“Thanks for coming despite the rain.”

“…I wonder if everyone’ll die…”

“That wouldn’t work. You’d need some ultimate magic and it’d destroy the entire area.”

Responding with normal sensibilities wouldn’t let you carry on with her. This somewhat ‘tired of life’ feeling was important. You can’t think about what would make a ten-year-old like that.

“…It’s really… a pain…”

Noltri muttered like she really meant it. Ah, come on, stop with that, it’s almost like you think I’m a pain too. What’s with her persuasiveness, it makes you feel like life is pointless, it’s scary.

I was holding my own welling emotions back and wiping the cup and Noltri languidly raised her bowl. She was apparently much like normal cats in that she didn’t deal well with hot food and drink, so the cafe au lait was fairly lukewarm. Even so, she blew softly over it and drank it in small sips.

Atop her small head were two twitching triangles. Yes, cat ears. Probably cat ears. They were feline at the very least, that was my judgement.

This world was filled with things right out of a fantasy, one of the more fantastic things were people like Noltri, called therianthropes. If I so much as stepped out of the door they were walking around the town, and no one drew attention to the animal ears and tails attached to them. They were that unremarkable here.

I did get really excited when I first saw her though. Girls with animal ears, how do I put it… I have the feeling it birthed a new feeling right in the depths of my heart and it felt much like my heart itself fluttering. And more recently, I’ve even seen a rabbit with a deep voice. As far as I’m concerned, therianthropes are just a part of life.

Noltri was wearing the Academy uniform, her hair was blue, you could even call it the colour of the rain. The hair itself was pulled roughly into two bunches, but the colour meant that it was particularly visible against her pure white uniform. If there was a little more energy in her eyes, she probably would have been the sort of girl you’d look forward to seeing in the future.

“So, how’s the academy?” I asked, garnering a flick of her ears as she turned her dull eyes to me, her lips drawing into a smirk. It was a pointlessly overwhelming smile.

“…You want to know?” She asked in turn after a brief moment.

“…Actually, I’m good.”

“…I see.”

She chuckled and a chill raced down my spine. She was scary as a matter of course, so much so that if you heard her over the radio in the dead of night you’d go mad.

However, that’s just how she was, and I couldn’t really comment. Our motto here was to allow the customer to savour tranquillity. Allowing the customer to be themselves was the most important thing.

Once she seemed satisfied with her chuckling after a while, Noltri looked out of the window as her tail twisted through the air.

The street-facing window showed pedestrians even today. The march of life didn’t halt just because it was raining. There was a woman carrying ingredients covered in a large cloth to ward off the water, a guard wearing a grey overcoat as he surveyed the area, an adventurer running with an excessively large umbrella and a long sword on their back, and a mother with a gaggle of children in raincoats of a.s.sorted colours.

Each time I looked out at the pa.s.sersby like this it really solidified the feeling that this was another world. I didn’t think I was out of place here, this world wasn’t so regimental. However, there were things which suddenly brought my worries to the fore. Questions such as just what was my place in this world? Would this be where I lived out the rest of my days?

As far as I had found, there was no way home. Even the existence of other worlds was thought of as nothing more than folk tales, so I would most likely die here. I’d keep on like this at the café, and keep gazing out of the window as my life slipped away.

Even now, I was still scared to leave the café. I was scared of growing used to an incomprehensible world with an academy that taught mages and a labyrinth in the centre of town. I still longed for my own world. Even though logically I knew I should make peace with my situation I still wanted, somewhere in my heart of hearts, to return home. You could possibly call it an instinct, you could say you wanted to return to where you were born and raised, humans and animals alike would understand the sentiment. It was an inevitable homesickness that was logically pointless. It’s almost an emotion engraved into all that has life.

Ahh, it sure is cool to navel gaze sometimes… Just as I was falling into my conceit, I felt a tugging at my sleeve. Turning my head to look in that direction I saw Noltri looking uneasily back at me. Stop it, don’t look at me like that.

Keeping that off my face, I tilted my head.

“What’s up?”

“…Nothing…” She answered, looking like she was going to continue but hesitating and closing her mouth. I kept waiting regardless, and she eventually carried on haltingly, staring steadily at the surface of the café au lait in her hands, “Yuu… are you going somewhere?”

“I’m not exactly planning on it. Well, I might go to the market for shopping, but that’s about it, I need to get some more seasonings after all.”

Noltri glanced up at my words and I wondered what the reason behind her somehow uneasy expression was.

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

“…Really really?”

“Of course.”

“You’re… not lying?”

“Have I ever lied to you before?”

She nodded firmly at my question, an uncharacteristically bold movement for her. No, I know have. I have, but…

“This time it’s really really true. I haven’t got any plans to go anywhere and nor do I intend to. Besides, I don’t have any employees, I can’t just go haring off, and if I suddenly took a day off it would annoy people.”

That was a lie, I didn’t have enough regulars that suddenly taking a day off would cause much upset. I suppose Grampa Gol would be about it.

Regardless, Noltri nodded in satisfaction, seemingly believing me. While her apparent relief was a mystery, so was everything she thought so I left it be.

“…Yuu, you’re not allowed… to just leave somewhere…”

“Um, and my freedom of movement?”

“Nonexistent.”

“Don’t even have to think about it, huh? I see.”

Huh? What? Why is this the only thing she’s got energy for? I mean, she’s always listless, always looks like life’s pointless.

But, well, the sight of Noltri happily supping at her café au lait was a precious one, so I had no ill feelings towards what had happened.

“…This place is calm…” Noltri said sleepily once she was roughly halfway through her second café au lait. Seeing her softly slump over the counter made her look just like a cat dozing in the sun and really soothed my heart.

“Well, that’s because it’s relaxing here.”

That was true both for me and the customers. Time flowed differently in the café than outside, more slowly, simply tranquilly.

Outside there was the hustle and bustle of people going about their lives, each with their own troubles as time tumbled mercilessly and all too really away from them while they rushed to this or that. But at least in my café, I’d like us to be able to forget our troubles and simply while away the time relaxing; this café becoming a roost for people to take a break at along their busy journey through the world.

That’s something my Grandpa said, it was his answer when I asked why our restaurant was called ‘The Roost’ during my childhood. He’d said it with an embarra.s.sed, yet also proud, expression.

The tranquillity of my café still didn’t come anywhere near to The Roost’s. I was still too young, and the café itself was new too. However, if time seemed to slow at least a little, then I couldn’t be happier.

I hummed a familiar tune with a grin upon my face. It was a melody that had been playing on many an occasion at The Roost, a song I’d heard as a child. I’d listened to many songs, but this was my favourite. Grampa liked it too, and so did dad, it might even be genetic.

Ah, I know, I thought, having some music here would be nice, I’m sure it’d improve the atmosphere even more. Yeah, let’s do that. But how? I wonder if there’s a record player.

I continued humming as I considered the café’s future developments, watching rain trail gracefully down the windows with my voice in my ears.

I was at peace.

Noltri, who had been sneaking glances at me for a while, and the other customers relaxing were likewise at peace. I couldn’t hear the man rus.h.i.+ng past the window, nor the person chasing him, nor could I hear the yells of ‘thief!’, ‘get him!’, or ‘quit using magic downtown, you idiot!’ It really was peaceful.

I was wondering what I’d do for dinner that night, but Noltri’s fidgeting had been going on for long enough that I had to take notice.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, but only got a m.u.f.fled reply.

She was still restless at that and spun the bowl on the counter, tilting it and then letting it rattle back to a flat position. The sound seemed to firm her resolve and her ears perked up as she directed her gaze up to mine.

Just as she started to open her delicate mouth, the door opened. The coming of the bell signified a customer’s arrival and Noltri swallowed her words.

Following her sharp evil eye, I looked towards the door to see a maid enter.

“h.e.l.lo,” she, Nina, said once I looked her way, politely lowering her head. Her chestnut hair fell to her shoulders and swayed with the motion. She wore a frilled hair band that looked like an Alice band, and a dark maid’s uniform. The outfit was more refined than those I had seen on TV for maid cafés. That said, they were playing dress-up, Nina was a real maid, so she held the legitimacy in this debate.

“Welcome, would you like your usual?”

I knew why she had come, so with a quick apology to Noltri, I headed through the pa.s.sage behind the counter. There was a small storeroom-like room at the end where I kept a stock of ingredients and foodstuff I hadn’t used, with a big fridge inside.

Yes, a fridge.

One of the things that made me more familiar with this world was the similar range of convenient items to my own. This fridge was one of those, there was a magic ‘stone’ that would produce a chill as long as it was supplied with mana. Thanks to this fridge, I could run the café and eat good food every day.

However, the fridge wasn’t my goal right then, my goal was the porcelain pots that came up to my knee just inside the entrance, in those pots were my specially blended coffee beans. I packed some into a white sack, enough to fill my arms.

Hauling the weighty sack back to the front, my eyes went wide in surprise at what awaited me there.

“Mrgh!”

“Eee!”

“What are you doing?”

Noltri was glaring up at Nina and growling. It was more a threat than anything.

“Y-Yuu-san! Help meeee!” Nina beseeched me, her arms flailing around as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.

Um, you’re about the same age as me, yet you’re near tears from a ten-year-old’s threat?

“Mrgh!”

“I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorryyyy!”

I let out a sigh and put the sack on the counter, then I headed over to the wall that Nina was cowering against as Noltri, full of energy for some reason, loomed over her.

“Come on, don’t menace her,” I said, putting my hand on Noltri’s head and rubbing between her ears. I stroked her head and ears soothingly until finally the sounds from her throat settled into a purr. There was a part of me, a small part, that was a.s.sailed by the desire to just keep doing so forever.

“What caused all this?” I asked, crouching down and meeting her gaze. She averted her own uncomfortably and murmured in response.

“… She… got in the way.”

“Got in the way?”

Nothing more was forthcoming from her, but keeping a steady eye on her resulted in her eyes flicking to and fro while her face reddened for some reason. She let out small sounds as she searched for words, but eventually settled on a blunt denial.

“…It’s nothing.”

Before I could say anything else, Noltri gave another sharp glare to Nina who was timidly watching proceedings, causing her to let out a whimper again.

Still glaring, Noltri returned to the counter and took her seat. I wonder what happened, I thought, it was awfully rare behaviour for her. Then again, I didn’t understand the situation at all.

I might be able to tell by asking the other person party to the occurrence, and so thinking, I approached Nina who was cowering in the corner and clapped her on the shoulder.

“Um, Nina?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorryyy.”

I couldn’t help but worry at how scared she was as her shoulders shook.

“Heyyy, it’s me,” I said.

Her s.h.i.+vers stopped entirely and she timidly looked at me.

“…Yu…u?”

“Yeah.”

For some reason, our eyes locked for a while. I wonder what we were doing.

While thoughts on how long her eyelashes or how pet.i.te her face was pa.s.sed through my mind, Nina shuddered and her eyes moistened.

Eh? Why?

In the next moment, she vanished from my sight.

“I was so scared!”

“Oof,” left my mouth as her head buried itself in my stomach. It was more of a tackle than an embrace. Well, being held by a cute maid did make me happy, but I feel to my knees there.

I needed to calm her down a fair bit before I could get to my feet, eventually she seemed to have composed herself and I was faced by her apology.

“I’m really sorry!”

She lowered her head, as if to bow to the floor, her long hair trailing her movements as it smacked right into my face.

“Ahh, I-I’m so sorry!” She apologised again, holding her hair back as she bowed this time with tears in her eyes.

“…Well, let’s just forget about it,” I said, sitting next to Noltri at the counter with my stomach still faintly throbbing with a dull pain. It was slightly tough to say not to worry about it, but if I’d seemed to be blaming her, it seemed as if she’d do something like offer her life in recompense.

“B-but,” she protested.

“It’s fine, I’m fairly thick skinned.”

Besides, could I say something like ‘Owowow, my bones, they shatter. Miss, can you not aid me?’, could I? No, I couldn’t.

”Here…” Said Noltri, offering her café au lait from my side. It was a drink that filled you up from your stomach, so I took it gratefully off her.

“Thanks, I’ll just have a sip.”

I took a mouthful and my stomach seemed to settle, those drinks really are packed with kindness.

I pa.s.sed the bowl back and Noltri seemed to hold it close to her in both hands, looking intently into it, focusing on where I had drunk from. Was there something there?

“I see… You’re surprisingly insensitive…”

“Uh, how?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Nothing…” was her only response before she acted like exactly that had happened and put her mouth to the bowl. What was that about?

“U-uh, Yuu, you need to charge me,” Nina timidly cut in to our conversation from where she was watching uncomfortably in the seat next to me.  I apologised for excluding her and told her the cost for this week’s beans.

“I’m just wondering, don’t you buy better beans at other places? Your employer is well off, right?”

Surely they didn’t need to come to a hole in the wall like this, they could just buy top quality beans directly from the traders.

“Sir requests it. He says that the beans from here make the best coffee.”

“Well, I’m happy about that.”

Nina’s employer had been recommended the coffee one of his maids had drank here and came to know of the charms of coffee. Since then he had bought coffee beans from me and often enjoyed the drink on his estate as well.

“He also said that he likes how the flavour changes subtly from week to week.”

“Well, I test out a lot of things.”

“Your coffee is popular on the estate as well, Yuu. Even the head maid enjoys it!”

“Sorry, ‘the head maid’ doesn’t really mean anything to me,” I said with a half smile. This made Nina flush ever so slightly and apologise, so I had to laugh it off and tell her it was nothing to apologise for, which made her cheeks grow even redder as she flailed her arms around.

“Um, ah, I mean, what I want to say is I love you!” She finally got out after many false starts.

It was the first time a girl had told me that. And on top of that, it was a pure and cute maid telling me. She always did things like this though, so I didn’t misunderstand her.

’I (and the other maids all) love you(r coffee)’ or something like that, I know that.

With a smile conveying just that, I waited as Nina’s movements ground to a halt. She seemed to have realised exactly what she had said and a tide of red surged through her troubled expression from her neck.

“Ee.”

“Ee?”

“Eeeee!”

“Likewise, eeeee,” I instinctively returned in response to her cry. Before my eyes, her face grew as red as a boiled lobster as she tearfully began waving her hands around.

“…Tch,” came the click of Noltri’s tongue as she glared balefully at Nina.

’The calm after the storm’ was an oft-used saying, but as Nina bustled around the café, she really was smiling again as if nothing had happened.

Noltri had worn herself out and so was once again slumped over the counter. I had just finished wiping the last cup and placing it on the shelf, and now I had nothing more to do. At this time of day, there weren’t even often any orders.

No one wanted to eat anything, and no one really wanted to talk. But just sitting in silence was dull. This is the kind of time having music in the café would be perfect. Add a cup of coffee to the side and nothing more need be said. All that done would make it feel like you were sampling luxury, you would notice you were usually rus.h.i.+ng to and fro and know how time pa.s.sing slowly would feel.

That’s the kind of thing I wanted to offer, but easily playing music wouldn’t happen in this world. There were no musicians to have after all.

With nothing to do for the first time in a while, I decided to talk with Noltri. With no music to occupy my ears, there was nothing else I could enjoy but a conversation with someone. I pulled out a stool from the kitchen behind the counter, I’d made sure I had it so I could take breaks like this when I was exhausted from being on my feet all day.

With that in hand, I sat across the counter from Noltri.

“Noltri, I’m bored, let’s talk.”

Her ears turned towards me from where she was slumped over the counter, but she didn’t lift herself to face me.

“Let me rest some more?” She said, her only movement the twitching of her ears. It seemed she still needed longer to recover.

With Noltri not wanting to talk, I gazed absently up at the ceiling from where I sat on the stool. There were mana stones up there called Lightsones, each of them with a lampshade hanging down from them. Ah, that reminds me, they might be nearly out of mana.

After I had stared at the yellow mana light for a while, I heard a faint calling of my name. Turning my face back from the ceiling I saw Noltri had sat up.

“You okay?” I asked, garnering a nod.

“…Umm.” she began slowly, reminding me she had been about to say something before Nina arrived. This was probably the continuation of that.

I patiently waited for her as words failed her.

Apparently, it really was hard for her to say as she mumbled for a while, sneaking glances at me before she seemed about to open her mouth. However, her voice was stymied once again as the bell shattered the current silence.

“Yuu! Water!” Grampa Gol wheezed as he practically bounded through the door. His wrinkled face was lined with sweat, the droplets of water sparkling on his bald head in the light. I prepared the cold water, conscious of Noltri’s gaze, which seemed to be saying: “I’ll get you appraised at the antique store, you d.a.m.ned fossil.”

“Ahh! Wonderful!” He exclaimed, draining the gla.s.s I had put on the counter and slamming it back down. Stop that, you’ll break it.

“Truly, you are my saviour. I had no other idea for somewhere I could drink chilled water. To say nothing of being able to see your face!”

“…Leave, geezer,” Noltri curtly instructed him as he laughed weirdly, her voice like the arctic tundra. She really doesn’t have a timid bone in her body, no restraint either.

“Hyoh?”

He looked at Noltri, having just been called ‘geezer’ out of nowhere, in surprise. However, his eyes were soon filled with enjoyment.

“Oh, what a lovely girl. Are you being Yuu’s adopted sister?”

He walked over to get with light steps, faced her directly and then held out his right hand.

“I am called Grampa Gol.”

Noltri looked at his hand in bewilderment, then at his face, and finally at me.

Well, yeah, he’s a funny person, so it’s fine I guess. I nodded with a smile and she hesitantly grabbed hold of his hand.

“…Noltri.”

“Hmm, a pleasure to meet you.”

He pumped his hand a couple of times, his face scrunching up into a smile. Noltri seemed to be a bit uncomfortable.

People normally kept a distance between themselves and others, even more of a distance when they were antagonistic. They would consider how close they should get, or how close they should allow the other to get.

Grampa Gol was someone that utterly ignored this and had suddenly approached with a firm handshake. He steadily removed any distance and didn’t waste any time getting friendly.

Noltri however, was very conscious of the distance between her and others, so he might be a little hard for her to deal with.

The sight of Grampa Gol smiling and Noltri with a sour face as they shook hands was adorable, but Noltri had been looking at me for help, so I decided to move the conversation along.

“So, what happened today?” I asked.

“Hmm, well I was being pursued a few moments ago,” he said unconcernedly as he let go of Noltri’s hand.

“And by that you mean your ran away again? It causes problems for your secretary, don’t be so irresponsible.”

“I refuse! I shall play as I wis.h.!.+”

Don’t come out with something so childish, how old are you supposed to be? The words would doubtlessly be wasted so I just left it at a sigh.

He’d usually come with his secretary and some black-suited people escorting him, but sometimes he would run off like this. Of course, it looked like the secretary was putting measures in place to prevent it, but he managed to slip through them every time. Personally I would tell him to direct his motivation to other things, but that would be pointless as well.

“…You’re a wastrel?” Noltri interjected with a precise summation.

“No, Nol! I am a scarlet tanager, who yearns for freedom! I am a bird that wishes to fly through the blue skies, trilling my melody!”

He spread his arms, waving them up and down. I guess they were supposed to be wings.

“…Hah.”

“She snorted! She snorted at me, Yuu!”

“I don’t care.”

“Gah! I cannot bear it! It is only since I have met Yuu that I have been so ruthlessly shot down! This is a good omen, how about it, Nol, do you want Yuu?”

Why are you offering me up?

I was so aghast I couldn’t say anything, and Noltri, right in front of me put her hand on her chin and hmmed in consideration.

“…Fairly, if I could…”

“Hmm, I see. Indeed, a free love is the best. Forcing it should not be done, that it should not.”

“And yet you asked me if I wanted your granddaughter.”

I couldn’t help but deliver the line, and he just took it in stride with: “Hoh? I said such a thing? I have no recollection of it.”

He always plays senile when it suits him.

As I clenched my fist, wis.h.i.+ng for someone to do something about him, he suddenly shot up from his chair.

“Tch! I have already been discovered!?”

Ignoring Noltri and I as we gaped, he continued rapidly.

“Yuu, I have a request. My pursuer will be here shortly, and they shall surely ask if you have seen me. If so, please say that I headed to the town centre. I will head towards the merchants.”

“Hahh,” I sighed, “got it, leave it to me.”

I wasn’t really sure, I figured I should just nod.

“I am in your debt. Farewell, Nol! I shall see you in the next world!”

With that throwaway line, which wasn’t particularly amusing from him, he rushed out, the bell jangling behind him.

What did he come here for?

“…He’s strange.”

“Well, he’s just as he looks I guess.”

In the end all he had done was drink water and shake Noltri’s hand. I really didn’t get it.

Soon thereafter, before the echoes of the chaos left in his wake had faded, the door opened quietly. I turned to face the ringing of the bell. Standing there was a platinum blonde woman wearing a blue suit and her pale cheeks were flushed as she breathed evenly. Despite that, I was certain she had been racing after Grampa Gol.

After making sure to give me a polite bow of her head, the secretary walked over to me.

“Please excuse my intrusion. I have a single question, have you seen my employer?”

“I think he was heading to the town centre, probably at least.”

“My thanks.”

After the polite words of grat.i.tude, she pivoted on the spot and seemed to flow outside. Unlike him, you could tell she was raised well.

While I nodded to myself as I watched her leave, I felt a tugging at my sleeve.

“What is it?” I asked Noltri.

“…I didn’t think… you’d stick with that…”

I could easily sympathise with her thoughts. Taking his personality into account, he wouldn’t honestly give his destination, so you should take the opposite, “he went to the merchants.”

However, he was normally one to tell little lies. He’d make you think he was going to the merchants, then go to the town centre. Whether he went to the then centre, the merchants, it some other place entirely, there were no end of possibilities.

However, I was sure this time.

It was already evening, and the sun set quickly at that time of year so the skies would soon grow dark, but it was also letting out time at the academy. The female uniform had a skirt, and he was a perverted old man, so he would be going to the town centre because that’s where the academy was.

Once I gave her a full explanation of these things, Noltri’s face had a look of utter contempt that itself said she had decided he was beyond help. This was the moment Noltri decided the distance she should keep from him.

A little while after the secretary had left, the atmosphere within the café had returned to its former peacefulness.

Noltri was once more flomped out on the counter. She suddenly leapt up from that and swung her head towards me. Her long hair and the ears on the top of her head swayed with her movements.

“…Umm, say,” she started, apparently realising she had yet to get to the main thrust of what she wanted to say, Grampa Gol’s arrival having completely changed the atmosphere so it took her awhile to remember.

“What’s up?”

She hesitated, her eyes downcast as she tried to find the words. Her tail twined through the air, unable to keep still as she tried to work up the determination. If I looked too expectant it would probably make it more difficult, so I waited as relaxed as I could be.

She opened her mouth, then closed it. This happened several times before Noltri let out a sound that seemed to have been forced from her throat.

“Wou…”

“Wou?”

“Would… you make… me a luch box?”

A luch box? Lunch box?

“You want a lunch box?” I asked, garnering a nod.

“Um, to eat?”

Another nod.

“For one person?”

Shake shake.

“Two?”

Shake shake.

“Three then?”

Nod.

I see, she wanted a lunch for three people. It was a really simple request.

“Why was it so hard to say?”

“…Uhh…mmm…” her already small body seemed to shrink even more as she glowered down at the table. Apparently this was the real thing, “…The Zik cooking…”

“The Zik cooking?”

Uhh, Zik is that small island nation in the far west, it’s also called the Golden Country. I think they’re known for having black hair and eyes as well.

“Uh… the one you made before… if you can?”

“By that, do you mean the onigiri and fried eggs?”

Noltri nodded vigorously. Of course, I wasn’t from Zik, and it wasn’t Zik cooking, just standard j.a.panese cooking. Or it might be the main features of both, but I didn’t know anything about that.

However, cooking with rice was familiar, and deeply j.a.panese, to me, and was apparently rare here. Rather than explaining that it was literally out of this world, saying it was from a far off country was more convenient. I thought of several things I could put in a lunch box and decided I could put one together.

“It’s okay, I can do it,” I said, making Noltri relax, her rigid ears flopping down onto her head.

“By the way, why Zik cooking? And why for three people at that.”

“…No… reason.”

She shook her head this time, seemingly unwilling to talk about it. Mmm, I do sort of want to know, but I guess I can leave it.

“Tomorrow’s fine, right? I’ll make it, so come collect it in the morning.”

Noltri nodded deeply, her face very happy about it. Her smiles were rare, so I of course had one on my own face as well.

“The head chef is laid up?”

The sky had transitioned to night, even the rain clearing up, many sites already had lights on. Even Noltri had already left and there was no one else in the café. Actually, there was someone, Linaria, still in her black uniform and seated at the counter.

“He’s practically the sole reason the cafeteria runs, so we can’t use it without him there. The food deliveries to take his place won’t get there in time, so we have to arrange our own food. The stores were heaving, so the younger years are all taking packed lunches.”

So that’s why, I thought. But why Zik cooking? And for three people at that. I tried asking Linaria and she smirked.

“Maybe she wanted to show off?”

“Yeah, I guess Zik cooking is pretty rare,” I said with a nod.

Linaria’s expression turned to one of exasperated shock. What? What’re you looking at me like that for? What kind of problem could you have with that?

“…You’re dense.”

“Unfortunately, that can sometimes be said. How am I dense then?”

“You don’t need to realise if you don’t get it. Me giving my guess wouldn’t help.”

Grumbling slightly, I added milk and sugar to the coffee on the syphon and placed it in front of her.

Linaria drank café au lait because she couldn’t take the bitter taste of coffee, but I personally preferred the original flavour so I had her taste test like this.

At any rate, she was coming often so if she grew to be able to drink coffee then she could be my poison taster for- I mean, someone I can share the love of coffee tasting through my original blends.

“…Do I have to?” She asked as she looked at the steaming cup, her voice not concealing her lack of desire at all.

“Well, just try it.”

She pleaded with me using her eyes for a while but finally gave up and reached out for the cup. Probably deciding if it tasted bad then she didn’t have to drink it, but she could at least manage a sip. d.a.m.n it, I’m telling you it’ll be good.

Under my steady gaze, she touched her lips to the rim of the cup and slowly inclined it.

“…It’s bitter,” she said in a pained voice. The way her eyes were scrunched up made it seem like she could still taste the bitterness. Man, I doused the thing in milk and sugar, I guess I’ll have to change the beans.

If I added any more milk or sugar then it wouldn’t be a coffee anymore, just a café au lait. They were fine in their own way, but that wasn’t my original goal.

“It’s no good, I can’t drink it,” she said, pus.h.i.+ng the cup back. She wasn’t picky, but she never seemed to be able to handle coffee.

This is weird, I sweetened it so much, I thought, I guess it really is to do with how used to coffee you are.

I lifted the cup she had returned and took a sip.

The full-bodied taste of the coffee that should be there was neutralised by the sugar, and the acidic aftertaste was rounded out by the milk. It was a very easy to drink coffee, but you could feel the lack of something.

“Hey!” Linaria cried out.

I looked blankly back at her to see her working her mouth and trying to get words out while pointing at my own. Her face was as scarlet as her hair.

“H-how! How can you be so insensitive!?”

“Uh, how?”

“‘How!?’”

She glared at me so hard that I could nearly feel it. I really had no idea what had caused it, so I suppose I’d have to be insensitive.

She slapped her hand against the counter and tried to get more words out, but none were forthcoming. She then let out a huge sigh, as if she was letting out everything she had swallowed until now.

“…It doesn’t matter, you’re just that type of person. I give up, it feels silly if I’m the only one worrying about it,” she said, bringing an end to the matter.

What was it, she can’t have been worried about drinking from the same cup can she? I made sure to use the other side as well. It’s probably one of those things you worry about at that age.

I kept drinking the sweet coffee sip by sip, and Linaria held her head in her hand, occasionally sighing.

“Oh yeah, Linaria, do you want a lunchbox?” I asked, suddenly remembering as I put the depleted cup away. If she couldn’t use the cafeteria, she’d need one too, I thought.

“I’m fine, I’ll just buy something or other. Or just not eat.”

She seemed uncaring. Apparently she was the type to go without even if she often ate tasty food if getting it was too much trouble.

“Shall I make you one,” I asked after a moment’s thought.

“I-I’m fine,” she insisted, her head turning away.

“What are you being shy for?”

“I’m not being shy, not in the slightest.”

“It’s fine then, I’ll make you one. A handmade lunch, school life, lunch break, yeah, it’s salty-sweet.”

“You mean bittersweet.”

Don’t worry about little stuff like that.

In the end, Linaria kept being reserved, probably because she thought I’d be doing something pointless, but that was a huge mistake.

Well, in the end I convinced her that I’d make a lunch box for her.

I couldn’t bear not to live up to expectations so of course I’d put in my full effort.

Once Linaria had gone home and I had closed up, I lined up the ingredients in the kitchen. There were the newly christened devil’s fruits there as well, tomatoes. Corleone came with them periodically. Apparently he really had enjoyed the meat sauce spaghetti. I had a fair surplus of tomatoes because of that, so I figured I’d use them in the lunches.

I readied a layered box for Noltri and a big-ish box for Linaria.

Now, what to do.

Obviously, I didn’t have much experience doing lunches. I considered what type of food my mother used to do for my lunches, but the problem was whether I would be able to reproduce them with this world’s ingredients.

Right, we’ve got rice, so I can make onigiri with that. We’ve got tomato and pasta too, so let’s include a basic meat sauce spaghetti.

After that, yes, fried eggs. I had a perfect egg for it, about the size of my hand, the store I ordered my ingredients from had included it as a freebie. Apparently they had found a big bird in the labyrinth and managed to breed it, so they were on the market now. I have it, I should use it for a decent amount.

The bird’s meat had also arrived with the egg. I’d considered oyakodon, but I could also fry it. That would probably be the best option I decided, fried meat was definitely a staple.

I held a tomato and thought. Tomatoes, tomatoes?

“I can make ketchup.”

I could do something like meatb.a.l.l.s in homemade ketchup. I’m sure kids Noltri’s age would be delighted. I’d be delighted.

While I dithered over ingredients, the image formed in my mind. I wanted to put in at least a moderate amount of fruit and vegetable, yeah.

I decided to get things ready now so I could make it quickly in the morning, so I put a light under a pot.

“Man, it feels like I’m a house husband.”

The morning dawned brightly, belying the previous day’s rain with its clear skies.

The lunch boxes were complete. I’d gotten up earlier than usual and busied myself with making them. Making each individual snack took a lot of effort, despite my preparations the night before. It was probably because I was too fussy over the onigiri.

As promised, Noltri arrived first. She was nearly too early if anything. She used the snacks as her breakfast which lead to the rare sight of her eyes sparkling as she ate. Just as I thought, the meatb.a.l.l.s were a big hit.

“I’ll… show them off less…” she said with a strong nod as she staggered back to the academy, the boxes in her hands. The amount of motivation was unprecedented from her, so it was a shame I wouldn’t see how or who she showed them off to.

Then Linaria arrived.

Her face was missing something and she seemed unhappy, but she had the lunchbox from me, thanked me and soon headed back to the academy. They were doing self directed study in magic there today and I could only admire her diligence, if she was my child, I’d be boasting about her everywhere.

It almost felt like I’d just gained two children with making the lunches, handing them over and watching over them as they left, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

I left the café and stretched widely. The skies were clear and the breeze brushed my cheeks pleasantly.

“Let’s work hard today.”

Fluffy white clouds drifted across the open skies, I’d be able to have a good conversation about the weather today as well.