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It has been a week since the Duke of Vanice became the backbone of the cafe.
I barely suppressed the urge to shake my head.
‘……What is wrong with this madman today?’
As usual, he’ll stare at Elodie or look around for a bit in a timed circle of actions.
Until there, it’s a common scene, until he distorted his face halfway through.
I don’t know why he’s doing this today, but I was worried about whether he would bring harm to the cafe by suddenly going nuts. Had it not been for the crowd flocking to see him, I would have found a way to kick him out sooner.
‘Let’s work, work.’
I worked hard to make the waffles ordered a while ago while trying to get rid of all my thoughts.
The waffles were baked to a golden color, topped with whipped cream, and tossed with fresh apples and stewed figs. It was easy to find a table because he was a male customer who came alone, which was rare these days.
“The waffles you ordered have arrived.”
It was time to put down the waffles as I announced it in a bright voice.
“……What is this? I didn’t ask for this.”
I blinked my eyes.
Unless it was the other guests, it didn’t seem like I would have mistaken the order of the only male customer, except for the Duke, who came alone today.
“Sir, didn’t you order waffles?”
A man who was apparently over forty snorted.
“I ordered by looking at the picture on the menu. But there is a lot more whipped cream and a lot less fruit than in the picture, right? Besides, there are strawberries on the menu.”
Slowly, I started to get the gist of what was going on.
The amount of fruit in the picture and the amount of fruit in the actual waffle were almost the same. It’s just that the usual customers preferred a lot of whipped cream, so adding a lot of whipped cream just made the fruits look relatively small.
Besides, what kind of strawberry exists in late autumn when winter is almost up?
The pictures on the menu board are for customers who are puzzled by the unfamiliar menus, and it is clearly stated that they are not accurate pictures.
“If you want more fruit, I’ll bring it to you.”
“That’s enough.”
The man snorted.
“If you bring some more fruit, does that explain why this is different from the one on the menu? It’s basically stuffed with whipped cream, isn’t it?”
While the man said so, he took a big bite of the waffle full of whipped cream. The look on his face didn’t show he really felt it was that bad.
It was the other way around.
“This is a scam! You should be grateful I didn’t report it to the guards.”
If he wasn’t in the middle of eating the waffles, it might have sounded a little convincing….
I carefully opened my mouth.
“If you don’t want me to bring more fruits, and there are no other problems with the waffles, I’ll be on my way.”
“……How dare you?”
The man squinted his eyes.
“Are you trying to cover up the fact that you’ve cheated on me with fruits?”
I see. You want to go there.
At first, I thought he was just trying to get some service food, but he seemed to be a more sophisticated con artist than that.
The man has been drawing attention by speaking loudly and moving with vigor. In a small town, rumors spread quickly.
If I don’t get rid of it quickly, bad news will quickly spread through town.
“……Phew.”
I put my hand on my forehead and sighed loudly.
Maybe it was an unexpected reaction, but the man’s eyes got bigger. The moment he opened his mouth to say something.
I reached out my hand to shut him up and a cold voice came out of my mouth.
“Do you think I see a guy like you for a day or two?”
The jerk, or scammer, shook off my hand in great bewilderment.
“What do you mean……!”
“In the eyes of crooks like you, if a woman runs a cafe alone, she seems like a very good prey.”
I leaned toward the scammer and whispered softly.
“How much have you been thinking? 100 gold or 200 gold? I hope you are not thinking of 500 gold, do you even have a conscience?”
The man’s mouth widened open.
Hmm, apparently it was the 500 gold option with no conscience.
That’s rather amazing.
“Excuse me, but I think you have misunderstood me. I’ve never given money back to crooks like you who came before.”
I raised the corners of my lips. I felt that all eyes in the cafe were focused on me. As long as the situation is favorable to me, the more attention I get, the better.
I stood up straight and delivered the final blow.
“Did you say to thank you for not reporting to the guards? Which one would be in trouble if I reported it?”
“……!”
The man’s eyes shook.
I offered my condolences for a moment to the poor little townspeople who had their money stolen from this scammer.
If you go out strong, it’s easier to shove their tail down, folks.
Just slap them the same way they do.
As I sighed and was about to give an ultimatum for him to get out, the man opened his mouth wide.
“Well then, report it! Because I have nothing to fear! On the contrary, this cafe will be destroyed.”
The scammer continued to speak by pointing fingers in all directions to get attention.
“Do you know how great the crime of collecting money through fraud is?” (Crook)
I blinked my eyes. It looked like he had more experience than I thought. Well, it would be just his last hurrah, though.
The scammer’s tantrums didn’t stop.
“What kind of shop is this? Accusing a customer as a fraudster?”
I answered in a bright voice on purpose.
“I think it’s natural for a scammer to be called a scammer…… Don’t you think so, everyone?”
As I turned around, some, If not all, of the spectators nodded in an unprepared gesture.
This was enough of an ally.
The swindler would have sensed that he had lost his momentum, but he began to brazenly push ahead.
“Still, since it’s only but a simple snack, I was going to finish things claiming my right not to pay, if you go any further than this, it’s going to be a big deal. So, right now……”
“Oh my, what are you talking about?”
I smiled sweetly at the crook.
“When did I say you don’t have to pay? You have eaten something, so you have to pay for it. You even finished the whipped cream that you didn’t like because it was more than the picture, where do you think you are going to run away?”
“…….”
The scammer just moved his lips for a moment with a blank face.
There was something he wanted to say, but he didn’t seem to be able to get it out of his mouth because he thought it would be at a disadvantage if he spat it out.
Then I should help.
I leaned back toward the crook and declared.
“Give me the money and leave now. If you want to get caught by the guards for nothing, you can stay longer.”
After some silence, a few words came out of the mouth of the fiercely hardened scammer.
“……Report it.”
“What?”
“Please report it. You can just call the guards.”
I blinked my eyes.
‘It was like that.’
It was only now that I fully understood this scammer’s plans.
If there was at least one employee to help, I can leave the store for a while and run to the guard’s office.
There was the reason why he was aiming for a cafe where the owner works alone. However, I couldn’t leave the shop to Elodie or send her to the guards.
Naturally, in this situation, most shopkeepers will choose to give the scammer whatever money they want and expel them quickly.
When I didn’t answer for a moment, the swindler raised his head triumphantly.
“You seem to have just realized your situation. Then….”
“Customer.”
I cut off the scammer’s words with a single word. I’ve heard enough dog barking for today. There was no need to get Elodie’s ears dirty.
“You told me to report it to the guards, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
Eventually, the scammer even crossed his arms. Now he seemed to completely think he had the upper hand.
“What if I don’t report it?”
“Until there is a proper reward, I will have no choice but to sit here until I die. It’s even better for me.”
It was the expected answer. I smiled and nodded my head.
“I see. Then sit as long as you like.”
“……?”
Apparently, my answer was completely out of line with the scammer’s expectations. Because his petty eyes were open so wide that seemed to pop into the air.
Either way, I turned around and headed to the counter.
I wasted enough time, now it was time to get to work.
The swindler glared at me and complained, but it was none of my business. The first thing I did when I went back to the counter was to bake waffles.
And I did it with all my heart.
I topped the well-baked waffles with exactly the same amount of whipped cream and fruit I had served the scammer, then placed them on a tray and headed to the window table.
It was the table where the Duke of Vanice was sitting.
“I don’t remember ordering this.”
The Duke of Vanice grimaced.
“This is a service we offer to our regulars. Thank you for always visiting our cafe.”
I replied with an innocent face as if I had no second intention of offering him an extra service.
“I know you like shaved ice, but I thought you might like hot food sometimes, so I made it…… Do you not like it?”
Did the silent pressure to shut up and eat work?
The Duke raised one eyebrow, elegantly cut a slice of waffle with a knife, and brought it to his mouth.
“It’s delicious.”
Although his voice was duller than that of a stone rolling on the side of the road, the effect was stronger than that of a TV commercial with a famous celebrity.