A full-scale winter approaches the academy city of Rotsgard.
Several months have passed since the mutant incident that occurred during the annual school festival.
It was a tragedy in which there were a considerable number of casualties as well as significant damage to the city, but it already feels like the city has recovered.
There are still places with empty plots of land, but even those are already being worked on. The city has caught its breath and begun to move forward.
The townâs structure is different from that of earth, of Japan.
The biggest cause of that difference is probably magic, though.
Removing rubble, recycling materials, constructing buildings and making roads.
It was proceeding at a rate that makes Earthâs modern construction techniques pale in comparison.
Freely using the mages of the academy and seeing their work with my own eyes, it was truly amazing.
Itâs so fast that I canât even be surprised with the speed at which the city in Asora was built anymore.
In fact, considering that the Eldwas were leading the craftsmen, now I can see that they werenât just being humble when they said they worked slowly because they were being thorough.
ăSorry for keeping you waiting, hereâs your large-portion lunch.ă
For a âlarge portionâ, itâs not very much, huh.
As I try to form an impression of the meal that I ordered, I look out the window.
This is a new store within five minutesâ walk from the Kuzunoha companyâs store.
It was a first for me, but the Kuzunoha company decided to try expanding to the suburbs with a new store.
In the place where we wanted to set up a temporary store, the people from the neighborhood who originally owned shops here closed them and moved somewhere else, so their land became available to purchase.
After I discussed it with Shiki, I bought all of the land.
In the end, the companyâs location moved only a very small distance, dubiously close to the academy.
The store is wider than before, and by hiring part-time workers, weâre proceeding smoothly with the new storeâs opening.
At midday, on days when the special lecturers of the academy arenât needed, I can come here and eat lunch like this without having to go far.
Just because Ruria isnât here anymore doesnât mean that weâve lost our nabe*, so as usual, Shiki goes to Gotetsu often.
TLN*: Hot pot (food dish)
ăI guess this is something like a cafĂ©. Itâs not really suitable to eat at, even if itâs good for having conversations with people.ă(Makoto)
They donât even give you a lot of food.
Mio definitely wouldnât be satisfied with this place.
Sheâs not the type who likes stores that only have a nice atmosphere.
As expected, a lot of the customers are young people who have just started as students.
There are quite a lot of people like this at our own store, too, huh.
I guess itâs because we stock up on rare fruits.
And for the students of Rotsgard academy, where itâs not uncommon to be injured while training their practical skills, itâs good to always have all kinds of medicine and ointments ready when needed.
There are also quite a few who come to our store with their eyes set on our part-time workers, Jin and Amelia.
ăEither way. The store does fine without me there.ă(Makoto)
Aqua and Eris have been becoming reliable lately. Theyâve set up a system where there are no problems, even if Iâm not there.
Though thatâs what I was aiming for.
Ever since the school festival, Iâve been receiving requests from all over the place and have been busy going here and there.
At this rate, Iâm going to have my hands full with with the visits to Limia and Gritonia that Iâm being urged to go on and my interview with the Demon Lord. Root said something about wanting me to do something if Iâm planning to go somewhere far away as well.
ăHaah, I wasnât able to buy the Kuzunoha Fruits Set today, either.ă(Male 1)
ăTrying to get those is like a lottery thatâs drawn before the store even opens. Itâs just a matter of luck.ă(Male 2)
ăI wish we knew someone who has connections there.ă(Male 1)
ăI heard the normal employees donât even give special treatment, you know? If you got a part-time job there you might be able to secure some for yourself to eat, but theyâre not recruiting right now. The higher-up person is called Shiki and the store owner is called Raidou, I think? You might have a chance if you know those people.ă(Male 2)
ăI donât have any contacts, and itâs not like I want to eat it myself, Iâve been asked to get it by my girlfriend. If you really want to eat it that bad, you should go line up for it yourself, jeez.ă(Male 1)
ă⊠Could it be that youâve never eaten it before?ă(Male 2)
ăNo. Itâs just fruit, right? Iâd rather have one of those weapons they sell.ă(Male 1)
ăEh, itâs amazing, you know? I definitely recommend that you try it at least once.ă(Male 2)
Theyâre talking about our store.
I look at the two who are discussing the Kuzunoha company, being careful not to be noticed.
Theyâre in plain clothes, so I canât tell.
Theyâre two young people, around my age.
As usual, our quantity-limited cut fruits are being treated as rare items.
When I get back, Iâll ask about increasing our stocks on those.
ăWhat, youâve eaten it before? There are a lot of people who say that itâs not worth the price, you know?ă(Male 1)
ăThose are either people whoâve never tried it, or those who have no interest in food at all. Itâs so good that if I could eat it once a week, I wouldnât need any other sweet food for the rest of the week.ă(Male 2)
ăTo think that youâd say that when you eat the desserts at a cafĂ© once every two days. Are those yellow ring things cookies or something?ă(Male 1)
Heâs talking about pineapples.
Itâs fun to gouge out their centers, so Iâve gone to help them with it a few times.
The ones from Asora donât sting the tongue even if you have a lot of them, so theyâre easy to eat.
ăWhether itâs medicine, food or weapons, the Kuzunoha company does something different from the rest. Whether itâs the level or the quality of the items themselves.ă(Male 2)
ăIâll agree with you there. And, most of all.ă(Male 1)
ăăTheir employees are nice.ăă(Both males)
When the way we treat our customers is praised, I feel happy, as if Iâve been praised myself.
When they begged me to let them work for me, I made sure to teach both Jin and Amelia how to treat customers properly.
It seems theyâre putting that into practice properly.
The forest ogres and dwarves are treating the customers nicely, too.
Though when it comes to people they know or regular customers, Iâm worried about Eris.
ăYou know her?! Hey, when it comes to Kuzunohaâs welcoming girls, thereâs only that person, right?!ă(Male 1)
ăYeah, I was confused at first. But Iâd love to make that person my lover.ă(Male 2)
ăSheâs reliable and thorough when it comes to her work, so sheâs got herself together.ă(Male 1)
ăSheâs cute, gentle and kind. Other girls should learn a thing or two from her, seriously.ă(Male 2)
Even so, theyâre talking about lovers?
Thinking such rude things about our employees.
Theyâre talking about girls, so⊠Probably Amelia.
That girl, she seems to look only at Shiki, but sheâs still popular among the customers, huh.
Wait, âreliable and thorough when it comes to her workâ?
On top of that, âcute, gentle and kindâ?
Is she a girl who would deserve this level of praise?
ăSheâs just like a princess, huh.ă(Male 1)
ăSheâs a princess.ă(Male 2)
ăAqua-san is the best.ă(Male 1)
ăEris-san is the best.ă(Male 2)
Guah, my sour juice went down the wrong way!
It hurts, it really hurts!
What a surprise attack this is!
As I unconsciously spit out my drink, I get some strange, pitiful looks.
I can only keep my head down in shame.
Do these guys have rotten brains or something?!
Theyâre not talking to me.
Theyâre questioning each other, because they both said different names.
I want to put in a word of my own, but I need to recover from my unfortunate incident first and regain my composure.
Aqua might be reliable and thorough when it comes to her work, but sheâs rather businesslike towards the customers.
Eris is small so she might appear cute, but no matter how you look at it, sheâs definitely not gentle or kind.
No, the thing is, theyâre hyumans and they want to make a demi-human their lover?
Either the Kuzunoha company has really founds its place in the city among the students, or young people are more flexible in their way of thinking.
Could it be that they were brainwashed when they were rescued by Aqua and Eris during the mutant rebellion?
ăHey hey, if weâre talking about the welcoming girls*, then itâs got to be Aqua-san. Eris-san is not bad either, but her charm only exists because of Aqua-san, you know?ă(Male 1)
TLN*: The term here is âçæżćš/kanban-musumeâ. The dictionary definition of this term is âpretty girl who attracts customers to come inside a shopâ
ăWhat are you saying, the way that Eris-san accurately judges our moods and what we want makes her the ultimate welcoming girl, right? Use some common sense. Itâs a little hard for Aqua-san to compare to someone like that, donât you think?ă(Male 2)
Theyâve started acting like JKâs.
JKâs that arenât female high-school students.
TLN: âJKâ is a slang-term that stands for âć„łćé«ç/joshi-kouseiâ, which means âfemale high-school studentâ
Things have clearly heated up compared to when they were discussing our products.
Wow, theyâre standing up now.
Surely theyâre not planning to have a fistfight over this stupid argument, are they?!
No, I get the feeling that things wouldnât be settled even if I stepped in, so I donât want to get involved⊠It would be more adult-like to leave them be. Yes.
Oh, someoneâs come in to stop them.
I will secretly support you, girls.
ăW-what do you want?ă(Male 1)
ăThe best welcoming girl of the Kuzunoha company is definitely Shiki-san, isnât it?!ă(Girl 1)
ăWait, you! Isnât it Lime-san?!ă(Girl 2)
Iâll add this store to the list of places I should never visit.
ăHuh?! Weâre talking about welcoming girls! Who the hell wants to talk about freaking guys?!ă(Male 2)
ăIf you just think about it, thereâs no difference between guys and girls! The male employees there are really handsome, gentle and kind! Theyâre the best!ă(Girl 1)
I stand up, quickly pay and head for the exit.
I canât say that I have any interest in the outcome of this debate among these people who seem to be our core fans.
In fact, Iâm slightly regretting that I even began to listen to this conversation in the first place.
What are they doing at the window seats?
It seems that even the employee, who has been carefully observing with a smile, has decided that something needs to be done. In the corner of my eye, I see him moving towards the windows.
This kind of fame might be problematic for us.
The bright light of the sunny street is dazzling.
ăYou there.ă(Mystery person)
Someone has called out to me, so I stop.
ăExcuse me, but I heard that thereâs a store called the Kuzunoha company near hereâŠă (Mystery person)
Oh, itâs a customer looking for our store.
ăIn that case, if you go along this street âă(Makoto)
As I turn towards the person who called out to me to give them directions, I freeze.
ă⊠You, it canât be.ă(Mystery person)
What are the chances of this.
Iâve been hypothesizing many different ways this could happen, but I never imagined weâd meet like this; words wonât even come out.
Either this is the result of the star that I was born under, or Iâve somehow been drawn to Senpai.
ăIf I recall, your name was Misumi-kun?ă(Mystery person)
Even though our relationship was that of mere acquaintances who only exchanged words a few times.
No, for Otonashi-senpai, itâs possible.
Sheâs a person with no visible flaws, inside or outside.
To the point youâd wonder, âhumans like this exist?â
Really, why is Senpai in this world?
ă⊠Otonashi-senpai.ă(Makoto)
The heroâs party left Limia heading for the Lorel Union with a strict transfer schedule to follow. They didnât have any plans to come to academy city.
But now, the hero of Limia is right in front of my eyes, asking for the location of the Kuzunoha company.
I get the impression that sheâs a little sharper than she was when I met her while she was the student council president.
Seeing Senpai here, whispering her name is the only reaction Iâm capable of.