Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends - V 2.2 Chapter 5.1

“Kuna-chan, another beer over here!”

“Kuna-chan, more meat, please!”

“Got it! I’ll be right there!”

──And just like that, the summer festival had begun.

Wearing the apron I normally used in the café, I dashed around from place to place. Unlike the café, Yan’s shop also served alcohol, so it was extra busy. By evening, everyone was already tipsy, and the space we’d set up in front of the Guild was packed, filled with lively music and the voices of merry customers.

“Lulu, take this to table three!”

“Ru… ruuun…”

“Just go! And don’t eat it!”

Even Lulu and the others were being put to work by the staff from Yan’s shop. The workers there were strict, so it seemed sneaking bites of food was proving impossible for them.

Heh. You usually eat way too much, so at least for today, you’re going to help out!

“Whew, we’re doing great business!”

Ruri wiped the sweat from her brow and glanced over the space.

The place was buzzing with men and women, young and old alike, all enjoying their drinks and meals with cheerful chatter.

“Kuna-chan, you’re as cute as ever!”

A few drunken men called out to Ruri and me.

“Kuna-chan, you’re always so cute. Such a healing presence!”

Completely sloshed, they suddenly started showering me with random compliments.

“Kuna-chan, you’ve gotten even cuter lately—makes me worry some shady guy might try to get close to you.”

“Hey, knock it off. Kuna-chan belongs to everyone here in town.”

“Anyone who wants to be Kuna-chan’s boyfriend is gonna have to pass the approval of every man in this city.”

The drunkards nodded vigorously as they made their declarations.

“You lot, what’s with acting like Kuna-chan’s guardians! Kuna-chan can decide her own boyfriend, thank you very much!”

“Ohh, Ruri, you’re ruining that pretty face of yours.”

“Oh my, saying things like that won’t make me go easy on you, you know?”

“Tch.”

A burst of laughter went up.
It was busy, but the lively festival atmosphere was contagious, and before I knew it, my own mood had been lifted.

The smell of sizzling meat.
The scent of alcohol.
Laughter and the sounds of instruments.

How long had it been since I’d been somewhere this bustling?

Back in the Kingdom of Aluda, I probably never would have had an experience like this.

As I looked out over the town, bathed in the sunset and starting to glitter with lights, I found myself thinking once again—how happy I was.

“Muppii!”

When I looked up, the Mokomotts were desperately carrying supplies through the air.

Seeing this, the customers grinned and commented:

“Those guys? Ruri and Dan spoiled them rotten—most of the time they’re just lounging around the shop like mascots, eating and sleeping.”

“At Hōzuki-tei, there aren’t any sweet women at all.”

“Yeah, over there the women toss drunken men out onto the street with their bare hands!”

“If they’d been at Hōzuki-tei, they wouldn’t be mascots—they’d have been roasted whole like a bird!”

“…Did you fellas just say something?”

“““We didn’t say a thing.”””

…It seemed the staff of Hōzuki-tei were indeed terrifying.

The sight of these burly adventurer-types looking so intimidated was so amusing, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh—looks like you’re in full swing here.”

It was well into the evening, the sun long gone, when Rouge-san’s all-female party arrived.

“Welcome!”

“Kuuna-chan, great work today!”

“You too, Rouge-san. How was the dungeon run today?”

“Ah, it was the best! I’m putting the money we earned toward upgrading my armor.”

As I was guiding them to their seats, Stella-san suddenly wrapped her arms around me.

“Fwah!”

“Ahhh, Kuuna-chan, you’re just too cute… why are you so soft and fluffy?”

“Fluffy!” “Fluffy!”

Mai-Mai and Mui-Mui zipped through the air and clung onto me too.

“…You’re not already drunk, are you?”

They hadn’t even had a drink yet…

“Hey, cut it out, you idiot.”

Rouge-san pried the three of them off me.

Once I’d shown them to their seats and taken their order, I headed to the kitchen to relay it.

“Kuuna-san!”

“?”

After I gave Yan the order, Maki-chan came over to me.

“Kuuna-san, um… I just met someone who said they were looking for you.”

“Eh?”

Who in the world could that be?

“Was it someone from town?”

“Hmm… that’s the thing, something about them seemed off.”

“Off?”

“Yes. I don’t think they were a resident here. She looked to be a little younger than us, and she was wearing flashy, expensive-looking clothes—definitely the kind that mark someone of high status. You almost never see that kind of outfit in this town.”

Who could it be? For a moment, I thought maybe Leah or Ingrid, but they already know where I work, so it couldn’t be them.

“My impression was… she seemed to really dislike this town. She was suspicious, so I just pretended I didn’t know you.”

“I–I see…”

“Sorry if it was someone you actually knew.”

“No, not at all.”

We looked at each other, frowning.

Who could she be…?