“The customer is god!”
I could tell she’d really wanted to say that. In fact, I bet that was the whole reason they came.
“I’m gonna bring over your menus super slowly… Or maybe I’ll just pretend your order never went through to the kitchen…”
“Then I’ll stick with the soda fountain~”
I wished she would stop bringing up things that didn’t exist in this world. Obviously, we didn’t have one of those.
Afterward, when I passed by the gods’ table again, I found Ost Ande sitting with them. I guess that was better than more tables magically appearing…
Ost Ande was a little alien looking—she was basically a weird ball of hair—so it was better that no one could see her.
They were uninvited guests, but they were still guests, so I went to take their order.
“An author’s not a real author until they have a favorite café… Oh, I would prefer to have nectar, please. An author must sometimes order things that are not on the menu. Though I would like you to officially add it in at some point in the future.”
“I think you’re a little too concerned about appearances…”
“I might make this my go-to café…”
“You’ll have to get permission from the manager, who runs this place every other day of the year. I’ll ask her for you while I’m in the kitchen.”
I went to the back room, where Misjantie was doing some administrative stuff. Work like this suited her well, even if there was nothing pine-spirity about it.
“Uh, do we have nectar here?”
“Huh? That’s not on the menu, man… Do we have a problem customer asking for things not on the menu? I’ll go talk to one of the water spirits…”
“Sorry. Some of our customers are gods, you see.”
Misjantie frowned. “I didn’t think about gods visiting, man!”
“And the reaper is asking if it’s okay for her to become a regular visitor.”
“It’ll be bad for business if word gets out that one of my regulars is the reaper! If I put a sign out front reading This is the reaper’s favorite spot! it’ll scare all the other regulars away!”
She was right. That’d be terrifying.
I didn’t want to turn into a messenger girl, so I brought Misjantie to the gods’ table.
“Uh, I’m really happy you swung by for a visit, man, but I don’t really have anything I can offer a god… What? A café run by a spirit is already better than one run by a human? I guess so, but…”
This was supposed to be a conversation between three gods and a spirit, but there was nothing dignified or majestic about it at all.
I stepped back and turned to Flatorte, who was washing dishes.
“I guess you can’t avoid trouble, even if you’re only open for one day a year.”
If anything, maybe it was guaranteed that something weird would happen, since all the pranksters would end up coming on the same day…
“Just ban the problem customers. That’s the best you can do.” A simple solution—very Flatorte-like.
“Blue dragons always get banned. If they don’t want us around, then it’s best if they just tell us that.”
So she was a veteran!
Eventually, our acquaintances went home one by one.
I hadn’t chased them out, though. They came in exceptionally early, so they naturally left early, too. Even the gods and their table had vanished at some point.
When Halkara’s family left, she struck a little victory pose where the other customers couldn’t see her. I think she’d really hated having them there.
We’d made it over the first hill, at last.
At one point, one of our normal customers very kindly said, “It’s nice that the café is a little on the plain side this year.”
“Thank you,” I said.
My gratitude was genuine. I was so glad that what I was trying to accomplish was getting across. Relaxing but not too showy—that was the kind of café I wanted to run. Something cozy and out-of-the-way. If a café got too busy, it would only tire out both the customers and the staff.
“How wonderful, Lady Azusa.”
Laika had come to wipe down the tables and had overheard the conversation.
“Yeah. I want our customers to relax, even if it’s only for a short time.”
Just then, the door opened. The next customer was here.
“Hello and welcome to the Witch’s House Café!”
“Excuse me, but I’m an editor from the magazine Café Friends Monthly, and I’d like to interview Miss Laika!”
Word of Laika’s popularity was spreading!
“Oh, um… I have to go help in the kitchen… Pardon me!”
Laika casually but hastily went straight to the back of the shop to hide.
“I do have a numbered ticket! I’ll order something in the meantime, so please let me know when Laika is free for an interview.”
Hmm, how was I supposed to handle this? Oh, I know.
I put on my customer service smile and said, “I’ll go get the manager. Please wait there.”
If a regular staff member couldn’t fully resolve the situation, then it was time to rely on the manager! I had Misjantie come over straight away.
Please help, manager!
“Uhhh, hey, I’m the manager, man. Sorry, but you’ve gotta notify us beforehand if you want an interview. Otherwise I dunno if we can accept. The staff aren’t expecting interviews, see. But you’re free to write down what you think of the café as a whole while you use our services. Go ahead, man. Oh, and please don’t wait for the workday to be over and approach our employees while they’re leaving the café. That just increases their work time. Thanks for your understanding, man.”
Our manager was handling this with surprising professionalism…
There were some customers here primarily to see Laika, but it seemed like we’d get through this without any major problems. Laika, however, blushed every time someone looked at her.
“P-please call me over wh-when you’ve decided on your order!”
Gosh, she was so cute. I was a staff member, and I still saw her as our poster girl.
Incidentally, whenever a customer said, “Laika’s so cute!” the manager came running.
“Excuse me, please don’t tease our employees, man. Our establishment’s aim is only to offer its customers a relaxing time.”
It seemed our manager was ready to properly defend her employees.
Back in the employee area, Laika murmured, “I’ll have to thank our manager this year. She’s been a huge help.”
“Yeah. You’re right,” I said.
Laika had already started calling Misjantie her manager.
And so despite a few problems (mostly caused by customers), the Witch’s House Café reached closing time, and the last group of patrons went home.
“Come again! We only help out once annually, but the House of the Pine Spirit is open all year round!”
Once the door closed, I turned around. The staff—my family—were all gathered together.
“A job well done, Lady Azusa! It is finally over… I can catch my breath at last.”
“You look like you’ve just finished a marathon, Laika. I’m proud of you.”
“Next time, I want to swap duties with Flatorte…”
“You’ll have to talk to Flatorte about that…”
Flatorte, incidentally, had been carrying in ingredients and doing the cleaning. The reason why she had been restricted to working in the back was because of her manners, which left a little to be desired.
“I, the great blue dragon Flatorte, refuse to bow to the customer’s whims. I’d freeze those arrogant ingrates.”
“…You see what we’re working with? We don’t want anyone to get hurt. I hope you understand.”
“Yes. We cannot have that… I suppose I will just have to bear the embarrassment.”
Sandra must have been exhausted. She looked like she had been sleeping, but now that everything was finished, Falfa and Shalsha had woken her up and brought her over.
“Shalsha feels more confident in her work this year.”
“Falfa did so well at calculating the bills!”
“Yes, both of you did wonderfully!” I said. “And, Sandra, you behaved very well.”
Sandra had done her job, too, albeit in her own way. As her mom, I’d been keeping a quiet eye on her.
“Well, I don’t mind working for you every once in a while,” she said. “I’d be a good-for-nothing if I sat around photosynthesizing all day.”
I got the feeling her response meant she was happier than she let on.
Meanwhile, the moment work finished, Halkara had started drinking booze out of a glass.
“Ahhh. Drinks after work taste the best! In fact, they’re pretty good even when I haven’t done anything!”
“Halkara! You were just waiting to pull that out, weren’t you?! Well, as long as you weren’t drinking during work, I guess it’s fine…”
There had been bumps along the way, but overall the café was a success.
Misjantie emerged from the back, joining us.
“I’ve been watching you guys work today, and I learned a lot, man. I hope to put it all to use during the rest of the year.”
“I’m not sure it’ll be much help, but we’ll leave it in your hands, Manager.”
“I’ll have the priests working tomorrow come in early and clean up, so you all go home and rest, man.”
It seemed like the priests weren’t so much priests anymore as café employees. But that was a problem for the pine spirit and her temple, so I decided to let it go.
“Let’s rest up tonight, and tomorrow, we can go enjoy the Dance Festival.”
Falfa was already getting excited about the stalls we’d see, despite the huge line of them we’d seen today stretching all the way from Flatta to Nascúte (thanks to the demons)… That said, it was probably going to be a lot livelier in Flatta the next day.
On the way home, I bought an outfit from Nosonia. The items at Canhein’s stall weren’t that appealing, so I didn’t get anything. Sorry, Canhein.
The day of the Dance Festival had finally arrived, and the whole family attended.
There were more markets and stalls throughout Flatta than there had been the day before. One of the stall holders was Eno, the Witch of the Grotto and Halkara’s business competitor.
“You’re already so popular. I’m impressed you’re still out here putting in the work yourself,” I said to Eno, who was minding the stall.
“There are things one can only see standing behind the booth, you know. There is a lot you can’t learn just acting as manager at a factory.” As she finished speaking, Eno’s gaze turned to Halkara.
“Gosh, well, Halkara Pharmaceuticals has to send products all over the country, so we need to operate at a pretty large scale. But I see that as my mission in society. Of course, I don’t expect those not in the know to understand~”
“But you don’t get to see your customers when you mass-produce products, do you?”
“Hmm? Is that slander I hear? Would you like me to sue you?”
Can’t they call a cease-fire for the festival, at least?
I had a feeling Eno and Halkara hated each other precisely because they were so similar, but I knew they would both turn their ire on me if I said as much, so I kept my mouth shut.
Besides, there was something more important than the stalls. In the center of town, everyone was dancing away, making up their own moves. That’s right—today, we would dance. Nothing else mattered.
“Big Sis, I had the same thought last year, but everyone’s rhythms and moves are all different. Is that how it’s supposed to be?” Rosalie asked me. She was right—the dancers had nothing in common, except that they were all moving.
“Yeah. No one’s worried about things like that. All you have to do is move. As long as no one gets hurt, it’s fine.”
Falfa and Halkara had already joined the dancing circle and were moving however they pleased.
“Feel free to join in, Rosalie. Or you can just sit back and watch.”
Shalsha was doing just that. She held Sandra’s hand as they stood, motionless. I wasn’t so keen on joining in, either.
“You’re right. I’m already dead, so there’s no point in feeling embarrassed. Maybe I’ll join in. It’s been a while anyway.”
Rosalie made her way toward the circle, moving her hands around. I could tell she was getting into it, and her expression was softening, too.
“Hey, this isn’t too hard, and it’s a lot of fun!” she said.
I was glad she was enjoying herself. With stuff like this, all it took was moving your body to start having fun.
But then things started to go south—a peaceful expression crossed Rosalie’s face, and she started floating into the air!
“This is so much fun! I’m having the time of my not-life! I’m so happy that I think I’ve found peace!”
“Wait, Rosalie! Stop, stop!” I called out in a panic.
“Whoa, that was close! I almost ascended! I was only dancing…”
It wasn’t like we were at some temple listening to sermons of gratitude or something.
“Miss Rosalie, this Dance Festival was originally a folk event meant to soothe the spirits of the dead. It must have worked on you, since you are a spirit,” Shalsha explained.
It was like the Bon festival in Japan…
“I see… I gotta be careful even when I dance. And now that I look around, it seems there aren’t a lot of ghosts here today…”
Maybe they had already found peace. I supposed that was a good thing if it was what they wanted.
“There are lots of ways to enjoy a festival, Rosalie. You just have to breathe in the atmosphere…”
“Yeah… It’s nice listening to the music, too.”
She was right—music was being played to accompany the dancing, and I could hear singing from the stage.
However, just then, I heard something that caught my attention.
“The next one to sing for us will be Kuku the almiraj!”
As the audience clapped, Kuku stepped onto the stage, lute on her back. Kuku’s performances were becoming a regular thing for us now. I was worried… I could only imagine she would play a sad song and dampen the mood of the festival…
“Hello!” she said. “I’m going to work my hardest to make sure this festival’s a blast! So please listen to this next song, ‘If We’re All Going to Die Anyway’!”
The name alone was super depressing!
But Kuku knew what was going on here. The lyrics were about how if we were all going to die anyway, then we should party hard. The tune was upbeat and perfect to dance to.
“Looks like Kuku made some changes.”
“She may have reflected on what happened at the relay race… Back then, even I felt despondent…”
Apparently, everyone remembered the disaster at the relay race…
“I’ve been seeing so many people since yesterday. I was concerned someone might be plotting something this year, but I guess I’ve been worried for nothing.”
“You should not say such things, Lady Azusa…” Laika seemed uncomfortable.
She must be worried I’ve jinxed it…
Then, for some reason, Laika wrapped her arms around herself.
“I just felt a terrible chill,” she said. “I think something is coming…”
“Coming? What’s coming? Your family?”
Halkara’s family had come by, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Laika’s family did the same.
“No, that would not give me chills. Something much more wicked approaches… Or so my instincts tell me.”
I was wondering what it could be, when all of a sudden, the sky was blocked out. Clouds?
I looked up to see a whole mass of dragons above us—and they were all blue dragons!
“What’s this? Flatorte’s family? No, there’s way too many of them…”
“Do you know what is happening, Flatorte?” Laika turned to her, furious.
“I honestly have no idea what’s going on! They might just be passing through.”
But they weren’t. The blue dragons began to take on human form and descend upon the Dance Festival.
“Seriously, what is going on?” I asked. “Flatorte, are you sure you aren’t involved in some fight?”
“Please, do such things in your own village…,” said Laika. “If you lose control here, Flatta will be destroyed.”
“I, Flatorte, am innocent! I have no idea what’s going on!”
Even if that was true, this gang of dragons might remember something she didn’t… Depending on how the situation shook out, I might have to step in before anyone was hurt. I really didn’t want to fight on a festival day with so many people around, but I didn’t exactly have a choice if disaster broke out.
The blue dragons went straight for the plaza in the middle of town—the center of the festivities.
Please don’t do anything… They were in their human forms, so I didn’t think they would start breathing ice all over everything, but I was still concerned.
And then all at once—
—they started dancing.
“They’re just here to dance?!”
It seemed they had no ill intentions and were simply dancing away in silence.
What’s more, only some of the blue dragons were dancing. Others were off buying great amounts of meat skewers and trying all the food the event had to offer.
As the blue dragons passed by, I heard some of them speaking.
“Man, festivals are great!” “I always get so excited!” “I’m gonna use every last coin to my name today!”
“It seems like they’re just here for the festival,” I said.
Laika looked exhausted, probably from the tension. She was often the blue dragons’ target.
“It appears so,” she said. “But why come all this way…?”
It seemed not even one of the dragons had business with Flatorte.
As Shalsha watched them dance, she said, “Those who live unprincipled lives typically cut loose on festival days. The less interest a festivalgoer has in the event’s origins, the rowdier they tend to act.”
“Just like a pack of delinquents!”
Now that I thought about it, I remembered seeing guys with rough hairstyles partying it up on festival days in my past life. It seemed blue dragons and festivals went well together.
“But Flatta is so far away from the blue dragon village. Is something like this worth coming all this way?”
Laika had a point. This wasn’t their local festival. Could word of the Dance Festival have spread that far?
“Mistress, blue dragons don’t think deeply about such things,” Flatorte explained. “Someone probably mentioned there was a festival out this way and suggested they all go, and anyone looking for something to do came along. That’s all. And the majority of blue dragons are always looking for something to do.”
“That sounds about right,” I said.
It would be weirder if everything had a clear and logical reason behind it. Whimsically deciding to go to a festival you just happened to hear about sounded like a perfectly good way to live.
The blue dragons joined Falfa and Halkara on the dance floor.
“Hey, kiddos. Where do you live?” a blue dragon-girl asked.
“Near the village!” Falfa announced.
“I see. It’s nice and cool here. I’m gonna get meat after this; you want some?”
It seemed she had an unexpected soft spot for kids.
I felt like Flatta’s Dance Festival had descended into chaos these past few years, but no one was getting hurt, so I guessed it was okay. Besides, a festival was exactly the time to let loose and party.
I wanted to tell Falfa not to go off with strangers, but the blue dragon-girl was a friend of Flatorte’s, so I decided to let it slide this time.
“Looks like the Dance Festival will end on a nice note again this year,” I said.
“Ugh! They haven’t gone home yet?!”
My sentiments were immediately drowned out by Halkara’s disgusted yell. I followed her gaze to see her entire family, drunk. In a way, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Halkara hadn’t drunk at all that day, for a change, and I was one hundred percent sure it was because of her family.
A little while after the Dance Festival, Natalie from the guild came by the house in the highlands. Everyone else was either in their rooms or out shopping, so Flatorte and I welcomed her.
“Thank you all so much!” she said. “This is a letter of thanks from the mayor. And here’s one from the province. Due to administrative reasons, it took some time to come through. My apologies.”
Natalie handed me some parchment.
“It’d be rude of me to turn these down, so I’ll take them, but why is the province sending me a letter of thanks…?”
Flatta might be under its administration, but I hadn’t spoken to any employees of the province.
“There were a lot of shops lined up on the side of the road, helping to revitalize the region, so this is thanks for that.”
I was pretty sure the demons did all that on their own… But it wasn’t like I was receiving money for it, so I figured it was okay to accept the thank-you.
“By the way, how were things on the day of the festival?” I asked. “I was just a regular attendee this year.”
I had tried to keep a low profile, both to avoid embarrassment and because I didn’t want to turn the Dance Festival into something else.
“Oh, it was a great success! I have a feeling it may lead to a greater tax yield for the village!” Natalie replied enthusiastically.
“I see, I see. The region’s benefiting, then… Oh, and there weren’t any weird incidents or accidents, were there? It seemed like a lot of people came from all over the place.”
It wouldn’t do for me to get specific about some of the guests, so I stayed purposely vague. I definitely couldn’t mention that the reaper had shown up. I didn’t want people thinking the festival was cursed.
“Oh, well, if I had to say, some of those people calling themselves blue dragons got into a big argument at the tavern.”
Oh, crap! I hope they didn’t make a mess of the place!
“But they simply said, ‘Fine, then! I’ll meet you at the iceberg!’ ‘Fine. You better not chicken out on the way, punk!’ and left, so the tavern itself was fine.”
“They were going to fight it out on an iceberg…?”
Better that than simply “taking it outside,” I supposed. More ice on an iceberg shouldn’t be a problem.
“That sounds like them, all right. They fight over the littlest things,” said Flatorte, our representative of blue dragonkind. It might be bad to judge a book by its cover, but it seemed blue dragons were indeed quick to resort to violence.
“What were they arguing over anyway?”
“It was apparently over who would pay.”
“Oh, so they were like, ‘You pay!’ ‘No, you pay’?”
They had all seemed kind of broke.
“No, Great Witch, quite the opposite. They were apparently yelling, ‘I’ll pay!’ ‘No, I’ll pay!’ to one another.”
“They could have just split the bill!”
Now I had the feeling they were only inventing reasons to fight.
“Mistress, blue dragons place a lot of importance on saving face. Letting someone else pay for you means acknowledging them as your superior, so it’s hard to step down.”
“I get it, but that’s why they should split the bill evenly.”
“But if you split the bill, then the others will think you’re stingy because you don’t want to pay for everything. So that won’t work, either.”
The world of saving face was fraught with peril.
“I guess it’s fine, so long as no buildings in the village were destroyed. I hope the Dance Festival stays peaceful from here on out. Anything else, Natalie?”
“Oh yes. The House of the Pine Spirit has made some changes, and they’re being very well received.”
“A change? This is the first I’m hearing about it…”
Maybe they’d gotten an idea or two after watching us work.
“I’ve been once, and the walk was totally worth it. You should go in the morning next time you have the chance!”
And so in response to Natalie’s suggestion, the whole family went to the House of the Pine Spirit (though I asked Rosalie and Sandra to stay behind). Luckily, due to the location, Halkara could go straight to work in Nascúte.
There was nothing different about the pine tree tunnel, only a sign on one of the trunks that read OPEN. The atmosphere made me think of a very stylish out-of-the-way café, and I could tell that’s what they were going for.
But right at the entrance stood a new, much bigger sign.
“Lady Azusa, I suppose this means they are offering a breakfast set. But all day? Wouldn’t that no longer be considered breakfast…?” Laika asked—a reasonable question.
“I have a bad feeling about this…,” I said. “Let’s just go inside.”
When we entered, one of the priests took us to an empty table.
I’d gotten thirsty just from the walk, so I decided to order tea for all of us first.
“Mistress, I’m hungry. I want to order food, too. I haven’t had any breakfast yet, so I need more than just tea.”
“I know how you feel, Flatorte. But sit tight. There’s something I want to check.”
The waiter immediately brought us the tea, as well as several plates loaded with things that were definitely not tea.
“Here’s your tea—along with breakfast toast, salad, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, fruit, and nuts.”
“That sure is a lot of extras!”
“Wow~ What a deal! We only ordered tea, and a complete breakfast came with it! I should come here before I go to work at the factory.”
“Personally, I could use a bit more toast,” said Laika. “But it does make me happy that all of this came with the tea.”
The family was naturally delighted. Falfa and Shalsha dug in to their café breakfast right away.
This was certainly no problem. In fact, the scene was a treat for the eyes. But there was one thing I couldn’t help wondering about.
“I’m going to talk to Misjantie for a quick second.”
I went to find her in the back.
“What other dishes should I add, man…? Oh! Hi, Azusa.”
“Misjantie, what prompted you to add the breakfast set?”
I already had a good idea, however.
“Oh, that. The night after you took over the shop, I received an oracle from a goddess telling me to add a breakfast set to morning tea because it’d be a big hit, man.”
I knew Godly Godness was involved!
“I thought it’d be a huge money sink including all those extras, but a whole bunch of people started coming once we added it to the menu. We’re turning a profit, man!”
All it would take was a little inspiration to come up with something like this, and it wasn’t all that strange. But I knew this kind of service was part of the culture of the Nagoya-Gifu region of Japan, and so I suspected it might be Godly Godness’s way of offering her thanks after arriving without warning.
I returned to the table to find Laika eating spaghetti off a hot griddle.
“Lady Azusa, this noodle dish is quite good! There’s even an egg underneath the spaghetti!”
That was a Nagoya thing, too. This café was going to take a very original path to success—I was sure of it.
The End
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