WE OPENED THE CAFÉ AGAIN
We each went to our positions.
I was the chief, in charge of supervising the whole operation and giving orders. When things got this big, there had to be a general director around, otherwise things would get messy.
I first went to the entrance of our shop and found Fatla seating the guests.
“How may I help you? All right, how many are in your party? Three, I see. Then please use a table inside the building. We ask that you be finished within ninety minutes once things start getting busy; I hope that’s all right with you. Okay then, please follow me.”
She was treating it like a diner…
But I guess she had no choice but to deal with them in an impersonal manner. Otherwise the numbers would be unmanageable.
The customers were led inside, where Rosalie was waiting for them with cups of water floating in her hands.
“Here’s your water. Once you’ve decided what to order, please ring this little bell, and I’ll send over an available member of the waitstaff. Ghosts have great hearing, so it’ll be loud enough.”
There were even call buttons installed. It was becoming more and more like a diner…
Despite the early-morning hour, the tables inside rapidly filled up, and the outside seating was steadily filling up, too.
It didn’t seem like one full turnover of guests would be enough to relieve the line. The customers weren’t complaining, though, since they were expecting a much later opening.
And as for the kitchen, it was utter chaos.
Laika and Flatorte were concentrating on nothing but cooking. Vania was preparing ingredients a little ways away from them.
The portions they usually made at home were so small compared to what they had to make now.
“Please pass the carrots!”
“Do it yourself! I’m also busy cutting cabbage here! Oh, give me the bacon!”
“When you won’t even give me the carrots? Please just be responsible for once!”
“Ooooh! This is why I hate red dragons!”
The two were snarling at each other. Maybe it was a bad idea to put them together…
“No matter what, mine will be much better than whatever you cook up, Laika!”
“And you’ll see that my food will be much more delicious than yours!”
…But on the other hand, they’d started competing with each other, so maybe this was okay?
“Hmph! I’ll sneak a bug into your food if I have to!”
I slid right over behind Flatorte. “I heard that, Flatorte. Do you want to say that again?”
“U-uh… It was a joke, Mistress… Of course I wouldn’t do anything to harm our customers… Ha-ha-ha…”
I was right to keep an eye on them.
“And if you two actually start fighting, you’ll be eating very healthy, vegetable-filled meals for three days straight as punishment.”
“You can’t! A meal without meat is like a river without water!” Laika cried.
Meat really was important to them…
“Then you two need to concentrate. The orders will start pouring in soon, so be ready.”
“Cooking food is also like training. I will not lose!” Laika was brimming with motivation. She didn’t have to think of it as training, though.
My daughters were also putting in their best efforts in their own way. Actually, they really hit the ground running for us.
“I’ll repeat your order! Two onion soups and two rye rolls with cheese, as well as five edible slimes! Thank you! Please wait a moment!” Falfa made no mistakes, apparently aspiring to work in a real store someday. “Order coming in! Two onions, two ryes, five slimes!”
I could hear Laika shouting “With pleasure!” from the kitchen.
Please don’t say that! You sound like an overly energetic old bartender!
Shalsha wasn’t very good at dealing with customers, so she was concentrating on clearing the tables. But I could still tell that she wanted to do more.
“Efficiency, concentrate on efficiency… If I put the plates here, I can save three seconds on each one…”
She was sounding like someone from restaurant corporate…
So I was back at the tables.
“Oh, recommendations? I’d recommend everything we have to offer! We have sourced a very delicious chicken, if I might add, and the flavor simply spreads through your whole mouth!”
It was hard to imagine who the voice belonged to given how she usually acted, but it was Beelzebub. She was a fantastic employee who even changed her manner of speech when she was dealing with customers.
But there was also another girl who was taking it ten steps too far.
“Here we go! Say it with me! Abracadabra, become deeelicious~!”
Pecora was doing what you’d commonly see in maid cafés. She even made a heart shape with her hands, sending delicious light beams (not really, I just made that up) onto the food.
“Oh? Where I live? It’s rather far from here~ My family has a bit of money, so I’m free to live however I want, really~”
You’re not just rich! You’re a monarch!
Pecora was thoroughly enjoying herself. I guess taking up a role you normally wouldn’t was its own kind of fun.
And then, smoke quietly rose from a spot outside.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was a fire or wildfire, but it was neither.
It was Vania’s outdoor kitchen.
“Here we go! I’ll begin cooking the steak! Yeah, yeah!”
A flame burst up from a large griddle. She probably brought that in. It didn’t belong to our house, at least. Or any other common house.
Vania quickly chopped the cooked meat into slices.
“There we go! The steak is finished!”
The customers watching from their seats applauded.
This is just like a teppanyaki restaurant!
This whole thing was pure chaos. It wasn’t a café anymore, at least.
But, well, the customers were clearly happy with what we had, so I guess it was fine…
Until something else soon came to my attention.
It was almost time for the first round of guests to finish up their meals and head home. All the plates would come back at once, so would the washing place be able to handle it…?
It wasn’t like we had someone dedicated to washing dishes. I’d have to do it when it came down to it.
I rushed back to the washing area.
And there I found someone cleaning off the dishes with great speed.
Not only that, but the clean dishes were wiped dry with a flash, then placed in a neat row. All of them were immediately usable.
We had a master managing it all on her own: the ex-slime Fighsly.
“Oh, Miss Azusa, wonderful work so far! No matter how much silverware comes my way, I can handle it all with my Fighsly-style dishwashing technique!”
“But this has nothing to do with martial arts.”
I don’t think you can just add on “Fighsly-style” to everything.
“Phew, I’m quite confident, since I’ve been washing dishes for such a long time.”
Her hands moved as she spoke, with no wasted movement, and the plates she wiped dry glinted like new.
That was the result of a thorough (if very quick) washing.
It seemed Fighsly was okay handling it by herself.
“How did you learn to do this? Were you inspired by the power of the waterfall as you meditated under it?”
“Back when I was first able to preserve my human form, I invented this process when I had no money.”
What did that have to do with being poor?
“See, if you go into a restaurant without any money, you can’t pay for food and drink, right? So I was allowed to wash dishes for food.”
“That has nothing to do with martial arts!”
“When you exercise doing the martial arts, you need to eat quite a lot in order to preserve your body. You mustn’t skimp out on meals if you want to build a strong body!”
What she was saying was true, but it didn’t quite click with me.
“The trick is to eat and drink as much as you can without worrying about how much it’ll cost. If you think too much about how much money you don’t have, it’ll show in your attitude. And then people will start to suspect that you’re broke and stop feeding you.”
I didn’t want to know this trick.
“Once I’ve eaten it, it’s in my stomach. Then, when you say you’re out of money but can wash the dishes, they’ll give in.”
“So you’re a serial thief.”
She was almost defiant about this.
But still, the skills from her experience were working very well for us.
Halkara came into the kitchen.
“Miss Laika, it’s almost time for us to switch. Please take care of the hall.”
“A-all right. I-I’ll do my best…”
Laika seemed very uneasy. Maybe I should check on her.
I saw the issue right away.
The moment Laika entered the hall, all the customers turned to look at her, and that wasn’t even the worst of it. When she went outside, they stood and started trying to get close.
“This is the beauty!”
“I heard the rumors, but…”
“Laika! Laika, please look this way!”
“I can’t believe it! I saw her in person!”
“She’s sooooo cute!”
They were acting like they just saw a famous foreign celebrity!
“P-please stop… I-I’m not cute or anything like that… You’re all mistaken…”
Yeah, I have to disagree. You’re cute. Super-adorable.
And the way she acted all embarrassed just made her even cuter.
But I didn’t think it’d escalate this far…
“I heard in the imperial capital that the most beautiful girl in the world was here, and it was true.”
“I must write this down in my log.”
“She should enter the Royal Beauty Contest.”
Things were getting more and more serious…
I don’t know what else to say, Laika, except that I’m sorry… It’s just for a day, so hang in there…
There were a few problems here and there, but the Witch’s House Café was going as planned.
All we needed to do was keep on keeping on until closing.
There was a line, as always, but—
“Please write down the name of your representative and the number of people in your party. If you are not here when I call for you, I will go ahead and call on the next group. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Fatla managed the line appropriately, so there wasn’t any trouble there.
As I wiped tables and walked around checking on everything, I made sure it all was running smoothly, but my input wasn’t really needed.
It was my turn for a break, so I returned to the dining room in the house.
We weren’t using this for the café; this was the family’s spot for relaxation.
Sandra lay sprawled out on the dining room floor reading a book. She should probably use a chair, but she was still a kid—and a plant, at that. I didn’t need to be strict with her.
“What, break time?” Sandra’s gaze turned to me.
“Yep. Everything’s running smoothly, so we just need to keep this going until closing.”
We were fine, since this happened only once a year, but it must be really hard for restaurants that did this all day every day they were open. I could never do that.
After hearing my response, Sandra appeared to make a slightly sad face.
“I see. You managed to really get it going well. I’m impressed.”
Oh, I saw this coming.
I went into my room and quietly brought back to the dining room something I’d prepared beforehand.
“Sandra, if you want, do you think you could join us for a bit in the hall? It’d be a big help, since the others could take more breaks.”
Sandra’s head shot straight up. I could tell straightaway by her expression that she was interested.
So she was a sweet-and-sour girl—or maybe she just wasn’t very good at honestly expressing how she felt. I’d have to support and encourage her from now on.
But her expression cooled again, and her usual indifference returned.
“But I don’t have a waitress outfit, do I? I’d be the odd one out. I’d just look like a special guest…”
She basically meant she wanted to dress like the others.
Man, am I glad I had this made. I presented her with a mini waitress outfit just for her.
“Ta-da! I made sure to ask for one when I ordered Flatorte’s outfit!”
I could see Sandra’s eyes sparkling. This was one of those moments when she had the pure look of a child.
“Th-then I guess… I suppose I can help…”
“Yes please!”
When Sandra emerged, a stir ran through the customers.
“Who’s that little one?!”
“I was hoping we’d see a new face!”
The shop was filled with excitable people…
Sandra handled things a little clumsily, but she was doing her best at the jobs she had been given.
Even the customers watching her were giving their support.
This year’s Witch’s House Café was another huge success for sure.
The last customer went home after seven in the evening, and the operations of the Witch’s House Café ended without incident.
There was steak on the menu and various other elements that made the label of “café” a little questionable, but I guess some cafés could serve some unusual dishes.
““Cheeeers!””
It was too small in the dining room, so we pushed together some tables outside and held our finishing celebration.
Some of us couldn’t eat or drink, but, well, the act of making a toast itself was an important ritual.
“The best drinks are the ones after work!”
Beelzebub gulped down her drink. But this wasn’t work for her—she’d even taken time off to come here. Curious.
Still, it wasn’t hard to find people back in Japan who would climb mountains on their days off, so maybe it wasn’t a problem as long as they wanted to do these things.
“It sure was nice running a store~ I believe I did my ‘Become deeelicious’ at least thirty times.”
The demon king sure was open when it came to this.
The leviathan sisters were guzzling down their alcohol with gusto. These two had come here for work.
Fighsly was very carefully counting the number of coins; maybe those were her earnings from the part-time job. She may be a martial artist, but she wasn’t choosy about work.
Laika and Flatorte were chatting about this and that as they drank. I knew they were close.
The rest of the family was asleep.
Even Rosalie was asleep, and she didn’t need sleep.
According to her, she’d exhausted herself carrying cups and dishes all day. I guess ghosts got tired, too.
Halkara had quickly fallen asleep long before she could drink this time.
Most of us were early risers, so that affected us, too.
My daughters and Sandra were all snoring softly.
It wore us out, but doing the café was the right thing.
The more people we had, the bond we felt as a family would get weaker and weaker. Not that it would put us all on bad terms, but…it would get harder for us to do things as a family like this. For example, going on a trip with a family of three was way easier than with a family of ten. The more people there were, the harder it was to do things together.
But at the same time, it would be sad if we just ended up being a group of people who happened to live in the same building.
Maybe opening up a shop with everyone was perfect for times like that. As long as the Dance Festival kept coming back, we could open our shop the day before the festival and treat it as a semipermanent annual event.
I moved over to the leviathan sisters to show my appreciation.
It was all thanks to the demons’ help that we could handle such a large group of customers that whole time.
“Thanks. It ended up turning into a huge project instead of being just for fun, but thanks for all your help.”
“Certainly. It’s our job, after all. The agricultural secretaries have a long list of duties,” the serious Fatla responded. Okay, no matter how I looked at it, this was not secretarial work.
“It reminded me of when I was a student. It was a lot of fun!” Vania said, and I realized something.
That’s right—getting together and doing something with a group like this only really ever happened in school.
When I lived as a corporate slave, I kept to myself and only grappled with the work in front of me. I hadn’t gotten together with other people and worked with them to accomplish something in a very long time.
“Yeah, I guess that’s what festivals are for. Everyone can get together and cut loose because it’s a festival.”
If someone from the village suddenly pointed to a day on the calendar and commanded everyone to make merry on that date, it wouldn’t be very effective. Friends would just show up, and that’s it.
But everyone naturally worked together for a festival. Plus, they made sure it would be as enjoyable as it should be.
I wanted to have a festival with my friends and family.
“You’ve gotten a little smarter, Vania.”
“Huh?” She looked at me with wide eyes.
Pecora rolled onto the grass and spread out her arms and legs. That wasn’t how the demon king was supposed to act, but she still seemed to be having a good time.
“Ahhh~ Sometimes it’s nice to do work that the lowly people do~”
“Don’t call us ‘lowly.’” I sat down next to her.
“Elder Sister, there’s no physical work for the demon king to do, don’t you know? I’ll be out of shape if I don’t get some exercise.”
“You might be right. It’s not really interesting if you’re only ever giving orders.”
“So you must hold another event. I will plan for it as much as I can!” Pecora sat up and leaned onto me like a playful cat.
“I’ll do what I can. I haven’t picked anything out in particular to do yet, though.”
“No need to sound so bureaucratic~ Promise me as my big sister!”
“Yeah, all right, all right.” I patted her head.
“Ooh, you’re treating me so nicely… You’ve been much more composed lately, Elder Sister, so there’s no point in teasing you…”
She was complaining, so maybe her earlier comment was an attempt to mess with me.
As her big sister, I had to reprimand her and patted her on the head even more.
“He-he-he~ Elder Sister’s affectionate touch~ She’s chastising me~”
“You have such weird tastes…”
Then Beelzebub came over with a flushed face. She drank often, but she held her liquor well enough not to black out. “Well, well, look at you two.”
“Beelzebub, do something about your boss. She’s in my way.”
“Your Majesty, we have many more things to do tomorrow, so perhaps it would be best if you leave it at this.”
Something Beelzebub said caught my attention.
Many more things to do tomorrow? What does that mean…?
The Dance Festival was tomorrow, of course…
“You’re right. I suppose that should be enough for today, so I may get ready for tomorrow. He-he-he~”
Pecora finally stood and skipped over to drink some water to sober herself up.
That day, we let the demons use our guesthouse and spare rooms, and we all stayed the night in the house in the highlands. We were practically like an inn.
“We could even pull off the Witch’s House Inn. No, that would be way too much work, so let’s not…”
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