That day, we went back after having fun.
I forcibly pulled Izumi and Kaoru away from their work, telling them to walk around for at least two hours, and the three of us helped organize the guests waiting in line.
Kagami seemed satisfied with the time we spent wandering around, as they didn’t linger too much. Of course, it didn’t seem like they were ready to go home yet.
Perhaps they were just wandering around looking at everything. Without mixing in any jokes, their heart was like that of a girl, after all.
In my previous life, I didn’t really enjoy working like this.
I longed for it, and so I worked hard to secure a job, feeling somewhat proud of it, but the truth is, too many bad things happened that made it hard to like it genuinely.
On top of that, I had my own issues to deal with.
As for this side… um.
In reality, I didn’t enjoy it here either. Honestly, the only reason I started working was that I needed to find a way to not ask about my situation while still earning money.
Thinking back now, that was an incredibly risky move. Such things are typically ‘dangerous’ and if I had ended up in such a situation without properly knowing what abilities I possessed at the time, it could have turned into an irreversible situation.
I really was just ‘lucky’.
Right now, I’m enjoying it. Working with people I think of as friends makes me a bit more at ease. Plus, the workload isn’t that intense either.
They let me rest when I need it, take care of my mental state whenever I look a bit tired, and adjust the days I work to fit my situation.
So, I still have no real reason to think badly about ‘work’ in this world. Perhaps if I graduate from university and end up in some black company, my thoughts might change, but for now, that’s not the case.
Naturally, I could somewhat relate to the vibe of working ‘for fun’ at school festivals.
How could work with friends possibly be boring?
Even while lining up guests, I didn’t really feel that tired.
“Koto Ne.”
“Ah.”
While I was guiding the guests toward the hallway, I ran into someone I knew.
“Boss.”
“Yeah. You’re here.”
“I came too~”
As I greeted them cheerfully, the boss and Miki waved their hands.
“I wanted to check how much your coffee-making skills have improved.”
Didn’t I already check that at the place where I work?
Honestly, I can’t really tell if it’s good just by tasting it. I’m not someone who seriously enjoys coffee, so it’s kind of unavoidable.
It’s hard enough just distinguishing coffee beans, how could I possibly comment on the state of it just by taste? Unless it was an absolute failure, of course.
I smiled at the boss and Miki and then asked,
“Yuka, could you cover for me for a bit? I have something to prepare.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Yuka seemed to understand why I said that as she nodded and replied immediately.
“Koko, I’ll be back.”
“Wah?”
As I patted Koko on the shoulder while passing by, she tilted her head in response.
I hurriedly walked into the club room.
It was still packed with guests, and the three people working inside looked a bit busy.
“Hey, Yuuki.”
“Yeah.”
With a rather ambiguous expression that seemed to say whether he was annoyed or okay, Yuuki looked down at the coffee cup, and when I spoke to him, he suddenly turned my way as if he found an excuse.
Taken aback by his momentum, I calmly asked Yuuki,
“A guest I want to treat just arrived, so could you switch spots with me for a moment?”
“Sure.”
Immediately, Yuuki extended his tray toward me.
Whoa, isn’t that a bit too fast?
Looks like Yuuki’s mindset is leaning more towards ‘work is a bother’.
I accepted the tray with a wry smile and continued working, waiting for the boss and Miki.
Just this morning, we had a time limit of 30 minutes per table, but perhaps due to the influx of guests, it seemed they cut that time down to 15 minutes. Guests were cycling through much faster than in the morning.
Still, things weren’t moving extraordinarily fast, but time felt like it passed quickly until the boss arrived.
“Welcome, young lady.”
“Yeah.”
As I took her coat, the boss responded naturally as she entered.
Usually, she wears a maid outfit herself.
“Sorry~”
Miki said that as if she hadn’t even thought about giving me her coat, being the same employee.
After hanging the coats of the boss and Miki on the coat rack, I called the two of them to an empty seat.
“There’s only one type of coffee, is that okay?”
“…So it is.”
While the boss likely expected this, she seemed a bit flustered that I was being so cheeky about it.
For reference, the maid outfits we wore were slightly different from a regular maid outfit. The sleeves were a bit wider, and the skirt was a bit narrower. If I had to compare, it was closer to a kimono design. While not a traditional kimono, it was somewhat modified for comfort and workability.
‘Literature cafe,’ isn’t it? We decided to go for a somewhat Japanese literary style in our clothing. Of course, the juniors will wear them too. If the sizes don’t fit, we’ll have to buy new ones, but honestly, I don’t think we’ll have many more students than now.
“Well then, a coffee and cookies.”
Since there was only one option each, in the end, we had no choice but to select these two. If we had to nitpick, we could prepare milk and sugar separately.
I set the cups in front of the two people and prepared to brew the coffee.
Drip coffee is quite popular in Japan, so it seems that a unique Japanese method has developed as well.
Of course, I didn’t have a great interest in it before, so I don’t really know what the differences are. To be honest, I think it’s just dependent on the company that makes it, right?
Well, I wouldn’t dare say that in front of people who really love coffee.
I carefully set the ground coffee without it spilling too much and slowly sprinkled water around it. This way, the coffee beans soak evenly, and it allows for an even extraction of the coffee.
The boss stood with her arms crossed, silently gazing down at the process.
It’s not really a test or anything. Even if I don’t do particularly well, the boss wouldn’t necessarily blame me anyway. There are often people in actual work who do a lot worse than me.
“It’s ready, young lady.”
I placed the cup in front of the boss and prepared Miki’s cup next.
The boss waited patiently until Miki’s cup was ready, then slowly lifted it up to take a sip of the coffee.
I watched her with a somewhat nervous expression.
I don’t know why I was so tense. Once again, it’s not like I’m actually taking a test or anything.
“…It’s good.”
After slowly tasting the coffee, the boss finally smiled and said that.
I let out a small sigh of relief.
“It’s delicious~”
Miki said as she added a ton of sugar to her coffee. Well, some people just can’t handle bitterness.
“Looks like you studied quite hard?”
“I practiced a lot, young lady.”
As I answered with a smile, the boss chuckled while sipping her coffee.
“…You all did great. You prepared all this yourselves, didn’t you?”
As the boss glanced around and said that, I slightly bowed and turned towards the bookshelf.
There was a large marked book titled [Sample] that belonged to this year’s literature club anthology.
The reason we initially set a lengthy 30-minute time limit was to introduce this to our guests. Even though it wasn’t a huge amount of text, we didn’t have enough time to read it all in detail in 30 minutes.
Even though some were for sale, if the people didn’t know what was inside, they wouldn’t buy it anyway.
“I see. That’s why it’s a literature cafe.”
The boss said, laughing lightly before reading the book.
I handed Miki a copy as well, and she began reading with sparkling eyes.
“You said you were in the literature club, right?”
“Yeah~ I’m trying to read a lot of books.”
She might have been influenced by me… perhaps. Miki doesn’t say it, so I can’t be sure.
But seeing her sparkle with interest while looking at the anthology, she might do something similar with our club in her second year.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could have club exchanges between schools?
…If we do that, it might mean Tsuneda will have too much on her plate. Let’s take our time and find out slowly in the third year. If it works out, great, and if not, then so be it.
“I want to buy this one~”
Miki said while she set the book down after looking through it.
“Thank you, young lady.”
I replied politely while bowing my waist, hoping the book would be helpful to Miki.
*
And so, the first day of the festival came to an end.
“I had fun~”
On the way back in the car, Kagami said.
“Really?”
“Yes, it was my first festival and all.”
“…Come again next year.”
“Of course!”
Kagami answered with a smile.
“And there are festivals at university too. The scale will probably be even bigger?”
“Ooh!”
At my words, Koko, who was sitting in the back, exclaimed with her arms raised.
“That’s really something to look forward to.”
Kagami smiled even brighter.
“And there’s tomorrow too.”
“Yeah, there’s tomorrow too.”
Right, there’s still one more day left.
Tomorrow, we decided to close the cafe a bit early and wander around together. Even with Kagami joining us, it shouldn’t feel awkward at all.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“I really can’t wait.”
“Ooh!”
In the warm little car returning home, we laughed and conversed like that.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.