Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 18

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

A café run by the Dark Guild’s successor.
18
“Take me too. I’ve been dying to go.”
“Of course. From now on I’ll be there all the time, so come whenever you like.”
Seniel suddenly pushed herself up and stumbled toward me, then leaned against my chair and buried her face in my lap.
“What are you saying?”
“When I went back, the cabin was still there. I’m thinking of opening a shop there.”
“…? But you can’t cook.”
“I don’t have to cook. I can sell beverages instead.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“How could you make a decision like this without consulting me at all? I’m really hurt.”
With her face still buried in my lap, Seniel let out a small, muffled sob.
I gently held Seniel, who had always seemed so fragile to me.
“Now things are different—I can see you whenever I want. If we see each other often, that’s enough.”
“…That much is good.”
Still leaning against me and pouting, Seniel suddenly lifted her face.
“But… are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“Okay with what?”
“I’m… really worried. What if someone dies from eating something you made… oof.”
Seniel, whose eyes had been growing heavy, collapsed sideways after that final word.
“Seniel? Are you asleep?”
I set aside the tender moment and seriously considered giving her a flick on the forehead.
I’d heard that words spoken while drunk held more truth than sober ones.
“I’m not quite that hopeless, you know.”
The fact that Seniel was worried about me even in this state of intoxication left me uncertain whether to feel grateful or sad.
Feeling wronged, I pinched her cheek a little harder than necessary.
Seniel had tumbled sideways, her head now bumping against Orbis’s.
“Even asleep, they still look like children.”
Who could imagine, looking at them now, that these two had made great contributions in war?
Shaking my head, I pulled the blanket that had been covering Orbis and draped it over both of them equally.
“I’ll move them for you,” the Butler offered quietly.
He had been waiting for the drinking to end, and now approached with a subtle gesture.
But I raised my hand to stop him.
“Leave them be. If they suffer for it now, they won’t make this mistake again.”
“But what if they catch a chill…?”
“It’s still summer. They’ll be fine. Both of them are incredibly robust.”
The Butler continued to regard them with concern, so I gave his back a gentle push toward the stairs and retreated to my room.
The next day.
I woke both of them by nudging them with my foot as they sprawled across the living room floor, then began gathering my bags.
I’d arrived with one bag, but now I was leaving with five, and I couldn’t help but furrow my brow at the sight.
“That’s quite a lot of luggage.”
Though not an excessive amount, they contained the clothes and shoes I’d bought to maintain an ordinary appearance, plus items I’d prepared in advance for the shop.
Since I was heading into the mountains, I needed to bring whatever I could carry.
For now, I planned to first repair the cabin before separately acquiring the dishes and ingredients necessary for opening the shop.
As I stared at the now-heavy bags, Seniel shuffled in with a lazy yawn.
“How could you leave us outside and go? That’s too much.”
“That’s exactly why—don’t pass out drunk in random places anymore. Not from now on.”
“Fine, fine. Should I move these?”
Seniel shot me a playful look and carried a pair of bags outside.
Orbis came rushing over next and picked up bags as well, asking eagerly.
“Are you really opening a shop?”
“That’s the plan. Come visit.”
“I’m so jealous. When I was little, my dream was to become a shop owner. I really admire it.”
“You can open one yourself someday.”
“Actually, I do have a plan. I’m a bit shy about it now, but I’ll tell you later. Once we’re closer.”
I was about to tell Orbis that I’d certainly never hear about that plan, but instead I just shrugged.
The Butler carried the last of the baggage.
“Thank you for everything. It’s been comfortable thanks to you.”
“Please do visit again. It would bring this old man great joy.”
After exchanging farewells, I was about to board the carriage when I heard the rapid patter of footsteps and turned around.
“Sister—! Wait!”
“Eribel?”
She had run from far away, her face flushed red, and she looked as though she might collapse from breathlessness at any moment.
“Are you alright?”
“You were leaving without saying goodbye. Huff. I was afraid you’d just go. Huff huff. I ran so hard.”
“Seniel will still be here.”
When I pointed to Seniel already seated in the carriage, Eribel’s eyes widened for a moment, but then she shook her head vigorously and looked up at me.
“Not her—you.”
In an instant, tears welled up in Eribel’s wide eyes as she gazed at me.
“You’re really leaving?”
“Yes. I was just a guest after all.”
Eribel, unable to hide her sadness, let tears roll freely down her cheeks as she said how much she hated goodbyes.
Remembering that this girl lived with her grandfather without her parents, I bent down to meet her eyes.
“I’ll write to you. Come visit later.”
“Really? I can do that?”
“It’s dangerous, so don’t go alone. Come with your grandfather.”
“Okay! I’ll definitely come.”
Understanding that parting wasn’t the same as permanent farewell, her face brightened somewhat.
As I straightened up, Eribel held out a basket she’d struggled to carry.
“Sister, you liked my eggs, didn’t you? Now that you’re leaving, you won’t be able to eat them anymore, so take this friend with you!”
“Cluck! Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The chicken, which had been docile until now, seemed to understand Eribel’s words and flapped its wings frantically, trying to escape.
I swiftly caught the chicken’s wings and placed it in the basket, then shook my head.
“You’ve raised this chicken so carefully.”
“I have a few more. This one’s the youngest. Take good care of it.”
Eribel’s eggs truly were exceptionally delicious, and I suspected I’d miss them terribly without them, so after hesitating, I accepted the basket.
“I will.”
“You have to write—you promised!”
I boarded the carriage, leaving a teary-eyed Eribel behind.
Seniel, who was already seated, let out a hearty laugh when she saw the chicken.
“You’re taking the chicken too?”
Cluck-cluck!!
The chicken struggled in protest.
With a ribbon awkwardly tied around its neck, it looked rather amusing and adorable.
Inside the basket were even the chicken’s feed and its regular eating bowl.
“Is this an emergency food supply?”
When Seniel licked her lips while eyeing the chicken, it flapped its wings again and tried to escape the basket.
“Cluck-cluck-cluck!!!”
“Watch what you say. I think it understands.”
“Oh? So if you keep making noise, I’ll just eat you up?”
At that, the chicken fell completely silent.
Seniel and I exchanged a startled glance at this sudden change.
‘Is that actually a chicken?’
‘Did it just transform or something?’
In any case, the chicken didn’t make a single sound after that.
After riding in the carriage for more than a day, my neck had grown stiff, we arrived at Alein Mountain.
We’d made it as far into the interior as the road would allow, but we couldn’t go any further by carriage.
“We’ll have to walk from here.”
“I’ll carry all the luggage. You just lead the way.”
Seniel puffed out her chest with confidence, but there was far too much for just the two of us to manage.
After asking the Coachman to help us divide the luggage among the three of us, I found the path I’d taken before and led the way deeper into the forest.
The sky had been overcast the entire way, and of course, rain began to pour down.
The rapidly darkening conditions made it harder to find the path than it had been last time.
I walked with my hands full of luggage and drenched in rain, and to make matters worse, lightning flashed overhead.
“Are you sure this is the right way?”
“Don’t you remember? There should be cloth tied to a tree around here… ah, there it is!”
Fortunately, I found the cloth I’d tied to a tree without too much wandering.
We pushed through the brush and came within sight of the cabin, which looked like an abandoned house in weather like this.
“Wow, it’s really here. I can’t believe we’re actually coming back to this place…”
Seniel’s face overflowed with profound emotion.
“The grave is in the back, right?”
“Yes. But we’re both soaked, and it’s so dark… let’s check in the morning.”
“I want to look now. You go inside first.”
Seniel set down her luggage, saying she’d look at the grave, and went off.
I stood before the cabin and pulled out the key I’d obtained from the bank.
Since I hadn’t entered the cabin on my previous visit, my hand trembled as I turned the doorknob.
Click.
The door opened, and I took in the familiar interior of the cabin.
Though years had passed and everything had aged and faded, it retained the traces of the day we’d left.
The room Seniel and I had shared, even our parents’ room—all exactly as they were, and a peculiar feeling washed over me.
“There’s a lot to fix. I need to organize things, and clean…”
I had to open the window to clear away the thick dust that made me cough, but the rain and wind came pouring in, so I shut it again.
I had the Coachman prepare a sleeping area in one corner of the house, and I lit the fireplace.
As I dried my wet hair and body with a towel and warmed myself by the fire, I felt my lowered body temperature gradually rising.
“Sister!”
Seniel entered the house and ran directly into a cobweb with her face.
“Did you pay your respects properly?”
“Yes. But… do you really think you can live here alone? It’s so much deeper in the mountains than I remembered.”
Seniel looked around the cabin with concern and began to list things for me to be careful about.
“For now, I’ll bury Barrier Stones around the perimeter. Since it’s in the mountains, wild animals might appear, and they’ll keep them away.”
Barrier Stones, made by inscribing magic into refined Mana Stones, were extremely expensive.
It felt wasteful to use them merely to keep animals away, but I nodded to put Seniel’s mind at ease.
After Seniel finished rattling off warnings and concerns, she grew quiet when she saw our parents’ room.
I considered opening the room to sort through our parents’ belongings as I’d been unable to do back then, but it seemed I wasn’t emotionally ready yet, so I shook my head.
“Let’s leave that room as it is.”
“Yes. That would be better.”
So we left our parents’ room untouched and sat together in the living room.
“I’ll visit often. I’ll write every day.”
“It’s too far to visit often. Never mind that—just focus on your training.”
That night, we sat together in the living room, sharing stories from the old days.
When morning came, Seniel boarded the carriage with the Coachman and departed for home.
After seeing her off and returning to the cabin, I noticed even more things that needed attention in the bright morning light.
“Cough.”
I coughed again and opened the window wide to clear out the dust.
Unlike the previous night, bright light flooded in and a fresh breeze swept through.
I picked up a broom and began sweeping away the cobwebs that had accumulated throughout the cabin.
Once I’d cleaned away the place where Seniel had gotten caught, I felt a sense of relief wash over me.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
“Oh, I need to feed you.”
The chicken crowed loudly right on cue, and I handed it feed, which it enthusiastically pecked at.
Watching it, I found myself lost in thought about how to live going forward.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————