Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 184

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A café run by the successor to the Dark Guild.
Episode 184
Biedler bit his lip as he surveyed the room where Rosia had left no trace.
“She left you a letter?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing for me?”
Rather than answer, Seniel showed the letter he was holding to Biedler.
“Just one line, here.”
Biedler accepted the letter and frowned at the disparity in length compared to Seniel’s portion, but his expression soon softened.
[Stop by whenever you need to rest. I’ll have your favorite drink ready.]
“She went back to the café.”
“I’ve been thinking I might go too, once you’re appointed Crown Prince. My work here is done anyway, isn’t it?”
“And what would you do there?”
“When I was there, customers lined up outside the café. It’d be fun to expand with my sister, open new branches.”
“You’re already dealing with women chasing after you—you think you can handle that?”
“Hmm.”
Seniel briefly imagined himself becoming a spectacle in the café every day, then shuddered.
“Don’t think such foolish thoughts. Your place is beside me. That doesn’t change even if I become Crown Prince. I’ll need you and the others going forward too.”
Recently, Seniel had spoken anxiously with Orbis and the other members about their futures.
He’d been secretly afraid of being abandoned by Biedler, but hearing such a firm assurance lifted his heart, and he smiled softly.
“Then I’ll stay for now.”
“Watch from my side. See how far I go—the me you all believed in.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Witnessing Biedler’s growth stirred Seniel’s chest, and he felt proud of having served him well.
“Still, I was too late. Rosia left before I could…”
“Before what?”
“I wanted to tell her… that I have feelings for her.”
On a day like today, Rosia was the first to come to mind, the one he wished to be with most.
He’d resolved to express these feelings honestly, yet when the moment came, Rosia was gone.
Watching the tender longing in Biedler’s eyes, Seniel confirmed his affection for Rosia.
“You can tell her. Why not suggest special training on Alein Mountain soon?”
“Special training, hm? That could work. But now I don’t need an excuse to seek her out. I simply intend to go meet her.”
Biedler had changed, having settled his feelings about Rosia.
“I’m on my sister’s side.”
“Just don’t stand against me.”
At Biedler’s formal declaration, Seniel laughed with a helpless expression.
***
Upon arriving at the café, I surveyed the destruction around me carefully.
“It’s completely in ruins.”
The building was so trampled by vines and wreckage that only the outline of where the café once stood remained recognizable.
“It’s fine. We’ll rebuild it.”
“I’m sorry. This is the second time now.”
As I apologized, grandfather drew out his staff and spoke as if it were nothing.
“You know this is as easy for me as flipping my palm, don’t you? I’m delighted to have work to do. Don’t burden yourself with guilt.”
Each time grandfather used magic, light flashed, and the surroundings began to clear.
“Should we build it bigger this time? Make it five stories tall so it’s visible from far away?”
“No. The previous size is enough.”
After stopping grandfather, I looked around the yard while the café was being reconstructed.
The first thing I checked was my parents’ grave, which had worried me most all this while.
Fortunately, the tomb and gravestone remained intact. I removed the wild grass that had grown densely around it and tidied up.
“I’ve finished everything and returned. You saw, didn’t you?”
I had so many questions to ask them about this situation, so much I wanted to hear.
The fact that I couldn’t receive an answer was both frustrating and painful.
As I was pulling grass, I discovered a flower I’d seen at the grave before.
“It’s still here.”
The flower blooming in this place where everything had been destroyed and trampled seemed incongruous.
“What kind of flower is this?”
I touched it lightly with my finger once, then withdrew. It was a flower I’d never seen anywhere else.
Then came a sound from behind—”Cluck-cluck!”—and when I turned, Armstrong and the chicks were lined up.
“Cluck-cluck!”
“Peep!”
The chicks remained as small and fluffy as when grandfather had cast his spell on them.
After releasing them near the café again, they scurried about gleefully, causing all sorts of trouble.
“I’ll build you all a new home too.”
I smiled and stood up.
About half a day after starting work, grandfather called me over, saying he was finished.
“How is it? Go inside and have a look.”
The exterior looked neat, and the interior was restored perfectly—needless to say.
“I love it. Thank you.”
“I positioned the trees a bit closer. The benches work well too, don’t they?”
As I looked around inside, I listened to grandfather’s explanations of the details he’d put effort into.
After touring everything, we decided to rest on a bench grandfather had placed in the shade of the trees.
“Have some tea.”
“The aroma is lovely.”
As we poured hot water and shared tea, grandfather glanced at me sideways.
“You’re planning to stay here for now?”
“Yes. I want to reopen the café.”
“May I ask why you’ve made that decision?”
“I kept thinking back to the time I spent here. The café work was enjoyable. I want to live that way again. I might make different choices later, but for now, I want to follow my heart.”
“I too found myself remembering the time I spent here quite often. You’ve thought it through well.”
Grandfather looked satisfied and took a long sip of his tea.
“You must have turned down the Knights Order recruitment. What about the Guild?”
“I’ll keep the café as a branch. It wasn’t my intention to join, but going through all this, I realized that Raven is part of me.”
I wanted to keep my connection with Raven open.
“Then I’ll teach you magic little by little while I’m here.”
“You’re not going back?”
I was startled, assuming grandfather would naturally return to the Mage Tower.
“Wyatt is the Master. I’m merely a retired old man.”
Yet this time, grandfather was the one who accomplished the most.
Since that was his decision, there must be a reason for it, so I simply nodded.
“I’ve realized something through all this.”
Grandfather’s eyes grew deeper.
“The Circle’s barrier—the one no method could surmount until now—I believe I can break through it now.”
“Really? Congratulations!”
I expressed genuine admiration at grandfather’s words about reaching a realm no one had achieved for so long.
“I’m planning to train nearby. The ground here is good.”
Grandfather winked at me and picked up his teacup again.
Thinking that I’d be living here with grandfather from now on, I felt genuinely pleased.
While solitude was nice, I’d missed the bustle and noise of many people gathered together.
“I ask for your continued support.”
“Same here.”
We spent more time on tea and rest before heading inside.
The sight was utterly different from the Imperial Palace room where I’d spent the morning, and suddenly Seniel and Biedler came to mind.
“You’ll have seen my letter.”
I’d thought it would be fine to leave, but it had only been a short time, and already the two of them felt distant and missed.
***
After encountering the impossible existence known as Desikan, when the world had nearly perished.
Time in the world that had returned to normalcy flowed steadily forward, never ceasing.
I resumed running the café and lived the same ordinary life as before.
“They’ve grown quite a bit already.”
As I watered the garden bed I’d made in front of the café, the last drops fell.
“Oh, I need to fetch more water.”
Carrying a large water bucket, I headed to the nearby spring where sacred water no longer flowed, but the water still tasted good.
As I began to draw water, I recalled that there was a temple at the end of this path, and decided to take a walk there.
The temple came into view, looking far more devastated than when I first saw the café.
Every time I saw the temple with only broken pillars remaining, Cayden’s final moments—when he was unconscious—came to mind as well.
“When will Cayden wake up?”
Curious about what had become of Cayden, who had returned to Helitria, I’d asked grandfather for news several times.
But each time, word came back that they were doing everything possible for Cayden’s recovery, yet he had not yet awakened.
I walked slowly around the temple, thinking of Cayden.
When I’d entered the Middle Ground, his confession came to mind—that he liked me.
“That must have been your true feelings.”
Cayden’s sincerity had collided with me more than once for me to dismiss it as mere words.
“I care for you too. But my feelings were different from yours.”
I murmured to myself as I walked, avoiding the building debris.
Ever since Seniel asked me recently whom I liked, I’d been thinking constantly.
At the end of that reflection, I confirmed the true nature of what I felt for Cayden. It was similar to how I felt toward Seniel.
To me, he was someone incomplete, someone I wanted to take care of.
Meeting him daily in this place and relying on each other, I’d unknowingly opened my heart and come to regard him as family.
I certainly cared for Cayden very much, but this was ultimately the affection of treasuring a dear friend.
“I won’t see him here again now.”
The Temple said that if Cayden awakened, they intended to raise him as a candidate for the next High Priest.
With Desikan and the barrier gone, there was no reason for this place to exist, so Cayden would have no cause to return.
“Still, please wake up.”
As long as Cayden woke up and lived happily, it didn’t matter where he was.
I offered a brief prayer before the Stone Statue of the Deity that Cayden had always polished so carefully, then returned to the café.
After filling the containers with the water I’d brought, I busied myself preparing ingredients for drinks, when I sensed movement outside.
Though I’d recently reopened the café, I’d had no customers yet, so I perked up my ears.
But the person who opened the door and stepped inside was someone very familiar and welcome—someone I’d just been thinking of.
Startled and frozen, I watched as Cayden approached with a gentle smile and asked:
“Are you open for business?”

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