Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 35

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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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It’s a café run by the Dark Guild’s successor.
Chapter 35
If Hestanya’s fondness was really for Bidler, then it all made a certain sense.
Especially since Bidler came here for training the other day—if someone had been watching him, they could have found the shop.
I felt a surge of emotion and bit his name savagely between my teeth.
Several days had passed since Hestanya’s visit.
The shop was still empty of customers.
During a quiet afternoon, I picked up a basket to gather materials for drinks and headed into the forest.
Though I had a usual path, today I wanted to try a different route and entered the woods on the opposite side from the Temple.
“Can you even eat these?”
Unfamiliar berries I’d never seen before covered the forest floor.
I picked some and put them in my basket, but I remained cautious—they could be poisonous like that blue mushroom from before.
As I walked pleasantly through the fresh mountain air, a large gray furry mass suddenly darted past my vision.
“A ball of yarn?”
Startled, I paused to examine it. The moving fur bundle—or rather, the object I assumed to be a fur bundle—was a cat.
It was the same cat that had appeared at my cottage before, looking like a forest sprite. Now, at a distance, it turned to look at me and raised its tail stiffly.
So it really was a forest cat; I simply hadn’t encountered it on this path until now.
Though glad to see it, I remained cautious, wondering if the wild creature might attack me, and we stood in a tense standoff.
Then the cat raised one paw and licked it before suddenly turning around.
It walked daintily deeper into the forest.
When I merely watched, it stopped and looked back as if urging me to follow.
“Should I follow? Or not?”
I hesitated, uneasy about something, when I heard the distant rustle of footsteps on fallen leaves.
The cat, whose hearing was sharper than mine, pricked up its ears and vanished into the forest without hesitation.
Curious where it had meant to lead me, I felt a pang of regret as I stared after it, but then turned toward the sound of rustling.
A person was more dangerous than a cat.
I tensed, impressed by such skill that barely a sound was made, but it was Bidler who emerged from beyond the hill.
At his sudden appearance, I released the tension from my body and laughed weakly.
“Your Highness?”
“What are you doing out here?”
“That’s my line.”
I had plenty of reason to be here. Especially since my basket was full of berries.
Seeing that, Bidler cleared his throat awkwardly.
“And what brings Your Highness to these woods?”
“I came to see you. The shop was empty, so I followed the signs of activity.”
I nodded.
The fact that he’d come alone, without Seniel, told me he had something to discuss.
‘Is it about that spy business from before?’
I had a rough idea of what he wanted to talk about, so I regarded him steadily.
“Go ahead.”
“Standing here?”
My basket isn’t full yet. You must be busy—let’s keep this brief.”
I politely declined, thinking we weren’t close enough to sit together with tea.
“…Fill it. I’ll wait.”
But he let out a sigh and said he’d wait until my basket was full.
I found his insistence on following me tedious, but I left it alone for now.
‘Should I ask about Hestanya?’
The moment I saw Bidler’s face, I remembered the duke’s daughter who had visited the shop days ago.
But seeing the image of her tears as she spoke of unrequited love, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
“You.”
At my call, Bidler, who had been absently poking at a plump red berry, turned his head.
“Is there a lady you’re fond of?”
“What?”
His eyes wavered—a look I’d never seen before. He seemed flustered.
“Why would you ask that?”
“Just curious.”
Bidler quickly averted his gaze from my stare and cleared his throat.
“…No.”
He had no reason to lie to me, so it was Hestanya’s unrequited love. I decided to let the matter drop.
“You…”
“Yes?”
I turned at the faint sound of his voice, only to nearly collide with him—he’d closed the distance without my noticing.
“Do you have feelings for anyone?”
His eyes looking down at me seemed sharper and deeper than usual today.
I hadn’t expected him to turn the question back on me. And since I’d never given it much thought, I clamped my mouth shut for a moment.
‘Affection is a luxury I can’t afford.’
I’d thought that through my entire time in the guild, and it had been true. To have favorites, to fall in love—I’d never had the space for such things.
Now I had more time than I could use, but I still couldn’t imagine myself caring deeply for anyone.
‘Kaiden?’
The person I saw most often these days was Kaiden, and what I felt was simple human affection—he’d been of great help to me.
“From the way you’re deliberating, it seems you do.”
I stepped aside, avoiding the gaze of Bidler, who suddenly looked displeased.
At that moment, something burst out from beside us. It was Armstrong, and Bidler startled, lifting one leg with a jump.
“What is that?”
“A chicken.”
Silence fell between us for a moment.
“Are chickens usually that big?”
“This one kept growing.”
Armstrong was so massive that even after my explanation, Bidler didn’t seem fully convinced.
I shrugged and walked further in to search for more berries.
Then Bidler, who’d wandered off to the side, called out to me loudly.
I followed, wondering what he’d found, and discovered a cliff before us so vast and high that its far end couldn’t be seen.
“What is that?”
“A cliff… and thorny brush.”
Enormous thickets of thorny vegetation completely covered the cliff face. The vicious thorns made it impossible to approach.
“It looks dangerous.”
Just as Bidler said, the sight alone was threatening. But more than that, something felt wrong about it.
A cliff on a rugged mountain wasn’t unusual, but this looked like a wall deliberately blocking off this place from whatever lay beyond.
“I’ve wandered battlefields for years and seen countless places, but never anything like this.”
Bidler gazed at the cliff and thorns with wonder, then slowly walked closer to examine them.
“Now that I think about it, I remember something from childhood.”
“What?”
“There’s a wall in the Alein Mountain Range that you’re not supposed to cross.”
I’d never heard of this.
“It’s more of a legend—a wall you can’t find even if you search deliberately, that doesn’t appear to everyone, and is supposedly filled with thorny brush taller than a man. I never thought it was real.”
As I turned his words over in my mind, I suddenly froze in place. My head throbbed sharply, and I dropped the basket I’d been holding.
Berries spilled from the overturned basket and scattered across the ground, but my vision had gone dark and I couldn’t reach for them.
Then a memory I’d forgotten came flooding back.
“Mom!! Where are you?! I want to get out of here! Let me out!”
“Rosia? Are you there? Take my hand! Hurry!”
“Mom… I’m scared… Where am I?”
“Close your eyes now and follow my voice. You have to hold my hand! Don’t trust anything but my voice.”
Around me was only endless darkness and grotesque creatures, rotting vegetation.
Somehow, I managed to grip my mother’s hand and barely escape through the brush.
“Rosia, didn’t I tell you never to go near the brush? How did you get past it?”
“I don’t know…”
I couldn’t remember how, but I knew I’d faced something terrifying. I wept, and my mother pulled me close, whispering.
“Promise me you’ll never cross the brush again. This is an oath between us. Do you understand? All of this is to protect you.”
What are these memories?
A dream? Or merely hallucinations? No, that’s not it. These are real memories from my childhood that I’d forgotten.
“…Rosia!! Come to your senses!”
At the sound of my name, my eyes flew open. Only then did my floating body regain its connection to reality.
Lifting my head, I saw Bidler kneeling below me, gripping both my shoulders firmly with his hands.
“Are you alright? What happened?”
I tried to push away his arms that held my shoulders and stand up, but my legs wouldn’t obey.
‘I crossed that wall once when I was young.’
Though I’d forgotten, the memory was clearly from my own childhood—it was gradually returning.
I didn’t know how I’d crossed it, how I’d come back, or what I’d seen beyond it.
But after that one conversation with my mother, I’d completely erased the memory and never crossed the wall again.
‘Did I take a drug too? Like Seniel?’
Forgetting specific memories completely was impossible without medication. I hadn’t recalled any of it until now.
As I sat bewildered, wondering what had happened, Bidler placed the back of his hand against my forehead. His ice-cold touch snapped me back to awareness.
“Your forehead is burning. If you’re unwell, lean on me.”
With that, he turned to show me his back.

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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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