Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 70

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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 heir to the Dark Guild.
Chapter 70
***
That afternoon.
An unexpected visitor walked into the shop.
I was washing cups after a rush of customers when a bell chimed at the door.
“Welcome.”
“Do you remember me?”
The man had a dignified bearing and wore the robes of a temple priest.
The moment I saw his face, I recalled when he’d called Cayden in the Village and taken him to the Temple.
“Yes. You’re a priest, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. I’ve heard rumors about the Village lately, so I thought I’d stop by.”
He introduced himself as Doleais and took a seat by the window.
“What can I get you?”
“I’ll have this. Today’s juice.”
I moved to the counter to prepare the drink.
As I made the juice with pre-cut apples and pulp, I observed Doleais from the corner of my eye.
He was glancing around, examining the shop interior carefully.
“I was shocked when I heard a shop had opened near the Temple. It’s not exactly a location where a shop should exist, is it? Honestly, I suspected there might be another purpose, but it seems it’s just a shop.”
There was a barb hidden in his words.
Sensing his disdain for the shop, I gave a casual response.
“You could certainly see it that way.”
“For the shop to thrive so well that visitors flock to the Village… quite impressive management.”
“Enjoy your drink.”
Whatever Doleais said, I smiled and set the finished juice in front of him.
“The flavor is excellent. I even feel as though my body is being cleansed. Now I understand why the shop does so well.”
“Everyone says the water here tastes wonderful.”
The efficacy in the drinks surely came from the holy water flowing nearby.
I was curious what reaction Doleais would have, given he likely knew about the Sacred Realm.
But he simply nodded without further comment, and the moment passed unremarkably.
“How long have you been in the Village?”
“About six years. I was the last to be stationed here.”
So he wouldn’t know that this used to be a shop before.
‘Wait.’
A thought struck me mid-conversation with Doleais.
“Was there a Temple in the Village that burned down ten years ago?”
“Of course.”
“Then might I be able to meet the priest who was serving there at the time?”
If there was a priest whose tenure overlapped with when my parents ran the shop, they might remember something.
Desperate to find any trace of my mother, my eyes lit up with excitement.
“What’s this about?”
“There’s something I really need to know. Please.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
My excitement died instantly at his firm refusal.
“All the priests from that time perished in the fire. Including the High Priest.”
“…I see. Then is there any way to find a list of the priests who worked at that Temple?”
“I’m afraid such records aren’t available for casual review. Especially not to outsiders. I’m sorry I cannot be of help.”
“No, please. I’m the one who imposed an unreasonable request. I apologize.”
Though disappointed, I didn’t abandon hope—I’d find records another way later.
“The Temple must have suffered great damage, so there was an investigation committee convened. Was the cause of the fire ever determined?”
“You’re quite interested in the fire.”
Doleais fixed me with a gaze that had grown even more penetrating.
Perhaps because he was a man who’d long served the divine, merely being looked at by him induced a peculiar pressure.
“It was caused by Explosion Magic inscribed on a Magical Stone. The culprit destroyed the evidence, but so much was used that fragments remained scattered about.”
“Then shouldn’t you be able to identify who was behind it?”
“Unfortunately, we could never trace the source of the Magical Stones.”
Someone deliberately set a fire large enough to obliterate an entire Village?
And the culprit was never caught—it just passed unresolved. There were too many things that didn’t add up.
As I pondered the fire, Doleais spoke again, his voice calm.
“You’re quite close to Cayden, aren’t you?”
“Yes. We get along well.”
“Since this shop opened, I’ve noticed he smiles quite often.”
“Often? Didn’t he used to smile before?”
“I hadn’t seen him smile in years.”
I found it hard to believe that Cayden, who’d smiled freely in front of me from the start, hadn’t smiled for so long.
The image of Cayden came to mind—his melancholic face as he’d confessed to the deep darkness within him.
“I’m glad Cayden has recovered his smile, but… I wish this shop would disappear.”
“Pardon?”
At his sudden rudeness, I lifted my head from where I’d been lost in thought.
“This is for the greater good. Having so many people coming and going on this mountain is not beneficial.”
Doleais continued, his eyes reflecting a gravity I hadn’t seen until then.
“I don’t want to shake Cayden’s resolve. He is a very important person to our Temple.”
Now that he’d finally started smiling, and you want to rob him of even that?
His coldness angered me, but I hid it.
I had learned about the fire, so the conversation wasn’t entirely fruitless. I stood.
“You’re free to speak your mind, and I’m free to listen. Thank you for the information. Enjoy your drink at your leisure.”
Doleais drank his juice without further comment, as if he understood.
He sat quietly for a while longer, then left the shop.
Hours later.
Cayden arrived with dinner he’d prepared.
Waiting for him, I immediately rushed over and gently embraced his shoulders.
“R-Rosia? W-what’s wrong?”
Apparently, this was my first time embracing him, because Cayden stammered.
His voice trembled with surprise and bewilderment.
I released him and rose up on my toes to gently ruffle his hair.
“You work so hard.”
“Today’s strange, isn’t it? But I like it. From now on, always greet me like this.”
“Sure. Wake up now.”
Even as I talked with Cayden, resentment at Doleais churned inside me.
Not only had they left him alone in this mountain to deal with Demonic Beasts, but now they wanted to steal away the smile he’d barely found.
‘This is too much.’
No matter how noble the cause, I resented a Temple that saw sacrifice as inevitable.
If they wanted me to close the shop, it only made me more determined to keep it running longer.
***
A few days later,
I was having a busy day with customers arriving from morning.
Cayden came too, working beside me as an assistant.
Ring.
As the door opened, the bell hanging at the entrance chimed loudly.
I was slicing strawberries with a knife to fill an order when I heard the sound and looked up.
“Welcome.”
“Oh my, there’s a shop here? I was taking a walk and stumbled upon it by chance. The exterior looked so lovely, I just had to come in.”
I calmly surveyed the dingy shop with its worn furniture that looked ready to collapse and the dim interior lit only by the window.
“I’m sorry, but we have no available seats.”
It was true.
Even the five tables—two more than before—were packed with customers.
Young noblewomen dressed in elaborate finery occupied each seat, sipping their drinks with refined grace.
“Oh no… Could I perhaps… share a table?”
The newly arrived noblewoman cried out pitifully, as though she might burst into tears any moment, but none of the other customers met her eyes.
“Unfortunately, the other guests don’t seem to wish for it.”
“But I came from so far away…”
“Didn’t you say you stumbled upon this place by chance?”
“Oh, your memory is excellent. Hehe. I’m actually the second daughter of Count Edria’s household…”
As the noblewoman whispered softly to me, the other women in the shop suddenly flashed their Identity Badges at her, and she quickly changed the subject.
“Um, by the way, where does Seniel usually sit? What’s Seniel’s favorite drink?”
Apparently she’d abandoned any pretense, because her eyes sparkled as she peppered me with questions.
I ignored her and turned my attention back to the cutting board.
“Seniel doesn’t come here.”
“I know all about it. It was hard-won information that cost me dearly.”
She kept talking and showed no sign of leaving, and I was wondering how to get rid of her when
Ring.
the door to the shop opened again.
And the one who entered was none other than the very person drawing these pilgrim customers.
“Eeek, eeeek!!”
“To see Seniel in person like this… I can die happy now.”
Pale, nearly translucent skin with blood visible beneath; fine, elegant features carved from marble.
Soft silver hair cascading to his neck that accentuated his complexion, and deep blue eyes that made such a reaction inevitable.
‘Of all the timing, why are you showing up in person!?’
Every customer in the shop was a devoted fan of this very Seniel.
“Sis! I’m here!”
I smiled brightly and caught Seniel as he rushed toward me, pulling him behind the counter.
“What’s wrong? I told you not to come during the day.”
“I had business nearby and was passing by. But…”
Seniel paused briefly, then glared at Cayden, who was quietly preparing a drink in the corner.
“Why is that guy here again? Priests should be praying in temples, not hanging around! Wait, he actually is a priest?”

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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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