Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 94

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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 Dark Guild’s successor.
Chapter 94
“It feels good to have someone worry about me after so long. And because it’s you, Rosia, it means even more. This is the first time being sick has felt like a blessing.”
I regarded Cayden with sympathy.
The childhood he’d once told me about surfaced in my mind, and my chest tightened with ache.
“I’ll worry about you even if you’re not sick. So… please don’t get sick.”
“I will. You too, Rosia.”
I smiled along with Cayden’s spirited reply, but the energy gnawing at his body weighed on my heart.
If only I knew what it was, I could help. But he doesn’t seem to want me to know, so I can’t ask further.
For now, all I can do for Cayden is…….
“It’ll be lunchtime soon. Let’s have meat. I’ll grill it for you.”
“Again? Meat again?”
Cayden’s bright expression hardened abruptly.
Yesterday morning, afternoon, and evening. And this morning too—I’d brought him meat…. Was he tired of it already?
“There’s still plenty left. And you need to eat well, don’t you? There’s nothing better than meat.”
“…All right.”
Still, he needed to eat well for his body’s strength to return. This was all I could offer.
As I walked back along the mountain path toward the shop, I felt a gaze watching me from afar.
‘Watching again today.’
The man who appeared to be one of those gangsters I’d seen yesterday followed me relentlessly, his surveillance unabated.
I figured he’d reveal himself by tomorrow, so I left him be and returned to the courtyard with meat and firewood.
I knew all too well how torturous it was for him to hide in these mountains while smelling the meat.
I deliberately fanned the smoke from the grilling meat toward where he was hiding, letting him catch the scent.
***
At the same time.
Robin had been observing Rosia since early morning.
He’d expected her to at least lose some spirit from his threats, but she showed no signs of being shaken at all.
“There won’t be much change by tomorrow either.”
From the way she was doing business as usual and hadn’t packed anything, it didn’t seem like she’d close the shop when tomorrow came.
Whether she had more backbone than her delicate appearance suggested, or whether the gangsters’ threat had simply been too weak, it was a situation that required his personal intervention.
“I’ll watch for one more day, but if she ignores the warning… there’s no helping it. I’ll have to burn it down.”
Robin pulled two objects from his pocket.
One was gunpowder capable of demolishing the shop alone, and the other was an Artifact containing flames so immense it could burn this entire area to ash.
Using the Artifact would certainly be effective, but it would leave far too much evidence behind.
With many customers and a village nearby, it was better to minimize traces, so he decided to bury the gunpowder instead.
Robin held his breath and waited for the right moment to bury the gunpowder.
But why did she keep grilling meat in the front courtyard? And for two days straight, no less.
Rumble.
“I’m… so hungry.”
He could endure everything else, but that smell was driving him to madness.
He swallowed hard, then finally couldn’t hold back any longer and pulled out the convenience food he’d brought for meals.
But chewing the bland, empty food that did nothing but barely fill his stomach only made his sense of futility grow worse.
After that agonizing wait, afternoon came, and Rosia closed the shop early and left the mountain with a horse.
“Is she going to the village?”
Seeing his chance, Robin was about to start work when a cat appeared beside him.
“Meow.”
Robin was about to shoo it away without thinking when his eyes met the cat’s, and his heart dropped cold.
“Uh… what—?!”
His body went rigid and he couldn’t move. While their eyes remained locked, a wave of overwhelming terror washed over him.
After a long while, the pressure released and his body finally obeyed him again—but the cat was already gone.
“What… what was that just now?”
Robin touched his trembling chest, confused about what had just happened to him.
In any case, before following Rosia to the village, he quickly made his way to the courtyard.
After confirming no one was around, he dug into a corner of the back yard.
He buried the gunpowder, covered the earth again, confirmed no trace remained, and pressed it down once more with his foot.
“It’ll detonate in a day. If she’s lucky, she’ll survive. If she’s not… consider it the price of ignoring a warning.”
Robin was a man who kept his word. He’d said two days, so he’d wait until tomorrow, but—
He’d buried the gunpowder with the timer set so that if she didn’t close shop by tomorrow afternoon, it would detonate automatically.
Everything was for his master.
Conjuring Clione’s face in his mind, he purged all guilt completely.
Then he quickly descended the mountain to follow Rosia, who had gone to the village.
***
Shortly after,
Armstrong, exhausted from raising chicks, opened the coop door and stepped into the courtyard.
He wandered around the shop and then entered the forest, where a wild Korean Black Chicken was waiting.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The moment they met, they launched into an affectionate display, their beaks touching.
Rosia had no idea, but this Korean Black Chicken was the father of her chicks.
After an extended bout of affection, Armstrong returned to the chicks but suddenly caught an odd smell from the courtyard.
“Cluck?”
He tilted his head sharply to the side and began circling the area.
Deciding something was wrong, he started scratching at the earth where the smell was coming from.
After a moment, the object Robin had buried was exposed.
“Cluck-cluck?”
The strange smell coming from it made Armstrong shake his head back and forth, and he kicked the object out with his talons.
Then he began pecking at it furiously with his beak.
“Chirp-chirp! Squawk!”
After a while.
Hearing the sound of a chick, Armstrong looked up—but the object was already in shreds, torn to pieces.
Armstrong withdrew his foot, and the object slipped back into the hole.
Hearing the chick’s cries, Armstrong hurried back to the coop.
There, Armstrong’s mate, the Korean Black Chicken, strolled across the courtyard, covered the hole with soil, and trampled it several times until all traces of the excavation vanished completely.
So the bomb Robin had set was destroyed, yet Robin, Rosia, Mason—none of them knew.
***
The next day.
“This should be the day.”
It was the second day since the gangsters had issued their warning, and I waited all morning for them to arrive.
I’d hoped they’d come during a time when there were no customers, but no matter how long I waited, they didn’t show in the morning.
“Are they not coming?”
I looked out the window and scanned the surroundings. I didn’t sense the watchful gaze I’d felt before—no one seemed to be nearby.
I felt disappointed, as I’d wanted to know the identity of whoever had been observing me.
Suddenly, I sensed multiple presences around the Barrier Stone.
“…What is this? Did they come as a group? This could be dangerous.”
Well-trained individuals—several of them, not just one—were approaching, comparable in skill to the person who’d been watching me recently.
It was enough to constitute a small Knights Order, so I tensed and gripped my sword.
Peeking out the window, I saw knights in full Knight’s Armor standing in the courtyard. There looked to be about ten of them.
A knight who appeared to be their leader entered through the shop door.
“Greetings. I’ve been sent by Airin.”
The emblem of Slophan was emblazoned on his chest as he bowed respectfully.
I wondered if Airin had actually sent the gangsters, but I waited to hear what came next.
“We’ve been instructed to retrieve a Recipe.”
At least it wasn’t that.
This made it clear that Juliano wasn’t the one who wanted this shop to close.
“Welcome. I have it prepared.”
I took the Recipe from the drawer and handed it to the knight.
The knight took the single-sheet Recipe and looked confused, flipping it over.
“Is this all?”
“Yes.”
“The… I was also told to bring back ingredients.”
“You can purchase them at a nearby village. That’s where I get mine.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
…….
The knight scratched his forehead, bewilderment filling his eyes.
He must have been shocked to receive Royalty from such a small arrangement. I was shocked too.
In truth, the main ingredient for our shop is water, but knowing it’s special water, I can’t exactly give that away.
The knight who’d received the Recipe seemed uncertain whether this was acceptable, hesitated a moment, then departed with the other knights he’d brought.
“So much of the knights here for just a Recipe and ingredients.”
It seemed odd that they’d send an entire Knights Order just to pick up a Recipe and some materials.
I was thinking just how strange it all was when the knight returned.
“We’ve traveled far and would like to rest a moment. Would it be possible to have a cup of water each?”
“Of course. Come in.”
“We’ll sit outside.”
They insisted on sitting in the yard instead, so I served water to the knights as they gathered around and built a fire in the fireplace.
As I returned to the shop, one of the knights who’d been mixed among the group followed me inside.
“Boss!”
A familiar face appeared as he removed his helmet.
“Oh?”
“Do you remember me?”
This was the knight who’d been training on the mountain all along, and I’d even sent him mail recently.
“Your… your name is…….”
“It’s Daren!”
Daren came toward me with a bright smile, his eyes sparkling.
“I was really shocked. When they called for volunteers to go to Alein Mountain, I applied because I was hoping I might get to see you, Boss. But it turns out our destination was here… I still can’t believe it.”
“Well, congratulations anyway.”
“Hehe. It’s all thanks to you, Boss. I’ve been recommending the shop a lot…….”
“Please don’t.”
“Pardon?”
“Things are going well enough as is. Especially—I’d prefer if you didn’t mention our shop within that Knights Order.”
“Ah, understood.”
Daren nodded in agreement, fully comprehending. His cup had run dry.
“Would you like more water?”
“Yes! I’ve really missed this water.”
As I refilled Daren’s cup, I asked casually.
“You’ll be heading back right away, then?”
“No. We’ll be here a few more days.”
“Why is that?”
“We’re supposed to stop by the shop briefly, then search this mountain. They said there’s something to find… Anyway, it’ll take several more days.”
Daren didn’t realize what he’d just said, but the moment I heard his words, my eyes sharpened.
Now, finally, the vague outline of why Juliano had insisted on this small shop and this business began to crystallize in my mind.

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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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