CH 86

“By the way, did you make a reservation with Margherita?” The Hero dressed as an apprentice thief was having a casual conversation with the Demon Lord dressed as a farmer calling himself Berudeus.

“Ah, of course. I have to wait until the afternoon three days from now though.” The Demon Lord was casually giving away his plans to the Hero.

“How strange, I also made a reservation for Marilyn three days from now first thing in the afternoon.” And the Hero was casually giving away his plans to the Demon Lord.

“Well then I look forward to seeing you there.”

“Yes, I’ll look forward to it.”

“By the way, the other day, I asked Margherita to do this great skill called the Camel Clutch, and it felt so good I thought I was going to die.” The Demon Lord was more than happy to talk about his little plays.

“Rather than that, if I’m going to die, then it would be best to be smothered by Marilyn’s chest.” The Hero responded to the Demon Lord’s little provocation with his own story.

And in this way, rather than going home like the two of them had originally planned, the Hero and the Demon Lord sat down at the bar counter keeping each other busy.

“Hm, you, what are you doing in this place?”

As he was about to leave, the Demon Lord noticed Berudeus at the entrance of the shop. He had already said farewell to the Hero and Margherita had seen him off with a smile.

“I took off after you My Demon Lord. By the way My Demon Lord, I hear that you have been using my name while you are here.”

Berudeus whispered into the Demon Lord’s ear so as no nearby humans could hear them. The Demon Lord apologized shortly after, but judging by his tone, he didn’t really care.

“Yeah sorry. I can’t remember my real name.”

“I don’t mind. Instead, call me Beruiel while we are here.”

“…….What’s up with you?”

“I thoroughly enjoyed myself with the games inside, so if you don’t mind, I would like to come with you whenever you come down here.”

“That’s fine, but I won’t be coming here next time. I’ll be at the bath next door.”

“Then I’ll wait for you here when I’m finished.”

Thus, in three days, it was decided that Berudeus would be accompanying the Demon Lord on his trips to Warren.

“Keel, did you wait long?” The Hero loudly called out to his party member when he saw him in the distance, calling him the pseudonym they had decided on earlier.

“No, I just got here as well Gise.” Gise called back to the Hero, calling him by his own name.

“How was the bath?”

“I think it is far more comfortable than the pleasure you were describing, and I found a good store nearby.”

“I see, that’s great.”

Gise then brought his face closer and started whispering in Gray’s ear.

“Hey Gray, would you let me come with you whenever you travel here? I promise not to disturb you.”

“It would actually be encouraging for me if you came with, but what about the idiots?”

“I might be able to find a guard to babysit them. Well, at the very least, they should be able to keep themselves busy so long as we give them a little money to play with.”

“Alright. Then how about the next time we have to spend the night in a labyrinth, the two of us sneak out when we are making camp?”

In this way, the Hero Gray and the thief Gise would leap back to Wisdom having decided to return to Warren in three days after throwing some pocket money at the three idiots.

A few days later.

It was the Steamed Kitchen’s opening day, and Ellis and the others were heading over to visit. The cat-girl Mati, dog-girl Labra, and the rabbit-girl Rave all met them at the front door.

“Welcome nya. Be sure to eat lots today nya.”

“Welcome everyone. I will carry your food to you momentarily.”

“Hello noda. Eat a lot noda.”

The five were guided to their table in one corner of the store. Their first dish came out almost immediately as if they had been expected.

Thinly cut chicken strips arranged with raw chopped vegetables. It was accompanied by several muffins crepes as well.

The steam fish fillet dish came along with some bean jam.

The steam meat fillets were ground together with vegetables before being covered with sweet and sour sauce.

“We worked with Shin and Nonna’s shop and made this as well nya.”

What Mati pulled out was a bun-sized manju that could be eaten in one bite. Product name: Warren specialty steamed bread. When you pop one in your mouth, warm soup spills out from inside. As the five of them started sampling the dishes, Labra started explaining a few things.

“We talked to Ken and Hanna and along with all the other shops in the area, and we decided to sell main courses for meals mostly here.”

“Yeah, that’s good,” Ellis told her.

As more and more shops begin to open up they, especially the food shops, will end up competing against each other if they don’t consult with one another in advance. It is a system where they can cooperate together and avoid direct competition.

“Then you should put out pudding as dessert at the end of the meal!” Claire rose up out of her chair and started yelling with her hand held high. “If you promise to let me eat it once a day, I will give you a cooling box for free!”

After one-sidedly throwing out an offer, Claire made a face as if she suddenly remembered something. Moving closer to Ellis, Claire leaned over and started whispering in her ear. “Cooling stone please,” she whispered.

“I guess it can’t be helped,” Ellis sighed. If Cross Town grows, Ellis Finance should grow right along with it.

While the five of them were enjoying their meal, a large group of women walked into the store.

“Can you seat 12 people?”

The one at the head of the group was Machel.

“We can prepare two tables for six people each,” Labra told them with a bow before guiding them to their seats.

“Evening Machel.”

Ellis called out to Machel as the ladies started taking their seats. Machel was surprised at first when she saw Ellis and the others, but she quickly walked over to them and greeted them with a large smile.

“Good evening members of the Jewelry Box! Because the shop is closed today, I came out to have a meal with all the other assistants! Matilda received a 200,000 ril tip on her first day from a customer, so today is her treat!”

Machel spoke a little louder than Ellis ever thought she she could, and her bright smile never budged. Matilda was sitting in a chair behind her, nodding with a somewhat sorry look on her face.

Ellis nodded her head and laughed. This would be a good trend she figured. Apart from Machel, none of the assistants were members of the Thieves’ Guild, and Masters’ Hideaway paid them relatively low wages because of the tips they get from the games.

This will naturally cause variations in paychecks, and too large of a gap could leave some girls in the lurch. So a few parties like this should help those girls out a bit.

“The courses here are really healthy and tasty. I’m sure you’ll love it.” Frau spoke up here and praised the store’s cooking. The fact that the menu was entirely made by her was something she conveniently forgot to mention though. Well, the 12 women looked like they liked what they were smelling at least.

Hm?

Something finally hit Ellis.

If Matilda received 200,000 ril, that means she received 200,000 ril worth of chips. In Warren Dice, the highest possible bid is 10,000 ril, so the most money you could win is 360,000 in one hand.

So she got it from someone playing Warren Numbers?

“Hey Matilda, was that tip from someone playing dealer in Warren Numbers?”

“As expected of Miss Ellis, you’re right. It was my first visitor, and everyone besides Master Theseus lost.”

Hoh, besides Buzz and Doug, it’s surprising to hear that the other veterans were so thoroughly beaten. Ellis’s interest was piqued, but Matilda had more to tell.

“I actually saw him again four days ago. The place was quiet, so I thought I was going to go home disappointed that day. But that one person won so much after just one game and then gave me 30,000 ril worth of chips.”

Ellis was convinced.

“Did you get his name?”

“Yes, he uses the same name as the Angel of Roses, Beruiel. Although, other guests have started calling him the Rosen Angel.”

“If he comes to the shop again, could you let us know?”

“Sure Miss Ellis. But, is there a problem?”

Machel broke into the conversation looking a little worried there might be trouble.

“Oh don’t worry. It sounds like a wonderful thing, I just thought that it would be interesting if he and Reeve played one another.”

The assistants broke out into jubilant cheer at the thought.

“Well, if it’s Reeve, she just might be able to win.”

“I mean, I want her to win by all means.”

“It would be painful for us if he stopped coming because Reeve beats him too bad thought.”

They were a nice group of girls, but they loved to blurt out arbitrary things.

“Thank you for waiting nano.”

In the meantime, all of their food had finished cooking, and it was time to eat.

“Mother, what’s the matter?”

This was the Jewelry Box Tea Room. It was past closing time, and Aiful and Credia were busy cleaning up the place.

“It’s nothing Credia. Well, how about we finish up the cleaning quickly today and splurge a little. We’ll eat out at the Steamed Kitchen tonight. They invited us over after all.”

Aiful was just a little off, and it was worrying Credia.

The truth was, someone had actually asked Aiful for a relationship under the premise of marriage.

It was Buzz. A nice adventurer, but he was eight years younger than her.

“I’m embarrassed, even though I’m still just getting used to my life here.” Aiful was talking to herself, but she didn’t hate the idea. She had been forced into her previous marriage, and after Lake and Credia had been born, she had been mostly forgotten. This would be the first time she saw someone due to love if she accepted.

“First as friends, right.”

Although she was more than a little happy at the idea.

In this way, Cross Town continued to move forward.