“Kree?”
“That’s odd...” Taichi glanced at Luke for answers, since the bunny wasn’t using words like Luke.
“Berry Bunnies aren’t very intelligent animals,” Luke explained, striding closer. “They don’t understand language the way a human does. Though, if you make a concerted effort, perhaps it could learn.”
“Interesting. Guess that goes to show how amazing you are, Luke.” Taichi slung his arm around Luke, giving him an affectionate hug. Ahh, he’s so soft!
“H-hey now!” snapped Luke. “You shouldn’t touch me so freely!”
“Because I’m a proud Fenrir,” Taichi finished for him, their voices overlapping together.
Luke gasped in dismay.
“C’mon. You’ve said it so many times. It’s only natural I’ve memorized it.”
A subtle blush colored Luke’s cheeks, his tail wagging merrily behind him. He was embarrassed, but he was clearly pleased at how well Taichi had come to understand him, and how Taichi showed him the same affection he’d been giving to the Berry Bunny.
Taichi, Luke, and Marshmallow were all grinning and enjoying their time together when the grass nearby rustled. Two new Berry Bunnies poked their heads out.
“Oh, wonderful! Tame! And...Tame!” Taichi snagged these two in quick succession, his taming succeeding easily. “Looks like you guys come in all sorts of colors. Let’s name the brown one Papaya, and the white and black speckled one Oreo!”
“Kree.”
“Kree!”
They both cried happily as if they were pleased with their names and hopped closer. In no time at all, Taichi had ascended to fluffy paradise.
“Ah, this is wonderful.”
“Kree.”
The bunnies took an immediate liking to him, happily bouncing.
Again, the shrubbery rustled as even more bunnies emerged. It was as if they were born to shower Taichi with their love, for the moment they spotted him, they bounded over.
“Great! Tame, Tame, Tame!”
In a manner of seconds, he’d tamed three more and gave them names too.
“How many of these things do you plan to tame?” Luke grumbled in exasperation.
How could Taichi possibly resist taming any of the adorable, cuddly bunnies that came to him?!
Another rustle sounded.
“Tame!”
Luke sighed. This didn’t seem like it would end any time soon.
✦ ✦ ✦
Once Taichi finished taming the Berry Bunnies that would act as personnel at his café, he picked his way back to Rellim. The bunnies formed a line behind him, hopping along and calling out in their adorable voices all the way. This time, Taichi was confident he would have an easy time entering the city, since he had a personal ID in the form of his Tamers’ Guild card. Little did he know...
“Wh-what’s with all the Berry Bunnies?!” cried the guard, holding up a hand to stop Taichi from walking straight through the gate.
Taichi didn’t understand what was so shocking about it. Few as they might be, this world had other Tamers besides him. Nonetheless, he plucked his guild card out and flashed it. “I’m a Tamer,” he said. “This wolf and the ten Berry Bunnies are my tamed monsters. As long as they obey me, there should be no problem with us entering the city, right?” That was his understanding from the last time he’d entered. Plus, the Berry Bunnies were significantly less dangerous than Luke.
The guard’s mouth twitched, as if he didn’t quite agree with Taichi’s rationalization. “Of course we allow monsters in if they’re tamed, but I thought the number of beasts a Tamer could tame was contingent upon their skill level. Am I wrong?”
“Oh, uh...” Taichi stiffened. All of my skills are level infinite.
He understood that since each skill had a level listed, it stood to reason that skills would offer more the higher level they were. And here I thought increased skill only improved one’s success in taming. Apparently, the skill level was also proportional to the number of tamed pets one could have.
“Uh, but these are all weak monsters. So it’s not anything out of the ordinary,” Taichi tried to insist, hoping the guard would buy his made-up excuse.
“R-really? Hm, but I guess that could be. I have no idea what skill level you need to command that many monsters at once. Maybe it does work that way.”
“Yeah, exactly!” Taichi nodded vigorously. “This is how it works. Also, it’s possible that my skill level was boosted because I tamed so many weak monsters.”
“Huh.” The guard shrugged. “Makes sense to me.”
Despite how unconvincing Taichi’s argument was, the guard seemed satisfied enough with it. Relieved to have that out of the way, Taichi hurried to the Tamers’ Guild. Chartelle expressed the same shock as the guard but nonetheless registered them all with the guild. Taichi dropped by the Commerce Guild afterward to notify them he would be opening for business. Afterward, he headed home.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Listen up, you neophytes. This beanbag chair belongs to me,” Luke growled.
“Kree.”
“Kree!”
Upon their return, Luke parked himself on top of the beanbag chair. He must really love it.
“You sure have staked your claim,” said Taichi. “Not that I mind.”
“Of course I have. This is the pinnacle of sleep furniture!” Luke’s nostrils flared with a sharp exhale.
Taichi chuckled at him. “I’m glad you like it so much.”
The Berry Bunnies began settling into the café space as well, immediately treating it like home despite their cautious nature. Taichi assumed that was because he’d tamed them. Some, like Luke, found a cushion to sleep on, while others bounced around energetically.
Yes, perfect. They’re all cute as can be!
With so many fluffy creatures populating the café, he was ready to open whenever! Well, not quite, actually. There was one more necessary component he had to add first: a menu for his customers.
There was just one problem with that: This world lacked the breadth of tea varieties that Japan had. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true—they were a luxury good, which made them expensive. There were cheaper alternatives, but the taste was...questionable, to say the least. The mainstays in this world were water, fruit-infused water, or some sort of alcoholic beverage.
“I refuse to offer my customers unappetizing drinks!” Taichi declared with great resolve. “Which means I’m going to have to use that one special skill to circumvent this issue!”
There were a number of personal skills he had yet to use, in fact.
“All right, it’s your time to shine, Interdimensional Shopping!”
Interdimensional Shopping was one of the personal skills the cat god had bestowed upon Taichi. It was an extremely unique skill which allowed him to request groceries from Japan.
As soon as he used it, a memo pad and pen popped up in front of him. The words Grocery List were written at the top, with five dots to indicate where he should list the items he wanted. This indicated he could only request five at a time.
“Hmm, I’ll need some instant green tea, Earl Grey teabags, instant coffee, cookies, and chocolate.”
That should be enough for his menu for the time being. When he settled into the job, he could add soda, orange juice, and some other options.
“Maybe I can even offer a drink bar in the future? Nah, that’d probably be too difficult,” Taichi muttered, chuckling to himself.
The memo pad and pen disappeared right out of his hands. I assume that means it’s gone off to the cat god? It was Taichi’s first time using the skill, so he wasn’t entirely sure how it worked. He sat there for a minute waiting, but nothing happened. There was nothing productive about sitting and waiting. He decided to continue working on his menu instead.
“Create menu!” Taichi said, activating his skill.
If he made individual menus to put on each table, the critters in the room were likely to play with them and knock them off. He settled instead on one he could mount on the wall. He made the sign in the shape of an animal and placed it on the wall beside the counter that would act as his front register.
The sign read:
MENU
- DRINKS: 700 CHEL -
GREEN TEA: HOT OR ICED
COFFEE: HOT OR ICED
BLACK TEA: HOT OR ICED
- SNACKS: 300 CHEL -
COOKIES
CHOCOLATE
The menu was simple, he realized, but since he was the only human worker here, he thought it was more than enough to start.
With perfect timing, the groceries he’d requested appeared right in front of him, tucked inside a plastic bag. He rummaged through it to find every item he’d requested. There was even a receipt, which showed a final price of twenty-eight hundred yen, along with “2,800 Chel” scribbled beside it.
“How am I supposed to pay this?” Taichi wondered. He retrieved his wallet from his bag, and the coins disappeared on their own. The cat god had taken the necessary amount for himself.
“Oh, um... Thank you, Cat God!”
Taichi thought he heard a faint meow in response.