If he wanted, Taichi could prepare more quality snacks and tea to offer his customers.
“I’m glad you’re so pleased with your order. Feel free to relax here and enjoy yourselves.”
“We will, thanks.”
Taichi bobbed his head and returned to his spot behind the counter. He didn’t want to take up their time by chatting when they could instead be interacting with the bunnies. If he was going to snag regulars, he needed the people here to develop a true appreciation for fluffy creatures.
After a little while, one of the Berry Bunnies hopped all the way over to Arle and leaped up onto her lap, settling there. She drew in a sharp breath. Arle hadn’t expected any of the monsters to get this close. It was so unexpected that she struggled to digest the situation for a few seconds.
Grise and Nina were preoccupied with cuddling and showering affection on the bunnies that had crowded around them. They weren’t even paying attention to Arle.
Arle drew in a long, deep breath and stroked the top of the bunny’s head. “Oh my...” Her heart stuttered at the soft, silky sensation of its fur on her fingers. This was far more addictive than she’d expected.
She huffed. “I-I suppose you can sit on my lap, so long as no one is looking!” Having made her declaration, she stroked the bunny again, realizing this would be far more relaxing than she’d ever hoped for.
The Berry Bunnies had no trouble at all capturing the hearts of the three adventurers.
✦ ✦ ✦
After seeing the way Grise and his group mates reacted to the monsters in the café, Taichi realized just how novel the concept of his café really was.
A thought occurred to him. “If I could provide some light meals on my menu, I may be able to get customers to stay longer.”
He opened the following day without any sign of customers coming. He retreated to his kitchen and began to contemplate: What could he do to improve his menu? The kitchen was furnished with whatever he might need, since the previous owner used the place as a mess hall. The only issue was that Taichi had no culinary skills.
“I was always so busy with work that my meals consisted mostly of cup ramen and whatever I could get at the local convenience store...or, if I was lucky, at the neighborhood lunch box vendor.”
There wasn’t enough free time for him to cook for himself. If he ever did have a spare moment, it was spent catching up on sleep.
“Oh, I wonder if raw egg on rice would work. Some restaurants back in Japan focused solely on that,” Taichi muttered.
Would the people of this world be open to eating such a thing? The more he thought about it, he started to realize he hadn’t even seen rice since coming here.
“Huh.”
Maybe rice wasn’t a staple food in this region. The only other simple dish he could think of was sandwiches. All he had to do was toast the bread, toss some veggies on it, and serve. Even a novice like him could manage that much.
“Or I could use my Interdimensional Shopping skill to purchase pre-packaged food.”
He’d frequently eaten pre-packaged food since becoming a corporate drone. It was an easy way to have delicious pasta or curry, and there were all kinds of options. If he considered the kind of light meals most cafés in Japan offered, the first things to come to mind were omelet rice and Napolitan pasta, in part because he liked them so much himself.
“Hmm, but omelet rice may be too difficult for me.”
Taichi wasn’t confident that he could make the dish as melt-in-your-mouth delicious as it should be. If there were microwaves in this world, he could pop a frozen omelet rice in and serve, but electricity didn’t exist.
“I guess tomorrow morning I should go into the city and see if there’s anything good I can use.”
✦ ✦ ✦
As soon as the next day arrived, Taichi set off with Luke in the morning to visit the city market. The Berry Bunnies were to stay at the café and behave themselves.
The market was in the southwestern part of the city, which made it pretty close to Taichi’s business. Fresh vegetables and eggs were out on display, along with meat and freshwater fish. Several people lined up to purchase their breakfast at stalls with freshly baked bread and other premade food.
Unfortunately, none of the stalls offered rice. I’ll need to use my skill and add rice to my grocery list. He wouldn’t need vegetables and meat in any large quantity, so he could simply stop by in the morning and buy more when necessary.
As he and Luke were strolling past another stall, Luke barked, “Wait.” His nose wiggled, catching a scent in the air. “Taichi, I’m famished. Let’s purchase some of that grilled meat over there.”
“Huh? Well, I guess I haven’t eaten either... Sure, why not.” Taichi bought two meat skewers from the man at the stall, then found a bench so they could sit and eat. The moment he took a bite, juice exploded in his mouth. The meat was so tender and almost seemed to melt on his tongue. “Mm, this is good!”
“Hold it right there, Taichi! Present my portion!” Luke groused at him.
“Yes, yes.” Tachi held out the other skewer for the wolf, who eagerly snapped up the meat from it, his cheeks inflating as he chewed. “Mm... I suppose it’s edible!”
“Really? Just edible?” I think it’s delicious. Maybe he’s a picky gourmet?
“The food you made me before was far better than this! You should make me some more of that Dragon Steak.”
Taichi froze, cheeks flushing. “Y-yeah, sure.” Luke was always so cold that the sudden compliment threw Taichi off. If Luke was that pleased by his cooking, he would have to put some more effort into making dishes for Luke.
Hold on. I’ve got the Bottomless Bag. I can buy as much as I want and store it without it going bad, can’t I? That might help take the pain out of hunting down ingredients.
While Taichi was busy strategizing in his head, someone called out to him, “Wow! What an adorable pup you’ve got there!” When he turned to look at her, she said, “Hi! I’m Hymeria. Is this your tamed monster?” Hymeria was an adorable young woman.
I’m guessing she’s old enough to be in high school or so?
Hymeria seemed anxious to pet Luke. Her hair was a vibrant pink, pulled into low buns by a couple of ribbons. She had large yellow eyes, which filled with a deep curiosity as she watched Taichi and his wolf. She was clad in a blue sundress with a white robe pulled over it, giving the impression that she was some sort of mage.
“I’m Taichi, a Tamer. This is indeed my tamed monster and partner, Luke.”
Hymeria beamed at him. “How interesting! It’s nice to meet you, Taichi and Luke. Say, would you mind if I pet him?”
Taichi glanced at Luke. “Are you okay with it?”
Luke sniffed. “No.”
Whoa. Taichi could scarcely believe Luke would turn down the opportunity to have such a cute girl touch him, but then again, they weren’t the same species. Yeah. I bet he prefers female Fenrir over humans. As for Taichi, he would be delighted if he were popular with female Fenrir, even if they were different species. Namely because it would give him the opportunity to nuzzle and cuddle them, and what could be better than that?