The next day, Taichi added the item Bunny Cookie Treats to his menu for thirty Chel.
“Oh? What’s this?”
The three adventurers—Grise, Nina, and Arle—dropped in for a visit. They had started frequenting the café. They were in the midst of ordering their drinks when they paused, curious about the new menu addition.
“Aha!” Taichi declared triumphantly. “I was hoping you would notice. I had previously prohibited customers from giving any treats to the monsters here, but now you can buy these and feed them!” As he explained the system, Nina’s eyes immediately lit up.
“That settles it! I want some of those treats!”
“Me too!” joined in Grise.
While the two eagerly added the new item to their orders, Arle strode off toward the sofa, head held high like she was above it all. “I only want my black tea.”
Nina stuck out her bottom lip at Arle. “You could buy some and feed the bunnies too. This is the perfect chance to cozy up to them.”
Arle simply said, “Not interested.”
Nina and Grise gave her a long-suffering smile. “You say that, but you’ve never been opposed to coming here,” said Nina.
“That’s simply because the drinks are delicious. Why would I refuse?”
Nina and Grise shrugged her off and preoccupied themselves with the bunnies. Since their group came so regularly, the bunnies readily approached them.
I’d better hurry and get their drinks and treats ready! Thankfully, all he had to do was boil some water, since his drink menu was so simple. I’m still not ready to add more drinks. That was partly because he was the only staff member working here, and partly because he felt like what he had was plenty. Adding more would only cause more work for him and potentially wear him out.
Taichi finished their drinks and grabbed a couple bags of cookies before returning to the main floor. Grise and Nina rushed to him as if they’d been waiting anxiously the whole time.
“Here you are,” he said. “Do be careful. They get a little excited and might swarm you the second you open the bags of treats.”
“Hm? Sure, sure!” Grise answered absently.
He’s underestimating them. True to the sinking feeling in Taichi’s stomach, Grise knelt and snapped the bag open without hesitation, completely ignoring the warning. The bunnies charged at him with voracious hunger.
“Whoooooa!” Grise staggered back. The bunnies didn’t care about him, though; their attention was locked onto the open bag.
“Kree kree!”
“Kree!”
Having snatched their prize from him, the bunnies munched eagerly, cheeks swelling. In the blink of an eye, they’d inhaled all the cookies Grise had.
“Wow, that’s some kind of appetite,” said Nina. “But good for you, Grise. That’ll be the first and last time you’re ever this popular with anyone. Or anything.”
“Yikes, don’t curse me like that! I don’t want this to be my last time!”
“Aha ha!”
“I want to stay popular!” cried Grise.
Nina cackled at him. “I think I’ll feed them slowly, one at a time.” She opened her bag more stealthily and lured the bunnies in slowly. Only a few on the fringe of the crowd that had surrounded Grise noticed her invitation, which made for a much calmer feeding session.
“Huh. There’s more technique to this than I thought,” Grise muttered to himself as he watched her.