- Silas -
The next to come in was Cid who directly went to the private rooms after greeting me.
I soon understood the reason for this… or reasons as seven beautiful girls entered the Restaurant together.
I had seen some of them before while some others were new.
They bowed to me too.
"Glad you could all make it here. Cid-kun is… inside but he is… not in his Shadow mode." Oh my goodness, that's weird to say out loud. "So enjoy yourself. Don't mind him." I smiled.
"Thank you for your kindness, Silas-sama." The one in the lead, Alpha was it… bowed once more.
I moved on to the next guests while they went to meet Yuri and Narberal. These girls were getting along quite well.
I guess it was probably their names… both had Alpha in their names.
Well, it doesn't matter as long as they get along.
Next to come were the Ryozanpaku members with Naruto and Kanna running in before anyone else while Miu chased after the two kids.
I greeted them and they took their seats, in the same corner where all martial artists in the Restaurant gathered.
Tohru's friends came next and Fafnir just nodded to me before leaving for the room with the rest of the gamers.
I wasn't offended however.
The fact that the guy even nodded to me was already saying a lot. This was the same guy who wanted to kill me the first thing after seeing me a few days ago.
Greeting me with a nod… that was already huge progress.
Lucoa-san on the other hand was happy to return and greeted me with a lot of enthusiasm. I showed her a place at an empty table.
Bang-san, his brother and friend also came and took a seat with the Martial Artist group.
Next, two groups entered back to back.
Kisuke-san came with his own friends, a new group of people I had never seen before. I didn't see Ichigo or that Rukia girl anywhere however. Orihime did tell me that they have some tests. She had left early for Tatsuki's house to study for it and will be coming later.
"Woah Silas-kun… this is a grand party you are throwing. Congratulations." He greeted me with a laugh.
"Thank you, Kisuke-san. Are they your friends?" I asked, looking at the group.
"Oh yes. They found us coming to the Restaurant and joined in. I hope it won't be a problem. Seriously, these guys have no sense of propriety at all."
"You are one to talk about propriety, you shady candy store owner." A blonde girl in a red tracksuit said with a scowl.
"Ahahahaha Hiyori-chan, so cruel."
I smiled at their interaction. This guy really had the talent of annoying anyone. Still, it doesn't change the fact that he has helped us a lot. "No, there won't be any problems. Please enjoy yourself."
"So this is the place you have been hiding, Kisuke." Another blonde guy with straight cut hair and slightly big front teeth said looking around the place. "If Yoruichi hadn't told us, we wouldn't even know."
"Right? Can you believe it? He hid this place from me for so long." Yoruichi spoke from the arms of another girl… or woman… dressed in a sailor uniform. She had a pony tail and was wearing glasses.
Hey… I am not one to judge.
My best friends are a skeleton, a slime and a bald hero who plays video games all day.
I have seen enough weird things in my life in the past few months to not be phased by this now.
Kisuke introduced them to me one by one.
They were his former colleagues and seemed like an interesting bunch to be honest.
"Please enjoy the party. Would you like a personal room for your group?" I asked.
"Oh no. This is fine for us." Kisuke denied.
"Good, then pick any tables. I will send someone to serve you all."
They took a table in one of the corners of the Restaurant while Ikki, who was with their group, waited back to meet the Ryozanpaku masters and talk with them.
Next up, was the group from Alvarez.
Zeref-san, Irene-san and August-sensei hadn't returned from their trip yet so it was only Brandish and Dimaria who went to Lavy as soon as they entered and later joined the kids group.
The number of kids in the Restaurant was growing bit by bit.
And speaking of kids, the next ones to arrive were the people from the Jujutsu Academy led by Gojo-san.
"Silas-kun!" Gojo-san greeted everyone in his own way as soon as he entered the Restaurant. Behind him Yuji also waved at me, looking far better this time.
Nanami-sensei and Shouko-san were also with them.
"This is quite a party you are throwing, Silas. What's the occasion?" Shouko-san asked as she looked around the place.
"It's nothing. I just made some profits and wanted to do something for my customers." And Rimuru blackmailed me… not that I am going to say that to anyone.
"Oh… good for you. Where is Sakura-chan?" She asked, looking around the place as if searching for her.
"She is in the kitchen, helping with the preparations. I will get someone to call her." I asked Tohru to do that just in time for Naruto to also come running towards us and Kanna followed him.
"Gojo-sensei!"
"Oh hey, Naruto-kun. How are you doing? And who is she? Your friend?" He asked, ruffling the kid's hair.
"I am great. This is Kanna-chan."
"Ah, so she is Kanna. I heard you two had an adventure a few days ago?"
"Eh… hahahaha yeah… we sneaked into Konoha village… and got caught." He sighed.
"Hmph, I could have beaten them by myself." Kanna-chan pouted.
My lips twitched at her words… not because she was bragging… but rather because she was actually speaking the truth.
"Oho you are a brave one, aren't you girl?" Shouko-san smiled at her words.
"Umu." Kanna nodded, taking it as a compliment.
I decided to intervene in case they got some wrong ideas. "Kanna-chan could probably do what she said. She is a genuine dragon after all."
…
"...seriously?"
"Umu." Kanna nodded and her horns popped out of her head again. "I am a dragon."
"...oh."
As we were talking, Sakura came out.
"Sakura-chan!" Shouko-san dove at her as if finding her solace from the weird situation she got caught in now.
I noticed the slight hesitation on the faces of Yuta at Sakura's arrival but he didn't act on it so it was fine.
More guests came in so I left them to greet the newcomers.
It was Jiro-san and another old woman with him.
"Welcome Jiro-san. And is she your friend?" I asked, welcoming them personally.
Seriously, this guy was someone who talked about hunting continent breaking animals casually as if they were no big deal.
"She is my sweetheart, my partner, Setsuno." He replied looking at the woman with love filled eyes.
Oh…
"Ah Jiro-chan, such a flatterer. So this is the restaurant you told me about." She asked and looked around the place. "It's a bright and happy place. I like it."
"Thank you. Please have a seat and enjoy yourself." I guided them to the seats and they joined the old people's table.
I took some time to talk to them as Jiro-san was someone who knew a lot about the ingredients which I used in cooking and I wanted to see if I could find a way to get those ingredients outside of the Restaurant's System Shop purchases.
"Oh, you serve Poison Potatoes here? I didn't know anyone could prepare it anymore."
"Yes. I came by the recipe recently and decided to prepare some for the party today."
"Hoho, such a great surprise. Jiro-chan wasn't joking. This place is really magical." She said, looking at the rest of the menu.
"You enjoy cooking, Setsuno-san?" I asked.
"Just call me Grandma Setsuno. Everyone else does." She waved her hand with a smile. "And yes, I own a Restaurant too. I am Jiro-chan's personal chef."
"Oh…" His personal chef… means she cooks those same continent breaking ingredients… "I hope today's food will be to your liking." I said with a slight bow.
"Ahahahaha as long as a meal is cooked with love and care, it will always turn out good." She laughed. "I am sure your food will be wonderful."
"Thank you."
As we were talking, the door of the Restaurant opened once more and this time it was Nakiri-san with two others. One was Erina and the other was another woman with salmon pink hair, who was looking around with a frown.
"Nakiri-san, Erina." I nodded at them in acknowledgement.
"Silas-kun. Thank you for inviting us to the party." He shook hands with me.
"No no. I am glad you could make time. Please have a seat."
They took their seats near Jiro-san and Setsuno-san.
"Father, are you telling me that you made me cancel my appointments for a party here? This no name place I haven't even heard about…" The salmon haired woman spoke disbelievingly.
"Mana… behave yourself." Nakiri-san scolded and looked at me with an apologetic look. "I am sorry, Silas-kun. Mana is a bit…"
Now if Erina had been snorty, this woman was downright looking down on the place, not even trying to hide her disdain.
"I don't mind. It is only natural to be in a bad mood if things aren't what you expect. I will get something for you all to drink first." I called Lavy and asked her to bring them some drinks first.
Lavy returned with several glasses of Mellow Cola and one Emeral Wine for Jiro-san served them.
The woman however didn't even touch the glass.
Nakiri-san looked at her helplessly and urged. "Drink."
"Father, you can't be serious." The woman replied, offended.
… seriously woman… that's a 1.2 million yen glass of cola. Don't look down on it or you will have a stomach ache.
"Oho, is this Mellow Cola? It's been so long since I last saw this. It sure brings back memories, right Jiro-chan?" Setsuno-san giggled as she took a sip of the cola and looked at Jiro-san.
"Ah yes… I remember it was our anniversary that day." He replied with a reminiscing look on his face.
The Nakiri family looked at the two old people and then Nakiri-san looked at the woman, his daughter and repeated. "Try it. You will understand."
The woman looked at him in shock but he still insisted so she gave up and took a sip of the cola.
Her eyes widened as soon as the cola went into her mouth and her breathing became quick. Tears came to her eyes as she took sip after sip of the cola until it was all gone.
I was taken aback by the reaction of the woman. Even Erina, her own daughter, was looking at her with a complicated expression on her face.
I had only seen such a reaction from Irene-san the first time she had eaten food but her case was different.
That woman hadn't tasted anything for hundreds of years… it was understandable she would react like that.
What was the deal with this woman?
Anyways, I asked Lavy to refill her glass while Nakiri-san told us about her case.
"Our Nakiri family gives birth to a child with a special power every few generations called the God's Tongue. It allows them to taste anything to the minutest detail and makes them extremely good judges for the culinary industry. Erina and Mana both have this ability. This however is both a boon and a curse. Mana became so disgusted with food that she couldn't eat without getting sick. Nowadays, she has to inject nutrients into her body to survive."
Damn…
Wait. If she was disgusted by the taste of everything, her husband must be a very unlucky man.
Just imagine kissing her and she looks disgusted.
The guy wouldn't have enjoyed some….*cough* *cough* in his life.
But jokes aside, her situation was really similar to Irene-san's.