Isekai Restaurant
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 21: A Day with Friends
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- Silas -
I woke up the next day, surrounded by Lavy and Shuna on both my sides. Last night's party went on longer than I had expected.
Towards the end, several people got drunk and wild.
Rimuru had to carry Shizuka-san away with him because she was too drunk. He took her to Tempest, much to the chagrin of Shion who looked like she had an obvious crush on Rimuru… and he calls me a harem protagonist. It was funny to watch.
At least before I was jumped on by Lucoa who had gone into an old pervert mode after being drunk.
I had never felt so confused in my life about whether to be scared or aroused by what was happening to me. Thankfully, Tohru pulled her back. Even Fafnir helped.
We didn't let her go out in that drunk state. Who knows what might happen if she decided to move the moon in her world or something? Just thinking of that made me shake my head in shock. It was decided that she and Tohru would stay in the Restaurant for the day as I can control her if she has any outbursts in the Restaurant.
She had even tried to make Milim drunk, something which I had fortunately discovered in time and prevented.
One drunk dragon was enough for me. I didn't have the patience or mental capacity to handle a drunken dragonoid on top of that.
Sasaki-san from Ryozanpaku had drunk too much too and was carried away by Akisame-san after he was knocked out by Hayato-san. The old man however said he would be fine.
The most surprising one to drink was Yoruichi. Since when did cats drink? But then again, cats couldn't talk either and yet there we were…
Not everyone was dead drunk though.
Shoko-san who was drinking with those two however was unbothered. She could really hold her liquor well. She was actually talking with Fafnir about Curses while teaching him about games in exchange.
I felt both pride and pity for the fearsome dragon…
Unlike normal, both the girls were in deep sleep and I didn't have the heart to wake them up so I kissed their foreheads and slid out of the bed carefully without waking them up.
I stretched a bit before going down.
Last night the maids and Cid-kun's friends had cleaned the place quite nicely so I only needed to get everything ready for today.
A few minutes later, Sakura entered the kitchen too.
"Good Morning."
"Good morning, Silas-san."
"You are up early. You were tired. You could have slept late, you know?"
"I am okay."
"Did you sleep well? Tohru and Lucoa took your room last night…"
"Hmm, Orihime and I shared the bed. She is a good girl."
They are of similar ages and got along quite well.
While Sakura was quiet, Orihime's naturally bubbly character helped her get closer to Sakura just like Lavy had.
The moment was a bit silent as Sakura helped around the kitchen and I couldn't help but remember yesterday's dance.
And with that I remembered another thing.
The System Update.
But first things first, I quickly whipped up a breakfast.
We had more than enough leftovers and they could stay fresh for an unlimited time. I just made something extra to go with them.
By that time, others woke up one by one.
Shuna was the first and quickly came down and helped serve the breakfast while I checked the System Updates more carefully.
Even Tohru came down soon.
"Good morning, boss." She greeted me as she yawned lightly.
"Good morning. Is Miss Lucoa still asleep?" I asked, looking up.
"Oh yes. She is completely out. She doesn't have a good history with alcohol and she drank a bit too much last night."
"Hmm, I realised that too. She was holding her drink normally before that so I didn't know." I said thinking of how she normally drank. "Maybe last night's alcohol was too strong?" I said thoughtfully.
"Maybe."
"Well, let her sleep." She cannot cause any damage in the Restaurant either way so it's for the best that she stayed here.
A while later, even the two maids came in.
Everyone was here so I decided to announce the changes in the Restaurant. "Since everyone is here, I have an announcement to make. We are going to have some changes in the Restaurant starting today."
"Oh, what changes, Boss?" Tohru asked while the other girls looked at me curiously.
"First things first…" I added them to the employee list and looked at them. "Do you guys feel anything different?" I asked.
They didn't have any reaction and shook their heads.
"I have applied the protection of the Restaurant on all of you. From now on, you all have the same protection as me in the Restaurant, which means you can use the Restaurant's power to kick out any troublemakers."
This function greatly reassured me. Initially, only I was fully protected by the Restaurant. Others could still be harmed. It was not something I knew at first and only realised after a certain incident.
When Kisuke-san had destroyed the finger curse of Sukuna with his spell, Gojo-san had later pointed out that technically that was a life and since he did die that meant the protection of the Restaurant wasn't applied to it.
Obviously I could stop anything from happening inside the Restaurant but I wasn't omnipotent. I could miss things and I didn't want to take such risks with my staff. That's why I felt as if a load was off of my chest after this. With this, all my staff will be protected with me.
"I hope you will use this ability wisely. Don't just start kicking people out if you find them annoying. Patience is key to the service industry. As long as they don't break the rules of the Restaurant, they will be treated as any other customer even if you find them annoying."
These were some things my father had taught me when I was a kid.
I had picked a fight with a customer who was a bit rude and punched them in the face…
That had obviously caused a huge mess for my father's restaurant and had taken a lot of effort to calm down.
I had felt guilty after that when I realised what my momentary impulsiveness had caused them… and dad was more than just disappointed.
What came next was a several hours long lecture from my father and then two year long training to get me used to the service industry in Japan.
In that time, I had encountered several types of people. Some were rude, some just seemed rude because of how they behaved but were only introverted.
Some might seem nice but were creeps.
How and when to deal with them was all drilled into me in my time of working under my dad. It was both hard and memorable, and something I had come to appreciate even more now that I run a Restaurant of my own.
Especially in my case as the people I deal with now are… not exactly normal. That's why it was even more necessary that the staff of my Restaurant know how to deal with the guests who arrive here.
The two maids nodded carefully while Tohru was happy, the wagging tail making her happiness evident.
I still need to find some people to help in the kitchen.
With the number of guests increasing, I alone couldn't do everything at times. Having at least one or two extra people help out would help a lot.
This is something I had talked about with Setsuno-san and she was kind enough to point out several things to me.
Even Nakiri-san and his family listened and they invited us to his Academy to choose anyone we were interested in.
There was an event at his Academy and he had invited us there.
Both Setsuna-san and Jiro-san were interested in visiting other worlds so they agreed… and just like that, it was decided that we would go to Totsuki Culinary Academy as judges for the event.
These two months were going to be quite busy for us.
We had this event, the settlement of the Oni in the town, the Comiket where we were going to launch our Publishing House and then there was also the Jujutsu Exam.
Things were moving quite fast but once these things are done, I can hope for things to settle down a bit more.
After breakfast, I opened the Restaurant and guests started coming in one after another.
Rimuru, Milim, Saitama, Ainz, the Ryozanpaku masters and Bang-san all have breakfast at my Restaurant nowadays. Cid-kun, Naruto, Kanna, Miu and Touma all not only have breakfast here but also take their lunch from here so mornings are slightly busier. Even Brandish and Dimaria come with August-sensei to eat here.
While August-sensei hasn't been here for a while, having been away on some work with Zeref and Irene-san, the two girls always visited us for the meals and played with Naruto and Kanna.
I took a deep breath and got to work.
- Makarov -
The number of thoughts going on through his mind when he gathered with some of his guild members on Tenroujima island were innumerable.
These thoughts had started when Warrod had contacted him about the topic.
The true history of Fairy Tail.
The teacher of the Founders.
The truth of Black Wizard Zeref.
The information had shaken him completely.
To think that his own father was taught magic by the infamous Black Wizard Zeref who was in a relationship with the first master Mavis. The latter fact was even more surprising than the fact that Zeref, a figure from four hundred years ago, was still alive at this point.
But then he came to know about the truth of the history of Zeref and Makarov couldn't help but feel pity for the guy.
His thoughts had to wait however as he sensed people coming out from the forest. At the forefront of the group was a black haired guy who looked in his early twenties.
Warrod took the lead and greeted the man and then Makarov understood who this person was. Zeref.
The man's eyes however were looking past him, behind him to be precise.
He looked back to see the target of the man's gaze and found it to be Natsu. But the surprises didn't end just there. The Black Wizard's eyes teared up as he looked at the young Dragonslayer, shocking even Warrod.
"Natsu." His whisper was heard through the silence of the island.
"Hah! Do I know you mister?" The boy asked, confused.
The man collected himself and smiled. "I… yes. Let me introduce myself. My name is… Zeref Dragneel. I am… your elder brother."
….
….
The shocked look on his face was shared by everyone in the place, even Warrod.
No one had known the full name of the Black Wizard till then.
"Brother?" Natsu was puzzled but the man didn't look offended or angry in the slightest.
He kneeled on the ground before Natsu but before he could say anything, he stopped and looked towards the sky in the distance as if sensing something. The rest followed his gaze but couldn't sense anything. Some wondered what he was looking for but those questions were answered as soon as they spotted a giant red spot approaching the island at a very high speed.
It took him a moment to realise what it was.
A Dragon!
It was a real life dragon!
Makarov got into a defensive position. Gildarts behind him doing the same.
"She's a friend." Zeref spoke, making them pause.
But someone else was also surprised at the sight of the Dragon, for a completely different reason.
Natsu stood frozen at the sight of the dragon.
The said dragon landed on the beach and several people got down from its back and the dragon… or rather the dragoness changed into a human form. An old man and a group of children and finally one familiar looking man in chains who looked surprisingly similar.
"That's…" Makarov exclaimed as he stepped forward.
"Back down Makarov. He…Precht or rather Hades is the Guild Master of Grimoire Heart, one of the three biggest Dark Guilds in Ishgar. He's responsible for many crimes." Warrod spoke, making Makarov freeze on the spot and look at the man in shock.
The second Master was… how?
The dragon turned into a scarlet haired woman and Natsu ran towards her.
"Hey. Do you know Igneel? Do you know where Igneel is?"
The woman took a look at him and then at Zeref and asked, "Is this your brother?" to which he nodded. She then returned her gaze to Natsu. "Ask your brother. He left you with Igneel."
"Do you know where Igneel is? You left me with Igneel?" Natsu threw the questions at Zeref without a moment's delay but the man in question was looking towards the forest.
They followed his gaze and sure enough, someone came out of the forest. A girl with a white dress and long blonde hair walked on the forest ground, barefoot. She looked like a fairy from legends but Makarov had seen her before.
"H-how?"
"Mavis." Zeref whispered.
"Zeref, Warrod and Precht…"
This reunion however was not pleasant for everyone. The second master Precht seemed to have reached his limit and burst.
"WHY? Why do you do this? I have searched for you all this time. To search for the source of magic, the one true magic, dedicated my entire life to finding you and now… you come out of nowhere and treat me like a criminal… you, the one known as the Black Wizard, you who created the entire race of demons… I see. Is it because of him?" He pointed towards another elderly man with a long white beard, confusing everyone in the place. "Did you think I wouldn't recognise your power? I wouldn't forget your power. You were a freak of nature from the very moment you were born. Who would have thought that you would grow up and meet Zeref and who would have thought that Black Wizard Zeref would be so emotional to come and take revenge for his own son?"
….
….
"What did you say?"
Somehow, the tone of Zeref's voice didn't reassure Makarov that this meeting would be a peaceful one anymore.