Chapter 8: Kamishirasawa Keine and Gensokyo's 'King', Luke?
After sending off Kobayashi Rindo, Luke was the only one left in his restaurant.
Since he was free, Luke began to consider who to choose as the guest for this week's final day 'private dinner'.
Once the person was decided, Luke would invite the other party to discuss the location for that evening, the ingredients to be used, and the dishes to be made.
That's right, the dining location wouldn't necessarily be set in the restaurant.
Besides that, the most important thing was the intimate time to get closer to the guest.
Clang!
Just as Luke was thinking about whether to invite a certain youkai girl, he heard a sound coming from the second floor.
"Speaking of which..."
Luke remembered that Ibuki Suika and Hakurei Reimu had caused a ruckus up there earlier, and he hadn't gone to check the situation yet.
Temporarily taking off his monochrome cooking apron, Luke went to the corridor and walked up the wooden stairs to the second floor.
Along the way, one could see the traces left by time, proving the restaurant was not newly built.
However, its materials were solid.
Even if affected by the clashes of youkai, it generally wouldn't be damaged.
That being said, if some troublemaking youkai ran near the restaurant, Luke would often teach them a lesson.
With 'this incident', Shameimaru Aya, who loved stirring things up, wrote new news the next day.
[Bunbunmaru Newspaper: Breaking News! Following the 'Flower Field Youkai', the 'Restaurant Youkai' has appeared! According to reliable intelligence, three youkai were beaten up near that restaurant!!]
Regarding this evaluation, Luke's reaction was to put Shameimaru Aya on the blacklist for three days.
On the fourth day, Aya brought sake brewed by the tengu to find Luke, expressing her admission of error.
However, Luke knew very well that Gensokyo's 'great reporter' could never stop chasing excitement and making news.
Ending the reminiscence, Luke arrived at the second-floor bedroom and saw the messy bedding.
Clearly, Ibuki Suika, who had run upstairs to hide earlier, had chosen the bedcovers as her base, and was then caught by Reimu.
After a simple tidy-up, Luke's gaze fell near the balcony.
Behind the restaurant was also a forest.
The trees were dense, lush, and green.
Starting from the backyard, it was about a ten-minute walk to the 'Human Village'.
Perhaps because the environment was very good, fairies would occasionally play in the woods.
[Evening, do what? Evening, eat what?]
The parrot's voice came.
Luke turned around; the parrot perched on the shelf was likely hungry.
However, Luke didn't pay attention to this.
"Eat whatever you want to eat."
[Really?]
"Yeah."
[Cirno!? Cirno!]
"Even if she plays pranks in the backyard, don't eat her..."
After giving the instruction, Luke heard the doorbell ring from the first floor.
He immediately returned to the main hall; a young girl had just arrived at the restaurant.
Familiar long white hair and red eyes, along with the dark blue pleated skirt she wore and the red ribbon tied at her collar.
Luke, familiar with the other party, put on his cooking apron while asking,
"The usual?"
"Mm, a cup of hot tea."
"No problem."
Luke skillfully prepared the hot tea.
This time, the tea leaves chosen were still Longjing.
He poured boiled water into the teapot, waited for the temperature to drop to 80 degrees Celsius, then added the tea leaves, covered the lid, and let it sit quietly for a moment, allowing the tea leaves to fully release their inherent aroma and flavor.
A few minutes later, Luke picked up the teapot and elegantly poured the tea evenly into two small, transparent teacups.
As the tea poured, a fresh and elegant fragrance spread out, filling the entire space.
Finally, Luke smiled and handed a cup to the girl before him.
"Please have some, Keine-sensei."
Kamishirasawa Keine, she was the current regular customer.
Taking the tea, Keine took a small sip.
"Same as always, very delicious."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Doesn't seem like there are many customers today."
"Because it just opened not long ago. Instead, Keine-sensei's appearance surprised me, since you usually only come in the afternoon."
"The 'Human Village' is very lively preparing for a celebration, I also gave the children a holiday, so the morning class just involved assigning some simple homework."
Oh, right.
Kamishirasawa Keine added,
"I received the pastries Aya brought for me. After sharing them with the children, everyone liked them very much."
"That's good."
"Regarding the celebration mentioned just now, everyone in the 'Human Village' hopes Luke-san will help manage the kitchen work, and they also entrusted me to ask you if you have time."
"I should have time. Sometimes closing the shop early is also fine."
Luke's business hours weren't completely fixed.
For him, if there were more important matters, the work of running the restaurant could naturally be postponed.
"That's great. I'll be going then too. Just feel free to give me instructions, Luke-san."
"No, no, no, Keine-sensei isn't my subordinate. I remember your reminder very clearly."
"Really now... Luke-san, those things are long past."
Kamishirasawa Keine complained, but her expression looked very happy.
In the past, when Luke first arrived in 'Gensokyo', he was fiercely targeted by Kamishirasawa Keine.
Because the 'Hakutaku' appears before virtuous rulers, foretelling possible future calamities and offering guidance.
Luke, who suddenly arrived in 'Gensokyo', thus became her primary object of attention, not much different from Hakurei Reimu in this regard.
After all, Luke, on his first transmigration, had quite a few 'King' titles.
"Perhaps I can go check out the 'Human Village' tonight. If Luke-san is interested, we can meet on that small bridge after sunset."
"Sure, it's been a long time since I went to the 'Human Village' to procure ingredients."
"Then it's settled."
"Mm."
After chatting, Luke finished the hot tea in his hand.
The time for the date with Kamishirasawa Keine was thus decided.
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