Chapter 41: Record-Breaking Sales Are as Good as Achieved
The second day of the school festival. Today, there were even more people than usual.
Why was that? There was one reason.
At Kazuma and the others’ café, there were two handsome men dressed in butler attire who would even outshine idols: Bedivere and Tristan from Britain’s strongest group of Gifted, the Knights of the Round Table.
Furthermore, there was France’s Holy Maiden, Charlotte Soleil, who rarely appeared in the media. For some reason, she was in a maid outfit, complete with bunny ears.
And to top it all off, there was America’s Witch, Alicia Miller. She was a maid wearing cat ears.
They were pretty much doing whatever they wanted. Technically, the academy had given permission, and while they had taken the consideration of prohibiting photography, it was already a hot topic on social media. Thanks to that, it had gone beyond a huge success and into utter chaos.
“Th-This is bad. There are too many customers…”
“Well, the Holy Maiden’s guards are helping with dishwashing and crowd control, so we’ll manage somehow.”
“We have enough manpower, but the kitchen isn’t big enough.”
Indeed, as Kosuke said, the kitchen currently only had four gas stoves. This meant that no matter how hard they tried, they could only cook four pancakes at a time.
However, since they had anticipated a crowd today, they had requested additional hot plates.
They hadn’t arrived yet, but they were scheduled to be delivered before noon.
“By the way, what happened to Shinonome-san?”
“Huh? Oh, apparently, a lot happened regarding yesterday.”
“Ah… Well, the amount of information was insane, after all.”
That was true, but in Momoko’s case, it was a different problem. A Witch, a Holy Maiden, Knights of the Round Table. Due to Kazuma’s unexpected proposal, these four individuals were participating in the school festival and staying in Japan. It was too much for Momoko to handle alone.
Because of that, she had resorted to drinking her sorrows away the previous day and was now suffering from a terrible hangover headache. That was why she was clutching her head. Of course, Kazuma didn’t know about this. He only noticed that she smelled of alcohol.
“(Ugh… I drank too much…)”
Regrets piled up, but it couldn’t be helped. Kazuma had given her extra work, so it wasn’t strange for Momoko to seek refuge in alcohol. However, she should have been more careful about how much she drank.
“Hey, hey, Kazuma! Look, look, does it suit me~?”
Meanwhile, Alicia was thoroughly enjoying the current situation, showing off her outfit to Kazuma and asking for his opinion.
“Yeah. It suits you, it suits you. You look cute, Alicia.”
“Ehehe~”
Without hesitation or embarrassment, Kazuma praised Alicia.
Kosuke, watching from the side, widened his eyes.
“You’re amazing… Don’t you hesitate at all?”
“In cases like this, praising her honestly is the best. It’s better than trying to smooth things over awkwardly or getting flustered. At least, in my case.”
“Ah…”
Hearing Kazuma’s words, Kosuke was convinced. In Kazuma’s case, if he didn’t genuinely praise her, there was no telling what Alicia would do to him. Of course, Alicia wouldn’t seriously do anything drastic just because Kazuma didn’t offer a single word of praise, but she would at least squeeze his head with Telekinesis.
“You’re having a tough time, huh…”
“Want to switch?”
“I’ll pass. I’ve realized it’s best to admire idols from afar.”
“What about the Holy Maiden?”
“I’d like to get to know her better.”
“Honest, and that’s good.”
The bunny-eared maid, Holy Maiden Charlotte, was being pestered by Alicia and looked troubled, but she also seemed to be enjoying herself to some extent. After all, due to her unusual life, she only knew about school festivals from books.
She had ended up participating due to a strange turn of events, but Charlotte wasn’t entirely displeased.
“Char, you’re surprisingly the type who looks slimmer in clothes, aren’t you?”
“Hya!? Please don’t suddenly grope me~”
“Eh…! You’re quite well-endowed…”
“L-Let go of me~!”
“Could it be, you were planning to ensnare Kazuma with these! I can’t forgive you if that’s the case!”
“Ahhhh~! Stop it~~!”
The bunny-eared maid was buxom. The self-indulgent Holy Maiden possessed a figure like a man’s ideal. From watching B-movies and eating snacks in her room, she had developed a pleasantly soft and full figure.
“Kuh! I-I won’t lose!”
“Wh-What are you talking about~! More importantly, please take your hands off my chest~!”
The men’s gazes lingered, their noses practically stretching at the extremely delightful sight. However, Bedivere, one of the Knights of the Round Table, averted his face, trying not to look. As expected of a knight and an English gentleman. His partner, Tristan, should learn from him.
“Alicia. We’re about to open, so let her go.”
“Okay~”
“Alright, good girl~. Come over here~”
“Yay~!”
Alicia, having released Charlotte, approached Kazuma, who patted her head. As Alicia purred like a cat, Kazuma continued to pat her head, saying, “There, there.” They truly looked like a pet and its owner, but more than that, the Knights of the Round Table and the Holy Maiden, who knew what a Witch was, stared wide-eyed.
“Well… this is surprising~. I never thought that Witch would show such an unguarded side.”
“More than that, it’s their relationship, isn’t it? I heard they aren’t even lovers…”
“A-Amazing. I’ve never seen Alicia like that!”
The classmates nodded in agreement with the trio’s remarks, as if to say they felt the same way.
“Ahem!!!”
At that moment, Kureha, the class representative and head maid, cleared her throat loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. It seemed she had gained some courage; it didn’t matter if Knights of the Round Table, a Holy Maiden, or a Witch were present. She was determined to carry out her duties.
“Uhm, I’m sure you all already know that it’s going to be extremely crowded today! Everyone! Let’s get fired up! If we’re going to do this, let’s aim for the highest sales in the history of the Seventh Esper Academy—!!!”
“Yeah—!!!”
The class united to face the second day of the school festival. Kureha predicted that they would undoubtedly achieve record-breaking sales. After all, they had four people: Knights of the Round Table, a Holy Maiden, and a Witch.
They boasted popularity and fame equal to or greater than that of idols, actresses, actors, and comedians. There was no way people wouldn’t come.
And, as expected, a line had formed that made it seem as if most of the festival attendees were heading here. The Holy Maiden’s guards held up “End of Line” signs, organized the queue, and used their Gifts to destroy any recording devices.
Naturally, complaints came from customers, but it had been announced beforehand that photography was prohibited, and that there would be no compensation in case of violations.
Those customers were grabbed by the arms by a mysterious group in black suits and escorted away somewhere. Other customers who witnessed this silently vowed never to take photos.
However, there was actually no problem, as a Gifted individual serving as one of the Holy Maiden’s guards was hidden inside the classroom, emitting weak radio waves to temporarily disable communication and electronic devices.
“Welcome, Milady.”
“Y-Yes…”
Inside the classroom, Bedivere and Tristan, dressed in butler attire, were attending to female customers and boasted overwhelming popularity. Thanks to this, the male students in charge of customer service felt rather out of place.
“Are we even needed?”
“Probably not.”
“Yeah.”
“Let me tell you, don’t even think about trying to sneak off.”
Kureha, who had been dashing around as head maid, sharply warned the male students who were looking for a chance to slip away. The fact that she was still keeping a close eye on her surroundings showed how competent she was.
“Welcome back, Master! Nyan!”
“W-Welcome back, Master. Pyon, pyon!”
“Oof… dyufu! Um, how much do I have to pay?”
“This isn’t that kind of establishment, so just ordering normally is quite enough.”
“Ah, yes.”
Alicia, who knows where she learned it from, was playing the role of a maid with great enthusiasm. Perhaps following her lead, Charlotte was also speaking strangely, mimicking Alicia’s mannerisms.
Momoko, assigned to support the two just in case, guided the customer to a table.
“(A cat-eared maid and a bunny-eared maid! It’s blatant pandering, but that’s what makes it good! High marks for this~. And the cool maid is also a high point. To think I can experience this for five hundred yen, is this heaven, I wonder?)”
Momoko, who had inadvertently read his mind, regretted it. Though not to Kazuma’s extent, she was reminded once again that men were generally worthless creatures. Deciding not to read any more minds, Momoko stopped her Mind Reading to protect her own sanity.
And then, the kitchen was on the verge of collapse due to the flood of orders. No, it had collapsed. Kosuke was desperately making pancakes, to the point where it looked like he might develop tendonitis, and Kazuma, the food-serving robot who was more machine-like than any machine, had eyes as dead as a fish’s again today.
Unfortunately, Momoko couldn’t see this. If she had seen Kazuma plating pancakes and serving them via Transposition with the eyes of a dead fish, she would have surely sneered, “Serves you right.”