The café that Marie introduced us to was soon within reach.
Thank goodness we arrived before my legs cramped up.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say it was a popular café; there were quite a few people inside.
“Let’s hurry inside.”
I pulled Dante’s hand and entered the café.
Ding! The cheerful bell greeted us.
However, that cheerfulness ended with the sound of the bell.
Excited for my first outing, I eagerly scanned the menu.
Since my goal was to open a dessert shop later, I thought it would be good to take notes.
But something seemed off about the menu.
“...Tears of a Fairy...? The Secret Festival of Fairies from Last Night...?”
What is this?
What kind of menu is this?
Every single item on the menu was unhelpfully vague. They weren’t just creatively named; they were so abstract that I couldn’t even tell what they were!
Blinking in confusion, I glanced at Dante, who was also frowning as if to say, “What is this?”
Reluctantly, I prepared to ask the employee for an explanation about the menu...
“I’m sorry, dear customer. Please refer to the bulletin board for menu descriptions.”
“The bulletin board?”
“It’s posted on the right wall.”
The right wall?
As I looked around, there indeed was a small piece of paper stuck to the right wall.
And it was filled with tiny writing explaining the menu items.
If they were going to write explanations on the bulletin board, couldn’t they just put them on the menu instead?
And why write them so small? At this rate, once I get older, I won’t be able to read it!
With a resigned squint, I tried to read the explanations on the bulletin board, but then came the issue of prices.
“But where are the prices?”
I asked the employee about the prices, which were nowhere to be found on either the menu or bulletin board.
“...Ah. Hah.”
Oh? Why is she sighing like that?
I was taken aback by her absurd reaction as she pointed somewhere with an annoyed expression.
It was towards the far left wall.
“The prices are over there. Please familiarize yourself with our store manual. And when you ask questions, please do so more politely. If you ask without even a greeting, it makes us feel bad. We’re all human too, you know.”
Oh my. Someone might think I grabbed her by the collar!
At this point, I considered whether it would be worth it to grab her collar just once.
I’ve never acted like a tyrant in my life and have no intention of doing so; I’ve always thought it was distasteful. But at this moment, I felt tempted to try being a bit tyrannical.
“Hey! I’m a Duchess! Come outside and talk!”
But I forced myself to hold back those thoughts. After all, doing so would only spit in my own face. No—actually, while I could endure spitting in my own face, I worried that Dante and others might be caught in that splash too!
Still, it seemed like I couldn’t suppress my grip tightening a little bit.
“Are you angry?”
Dante whispered softly as he tapped my hand gently with his fingertips.
I gritted my teeth and replied,
“A little. But since you brought me here, I feel like I should eat something out of fairness.”
“If you don’t like it here—we can go somewhere else.”
“...Really?”
“Of course. In fact, I'm starting not to like it either.”
Dante said this while casting a cold glance at the employee member.
Even the employee who had been slouching around seemed to notice and straightened up for a moment.
“Dear customers, please mind your tone.”
Wow. What a formidable opponent!
“Well then—let’s just go somewhere else. I feel like my blood pressure is going to rise if we stay here. The chairs look uncomfortable too.”
Moreover—this place had oddly low tables compared to its chairs!
Everyone looked like they were hunched over as if they were Quasimodo from Notre Dame! This was genuinely turning into an uncomfortable scene!
It seemed terribly inconvenient; how could anyone swallow drinks in such positions?
The regulars here would probably end up with turtle necks! Most importantly—Dante, who was taller and more muscular than others—would find it hard to maintain such postures!
“Yes. Let’s go.”
Dante quickly agreed and took my hand again.
Phew. Where should we go now?
We should just head to any café we can find nearby. Whether it’s popular or not is irrelevant!
But just then...
As we turned around to leave—the door swung open roughly and three raucous men barged in.
They looked exactly like they had “thug” stamped on their foreheads!
The three men casually entered and scanned their surroundings before smirking at the employee member.
What’s going on? Judging by their slightly hunched necks—they must be regulars here at this café?
However, my assumptions were completely off base.
“Oh wow! Business is booming today too? Phew! That’s a relief! Just when rent went up again; if business wasn’t good we’d have felt sorry for you!”
“Didn’t you just raise prices last time? You took away what we paid for last time!”
The employee member who had been speaking in that awkward manner suddenly spoke clearly as if nothing had happened before.
I stared in disbelief as their conversation continued.
“No way! That was then; now is now! The world changes; how can prices stay the same? Huh?”
“There’s no law saying that! We truly can’t pay this time! What do you even provide us?”
“Hey! Do you think we’re going to keep being nice just because we’re providing safety? Huh?”
The thug who spoke then threateningly tapped on a picture frame hanging on the wall.
Now that I think about it—when he mentioned “providing safety,” did he mean they were refraining from causing trouble?
The employee, whether a employee member or the owner, seemed to share the same sentiment, displaying a frustrated expression.
At this point, I couldn't hold back my curiosity any longer.
Rent?
Was there rent in the Richter territory?
Putting everything aside, were these raucous thugs really collecting taxes?
“This is strange, isn’t it?”
I squinted at Dante and whispered.
...But why wasn’t he responding?
When I lifted my head to look, Dante was glaring at the thug and the owner with a fierce expression.
Oh wow. He really knows how to assert dominance with just his gaze.
The problem was that they didn’t seem to notice him at all; I was the only one who felt intimidated.
Regardless, just looking at Dante’s expression made it clear that those thugs were up to no good.
In that case, I couldn’t just stand by idly.
I took Dante's hand and headed back to the counter. Then I subtly interjected into the conversation.
“Excuse me, are you collecting rent here?”
At my sudden interruption, all four pairs of eyes turned toward me.
Under the intense spotlight, I blinked and silently urged them to respond.
After a moment of shock, the owner quickly regained composure and began to spill out his grievances with an aggrieved expression.
“Yes! We collect rent. In fact, it’s just a forced way of taking money from us. I don’t even know how much they’ve taken already! And yet they keep raising the amount every time! If we don’t pay, they come here to threaten us…”
“Hey! If you want to do business here for a long time, you should watch your words!”
“...Cough, cough.”
The owner who had been silenced looked at me with drooping eyebrows as he stammered.
What’s going on with him?
Since when have we been so close?
“Miss, don’t meddle in unnecessary matters and just walk on by. You might get hurt showing unnecessary curiosity. Understand?”
The thug who interrupted the owner slowly scanned me from head to toe.
“From what I can see—you seem like a rich young lady dressed nicely but wandering through a place like this. You don’t seem like a noble.”
I can hear you!
And yes, I am a noble...
“You look like some nosy rich girl; it would be best if you just went on your way.”
“And what if I don’t?”
At my question, the man furrowed his brow threateningly as he grabbed my wrist tightly.
“You’ll regret this dearly. So don’t meddle and get hurt…”
Cough!
The mocking voice that had been taunting me was abruptly cut off.
Dante had swiftly grabbed the thug’s wrist from behind me.
“Ah! Aah!”
As Dante twisted his wrist painfully—the thug screamed in agony.
Only then did the others seem to notice Dante’s presence and appeared thoroughly flustered.
This was quite fascinating!
How could they only just now realize he was there?
Oh! Did they think he was just a wall because he’s so big compared to me?
While I pondered this realization—Dante growled in a chilling voice:
“How dare you lay hands on someone?”
“I-I’m sorry! Please let me go! It hurts!”
The thug began to plead while shedding tears.
However—Dante showed no signs of releasing him.
As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense—the faces of the customers and owner turned pale as well.
I had no choice but to intervene.
“Stop it. You’re scaring people.”
I tugged at Dante’s sleeve to stop him.
“Ah.”
With a sigh of realization—Dante released the thug’s arm.
Freed from his grip—the thug fell dramatically while clutching his twisted wrist and began wailing loudly.
What a grown man making such noise!
“Are you okay?”
But oddly enough—I was the one who received concern for my wrist instead!
Dante had just been squeezing the thug’s wrist tightly moments ago but now checked mine cautiously as if it might break!
“Yes. I’m fine. Dante helped me right away.”
“It seems a bit red though.”
His murmured words sounded rather cold.
“No, I’m really fine; let’s just catch those guys before they run away!”
At my suggestion—Dante quickly turned his head towards the fleeing thugs who were casting resentful glances at me while trying to sneak away.
“Hey! They’re glaring at me!”
“...They’re glaring?”
At my cold whisper—the three men all lowered their gazes in unison.
It seemed they remembered how they had just grabbed my wrist moments ago!
Seeing them kneel down without being told was quite pitiful indeed!
“Ha! Serves them right!”
The owner—who had dashed out from behind the counter—clapped his hands in admiration for their predicament!