A tinkling sound of a bell followed by the creaking wood floor appeared the second Ender stepped into the cafe. She took a deep breath. The scent of coffee and the pleasant sight of the old yet well-kept building relaxes her mind somewhat.
At the end of the room is a large wooden bar table that looked pretty antique. Behind the bar table is an array of antique eating and cooking utensils, some bags of coffee beans, and even vintage wine. There are also two girls standing behind the bar, one's about Ender's age of 17, and the other much younger.
The youngest did a little jog towards Ender with a metal tray in her hands. "Welcome," she said before bowing a little at Ender. "How may I help you miss?" her voice was childish yet monotone.
Ender took a closer look at the little girl in front of her.
The little girl has long light blue hair that and pale gray eyes. A waitress uniform hugged her thin, lithe figure. She also has an unusually long white cat wrapped around her neck.
"Coffee and bread," Ender replied before walking towards an empty seat nearby. The tables are old with a few visible scratches on it, but there's no speck of dust. "Also, aren't you a bit too young to be a waitress?" she added as she sat down on the chair.
The little girl walked up towards Ender with a note behind the tray. "It's alright, I like working here," she said. "What bread can I get you miss?"
Ender looked out the window towards the cat fountain outside. "What would you recommend?"
There was a long pause before the girl replied. "How about Strawberry Croissant?"
"Sure," Ender replied.
"What kind of coffee would you like miss?"
Ender paused for a moment. "Caramel Latte,"
There was a slight pause before the girl wrote something down on her note. "Anything else I can get you?" she asked.
"Your full name."
"Pardon, miss?"
Ender turned towards the girl and smiled a little. "My name is Ender Light, what's your name?" she asked her softly.
The girl hid her face behind the metal tray. "It's… Emilia Maxwell…" she whispered shyly.
Ender froze the second she heard that. She looked at the little girl closer as if not believing her eyes. "Say, I heard this place was a bar, do you know anything about it?" she asked her.
"The Black Cat Cafe turns into a bar at night," Emilia replied. "My grandfather works there," she added.
"Alright, thanks for telling me," Ender said, just barely keeping her composure.
Emilia bowed a little before walking towards the bar. She talked to the older girl before turning on a large espresso machine. For someone so young, Emilia was exceptionally talented in brewing coffee. She poured in some coffee beans into the machine and turned it on.
The older girl meanwhile started walking into the backdoor behind the bar table, probably to prepare the Strawberry Croissant.
A funky tune appeared on Ender's phone. She quickly took it out and answered the call. "What is it Marshall?" she asked.
"Try again," a masculine voice came from the phone.
"Oh, Alan, what is it?" Ender asked.
"I'm guessing you're in the Mercat Village now?" Alan asked.
"Yeah, just finished the mission, the newbie got potential, I can tell you that."
"That's good to hear, also, can you do me a favor and see if Elliot's daughter inherited his fabrication powers?"
Ender held herself from chucking her phone out of the window after hearing that. "Yeah, about that, what the heck! Why didn't you tell me Elliot has a daughter?!" she whispered hastily.
A chuckle answered her question.
"On a bright cup of-"
"I'm sorry!" Alan's terrified voice cut her off. "Sorry, Elliot's daughter is an A-Rank secret and you just got promoted last month."
"You mean you forgot to tell me after I got promoted?"
"Well you didn't…" Alan coughed a little. "I mean, sorry…"
Ender sighed a little and looked at the little girl who's expertly making her coffee. "Her name is Emilia Maxwell, she's twelve now, she works as a waitress in her family cafe instead of going to school… I think… That's all I got for now," she explained.
"So you've met her? That's great! Also, her family owns a lodging on top of the cafe, you should stay there for a while," Alan explained.
"So you're giving me a new mission?"
"Yes."
"Three hours after my last one?"
"This isn't a hard mission, you can even call it a break from all the murder," Alan explained.
Ender disconnected the call and silenced her phone. Not that the silencing function on her phone really does anything. It only serves the same purpose as smashing your telephone when hanging up the phone back when that was a thing.
It's not a thing anymore in this world. Telephones are long thought to be extinct.
Emilia came walking towards her with a tall glass of coffee and a plateful of strawberry croissant. "Here's your order Miss Light," she spoke in her oddly cute monotone voice.
Emilia served the food and drink on Ender's table. "Anything else I can get you miss?" she asked.
"A place to stay," Ender replied.
"What?"
"There's a lodging upstairs right? I need a place to stay for a while."
"I'll tell my grandfather about it," Emilia said. "Anything else?"
"No, that's all…"
And with that, Ender spent her morning drinking coffee and studying Emilia's every moves trying to figure out who her mother is. Of course, Ender could just ask Alan about it, but she wanted to see if she can figure out if Emilia's mother is an agent, just a human, or something else entirely.
The girl is quiet and polite, Ender noted. She spoke in a soft, monotone voice and quite responsible for her age. The girl is also a bit shy around strangers but not too much as to hinder her work. She's also pretty skilled at brewing coffee, judging by the taste of the custom brew she asked.
Now how do you figure out if someone has the power to 3D print object? Ender knew that Emilia will be taught not to show her powers in public if she has any. Ender knew that Emilia won't just tell her no matter how nicely she asks.
But maybe she slipped up every now and then. Maybe someone else saw the slip-up but refused to believe their eyes. Perhaps someone knew something is odd with Emilia but just couldn't talk to anyone about it.
This time, Ender set her eyes towards the older girl who just walked out of the kitchen. The older girl has light brown hair and black eyes. She looks friendly and carefree yet reliable at the same time. She looks like she's having so much fun working in the cafe.
Ender stood up from her seat and walked towards the bar table. The older girl smiled at her as she wiped the wooden bar table. "Good morning, how can I help you?" she asked while twirling the hand towel in her hand a little.
"I'm just a bit bored without anyone to talk to, what's your name?"
"My name?" a smile appeared on the girl's face. "You can call me Rena, what's your name?"
"Ender Light, just call me Ender," Ender replied.
Stars seemingly appeared on her eyes. "That's an awesome name! Is that really your name?"
"Well, my parents are an odd bunch," Ender replied simply. "Also, can you tell me more about the lodging upstairs? You know, since I'm going to stay here and all…"
"Oh, I heard from Emilia that you're staying here," the girl looked incredibly happy as she said so. "There are two empty rooms upstairs. Right across mine and Emilia's room," she looked down a little in deep thought. "I don't remember what the room looks like but…"
She raised her finger dramatically and raised her head. "Beware Miss Light, there is an old legend of place called room three point five…" she leaned her head a little towards Ender's ear, and Ender resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Every 3:30 am, a door will appear between room three and four, when that happens, you have to close your eyes and…"
A loud clang, followed by a painful yelp, interrupted the horror story. Emilia stood beside Rena, holding a metal tray in her hands. "Don't scare the guest with your stupid story big sis," she said in annoyance.
"Aww… That hurts Amy…" Rena said while rubbing her head in pain. "And I'm telling you that room 3.5 really exist! I saw it again weeks ago!" she exclaimed.
Now, this is interesting. It seems that some anomalous stuff is happening in this cafe. If only Ender could tell if Emilia is the culprit or not. "That story sure sounds spooky," Ender commented nonchalantly. "Makes me kind of curious…"
"Don't listen to her Ender, Rena is just stupid," Emilia said coldly. "There is no such thing as room 3.5."
Ender nodded a little. "Well, I'm a very heavy sleeper anyway, there's no way I can wake up at that hour," she took a closer look at Emilia and found a hint of relief. "So, have you told your grandpa about this?"
Emilia nodded a little. "Yes, he wants to meet you tonight, but for now you can go to your room," she handed Ender a key. "Room three, it's already furnished and ready for your stay," she said.
"How much for a night?" Ender asked.
"It's not expensive, you can ask grandpa about it if you want," Emilia replied.
Ender nodded a little and stood up from the seat. "Well, Emilia, would you please show me the way?"
With that, the two of them walked towards the staircase at the corner of the cafe. It led to a long wooden hallway with a couple of doors on either side of it. At the end of the hallway is a large balcony that shows the view outside.
Emilia stopped at the last room to the right side. "Here's your room miss Light," she pointed at the room across hers. "That's mine and Rena's room," she then gestured at the door right beside it. "That's Christopher's room,"
"Christopher?"
"He's our errand boy. He's usually outside buying supplies and delivering some of our pre-made goods," she explained. "If he's not outside you can always find him in his room."
Hmm… Interesting, now who would be this Christopher's fella? And what's this about Emilia and Rena sharing a room? Could they be related?
"Well, I think I'll go meet him later," Ender unlocked her room and opened it, revealing a large room.
It's not too small, just big enough for someone who lives alone. At the end of the room is a queen-sized bed beside the window. There's also a study table across the mattress and a large cupboard right beside it. There's nothing fancy about the room, but it looks very, very comfortable.
Ender stepped into the room and sat down on the bed. "This room is impressive," she said before lying down on the bed. "Say, there's a bar that opens at night right?"
Emilia stepped into the room, looking around as she did so. "Yes," she grabbed the chair near the study table and sat one it. "What of it?"
"Who's working there aside from your grandfather?"
"Well, my parents used to work there but…"
"I'm sorry,"
"It's alright," Emilia stroked the cat around her neck a little. "Is the room to your liking?"
"Yes, it's comfortable," I looked at the blanket and a couple of pillow behind me. "Do you mind if I rest here for the day? I'll go talk to your grandfather tonight," I told her.
"Of course," Emilia stood up from her seat and returned the chair. "I'll see you later Miss Light," she said before walking out of the room. She closed the door behind her, and Ender could hear her footsteps walking back towards the cafe downstairs.
Ender sighed a little and plopped her face on the nearest pillow. "Just who is that girl's mother? Elliot sure as hell didn't talk like that." she rolled around the bed some more before sitting up. "Okay, focus Endie," she walked towards the study in front of her and sat down.
'So far, I've talked to Emilia and Rena,' Ender took out a sketchbook and drew a line connecting their names. 'There's also something about room three point five,' she drew another line to connect Rena with a circle with number 3.5 written in it. 'Rena believed it exist but Emilia supposedly doesn't, however…' she drew a dashed line to connect Emilia with the room. 'Emilia sounded quite relieved after hearing that I'm a heavy sleeper. Either she's glad I wouldn't be a bother during the night or that she's glad I won't find it by mistake.'
Ender looked at the overly simplistic map in front of her and put the sketchbook back into her pouch. She leaned on the chair and looked at the ceiling. "I should probably get my stuff, Marshall is going to leave tonight," she muttered to herself.
Now, alone in a room by herself, Ender started to feel uncomfortable about the prospect of not meeting the demon boy again. He's been with her for months now, and Ender, although she would never admit it, started to like living with him.
"That can wait later today," she stood up from her study and leaped straight to her bed. She closed her eyes and started her well-deserved nap.
Okay, first of all...
yes, very inspired by Gochuumon Usagi Desu Ka
But like... it's as close as Gochuumon Usagi as Solo Leveling is close to SAO, you get what I mean???
It's an entirely different kind of story, seriously...
16:00 - Black Cat Cafe
Ender Light walked down the stairs of the black cat cafe. She waved and smiled kindly at the sight of Emilia standing behind the bar table. The little girl nodded a little before looking back towards the door.
"You look tense," Ender said.
Emilia looked down a little after hearing that. "I'm sorry…"
"You're not forcing yourself are you?"
"N-no, no, really, I like working here," she said.
Ender nodded understandingly. "Don't push yourself, I'm going out for a while, see you later Emilia," she said before walking out of the cafe.
"Later Miss Light."
The second she opened the door, a cool breeze swept over Ender's form. She took a deep breath of the fresh air before stepping out of the cafe. She looked at the small fountain near the restaurant and the pedestrians walking around.
The chirping of the birds and soft purring sound of the feral cats made her walk through the city even more worthwhile. She stopped by a bridge and looked down the fresh, clean water below her before walking down the quiet and calming alleyway.
'Where am I going again?' Ender thought to herself. 'Yes, I'm going to the jeep to get Marshall, but… why? The mission is over, I told Alan he passed with flying colors, I should just leave him alone and let him return tonight.'
Another thought crossed through the agent's head.
'Don't tell me I'm starting to like him… Damn it, I am aren't I? I'm starting to like this demon boy?'
Ender pondered about this for almost half an hour before she made it just outside the village. She turned towards the public parking lot and head straight towards her jeep. "Oi, Marshall," she opened the door and saw a demon just waking up from a good day sleep.
"Mmm, good morning ma'am…" he stretched his arms and yawned a little. "What time is it?"
"Around five,"
Marshall stepped out of the jeep and stretched out his wings. "Aah… What now ma'am?"
"I just got a new mission and…" Ender paused a moment after realizing she literally has no idea what she has to do with Marshall. "You… you follow me for a bit, at least until we figure out what to do with you," she said.
Marshall sighed a little. "Do you have to make it sound like I'm a burden?"
Ender felt pang guilt after hearing that but said nothing.
With that, the two of them walked through the streets. Unlike earlier today, there are almost no cats roaming around. Ender thought it's because it's almost nighttime, but then she noticed a cat scurrying away from them in a hurry.
Ah, they're scared of demons.
Ender looked Marshall and found that he's already hiding his wings and horns. So the cats in this town are somehow more sensitive to the presence of a demon. She then remembered the long cat wrapped around Emilia's neck and realized that this is the perfect chance to learn more about it.
"Say, ma'am, don't you think this town is weird?"
"How come?"
Marshall looked around a little bit. "I dunno, like…" he clicked his tongue. "It's too clean, I literally don't see any negative energy, not even from the alleyways," he looked at the alleyways. "I mean, it's like I'm in that heaven, it's sickening."
"Interesting…" now that Ender thinks about, she didn't see any violence or suffering happening in this town at all. A perfect utopia like this shouldn't exist. "Don't pry too much, it's above your pay grade," she said.
"You know about this town ma'am?"
"No," Ender replied. "For some reason, the secret of this town is a Rank-S secret,"
"Whoa… Must be some crazy secret history," Marshall said in awe. Then he realized that Ender is leading him somewhere into the town. "Where are we going anyway ma'am?"
To the Black Cat Cafe, Ender wanted to answer. But then, a thought entered her head, a silly idea that's been eating away her mind the whole day. "To our next mission," Ender said finally.
Marshall's eyes widened after hearing that. "There's more?"
"You don't want it? If you don't I can call the HQ for…"
"NO!" his voice echoes through the whole street, turning some heads. He looked around nervously, and his face reddens. "I-I mean… It's okay ma'am," he said.
They walked a bit more in silence. It's borderline awkward for Ender, but she didn't feel like saying anything.
"Ma'am," Marshall broke the silence. "I-I failed didn't I?"
"What makes you think so?"
"I mean… Shouldn't I…" Marshall looked at Ender and saw her not even bothering to look at him. "Shouldn't I be going back now if I pass?"
"Then what will you do after you return?"
Marshall blinked a little after hearing that. "Uhh… I will get my B-Rank promotion and begin my first mission?" he half asked.
"That's… right," Ender said.
'Yes, he's going back and get his first partner, what's so weird about that?' Ender clenched her fist. 'Okay, screw it, I want him to be my partner. Yes, I like him. Yes, I don't want to say goodbye to him,' she stopped in her tracks and turned towards Marshall.
The demon stopped and looked at Ender in confusion. He found her staring at him flatly and slowly shrunk beneath her gaze. "Uhh… Ma'am…" he whispered. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, you didn't," Ender replied with a sigh before walking towards a bench nearby. "Sit down," she pats the spot beside her, and Marshall sat down beside her. "This might be the last time we meet."
Marshall looked down and sighed. "Yes… Unfortunately…"
"Do you accept it?"
"What?"
"Are you willing to accept that this is the last time we're going to meet?" Ender looked at him, her gaze boring straight into his eyes. "Do you Valmir Apocalypse,the sole heir of the Throne of Thirteenth Hell, accept this reality?"
The boy lowered his gaze once again. "I don't want to but… there's nothing I can do about it… I can't go against the Foundation."
Goddamn you pushover demon, you're putting all the work to myself…
"What if I say that I won't accept it,"
Marshall's eyes widened after hearing that. "Ma'am? Are you…"
Ender nodded a little.
"Th-then… What should I, you, I mean, we? Should do?"
The girl looked up at the now dark sky and took a deep breath. "You're gonna have to work twice as hard and prove yourself," she told him. "As for me," she took out her phone and dialed a number.
"Alan,"
"Mmm? What is it Ender?"
"Prepare mine and Marshall's partnership document.
"Haha! I knew it! No tsundere can resist-"
Ender made a hand sign, and Marshall quickly covered his ears.
"A shape of the col-"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I'll get right into it."
Ender ended the call and pocketed her phone.
Marshall uncovered his ears and looked at Ender in amazement. "Wow, that was very cruel of you ma'am," his tone is that of genuine praise and admiration. "I love how you abuse your powers like that."
"That can still get me into trouble you know?"
"Still, it was impressive of you ma'am."
After a moment, Ender stood up from her seat and led Marshall through the city once again. She thought about what she just did and felt like there's something in this town manipulating her. 'No, that's impossible, nothing can manipulate me,' she thought to herself.
Nighttime in Mercat City is no less beautiful than the daytime. The river and canals sparkle from the light of the stars and the buildings of the city. The balconies of the buildings were filled with feral cats sleeping together.
"It's so quiet," Marshall said. "Isn't there any red light district or something in this town?"
"I don't think so, no," Ender replied. "This place is anomalously peaceful."
Marshall sighed a little. "This is my equivalent of hell, you know that right?"
"I know, bear with it, maybe if we're lucky we'll accidentally stumble upon the deep dark horrifying secret of this city," Ender said optimistically. "Maybe this city is built on top of a suffering of other people or something like that?"
"Yeah, that would make this mission worthwhile…" then he narrowed his eyes. "Wait, what's our mission again?"
"Remember Elliot? Well, apparently he has a daughter and my mission is to confirm if she inherited his power and to what extent,"
"I see… How are we doing this?"
"She's Elliot daughter so I prefer using the friendly approach,"
Marshall looked a bit disappointed after hearing that but nodded anyway. "Then, what do you need me for?"
"For backup, of course,"
"I won't let you down ma'am."
"Ender,"
"What?"
"You're my partner now, call me Ender,"
A small smile formed on the demon's face. He put a hand over his chest and looked at his mentor's towering figure. "Yes, Ender," he said.
Anyway, let me know what you think, have fun then~
Comentario de párrafo
¡La función de comentarios de párrafo ya está en la Web! Mueva el mouse sobre cualquier párrafo y haga clic en el icono para agregar su comentario.
Además, siempre puedes desactivarlo en Ajustes.
ENTIENDO