Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends-Chapter 5.1 - Everyones Encouragement

Today I am taking the day off.

Even though something so scary happened recently, I thought maybe working would help distract me. But when I showed up, I started making mistake after mistake.

The thought of someone getting angry at me again made my hands shake, and I couldn’t speak properly. I wasn’t doing well at all. I was also scared of having another panic attack.

Ruri and Dan told me it was okay to take it easy for a while.

They seem to be worried about me.

Even though things like that might be common at work, I can’t help but hate how weak I am.

“Hey, Lulu… what if I stay like this forever?”

I murmured quietly, lying on the bed.

“I want to be useful to everyone…”

Ruri’s kind words made me happy.

That’s why I want to work hard again and be helpful to everyone.

But my body feels so heavy.

Lulu didn’t respond.

When I looked around the room, Lulu wasn’t there.

Lately, Lulu has been going out a lot to play or explore, so maybe they went out again.

Where did Lulu go?

I feel lonely.

I want to talk to Lulu.

“Piyo~”

When I murmured Lulu’s name, instead, the baby chicks came waddling toward me with all their fluffy cuteness.

As I lay on the bed, they rubbed their soft feathers against my face.

“Fufu, it tickles…”

“Pii!”

Pipi, Riri, and Lala all seem to have gotten fluffier.

Their shapes are rounder and softer than before.

“Pii~”

“What is it? Are you hungry?”

Come to think of it, they haven’t eaten anything since this morning. Usually, when I go to work, Lulu and the others get food from Dan or the customers, so maybe they’re not satisfied today.

“Should I make something?”

“Piyo?”

“Pii.”

“Mupi.”

I headed to the kitchen with the tilting, curious baby chicks in tow.

On the table, there was some bread I bought the other day, a banana, and a jar of raspberry jam.

…

I sliced a few pieces of bread and set them in the toaster—a magical tool.

Then, I heated a frying pan with butter, cut up the banana, and lightly grilled the pieces.

Ruri had told me they taste better when grilled.

I plated the caramelized banana slices.

When the toaster made a ding sound, the toast was ready.

The room had grown very quiet.

“…”

“Pii.”

“Piuu.”

“Piyo.”

“…Yeah.”

For some reason, my body wouldn’t move.

Drip. Something fell onto my hand.

When I touched my cheek to see what it was, it was wet.

It seemed like tears were falling from my eyes.

Leaving the freshly toasted bread and the banana I had plated as they were, I sank down onto the cold kitchen floor.

For some reason, I couldn’t stop crying.

I stifled my sobs and cried quietly.

I wasn’t even sure why I was crying.

I started to think back on everything that had happened up until now.

—From such a faraway place, I had made it here.

The guild members, who didn’t even know me, had helped me.

After that, I began living on my own.

The new job I started didn’t always go smoothly, but I enjoyed it.

I made friends.

I went out to explore the city.

Every day was filled with fun things.

But something terrible happened.

It hurt knowing I had caused trouble for the guild.

I thought it was all my fault.

I felt like I had no place to go back to.

But Ruri denied that for me.

Now, I don’t really know if I feel sad or happy.

What’s happening in my heart right now?

A lot of emotions are all mixed together.

Sadness, happiness—I can’t quite figure it out…

“Pii~…”

The baby chicks came over, peeking anxiously at my face.

“Yeah, sorry,” I said, wiping away my tears and giving them a small, awkward smile.

It seems like I’ve gotten really sentimental.

“That’s right, you’re here too, aren’t you?”

“Mupi~.”

As if to say, “Don’t cry,” the chicks rubbed their soft bodies against my cheeks.

It tickled, and I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

As I sniffled, the window rattled with a loud clatter.

“What was that?”

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I was startled and looked in that direction—it was Lulu.

Lulu was tapping on the window, asking to be let in.

I hurriedly unlocked it, and a rather worn-out-looking Lulu entered the room, carrying a large basket.

“Ruu…”

“L-Lulu, what happened?”

“Ruu…”

With its soft, plump front paws, Lulu pushed the basket toward me, as if to say, “Look at this.”

When I removed the handkerchief covering the basket, I found containers of soup, bread, and warm dishes inside. The sheer amount was overwhelming.

“W-wait, where did all this come from?”

“Ruun.”

Lulu gestured toward the contents of the basket.

Inside were several letters.

“Kuu-chan, Dan made tomato and egg soup, so please eat it. Eat lots and let’s work together again soon, okay?”

That was a letter from Ruri.

“Kuna-neesan, I brought lots of bread from our house, so make sure you eat it! My favorite one, the cat-shaped bread, is really tasty!”

This one was from Solaris.

“Stop being so skinny. Eat up.”

And that was a letter from Yan-san.

There were many other things in the basket as well.

“…Lulu, did you bring all of this?”

“Ruu~”

Lulu nodded vigorously.

It seemed incredibly tired.

It was opening and closing its jaw repeatedly.

“F-Fufu…”

A smile naturally spread across my face as I held the letters and laughed.

Then, the doorbell rang with a ring.

It seemed someone had come to the room.

“Ah, I’ll be right there.”

I hurriedly opened the door to the room.

“!?”

Suddenly, a basket full of fruit appeared right in front of me.

“Ugh, it’s so heavy, nya…”

As I thought that, it seemed like Kurona had the basket balanced on her head.

Kurona lowered the basket and took a breath.

“If you’d like, please have some of this. It’s a very tasty fruit, well-known in my village for making your coat shiny.”

“Eh… Is it really okay?”

“Of course, nya.”

“Ah, thank you so much!”

I bowed my head repeatedly, and just then, Ellen came up the stairs, carrying a heavy load.

“Ughhh! This is too heavy!”

Ellen reached my room and unloaded a huge amount of baggage, cracking her back as she did.

“W-What happened?”

“Well, you see, Kuu-chan, the customers at the café, they all gave me all of this, saying it’s for you!”

“…”

I widened my eyes in surprise, and Ellen continued.

“When I told them I was going to Kuu-chan’s room, they gave me all this. Honestly, they could have thought about how hard it would be to carry!”

“Ruu…”

Lulu chirped as if to show sympathy.

There were many things that Lulu and Ellen had given me.

I was so surprised that I stood there, stunned, for a while.

Then, Ellen scratched her cheek and said,

“There are a lot of things I don’t like about work, and times when I feel down. There are so many days when I get really nostalgic for my parents’ house and just want to go back right away.”

“Uh, well,” Ellen continued,

“I’ve been working at this guild a little longer than you, Kuu-chan, so I know just the right way to relieve stress!”

She looked at Kurona and smiled brightly.

“Eat delicious food and drink! Make a lot of noise! Talk endlessly! That’s the way to do it!”

“…”

As I stood there, dumbfounded, Ellen shyly fiddled with her fingers.

“Well… I was thinking maybe we could have a meal together…”

Kurona added, “When you think about it, this seems like it’s turning into a visit to Kuu-chan’s house, nya.”

“That’s true…”

“Heh heh heh,” Ellen scratched her head.

Both of them looked at me.

My chest warmed up gently.

If I let my guard down, I felt like I might start crying again.

I quickly wiped away my tears and smiled.

“Um… I have a lot of food at home. So much that I can’t even eat it all. If you want, we can all eat together?”

Their faces lit up instantly.

“Ah, then please wait! I have delicious sake and cheese at home! I’ll go bring them!”

“I’ll be intruding, nya!”

Just like Ruri said.

I want to cherish connections, too.

And right now, I truly feel that from the bottom of my heart.