"So, is it okay to arrange your shifts on Saturdays and Sundays, which is the weekend?" Asakura asked Kita Ikuyo, while he sprawled across the bar counter radiating a sense of melancholy.
"Eh, does that mean the Manager is willing to let me work here?"
The red-haired girl immediately perked up upon hearing this.
"The Manager is Ms. Kawaragi. I'm the Owner," Asakura said solemnly, not directly answering the girl's question.
After all, where else would he find such a low-cost beast of burden—cough, excellent employee—without having to hire a bunch of expensive regular workers?
"Isn't that basically the same thing?" Kita Ikuyo clearly hadn't been battered by society yet, completely failing to realize Asakura had diverted the topic.
However, after the initial excitement, her mood suddenly wilted again: "But I bought a bass instead of a guitar... and I won't have a guitar to use for a while. That way, I can't learn guitar from Ms. Kawaragi. It feels like putting the cart before the horse. Maybe it's better if I find a higher-paying part-time job first and buy a new guitar before talking about this..."
"Well, as an employee benefit, you can eat any sweets that aren't sold out after work for free."
Seeing the beast of burden—excellent employee—he favored about to run away, Asakura tried to entice her to stay.
"Ugh, that does sound great, but I'm not that fond of sweets, and the calories and all that..."
Kita Ikuyo showed a troubled expression.
"That's because you haven't eaten our sweets yet."
Asakura stood up and walked into the kitchen. A moment later, wearing thick baking gloves, he brought out an entire tray of rabbit dango.
He ignored Kawaragi Momoka's confusion over "Aren't rabbit dango supposed to be wagashi? Why are they on a baking tray?" and placed the tray on the bar in front of Kita Ikuyo. He sat back in his original spot and said enthusiastically to the girl: "Come, give them a try."
The girl looked at him with some hesitation, then looked at the cute chibi rabbits on the tray. Her eyes were filled with a look of being charmed by those tiny rabbits, which were all different in shape but exquisitely crafted. She subconsciously took out her phone, then, as if remembering something, asked Asakura for permission: "Um, can I take a photo?"
"Is this to preserve evidence in case of food poisoning? You have quite a strong legal awareness. That would make this tray like a urine sample cup..." Asakura stood up as if he were going to get something again.
"No, no, no, it's nothing like that! I simply want to take a photo to upload to Twitter," Kita Ikuyo explained with a blush. "After all, these snacks look so cute, it would be such a waste to just eat them..."
"Is that so? Then feel free." Hearing this, Asakura didn't say anything more about the girl's actions. After all, this could be considered a form of advancement for his shop.
Furthermore, he was quite satisfied with the design of the rabbit dango.
One should know that those house elves in the kitchen were nearly bored to death. According to them, these house elves used to be able to provide three meals plus late-night snacks for an entire school, but now they were only serving a few bits of food and snacks for the Magic Research Club. It was clearly beneath their talents.
Thus, to leave a better impression on the Owner and be entrusted with more work, the house elves began to "compete" over the designs, provided the aroma and taste were similar.
If Asakura hadn't stopped them, he estimated those house elves could have used fondant and flour to recreate a 1:30 model of Hogwarts Castle, the kind with many gingerbread men scurrying through it.
In short, thanks to them, the house elves' artistic talent was poured into the daily limited rabbit dango. As a result, this version of the rabbit dango was far superior to the first version, which was just two ears and two eyes stuck onto a warm manju.
"Well then, I'm digging in!"
After taking the photo and posting a snippet of text to X, formerly known as Twitter, the girl put down her phone. She used tongs to move two little rabbits from the baking tray to her plate, then pressed her hands together and spoke with a sense of ceremony.
"Actually, I've always been curious. Who is this pre-meal 'I'm digging in' actually addressed to?" Asakura asked in a low voice.
"To the food, to let them be mentally prepared."
Kawaragi Momoka replied casually, her gaze fixed on the two rabbit dango on the plate in front of Kita Ikuyo.
She didn't know if her eyes were playing tricks on her, or if she was hallucinating because she stayed up late last night and didn't get enough sleep, but she felt like those two delicious-looking rabbit dango had suddenly huddled together on the plate and were shivering, as if they were afraid of something.
But after she rubbed her eyes, she found that the two rabbit dango hadn't changed at all. They lay on the plate as quietly as normal food, motionless.
It should just be an illusion.
She thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Kita Ikuyo had already picked up one of the rabbit dango with her chopsticks and took a gentle bite.
A moment later, the expression on the girl's face was replaced by massive shock.
"So good!" Her eyes sparkled as she said, "I thought it would have the texture of a warm manju, but it's actually much better. The skin is fragrant and soft, not dry at all. And it's not quite like the usual sticky rice dango snacks; the skin is chewy and delicious without being sticky. The filling inside is an even greater surprise than I've ever had. The flavors are rich in layers but not cluttered. Aside from being slightly too sweet, it's almost flawless! No, even that slightly excessive sweetness is a perfect part of it. If it were paired with some roasted green tea, I can't imagine how delicious it would be!"
Asakura looked at the girl who was endlessly praising the food, and after a moment, said with some disappointment: "No clothes exploded."
"This isn't some gourmet manga," Kawaragi Momoka complained. "Owner, your dango didn't glow either, did they?"
"Then what if I add fluorescent agents? How would you respond to that, sir?"
"In short, report it to the food safety department first."
While the two were interacting, Kita Ikuyo, holding the rabbit dango whose head she had bitten off, asked in surprise: "As long as I work here, can I eat these whenever I want in the evening?"
"Yeah, as long as they aren't sold out, you can eat as much as you want." Asakura nodded and agreed.
"Then I'll do it! No, I mean, please let me work here by all means!" Kita Ikuyo said happily.
Kawaragi Momoka looked at Asakura with eyes that looked a bit like a dead fish: Based on the advancement from the past two days and the popularity of the rabbit dango at the school festival cafe yesterday, will there really be any left over? Is it really okay to trick the kid like this?
It doesn't matter; things like toast will definitely be left over. Asakura returned a "calm and unruffled, I'm proud" smile.