"So that child is a dragon too... No wonder..."
After Kanna and the others left, Erina asked Yuto about what had happened.
She found it strange that he would look so troubled over a little girl wanting to go to school.
Only after asking did she understand the reason.
So Kanna was a dragon.
Erina accepted the fact with calm.
She did not even look shocked anymore, perhaps this phenomenon could be called 'assimilation'.
"But she really doesn't look like one at all," Hisako sighed.
"Well, she may not look like one, but that's the truth." Yuto smiled.
"Hmph! Don't be fooled by how young Kanna looks. Destroying this city would be easy for her!" Tohru crossed her arms, a proud expression on her face.
She had walked through this city during the day, and according to her observations, the infrastructure was fragile.
If given enough time... About ten minutes, probably.
Tohru felt she could destroy the entire city. Even if it were Kanna doing it instead, the result would be the same.
Her words made cold sweat break out on Erina and Hisako.
At that moment, Erina felt Yuto's decision to put off Kanna's school request had been the correct one.
Thank goodness he had not agreed!
"Tohru, don't say things like that so casually," Yuto reminded her.
"Eh? But I'm not saying it casually! Kanna really can destroy this city!" Tohru looked anxious, like someone trying to explain after being misunderstood.
Yuto sighed. 'Tohru, you didn't need to emphasize it again...'
Erina and Hisako: "..."
"Boss, how much?" Reiko's voice drew Yuto's attention back to her.
The girl had stood up, while Hinoe clung to her arm.
"Including Hinoe-san's portion?" Yuto asked.
"Mm."
"That'll be 700 yen in total." A single serving of butter rice was 350 yen.
Reiko took a banknote from her pocket, added a few coins, and handed them over.
"Thank you." Yuto accepted the money and placed it behind the counter.
Although the restaurant had no shortage of money, this process could not be removed.
If the place became a free cafeteria, the feeling of the restaurant itself would change.
Besides, Yuto felt that even if he announced everything was free, his customers would not accept it.
Ordering food, then paying the bill—this process was the first point of connection between Yuto and his customers.
Without that step, it would feel strange.
"See you tomorrow, Boss." Reiko smiled at Yuto, then left with Hinoe in tow.
Now, the only people left in the restaurant were staff.
Erina and Hisako had recovered from their exhaustion, but since there were few customers, the two of them were free.
"Tohru, wipe down the counter." Yuto gave an instruction.
Quite a few customers had sat at the counter, so it was better to clean it.
"There are surprisingly few customers," Erina said.
She knew how strange this little restaurant was, and before coming here, she had mentally prepared herself for many things.
Yet now that it was this quiet, she felt a bit surprised.
"It's not that unusual. Small restaurants are usually like this." Yuto compared the restaurant to other places in his mind before answering.
He did not care much about the flow of customers.
At the very beginning, when no one had come, he had been troubled, but now there were new customers every day.
That was good enough.
"That's true." Erina agreed with his view.
"Though if we occasionally get one or two customers like Goku, it's the same as having a hundred ordinary customers at once," Yuto joked.
The moment he brought up Goku, Erina felt that comment in her soul.
Indeed, one Goku equaled a hundred ordinary customers!
Thinking back to the scene of cooking for Goku and the others, Erina's hand trembled.
That had been exhausting.
Clatter—
The door opened.
Yuto and the others straightened their focus.
This was the necessary attitude when facing a customer.
It was a new customer and they were alone.
Standing at the entrance was a little girl with blue hair. Judging from her age, she was around thirteen years old.
Her long blue hair fell around her, and her face looked young and gentle, with a blush coloring her cheeks.
She wore an off-shoulder dress, and on her right shoulder was a blue guild mark with an unusual shape.
"Welcome." Yuto greeted her with a smile.
The little girl looked around the restaurant with caution.
Flustered, she turned to Yuto and said. "H-hello. Um... my name is Wendy."
Even though she understood what kind of place this was, arriving somewhere unfamiliar was nerve-racking for Wendy, who was timid by nature.
"You don't need to worry so much, Wendy. This is just a place to eat." Yuto smiled.
After taking a deep breath, Wendy managed to calm herself, though the steps she took were tentative.
Even after sitting down at the counter, she gave off the feeling of a startled bird.
"What would you like to eat, Wendy?" His voice was gentle.
By now, he had dealt with several little girls around Wendy's age, gaining experience in how to handle them.
Words alone were rarely enough to make them lower their guard. Delicious food was the best way to soothe them.
"Um... could I have something sweet?" Perhaps Yuto's gentleness had worked, because after hesitating, Wendy told him what kind of flavor she liked.
"Of course. I'll go make something for you, so please wait a bit, all right? If you feel bored, you can talk with these three older sisters."
When speaking to children, tone had to be chosen carefully.
His words made Wendy nod.
He smiled at her, then turned and entered the kitchen.
Sitting at the counter, Wendy glanced toward Erina and the others.
A hint of admiration appeared in her eyes.
After all, Erina and Hisako were both outstanding girls, and they often captured the worshipful gazes of younger girls.
When Wendy looked at Tohru, surprise appeared in her eyes.
"Mm? What is it?" Tohru looked at Wendy in confusion.
She did not understand why Wendy was staring at her.
The girl's excited gaze was difficult for Tohru to handle.
"Um... um... the feeling you give me... it's like... like a dragon..." Wendy did not know whether she was excited or embarrassed, and her words came out in fragments.
Fortunately, Tohru understood.
"Oh, that's because I am a dragon," Tohru scratched her head and answered.
Wendy froze on the spot.
...
"A child raised by a dragon..."
Standing behind the counter with his arms folded, Yuto sighed, his feelings complicated.
While making Wendy's food in the kitchen earlier, he heard her amazed voice from the dining area.
After bringing the dish out, he chatted with her for a while.
Caught up in her excitement, Wendy revealed her background.
Separated from her parents at a young age, she was raised by a dragon named Grandeeney.
After teaching Wendy a magic known as Dragon Slayer Magic, Grandeeney vanished.
For Wendy, who regarded Grandeeney as family, the separation was unbearable.
She had no idea why the dragon left. She simply woke up one day to find Grandeeney gone.
Since then, she searched for her.
Even now, she had not discovered a single clue, yet the hope in her heart never faded. She believed that one day, she would find her.
Tonight, in the restaurant, she met Tohru.
The feeling Tohru gave her was familiar—the same presence Grandeeney carried. Even as dragons from different worlds, they shared similarities.
That was why Wendy grew excited.
Learning Tohru was a dragon delighted her further.
However, asking whether Tohru knew Grandeeney brought only disappointment. Now, Wendy sat at the counter, with a dejected expression.
To see hope appear, only for it to shatter—it was not an easy thing to endure.
Hearing Wendy's story, Tohru sighed, her own feelings complicated.
A dragon raising a human child seemed almost impossible in her world.
But from Wendy's words, Tohru could tell the girl spoke the truth. Imagining the scene left her moved.
"Tohru-nee-san, if a dragon suddenly disappears, where would they go?" Wendy raised her head, looking at Tohru with pitiful eyes.
Although she knew the dragon before her came from another world, she held onto a trace of hope.
"Eh, um... if they suddenly disappeared... maybe they were teleported away?" Tohru panicked. She scratched her head, offering an answer that was barely acceptable.
Her view of humans remained unchanged, but facing Wendy—a child raised by a dragon—made it difficult to maintain her usual attitude.
She felt as if she were dealing with the adopted child of a distant relative.
"Teleported... Then where would Grandeeney have been teleported to?" Wendy murmured in a daze.
Tohru's tail swayed back and forth, her expression conflicted.
"Right! Maybe Grandeeney was summoned back to the Dragon Realm. In our world, if dragons leave their original world for too long, they get dragged back! Maybe Wendy's world is the same! Grandeeney just went back to the Dragon Realm! Mm! That must be it!"
Having found a reason, Tohru explained it to Wendy with a shining expression.
To make her words convincing, she gave Wendy a thumbs-up at the end, her face radiating a plea to trust her.
Her method of comforting people carried her usual style—adorably dumb!
Watching this, Yuto sighed in his heart.
Wendy seemed to believe it since Tohru's identity as a dragon was persuasive to the young girl.
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