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Since we decided to start working tomorrow, today we plan to chill and go sightseeing around the royal capital.
Still, since entering the castle, the number one place I wanted to go to, isn’t allowed, Ruti and I are just aimlessly wandering around together.

「By the way, why did you suddenly want to hold hands? Is there something wrong?¹」
「Ehh, you know, so we don’t lose each other in the crowd?」

Why are you asking me? Well, we’re both girls so it’s probably not that weird, I guess.

「Ah. Hey, isn’t that one cute?」
「You’re right, why don’t we go there for a bit?」

A stall selling accessories caught our eye, so we went to it. It has different types of accessories, not only those made with jewels but also some made with pretty stones and glass.

「My, what beautiful ladies I have visiting today. How about it? I’ll offer a small discount, so why don’t you buy some?」

The old shopkeeper said, promoting himself while being flattering. It’s mysterious that I’m surprisingly on board with being called beautiful now too.

「Hmm, let’s see…… That’s right. Ruti, how about we pick a present for each other?」
「Eh… Okay. I don’t mind.」

Hmmm, I wonder what would look good on her…. While I was choosing, something instantly caught my eye. A silver chained pendant with a red stone as it’s highlight.² With that one….

「Old man, can I have that?」
「This garnet one? Let’s see… That’ll be 2 gold coins.」

He probably already made it cheaper, but it’s pretty expensive… Still, since it’s a present, I’ll splurge a bit.

「Ruti, can you come here for a second?」

I immediately put my hands around the back of her neck and put it on her. Yup, it looks as good as I imagined.
A chain with the color of my hair and a stone with the color of Ruti’s eyes…³ Maybe the chain doesn’t need to be silver after all. It’s a bit embarrassing.

「These colors…」

Ah, she noticed. That’s even more embarrassing.

「Well, since we don’t do this much, I chose one that had both of our colors on it but…」
「That’s…. Fufu, then this might be the one for you, Natsuki.」

Saying so, Ruti chose a black leather choker with a golden ornament.
She paid the old man and immediately put it on me.⁴

「Yup, as I thought, it really suits you.」

For some reason I felt a bit ticklish, and we both giggled with each other.

「Ah, so you two ladies were in that kind of relationship, eh?」

While grinning to himself, the old man suddenly said that. Eh? By that kind, does he mean that?

「N-No! A-Absolutely not!」
「Oh? Is that so. It’s just that those kinds of people visited this shop the other day. I thought you ladies were the same.⁵」
「L-Let’s go! Ruti!」

My face suddenly felt hot, so I took Ruti’s hand and hurried away from the stall. I even hear the old man say, —Come again!—, from a distance. Even Ruti’s face is bright red. Her hand grabbing mine is also a bit tense. Geez! Curse you, old man!

The next day, we headed to the cafe at the scheduled time. It seems to be called Sanrook.
It doesn’t have a terrace, but there are decorative plants inside and is set up to have a relaxing mood.

「Hi, welcome. Are you the ones that will be working here from today?」

Saying so, the owner, Ryzna-san, greeted us. Since his⁶ ears are long, is he an elf? When I asked, it seems like they’re called Forestkin in this world.

「Well then, since there’s a bit more time left before we open shop, would the two of you change into this?」

And what he handed to us was a maid uniform. But the skirt is super short. Eh? Are we really wearing this?

「Our uniforms here are popular for being cute but everybody got embarrassed wearing them and left, you see. I’m really glad that the two of you came to help.」

I see, the reason why the reward is so good is to keep people from quitting as much as possible.
Uhhhh, but the length of this skirt… It’s really embarrassing. Like people might see if I let my guard down. It seems like we’re not allowed to wear spats too… And since it’s going to be autumn soon, it’ll be cold as well… Ah, so maybe that’s why there’s no terrace. So they can use it all year round. A business made to fit their uniform… This is a cafe, right?

While I was busy worrying myself, Ruti already finished changing.

「Natsuki, you should hurry up and change too. It’s opening soon, you know?」

Although Ruti said so, she’s probably embarrassed too, since she’s moving her skirt every now and then. Adding in her slightly red cheeks, she looks really cute. Will it suit me too?… I resolved myself and changed my clothes.

「How do I look?」
「Yup, you look really good.」

Thank goodness. As I felt relieved, it became opening time.

「Welcome!」

The time was about past noon. The cafe’s seats are fully occupied and people waiting for their seats slowly began to appear.

「There wasn’t even that much people this morning but now there’s just a whole lot of people!」

While arranging the tableware in the back, I couldn’t help but say so.

「Maybe the customers this morning talked about it. —There’s a really cute newbie!— and so on. Moreover, there’s even two of you so it probably attracted more people.」

Beaming with how his shop is thriving, Ryzna-san said so.
I understand if he’s talking about Ruti, but me too? In the past, I did think that I was adorably cool, but I actually didn’t expect this much.⁷

「For now, coffee, black tea, and scones for table 3 please.」
「Got it. This one’s for table 6, okay?」

The only people working are the two of us and Ryzna-san, so we’re busy as we can be. The two of us are in charge of the hall, so Ryzna-san is inevitably in charge of the kitchen. It’s not that bad since this is a cafe but if this was a normal restaurant, we absolutely won’t have enough people to run the place.⁸

On that day, we ended up with a full house until closing time. With only our first day like this, it’s going to be tiring… Will we be okay from tomorrow on?⁹ While wondering so, Ruti and I drag our tired bodies back to the inn.

1. Lyly: NATSUKIIII!!!! DENSE!!!
   Fire: Dense-suki
2. Lyly: … Hmmm?
3. Lyly: You dense romantic, you
   Fire: At least that denseness is worth something
4. Lyly: Marry each other
   Fire: Woah woah woah, that’s way too quick Lyly.
5. Lyly: And probably flirted almost as much as you two little awkward ladies
   Fire: But they probably weren’t as dense as Natsuki
6. Silva: Gender still unknown
   Fire: Gender: Unconfirmed
7. Lyly: Lol, narcissist Natsuki
   Fire: She just has a *bit* of an ego
8. Lyly: I mean, only one cook? For a restaurant? Nope
   Fire: And only two waitresses…
9. Lyly: Ah yes, customer service.