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One day at noon, inside a barely lit room with all of its windows and curtains shut tight, there was a gathering of people of all genders and ages sitting there.
In this somewhat bizarre situation, a man that sat in front of them, facing the large crowd, began to move.

「Well then, we will now be commencing this meeting.」

His voice was not loud by any means, yet it was clear and well heard.

「First of all, on the topic of our numbersー」

It seemed to be some sort of conference, but just as the man who seemed to be the host began talking, a certain old man raised his hand and started to speak.

「About that matter, please don’t worry about it. We’ve already finished scheduling the rotations and we have arranged the optimal number of people to send at a time.」
「As expected of the elder. Truly reliable. Then in that case, was the balance of the factions taken in account too?」
「It was already taken to consideration but as you’d expect, it’s quite difficult to keep a perfectly exact distribution every day, so we have arranged it so the numbers will be balanced every few days.」
「Brilliant. It seems like I was right in appointing you.」

The man hosting the conference nodded with satisfaction and prompted the man known as “the elder” to sit down.

「One moment please. Just in case, I would like to give a final confirmation on the given time per person.」
「Oops, that is pretty important, isn’t it? How is it in the schedule?」
「We’ve arranged it to be about 20 minutes however……」
「Hmm…… Good enough. Then we’ll arrange our plans too.」

As it was seemingly the only matter that needed confirmation, the elder sat down on his seat.

「Ah, right, this week I’d like to slightly increase the price of our goods.」

It caused a stir among the crowd. There is even a voice exclaiming “Any more and we won’t be able to……”

「Well, it’s not as though it’s going to be permanent. Still, at this rate, we might come a bit short on the payments, you see. If that happens……」

That can’t be, they’re going to leave, the commotion escalated even further.
Suddenly, the elder from before stood up and raised his voice.

「Silence! …… Chairman, exactly how much will it be? 」
「Considering the earlier plan, an additional one silver coin per person should be enough.」
「Understood. Everybody, you hear that? Just paying one silver coin each can maintain our status quo. Then shouldn’t we accept this condition for the sake of the girls?」

With the elder’s thundering voice and the given explanation, the crowd seemed to be convinced as the clamor has calmed down.
Though, there was a voice whispering “I’m going to need to ask for a bigger allowance.” among them.

「Now then, the plan will be just as we decided now. Everyone, do you have any other things to report?」

A certain lady then raised her hand and began to speak.

「Lately, there have been rumors of someone following the girlsー」

After that, the other participants gave various reports and suggestions, and the assembly continued on until dark.

「Thank you for joining us today even until this late hour. Well then everyone, please come again……」

………
……
…

「It’s a bummer that Natsuki-chan and Ruti-chan aren’t here today, but all of you are cute as always, Firu-chan.」
「Thank you, old man.」

With a friendly smile, Firu takes down the order of a frequent customer, an old man.

「But sti~ll, even though the number of customers have been stable recentl~y, it’s great that there are more people ordering the pricey stu~ff.」
「That’s true, it’s a lot calmer compared to before, and the sales have been looking good, it’s going really well.」
「Bu~t, is it just m~e, or doesn’t it feel like it’s going a bit too we~ll?」

As Natsuki and Ruti are on their break, Firu and Chris have been somewhat busy but they are still free enough to have short conversations.
Customers have been both periodically entering and exiting the café.
…… In this world, there may be things that are better left unknown.