Chapter 114
Croissant
In the morning, Aletta jumped in surprise when she heard a surprisingly loud noise, she then got confused.
She had no idea where she was.
She was lying down on a first-cla.s.s bed that felt nice to touch; the mattress was springy under her.
She wore clothes that fit her body, and a soft duvet was laid on a bed frame made of iron rods.
Aletta who just woke up remembered nothing.
(Etto, this place is…)
While she was trying to recall, the noisy sound suddenly stopped.
Looking at the source of the noise, she saw Saki who just woke up.
[Good morning. Did you sleep well?]
Saki who had a little bed hair laughed while saying so and finally Aletta remembered yesterday’s events.
(A, that’s right. Yesterday, I was told to stay the night over after I finished my work…)
Yesterday, she was recommended to stay there for Satur’s Night.
Recently the number of customers was increasing, making the otherworld dining hall busier.
Due to the doors appearing at different parts of the world, the time the customers came was varied.
It was not unusual for them to be busy from morning to night, but still there were times when customer traffic stopped abruptly.
In such time zone, the owner decided to take care of the restaurant including the customer service by himself, he then gave the two waitresses a break.
When the busy time lasted for a while and the customer came one after another, the customer that came for confectioneries usually left at early afternoon.
And then they were usually free until customers came to drink alcohol at the evening.
And at that time, the two girls who were similar of age took a break and chatted between themselves.
And the topic at that time was about their residences.
[Hee, so usually you work as a maid that doubles as a housekeeper?]
Saki asked Aletta who just recently became closer to her.
Saki liked Aletta who took her work seriously.
[Yes, I am hired to work at the house of an adventurer named Sarah, my job is to clean up, wash and manage the house.
I can now eat proper meals, so I’m grateful to Sarah-san who hired a demon like me.]
[I see. Sarah is the one who usually orders minced cutlet right?]
[Yes. Currently she
was away to search for treasures, but I’ve heard about the places where the doors are located from various travellers and Halflings that visit the restaurant.]
[I see. So you currently live alone? Are you alright?]
Saki who was studying in a university knew the freedom and loneliness of living apart from one’s family.
[Yes. When Sarah-san is away, Shisan would come to visit once in 7 days.
Fortunately the house is secure as there are protections to keep the treasures from being stolen by thieves, so it’s all right…
But after working here, when I go home alone from the outskirts of the town, I am a bit scared since it’s already midnight.]
To that question, Aletta remembered the days when she was sleeping in the ruins while trembling in cold, and then she remembered the small fear of everyday life, so Aletta said so.
Rarely, some of the undeads would come out at the ruins, partly because demons rampaged and destroyed the place.
Fortunately, wraiths that were powerful enough to kill people when they were encountered were exorcized soon after they appeared by the priests, so Aletta had never been attacked by ghosts.
But when poor people died in the ruins, their corpses could become zombies that looked thin and moved slowly.
She was scared when she saw it in the middle of the night.
However, thanks to that, there were not much thieves in the ruins, and even when she slept in the ruins before she was hired, no one complained about it, so she couldn’t complain.
On the other hand, Saki was speechless.
While Aletta said so with a smile, it was still disturbing.
[Wait, in short, what? So after you finish your work here, you say you walk home from the ruins of the town?]
[Yes. It’s a bit dark and difficult to walk there, but I’m used to dark places…]
Hearing the words of Aletta who did not have a sense of danger, Saki said impatiently.
[No, no, no. That’s dangerous. Look, a molester, a pervert… what would you do if a robber appears?]
She did not know about the otherworld where the girl lived, but she couldn’t imagine that it’s as safe as j.a.pan.
She thought that it was dangerous for a young female to walk alone in the
the middle of the night.
[It’s okay. I’m used to it, and no one attacks me.]
Aletta laughed off Saki’s worries.
Born in countryside, the demon tribe was relatively uncommon in the Kingdom and no human knew what kind of bizarre power they might have, so no one would aim for Aletta since she had average appearance.
Aletta believed so.
[What are you saying… Aletta is cute, so you have to be more careful.]
On the other hand, Saki was very worried about Aletta’s att.i.tude.
Though she did not know about Aletta’s appearance when she just started to work here, she thought that Aletta was considerably cute.
It couldn’t be said that she wouldn’t be targeted by bad adults.
[Anyway, I’ll talk to oji-san.]
Then Saki explained to him about Aletta’s situation… as a female walking alone at night was dangerous, at the end of the day Aletta would stay over with Saki at a sleeping room on the third floor.
[Well then, we’ll prepare breakfast, so wait a moment Aletta. There’s a guy who have been told to stay here beforehand.]
Saki said so to Aletta and went out of the bedroom; she then changed from her sleepwear into a shirt and dark blue trousers.
After seeing her off, Aletta looked outside.
Beyond the transparent gla.s.s plate, a mysterious world spread.
On the roads paved by red rocks, there were buildings shaped like square boxes.
Perhaps this was one of those buildings.
There were not many people walking outside since it’s still early, but she still felt that it was another world.
(What is there outside this place?)
Feeling a little interested, she gently placed her hand on the window, and it hindered her like an invisible wall.
According to the owner, the only magics used in this building were done by his obasama and the regulars of this restaurant.
It seemed that there was no magic like the one found in Aletta’s world outside this building.
The people of this world did not know that there’s another world beside the one they lived in, and she could create uproar if she went outside.
(Maa, it can’t be helped. I’m a demon.)
After touching the horn which was the proof that she was a demon, she smiled bitterly and changed into her usual clothes.
She bought it with the money she obtained,
she obtained, it was a little worn-out, but it was her favourite.
It was her favourite because she seemed to be an ordinary human female when she wore it and not a feared and disliked demon.
She could hear the owner cooking at the third floor kitchen from outside the room.
(Is this happiness I wonder…)
She smiled again while thinking such.
[Ou, good morning. Do you want to eat breakfast? Please wait for a moment. Saki-chan is on an errand to Kimursan right now.]
After changing her clothes and going out of the room, the owner looked back from the egg he was frying on the pan and told Aletta so.
[An errand, is it?]
While asking why she went out early in the morning, the owner nodded and answered without stopping his hands.
[Ou, Kimursan… it’s the store where I bought the bread for the restaurant, but I wanted to eat their freshly baked croissant this morning. I heard about it from some guys that stayed at home occasionally at weekdays.
…Now that I’ve thought about it, it’s been a while since I last ate Kimursan’s croissant. When I was in high school, I used to buy it for a light snack before meal.]
While remembering nostalgic memories, he served three servings.
Plain cheese omelet with salad. And then café au lait with plenty of milk.
If the leading role was the croissant, then the side dishes had to be light.
[I’m back. I’ve bought it.]
Saki came back as soon as the owner finished the cooking.
Fragrant smell drifted from the paper bag and Aletta reflexively held her stomach.
[Okay, then let’s eat. Both of you wash your hands.]
Then it was time to eat.
[Let’s eat.]
While listening to the otherworld’s brief prayer before the meal, Aletta also gave a thankful prayer.
[G.o.d of Demons that watches over us. I appreciate your mercy that gave me food today as well.]
She was much blessed.
If she thought so, such words came out naturally.
Then she reached out the considerably lavish breakfast.
The most prominent thing was the unusually shaped bread that Saki bought earlier.
It was like a crescent moon with dark wheat colour.
It seemed that it was still warm, so it was just baked not long ago, and it smelled of b.u.t.ter.
(…I’ll eat this at thethis at the end.)
With its nice smell, it’s disagreeable for Aletta to eat it now, so she’ll eat the other dishes first.
She used a silver knife to cut the soft omelet sideways on the plump and swollen portion.
When she cut it, milky melted cheese overflowed from the inside and spilled over the plate.
She wiped the cheese with the omelet and carried it to her mouth.
Aletta smiled to the soft taste of cheese and eggs seasoned with little salt and pepper spreading in her mouth.
Next, she reached for the salad beside the omelet.
Thinly sliced leafy vegetable and Caryute were mixed together, and then seasoned with light white sauce usually used for fish dishes.
The crunchy vegetables with their raw sweetness were accompanied by the mellow flavor of eggs and acidity of the sauce.
While enjoying the crisp texture and taste, she drank the soup filled with plenty of soft vegetables.
After enjoying the soup with the umami of vegetables and meat, Aletta finally reached for the meals’ main feature, the croissant.
The mysterious crescent shaped croissant was hard but brittle.
The warmth that heated up her hand indicated that it’s freshly baked.
While feeling its warmth, Aletta nibbled the croissant.
(A, this, it’s similar to a pie…?)
TN: While this is a tart made using puff pastry, it’s more fitting than a pie.
To the crunchy texture she felt on the first bite, she was remembered of a sweet from Flying Puppy.
A number of times she could count, she would receive sweets from the manager’s good will, and one of those had a similar texture.
Several thin and stiff layers with crispy texture were stacked together.
The pie confectionaries she tasted occasionally were sweet, but croissant had no sweetness aside the slight sweetness that bread had.
Instead she could taste salt and b.u.t.ter.
The outer layer was crisp while the white and soft layers had a fragrant smell of freshly baked bread.
The bread called croissant was delicious enough to be a meal by itself.
She exhaled a breath and drank the café au lait.
With a little sugar and milk added, the coffee had slight bitterness.
[Do you want more? Since there are three people, I bought more.]
[Yes!]
When Saki asked, Aletta answered in good spirit.
The happy Sunday time thus pa.s.sed slowly.