Marcus and the others thanked me again before starting to discuss all the exciting events of the festival. They were quite disappointed they missed a few things, like the Bear’s rampage through the game stands, Tilia helping out their stand causing chaos, and my match against the knights.
「Yuna-san, next time, please have a match with me.」
「Sure, when we have time.」
It sounded like it would be a pain, so I only gave a vague response.
As we continued to chat about the school festival, the group started to discuss the friends who had helped them at their shop. They wanted to treat the friends and classmates who had helped them to some food, but there were more people than they had expected.
「So, which shop should we choose?」
「Well, with the number of people who came to help us…」
「Can we even find a shop that would be able to seat us all?」
Cattleya and Timor responded worriedly to Marcus’s question.
「How many people are coming?」
「Sixteen, I think.」
「If we include ourselves, that makes it twenty total. That’s indeed a bit much.」
「Well, it’s because we invited some people who didn’t actually help out, too.」
So many friends of their friends had come to help them. In my case, no one would come even if I asked. I had no one to call anyway, so there was really no point in comparing myself to them.
「Yuna-san, would you also like to join?」
「Hmm…」
Truthfully, I really didn’t want to go to a place full of strangers. I would also surely cause chaos if I showed up wearing my Bear Suit. Heck, even if I were to go wearing the school uniform, I would still cause an uproar in this case since the girl who wanted to become a knight should be there as one of Shia’s invited friends, not to mention the other students who might have seen me.
「Sorry, I won’t join this time. I would cause trouble no matter what I wore, so go and have fun with your friends, without me.」
I also knew that there was no room for me, an outsider, to join. Not to mention that they were planning to have the party during their next break from school and, by then, we would already have left the capital. I planned to return to Crimonia in the next couple of days, after all. It would be fine if I, alone, stayed a bit longer, but Fina and Shuri certainly couldn’t stay too long. Now that the school festival was over, they had to return home soon, or Tirumina-san would get worried.
「Certainly, with this amount of people, the gathering will get quite noisy as it is…」
「How about if we went to a big restaurant where the food is good, and it is also okay to be loud?」
「Yes, but big restaurants that serve good food are usually quite luxurious and fancy, so wouldn’t making noise there be frowned upon?」
「What should we do, then?」
Twenty students indeed meant a lot of noise. In that case, I could suggest my shop in Crimonia. There was a party room, so they could make as much noise as they want. Still, I couldn’t really ask everyone to come all the way to Crimonia… Wasn’t I forgetting something?
Wasn’t there a similar shop in the capital now?
「Shia, there’s a good place for you guys to go.」
「There is, Yuna-san?」
「Yeah. They have no customers at the moment, so you won’t bother anyone, and the food is also quite delicious. It is the perfect place for you.」
The way I put it sure sounded contradictory… How could there be no customers if the food was good? Maybe I should explain further.
「Can there really be such a shop?」
「Isn’t it weird if that shop has no customers even though it has good food?」
Marcus immediately pointed out the problem.
「It’s because the shop isn’t really open yet. They are still preparing for their grand opening.」
I proceeded to explain how Eleanora-san had made the shop under orders from the king. I also mentioned that the royal head chef Zelef-san had been actively supervising the cooks, so the food was very well made and delicious. I ended the explanation with the fact the shop hadn’t officially opened yet, so they would not bother any other guests even if they were a bit loud.
The only problem would be getting permission from Eleanora-san and Zelef-san, but I think it should be fine if I just asked Eleanora-san.
「A shop managed by His Majesty…」
「No, that’s definitely not an option.」
「We would not have nearly enough money to afford to eat there.」
The students rejected my idea.
「What if I asked Eleanora-san for you?」
「Ask me what?」
A voice resounded from the door, and we turned around to see Eleanora-san standing there.
「Mother?!」
All the students immediately stood up from their chairs and started to greet her.
「Mother, why are you home? What about your work?」
「Also, how long have you been there? You kind of scared us, speaking up so suddenly.」
「Well, I heard that Shia’s friends were coming over, so I wanted to surprise you all.」
There it was: that one action that parents always did which only resulted in their children hating them for it. Well, this was a guest room, so I suppose do it in this case should be fine?
As for why Eleanora-san was home early:
「Well, I forgot to bring something with me, so I came home to get it. Then, I heard that Shia’s friends had come over, so I figured I would at least say hello. Thank you all for taking care of Shia.」