Eventually, the café experienced an unbelievable twist.
I can’t help but wonder what Jack, the person involved, would think if he saw that video, but after Luke’s ‘noble act’ video went viral, people began flocking to the café, filled with curiosity about Luke and the place.
As more and more people arrived, this influx acted as a publicity effect, making the majority of those who had not seen the video realize that it was not just a ‘facility for maids’ but rather a store that sold something, stoking their curiosity about what kind of store it was, and attracting even more customers.
With this cycle of promotion, the café was now bursting at the seams with customers coming in like waves.
Moreover, both the beverages and desserts received rave reviews, turning it into a must-visit spot at this festival.
Kaila could barely contain her joyful screams.
Thanks to this, they had to move in a whirl of activity without a moment to breathe, but it was far more beneficial and enjoyable than the time when not a single customer would come in and flies could be seen buzzing around (though there were no actual flies, as it was becoming a chillier winter season).
And Luke’s expression looked much brighter and more joyful than it did in the morning.
“Will you be ordering?”
“Oh, you take orders now? Nice to meet you! Hmmm, could we get three cherry cupcakes and three bubble milk teas? I heard that’s pretty popular around the block…”
At this, Luke’s bright and cheerful expression completely changed as he said,
“Cupcakes and bubble milk tea, huh? How about lemon herb tea instead? It’s a much cleaner and more sophisticated taste. I’m sure it will pair well with the cupcakes.”
“Hmmm, is that so? If you’re recommending it that much… should I go with that?”
“Okay, three cherry cupcakes and three lemon herb teas, right? I’ll bring them right out!”
After successfully changing the customer’s order to herb tea, Luke smiled brightly and energetically headed to the kitchen.
Watching him, Kaila found it amusing how transparent Luke was in his intentions.
Did he really want to win the bet that badly!
While it made sense for Luke to want to win since it would raise the recipe’s price, it was endearing that he was favoring one menu over another, even though both were made by him.
‘I wonder if Luke really will win this time.’
Considering the sales records so far, the revenue from both beverages was quite even.
Although Luke, who was conservative when it came to manners and tea, may not know this, trends can have a much larger impact than one might expect.
In any case, it wouldn’t really matter to him as long as the sales were good.
—–
“Liv, three cherry cupcakes and three lemon herb teas!”
“…!”
The one taking Luke’s order was a small teddy bear with plastic wrapped around its arms.
It was a small golem named ‘Liv’ that Luke claimed to have made himself.
“I’d like to introduce you to my golem, Liv. It will be our helping hand.”
Even though Luke was a genius, a golem made by a ten-year-old girl was quite astonishing.
At first, the kids were quite doubtful, looking uneasy, but as Liv began to move, those suspicions and worries completely faded away.
“Wow, a stuffed toy can froth like that?”
“That stuffed toy can whip cream perfectly?”
“The cake slices are so neat, almost like they were measured with a ruler…”
“A teddy bear being a golem is such a cute idea!”
“Liv is quite impressive; I bet the magic research club would be interested in this!”
“I thought Luke was just good at baking, but he’s also good at studying and making these!”
However, after confirming Liv’s abilities, the kids soon began to worry about something else.
“I-I might lose my job to a golem…”
“Right…”
Worrying about jobs might sound like a concern not fitting for Tigr Academy, which was mostly attended by the children of noble families, but that’s not true.
Even though Tigr Academy is a prestigious academy with a good environment that unintentionally attracts many noble children, not all kids coming here are from wealthy families.
The academy doesn’t refuse to accept students who are not from noble backgrounds, so some of the children come from average-income households.
Hence, it’s not surprising for some kids to have such worries.
Well, for the time being, as long as they couldn’t churn out high-performance golems like Liv, there wouldn’t be any job-related issues…
But the future is unpredictable.
Anyway, Liv was proving to be a greater help than expected.
Her small size was surprisingly advantageous in the narrow kitchen, and because she was a doll, she didn’t feel heat, allowing her to quickly pull freshly baked bread from the oven without the risk of burns – a significant benefit.
“…!”
However, Liv didn’t seem pleased about being summoned to help with Luke’s café work.
Her speed in handling tasks had slowed since the beginning, and the whipped cream she produced didn’t look as pretty as it used to.
In the process, she was glancing at Luke as if she wanted to say something.
“What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”
“…”
In response, Liv placed her hands on her waist and pointed at Luke as if waiting for this opportunity.
After a few moments of fidgeting playfully, she flopped onto her table, bouncing on the floor.
Perhaps Liv didn’t like the fact that Luke, despite being a mage, was acting as a maid taking customers’ orders.
Luke could understand Liv’s feelings to some extent.
If one shared the same circle as the great mage Luke, from Liv’s perspective, the current Luke was no different from the mage Luke Irushi of the past or his direct descendant.
Seeing someone like that running around in a maid outfit would indeed be unbelievable.
What’s more, the sight of him catering to customers and flirting with them would be enough to take one’s breath away.
For Liv, who had been strict about pride, having once served in the royal guard, this must be an even greater shock.
The current Luke, who had been reasonably separating himself from the past, was more psychologically liberated from the dignity a great mage was supposed to have, and didn’t think much of it, but Liv, despite being transformed into a girl, still hoped that Luke would maintain the dignity befitting a great mage, which likely left her with grievances.
In other words, Liv just hoped Luke, as the great mage and new owner of Arinseia, would maintain some semblance of dignity.
“Hmmm…”
At that, Luke was temporarily at a loss for words.
‘It seems she had been giving off hints since I first took her out of the bag…’
In truth, Luke originally hadn’t planned to bring Liv out.
He had anticipated that Liv would create quite a stir at the academy, and indeed, it was making a significant impact now.
Not just on the academy kids, but even among the customers at the café.
Originally, Luke hadn’t wanted to attract attention, and this situation was not particularly pleasant for him, but as he had suddenly become a famous person during the festival due to the video, the meaning of not attracting attention had dissipated. Moreover, once he graduates and delves into research, he likely wouldn’t see people frequently as he does now, so, given the urgency of the current sales, he had no choice but to bring her out.
However, now that the temporal distance was overwhelming, leaving him without beings who know his past, Liv was the only one left who recognized his former self.
If Kaila or Renie saw him like this, they might have reacted similarly to Liv.
However, for Liv to show a reaction similar to their anticipated responses was unexpected.
What on earth did Renie do to Liv’s core during those thousands of years that made her exhibit such ‘human-like’ emotional reactions?
That was a highly intriguing topic, but there was no time to ponder such matters now.
“…”
Honestly, the sight was indeed not fitting for the self of a great mage.
It was true, so he had no words to say…
“But still, I have to get the work done. Three cherry cupcakes, let’s whip them up quickly.”
With no real rebuttal, Luke decided to more shamelessly urge Liv to get moving.
“…!”
Liv, seemingly about to explode from Luke’s non-command command, pressed her face into her hands.
In trying to make things rapidly to avoid having to see her master in such an embarrassing situation for longer, instead, it appeared she was becoming more accustomed to it!
Eventually, Liv declared a strike.
-Spring.
Liv immediately jumped down from the table and ran out of the café.
“Li-Liv, where are you going? It’s about to get busy now!”
“…!!”
Liv, full of silent screams as if asking him not to seek her out, melted seamlessly into the crowd using her tiny body and vanished from sight.
The video of the small teddy bear escaping from the café sparked a debate over whether it was ‘manipulated or not’ on the telepathy network for a while, but that’s another story.
——
After Liv’s escape, the café became horrifically busy.
“Hey, how about those two cups of chamomile herbal tea?”
“The packaging has already gone out, but what about the tables?”
“Ugh, it seems like the tables and packaging got switched!”
“The original herbal tea orders are piling up!”
“Bubble tea comes first! They’ve been waiting for over 20 minutes!”
“Sorry, this bubble tea takes a bit longer to make than expected!”
The sheer volume of menu items and customer orders was too much for the kids to handle, and the addition of a menu item like bubble tea, which was rushed and disparate from their usual production methods, was holding them back.
As a result, customers kept piling up while they lacked the workforce, creating utter chaos.
In that situation, Luke could only press his forehead in frustration.
“…”
This Liv character, even though she was shocked, had irresponsibly run away!
He thought to tear apart her core the moment he got home to scrutinize all the parts that Renie modified.
However, leaving his post to chase after the runaway was out of the question. Luke sighed and resolved to move a little faster instead.
Amidst this, Kaila came over and lamented.
“Liv’s absence is more significant than I thought.”
“Right?”
Liv’s absence was indeed substantial.
After all, Liv had been doing the work of three people alone initially, so it was only natural.
Even though she had slowed down after feeling existential doubts about her labor, she still performed better than one person and was familiar with Luke’s recipes, so her speed in making drinks was commendable.
Therefore, there was simply no one here who could replace her.
“This is bad; soon it’ll be time when beverages will start selling a lot.”
As if predicting future events, Kaila began to worry, and Luke gave her a puzzled look.
“Time for beverages to sell a lot? How do you know about that?”
“Statistics. If you’re running a beverage franchise, you need to be aware of such things.”
“Oh, I see.”
Statistics.
In the past, he hadn’t bothered with such trivial analysis, but it seemed now they were digging into the finer details.
Knowing such distributions would indeed be beneficial.
“So, I think we should move into the kitchen soon. The only ones who can make the best tea here are you and me.”
“Yeah, we should.”
Kaila’s suggestion was reasonable.
As the one who created the beverage recipes, Luke naturally qualified, and Kaila, having practiced the most (probably out of laziness to take a test), could be a solid asset.
Then Kaila asked,
“But doing that might leave us short on servers. Luke, don’t you have any friends around to call? An elf would be even better.”
“Does it have to be an elf?”
“Elves are generally much more accustomed to tea than other races. But it doesn’t have to be.”
“I see, that makes sense. Hmmm, I do have someone I could call…”
Luke immediately thought of Shirud.
He had definitely said he would help if called, after all.
“Perfect! Can you call him now?”
“Probably…”
“Really? Then go ahead and contact him! I’ll get ready to hand over my orders to whoever I call!”
As Kaila said that, she quickly left her spot, and Luke took out his phone from his pocket.
‘I was planning to call him later to treat him to some tea and desserts…’
Even though Shirud had offered to help, he hadn’t intended on calling him, but it seemed urgent.
He wasn’t sure if noble young masters could properly pitch in for work, and since Shirud had already become quite an excellent mage, he believed various types of manual labor wouldn’t suit him.
However, in such a dire situation, where even a single helping hand was lacking, he had no choice.
As he thought this, he was about to dial Shirud when…
“Luke, is that you? I saw a huge crowd outside, and I thought there was a fight or something… Oh?”
“Hmm?”
Before he could even make the call, Shirud had arrived first.
