SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
chapter-189

“Oh, you recognise me.” Azalea smiled, her left eye twinkling.

“Why did you come to this secluded dungeon? Or rather, what’s your connection to Hunter James?”

“Don’t be so wary. It’s all past glory. These days I operate as a pawn shop owner and information dealer in the back alleys.”

“Who would believe that? So what’s going on here?”

Azalea pulled a piece of paper out of her handbag and held it out to James, “I don’t know why I have to deliver this, but …. what else I can do when I accepted this request. Here, take it. I was asked to deliver it to James.”

James put down the knife he was using to dig through the mugwort and took the paper, “The day has finally come.”

“Is that …… what Hunter James has been waiting for? What is it? Can you return to United States now?”

James quickly folded the paper and stuffed it into his arms. But before he did, the Hunter was able to read the large print on the top line of the paper. The Hunter stuttered and recited what he had just seen.

“Uh …… reopening of …… Cafe Rieul?”

***

Choi Lona suddenly called out to Choi Cedric, “Oppa.”

“….Yeah?”

“Do you regret it?”

Choi Cedric and Choi Lona were on their way back from visiting Lee Sein. Although it was unavoidable, seeing her in prison left a bitter aftertaste. Because of that, there was a heavy atmosphere between the siblings.

“….No.”

The answer arrived after a long time. The words were short but filled with weight. Choi Lona smiled bitterly.

“I regret it. I keep wondering if there was a better way. Maybe there was something I could have done to stop Sein-eonni earlier. Then we could have been together right now, the three of us.”

Choi Cedric flinched and spoke quickly, “Uh, but come on, Lona, you were sick at that time. You were in bed the whole time, so how could you have stopped Aeon? You did your best.”

“Okay…..”

At least that’s what her dear brother insisted.

Choi Lona briefly recalled her last quest, the Sealing of the Demon God. She’d used the power of her fairy eyes to read the Causality, and she’d mastered the power of the Grimoire. She was stronger than most Hunters now. But back then, she hadn’t been able to do anything. The powerlessness she felt in that moment was still fresh in her mind.

“Maybe I was too arrogant.”

Beside her, Choi Cedric gasped, “Oh no? Not at all? Our Lona, you are such an icon of humility, do you know? I’ve never met anyone as humble as you.”

She laughed as she watched Choi Cedric throw out random words to cheer her up. This was the reason she couldn’t waste her time by regretting the past.

Choi Lona thought carefully for a moment and then spoke up, “Oppa, I have to go to school too.”

“Uh? Really? For real? Good idea, Lona! What should we do first? Yeah, we should get a school uniform first, and then buy a bag……..”

“That can wait. Let’s go. The cafe is about to open.”

“Uh, okay!”

Choi Lona held out her hand. Choi Cedric took it and started to run towards their destination. Just then, a figure jumped out from the other side of the alley and blocked their path.

“Excuse me, you’re the siblings Choi Cedric and Choi Lona, right?”

“….Who?”

It was Oh Seoho, the Hunter-turned-Actor who has recently been making a name for himself in the film industry.

The Choi siblings were in a hurry to get past him, even though Oh Seoho was smiling at them with a friendly smile. They tried to walk right past him.

“Wait. I have something to tell you.”

Oh Seoho blocked their path again. Choi Cedric wrapped his arm around Choi Lona’s back and replied curtly, “Whoever you are, we’re busy, so go on your way.”

“Aren’t you on your way to Cafe Rieul?”

Choi Lona answered for him, her head poking out from behind her brother’s back,

“I’m not going to sell the coffee tickets. It’s bound to me, so I can’t sell them.”

“Hahaha, that’s not it…….”

“We got it fair and square, with two computers and two mobile phones. We’ve been waiting for this day too.”

“Ha, haha…..”

The latest movie he released was racing towards 10 million audiences in the cinema, but this pair of siblings didn’t recognise Oh Seoho at all. Feeling a little hurt, he decided to quickly tell them his business.

“You’re the last, thank goodness I’m not late. I’ve come to deliver this paper.”

“What is this?” Choi Cedric accepted the paper with a suspicious expression and read the top line, “Surprise party to celebrate the reopening of Cafe Rieul……?”

Choi Lona, who had stuck her head out from behind Cedric’s back, clapped.

“Wow, that’s a great idea!”

***

Ring, riiiiing…..

As soon as my alarm went off, I immediately opened my eyes. Despite the early hour, my mind was already buzzing. The day I had been waiting for was finally arrived.

The morning’s clear sunlight streamed in through the window. The first thing I did was open the window to ventilate the room. I looked out the window and muttered to myself, “Hmmm … what’s a wonderful view.”

As the dungeon disappeared, the view ahead became clear. The blue sky was beautiful.

“Waeooong, what. What’s so wonderful about that!” Mieum commented as she stretched her body. Mieum had eaten well in the meantime, so she had regained her former figure. Her plump body was very cute.

“Why, it’s nice. It’s a view of a convenience store. It’s not a view you can see from anywhere.”

“Waeooong……”

Mieum cried long and loud, as if she didn’t agree with my words. Anyway, I changed my clothes and started getting ready for the day.

“Hohoho … today is finally the day.”

“Waeoolgh!”

“Kkyuuu!”

So what kind of day was today…….

It’s the day our Cafe Rieul reopened for business.

The morning after Ash and Mieum returned, I immediately called the interior contractor. The purpose, obviously, was to change the interior concept. After all, the modern, simple, black-and-white concept didn’t belong to this store. I asked for a modification that would maintain the original cafe interior as much as possible.

That way, the scale of the interior renovation would be drastically reduced. I didn’t think the contractor would be happy about this, but to my surprise, he was thrilled with my request.

“Hahaha! That’s a great idea! After all, the building doesn’t have a modern and simple atmosphere, does it? We’ll fix it right away!”

Hmm … was it such a mismatched concept? Though they accepted it before because I strongly requested it, it seemed their aesthetic sense as an interior designer rejected the modern and simple style. The contractor readily sent me a wonderful draft.

Instead of renovating the entire store, they renovated the old part and changed the design slightly. I really liked how cozy and clean it turned out. They even made a playground for Mieum and Lime as a service. Mieum and Lime were so excited to play there every day.

The scaled-down interior renovation finished only the day before yesterday. Now it’s time to reopen Cafe Rieul, which had been closed for quite some time.

Perhaps because it’s been so long, I felt a little nervous. It’s been a while, so I tried to muster up some strength.

“Ash, did you sleep well?”

“….Yeah.”

When I finished getting ready and went downstairs, Ash was already up. As always, he’s a diligent kid.

He regained most of his memories in a few days. Now he’s completely back to his old self. Although he still has the occasional…….

“What is this whisk……? The moment I hold it, I get a strange feeling …… Ew, I feel unpleasant. Is this …… a memory from my previous life?!”

He still said something like that.

I asked Mieum in a small voice, “Didn’t you say that if he recovered his memories, he’ll go back to his normal self?”

“He’s back. That’s just his personality, waeolgh!”

Is that so…..

“Ash, come this way quickly. Let’s have breakfast.”

“……All right.” Ash immediately put down the electric whisk and came over to the table.

We ate a simple breakfast together before preparing to open the cafe in earnest. Mieum was eating her food while being engrossed in the television, and Lime was bouncing around instead of eating. They were always such restless kids.

Still, eating breakfast together made me feel like we were really back to our peaceful daily routine.

“….Hey.” Ash, who had been moving his chopsticks in silence for a while, suddenly spoke up.

“Huh? Ah, do you want more egg rolls?”

“Not that ……. what happened with that man?”

“….Huh? What man?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t understand. That man, Ki Yoohyun.”

“Ah, haha……”

“About a month, right? That’s how long I was gone. After retrieving my memories, I noticed that the atmosphere between the two of you has become different.”

“Waeoong! You’re so perceptive! I noticed it too. What happened during my stay at Her side!”

“Kkyuuuuuu Kkyuu!”

These quick-witted kids…..

I finished off the last of my meal and got up from the table.

“No comment!”

“Waeoolgh!”

“Kkyuuuu!”

“Come on, we’re going to be busy today. Let’s get ready.”

I ignored the protests behind my back and headed for the counter.

***

I thought very carefully about the new menu to celebrate the reopening of Cafe Rieul.

The effect of the latest menu item, Dalgona Cream Cold Brew, was to provide the optimal buff for the drinker. A personalised buff. It’s a killer item, so to speak. No matter what I made, I couldn’t get a better effect than this one.

Perhaps because of that thought, I tried a few new menu items, but I didn’t like them all. They were all tasty. Delicious, but kind of …… a little ……. the buffs were mediocre, and there was nothing special about them.

As I continued brainstorming while creating various menus, Ash, who was in charge of tasting, said, “They’re all delicious, aren’t they just fine the way they are?“

The animals in the house agreed with him.

“Waeolgh! The coffee you’re making now looks good enough!”

“Kkyuuuu!”

“Hmm, still … I want something more ‘Pow’! I would like to make a coffee with impact.”

“What do you mean with Pow, kyakyakyaogh!”

When I was lost in these unresolved problems, a new Hunter who happened to be passing by the area gave me the answer. When I told her I was struggling with the commemorative menu, she said, “Well, you just need to add some decorations to it.“

“……!”

Yeah, there’s a limit to what I could come up with anyway. I couldn’t hope for a better buff when the final item was already present.

Then I could just make my favourite drink, add some decorations, and call it a celebratory menu.

This was how I came up with the Mocha Frappe.