Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends-Chapter 1.4 - Im Starting a second life with Lulu!

While my mind was filled with countless questions, I was guided to a sunlit table.

I let myself be swept along and sat down with a plop.

Lulu climbed down from my shoulder and curled up on the table.

Looks like she likes the sunny spot.

Ruri sat across from me, smiling cheerfully.

“This place is a new café called ‘Silver Ribbon’ that we’re about to open. My husband and I plan to run it. The pre-opening is scheduled for ten days from now.”

“!”

Apparently, it hadn’t even started operations yet.

“There’s a dining hall at the guild, but it can be a bit noisy, so Simon wanted a space where people could relax and have business talks. So, my husband and I decided to open a café here.”

I see.

It seems that the roles of the dining hall and café were meant to be somewhat different.

“And actually, here we still...”

Ruri started to say something but stopped.

“Oh, there you are.”

She smiled warmly as she looked behind me.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

Wondering what it was, I turned around, only to be so surprised that the fur on my tail stood up bristling. Standing behind me was a huge, muscular man.

He had short, cropped brown hair. He looked to be in his thirties.

Despite his imposing build, he was wearing an apron with cute embroidery, which seemed oddly mismatched.

“Kuu-chan, this is my husband, Dan. Dan, this is the Kuu-chan I’m always talking about! Isn’t she adorable?”

“Uh, um, I... uh...”

As I stuttered nervously, Dan placed something in front of me.

The sound made me jump.

“I just made this. Eat it while it’s warm.”

“…Huh?”

In front of me were pancakes drizzled with plenty of maple syrup and a steaming cup of milk tea.

My eyes lit up without thinking. At the Leiria household, I was never allowed to have sweets.

Maybe because of that, I had an insatiable love for anything sweet. Lulu twitched her nose and stared at the pancakes.

“Um, Mr. Dan... is it okay if I eat this...?”

“Just call me Dan. I made it for you, so go ahead and eat.”

With that, Dan said nothing more and lumbered back to the kitchen.

“Sorry about that. He’s really not much of a talker. But he’s very kind, and today he was so excited for you to come that he made pancakes and waited.”

Ruri gave a sheepish smile as she said this.

“Try them. Dan’s pancakes are really delicious!”

I wasn’t sure what was going on, but as she urged me, I picked up the fork. I took a bite of the pancake topped with butter and maple syrup.

“!”

My ears and tail perked up. A fluffy, fizzy, mysterious sensation spread slowly through my mouth.

The soft, gentle taste was more delicious than any sweets I had ever eaten.

…Not that I had been allowed to eat many sweet or luxurious things at the Leiria household…

(They always said beastkin couldn’t taste flavors.) But I could definitely taste it. I had never eaten pancakes this delicious before…

“Ruu!”

“Do you want some too, Lulu?”

“Ru, ru!”

I cut a small piece of the pancake and gave it to Lulu. Lulu nibbled on the pancake with her tiny mouth. She looked so happy, so she must have felt the same way I did.

As I held the fork and wagged my tail, Ruri smiled and spoke.

“See? It’s delicious, right?”

I nodded vigorously.

“It’s so, so delicious!”

“Dan is actually the twin brother of Yan, the head chef of the guild’s dining hall. Yan is also an amazing cook.”

By the way, Ruri added, raising a finger.

“It was Dan who always made your meals, Kuu-chan.”

“!”

I see.

It was Dan who always made those delicious, gentle meals for me. I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly happy. I didn’t know why they were being so kind to me. But I was genuinely grateful for their kindness...

“Kuu-chan,” Ruri called.

“Yes?” I replied.

“About that job I mentioned earlier. If you’d like, would you consider working here at our café, ‘Silver Ribbon’?”

My eyes widened in surprise.

“It’s fine if you start with simple tasks, like washing dishes or things like that.”

“But, I... um...”

I felt anxious, and my eyebrows drooped uncertainly.

This place felt really nice. Dan’s pancakes were delicious.

But...

“Because I’m a beastkin...”

When I said that, Ruri’s eyes widened.

“Why? That doesn’t matter here.”

“…”

With my tail drooping dejectedly, Ruri suddenly stood up in front of me and knelt down.

“Listen,”

Ruri’s beautiful, young-leaf green eyes stared into mine.

“You don’t need to belittle yourself just because you’re a beastkin. There’s no such discrimination in this country. Here, whether you’re a woman or a man, human or beastkin, or even an alien, anyone can have a job.”

Is that... really true?

“You’re from the Kingdom of Aluda, aren’t you?”

I nodded slightly.

“I’ve heard that Aluda is a human supremacist country and that they treat non-humans terribly.”

Ruri looked sad as she spoke.

“But here, this is Grantania. The kingdom of freedom. In this world, there’s no hierarchy among the races. Everyone has good traits and bad traits; that’s all there is to it.”

“…Freedom?”

“Yes, freedom. There’s nothing holding you back anymore. You can work for yourself. When you earn money, you can use it however you like. You are free to live your life as you wish.”

At first, I didn’t really understand what Ruri was saying.

But gradually, like water soaking into dry soil, I started to comprehend.

That’s right. I really was freed from that house. My father, who ignored me. My cruel stepmother, who punished me harshly. My mean stepsister. And Roy and the others... all of them...

Until now, I had lived oppressed, simply because I was a beastkin. They said that a beastkin woman had to obediently serve human men to survive.

That I existed only for that purpose.

But now, I was no longer bound by anything.

Having fled this far, the people from that house shouldn’t be able to come after me. Besides, I was probably already considered dead to them. I had already died once. From here, my second life would begin.

I didn’t have any lingering attachment to that place.

Could it be...?

Could it be that even someone like me, if I worked and earned money... could live freely?

Could I abandon the corset and heels, and live freely as an ordinary town girl?

“Kuu-chan. What do you want to do?”

I... I...

As I hesitated on taking that final step, Lulu placed her paw on my hand with a gentle pat.

“Ruu~”

“…Lulu?”

“Ru!”

Lulu nodded as if to say, “Let’s try it!”

Somehow, that encouraged me, and I found myself naturally speaking my answer.

“I want to try.”

If even I, a beastkin, could work and live freely... I wanted to work here, too.

To repay the kindness of Ruri and the others. And for myself.

“I want to do it,” I said clearly before I even realized it.

Ruri smiled brightly.

“Then let’s do it!”

“Ruu!”

And so, I began working at the adventurer’s guild café, ‘Silver Ribbon,’ to become independent and repay Ruri and the others.

Of course, together with Lulu.