Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends-Chapter 3.1 - Shopping in the Labyrinth City

“Kuu-chan, great job this past month! Here, this is your paycheck.”

Smiling brightly, Ruri handed me a small pouch filled with coins.

Today marked a month since I started working at this café. Ruri had called me over, saying she wanted to talk, and then handed me this pouch.

“My… my paycheck…!”

I couldn’t help but swallow hard.

“Money that I earned by working…”

It felt so strange.

I had been helping out at the café just to repay my debt to Ruri and Dan, yet now I had received money for it...

Ruri and Dan had done so much for me.

They had even provided clothes and food for me...

“Um…”

“Hm? What is it?”

For some reason, Ruri was smiling even more brightly.

“I... I’ve already received so much from you, so I don’t need the paycheck.”

“What!? What are you saying!?”

Ruri looked completely shocked.

“Thanks to you, Kuu-chan, the café has been thriving! And you’ve done work that fully deserves payment.”

“But... Ruri and Dan have been so kind to me. You’ve given me clothes and food. That’s why I just wanted to repay my debt and be helpful to you both…”

Lowering my ears and tail in dejection, I looked at Ruri.

Ruri shook her head firmly.

“How noble of you! ...But, Kuu-chan, I want you to understand. You’re doing work that carries enough responsibility to earn money.”

“...Responsibility?”

“That’s right. You’ve been preparing delicious drinks and warmly welcoming customers, haven’t you? That has real value. By earning money equal to your work, I want you to feel a sense of responsibility and pride in your job.”

I’m doing work worth the money I’ve earned.

And that work has value equal to the money I’ve received?

It felt like a soft light had filled my heart.

No one had ever told me that before...

At the Leiria household, no matter what I did, I never received a simple “thank you” or any acknowledgment.

As I stood there, my eyebrows furrowing as I processed this, Ruri gently took my hands in hers and said,

“So, please accept it, okay? And besides, Kuu-chan, I want you to buy cute accessories, useful magical tools, adorable clothes! I want you to enjoy your life and make every day fun.”

Since Ruri tends to worry, she visits my room about once every few days.

Each time, she laments how few belongings I have and always brings me something.

“Is it really okay…?”

“Of course it is! And Kuu-chan, you never take a break, even when I tell you to. Be sure to take proper days off whenever you like!”

With that, Ruri clapped her hands as if she’d just had a great idea.

“How about we go shopping in town? You probably need things, and I should show you around the town anyway. You’ve never been down there, have you?”

Now that she mentioned it, she was right.

I hadn’t stepped a single foot outside the guild grounds.

I’d only ever been content to look down at the city from my room.

…Maybe I’d been cautious, afraid that stepping out carelessly might get me involved in something dangerous.

“I can’t go right this moment, but... when we have time, let’s go shopping.”

My tail swayed back and forth.

“Okay.”

My first paycheck.

My first shopping trip.

I can use my own money to buy things I like…

◆

The next day.

Maybe because it was the beginning of the month, the guild was quiet, with few customers, and the café was also pretty empty.

With not much to do, I had been cleaning the floors when I suddenly noticed a small girl at the request counter.

She wasn’t exactly that small—probably two or three years younger than me—but it was rare to see a child at the guild, so I couldn’t help but watch.

The girl, with silky light-blue hair, seemed to be submitting a request and handed some paperwork to the counter. Her hair, tied into two high ponytails, bounced lightly as she moved.

While I was looking at her, someone called out to me.

“Kuna-san!”

“Hello there, nya!”

When I turned around, I saw Ellen-san and Kurona-san.

“Hello!”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“Ah... Welcome, maybe?”

“Nope, not today! Actually, we’re here to invite Kuna-san to go into town with us!”

“Huh?”

While I stood there dumbfounded, Ruri came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder with a light pat.

“Kuu-chan, it turns out Ellen-chan and Kurona-chan have the day off, so I invited them! Take a break and go have fun!”

“Eh!? I-it’s fine, I don’t need to take a break!”

I was startled by the sudden suggestion.

“What are you saying! Working nonstop isn’t good for you! Look, the café is this empty, and there’s no work to do. Go, go!”

As she said this, Ruri untied the strings of my apron.

“Go get changed and take some money with you.”

“Ruri...”

The conversation moved along quickly.

Even when I looked to Dan for help, he just nodded and told me to go.

“Is it really okay? Ellen-san, Kurona-san?”

“It’s totally fine! I love shopping! And you’ve never been to town, right?”

“I’ll guide you, nya~.”

Both of them had changed out of their staff uniforms and were wearing casual clothes.

It seemed they had the day off today.

“Come on, off you go.”

Ruri gave me a gentle push on the back.

“Alright, let’s go!”

With Ellen-san pulling me by the hand, I ended up heading down into town.

◆

“Lulu, you’re not bringing the jam.”

“Ruu~.”

“‘Ruu’ isn’t going to change anything. You don’t need jam for shopping, right?”

“Run!”

I returned to the women’s dormitory to get my things ready.

Of course, Lulu was coming along too, but I had to work hard to stop her from putting her favorite jar of jam into my bag.

“If we’re outside, there might be something even tastier, you know?”

“Ru!”

At those words, Lulu perked up her ears excitedly.

Phew. It seemed she had finally been convinced…

“Alright, let’s go.”

Taking Lulu along, I ended up heading into town with Ellen-san and Kurona-san.

“Oh, I’m sorry, nya. I forgot something at the guild counter. Mind if we stop by real quick, nya?”

“Of course.”

We went back into the guild to retrieve Kurona-san’s forgotten item.

As I waited near the counter, a familiar man approached us.

…Hmm?

“…Yo, Kuna-chan. And Ellen too.”

It was Kiril-san, with his usual laid-back demeanor.

However…

There was a bright red handprint on his cheek.

“Ugh, Kiril-san, did you mess up again?”

“…Well, what can I say? Being a popular guy is tough.”

“Let me guess, you were two-timing someone and got slapped for it, weren’t you? How ridiculous!”

Ellen-san sighed, exasperated.

“Even Simon’s been saying to get your act together and take care of the S-rank requests! And here you are, getting into trouble the moment you’re back!”

“Aah, aah, it’s already over. Let’s not dwell on it, yeah? So, what’s up? You going somewhere?”

Kiril-san pretended to block his ears and turned his gaze to me.

“Ah… We’re going shopping in town.”

When I said that, my tail wagged happily, and Kiril-san chuckled.

“Aw, nice. Big bro will tag along to help you out.”

“No way! Kiril-san, go do your job!”

“Bleh!” Ellen-san stuck her tongue out.

While Kiril-san and Ellen-san were arguing over whether he should come or not, Kurona-san returned.

And trailing behind her was Simon.

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Huh…?

Behind Simon, a young girl was clinging to him.

It was the same blue-haired girl I had seen earlier from the café.

Up close, her face was incredibly cute.

Her slightly pointed ears suggested that she, too, was a demi-human.

“Ugh, Simon!”

“You’re finally back. You really shouldn’t be persistently bothering girls.”

“I just thought I’d act as a bodyguard since the town’s dangerous, you see,” Kiril-san said with exaggerated innocence.

Simon, smiling warmly, shoved a piece of paper into Kiril-san’s hands.

“Here, your job. The Solaris family’s barn seems to have some kind of monster in it. Go and take care of it.”

The girl Simon had called “Solaris” was staring at me intently for some reason.

Her golden eyes were stunning…

“What? This kind of thing’s a D-rank job. I only take A-rank or higher requests.”

“We haven’t set the rank for this request yet. Shall I make it S-rank?”

“Hah?!”

With a light laugh, Simon casually wrote “S” on the request form and signed it.

“Now there’s nothing to worry about. Everything’s fine, see?”

When he informed Solaris, she smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Wow, she’s a beautiful girl.

Seeing that, Kiril-san scratched his head and sighed.

“Geez, can’t be helped. Well, we’ve been taken care of by Solaris’s family bakery, so I guess I owe her.”

He said that and waved Solaris over.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

She had a cool vibe, but when she smiled, she was really cute.

For some reason, Solaris turned back to look at me.

She seemed a bit concerned…

Ah, it might be Lulu.

As I was watching them leave, Kurona-san spoke up.

“We’re going too.”

“Yeah!”

And so, we all headed down to the town.