Chapter 341: The Four Amazing Guests, Yuko's Rebellion Fails Again
In the end, Ichihara Yuko didn't dare to voice her complaints. She simply sat off to the side, stabbing pieces of fruit from her salad with a thoroughly displeased expression. The vicious way she speared a cube of melon with her toothpick made it seem as if she were aiming for Ren himself. How on earth did this infuriating man manage to attract so many girls? It was unbelievable!
Lucifer, observing this from her seat, found the sight quite amusing. A faint, knowing smile touched her lips. It was a relief, really, to see someone else sharing her burden. Her own relationship with Ren was a complicated dance of affection and exasperation, a state of being constantly bullied yet never quite daring to resist. She truly had it rough, so it was nice to have company.
Courage, meanwhile, was happily enjoying her own fruit salad. "Mmm~ Still the same amazing taste," she chirped. "Decora and the others should be able to replicate this, right? After all, the WGO has direct access to Ganryu Island. That's a fantastic perk, isn't it?"
Cerberus tilted her head, a puzzled look on her face. "Why does the WGO get to go directly?"
At this, Courage's chest puffed out with pride. "Does that even need to be said? It's because the World Gourmet Organization is the highest-ranking culinary institution on the planet! We hold an incredibly prestigious position, even within the Kengan Association, so of course we can go directly. Besides, the WGO's presence signifies that the entire food situation for the event is handled. We naturally receive all sorts of special privileges!"
She paused, looking around for impressed reactions, but was met with blank stares. "Hey! Give me some reaction! That's really amazing, you know!"
Ichihara Yuko, still stabbing her fruit, casually remarked without looking up, "So, you're just in charge of the meals, then?"
"Pfft—Hahahaha!" Lucifer and Cerberus burst out laughing in unison.
"Yuko! It's not that simple!" Courage protested, her face flushing. "Eh… well, it might seem like that… No! It's different!"
"Just eat quickly," Yuko waved a dismissive hand. "We still have dinner to get to later."
In the end, Courage couldn't find the words to convince them that the WGO's role in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament was more than just high-class catering. Although this misconception would later be corrected by a single, authoritative sentence from Nakiri Mana, that was a story for another time.
For now, the topic continued to haunt Courage even through dinner, when Kasugano Sora asked with wide-eyed innocence, "Eh? Sister Courage, is the WGO's ranking so high because you have a lot of chefs?"
Courage felt her blood pressure spike. She opened her mouth, then closed it, ultimately slumping in her seat and silently picking at her meal, looking utterly crestfallen. She wasn't angry, just at a complete loss for how to explain her organization's importance, a feeling that left her feeling small and withdrawn.
After dinner, Courage announced she was going to find Nakiri Mana to demand a proper explanation and promptly ran upstairs. Kasugano Sora, in turn, declared she was going to play games with Saya and Hinami Aoi, and followed suit.
The shop fell into a comfortable silence. Ichihara Yuko looked around the quiet space and let out a soft sigh of relief. Ren, who had been sitting to the side continuing his study of Clow Reed's notes, spoke without looking up.
"What's wrong?" he asked gently. "You're not used to it being so quiet all of a sudden, are you?"
Yuko started, then looked at him with a hint of surprise. "How did you know what I was thinking?"
"Because, Yuko," Ren said softly, his voice a low murmur in the still room, "after you left that world and started anew in this one, you're actually very easy to read. Besides… isn't it only natural that I understand you?"
Ichihara Yuko sighed, a genuine, wistful sound this time. "Even if it's natural, being seen through so easily makes me feel like I have no secrets at all."
Ren finally turned a page before a faint smile graced his lips. "Everyone has secrets. It just depends on whether they can keep them hidden. Am I right, Yuko?"
"Uh… yes, yes, of course," she stammered, feeling as though his words were a gentle warning.
Just as she was about to say more, Ren's quiet voice filled the space again. "Yuko… Waking up from a soft bed, starting the day with noise, ending the day with noise, then returning to that soft bed—this is the cycle of life."
He paused, letting the words settle. "But… if you cannot control the beginning and the end, then you must enrich the noisy period in between. All beginnings and all endings are governed by fate, but fate itself can be changed. The decision rests in your own hands. If you can achieve that, then you can call it a wonderful day."
With that, Ren set down his notes, turning his head to look at the now-calm Ichihara Yuko. His smile was warm and genuine. "So, you have to learn to grasp your own fate."
Yuko met his gaze, her own expression deep and contemplative. After a long moment, she spoke, her voice steady. "Then… I'll leave it in your care for now."
"No problem," Ren replied easily. "After all, we have a special relationship."
Ichihara Yuko breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She felt that if she stayed in this shop for too long, she might truly struggle to adapt upon returning to her own world. But then again, the very fact that she could feel this way proved she no longer truly belonged to that world. It meant she had found her destination… the best, most perfect destination for her.
Time passed quickly in this lazy yet fulfilling atmosphere. Strangely, as if the world itself were accommodating Ren's upcoming match, the number of customers also decreased significantly in the following days.
Pepper Potts would still visit daily, bringing Tony his breakfast or a late-night supper for the next day, and in the process, she and Yuko had become quite good friends. And then there was Yuuka Kazami, the serene yet intimidating flower master, who would arrive like clockwork each day, order the same dish, and stay through the night in quiet contemplation.
Those were the regulars. As for new customers, four particularly distinctive individuals had appeared in recent days.
One was a girl wearing a cat-ear hat. She came in, ate nothing, and refused to give her name. She simply sat in a corner, her sharp eyes watching Ren and the others all night before leaving with a quiet promise to return.
The second and third were a pair of brothers, introducing themselves as Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju. The two had starkly different personalities but were fascinating to observe. The elder brother, Hashirama, was boisterous and full of life, declaring he would bring his granddaughter to try the food someday. He also showed a keen interest in Momobami Kirari's academy.
As for the fourth, Ren found the situation rather helpless. This guest had chased Jinx into the shop. That's right, Jinx had burst through the door, followed closely by a beautiful, stern-faced woman in a tall hat, carrying a massive sniper rifle. After Ren calmly confiscated her weapon, the woman was thoroughly intimidated by the combined pressure from Lucifer and Ichihara Yuko, and to everyone's surprise, promptly burst into tears.
It took Ren a great deal of sweet-talking and gentle coaxing to calm her down. In the end, after finishing her meal and leaving a heavy gold coin on the table, she retrieved her rifle and pointed a finger at him, her face still flushed. "I'll be back when I have time, you bad man! Just you wait!" she declared, before storming out.
Jinx explained that while only a few days remained until the match here, over three months had passed on her side. Calculating the time difference, she promised to return in another month her time, then gleefully tossed a Firecracker Grenade (Easter Egg Edition) into the air as she vanished through a portal.
Though her visit was short, Jinx was happy to have met Yuko, Lucifer, and Kasugano Sora. During this period, the clothes Yuko had commissioned were all completed in a rush order, and she was growing more and more comfortable around Ren, no longer as bewildered as when she first arrived. When she had nothing to do, she would find an excuse to tease him, and though she was countered every single time, she never tired of it. The smile on her face grew more frequent with each passing day, and she seemed to be living more and more like a normal girl.
This afternoon, with Kirari out on errands, Ren had returned early and was sitting in his usual chair, lost in a book. Ichihara Yuko, having overslept and gone straight to minding the shop, leaned against his side, playfully twirling a lock of his hair between her fingers.
"Ren," she purred with a smile, "the match is about to start, isn't it?"
Ren paid her little movements no mind, simply nodding. "Mm. It's the day after tomorrow. We won't be opening tomorrow night… Speaking of which, Yuko, I never realized your hair was so soft."
"Eh?! Ren, don't you know you shouldn't just touch a girl's hair like that?" she protested, though without any real heat.
"I do not," he replied calmly. "Because you, Yuko, noticed what I was doing a long time ago and didn't react. And on this matter… this is what a Servant should do."
"I'm giving you a chance to repent! And a Servant can't just let their hair be played with! Don't Servants have human rights? Lucifer isn't here, so you'd better watch what you say, or I'm going to rebel!"
"No," Ren said flatly, finally turning a page. "Hm? Yuko, you're rebelling again?"
"Wrong, wrong! No more rebelling!" she yelped, immediately retracting her threat.
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]