"Mm... Totoro... I feel like I've heard of it somewhere too..."
Hisako touched her head with a slightly troubled expression.
Beside her, Erina also sank into thought.
"Maybe Totoro fairy tales exist in every world." Rimuru said with a laugh.
His words gained everyone's agreement.
Although the worlds everyone in the restaurant belonged to were different, many areas still had similarities.
Before Ainz and Rimuru transmigrated, they had also lived in modern Japan.
That was quite similar to the world where the restaurant was located.
"What a magical creature."
Tohru crossed her arms and looked at Totoro curiously.
Her golden eyes were filled with strong novelty and interest.
That gaze made Totoro shudder a little.
When its fur trembled, it rippled like waves, and its expression became somewhat alert.
Yuto gave the dragon girl a light chop on the head.
"Don't scare it."
"Oh."
Tohru replied a little helplessly.
"Awoo~~~"
Totoro sat in its seat and gave a cry.
That was a signal of farewell.
Under everyone's gaze, Totoro stood up.
The moment its chubby body rose, it even bounced with a soft "gulp."
"Is it leaving?"
Rimuru looked at Totoro and asked reluctantly.
"It belongs to the forest after all. It probably isn't used to staying in places where humans live."
Ainz was only guessing for now.
After all, his understanding of Totoro came only from fairy tales he had once read.
So he could only connect Totoro's current behavior to those old stories.
"It really is going to leave." Yuto confirmed.
Ainz and Rimuru looked at him in surprise.
"Kamisaka, you can understand what it's saying?"
"Boss, you understand Totoro?"
Yuto nodded lightly.
This immediately drew amazement and envy from both Ainz and Rimuru.
In everyone's heart, there had once been the same dream. No matter their age or gender, that fantasy had likely existed at some point.
The ability to communicate freely with non-human beings.
For many people, that was a lifelong dream.
Totoro stood upright as a troubled expression appeared on its chubby face.
Its round eyes looked at the empty dish in front of it, the dish Yuto had used to serve the broad beans.
Its behavior made everyone confused.
"What's wrong?" Yuto asked curiously.
"Awoo~~~"
Totoro howled again.
A smile appeared on Yuto's face.
He gently shook his head.
"It was only a plate of broad beans. It's fine."
Yuto had not expected that the thing Totoro had been worrying about was how to pay the bill.
Totoro was unexpectedly familiar with human rules.
But it was only one small plate of broad beans. Yuto was not going to make things difficult for a Totoro over that.
Totoro shook its head in that dazed, adorable way.
Its gaze turned toward other parts of the restaurant.
When it saw the flowers on the walls and ceiling, its eyes could not help lighting up.
Those flowers were infused with Yuuka's youkai power and would never wither.
Under everyone's curious gazes, Totoro walked to one side of the counter.
The restaurant had been merged before.
The counter area belonged to the original Kamisaka Restaurant, while the hall with four tables had once been the Nishimiya family flower shop.
Totoro happened to be standing at the edge of the original Kamisaka Restaurant.
Its chubby body bent down as if bowing, and its two paws came together while it lowered itself.
Then it slowly straightened up, spreading its clasped paws apart and lifting them high.
The motion looked a little like stretching.
Yuto could not understand the meaning of the movement, but he felt something strange from it.
It was like lying on spring grass beneath gentle sunlight, feeling a warm breeze pass over him.
And he was not the only one who felt it.
Everyone in the restaurant sensed the same thing, except for Fafnir, who was still immersed in the game~~~
Totoro did not stop after doing the action once.
It continued moving.
Under everyone's puzzled and amazed gazes, the flowers and grass spreading across the walls and ceiling began to glow.
The light was like fireflies drifting through a summer night.
Specks of green light appeared in the air from nowhere.
The restaurant's original lighting seemed to dim beneath those floating green lights.
Yuto looked at the scene in surprise.
Those firefly-like lights gathered in the air, truly resembling a swarm of fireflies dancing beside a pond on a summer night.
The light spots slowly merged into the flowers and grass, making those plants brighten as well.
They too released a faint glow.
Yuto asked Tohru to turn off the restaurant lights.
He felt it would be better to turn them off at this moment.
Click.
The lights in the restaurant went out.
The only illumination came from the glow floating in the air and the faint light emitted by the flowers and grass.
The dark restaurant became softly lit by those tiny lights.
It remained dim, yet that dimness made everything feel even more dreamlike.
The firefly lights twinkled in the darkness like stars.
Faint glows flowed across the flowers and leaves.
Everyone's faces were half-lit and half-hidden in shadow, as if they were standing beneath a sky full of flickering stars.
At this moment, it was as though they had arrived beside a quiet pond under a summer night sky.
The water made no sound.
In that silent world, only a swarm of fireflies drifted through the air.
They were the only light in the night, the only life, and the only dream.
Finally, Totoro stopped moving.
It looked at the scene before it, its mouth splitting into a wide grin, while its eyes were filled with satisfaction and happiness.
The firefly lights danced around it, but it blew them away in one breath.
Then it turned around to face everyone in the restaurant.
Those snow-white teeth remained bright even in the darkness.
Totoro raised its paw and waved toward everyone.
That meant farewell.
After that, it moved its short little legs and left with soft plap, plap sounds.
When it went through the door, it still had to squeeze itself out with a soft 'dong' sound.
There was no helping it.
It was too fat~~~
...
The "dream" Totoro brought did not last very long.
A few minutes after it left, those firefly lights slowly faded away.
At the same time, Yuto also had Tohru turn the restaurant lights back on.
When the restaurant's original lights came back on, everything that had just happened felt even more like a fleeting dream.
After those firefly lights faded, nothing was left behind.
Everything returned to its original calm.
The flowers and blades of grass spreading across the walls and ceiling remained quiet and still.
The scene just now had been like a small fragment from a fairy tale, one that quietly left a deep impression on everyone present.
Yuto understood why Totoro had done that.
It had simply wanted to use another method to pay for that plate of broad beans.
Only, that "payment" was far too precious.
"Ah..."
Rimuru still seemed unable to return from the scene just now.
He remained there in a daze, even forgetting about the game.
There were quite a few people in the restaurant who were the same.
Erina and Hisako, for example, were both ordinary human girls. What they had seen in the past was nothing more than the scenery of an ordinary world.
That dreamlike scene just now, as brilliant as a starry sky, was the most beautiful sight the two girls had ever seen.
It was only natural that they would be lost in it~~~
"Hey, hey, Boss, Boss!"
Tohru came to Yuto's side with expectation and delight, hugging his arm as she tried to act spoiled.
Naturally, Yuto would not be fooled by this appearance.
He merely smiled helplessly, then asked her what was wrong.
The dragon girl's golden eyes shone brightly as she looked at him with expectation and joy before opening her mouth.
"Boss, can we raise a Totoro?"
Yuto: ???
Thump!
Yuto flicked Tohru's forehead and looked at her with an expression that almost said, 'How did you even reach that conclusion?'
"How did you even get that idea?"
"Because Totoro is very cute!"
"That still won't do."
The moment she heard Yuto say that, the dragon girl's face instantly collapsed.
"Tohru-sama is an idiot." Kanna said in her dazed way.
That made Tohru instantly turn toward Kanna.
Watching this little farce, Yuto could not help finding it funny.
He could already imagine how lively things would become after Kanna stayed here in the future.
Tohru would probably be very happy too.
After all, having another dragon around would feel different.
...
Time had already passed midnight.
With twelve o'clock as the dividing line, the number of customers would noticeably decrease.
However, Yuto was not worried about that.
He would just let things happen naturally.
Ainz and Rimuru did not continue putting on their headsets to play the game.
The two of them were discussing the issue of transporting weapons.
Meanwhile, Erina, Hisako, Kanna, and Tohru were also chatting among themselves.
The restaurant was a little noisy amid all those conversations.
Yet at the same time, there was an indescribable sense of peace.
Yuto looked at everyone in the restaurant.
He pulled a chair out from behind the counter and sat down.
With his chin resting on his hand and a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, he quietly watched them.
He did not choose to join in.
At this moment, he only watched in silence.
From the day the restaurant opened until now, Yuto had never liked deliberately calculating the passage of time.
He only remembered the rough span of it.
He did not know the exact day it had started, but at some point after midnight, the restaurant had gradually become livelier and livelier.
It was no longer like it had been in the beginning, when he guarded the restaurant alone.
The change between then and now could not simply be described as the number of people increasing.
Over these two months, he had gained new friends and found new things he could keep holding onto.
To him, many of the "regular customers" could no longer be described as mere friends.
This feeling... it was a little like family.
Very relaxed and peaceful.
Just sitting together with them made it impossible to feel bored.
A group of people who had not known one another, who did not even come from the same world, had somehow become a "family" that was not truly family.
Perhaps they were not as close as a real family.
But each of them carried a unique kind of thoughtfulness toward the others.
Through the long night, everyone sat in the restaurant and talked about things from their own lives.
That feeling was difficult to put into words.
But this kind of warmth was very easy to become addicted to.
"Kamisaka!"
"Boss!"
Ainz and Rimuru looked at Yuto in perfect unison.
These two interrupted Yuto's thoughts.
Yuto looked at them with doubt in his eyes.
"Please help us with something!" ×2
Ainz and Rimuru both bowed respectfully toward Yuto.
Just like when these two had begged Yuto to buy those anime goods for them back then.
Yuto sighed helplessly, rubbed his forehead, then spoke.
"Tell me what it is first."
"It's like this..."
After that, Ainz rattled off a whole lot of words.
It was about the weapons.
Because they still had to go to Hatsune's concert tomorrow afternoon, the two of them needed to resolve the miscellaneous matters at their respective bases tomorrow morning.
That meant they don't have the time to go to Kaguya's place to receive the weapons.
So they wanted to ask Yuto for help.
"Ah... merciful Boss, please help us! This child's life is truly too difficult~~~"
"Kamisaka, please!!!"
Rimuru and Ainz each begged Yuto in their own way.
Yuto thought about it briefly.
Tomorrow morning... he had nothing to do!
"Boss~~~~~"
"Kamisaka~~~ My dear friend~~~"
Listening to the two of them wail, Yuto sighed faintly.
"Stop howling! I agree."
The moment Ainz and Rimuru heard that, they instantly became excited.
"Awoooooooooo!!! Long live Boss!!!"
"As expected of my dear friend!!! I'm truly moved!!!"
Their noisy reaction made Yuto feel a little embarrassed.
"Enough, enough. Stop talking!"
Ainz and Rimuru obediently calmed down.
Only, the two of them still did not stop speaking entirely.
"Kamisaka, if you ever need help in the future, just say it!"
"+1!"
Yuto waved his hand, counting that as acceptance.
Then Ainz and Rimuru gave each other an "oh yeah" and high-fived.
Watching this scene, Yuto could only smile helplessly in his heart.
He did not think this matter was anything major.
Before this, whenever he had asked, Ainz and Rimuru had also helped him without hesitation.
Between them, there was no issue of who owed whom more.
Things like, "You owe me one favor," or "I owe you one favor"...
Yuto had never considered such things.
Ainz and Rimuru had not considered them either.
If everyone really calculated that much, the atmosphere in the restaurant would have become stiff and awkward long ago.
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