Isekai Restaurant
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 28: Familiar Encounters.
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- Silas -
I finished preparing the orders for the guests while Sakura carried them out.
Everyday, the first ones to arrive at my Restaurant were the Ryozanpaku group. Mio-chan, Naruto-kun and Kanna-chan took their bento from me before school everyday. After that Cid usually came for his bento.
Touma generally came after that but he was late sometimes due to his ridiculous luck.
Apparently, his power to Nullify Superpowers also nullified his luck somehow.
It was always one thing or the other with him. It could be anything, from as simple as slipping on a stray banana peel and falling down to being chased by some gang members around town. The guy had even somehow lost his memory once before.
Jeez… talk about fucked up.
Still, he was actually happy recently, especially after he had started learning Martial Arts at Ryozanpaku. According to him, while his luck didn't improve, he now had the power to deal with the situations much better than before.
For example, now, while he still stepped on a banana peel, he could do a somersault in midair and avoid falling down.
Same for the gang members, he could easily run away from them or even beat them up if it was just one or two of them.
Today however the door of the Restaurant opened and Zeref-san came in, followed by several other people. August-sensei, Irene-san and several kids followed behind him.
The most surprising thing however was the body of the blonde girl in his arms… and the same girl walking beside him.
The two girls made me pause for a moment in confusion before I realised what was happening and quickly brought them in.
She was probably Zeref-san's wife.
"We have an empty guest room upstairs. You can bring her there to rest until Touma-kun arrives." I showed him towards the guest room.
He did say that he wanted to meet Touma-kun but to think he would bring her here directly. The man must be extremely desperate.
After laying the body rest in the upper floor room, he came down, accompanied by the same girl.
"Umm, this… is she your wife's twin sister?" I asked.
My words however caused the girl to laugh. "I am the same person as the one who was in his arms. To be more precise, I am the soul and that was my body."
…
"A ghost?" I replied, unsurely. I had met undead and monsters but a ghost was a first. Did those hollows count as ghosts?
"A spirit would be more apt. Hello, my name is Mavis Vermilion. Zeref has told me a lot about you. Thank you very much for helping us." She bowed deeply in front of me.
"No no. I haven't done anything. It was Touma-kun who helped Zeref-san and they have helped me a lot more in return. You don't need to bow." I quickly helped her up.
This surprised all of us.
"You… you can touch me?"
"Ughh, I am sorry." I stepped back.
"No. It's fine. I am just surprised that someone can actually make physical contact with me in this form."
"That's probably because of my nature as a Spiritual Lifeform." I briefly explained to her about myself.
"You are a demon!" Suddenly, a white haired girl exclaimed, surprised at the reveal before realizing what she had done and becoming quiet.
"An Archdaemon, although I am kinda new to this so I can't tell you anything about it either. I am still learning about myself."
She didn't question me anymore on this.
"Please have a seat and order something while you wait. Touma-kun will be here in an hour at best."
They took their seats but wanted to wait until Touma was here to remove the curse before they ate something.
I took this time to meet with the new faces.
Beside Irene-san was a miniature version of her.
Erza was the daughter she had told us about. Although, looking at them, it seemed as if they were still a bit awkward with each other.
I could understand her thoughts.
I mean I wouldn't do much better if I encountered such a situation and she was much younger than me.
I think they would get along just fine considering how much Irene-san actually cared for her. She was saved from a cult who were keeping her and several other kids trapped.
She seemed to enjoy cakes from what I could see.
Next was a group of three white haired siblings who were rescued by August-sensei.
Mirajane Strauss, the eldest of the siblings was a strong willed girl with a punk rock aesthetic. Elfman, the second sibling, was a soft spoken boy. Lastly, Lisanna, the youngest, was an adorable girl filled with curiosity.
Last one was a pink haired kid, sitting with Zeref-san… his younger brother, Natsu.
The man really reunited with his entire family at once.
As we were talking, Touma-kun arrived too.
I had already asked him to come early.
"Sorry Silas-san. I got stuck with the city police who mistook me for a purse snatcher." He said as soon as he entered.
…
I patted his back, understandingly.
Everyday was an adventure with Touma.
Zeref-san got up as soon as he saw him and we directly guided him upstairs.
"What do I have to do?" He asked, looking confused at the body of the girl standing right beside him.
"Just touch her hand and that would be enough." Zeref-san reassured and he did just that.
He nodded and removed his gloves and did just that. As soon as he touched her hand, her body lit up, covering the whole room.
When the light disappeared, her spirit was absent from the room but her body laying on the bed opened her eyes.
"Mavis!" Zeref-san stepped forward, his voice emotional.
I patted Touma's shoulder and we left the family to get together.
They came down after several minutes and we decided to have a party to celebrate their reunion.
It was then that Tohru entered the Restaurant and something strange happened.
Natsu stopped suddenly, smelling the air and turned towards Tohru.
"A Dragon! Fight me!" He shouted as his fists lit up with flames and he jumped towards Tohru.
She however easily dodged him and picked him up by his scruff. "Who is this kid, boss? He smells a bit draconic."
"I am sorry for him." Zeref-san quickly got up to explain and the matter was settled down.
Tohru didn't mind it at all.
"Don't worry. Dragons always fight when they meet up. It's nothing." She waved it off casually. "But you need more training if you want to fight me. You are still too weak."
"Hah! Then I will grow stronger than beat you one day." The kid exclaimed.
"Ahahahaha keep dreaming kid."
Surprisingly, Tohru was quite good with these kinds of kids.
Even the ever mischievous Kanna was easily managed by her.
"So Natsu-kun uses Dragon Slayer Magic too? But wouldn't that…" I asked, suddenly remembering the side effects of the said magic.
"The dragon who taught him the magic had devised a method of removing them as long as some precautions were taken when learning the magic." August-sensei explained.
"Ah I see." That's good. "Ah, by the way, I wanted to ask for a favour." I told him about Orihime's situation.
"Sure. I don't see why I can't have one more student."
"Great. I will bring her to you then."
The party went on for sometime as Rimuru and even Ainz joined us.
Before leaving however, August-sensei asked me to have a talk with Mirajane.
She was in a very unique situation when she was found by August-sensei.
Her village's church was taken over by a demon. She actually fought it and defeated it which was an incredible feat considering that she was just an untrained kid back then.
It however awakened her innate magic, Take Over Magic, which made her absorb the power of the said demon, transforming her arm into a demonic arm.
This kinda reminded me of a game I had played in my previous life. Devil May Cry.
The sad thing was that the same villagers whom she had fought to protect, were afraid of her now and had all but chased her away from the town along with her siblings.
August found her then and took her in.
The guy couldn't see abandoned children and leave them be. Guess I know why now, because of his own history. Not that I am much better.
I took Lavinia and Orihime and they were in the same situation.
Even Shuna was an orphan when we first met.
August-sensei wanted me to talk to her because I was in a similar situation not too long ago. Perhaps talking to me could help ease her fears?
I agreed.
"So… you are a demon." She asked, unsurely. "You don't look like one."
"Hahahaha I am a Devil to be precise. We look mostly like humans from what I have heard. I haven't seen any other devil so I can't say much." I laughed. "I do have wings however." I made my wings appear, earning a yelp and then an annoyed huff and a glare from the girl.
"By the way, I heard what you did back at your home village. That was mighty brave of you." I spoke as I sat beside the girl.
"I-it was nothing. It was just a weakling." She replied haughtily and I couldn't help but smile a bit.
Mirajane was a bold girl who came off as bossy and rude but I could see that it was a defence mechanism for her.
"Or you are just that strong? Anyways, good job."
"Hmph." She stared down into her bowl of sweet dishes.
"August told me that you have some Demon blood in you?"
She froze and then glared at me.
"Now don't be angry. I was just surprised when I found out. I am quite similar, you see. I was raised by human parents though. Adopted but until very recently, I didn't know about my heritage either. And boy, did I flip out when I found out about it. I snapped at my customers, even at Zeref-san, who had actually saved my life and ran away.
Coincidentally, just that day, I encountered a big problem and my devil wings helped me and a friend of mine escape. That made me calm down a bit and talk to my friends and I was surprised to find that none of them thought differently of me. For them, I was still the same old Silas. I am sure, your siblings think of you as their same old reliable and strong big sister, right?" I asked, earning an unconscious nod from her.
She didn't say anything but returned back to her food.
A few moments later, she whispered something but I could hear it all the same.
"B-but, aren't people afraid of you? Don't they all push you away, even when, even after everything you do for them? It's just…"
"Enraging? Frustrating? Yes. That can happen… but, I also have people who support me. I think you have such loved ones too. Your siblings, August and your new friends. I can be one of them too if you want? I mean who wouldn't want to be friends with a cute girl like you?" I joked as she blushed and sunk further into her food bowl. I let out a chuckle and then continued. "Still if you want, I can take you to other worlds where having a bit of Demon blood is not a big deal."
"Really?"
I looked outside the window. "I met many people after that, of many races. Demon Lords, Dragons and Gods, you name it. Two of my very close friends had adventures of their own and had turned into something completely different from a human and by the end of it, what I discovered was that… nothing had changed in my life. Those close to me liked me just the way I was. If anything, now I have an extra method to protect what is precious to me. I am sure you have something like that too, like your siblings? Man… I wish I had adorable siblings like you." I laughed.
She looked at me as if trying to find any hint of a lie and I just smiled and patted her head lightly. "Also, you have some pudding on your nose." I smiled, making her blush furiously and clean her nose.
This girl is such a tsundere.
Mirajane actually stayed a while longer in the Restaurant watching us work.
I guess she must have wanted to see everything with her own eyes.