Chapter 19: Rage!
Just as Shirou was surrounded by the waitresses and couldn't react in time, he noticed that the dwarven woman who had been standing at the bar slowly appeared before him.
"You're with the Hestia Familia, right?"
"You know me?"
Hearing the dwarf woman's words, Shirou showed a surprised expression.
The female dwarf spoke quietly: "I'm the manager of this tavern, Mia Grand. We've been paying close attention to the golden fried rice you used to sell at your food stall."
"This…"
Shirou was briefly stunned that the conversation had shifted to the food he made. Then he finally understood why the waitresses here had been so interested in him.
Mia continued, "Our tavern is fine in every way—except we lack a proper head cook. We've been looking for a chef for a long time, but haven't found a suitable candidate. Kid, your fried rice was excellent, and what you just said was moving too. Why not work as a chef here in our tavern?"
"Eh? Mama Mia, are you serious?"
The surrounding waitresses all showed surprised expressions upon hearing Mia's words. But it wasn't because they disapproved of Shirou—it was for another reason.
A blonde elven waitress spoke softly, "Mama Mia, didn't you say the tavern only hires women and doesn't accept men?"
"When did I ever say such a rule existed?" Mia glanced at them. "It's just that we've only happened to hire women up to now. In reality, there's never been a rule against hiring men. If a man is pure-hearted and skilled, he's more than welcome to join."
"Uh… are you talking about me?"
Shirou was a bit overwhelmed, not expecting such high praise.
Mia laughed and patted his shoulder. "Be confident, young man. All the women in our tavern have taken a liking to you."
"Mama Mia! What are you saying?!"
Hearing her words, Syr blushed shyly.
The beastkin waitresses around them all nodded in agreement, fully approving of Shirou's presence.
Only the blonde elf remained expressionless and silent.
"Sorry. I still have Familia matters to attend to. I can't just come here to be a chef."
Shirou thought for a moment before decisively rejecting Mia's offer. After all, he was part of the Hestia Familia and had more important things to do than just cooking.
"Come on, being a chef here is way better than other jobs," Mia tried to persuade him. "And we pay very well!"
She even quoted him a wage.
It was indeed a high salary—much more than he made selling food at his stall.
But now that Shirou's body had recovered, his capabilities were no longer limited to selling food. Cooking wasn't the only thing he could do.
Mia seemed to sense his mindset—and possibly even noticed that Shirou's abilities weren't ordinary.
So she compromised and said, "If that's the case, how about helping out from time to time? I won't ask you to come cook every day. Just drop by when you're free—we'll pay you by the hour."
"Really?"
Shirou was genuinely surprised by the generous offer.
Mia smiled and added, "So you're really a lucky guy. Not only do the others like you, but I've taken a liking to you too."
"Y-You're joking, right…"
"Of course I am. Hahahaha!"
Faced with Mia's teasing, Shirou couldn't even force a smile.
But in the end, he agreed to her offer. Since she had gone to such lengths, Shirou couldn't refuse her outright.
"Well then, I look forward to working with you, Mr. Emiya."
Syr extended her hand as she spoke.
But the moment she did, she blushed and quickly withdrew her hand in embarrassment.
On the other hand, the beastkin waitresses showed no such restraint. They swarmed Shirou and began fussing over him playfully.
Fortunately, the tavern was busy enough that they left him alone after a short while, leaving Shirou overwhelmed.
Bang!
Just as Shirou let out a sigh of relief and was about to return to his seat, a loud crash suddenly came from the far end of the tavern.
A white-haired figure bolted from their seat—and then ran out of the tavern entirely.
"Was that… Bell?"
To think something had happened in the short time he was away, Shirou hurried back to his seat and saw Hestia looking upset.
"Hestia, what happened to Bell?"
Shirou asked.
Hestia's expression darkened as she explained, "Bell just had a conflict with someone from the Loki Familia. Or… actually, 'conflict' might not be the right word—it was more like he was one-sidedly humiliated."
"One-sidedly humiliated? By who?"
Shirou's brows furrowed. He hadn't expected something like this. His gaze instinctively turned toward the Loki Familia's table, where he spotted Ais in the distance.
The other members of the Loki Familia didn't seem to notice anything wrong and continued drinking cheerfully. Only Ais had realized something was off, though she didn't know how to react.
At the center of the Loki Familia group, a white-haired beastman youth was rambling on loudly.
"Haha, you should've seen that rabbit brat run! He was chased by a Minotaur so hard it looked like his underwear was about to fall off! I almost laughed myself to death! He was cornered like a rabbit, trembling all over! He even had a twitchy face—it was so pitiful!"
The other Loki Familia members didn't seem to care much about what he said.
They didn't agree, but neither did they stop him. They just let him go on.
Some, like Ais, felt uncomfortable but didn't know how to intervene.
So the beastman youth continued his ranting without pause.
"Seriously, I haven't seen such a loser in ages. Calls himself a man, but cries like a baby. So pathetic. If you're going to cry so easily, then don't become an adventurer in the first place. Just disgusting. Don't you think? Trash is trash. Talking too much about trash like him just ruins the mood. If I ever see him again, I'll teach him a lesson myself!"
"..."
Hearing all this, Shirou immediately understood why Bell had run off and why Hestia was clenching her fists in frustration, on the verge of tears yet trying so hard to hold them back.
Originally, this matter had nothing to do with Shirou. Bell had just been insulted.
The Loki Familia and Hestia Familia were on completely different levels. There shouldn't have been any connection between them.
And yet…
How should he describe this feeling?
Before he realized it, Shirou had already walked over to the Loki Familia's table. Almost unconsciously, he moved behind the white-haired beastman youth—then naturally placed his hand on the guy's head and slammed it into the dinner tray.
Bang!
With a loud crash, the beastman's face smashed into the tray with a shattering sound.
"Oops. My hand slipped."
Shirou wore a 'smile' as if he'd just passed by by chance.
At the same time, the entire tavern fell into a stunned silence. Everyone was frozen by the sudden turn of events, not daring to make a sound.