Chapter 60: We Absolutely Cannot Let Other Ghouls Cause Trouble for Ryohei and the Others!
Irimi Kaya's senses of hearing and smell were exceptionally sharp.
While the other customers were still craning their necks and looking in the usual direction, her eyes suddenly lit up with surprise and delight. She turned to her crew.
"They're here!"
Her voice was soft, but every member of the "Black Dog" crew heard her. Trusting their leader completely, they all spun around in unison. They didn't forget to signal to the other Anteiku members and the "Demon Ape" crew standing nearby.
And so, the human customers suddenly saw a large group of people turn and start running in the opposite direction. Some of them were even pulling on sunglasses as they ran. Every human who saw this was startled. A dozen men, including several large, brawny ones, all running and putting on sunglasses at the same time—if you didn't know any better, you'd think you had just stumbled into a Yakuza turf war.
"Wait a minute! Chef Ryohei!?"
Someone, following the direction the Ghouls were running, spotted a familiar food cart and cried out in joyful surprise.
"Nani?! Is Chef Ryohei here?"
"Where, where?"
"Huh?"
The crowd instantly erupted.
Ryohei, pulling his cart, saw the crowd of customers running enthusiastically toward him from a distance. He was quite surprised. How are their eyes so sharp? Because of their new house, he was approaching from a completely different direction today.
But in the next second, he saw a dozen of the running customers putting on sunglasses, and he froze, bewildered. What are they doing? Do you need to wear sunglasses to stand in line now? What a weird hobby. In the one day he'd been away, it seemed some strange characters had joined his clientele.
Yurine, however, saw at a glance that the approaching group were Ghouls. She was alarmed, her eyelid twitching. When she saw some of them putting on sunglasses as if to disguise themselves, she almost reached into the cart to pull out a halberd and cut them all down.
Irimi, running at the very front, suddenly felt a heart-stopping dread, an indescribable chill washing over her entire body. But the feeling vanished as quickly as it came, almost like it was her imagination. She instinctively stopped in her tracks, the Manager's solemn warning echoing in her mind.
"That girl with the eyepatch is terrifying. You must absolutely, under no circumstances, provoke her hostility!"
Irimi had been shocked at the time; she couldn't imagine a human who could make the Manager feel terrified. But now, she thought she finally understood. It was truly terrifying.
Realizing that their reckless charge might have been misunderstood, Irimi quickly raised her hand in a "stop" gesture. The Black Dog members behind her immediately halted. Then the other Anteiku members, and even the Demon Ape crew, all stopped as well. When you're out and about, and your boss's boss is around, you watch their cues. Otherwise, you won't even know how you died.
The sight of Irimi stopping the entire group with a single hand gesture was quite impressive. Ryohei, Yurine, and even the two helpful customers who were pushing the cart from behind all stared, intrigued.
She looks familiar… Ryohei thought, and then he remembered. It was Irimi Kaya. He had seen her last Saturday. Seeing how she controlled the large group with a single gesture, he immediately understood who they were. They're all Ghouls! So many of them! It was the first time he had seen several dozen Ghouls all at once, and he was a little startled.
Then he saw Irimi glance at the containers on the cart, sniff the air, and say with a hungry look, "What an incredible aroma! It's making my mouth water. And I smell something new…"
"Chef Ryohei, do you have a new item today?"
"You have a sharp nose," Ryohei said, his expression unchanged as he treated her like any other customer. "Today's menu is Omurice with a special demi-glace sauce, and for dessert, we have Crème Caramel. I strongly recommend you try them."
"I definitely will!" Irimi was very interested in the new items and nodded eagerly.
Just then, the other human customers swarmed them, looking happier to see Ryohei than their own relatives.
"Chef Ryohei, you're finally here!"
"Whoa—! We missed you so much!"
"That's great! We were afraid you weren't setting up here anymore!"
"Chef, why didn't you come yesterday?"
"Hey, wait a minute, someone's missing today…"
The area instantly became noisy.
"Yesterday was a day off," Ryohei explained, raising his voice. "Alright, everyone, please make some space so we can park the cart."
The customers were very cooperative. As he was parking, someone noticed the updated menu on the small blackboard.
"Awesome! There's a new item today!"
"Eh?"
"Omurice? I've had that before! It's super delicious, but I can't wait to try the Chef's version!"
"Ooh, I have to try the new item!"
"Wait a minute! I haven't even tried the Katsu Sando yet! Why is it gone already?! No—!"
"By the way, will I ever get to eat the onigiri and Tonjiru again? When are you going to bring them back?"
Amidst the clamor, Ryohei began his service for the day. He set the price for the Omurice at 1,800 yen and the Crème Caramel at 700 yen, with the usual limit of two of each per person. He first served the two helpful customers who had helped him push the cart. Then came the Ghoul contingent, led by Irimi.
"Here are the two Omurice and two Crème Caramels you ordered," Ryohei said, handing the large bag to Irimi. He then added, "I don't mind you all coming here to buy food, but I hope you won't do anything that causes me trouble."
"Absolutely not," Irimi replied, taking the bag with a serious expression. "I will keep the 'people' I brought with me in line, and I will keep an eye on the others as well." This was something the Manager had also instructed her to do. They absolutely could not let other Ghouls cause trouble for Ryohei and his crew.
"That's good to hear," Ryohei said with a satisfied nod, and then gestured for the next customer.