"Then pick something yourself. But be warned: that coffee is more bitter than medicine," Kasumigaoka Utaha cautioned with a faint smile, handing over the menu.
"That bitter?" Kasugano Sora's small hand trembled slightly, and she hurriedly ordered the same drink Utaha had chosen.
"Certainly." Hanazono Yurine wore a sweet smile on her face, bowing slightly to Kawashima Toya as she left. "Master, please wait a moment."
"It will be ready soon."
Utaha waved her hand to block Toya's view, mocking him, "Stop staring. If you look any longer, the maid might call the police."
"They'll arrest you for harassment..."
"There's no such crime," Toya said, exasperated. "Who do you think I am?"
"Why would I do such a thing? I just find it interesting."
"I actually know that maid, although I've only known her for a day."
"Seeing her with this expression... it's just incredible."
Seeing the judgy looks from Sora and Utaha, he knew he had to explain properly.
Otherwise, he would definitely be misunderstood as a pervert who zoned out staring at maids.
That kind of misunderstanding had to be cleared up.
"Incredible..." Utaha blinked in surprise. "A human with supernatural powers doing this kind of work?"
"This kind of utterly ordinary job doesn't fit her identity at all."
"If she chose to take on supernatural commissions like you do, just one job would be enough to not work for a year, right?"
Toya leaned back in his chair, smiling. "Everyone has their own choices. Working as a maid can fulfill many girls' fantasies."
"At the same time, there's a considerable income from tips."
The maid was definitely a proper maid, but the customers were different.
Almost every customer who came in was an otaku.
Otaku would choose their favorite maid to serve them, drink coffee, chat, and escape the grind of their daily lives.
Finally, they would leave a substantial tip and depart satisfied.
Utaha stared at Toya suspiciously. "Why do I feel like you know an awful lot about this?"
"And you said you've never been to a maid cafe before?"
He knew clearly that customers left tips, yet claimed he didn't understand maid cafes.
"I read about it online," Toya said calmly.
"You don't need to visit a place to know how it works."
Yurine placed the prepared drinks on the table one by one, smiling sweetly.
"Next, Yurine will cast a spell to make the coffee delicious!"
After performing a cringy, otaku-style magic chant, Yurine slowly took a step back.
"Please enjoy. Yurine will keep Master company."
"If you have any troubles, you can vent to Yurine."
A maid cafe employee—that is, a maid—had a job like this.
Besides serving as a waitress, she also had to act as a listener.
Yurine desperately wanted to flee, but due to her duties as a maid, she couldn't.
Facing the intruder who had broken into her home, not being able to attack him was already hard enough.
But having to cast a spell to make coffee delicious while he looked at her with that smug expression was simply too humiliating.
Toya took a sip of the black coffee and almost spat it out due to the intense bitterness.
I'll never get used to this.
That was his only thought.
Even in his past life, he hadn't visited cafes much, so naturally, he wasn't used to the taste.
Toya put down the black coffee and looked at Yurine with a smile. "You're a maid at this cafe, right?"
"What was your name again?"
"Master, you can call me Yurine, Hanazono Yurine," Yurine said with a plastered-on smile, speaking words that felt very out of character.
Except for Toya, who knew Yurine well...
Everyone else would think that this girl with the sweet smile, who looked like a middle school student, must be this energetic every day.
"Yurine, sit down." Toya pointed to the empty seat, signaling Yurine to take it.
Although the occasion wasn't suitable for chatting, what needed to be discussed had to be discussed.
After all, there was less than half a day left until the Evil God's Banquet.
He hoped Yurine could control Jashin-chan and prevent her from causing trouble.
Jashin-chan was famously vengeful and petty. After he did such a cruel thing, she would definitely try every means to retaliate.
Normally, he wouldn't care, but if she came for revenge tonight, it would just add chaos to chaos.
"That's not appropriate, Master," Yurine declined with a smile. "A maid cannot sit at the same table as her Master..."
She really wanted to sit down and rest to relieve the fatigue of standing for hours.
But thinking that sitting down might cause misunderstandings among other customers, making them think she might be...
Toya glanced indifferently at the neighboring table, where a maid was almost huddled together with a customer. "That maid has already sat down. Let's have a good talk about Jashin-chan."
"Master, I am different from her." A trace of disgust flashed in Yurine's eyes.
The maid at the next table was clearly fishing for tips; Yurine wouldn't stoop to that level.
Although very reluctant, Yurine still sat down.
Because the topic of discussion was about the devil Jashin-chan, whom she had summoned not long ago.
Toya's gaze turned serious. "I hope you can use the contract to forcibly restrain Jashin-chan for one day!"
"Just until today ends. After that, do whatever you want."
"Impossible!" Yurine refused without thinking. "Jashin-chan has a terrible personality, but I won't restrict her freedom."
"Even if she is a devil I summoned accidentally!"
"I hope you consider it carefully." Toya sighed slightly. "Because I have very troublesome matters to attend to."
"Jashin-chan holds grudges, and I'm worried she will interfere with me."
"Troublesome matters?" Yurine was stunned, staring at Toya seriously. "Can you tell me about it?"
For some reason, she felt that something big was going to happen to Toya tonight.
"Since you want to hear it, I'll tell you." Toya had no intention of hiding it and told her about the Evil God's Banquet.
Although Jashin-chan had an innocent and cute face, her personality undoubtedly inherited the violence and cruelty of a devil.
Facing an enemy, she would show absolutely no mercy.
If she took the opportunity to cause trouble while he was attending the Evil God's Banquet, it would be a disaster.
"This banquet..." Yurine's expression suddenly turned solemn, and she murmured, "I seem to have read a book when I was young."
"That book seemed to record matters regarding the Evil God's Banquet."
Yurine began to carefully search her memories, ignoring everyone else, thinking back to the Evil God's Banquet.
Toya waited quietly, not disturbing Yurine's thoughts.