Another World Fluffy Cafe

Chapter 21: Ah! Customer! That’s not OK!!

“Ah! Customer! This is not good!!”

It had been about a week since the fluffy cafe opened.

As expected, being located in the suburbs meant that not many customers came, but those who visited the city of Rerium or adventurers returning from quests would occasionally stop by.

The doorbell chimed, signaling a new arrival.

“Welcome!”

“Hey there! Do you have tea and, um, are the cookies around?”

“Yes, we do~”

The customer who arrived was a man who had been coming almost daily recently. He was a merchant who happened to discover the fluffy cafe while he was out of town on business.

His favorite was Berry Rabbit Cookie, a black-and-white spotted one whom he always doted on.

“Mii!”

“Ah, today you’re adorable as ever!! Alright, I’ll give you lots of pets~”

He was completely smitten.

(I totally get that feeling.)

Taichi himself used to be all lovey-dovey at the cat cafes in his past life, and now he’s equally affectionate towards Luke and Berry Rabbit every day. It’s something no one can resist.

“Mii~”

While Cookie was melting under the merchant’s affectionate pets, Taichi prepared the tea that had been ordered. So far, tea was popular among men, while women often chose the more conventional black tea. Coffee seemed to be avoided by those who hadn’t tried it before, possibly due to its unique bitterness.

(I wonder if nobles or wealthy merchants like coffee too?)

Taichi hoped that someday such people would come as customers and fall in love with the fluffy cafe. If fluffiness became a trend among the upper class, there might be more demand for fluffiness and cafes in the city. That would make Taichi happy too.

(But nobles probably wouldn’t visit a commoner’s cafe like this.)

He poured hot water from the kettle into a cup and mixed in powdered green tea.

“Alright.”

As he returned to the shop with the tray, he saw that the Berry Rabbits had surrounded the merchant.

(There’s only one customer, after all.)

The fluffy cafe’s idols were monopolized by the merchant, with all ten of them gathered around.

(That’s unusual.)

Normally, some of them would be napping, Taichi thought. The only one sleeping was Luke, who remained motionless on the beanbag.

“Here’s your tea. Sorry for the wait.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“By the way, it looks like they’re gathered a lot today…”

Taichi and the merchant wondered if there was a reason. Then, Cookie trotted up to the merchant’s lap.

Cookie put its face near the merchant’s chest and sniffed.

The merchant leaned back so that the Berry Rabbits could easily climb on him.

“Are you carrying something in your chest pocket?”

“Hmm? Oh, now that you mention it, I do have some sample cookies.”

The merchant took out a small bag of cookies from his chest pocket, and the Berry Rabbits rushed towards it.

“Mii~!”

“Mimi!!”

“Mii~”

“Oh no, no, no!”

“Ah!!”

The merchant inevitably fell backward as the Berry Rabbits swarmed him, sniffing and opening their mouths to get the cookies.

“No! Bringing food for the fluffy ones is prohibited here!”

“Y-yes!!”

The merchant understood the rule and desperately raised his hand with the cookies up high. However, the Berry Rabbits climbed up his body.

“Ah, I’m so happy but can’t fully enjoy it!! The paw pads! It feels so good… ugh.”

“Mii~”

“Mii!”

Defeated by the persistent Berry Rabbits, the merchant fell backward.

“Ah, right, I can just eat them myself!!”

“Indeed!!”

When the merchant ate the cookies, the Berry Rabbits displayed shock on their faces.

Taichi couldn’t help but smile wryly.

(I see, they must be starving…)

Considering that they lived in the wild before and were used to eating freely, it felt a bit unfair that they only had set meal times now.

(In that case, I suppose I’ll have to implement that…)

As Taichi thought about this, he heard the merchant’s pained cry of “Ahh…” It seemed the Berry Rabbits had given up on getting the cookies and left him.

(Ah, I understand that feeling…)

At the cat cafe, only when holding “treats” could one have the idols’ full attention.

Taichi realized that implementing snacks at the fluffy cafe was urgent.

(Small treats and maybe meat treats that Luke likes would be good too.)

That way, he might be able to interact with Luke, who otherwise ignores everyone. Though, it might still be impossible.

(Luke doesn’t show affection to anyone but me…)

It would be nice to feel superior in that regard, but Taichi also wanted to see more fellow fluff lovers.

A part of Taichi’s heart was struggling with this conflict, or maybe not…