Another World Fluffy Cafe

Chapter 23: The Acorn Situation

“Hmm, this is troubling.”

As the construction of the new fluffy café was progressing, Taichi found himself facing a problem.

Himeri looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong, Taichi?”

“Actually, Haruru has been feeling down lately. But she’s stubbornly refusing to tell me why.”

“Haruru?”

Himeri tilted her head as she glanced at Haruru, who was dozing by the window.

“She’s been eating her meals properly and has been getting exercise… I think? Right now, it seems like she’s just taking a nap, but it doesn’t seem like she’s sick.”

“Exactly.”

Just to be sure, Taichi had also used a Healing spell, so it wasn’t an injury.

“Could it be that she misses Koroguri Mountain?”

“Oh, right! She lived in the mountains for so long.”

Indeed, the fluffy café was comfortable and easy to live in, but it lacked the mountain-like feel and nature.

(I could at least buy some plants to decorate… but…)

That felt like a half-hearted effort, and it was hardly what one would call nature.

“Shall I go ask her?”

“Ume! Is that okay?”

“That’s an easy favor.”

Ume leaped to the windowsill where Haruru was napping.

“Hmm… Ume-chan?”

“Sorry for waking you up.”

Ume began to lick Haruru’s cheek, grooming her. Haruru’s fur had become much shinier than when she lived in the mountains.

“Thank you, kyuu.”

“Of course! You’re a girl, so you need to be kept pretty.”

“Now I look pretty, kyuu~.”

Seeing Haruru smile happily, Ume decided to get to the point.

“You’ve been a bit down lately, haven’t you?”

“Kyuu…”

At Ume’s straightforward question, Haruru lowered her eyebrows in concern. It wasn’t that she was dissatisfied with anything.

She just didn’t want to worry Taichi or the other familiars.

“Do I really look that unenergetic, kyuu?”

“A little bit. Is something going on?”

“…Here, it’s always warm, and there’s delicious food, and I’m not attacked by monsters… There’s nothing unpleasant at all, kyuu.”

But if there was one wish she had—

“I want to eat acorns from Koroguri Mountain, kyuu.”

“Acorns?”

“Kyuu. We eat the acorns from Koroguri Mountain, and we return a bit of it to the soil, kyuu.”

“Ah… Is it a custom or something?”

“Kyuu.”

Haruru nodded, explaining that she longed for the acorns.

“Oh! But it’s not like I need to eat them or anything, kyuu.”

So, don’t worry about it, she added.

However, hearing that made Ume want to gather some acorns from Koroguri Mountain.

She glanced at Taichi, who was nodding vigorously, as if he had been eavesdropping.

“Customs are important! Alright, let’s go collect some acorns… or should we transplant a tree?”

“Taichi-san, you don’t need to go that far, kyuu!”

Just as Haruru tried to stop him, Snow came over.

“Taichi-san, I want to help carry the acorn tree!”

“Snow-chan!?”

“Oh, of course. With Snow along, that would be a great help.”

Taichi had been thinking about how to get Luke to help him carry the acorn tree, but if Snow was willing to do it, that would save him the trouble.

Snow likely wanted to support Haruru, who had brought food and stayed with her.

Haruru climbed onto Snow’s head and expressed her gratitude, saying, “Thank you, kyuu.” Their affectionate interaction was incredibly cute.

“Then, how about we go on our next day off?”

“““Okay!”””

“Kyuu~.”

And so, on the next day off.

Taichi and the others were preparing in front of the café to go collect acorn trees from Koroguri Mountain.

“Good morning! Taichi, I borrowed a carriage!”

“Himeri! Good morning, that’s a big help.”

Normally, he would ride Luke for a quick trip, but since Snow and Haruru were joining them, he had asked Himeri to borrow a carriage.

By the way, Himeri was joining them too.

Watching Himeri as the driver, Taichi felt impressed.

“Himeri, you can do anything! Adventurers are amazing.”

“Eh? I can’t possibly make it all the way to Koroguri Mountain from here.”

She laughed, saying that it was only possible to move slowly for a short distance from the city to the fluffy café.

“Eh…”

“Eh? Could it be that Taichi can’t drive the carriage—”

“I can’t…”

“Aah…”

What a predicament.

To have a carriage but not be able to reach Koroguri Mountain.

While he was troubled about what to do, Snow volunteered, “Leave it to me!”

“I know the way to the mountain, and I can run as you say! I have endurance and strength, too!”

“Wow, that’s amazing, Snow! Thank you!”

“Eh? Is Snow going to pull the carriage? That’s incredible! You’re really something as a tamer! Should I tie the horse to a nearby tree?”

Himeri detached the horse from the carriage, looking around to see what to do.

Since it would take all day, it would be cruel to leave the horse tied up.

“Hmm…”

While Taichi was pondering, Cerberus went over to the horse with a ball, saying, “Let’s play~!”

(Do horses play with balls…?)

Wondering what he was up to, he watched as the horse gently kicked the ball with its front legs. It seemed like the horse was playing with Cerberus.

“Whoa, that’s smart…”

As he marveled, Himeri laughed and said, “No, it’s not like that.”

“That horse is submitting because it thinks it can’t win against Pino and the others.”

“Oh, I see…”

Cerberus vs. just a horse—

The outcome was clear.

“But if that’s the case, do you think it would stay in the backyard if I told it to wait there?”

Fortunately, there was a fence in the backyard.

While a horse might be able to jump over it with enough effort, it was worth a try to have a chat.

Taichi went over to Cerberus and the horse to explain what they were doing that day.

“Then we’ll wait here.”

“If we have food and water, we can relax.”

“The horse talked…!”

““No, no, no, no.””

The horse pointed out that they understood the horse’s language.

(I didn’t think I could talk to animals…)

It seemed that Taichi possessed a skill far beyond what he had imagined.

(I’ll keep this a secret from Himeri…)

For now, he decided to prepare some vegetables, fruits, and water for the horse and let it wait there.