NOVEL NEXT Chapter 97
March 21st
It had been a while since I visited the cafe in Yokohama, the black boss, which remained peaceful as ever.
The gentle sound of jazz music wafted through the air.
The distant scenery of Yokohama Port came into view.
The sound of calm-colored wooden chairs filled the space.
It felt like a cherished landscape I hadn’t seen in years.
The scent of coffee, made from freshly roasted beans left in the warehouse for ten days and ground each morning, filled the atmosphere.
The Brazilian beans formed a nutty and stable base, perfectly blended with Colombian beans to create a subtle aroma that didn’t overshadow.
However, today I sensed a hint of bold fruity notes in the aroma that I didn’t think the Master would prefer.
“……”
In the spot where the scruffy old man used to make coffee, a girl with striking orange hair was now clad in a black apron, preparing drinks.
“Kyoko-chan! I want a vanilla latte!”
“I’ll have an espresso with just a little sugar.”
“Got it! Coming right up!”
Everything in the bar was black except for the stainless steel sink.
The Master had struggled to stand for long, so he put a small wooden chair there.
I had spent my time sitting there over the last two years, reading newspapers or books.
But the small chair was no longer visible where Kyoko stood. She must have tidied everything up to avoid obstructing her swift movements in making drinks.
Beneath Kyoko’s black apron, I noticed a waitress outfit I used to wear oversized that she’d shortened to fit her style.
Thanks to her preference for a touch of daring exposure, the uniform that once had a calm tone now radiated a lively vibe.
‘She’s changed quite a bit.’
The small stuffed animals and posters of foreign rock singers scattered around the cafe were all new to me. The rock music mingling with the jazz was probably Kyoko’s influence as well.
In the two years since I had been there, the remnants of the Master and me were gradually disappearing, replaced by Kyoko’s tastes.
I knew that this was a sign that Kyoko’s dreams were coming to fruition, and that we were moving forward on our own paths. Yet, I also felt a twinge of nostalgia.
“Hmm? Leader? What’s up?”
“I just came to say hi. You’re still living at the Master’s place, right?”
“Yep! We go to work together too!”
“I see… Is the Master around? I don’t see him.”
“Yup! He’s sitting on that bench over there. He usually just hangs out there these days.”
“Thanks.”
Kyoko giggled and then swiftly resumed making drinks for the customers.
With her cute look and spirited speech, she was beloved by many.
Customers were ordering with more excitement than they’d ever shown to me and the Master.
Leaving that scene behind, I walked toward the bench at the back where the beach came into view.
It was the place I would sit and think whenever I had important worries.
There sat an elderly man, appearing fragile enough to be wobbly under a girl’s gaze.
The fragrant yet strong scent of cigarette smoke surrounded him, the Master sat on the bench, staring blankly while puffing on a cigar.
“I’m here.”
“Oh, you came.”
“You’re not surprised.”
“What do you mean?”
The Master smiled gently, took the cigar out of his mouth, extinguished it, and placed it in a small leather pouch.
I knew cigars lose their aroma quickly once lit, and being the master of fine tastes, his cigar was quite expensive.
“…You can keep smoking if you want.”
“I’m done. More importantly, what brings you here?”
“I just wanted to see you.”
“Now that you’ve seen me, that’s enough.”
“…Actually, I’m a magical girl.”
“I know. Haven’t you seen all the fuss about some goddess appearing in the news?”
“Actually, I’m working to save this world.”
“I know. You made quite the scene on that weird island.”
We sat together on the shaded bench, gazing out at the distant beach.
The slightly chilly spring breeze blew, pushing the waves, causing white foam to appear and disappear chaotically on the water’s surface.
“Hikari.”
“Yes?”
“You’re doing well.”
“……”
“Despite having such strength, you haven’t given up on being human.”
“Of course. Like you said, Master, I want to live helping others.”
“I see.”
On the day I first came to this world.
The kindness I received from him caused the seed my past father had planted in my heart to sprout.
The tree nurtured by my two fathers continued to grow even in this moment.
The Master’s face showed complexity in response to my words.
“Hikari.”
“Yes?”
“The name of my daughter who died in an accident.”
“……”
“When she was young, she wanted to be a tea shop owner. She wanted to create a place where her father, who was always wearing a black suit traveling abroad, could rest.”
A name that hadn’t been mentioned in the original story.
The Master only revealed to Yuki, who approached him to save him in the original story, that his daughter had died.
“The day I first saw you, I thought you were just a girl who heard rumors. What a coincidence to have the same name. Seriously.”
“…I didn’t know.”
“Yeah. It seemed like it. You looked too sad to just be joking around.”
“……”
“Somehow, it felt like fate.”
“……”
“I thought about quietly ending my life here, but it’s been fun living with you, who kept causing accidents and asking for favors.”
On that rainy day.
We met within the incomprehensible flow of this world.
“Even if it’s cowardly to give you the attention I could never give to my dead daughter, it comforted me a bit.”
“It’s not cowardly. We live to improve from yesterday, right?”
“Thank you.”
It was not only me who received comfort from this world that day.
We found solace in our meeting.
“Go on. They say the dead are being revived like crazy in China and all.”
“…Lately, there are even people saying they want to worship me as a goddess.”
“Bwahahahaha! You? The one who blew up an espresso machine? The one who burnt an entire bag’s worth of batter while making pancakes? Hahaha!”
“Aren’t you laughing too much?”
“Bwahahahaha! Are you going to ask them to build you a statue or something?”
“I’m still refusing that too.”
I felt a lot of consideration in his laughter.
Even if I woke the dead and wielded god-like powers, the Master would probably treat me the same.
To him, I was merely a problematic part-time worker who shared the same name as his daughter.
“Master.”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s go to Elysion together.”
“Sure thing.”
I was surprised by his cool answer and stared at him blankly for a moment.
The Master chuckled and pat my shoulder.
“Are you worried about me being here?”
“…Yes.”
“Thanks. In that case, let’s go together.”
“What about the cafe? I honestly didn’t think you’d respond so quickly…”
“Since Kyoko is turning 18 this year, I was planning to pass the shop over soon. Honestly, she operates it better than I do now.”
The shocking fact that Kyoko was older than Ichika slipped out casually from the Master as he looked up at the sky from the bench.
“Hikari, thank you.”
I wondered which Hikari he was thanking.
After inadvertently introducing Kyoko, who was suddenly in charge of a classy house and stylish cafe, to people who could give her advice, the Master packed up cheerfully and entered Elysion.
And in Elysion, with the help of the magical girls, a small cafe had been established in just a few days.
the white goddess
A simple sign with crude wooden construction and decorations clumsily brought from Europe.
In a humble cafe that used plain white mass-produced cups instead of fine china, magical girls with golden eyes came and went.
For them, a cafe where they could sip tea and coffee, having been sealed on a closed island, felt both novel and shocking.
Inside the little cafe, filled with the smell of wood, girls with golden hair and eyes sat closely together, waiting for their drinks and food while an old man leisurely prepared drinks behind the crude wooden bar.
Ding-dong
The door opened, and yet another golden girl walked in.
A girl so nervous she looked like she was moving her arms and legs simultaneously.
The Master couldn’t help but laugh at how adorable she looked.
“Welcome!”
“One special lunch set, please!”
“Please sit over there and wait. It’ll be out shortly.”
“Wow! I want to take it to the goddess too!”
“The goddess is just drinking water because she can’t move her mouth…”
The goddess had been living outside for a month to construct the foundation for the ‘Moirae Plan’ suggested by Kang Dorim, and had been in bed recovering since.
Not just wrapping the land in a shape, but combining my, Alisa’s, and the goddess’s domains to spread a net connecting the entire world, she was traveling the globe on a high-speed vessel called the Polux.
—…Heir, take a break.
—Let’s try just a little harder.
The crowds stirred with excitement at witnessing countless miracles wherever the silver ship passed, making things even more challenging, I heard.
“Enjoy your meal.”
“Yay! Picture! Picture!”
“Master! Hold it just a second!”
Click
Click
Many golden girls snapped pictures with the smartphone they most quickly figured out how to use among the items brought from the outside world. Watching them fumble with everything in the cafe, the Master let out another hearty laugh.
“Bwahahahaha!”
I observed this from a corner of the cafe.
There were still too many encounters and connections left in his life for him to end it just yet.