kscans

Chapter 87 - The Return Banquet

Hayato awoke in the bed in his room at the base.

In the morning, he had created and delivered restoration items for the Maid Guild's request, and in the afternoon, he had worked at the cafe in the real world. Then he had logged in again.

Esha was the same. She had probably just woken up in the room next door.

Hayato thought about Esha for a moment.

Esha was logged in as a player just like Hayato, but she was treated as an NPC. That hadn't changed, and her name was still displayed in yellow, with none of the restrictions a player would have.

Previously, he had her on shop duty all day, but now that she was working in the real world, there were times when the character Esha was absent from this game world.

It seemed the Maid Chief and others didn't find that strange, but for Hayato, a production focused player, not having someone at the shop in the base was a problem.

He could use the auction system in the future, but his base had a storefront. He began to think about hiring another maid, or a proper person from the merchant guild.

However, that was not an immediate issue. In the six months Hayato was gone, most of the items for sale at the base had been sold, and the shop had been closed recently. He had to restock the shop's merchandise.

Just as he thought that's where he should start, Esha entered the room without any hesitation.

"Everyone will be here soon, so we need to prepare quickly."

"You're right... You know, it's fine to come in like that in the game, but could you please not do that in the real world?"

"If you have nothing to hide, there shouldn't be a problem."

"It's not about having something to hide, it's that I don't like it."

"I'll do my best. Now, let's get ready before everyone arrives. And I'm looking forward to the food. Let's just say I'll be deactivating my limiter today."

"That limiter is always broken, isn't it?"

After that conversation, Hayato and the others moved to the dining hall and began preparing for the banquet.

An hour later, people began to gather at the base one after another.

The first to arrive were Ash and Ren, and the members of their mercenary group.

Ren smiled when she saw Hayato.

"Hayato-san! Welcome back!"

"I'm back, Ren-chan. You too, Ash, and everyone in the mercenary group."

Ash said nothing, just smiled slightly, then approached Hayato and put his right arm around his shoulder.

"You're late coming back. I heard various things from Diite, so I wasn't worried, though."

After saying that, Ash lightly tapped Hayato's chest with his left fist.

"It doesn't hurt, but I took damage, so be careful. Also, it's not good to do that in front of Esha."

Esha was staring at Hayato and Ash with incredible intensity. Her eyes were as if she wouldn't miss a single moment.

Ren, who was watching Esha, had a look of sudden realization. She then whispered to Hayato in a small voice.

"I've grown in the past six months too. Hayato-san, this is Esha-san's jealousy! She's feeling a little jealous because you're being friendly with my brother! You're so popular!"

That's not it, Hayato thought, but he didn't say it. He just let out a dry laugh.

And then the other members arrived.

Relic, Mist, Maris, Lunaria, Diite, and even people who were not clan members but had connections with them were here.

First were Ney and the members of Kokuryu. Only Ney knew Hayato's situation, but Hayato had invited them to a party to celebrate his return.

Then there were the Maid Chief and the maids. The Maid Chief had another purpose, but Hayato had hired the maids for just one day this time. Since it was a standing buffet, he needed them to help with food preparation. He thought it would be strange for the main person of the party to be busy with preparations during the banquet.

There was also a woman in a Gothic Lolita dress, one of the Ten Black Rose Saints. She had helped him when he went to the depths of the Demon Lord's Castle, so he had asked Lunaria to bring her.

Maris had also brought her pets, so it was quite a crowd.

And everyone looked at Hayato.

First, a word from Hayato. The main event of the day, Hayato's return. The party couldn't begin without a word from the guest of honor.

Hayato scratched his cheek with his right index finger, looking embarrassed.

"Um, I'm back. Thanks to everyone, I was able to make a small part of my dream come true, so I came back."

When Hayato said that, everyone, though with different words, expressed their welcome back. And the banquet began.

Hayato walked around to express his gratitude to each person individually.

First, he went to Relic and Mist. The two of them welcomed Hayato with a smile.

"Welcome back, Hayato-sama."

"You've finally returned."

"Relic-san, Mist-san, it's been a long time."

Hayato bowed his head.

Since they parted at the last Clan War, he had only seen them sleeping in their beds. After that, he had only written a farewell message on the message board.

Seeing them for the first time in a while, the two of them hadn't changed at all. It was probably to be expected, but Hayato's situation was different from back then. The fact that they were both human made him feel even more nostalgic.

Relic smiled and gazed at Hayato.

"You mentioned it earlier, but were you able to fulfill your dream?"

"I'd say a part of my dream has been fulfilled. I'm still on my way."

He had been able to open a cafe. That was just the start. From now on, he had to serve as many people as possible and further stabilize the cafe. The world's number one cafe that Esha mentioned was probably impossible, but he was aiming for it in spirit.

"That is wonderful news. By the way, will you be staying at this base for good?"

"Well, I'll be at the base in the morning and at night. Other than that, I have things to do in another place."

The other place was the cafe in the real world, but Hayato couldn't say that. Relic and the others were human, but they had no memory of their time as humans, and this world was their only reality.

Bringing up the real world would stimulate their memories. As in Esha's case, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing to regain one's memories. But he didn't know what would happen after they regained their memories.

From what Hayato had heard from Diite, there was a possibility they would enter a state of confusion. For that reason, there was a system called AI Protection, but he had been told to avoid talking about the real world that might trigger memory recovery as much as possible.

"It would be a great help if you could be at the base even for a little while. It's a presumptuous thing to ask, but may I assume that you will hire me as a butler again?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sure I'll have many things to ask of you again, but please, I would be honored to hire you."

"That is most appreciated. Then, I look forward to working with you again."

"...Um, and so, I have a request for you right away, Relic-san."

"Please, tell me anything."

"Actually, I would like you to take some time to have a meal with the Maid Chief of the Maid Guild. If possible, I'd like you to talk to her as much as you can today as well."

"With the Maid Chief-sama? May I ask the reason?"

"Well, it's said that there's no open conflict between the Maid Guild and the Butler Guild, but I think they are in a rival like relationship."

"That is certainly true."

"The Maid Chief-san said she wants to improve that situation, and she'd like to start by talking to you, Relic-san, with whom she has some connection... or so it seems. I'm indebted to the Maid Chief-san for various things, so I'd like to help her out, but what do you think?"

Of course, that was a lie. The Maid Chief simply wanted to have a meal with Relic. But since she was too shy to say it directly, the Maid Chief herself had come up with a reason.

"If that is the case, I would like to ask the same of you. In a situation where dragons are attacking, the guilds can't be fighting among themselves. Then I shall go speak with her at once. Mist-sama, I will be excusing myself for a moment."

"Yes, please do. Take your time. We can talk about wine another time."

Relic bowed to Hayato and Mist, then walked towards the Maid Chief.

And now, Hayato and Mist were left alone.

"I won't pry, but did the Maid Chief really say she wanted to talk about the conflict between the guilds?"

"...It would be a help if you could just go along with that."

"I see. Then, let's leave it at that. In any case, it's a relief that you've returned, Hayato-san."

"Was there some trouble?"

"A dragon rampaged in the Demon Country, and my mansion was damaged. My coffin was broken at that time. May I ask you to make another one? I will pay for it, of course."

Hayato wondered if Mist's mansion was some kind of facility. But he couldn't imagine what kind of facility it was. He would ask about that later, but first, he had to reply.

"Yes, of course. But would it be alright if I ask you to provide the materials? It's difficult to gather a large amount of Magic Trees."

Mist said, "Of course," and smiled with his frail looking face.

After that, he talked with Mist about health goods and the mansion.

From what he heard, Mist's mansion was one of the facilities called a vampire circle where vampires gathered. It was a circle for those seeking immortality, but recently, it had become a place for reviewing health goods.

Apparently, the health goods Hayato had created had a good reputation.

It could be said that it was irrelevant information to Hayato, but he was happy to be able to have such conversations again.

While Hayato was feeling happy, the night slowly deepened. But the banquet was getting even more lively.