Isekai Restaurant
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 30: Summonings and Reunions
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- Silas -
I looked at Rin and the other blonde girl who suddenly jumped in front of her, taking a stance as if wielding a sword and looked at us with a serious look on her face.
On a closer look, I could see that it was actually a barrier of some kind shaped like a sword… was that compressed wind?
"Rin, step back. There is an undead in this place." The blondie said, staring at Ainz.
We looked at Ainz and then at the blonde girl and then back at Ainz.
…He forgot to wear the mask again.
"Now now, no need to get scared. Ainz is a friend. Despite how he looks, he means no one any harm." I stood up and tried to diffuse the situation but the girl was staring at others by then.
"A Servant, a Dragon… and even someone with Divinity. What manner of place is this?" She asked, looking flabbergasted.
"This is a Restaurant… and waving around… a, whatever that is, here is considered bad manners." I replied and turned towards Rin. "You need to ask your friend to chill."
I don't know if she was still scared by yesterday's events or if it was just consideration for Sakura but she pulled her blonde friend back. "Saber, stop."
"Master, there are many supernatural beings here, and even a servant. Are you sure this place is safe?"
"I… yes. Let's listen to his explanation first." She said looking at me and then her eyes went to the side towards the kitchen's door where Sakura was standing by.
Sakura hadn't moved from her place, neither coming forward, nor leaving, as if unsure of what to do.
I looked at Rimuru who understood my message and took the lead to explain everything quickly while I went to Sakura to check on her.
"That's impossible. Such a thing is on the level of True Magic. I have only heard of one person being able to do such a thing, the Wizard Marshal…"
"It's not at the level of a True Magic, girly. It's beyond even that." Caster interrupted, making Rin look at her with narrowed eyes. "The scope of this place is far beyond even that of the Second Magic. Such a thing wasn't heard of even in the Age of Gods. For example, that Goddess sitting over there used to manage the cycle of reincarnation between many worlds and there are worlds outside even her knowledge." She said pointing towards Aqua. "Many people here come from different clusters of worlds, some having been reincarnated into different beings after death indicating the presence of different pantheons of Gods managing each cluster and this place still manages to appear wherever it likes without anyone being any the wiser. Does that answer your question?"
She then went on to argue with Rin and many technical terms went through one of our ears and out through another but at least by the end of it all, she understood… or at least accepted the explanation.
"Then this place… "
"Anyways, that should answer your questions. So no attacking anyone or you're getting thrown out no matter who you are. Got it?" I asked.
This girl seemed a bit hard headed and it was better to be strict with such people.
Rin didn't say anything so I looked at the blonde girl behind her who stood stoically but at least it didn't look like she would make any move.
"Now, let's take the next conversation to a private room." I told Rin and then looked at Sakura.
She looked a bit hesitant but I held her hand and reassured her before both of them followed me to the room.
When we were outside the room, Sakura stopped me.
"I… I want to do this alone."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes."
I looked at her for a moment and then at Rin who was also eyeing me.
"Alright. I am waiting outside. Call me if you need me any time."
"Okay." She nodded and entered the room.
Rin exchanged a glance with the blonde girl, Saber who waited outside while she entered the room too.
A moment of silence spread over the place.
This room was away from the main hall of the Restaurant so no one could disturb or see us during the conversation. That meant only the two of us were outside.
Finding the silence a bit awkward, I tried to make a conversation with Saber.
"So, Saber… are you also one of those servants like Caster outside, fighting in that supernatural war for a chance to summon Shenron?"
"Summon what?" The girl looked confused and I laughed.
"It's a reference. Shenron is a dragon who grants wishes in an animated series common in some worlds."
"There is such a thing in other worlds?" She asked, surprised.
"I mean we haven't encountered the Dragonball world yet but who knows. So, you want a wish granted too?"
She became quiet at that moment. "Yes." But said no further.
I didn't push either.
"So Caster was telling me that the summoned servants are all heroes from the past. Are you someone I would know?"
"That's personal."
"Oh, I apologise. I didn't know that."
"Hmm. Whose servant is the Caster outside?" She asked.
"A friend's." I answered briefly.
"Rin tells me you are strong and that you took on Berserker yourself. WIll you be participating in the Holy Grail War too?"
"Why would I do that?" I asked.
"Don't you have any wishes you want granted?"
"Wishes? Hmm, nothing urgent that I can think of. I am quite happy with my life. I have a place like this where I can meet people, make friends and do what I like the best… cooking. Sure sometimes there are things I desire but I'd rather work for it myself. I mean, the journey is just as important as the result after all."
"Really? No wishes? The Holy Grail could grant any wish of yours. It could make you all powerful, the king of the world." She spoke.
I raised an eyebrow at this and laughed. "What are you, the devil? Trying to tempt me like that? But no. I am not really interested. I am satisfied with my restaurant here. For many people such a life might be boring and unambitious but this is the life I have chosen for myself. Ruling a world… can you imagine the stress? I'd look like Saitama in a year and that's scary considering the fact that I might not even be capable of hair loss." I laughed at the thought.
The girl just stared at me and then looked at the ground.
"I envy you." She whispered softly but I was able to pick that up.
Suddenly, I heard voices from inside.
The sound of Sakura shouting but she didn't call for me. She was probably arguing.
Good.
Let her vent.
She had this bad habit of always keeping things buried inside and the only time I had seen her burst was when she was in front of Rin.
Beside me, Saber looked towards the door, looking like she was about to enter.
I held her by the shoulder and shook my head.
"Let them be. They need to do this."
She hesitated a bit but I added.
"They haven't called anyone yet. Don't interfere."
Apparently that was enough to get her to back off.
Their shouts died down a bit later. The door to the room opened after almost half an hour and Rin was the first one to exit. She looked furious but still paused when she saw me and hesitated for a moment before actually bowing a full ninety degrees. "Thank you."
"Hmm. Would you like to wait and have something to eat?" I asked.
"No. I have a bastard to kill first." She replied, gritting her teeth.
…
"Are you talking about the guy with blue seaweed type hair?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. I had always regretted not going with Gojo-sensei and Kisuke-san back then.
"Yes."
"Do you mind inviting me over if you ever find where he is? I couldn't go there last time and have always regretted it." I asked.
"I make no promises that he will be alive before you arrive."
"Then I will make sure I'm quick."
Rin just nodded and left the restaurant.
I too decided to go in and check on Sakura.
Sakura was sitting in the room, quietly, staring at the table in front of her. Her eyes were red.
Looks like she was crying.
Good.
Anything was better than suffocating like that.
I didn't say anything at first and just sat down beside her.
The silence in the room was broken when she spoke after a while.
"Silas-san."
"Hmm."
"I want to participate in the Holy Grail War too."
…
…
…
…
"What?"
"I wish to participate in the Holy Grail War too." She repeated, resolutely this time.
I stared at her for a moment.
I hadn't seen Sakura be so resolute before.
"Do you have something you want to wish for?" I asked.
"No."
…
"Then?"
"I… just want to win… to prove myself."
…
What did she want to prove?
I looked at her questioningly and after a while she spoke.
"My father… he gave me away because he didn't want competition. He gave me away to the Matou so that I could become the heir of that House so that they could train me as a magus but they didn't. They didn't train me… they… they…"
I put a hand on her shoulder.
"I want to prove him wrong. I want to show him that I could have done well even if he didn't send me away… I want to win this Holy Grail War." She finished.
I looked at her in pity.
Did her reason make any sense?
No.
But people rarely made sense when they were hurt.
Pain and anger distorts reason.
But if this is what it takes for her to regain her confidence… then so be it.
"Okay. Let's go and talk to Saitama. I don't think he would mind."
She nodded and got up.
Before leaving however, I pulled her into a tight hug.
"I am proud of you, Sakura." I whispered softly in her ears.
Sakura's breath hitched at this and she actually returned my hug, tightly this time.
I felt slight wetness on my chest, probably from her tears so I stayed like that.
After a while, she moved away and wiped her eyes.
"Let's go."
We went out.
Thankfully, the entire group was still in the restaurant. They looked worriedly at us.
Rimuru and Ainz looked at me with a questioning gaze.
"Saitama."
"Hmm?"
"I need a favour."
"Eh, what is it?"
"It's like this…"
I explained the situation to them and at the end Sakura also bowed deeply. "Please."
"Why would you need a favour from them then? She can participate too, you know. I just want the reward. She obviously doesn't want it so her participating only increases the chances of our group winning. I don't see a problem here."
"That's true."
"Actually… she, I mean Sakura-chan, wants to have a duel of sorts with her sister, right?" Ainz asked.
I looked at Sakura who nodded.
"Then why don't we fill the rest of the slots with our own people and beat the rest who are not with our team? That way Sakura-chan and her sister can duel while Saitama can win and get his wish."
"Will that work?" I asked.
That sounded too fucking convenient for having any wish granted.
Even collecting dragon balls needed people to go around the world.
This sounded like cheap match-fixing.
"How would we know if we don't try?" He shrugged and then looked at Caster. "You are the most knowledgeable about the whole thing. Do you think it would work?" He asked her.
She thought for a moment and shrugged. "I don't know. We can always try. It sounds interesting as it is. Do you have other players in mind?"
"Does it have to be humans?" He asked.
"I am not sure but it would be better if they are."
"Hmm in that case, Silas, you can ask the rest of the Restaurant staff to participate. We can call Cid or others if there are slots left."
"Eh, Ikki is off to save the supernatural police girl Rukia so I doubt he would be able to participate. Let's see how many slots are empty first. I will ask Lavy and Orihime and Cid just in case if they want to participate. If we have more slots left, we can ask other customers."
"Sounds like a plan. So… what exactly do we need to do to participate in this tournament?" Ainz asked Caster.
"That will require them to use a ritual to summon a servant. It will automatically register them as masters and start the war."
"Do we need anything for the ritual?"
"Not much. Although some catalyst to summon a servant would be nice, not having them wouldn't affect anyone either. They will just get servants fitting their personality or backgrounds." She explained.
"Alright then. Let's wait for Lavy and Orihime. We can start when they return. By then you can start preparation for the ritual." I asked.
She looked at Saitama who nodded and she too gave us a shrug and got to work.