The restaurant that Alice led me to was indeed beautifully constructed,
but let alone a high-class restaurant… It didn't even look like a
restaurant at all.
The lavishly decorated door certainly looks like it belongs to a highclass restaurant, and the beautifully crafted glass windows, which can't
be peeked through from the outside, also felt nice to the touch…
However, "it's small"…No, it really is small.
To be honest, this one was so small that I even felt that a stall may have
been larger than this.
[…A- Alice? Are you sure this is the place? Looking from the outside, it
looks like just a table and chair would occupy the whole place…]
[Ahh~~ It's alright. We went to the right place.]
Mnhh, Alice looks composed even after seeing me looking anxious.
Ahh, I see! There must be something magic related in this restaurant,
something like the interior being super spacious just like what Alice did
in her inner room.
With that in mind, I opened the door of the restaurant and walked in,
and I immediately realized that my expectations were off.
The inside of the restaurant… looked just as big as it was from the
outside. However, I see… It certainly was as Alice said, it looks like it
really was alright.
[…I see, a Teleportation Magic Tool huh.]
[Yes, that's right.]
Yes, inside the establishment, there were several people who seemed to
be guides and a magic tool with a huge magic crystal on it.
This place is kind of an entrance to the main restaurant, and customers
have to use this magic tool to teleport towards the restaurant.
Teleportation Magic Tools are very expensive, so it wouldn't be a
wonder if a restaurant that's making use of it is a super high-class one.
[Welcome to our establishment… I beg your pardon, but our
establishment is "by appointment only", but does customer-sama have
an appointment?]
[…Eh?]
By appointment only? That means we would have to make a
reservation in advance to get in, right?
Eh? What do we do now?… No, no, wait, wait, Alice was the one that
referred this restaurant, so Alice would properly book a reservation,
right…
[Reservation? I didn't book one.]
[...…]
You didn't book a reservation!? Then, wouldn't we be unable to come
in!?
[Is that so… Even after taking the time to visit our establishment, please
accept my apologies but…]
Just as the elderly gentleman that would guide us to the restaurant is
about to politely and mildly tell us to leave, Alice snaps her fingers.
[…This is, please excuse me. It was No Face-sama huh.]
[The best seat you have… There's no problem with that, right?]
[Most certainly. I'll prepare it at once.]
Somehow, she managed to quickly settle it… Eh? Does that mean, he's
also one of them? This person is also Alice's subordinate?
The elderly gentleman deeply bows his head to Alice and then goes next
to the Teleportation Magic Tool, where he bows again and stays in that
position.
After seeing this, Alice and I moved to the front of the magic tool and
teleported to the main restaurant.
The restaurant we were teleported to was very large, lined with elegant
and high-class-looking tables and chairs, and it definitely looked like a
super high-class restaurant.
Moreover, it seemed to be located by the sea, and we could see the sea
in the evening through the large windows.
Then, Alice and I were guided and seated in a balcony-like area on the
second floor of the restaurant, where we could see an amazing
panoramic view.
[Hey, Alice… I know that he's one of your subordinates but… Is it really
alright to just ask him for the best seat?]
[Of course, it's okay. All the "people in charge" are my subordinates
after all.]
[…Eh?]
[Well, to put it frankly, this is "my restaurant".]
[Eeeehhhh!?]
When I asked her about it, perplexed by the fact that we got really great
seats… As if it was obvious, Alice said that she owns this place.
[Establishments that provide food and beverages are quite convenient
in gathering information. I've also got a few other restaurants under my
command.]
[I- Is that so.]
[Well, Alice-chan's main store is my miscellaneous goods store though!]
[That place isn't able to sell a single thing though.]
[Couldn't you just wrap it up with the others already!?]
While gazing at the magnificent scenery and chatting with Alice, a
woman in a cook's uniform approached.
[Sorry to interrupt you, No Face-sama. Thank you for coming today.]
[Ahh~~ Cut it out with the greetings. Please bring us something tasty.]
[Please leave it to us. Even though we may be unskilled compared with
No Face-sama, we'll serve you the best food that we could.]
[I'm looking forward to it.]
She's probably the head chef. She seemed to come to say her greetings
to Alice, the owner, but Alice just quickly dismissed her.
Next, a woman dressed in a tight-fitting waitress outfit arrived, pushing
a cart.
There was a wine on the cart, so I guess she's a sommelier?
When the sommelier lady comes close to our seat, she bows, opens the
wine, checks the aroma of the wine, before placing a glass in front of
Alice and pours a little.
[…This is for tasting.]
[Let's see…]
Alice tipped the glass with familiar movements, gracefully checking the
color and aroma before sipping it.
[…Hmmm, this is quite lacking. Don't you have a Shallow Grande?]
[We apologize. As expected, acquiring Shallow Grande is…]
[…Shallow Grande?]
I believe that was the name of a wine but… As I only know the name of
more famous high-grade wines like Romanée-Conti, I wouldn't know
what wine they were talking about. No, to begin with, the name of the
wine in this world may not necessarily be the same as mine, so I would
have to ask her anyway.
[That wine was a gift from the God Realm given by Shallow Vernal-sama
to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Friendship. It's made from
a fruit that only exists in the God Realm, so it's incredibly rare. It's about
10,000,000R a bottle. As it's a prize for an event sponsored by the God
Realm for the Festival of Heroes, so it only appears once a decade.
Currently, there are less than 100 bottles of this wine in the world.]
[10,000,000R!?]
That would be 1 billion yen… That isn't the price of a wine anymore. It's
already the price for a mansion.
Moreover, only one bottle of this wine comes out every few decades,
and that isn't a wine that you can just order… Let's not be unreasonable
here, Phantasmal King.
However, if it's such a great wine, I'd like to try it at least once.
I've been thinking about this when a bottle of wine suddenly appeared
on the table, and when the sommelier lady saw it, her voice was
trembling as she muttered.
[S- Shallow Grande…]
I see, this is the Shallow Grande that they were talking about… Unnn,
why did it suddenly appear in front of me? I could already predict who
it's from, but with that message card that says "To Kaito-san" in it…
[It seems to be a gift from Shallow Vernal-sama. Let's gratefully accept
it!]
[…Alice… you planned this beforehand…]
[I wonder what you're talking about? I just wanted to make sure that
Kaito-san had the best wine tonight.]
Watching Alice gleefully pick up the Shallow Grande, I understood that
this development was exactly what Alice wanted to happen.
Alice purposely brought up a top-quality wine that wouldn't be in this
restaurant. And if I were to get interested in it, Shiro-san most probably
would send it straight to me… This freaking woman.
Although I was taken aback by Alice's behavior, since it was given to me
by Shiro-san, I decided to take a taste of the wine.
Asking the sommelier lady to pour some for me, I held out the wine
glass in my hand… and clinked glasses with Alice.
[Cheers.]
[Cheers, it is.]
Smiling at each other, lightly clinking our glasses and sipping the wine…
I felt shocked.
With just one sip of the wine, it's as if the deep taste of the wine was
soaking throughout my body.
It was so delicious, that even I, who wasn't a wine expert, can tell right
away that this is the best wine there is…
[…A- Amazing… What a deep and rich wine…]
[Right? Well~` As expected of the best wine in the world. It's really
wonderful. Hnn~~ This is happiness!]
[Yeah, this certainly is a delicious wine… Moreover, the view here is
good too.]
[The sun is setting and the stars are coming out, and the moon can be
clearly seen in a few minutes.]
Sipping a good wine and looking at the sea, which is beginning to be
dyed by the serenity of the night.
[…This place has a really nice ambiance. Where is this place?]
[South of the Symphonia Kingdom. At the end of that sea is the Hydra
Kingdom.]
[Heehhh… Looking at how beautiful this scenery is, this place must be
quite a popular tourist attraction.]
[Yes, there is also a "cottage" near here, where at about 10 pm, the
"moonlight" comes through the windows and creates a beautiful
mood… Cottage by the sea… Moonlight…]
[...…]
The words Alice said somehow sounds familiar. Then, Alice looked like
she noticed something… as right after, her face turned redder than
wine.
Perhaps, or rather, I'm sure… I guess she remembered that during our
date, she mentioned wanting "her first time in a situation where the
moonlight was shining through the window in a cottage by the sea".
[T- That's not it!? T- T- T- That wasn't my i- i- i- i- intention for coming
here… I- I- I- It's just for the t- tasty dinner… T- That's why, t- t- t- that,
ummm, errr…]
[C- Calm down, Alice. It's alright so…]
[I- It's still early!!! A- After spending some more time… T- Then, it will
be alright. I- I will eventually properly give my first time to Kaito-san…]
[Oi!? Calm down, idiot!]
[Hyaaahhh!? G- Gripping my s- shoulder… Ahh, n- no… My heart is still
not ready yet… B- But, if you can be gentle with me…]
[Stop right there! Stop saying anything stranger than that! We're in a
restaurant… So, I'm begging you, return back to your senses!]
I tried to stop Alice, who seemed to have completely blown her fuse and
began to make very dangerous statements, but it seemed that she was
too confused that she wouldn't come to her senses at all.
Please stop alreadyyyyy!? Even though we're away from where the
others are generally seated, there still are other guests, you know!?
We're grabbing their attention, you know!?
Wait!? Don't just close your eyes while shaking like that! What the heck
are you trying to make me do!!!?
Dear Mom, Dad——- Alice led me to a restaurant, where I had a good
wine while looking at the beautiful scenery. However, Alice casually
muttered a few words that reminded her of what she had said a while
ago. As a result—— I was caught up in a grand self-destruction.