Early that morning, sunlight cut through the darkness as the sun rose above the horizon.
Natsuki had just woken up when his phone vibrated.
A message from Gabriel appeared on the screen.
[Natsuki-kun~ I’m starting a part-time job today! (≧?≦)?]
‘A part-time job?’
Natsuki raised an eyebrow.
That hopeless shut-in angel had actually decided to work of her own free will?
Had the sun risen in the west?
He replied, [What kind of job?]
Gabriel answered instantly.
[A waitress at a family restaurant! It pays 1,100 yen an hour~]
She added a sparkling sticker at the end.
Natsuki glanced at the time.
Seven twenty in the morning.
He got up, washed, and changed. When he stepped outside, he happened to run into Gabriel dressed and ready for battle.
Her long golden hair was tied into a ponytail, and she wore a white shirt beneath a black apron. She actually looked surprisingly convincing as a waitress.
“Good morning, Tenma-san.”
“Morning~ Would you like breakfast, Natsuki-kun? My treat!”
Gabriel’s eyes sparkled.
“Consider it a celebration of my first day at work~”
“Sure.”
Natsuki nodded.
The two walked to a nearby family restaurant.
There were not many customers that early on a weekend, and cheerful music played softly inside.
“Welcome~”
A waitress wearing the same uniform greeted them with a smile.
Gabriel led Natsuki to a seat beside the window as though she had already been working there for years.
“What would you like, Natsuki-kun?”
“I’ll have the house breakfast set.”
“Okay~ Please wait a moment~”
She skipped toward the kitchen, light on her feet like a little deer.
There was no trace of the exhaustion one would expect from someone who regularly stayed up all night gaming.
Natsuki rested his chin on one hand and looked out the window as the streets gradually became busier.
“Thank you for waiting~”
Gabriel soon returned carrying a tray loaded with breakfast.
There were fried eggs, bacon, salad, miso soup, and a steaming bowl of white rice.
“You look… surprisingly professional,” Natsuki said with a smile.
“Of course!”
Gabriel puffed out her chest proudly.
“I had two whole hours of training!”
“Two hours?”
“Mm! The manager taught me how to take orders, serve food, clear tables…”
She counted them off on her fingers.
“And the proper smile for customer service~”
Natsuki studied the radiant smile on her face.
It was certainly professional.
Perhaps a little too radiant.
“Won’t you expose yourself like that?”
“Eh?”
“Ordinary humans don’t usually glow with holy light.”
“Ah…”
Gabriel froze and looked down at herself.
Sure enough, she had become so excited that her holy aura was shining at full strength!
She hurriedly suppressed it.
“I nearly forgot…”
“Stay discreet. Very discreet…”
Natsuki chuckled and began eating.
The food was surprisingly good.
“How is it?”
Gabriel watched him expectantly.
“It’s good.”
“Great~”
She rested her chin on her hands.
Natsuki suddenly asked, “What made you decide to get a job?”
Thanks in no small part to him, this shut-in angel seemed to be falling much faster than she had originally.
Working in the human world was supposed to be part of an angel’s practical training.
After Gabriel’s fall, however, she had little interest in anything besides computers and games.
Her heart was still kind, of course. In the original story, she had even risked punishment from Heaven to save a visually impaired girl after a traffic accident.
But voluntarily finding a job?
That should have been even harder than convincing her to sleep on time.
Most likely…
“My allowance from Heaven is almost gone…”
Gabriel pouted, looking troubled in an almost painfully cute way.
“You spent it on microtransactions?”
Natsuki played games casually and tried a little of everything.
He was still hoping that revolutionary titles like Shangri-La Frontier or Sword Art Online might eventually appear in this world, though so far, he had found nothing of the sort.
Gabriel’s favorite game was clearly Valhalla Kingdom Online.
She played a priest and had paid for a complete set of top-tier equipment, leaving her character shining almost as brightly as she did in full angel mode.
“Mm…”
Gabriel guiltily looked away.
“Gacha pulls… equipment upgrades… and buying new games…”
“I thought so.”
Natsuki shook his head.
“So now I have to work hard.”
“Right! Today’s goal is to earn enough money for next week’s food!”
Gabriel clenched her fist, determination burning in her eyes.
The wind chime above the entrance rang the next moment as another customer arrived.
“I need to get back to work!”
She hurried over to greet them.
Natsuki continued eating and casually surveyed the restaurant.
A familiar figure sat in one corner.
Spiky black hair.
The same dark navy school uniform as before.
Fushiguro Megumi.
A cup of coffee sat in front of him as he looked down at his phone.
After a moment’s thought, Natsuki picked up his tray and walked over.
“Fushiguro.”
Megumi looked up, a trace of surprise crossing his face.
“Amamiya…”
“Mind if I sit here?”
“Not at all.”
Megumi shook his head.
Natsuki sat opposite him.
“Coffee this early?”
“I had a mission last night.”
Megumi took a sip.
“It only just finished.”
“Sounds rough.”
Natsuki glanced at his phone screen.
An internal notice from Jujutsu High was displayed there.
“Another Cursed Spirit?”
“Yeah. Grade 2. It’s already been exorcised.”
Megumi put his phone away.
“What about you? Here for breakfast?”
“I came with a friend.”
Natsuki gestured toward Gabriel, who was taking an order nearby.
Megumi nodded.
“Cursed Spirit activity has increased recently.”
“Because of the spatial rifts?”
Megumi looked at him.
“You know about those?”
“A friend told me.”
“They’re connected,” Megumi said. “The rifts are increasing the concentration of cursed energy.”
“Cursed Spirits are becoming stronger, and there are more of them.”
“The Kyoto school has been overwhelmed.”
“Tokyo too?”
“Yes.”
Megumi nodded.
“That’s why I was sent here—to support the Kyoto school.”
“Are Mai Zenin and the others all right?”
Megumi raised an eyebrow.
“You know Mai-senpai?”
“I ran into her last night.”
Natsuki briefly explained what had happened.
“I see…”
Megumi’s expression grew thoughtful.
“That Special Grade was definitely dangerous, but Mai-senpai and Miwa-senpai are fine.”
“Good.”
Natsuki took another sip of soup while Megumi stood up.
“I should go.”
“See you around.”
“Yeah.”
Megumi left the restaurant just as Gabriel finished serving another table and returned.
“Wasn’t that the jujutsu sorcerer we met at the park?”
“Yeah.”
Natsuki smiled.
“How long are you working today?”
“Until three!”
Gabriel’s eyes lit up.
“The manager said I can get more shifts if I do well!”
“You’re unusually motivated.”
“That’s because…”
She lowered her head in embarrassment.
“I want to buy the new game console…”
“And there’s a limited-edition skin…”
“I understand.”
Natsuki gave her a sympathetic look.
He understood the suffering of people trapped in the gacha abyss. He had lived the same way in his previous life.
“Do your best, then.”
“Mm!”
Gabriel nodded firmly.
“I’ll work hard!”
Natsuki finished breakfast and paid the bill.
Before leaving, he waved to Gabriel while she was wiping down a table.
With a little flash, her holy light burst out again.
“Tenma-san, your aura!”
“Ah! Sorry!”
Gabriel hurriedly suppressed it.
The manager poked her head out from the kitchen.
“Gab, the customers over there are ready to order~”
“Coming!”
Gabriel hurried over, a perfect customer-service smile on her face.
Natsuki stepped outside.
The weather was beautiful.
He stretched and decided to browse the nearby bookstore.
Halfway there, his phone began ringing.
The caller was Eriri.