It didn’t take even a minute before another visitor came to Souta’s table, where he was still stunned by Eruna’s energy.
”Sou, long time no see! It’s been a while～” she said.
A blonde woman appeared in front of Souta, waving her right hand back and forth.
One side of her hair was tied into a side ponytail, giving off a slightly mature vibe.
Sadly, Souta wasn’t the type who was good with people.
He could count his female acquaintances on one hand.
From the way she talked, it seemed like they knew each other, but her face did not exist anywhere in Souta’s memory.
”Huh?”
A question mark floated over Souta’s head.
”So cold～ Did you forget about Oruhime? That’s sad!” she said.
As she said this, the woman who called herself Oruhime asked Souta for a hug.
Then the usual greeting of pressing cheeks together.
Even without being taught, he went along with Oruhime’s greeting.
”Oh, I… this is my first time at this shop, you know?” Souta said.
After their cheeks touched, Souta answered at a distance where they could feel each other’s breath.
Hearing that, Oruhime twisted the corner of her lips, and while scratching her head looking awkward, she kept talking to Souta.
”Whoops～ I messed up, huh. My bad, my bad! Just trying to be friendly,” Oruhime said.
She didn’t seem to mean any harm, but this was probably her [move].
Still, having someone close the distance from their side was exactly what he wanted.
”Anyway, Sou, nice to meet you!”
Oruhime spread both arms again and asked Souta for a greeting once more.
The same greeting from before – hug, then cheek-to-cheek kiss – he followed along.
”Oruhime, you’re dressed pretty normal, huh,” Souta said.
Souta muttered by her ear while their cheeks were still pressed.
The shop was really loud, and at this distance, it felt a little hard to hold a conversation otherwise.
Oruhime answered Souta’s question in the same close position.
”I’m totally normal, so aren’t you tired of all the weird cast members?” Oruhime asked.
Totally normal. It was easy to understand what that meant.
”That’s fine and all… but there are so many really weird people here, I’m kinda panicking,” Souta said.
In his heart, he didn’t think that at all – if anything, Souta wished the not-normal state would always be there.
Going along with the conversation so he wouldn’t hurt her was his way of surviving.
Honestly, he was just surprised that a normal person was working as a cast member.
Oruhime was fine in both face and figure, but the truth was, Souta’s interest wasn’t reacting to normal women right now.
”Whenever you want to go back to normal thoughts, just request me, okay!” Oruhime said.
Souta tried to smooth things over, but once Oruhime realized he wasn’t interested, she quickly turned on her heel to another table.
Almost at the same time, a surprise visitor appeared at Souta’s table – literally from right above.
He had gotten somewhat used to the shop’s vibe, and even if the next cast member showed up in a different costume, he had prepared himself not to be surprised.
But this next cast member went way beyond what Souta had imagined.
A plate came down while making a small humming sound that was almost drowned out by the noise.
”Huh?”
The plate was on a tray, and that tray was hanging from above by something like a string.
”Sorry to keep you waiting! I brought you super yummy Sweet-and-Spicy Slime Stew!” Shoko said.
Just like she said, on the plate was something like konnyaku with thick sauce poured over it.
The drifting smell brushed against Souta’s nose, even though he was already full.
When he rubbed his eyes again, the one who had carried the tray was a tiny winged woman about the size of Souta’s face.
”A, a fairy!?” Souta said.
Souta let out a weird yelp, but it was actually a perfect word for it – her appearance was exactly like a fairy from a fairy tale.
Like the other cast members, she was also wearing a swimsuit, even though she was small, doing her job.
”Sou, super nice to meet you! I’m serving food today-call me Shii!” Shoko said.
Like the other cast members, Shoko spread both arms and came close to Souta, but she was clearly way too small for a hug.
Just as he thought, instead of a hug, she clung flat against his cheek, then flew back with her insect-like wings and blew him a kiss.
It was clear that the cast members weren’t all the same size.
There were small cast members like Shoko, and there were also extra-large cast members like Nono.
After blowing the kiss, Shoko waved her hand, said bye-bye to Souta, and flew back up above.
”Shii, nice to meet you.”
”When your plate is empty, I’ll come get it again!” Shoko added.
He didn’t know if her words reached him, but looking again at the food, Souta made a suspicious face.
After all, if it was called Slime～, it could easily taste weird.
But shops that stick to their concept often put a lot of thought into menu names.
There were plenty of cases where something was named Slime but was actually just konnyaku – actually, at a normal shop, that would be the only option.
Souta put the food that arrived to his mouth, thinking it was konnyaku, but in a good way, it betrayed his expectations.
It wasn’t bouncy – it was a soft food with high stickiness.
The texture was completely different from konnyaku, and if anything, it was like a dumpling
boiled until it was falling apart, with a core that melts – a thing he was eating for the first time.
Here it was probably called Slime, but the thing itself didn’t have much taste, and the broth and sauce were seasoned, so he enjoyed that–while recognizing it as a food to enjoy for its texture.
As he brought two, then three bites to his mouth, another new cast member appeared at Souta’s table.
Trivia:
- Oruhime’s greeting follows a hug-then-cheek-kiss flow, and Souta follows along even without being taught, hinting this world’s hostess club customs are physical and intimate by default.
- Oruhime admits her friendly act was just a [move], and the brackets around the word suggest it is a recognized technique or tactic among the cast members.
- Shoko serves food by hanging a tray from a string above and lowering it down, meaning the shop has cast members who operate entirely from the air rather than walking to tables.