The Tomoe Garden's

Chapter 1: The Association of Girls

Early morning heavy. Every day we open a restaurant when the sunlight has not yet entered the eye view. Before that, we prepare everything, from seating management, cleanliness and raw materials. Everything has to be done before the customers arrive.

But that's not the problem.

We almost every day have to deal with complaints and unreasonable customer tantrums. It's because they come from some place that even I don't know where they come from. Conditions these days are also the main factor that causes it to happen.

Overcoming all the habits that occur in restaurants has become our daily food. That's why overcoming them all is the hardest thing we've ever faced. After all, we were only nine including me, and this restaurant was far from the word 'Strategic', located on the edge of the forest far from the residential area. Although every day we struggle every day with limited members, but the important note is, we will not accept job applicants to us.

Moments after the restaurant opened, customers filled their seats and orders. Although the world has indeed changed and is far from the word 'congratulations', but the perception of people is not too concerned about the destruction of the world. This is what the people who are here are experiencing now. They can only eat, drink and laugh, thinking about their individual egos regardless of the current state of the world.

So what is expected of a world that has escaped from its reins like this?

Ignoring that, let's go back to this moment.

I was preparing dishes for the customers, my hands never stopped because of the pile of orders that kept coming. Therefore, this busyness is what makes me hassles every day. But what is this power to meet the needs of all of us.

At the same time the sound of footsteps came into the kitchen. A beautiful girl who was wearing her maid uniform and carrying a menu book.

"Mr Yuuki, there's another rampage from the customer and he's asking for payment for his discomfort."

She was Astia, my assistant, the black-haired girl by the shoulder, the eyes emerald green. Astia came to me with an unreasonable complaint.

"Call Annastasia and Elma, I'm sure they can handle it. Now I can't go."

"Yes, okay." Astia smiled and left.

What I expected was a normal life, but reality always ended up painful.

Our work is too heavy, we don't even have a Shift change. Why could? Maybe people will wonder and ask that. This restaurant was originally just an old mansion that had been left for decades, then we occupied this mansion and made a restaurant. Managing all aspects of this mansion is not easy because of the breadth of this place, so we have to serve customers only with the limitations of our members.

However, instead we provide faster closing time limits than other restaurants, and holiday time on weekends. At least it will give an extra breath to the workers who are here.

"Huh~"

After the exhausting work was done, I sat in my room. In solitude, I could only sigh heavily and look around at the pretty antique decor of the room.

My room was on the second floor, on the first floor, precisely in the hall, which we used as a restaurant. The other members' rooms are also on the second floor. Well therefore rather than being called a room, it might be more fitting to be called their private room.

Our relationships are not like the members or the workers in general, we are much more special than that. Even those or Astia who can explain it are more understandable than me. Like when we can laugh, be happy, and feel pain together without thinking about our identities and races that are each different.

Well I can trust them above the trust of the superiors and subordinates themselves. We have also lived together for a long time, therefore I was more judging the meaning of our relationship as... Families.

Moments later, the sound of knocking on the door was heard and followed by the voice of the girl.

"Master, we've completed today's report. Can we come in now?"

The girl's voice indicates that she is not alone.

"Come in."

Then the door was opened by a girl and two other girls who followed her. They still wear their maid uniforms.

"It's a master." The silver haired girl gave me a paper document, she was Lilia.

While I was looking at the documents given by Lilia, I occasionally looked towards the other two girls who were looking everywhere. They were the ones I told to deal with the matter earlier, namely Annastasia and Elma.

"How are you getting used to your unique combination?" I said while looking at the documents one by one.

"Curtain! Why am I always juxtaposed with this cheap chick?" Said Elma harshly.

It's used to me responding to Elma's male-like nature and manner of speaking. She did look rude, but she was just a girl who was not good at showing her gentleness.

"Why should you be upset?" Annastasia untangled her black hair. "Astia has asked us to take care of those people. Isn't that the most suitable job for us?"

On the other hand Lilia was just trying to avoid the quarrel of the two girls, and whistled as if she was not there.

But for some reason when I looked at Lilia, she suddenly changed her behavior.

"Already, already... If you guys want to fight, let's just have a pillow fight with the other girls. Anna, you want to punch right in Elma's face, don't you? Then, Elma, you also want to pull Anna's hair and drag her on the floor don't you? I know you want to do it with passion, but this is not the time for it. Let's take care of that later."

Such was Lilia's action to break up the quarrel between the two of them, but it was instead more referred to as provocation.

With pleasure and a smile, Lilia said that to the two of them. He was trying not to interfere.

"Huh~" I can only sigh.

Ellena was our comrade-in-arms during the battle against the disaster-class monsters, but after the war was over, I did not get any news about her. He did survive the war, but a few days later, he completely disappeared. So all this time we've been struggling to find him from behind the scenes.

"That's right, the other girl also said the same thing. As they investigated every customer who entered the restaurant, they found nothing about the information. This was indeed an unexpected matter." Annastasia added seriously.

This is a serious problem. In this absurd situation, one of our friends disappeared. The suspicion is clear that this is a kidnapping or assault that I cannot predict at all. The mastermind is unknown, even kidnapping or not is still a mystery.

"Have you been searching all over the Yatze Mountains?" My toot.

It was a battlefield that we had been through, a lot of casualties there, but luckily we survived. And that location was also where Ellena was the last time she was with us.

"Right now, Natasha, Amarylis and Lilac were investigating the place. I hope they find something." Annastasia.

After I confirmed this, Lilia came up with a question.

"I want to make sure of something, isn't the master still a subordinate of King Azaka? Then why don't we make a proposal to him to find a missing person?"

Lilia's question was quite reasonable under these conditions, but things weren't that easy.

"That can't. World regulations have determined that adventurers are neutral in nature that does not favor any country, and the government also does not have the right to help an adventurer. So we can't do much. We must entrust this to ourselves."

The system in this world is hard to understand. So, you don't have to think seriously.

"Huh~ so yes. Too bad..." Lilia sighed in disappointment.

I thought of something a little, which is why I smiled a little and looked at Lilia.

"Well Lilia, as the leader of the girls, what do you think should be done for a situation like this?"

"Eh-- Ehh? Akuu?" Lilia was shocked and panicked.

I closed my eyes and nodded a few times.

Lilia started scratching her elf ears, and sweating, started to show anxiety.

"A-Ah that's yes. That way... Um..."

Confusion pervades him, he tries to work hard at thinking about something to get me to accept his idea as a leader.

"We should expand our search and recall the awkwardness of what we have missed, or even miss someone who is really dangerous but never noticed... Maybe?" Lilia had tried her best over the panic she had experienced.

"Maybe? And neither are we looking for a corpse."

"Aahaha." It was clear that Lilia's laughter was forced because it did not meet the standards she wanted.

"But your words have a point. We are overwhelmed by ignorance, but because ignorance makes us more careful about something. As long as we anticipate it and try our best, it doesn't rule out the possibility that we will get a hope."

My words may seem patronizing, but they're all based on my previous experience.

Then, Annastasia and Elma clapped their simple hands.

"This is what is expected of our criminal, Lilia."

"I won't deny it, Lilia is indeed beyond my expectations."

"Eh?"

The direct praise from the two of them made Lilia confused as well as amazed at not expecting this to happen. Though it was likely that Lilia had said the thing that had just passed through her head.

"Well, you better preserve the quality of your emergency ideas, Lilia."

"Ready, master!"

Huh~ maybe there's been a little progress idea for now, just wait-out

At the same time, a quick footstep sounded towards this room. The door of my room opened quickly, and a girl appeared from there.

"We're home!!"

The green-haired girl shouted excitedly and was followed by the other two girls from behind, but the two of them only shook their heads.

Eventually this discussion will be more towards its bright spot...