OCOB 36

Chapter : 36

I really liked the new employee.
Quiet, yet diligent and hardworking! The kind of talent any owner would covet!

Of course, since it wasn’t a living being, its actions would occasionally get mixed up. For example, it was supposed to check the order slip first and then make the drink—but sometimes it would just make the drink first without looking.

Still, that wasn’t much of a problem.
It carried out the actions I input perfectly. When orders piled up, it even figured out the sequence on its own and prepared the drinks accordingly.

The taste, however… was extremely average.

‘Well, I can adjust the taste myself anyway.’

With [Automation], of course.

After I made the “Strawberry Latte That’s Good Just to Look At” last time, there had been a line in the window that popped up:

When made over 100 times, [Automation] will be added.

I hadn’t been able to check it right away because I was busy, but it turned out to be an excellent feature.

If I made the “Strawberry Latte That’s Good Just to Look At” 100 times, then from that point on, all strawberry lattes could have their flavor fixed to that same “Good Just to Look At” quality.
Even without manually setting automation, drinks would automatically be set with the enhanced effect.

Thanks to that, I’d gained quite a few automated menu items.

[Automation] List

• Plain but Memorable (Drip) Coffee
• Plain but Memorable Espresso
• Decently Tasty Americano (Hot/Iced)

Thankfully, since opening, I’d made more than 100 cups each of espresso and americano.
Otherwise, I’d have had to stay up all night brewing coffee again.

Besides, except for espresso and drip coffee, people didn’t order much else anyway.
So this was enough.

At least for stepping away from the café for a short while.

So the taste issue was solved.

But if there was one regret about the new employee…

“It’s a bit slow.”

I wasn’t expecting it to be as fast as me. Still, it felt like it could move a little quicker—but everything it did was slow. If only it sped up just a little, it would be perfect.

So I casually brought it up to Millen, but his response was this:

“That’s extremely fast, Leila.”

In the Kingdom of Jennon, where meals could take two hours to be served, producing a drink within ten minutes was considered fast…

I understood, but it was still disappointing.

Well, I was satisfied overall, so I decided to give my new friend a name.

“Diligent and quiet, but slow…”

So—

“Ninbook!”

Short for Ninja Turtle—Ninbook!

Right now it might be slow like the tortoise in The Tortoise and the Hare, but I named it with the hope that one day it would become swift like a ninja turtle.

And then everyone became very curious about the name.

“I felt this before… Leila, you have strange naming sense.”

“What? Why? Ninbook is cute, isn’t it?”

“…Are you serious?”

Millen frowned.

He began interrogating me about where on earth that bizarre combination of letters had come from.

“To give such a name to something I created… This is truly difficult to tolerate.”

“It has a good meaning! Look, it means I hope it becomes faster. Hugh, what do you think? Isn’t it nice?”

“Umm… Hugh isn’t sure…”

Even Hugh turned his back on me—literally turning all the way around!

‘Even Hugh?!’

I hurriedly looked at Iliana, but she had already retreated far away.

“Why is everyone acting like this? The only name I came up with is Ninbook!”

“…Leila, do you not consider the café’s name a name?”

“…What about it? I named the café well.”

What’s wrong with it? Didn’t I name it well?
It makes an impact when you first hear it, you don’t quite know the meaning but it sticks in your mouth.
Kids my age absolutely love this word…

I tilted my head in confusion. Millen sighed.

“Exactly what part of it?”

“So you all thought it was strange…?”

“It would be harder to find someone who doesn’t.”

“…It’s not why customers aren’t coming, right?”

“For those who value reputation, it would certainly be considered a troublesome element.”

‘Ah, damn.
So the name played a part too.’

Only then did I grab my head.

But I had already opened under the name Yonggari Café. The ship had already sailed, so I had no choice but to act confident about it.

“You don’t even know what Yonggari means, Millen.”

“It has a meaning?”

“Of course. Doesn’t every word have a meaning? It’s a really cool word.”

“I’ve never heard it before. You didn’t make it up?”

“No, it’s an existing word.”

“What on earth does it mean?”

Millen crossed his arms and pressed me for an answer, demanding that if it was such a cool word, I should confess its meaning quickly.

He already looked cold, and with his brows drawn together like that, I became timid and finally admitted it.

“…Dragon head.”

“…What?”

“Dragon head! So here, it would be like dragon? It means dragon head.”

“…Not head. More like skull.”

Millen heard even my small mutter.

He froze. Slowly blinked. Then his face twisted.

“Ha!”

It was fierce. Dangerous. Killing intent overflowed from him, and cold air seemed to spill from his body.

‘W-what…? Why is he like this…?’

Startled by his sudden reaction, I froze completely. I was genuinely scared.

I slowly edged backward in my chair—
Only to hit the backrest. I couldn’t retreat any further.

My eyes darted around.

And then—

“Ha, hahaha!”

The murderous atmosphere vanished as if it had never existed. Millen burst into loud laughter, bowing his head slightly as he laughed.

Then he looked at me. His cold blue eyes gleamed sharply.

“This is not something to take lightly.”

‘W-what does that mean?
What isn’t something to take lightly? Explain, please…’

I could only blink in confusion. But instead of explaining his earlier reaction, Millen simply ran a hand through his hair.

“If Basha hears this, he’ll laugh all day.”

He muttered quietly and stood up. Then he held out his hand to me.

The earlier killing intent was gone, but I was still shaken, glancing between his hand and his face.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I am, but…”

“Take it. Since you startled me, I’ll compensate you.”

“…Was that you being startled?”

“It was the most startled I’ve ever been in my life.”

He said it calmly, wiggling his fingers as if to say that if I didn’t grab his hand quickly, there would be no compensation.

I hurriedly took his hand. He muttered in that incomprehensible language again.

And then—

Flaaash!

A bright light enveloped our bodies.

At the same time—

Baron Antonio Viola was facing quite a difficult situation.

“Why would you do something like this without consulting me?”

His wife, Milena Viola, was pressing him fiercely.

There was only one reason she was angry.

“Because of you, I’m in an awkward position now. If it had been about Ashu’s matter, I could have handled it with discipline. I could have smoothed it over easily.

But you had to go and plan that tea party!”

It was because of the tea party Antonio had decided to host.

If it had simply been the regularly scheduled gathering, she wouldn’t have been angry.

But this tea party was different.

High-ranking nobles had been invited, which meant the Viola barony had to host the finest tea party possible.

And he had invited that infamous “café owner” to such a gathering.

All the ladies who associated with Milena disliked that café owner.

As a result, Milena’s position had become awkward—especially since she had only just settled into this circle of noblewomen.

At the very least, he could have consulted me! At least that much!

She had wondered where her youngest daughter had inherited such bold initiative from…

Just as Milena bit her lip and was about to continue scolding Antonio—

Knock, knock, knock.

A crisp knock sounded, followed by the butler’s voice.

“Lady Token has arrived.”

It was the kind of announcement that made teeth grind.