I Played the Role of a Hated Hero, but for Some Reason, I'm Loved by the Last Boss and Living W

Chapter 76

I found a seat with a window frame set up in the back and sat down.

I looked at the menu, but instead turned my attention to the customers on my right, who were sipping their coffee gracefully. A strong-looking man in severe, spiked shoulder armor takes a sigh and quietly puts his cup back on the saucer.

Next, I turn my head to the customer sitting behind him and look at the person poking at the pancake with a fork. He is a stern-looking man, half-naked, wearing nothing but a breastplate, his muscular, muscular body on full display. However, he deftly maneuvered the fork, which was disproportionately small for his body, and popped the pancake into his mouth in small bites.

「………What is this place?」

A group of people too mismatched to the relaxed space of the coffee shop occupy most of the seats. Some of them were women and girls who appeared to be residents of the town, but most of them were occupied by rugged adventurers.

If this had been a tavern, with mugs of ale in their hands, there would have been no doubt that this was an adventurers’ guild.

But what they were holding in their hands were beautiful antique white cups and plates with lovely pancakes on them. They would inhale the steam from the coffee as if savoring its unique flavor, close their eyelids and smile gracefully, and when they ate a piece of cake, they would wipe their mouths with a napkin and say,「Delicious」, with a look of happiness on their faces.

……What is this foreign place!?

Too different. Too out of place. The air in the room was clearly different from that of the adventurers’ guild I was used to. It was almost as if they were just big-boned ordinary people dressed up as adventurers.

However, upon closer inspection, I found that the equipment they were wearing showed signs of having been used. The numerous scars on their skin-tight bodies gave me the visual information that these people were definitely adventurers.

Besides, I can also see a huge bulletin board quest board by the wall. A significant number of the requests were for defeating demons, and in addition to that, for some reason, a request to gather medicinal herbs was also strangely noticeable. However, this was nothing to be concerned about. There are people here who are more eye-catching than that.

In other words, they are real adventurers, not disguised adventurers, and by extension, this building itself is definitely an adventurers’ guild. The relaxed atmosphere still makes it hard to believe, though.

As far as I know, most of the adventurers are, to one degree or another, a bunch of hot-blooded guys. It is only natural that when an unfamiliar newcomer steps through the guild’s gates, he or she will be met with a few reproachful glances as if the guild is trying to determine his or her quality. It is not uncommon for some of them to become blatantly involved.

Here, however, everyone was seated in a well-mannered manner, and not a single person turned an intimidating eye on me. In fact, they even gave me a slight nod as I sat down on a nearby seat… giving me goosebumps.

These guys must be on some dangerous drugs…

I know it’s rude, but that’s what I think. That is how uncomfortable I felt at this scene I saw.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being polite… but I used to be an adventurer myself until a few years ago. I know how bad they can be. I’m sure they’re not all like that, of course.

But then, what’s with the air of nonchalance about these people?

As my eyes and mouth were glued to the floor, a woman who had just entered the store approached me and gave me a wry smile.

「Surprised? An adventurer’s guild as a coffee shop.」

The woman’s soft eyes give the impression of warmth. She holds a serving tray to her chest and smiles at me as I look up at her from below.

「It’s nice to meet you. My name is Beatrice Element, and I am the master of the cafe【Bear’s Claw】and also the guild master of the Cid branch of the Adventurers’ Guild.」

Upon receiving such an introduction, I couldn’t help but stare at her blankly. I had no idea that the『Guild Master』was in front of me. Her soft-spoken demeanor did not look like a guild master who was leading a band of ruffians. It would be more appropriate to say that she is a signboard girl at a coffee shop.

「You’re the guild master here?」

「Fufu, surprised? Everyone always reacts the same way when I introduce myself. I’ve gotten used to it.」

That would be the case. I don’t think her appearance and atmosphere are suited for the Adventurers’ Guild, so much so that I don’t immediately believe her when she tells me. No, she is very much at home in this coffee shop. Beatrice jokingly covers her mouth. Her elegant gesture made me doubt more and more that she is a guild master.

However, the spiked-shoulder guy who had just gracefully included coffee said,「Boy. I can’t believe it, but this girl is definitely the master here」, he affirmed. The half-naked pancake guy also nodded with his mouth full.

Apparently, there was no doubt in his mind that she was indeed the master of this place. This is a typical example of the saying,「Looks are deceiving.」

「But. Why coffee shop at the guild? Normally, if you’re going to have an annex, shouldn’t it be an inn or a tavern?」

Adventurers, who are often asked to perform life-threatening requests, relieve their daily frustrations with alcoholic beverages. In addition, guilds often have inns attached to them because many adventurers use them as bases for their activities. The cost of food, drink, and lodging is the guild’s operating fund, which is why most guilds have a bar or inn attached to the guild.

「The guilds have their own bar and inn. It used to be that way a while ago… but the people of the town have a tendency to shy away from adventurers… and since this is such a rural town, that means fewer requests come in from the general public. I think that’s why. The Adventurers’ Guild itself has a somewhat unapproachable atmosphere… so we wanted to make it more approachable for the townspeople.」

「We turned it into a coffee shop…」

「That’s what I meant. However, if we didn’t serve alcohol at all, people would be dissatisfied, so we did try to serve alcohol at night. So we are a coffee shop during the day and a bar at night.」

I see. Indeed, the Adventurers’ Guild has a strong image of being a haven for the unreliable. It is certainly a place that is inaccessible to the average person. Just as no one likes to enter an area where there are demons, no one is happy to go anywhere where they can get into trouble. For the average person, just going there to make a request requires a certain amount of courage.

However, in a large city, requests from the government and the Chamber of Commerce come in constantly, so there is no need to worry about whether or not one’s image is a little bad. However, in this town, there are only a few merchant associations, and to put it another way, the government does not ask for much work either. If this is the case, it is the general public who has the most requests to the guild, but here, the initial image barrier prevents them from coming to the guild for work.

Who would want to visit a building where people are shouting in the morning in a bar? They would be hesitant to even approach the building in the first place. It would be a hassle to get tangled up with them.

「Beatrice’s sister takes care of us in many ways. And if I don’t have a job, I’m going to be hungry. It’s not like we can’t drink at all, and we helped her with her image strategy. But now, many adventurers are coming to the restaurant because they like the relaxing atmosphere. Besides, we get to see sister in her cute waitress outfit.」

And then the half-naked pancake guy spoke. The pancake on the plate disappeared neatly and the knife and fork were neatly aligned on the plate.

「My. You may flatter me like that, but the only thing you’ll get is coffee.」

Beatrice turns to the adventurer with her index finger on her lips in a playful tone. A small giggle was heard as she did so.

Apparently, the relationship between the adventurers who belong to this guild and the guild master is quite good.「I can’t eat cake here unless it’s during the day, so I’ve decided to come here on my days off」,「I used to think coffee was just muddy water, but I can drink as many cups as the master makes」,「After the daily grind of requests, it’s not a bad idea to relax in a calm place like this」, was some of the favorable comments heard from those around me.

The guild master image strategy seems to have been successful, judging from the number of visitors who are clearly not adventurers. In addition, the adventurers seem to be finding enjoyment in more than just drinking and merrymaking, and in many ways, I was surprised by the existence of this guild.