CHAPTER 20: DATE NIGHT P4
~20.4~
*****
Kye transported the group to the Tall Tree. They appeared in the middle of a courtyard in front of the tree, earning some ooh’s and aah’s from the locals.
Cat people are cute. Hehe.
With Alethea holding onto her arm, Kye led her in and they met with the man behind the front desk. “Hi, I’m Kye Akari and this is my wife, Alethea Atlantis. We’re-”
“Oh, my!” The cat-eared man said. “We of the Tall Tree have been awaiting the day when you visit us. What an honor!”
A cat girl in a suit nearby overheard and joined in, “Yes, welcome! May I serve you today, my lady?”
“That depends on your definition.”
“I am a hostess with the Tall Tree Resturant. I was just on break and was about to head back up.”
“Oh, perfect.” Kye smiled and glanced at Alethea.
“Sure!”
Kye nodded at the hostess. “Okay then. We’re here on a date and the restaurant is our destination. We’d be happy to have you host us.”
“Wonderful! If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you straight there!”
Kye agreed. “Sounds good.”
“Miss Lestia, regarding their bill, it’s all covered,” the cat man said.
The hostess turned back, confused. “It’s covered?”
“Yes. Lady Akari is an acquaintance of both Queen Akasha Akaishi and Sword Saint Luma Caliburn, and other senior clergy. The Akaishi Clan and Church of Elysium have both sent missives regarding Lady Akari with instructions to bill them in her place for anything she wants.”
“Oh wow, that’s amazing.” Lestia the hostess beamed at Kye and Alethea. “You must be super important for world leaders to cover your costs like that.”
Kye averted her eyes. “Would you believe I met them all by accident? I kinda beat up one of the church’s knights to save the Akaishi Princess. Turns out, the church wasn’t mad, and we talked it out and... stuff.” She shrugged.
“I see. That’s certainly a strange way to meet people, but if it works, then it works.” Lestia smiled and gestured at them to follow her. “Ready?”
*****
“Just be quiet and eat,” said a nearby patron. He was arguing with his companion. They were trying to keep their voices down, but really... everyone gets loud when they get angry.
Alethea did her best to ignore it, but Kye was getting frustrated seeing her date’s sour expression as she ate. She frequently changed glances between Alethea and the dysfunctional duo. She unknowingly started tapping one of her feet.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Hey, it’s okay. This kind of thing happens sometimes,” Alethea said, trying to calm Kye down. “We can still have a good date.” Kye glared at the couple.
The woman dropped her fork on the floor, and the man exploded. “USELESS! You can’t even hold on to a fork!” It was a blonde human man and a black-haired dog-girl that had a black collar on. They were dressed well, the man in a beige suit and the girl in a black dress. “You’re no better than a regular dog!”
He did not just say that. I’m gonna-
“I’m s-s-sorry! I’ll do b-b-better!” She hurriedly picked up the fork and was about to continue using it, but she found Kye’s hand on her wrist, stopping her from using the dirty fork.
“You deserve better than that,” she said. “A hostess will bring you a clean fork.” Kye couldn’t hold her anger back any longer. She whistled to get a hostess’s attention, and luckily their own hostess, Lestia the cat girl, came over. “We’ve got a bit of a problem here, Miss Lestia.” She glared at the man. “This man is having trouble containing his frustrations, as am I.”
“Oh my, we can’t have such a disruption,” Lestia said.
“So what?” the man spat. “I’m a paying customer. You get money, I get food. Stay out of our business!”
“Miss Lestia, what is the Tall Tree’s policy for handling a disruption of the peace, such as this?”
“We ask the patron to either respect the other patrons or leave.”
Kye nodded, eyed the man, and coldly said, “You heard her. Chill, leave willingly, or leave unwillingly.”
The man wasn’t intimidated. Kye was very good at controlling her mana. She could easily keep an untrained eye from seeing her power, so the man had no idea what he was getting himself into when he said, “Yeah? Leave unwillingly? How ya gonna do that, wench?”
Kye smirked and quickly wrapped white aether around him. “Last chance to pick a peaceful option. You really don’t want this. I suggest you-”
“Do your worst, bitch! I’m not-” he felt a tap on his shoulder. “Huh? What do you want?” It was Alethea.
“First you call my Shi-chan a wench, then you call my Shi-chan a bitch?” Alethea had the most evil smile Kye had ever seen. Kye stepped back, her white aether dispersing. Before he could respond, Alethea grabbed the man by his mouth and lifted him off the ground. “You have quite the mouth on you. I will not stand for someone insulting my dear Shi-chan like that.”
The dog-eared girl was so shocked she didn’t know what to do. Lestia was frozen in place, and Kye just watched, trying to decide if she should stop her wife.
“I’ll give you two options,” Alethea said. “Prostrate yourself and apologize to everyone here that you have bothered one at a time. That’ll be the entire room, by the way, including the staff. After that, you will quietly finish your meal, pay, and leave. Your companion here may choose what she does independently of you. If she wishes to leave with you, she may. If she does not wish to leave with you, I will help her.”
Alethea let the man down and released him. He asked, “What’s option two?”
“You go skydiving right now.”
“What the hell is skydiving?”
Alethea grabbed the man’s wrist and wrapped white aether around both of them. “<
Kye, meanwhile, burst out laughing. “Skydiving? Hahaha.”
“I really don’t know what to do about this situation,” Lestia said, holding a hand to her cheek. “We’ve never had a patron cause trouble in the presence of royalty. That man doesn’t know who you are, obviously, but his ability to sense mana is abysmal.”
“To be fair, we both hide it well. Though even then, anyone decent should be able to tell that we’re hiding it and then question how much is being hidden.”
Lestia nodded. “Yes, I could tell right away.”
The dog-eared girl timidly commented, “M-Miss. Please don’t let m-my master be harmed. It’ll b-be difficult for m-me later.”
Kye raised an eyebrow. “Master?” Kye took a closer look at the collar. “Are you a slave? Oh no, that’s not good.”
“N-No, it’s okay. My m-master treats m-me well m-most of the t-time.”
Kye sighed, and Alethea returned with the man. He immediately began apologizing to every person in the restaurant, even those that were not in the same room. Kye held back a chuckle while watching him.
*****
Revision: 2024-7-26