Volume 2, Chapter 33 – A Noisy Yet Cozy Morning at Margaret Tavern

“Five silver coins a month?! But we’re The Fallen.”

“Six months would be three gold coins, plus a third as a bonus—that’s four gold coins in total! And it includes room and board! Hey, Shinku, slap me—am I dreaming?”

Slap.

A crisp sound echoed through the room.

“Ow! Huh? It hurts! I’m really not dreaming!”

Though tears welled up in Fran’s eyes from the slap, her face was alight with pure joy. Sitting across from them, Yisi couldn’t help but click her tongue inwardly. That little girl, Shinku, really didn’t hold back—she could even see the faint outline of five red fingerprints slowly forming on Fran’s cheek.

Ahem.

“Onee-sama mentioned room and board, but it’s not mandatory for you to stay at the tavern. You can use your earnings to rent or buy your own place outside if you prefer.”

“Yes, as Camilla said, you’re free to live wherever you like. The second and third floors of the tavern are all rooms, but I don’t plan to run this place as an inn. So if you choose to stay here, you can pick any room you like on those floors.”

“Then… What kind of work will we have to do? It’s not… anything involving selling our bodies, is it?”

One of the Fallen girls, a particularly busty one, asked hesitantly.

“The job details are all written in the contract. You can check the description there.”

Likely because she couldn’t read, the girl turned to Fran for help—apparently, Fran was the only one among them who was literate.

Following her companion’s request, Fran skimmed through the contract and summarized it in simple terms.

“We’ll need to clean the floors and tables regularly, as well as the bedrooms of Miss Yisi, Miss Camilla, and Miss Mary. There’s also periodic deep cleaning of the tavern, serving dishes to customers, handling payments, managing alcohol inventory and brewing… Huh? Payments and brewing?”

“Is there a problem?”

Yisi tilted her head slightly. Fran’s expression was one of utter disbelief.

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“You’re entrusting us with handling money? That’s usually the tavern owner’s job. And none of us know how to brew alcohol.”

“Don’t worry about the brewing—I’ll teach you. As for the money, first, I don’t think you’d steal from the cash drawer. Second, even if you wanted to, it’s not like I could stop you. Didn’t Fran mention earlier that one of your girls, Sera, has the ability to turn invisible? Meanwhile, I’m just an ordinary person. So rather than pointlessly trying to control things, I’d rather trust you.”

With a perfectly straight face, Yisi delivered her lazy manifesto, trying her best to maintain a refreshing smile. In truth, her reasons weren’t as noble as they sounded—she simply wanted to slack off. Now that she was finally a tavern owner, she intended to fully enjoy the luxury of sleeping in.

Besides, in her original world, handling money was the cashier’s job. To Yisi, that was the norm. Even if the girls secretly took a little from the drawer, as long as it didn’t put the tavern in the red, she planned to turn a blind eye.

She wasn’t short on funds. While the Ragnarøk gold coins in her inventory couldn’t be used directly as currency in this world, they could be melted down into pure gold—and she had nearly 100,000 of them.

Of course, to Shinku and the others, this was an entirely different matter.

Even the wealthiest merchant caravans would only entrust money-handling to family members. Outsiders were never allowed near finances unless they were close friends who had lived together for years.

Yet here was Yisi, handing such an important task to a group of The Fallen she had just met. The sheer weight of that trust moved even the usually stoic Shinku. Combined with Yisi’ earlier generosity, memories of their fallen comrades, and the hardships they had endured as outcasts, a sudden wave of emotion surged through Shinku. Her nose stung, and her eyes grew wet. She instinctively covered her mouth, unwilling to let anyone see her vulnerable side.

“Th… thank you… Thank you…”

“Huh? N-no, why are you crying?”

Hearing the tremor in Shinku’s voice, Yisi snapped out of her lazy daydream and leaned forward in concern. She wanted to comfort Shinku with a gentle pat on the head, as she often did with Mary, but she worried the strong-willed girl might swat her hand away.

Instead, Shinku just kept wiping her tears.

“It’s nothing… It’s not your fault. I just… got something in my eye.”

“Well, well. I never thought I’d live to see the day Shinku cried. If Goran knew, I wonder how touched he’d be.”

Fran couldn’t resist teasing, though she didn’t seem to notice her own tears streaming down her cheeks.

It was like the feeling of a wanderer finally returning home after years of drifting—an overwhelming emotion that even the strongest couldn’t suppress.

Soon, the tavern’s front room was filled with nothing but the quiet sobbing of the girls.

At first, Yisi worried she had done something wrong, but she soon realized the reason behind their tears. With a wry smile, she glanced back at Camilla, who returned the same knowing look.

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It took a full ten minutes before Shinku and Fran finally composed themselves. The ones who broke the silence were Mary and Sera, who had just finished preparing the food.

“Um, the food is ready.”

Carrying a large steaming plate of vegetables, Mary tiptoed out from the kitchen. Behind her, Sera held what looked like a pot of meat stew. The moment the food appeared, the Fallen girls stopped wiping their tears and instead fixed their gazes on the dishes. Two girls whose names Yisi didn’t even know craned their necks to get a better look at what was on the plates.

Only those who had starved for a long time would react like this.

Even the usually composed Shinku and Fran couldn’t help but swallow hard, their eyes flickering toward the food.

Not wanting to embarrass them, Yisi stood up and turned to Mary.

“Mary, is this everything?”

“Nope! There’s still the scrambled eggs Sera and I made, the Celtic red meat and mushroom stew, and a dish using Mr. Chicken.”

Mr. Chicken must have been the livestock they bought yesterday. Since Yisi had said it was for serving guests, Mary must have felt comfortable slaughtering it—wait, Mary actually killed a chicken?

Yisi’ expression turned odd. While she could slaughter a chicken herself, she preferred using magic or other long-range methods. The thought of slitting its throat with a knife was… unpleasant. In the quasi-utopian society she came from, ordinary people rarely witnessed the process of butchering poultry.

A loud growl from someone’s stomach snapped her back to reality. Yisi couldn’t help but smile—it was probably best to give them some space.

“Mary, you stay here and have breakfast with Shinku and the others. Camilla and I will bring the rest of the food.”

“Okay~”

Thank goodness Mary wasn’t shy .

Feeling relieved by Mary’s cheerful nature, Yisi and Camilla headed to the kitchen together.

…

However, when they returned with the rest of the dishes, they found the Fallen girls hadn’t started eating yet. Instead, they were staring at Yisi with ravenous eyes, their hands clenched tightly on their thighs as if restraining themselves.

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Yisi was puzzled. She had left to give them the freedom to eat without worrying about manners, yet it seemed they had been waiting for her to join them.

Overthinking it, huh?

Sighing inwardly, Yisi and Camilla laid out the rest of the meal. As Mary had said, it consisted of a mountain of scrambled eggs, a richly fragrant mushroom and meat stew, a golden-brown whole roasted chicken, fresh vegetables resembling cauliflower, sliced white bread, and a glass of milk for each person.

Under normal circumstances, Yisi would have considered this spread excessive, but with eight people present, it might disappear in no time.

“Ahem. Shinku, there’s no need to hold back on our account. From now on, you’ll be in charge of preparing meals at the tavern anyway.”

“Th-this much… for breakfast? Are we really allowed to eat this?”

“Of course. In fact, I’d be more troubled if you didn’t.”

As she spoke, Yisi noticed a separate plate of food sitting at the corner of the table. Compared to the vibrant dishes Mary and Sera had made, this one looked far more modest—likely Camilla’s handiwork.

While Yisi was still pondering what to do with it, the Fallen girls had already begun devouring the food. They grabbed bread in one hand and vegetables in the other, stuffing their cheeks like squirrels while still shoveling more in. Some were even eating while crying. Only Shinku and Fran showed a bit more restraint, though their eating speed wasn’t much slower.

“There’s meat! Actual meat! That oily aroma… Ahh, I feel like I’ve reached heaven!”

“The bread too—no sand at all, and so soft…”

“Way better than those disgusting sandworms.”

“Hey, Shinku, why’d you take my milk?”

“Fran, you’re already well-developed enough. I’ll give you my tree mushrooms instead.”

“That’s because you get stomachaches every time you eat them!”

Their excited chatter was endless. Watching the Fallen girls’ satisfied expressions, Yisi instinctively glanced at Mary. Mary had eaten the same way before, but now she wore a motherly expression, not fighting for food but instead continuously refilling their plates, cautioning them against eating too much greasy food, and even wiping crumbs off their clothes with a cloth.

She’s just a kid, but she’s got such a nurturing side…

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It’s kind of adorable.

That said, since the girls were eating directly with their hands, Yisi and Camilla found themselves with no way to join in. There was no space to even lift a fork or chopsticks.

Camilla, her golden hair shimmering, leaned in and whispered into Yisi’ ear, her expression a mix of warmth and wry amusement.

“Onee-sama, shall I go prepare a separate meal for you?”

“Hmm… No need.” Yisi shook her head slightly before reaching toward the corner of the table and picking up the plate of modest-looking food. She smiled at Camilla. “I’ll have this.”

“But that’s my—”

Yisi pressed a finger to her lips, signaling silence, then glanced at the still-feasting Fallen girls.

“This is Camilla’s cooking and now it’s mine too. Want to share? Without them noticing.”

“If Onee-sama doesn’t mind, I’d be honored.”

“Then let’s head upstairs.”

Yisi and Camilla quietly stood and made their way to the staircase.

“I want to feed you, Onee-sama.”

“Eh? Well… maybe when I’m sick.”

“But you fed me before. That’s not fair.”

“There’ll be chances later~”

“Onee-sama, you’re too sly.”

Their voices, a mix of playful sulking and quiet happiness, echoed down the second-floor hallway. The Fallen girls didn’t even notice that Yisi and Camilla had slipped away from the dining area.