Chapter 59: Store Summoning 8

“F-From Samonia-sama… the divine protection? A guardian beast…?” “Indeed. Respected Father and Respected Mother of my little master, I look forward to working with you.”

When I woke up in the morning and introduced Kohaku-san right away, both Father and Mother turned pale and their faces twitched. Well, no wonder. Kohaku-san is in his large tiger form, after all. Seeing something like this inside the mansion would scare anyone.

“Kohaku-san, become small.” “Mu? Understood.”

With a pon and a puff of smoke, the large Kohaku-san transformed into a small tiger cub state resembling a stuffed animal. Umu, cute as always.

“It should be fine like this, right?” “Oh my! He’s cute! Like a kitten!” “I am a tiger!”

Towards Mother, who picked up the stuffed-animal-like Kohaku-san just like I did, he opened his mouth wide—Kua!—but he wasn’t scary at all. The gap from his original form is amazing.

“He certainly is cute…” “C-Can I pet him?” “Muu… Well, I do not mind but…”

Estelle and Bianca, who were frightened just like Father and Mother at the large tiger form, seemed intrigued by Kohaku-san in his tiger cub state. He’s cute, after all. No wonder.

“However, to be bestowed a blessing again, and this time a guardian beast too… Has the Goddess of Summoning, Samonia-sama, taken a liking to Sakuraile that much…?” “Umu. The Goddess in the heavens has taken a great liking to my little master. This protection is also a manifestation of that.”

Kohaku-san, held by Mother, is saying that to Father, but ‘Goddess in the heavens’, that’s not Samonia-sama, right? That’s the Nine Goddesses of Genesis, definitely. …Huh? If this world isn’t a game world, was the trigger for the blessing Samonia-sama’s whim after all? How does that work? I should have asked Lady Linzeveil. According to Kohaku-san, Lady Linzeveil received permission for Kohaku-san to descend to the surface from Kohaku-san’s true master, and that’s why he’s here. So while I am his master on the surface, strictly speaking, it’s like a rental, no, a dispatched employee? Something like that. His true master seems to be a god even higher than Lady Linzeveil, but it seems better not to ask for details. Matters of gods are beyond me. Well anyway, another store has been added, and I’m grateful for that. Is this a reward for defeating the Black Knight? I head to the garden where the barrier is set up, excited as usual. I still have a bit of muscle pain left, but not enough to prevent walking. Recently, a liquor store, a clothing store, a model shop—stores not particularly exciting for me have continued, so I think it’s about time a store to my liking came. Come to think of it, what is the ‘Divine Protection tailored to my Gift’ that Lady Linzeveil mentioned? She said something about a special additional ability. Being able to choose the store I like… is impossible, right? Well, anyway, I’ll know once I summon it.

“[Store Summoning]!”

A dazzling iridescent vortex spreads around. At the same time, the detailed content of the protection the Goddess mentioned was carved into my mind. Eh, what is this…? No well, it IS usable if I say so but… My subtle feelings were blown away the moment I saw the brick building that appeared before my eyes. A storefront exuding a stylish atmosphere while showing a calm appearance. On the sign decorated with roses, the words ‘PATISSERIE & CAFE LA VIE EN ROSE’. ‘Patisserie & Cafe La Vie en Rose’! It’s the Western confectionery shop near the vocational school I attended! A shop that also has a cafe space where you can eat what you bought with tea!

“Yay!”

I involuntarily jumped up in joy. Ouch ouch, muscle pain hurts. But the cakes here are exquisite. I used to visit often as a little reward for myself. And it’s proper sweets! Not cheap candy! There are sweets in this world too, but they are like pound cakes using dried fruits, not that sweet. There are things like tarts using fresh fruits, but the sweetness comes from the fruit, so it’s similar. This is a jackpot. Thank you, Goddess!

“It seems to be a food shop. What is it? A bakery?” “This sweet smell…! I have a feeling this will be delicious!”

Mother seems to have detected the sweet things more sensitively than Father. She’s a woman, after all; this can’t be helped. With light steps, I open the door of the familiar shop. With a small kararan sound of the door bell, colorful cakes in the glass showcase at the front jumped into my eyes. The interior gives a warm impression with bright lighting, wooden floors, and houseplants placed here and there. In the back left, there is a fairly large cafe space. If you eat in, you order there; if you take out, you order here.

“Wow…! It’s beautiful…!” “There are so many fruits on top…! Looks delicious…!”

Estelle and Bianca, who entered the store with me, were also captivated by the cakes in front of them.

“It smells good…! Sakura-chan, these are sweets, right!” “Yes! Everything is sweet and delicious… they are sweets!” “Sweets!”

Mother, just like Estelle and the others, is glued to the cakes in front of her. Unable to endure it any longer, I had Mother put gold coins on the counter, and then sat at a table in the cafe space, ordering my usual favorite from the menu list there.

“‘La Vie en Rose’, please! Earl Grey for the tea!”

When I shouted that, a small round cake and black tea immediately appeared in front of me. Various berries sit atop white whipped cream. And in the center, a bright red rose made of sugar craft. This is the shop’s original cake, also the name of the shop, ‘La Vie en Rose’.

“Beautiful…! Is this a sweet?”

Next to me, Mother opened her eyes wide at the appeared cake. Leaving such Mother behind, I cut the cake in front of me with the fork in my hand and carried it to my mouth. Sweeeet! But this nostalgic sweetness! The sourness released by the thin slices of strawberry trapped inside the cake further enhances the sweetness of the whipped cream. The faint scent of roses becomes an accent to the sweetness and passes through my nose… This is it, this! I was seeking this sweetness…! Truly La Vie en Rose… a rosy life…!

“I-I’ll have the same thing as Sakura-chan!” “M-Me too!” “I’ll have the same thing as Lady Sakuraile!”

When Mother, Estelle, and Bianca shouted so, ‘La Vie en Rose’ appeared in front of the three of them in the same way. Cutting it with a fork and putting it in their mouths—pakuri—the three of them opened their eyes wide simultaneously.

“What is this, delicious!” “It’s sweet! A different sweetness from candy or ramune!” “This moist texture is indescribable…!”

After that, the three of them became machines silently carrying cake to their mouths—paku paku. Kohaku-san, placed on Mother’s lap, was also munching on cake—mogu mogu. Tigers eat cake, huh… As if being considerate of the women engrossed in cakes, Father sat at the next table and was choosing from the menu. After pondering over the menu photos for a while, since Father cannot read Japanese, he held out the menu list to me.

“Sakuraile. Is there anything not too sweet among these?” “Hmm, I think this cheesecake isn’t that sweet.” “Then one of that cheesecake.”

When Father ordered, a cheesecake on a plate was summoned to the table. It’s nice to be able to eat without waiting. Since Father drinks alcohol, he isn’t that fond of sweets. Cheesecake isn’t as sweet as whipped cream, so I think it should be fine.

“Sakura-chan! Mother wants to eat this next!” “Lady Sakuraile! I want the one with lots of fruits over here…!” “I would like to request this baked sweet!”

Ooh… going for seconds already? I understand the feeling, but no need to rush so much. I ordered Forêt Noire for Mother, fruit roll cake for Estelle, and macarons for Bianca. The three of them are stuffing their cheeks with sweets saying “Delicious, delicious”. Umuu, I feel like I made them open a door that shouldn’t be opened… I thought about ordering another one too, but before that, I remembered the protection I received from the Goddess. No, well, this IS certainly a function related to the store but…

“[Store BGM]”

When I muttered that, quiet piano music began to flow inside the store. It’s Richard Clayderman’s ‘Ballade pour Adeline’. I feel like this used to play in this store…

“What is this music? Is there an orchestra somewhere?”

Father looks around restlessly—kyoro kyoro.

“No, this is one of the protections I received from the Goddess. It seems I can play music inside the store…” “Music…?”

Father has a subtle expression. Well yeah, people of this world probably don’t connect stores and music. Eventually thinking it was useless to think about it, Father started eating the cheesecake again. [Store BGM] is a protection that plays music inside the store, but it seems I can’t choose songs freely. However, I can apparently select rough genres like ‘Bright Music’, ‘Quiet Music’, ‘Classical’, ‘Rock’, ‘Enka’, etc. If I don’t select, it seems music fitting this store plays, like now. Well, ‘Rock’ or ‘Enka’ would be wrong for this store. In a sense, is it like I obtained a cable radio broadcast… Lady Sakuracleria of the Nine Goddesses is said to be the Guardian Goddess of music and song. Is it a protection from her?

“Eating delicious things while listening to lovely music is very luxurious. It’s like being at a castle banquet.”

Mother says such things while pointing at the Mont Blanc on the menu list to me, saying “This next!”. Still eating…?

“Umm, Mother. Cakes use a tremendous amount of sugar and such.” “I suppose so. It’s this sweet, after all.” “So if you eat too much… you’ll get fat.”

Pishi, Mother froze with a smile. Her finger pointing at the Mont Blanc is trembling minutely. The finger pulled back slightly. …She’s hesitating.

“…Kuh, today is special!”

Saying that, Mother pointed decisively—Bishi—at the Mont Blanc. Lost. Mother lost to the sugar demon… Well, if she doesn’t eat it every day, maybe there’s no need to worry that much. People in this world move around quite a bit after all. Still, maybe I should limit summoning ‘La Vie en Rose’ to once every three days. So that the day we eat cake at this store remains a rosy day.