"She slipped away without notice right after finishing..." Kita Ikuyo muttered in surprise while tidying the table: "She really is just like a stray cat."
"Does that parfait not need to be paid for?"
Kawaragi Momoka asked Asakura.
"Would you collect money for cat strips from a stray cat you fed by the roadside?" Asakura asked back.
"I am not a practitioner of indiscriminate feeding..." Kawaragi Momoka said.
"Do you not like cats?" Asakura asked.
"It's not that I don't like them. I actually raised a cat before, but later it was hard enough just to keep myself alive, so I found someone to adopt it... As for stray cats, if you don't want to turn them into house cats, the act of indiscriminate feeding is just purely satisfying one's own hypocritical kindness." The store manager lady replied casually.
Asakura raised an eyebrow, but then felt like there was nothing strange about it.
Although Kawaragi Momoka seemed to have a bit of a cool "cat-like girl" vibe at first glance, after spending time together, he felt her personality was closer to a "dog-like" type.
If he had to say, she should be a Shiba Inu, acting silly in daily life, but exceptionally stubborn in certain aspects.
"It's almost time to open the shop." Asakura looked at the quartz clock hanging on the wall and began to talk about something else.
Kawaragi Momoka also checked the time, her expression looking a bit hesitant: "Speaking of which, don't you think it's a bit late to open at this time? It's almost eight o'clock..."
"Today is the opening day, so it doesn't matter if it's a bit late..." Asakura said. "If it were normal business hours, you'd have to be ready to open at around six o'clock."
Just as the two were watching Kita Ikuyo working alone while chatting idly, the shop door was once again pushed open from the outside.
"Sorry, I'm late!"
The panting girl's face was flushed with a healthy red glow. Her swaying long pink hair was plated with a layer of dawn light under the morning sun. Her neat bangs were stuck to her forehead with sweat, and the crystal-clear beads of sweat between her neck made her late appearance seem somewhat justifiable, it was clear she had run all the way to Usagoya.
"Private cars aren't allowed to drive into the shopping street here..."
"I originally wanted to leave early, but I played too much yesterday going to participate in the school festival. I got home a bit late, and my family has a curfew. Although it's not as strict as Kaguya-sama's house, it's still somewhat rigorous. If I wanted to run out to play for two days in a row..."
Fujiwara Chika stretched out her hand and made a gesture with her thumb and index finger that would make a stick-man tremble with rage: "I needed a little bit of wit and luck. Especially after being 'sick' a while ago."
Asakura thought to himself, so you really did sneak out.
But once he thought about how this girl had run off into the deep mountains and wild forests to find a shrine just for an urban legend, he felt that sneaking out of the house like this really could only be considered child's play for her.
"It's fine, it wasn't anything particularly important, so there's no need to be in such a hurry."
Asakura could only comfort her.
"After all, this is the first time Exorcist-san actively looked for me!" Fujiwara Chika looked very happy.
"Exorcist?" Kawaragi Momoka, who was wiping glasses behind the bar, glanced toward them with eyes that seemed to linger.
This kid, he couldn't be deceiving a young girl, could he?
This thought emerged in Kawaragi Momoka's mind for a moment, but was immediately dismissed by herself.
After all, Asakura's credit rating with her was still quite high.
"Let's go over to the booth to talk."
Asakura keenly noticed the other's gaze and simply led Fujiwara Chika to a corner booth, where talking would be a bit more private. "Kita, bring a serving of Rabbit Dango. Just take it from the cold storage cabinet in the back kitchen, and then move the ones that need to be displayed to the fresh-keeping cabinet in front. Also..."
Speaking, Asakura looked toward Fujiwara Chika and asked: "Fujiwara, what would you like to drink?"
"Black tea is fine. Of course, if there are more interesting drinks, that's fine too!" The pink-haired girl replied without hesitation.
Is the focus on "interesting" rather than "delicious"?
Speaking of which, the little spirits raised at home do know how to brew fragrant tea, but Kawaragi Momoka and Kita Ikuyo clearly haven't mastered this skill yet. So Asakura could only say with regret: "Then two cups of Darjeeling."
"Understood~"
Even though it was her first time working, Kita Ikuyo performed quite professionally.
After watching her run to the bar to brew the tea herself, Asakura shifted his gaze back to Fujiwara Chika.
The girl had clearly dressed up carefully. Her casual clothes were completely different from her usual style. Her top was a cream-white mesh vest over an orange sun-protection shirt, and her bottom was a pair of close-fitting denim shorts that outlined a beautiful hip shape. The overall look lacked some of the conservatism and solemnity of a Shuchiin Young Lady and looked a few degrees more youthful.
"So, what exactly did Exorcist-san want to see me for?" The girl asked proactively with a giggle.
"There are two specific things. One is to test your magic aptitude, but there's no rush for that. The other thing is, I wanted to ask, have you heard of any strange religions lately?"
After all, he no longer planned to erase the other party's memory, so it was naturally better to pull the girl into the magic department as an outer-circle member, similar to Kasumigaoka Utaha and the others.
At the same time, although Fujiwara Chika seemed like an ordinary, sunny, and cheerful young girl, her family was indeed a prominent and prestigious clan that could be named in the entire island nation. Especially in terms of politics, they could be said to be deep-rooted, no different from the ancient nobility.
And those cult organizations, after passing the initial stage of accumulating wealth, would generally gradually become more ambitious and begin to reach out toward power. Their inherent nature determined that brainwashing the high-level officials of the political arena was the simplest and most effective method. Therefore, there would be specialized members trying to lobby high-ranking government officials—in fact, the island nation indeed had many high-level officials and various cult organizations with unclear relationships.
For example, a certain prime minister with many schemes.
Fujiwara Chika's background was there, so compared to the Shinomiya family, which was simply wealthy, she would find it easier to come into contact with those strange religious members.
Asking her to help keep an eye out was much simpler than him searching for some evil cult like a headless fly.
"Hmm... if you say that, someone really did come to lobby my parents to attend a gathering, but they were rejected by my father."
Fujiwara Chika tapped her thin cherry-colored lips with her finger. After thinking for a moment, she replied: "Although Papa didn't say it explicitly, he cautioned our sisters not to get involved with those guys. Based on what he meant, those lobbyists should be from some religious group."
"Oh? Tell me more." Asakura didn't expect to have a harvest all of a sudden, so he asked with great interest.