Sure enough, the first thing Fafnir did was ask Yuto for a gaming headset.
Yuto handed it over, a little helpless about the whole thing.
But Fafnir didn't leave right away. Instead he stayed where he was and dug through his pocket.
Under everyone's curious eyes, he pulled out a cloth doll.
It was ugly.
The material was cheap and the stitching was rough, and it looked very much like something Fafnir had sewn himself.
"What's this?" Yuto asked.
"A dragon has no wish to owe a human a favor. Give this to the human who brought the headsets. Tell her the dragon is satisfied with the offerings she provided. This is one of my earliest cursed tools, from a very, very long time ago. The curse on it is weak compared to my later work, but even so, she should be grateful and praise me for it!"
The night before, the gaming trio had talked over how they ought to repay Asuna.
Fafnir had wanted to hand over some powerful cursed tools, but Yuto shot that down at once.
Asked to give something else, though, Fafnir found he didn't really have anything.
So after digging around, he'd finally picked out one of the worst cursed tools from back when he was still learning.
The doll couldn't curse a person to death, but it could torment them.
To an ordinary person, it was still terrifying.
Yuto took the doll and, for a moment, honestly didn't know what to say.
In his opinion, this thing was still a little unsuitable for a thankyou gift... to a young girl no less!
"Hmph! human is troublesome." Fafnir snorted, then carried the headset off to a table farther away.
That was the spot Yuto had just told the three of them to use for gaming.
Otherwise they'd keep taking up space at the counter, which wasn't convenient.
It had been the same the night before: the three of them sitting at the counter in their headsets, still and silent as three statues for nearly three hours straight.
The other customers hadn't said anything at the time, but Yuto still felt it hurt the mood for everyone else, so he'd decided to give them their own gaming corner.
Fortunately, Fafnir, Ainz, and the rest had no objection when they heard it.
If anything, the three of them seemed pleased—probably because no one would bother them while they played!
The three carried their headsets to the far table and sat down.
Then, in perfect unison, they put the headsets on.... and then they went quiet.
Yuto looked at them and felt helpless.
This was a restaurant!
But from the look of those three, were they treating it like an internet café now?
Not long after the gaming trio started playing, new customers arrived.
"Welcome." Yuto gave his usual gentle greeting.
Standing at the door, smiling at him, was Rias, who had come once the night before.
She was as beautiful as ever.
Beside her stood another girl, just as lovely—in looks and figure, one of the finest Yuto had ever seen.
What made her all the more striking was her long ponytail. A high ponytail usually gave a person a clean, sharp, capable look, but with her long black hair she also carried the grace of a yamato nadeshiko.
She was captivating!
"Good evening, Boss." Rias bowed to him from the entrance, elegant and deep.
She ranked among the higher classes of devils, and so she paid close attention to manners—especially toward someone as mysterious as Yuto, whom she treated with extra care and humility.
Her instincts told her that acting arrogant in a place like this would only invite disaster.
As Rias bowed, Akeno Himejima who's standing beside her, also smiled and gave a small bow.
She was a member of Rias's peerage, since her master had bowed, she could hardly do otherwise.
"Good evening, Gremory-san. And good evening to you as well—I don't believe we've met before." Yuto smiled and nodded to them both with a hint of curiosity in his eyes as he looked at Akeno.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Boss. I'm Akeno Himejima, one of Rias's peerage." Akeno introduced herself with a soft smile.
Her words set off a few thoughts around the restaurant.
Yuto understood what "peerage" meant, the same way Sakura belonged to Hestia's Familia.
Beings from Western mythology—gods, angels, devils—seemed to like calling their followers and apostles their peerage.
But to have a peerage of one's own, a person's standing probably had to be high enough to begin with.
Akeno's introduction made everyone reconsider who Rias was.
The night before, the devil girl had come alone and chatted happily with them all, but the most anyone knew was that she was a devil.
The details had stayed a mystery.
Now, through Akeno, they could catch a glimpse of her background.
She was clearly no ordinary devil.
"Hello, Himejima-san. I'm Kamisaka Yuto. You can speak normally here—there's no need to be so formal with me," Yuto said with a smile.
Akeno's brows curved as she smiled, which made her look as lovely as a crescent moon.
"Then I'll call you Boss, if that's all right. And you can just call me Akeno—no need for the 'san.'" A soft smile glittered in her deep violet eyes.
Her expression was easy and open, without a trace of guard.
She was smiling on the outside, but inside she was shaken.
This little restaurant had struck her harder than devils, angels, or any of the other supernatural beings she knew!
Her mind had accepted that the place existed, but that didn't mean the shock had worn off.
The more unusual a being was, the more clearly they could feel how unusual the restaurant was.
Just as an ordinary person could never grasp the true shape of the world no matter how hard they tried, the restaurant gave each guest a different feeling depending on what they were.
To Akeno, this place was like something hidden deep beneath a fog-covered sea.
It couldn't be seen through.
It couldn't be read.
And she finally understood why Rias had looked the way she did the night before.
Many of the customers sitting inside gave Akeno a sense of deadly danger.
As for Yuto, she couldn't read him at all.
He seemed to be only an ordinary person with a bit of power.
But a man who could run a place this mysterious, and keep so many terrifying customers sitting together in peace—how could the truth of him really be as simple as it looked?
With someone like that, it was better to stay as polite and humble as she could.
"All right," Yuto agreed simply.
The two girls came over and sat at the counter.
Up close, everyone could see them even more clearly.
Setting everything else aside, the charm that Rias and Akeno gave off naturally was the kind that could make a person's head spin.
Perhaps that was a power that came with being a devil.
In the old myths, devils had always been the ones who tempted the human heart, and the two girls plainly had that.... gift.
No ordinary man could have stayed calm in front of them!
"What would you like to order?" Yuto asked with a faint smile.
Rias smiled slightly. "Can we drink alcohol here?"
"Of course. Would you like some?"
Rias's crimson eyes shifted faintly, and she gave a small nod.
Her long red hair swayed with the movement, like a burning flame. That nod softened Akeno's eyes with a trace of worry.
She was Rias's peerage member and also her closest friend, and she knew exactly why Rias wanted to drink.
Akeno sighed to herself.
But even knowing about it, what could she do? In the end, there was nothing she could do for her.
"The alcohol we have right now is mead, brewed by dwarves from another world. It isn't very strong, but it tastes good." As Yuto spoke, he poured Rias a cup.
The restaurant didn't have wine glasses, only ordinary cups, and that seemed a little mismatched with Rias.
It wasn't that the plain cup was bad—it was just that Rias holding one looked slightly out of place.
A wine glass would have suited her better.
'Maybe I should buy a few tomorrow,' Yuto thought as he set the drink in front of her.
"Thank you, Boss." Rias smiled at him, then lowered her eyes to the cup.
The pale golden mead was full of tiny bubbles; in that way it looked a little like beer, though the taste was nothing alike.
From his pouring, the surface still rippled gently, like small waves crossing a calm sea.
Rias stared at the cup for a while.
No one could tell what she was thinking.
The smile she'd worn walking in had disappeared completely, leaving only a faint, dazed look behind.
She came back to herself only when Yuto spoke.
"Just the drink? Won't you eat something too? Drinking on an empty stomach... you'll get drunk quickly." Yuto smiled faintly.
Rias hesitated for two or three seconds. "Then I'll have the same dish as last night."
"All right." With her answer, Yuto turned to Akeno. "And you, Akeno? Oh—and please order human food. I don't know how to cook devil cuisine."
He made the small joke lightly.
Akeno covered her mouth and laughed, her eyes curving. "Ara, ara. You do like to joke, Boss. I'll have the same as Rias, then."
"All right. Please wait a moment." Yuto smiled and turned toward the kitchen.
Behind his calm face, his thoughts were drifting a little.
Of course he'd noticed Rias spacing out just now.
But so what? Plenty of customers came to the restaurant carrying worries like hers.
Yuto had never once gone out of his way to ask a customer about their secrets.
A chef should know a chef's place.
He wasn't much good at counseling people anyway—he only needed to do his own job and cook.
Besides, late at night was always when people started thinking too much.