Shara-rang—!!!
And so, under Aphrodite's reform plan, the shop's scenery was completely transformed.
"....."
""....""
""""They've lost their minds.""""
At the same time, the Einherjar had all been changed into Far Eastern-style outfits.
"Cute ones should go on a trip, and handsome boys should do cosplay!"
Shabang—!
"Dress them perfectly from head to toe!!"
At the same time, Aphrodite, Syr, and even Aspi were changed into Far Eastern style as well.
"Why are we included too...?"
"You definitely do look cuter now...."
"It's about atmosphere, atmosphere!!"
To the two girls, who were still questioning whether this was really working, Aphrodite firmly declared it.
"This place doesn't have a concept!! So I reflected the current trend and dressed it up as a Far Eastern New Year-style concept cafe!"
Of course, even if she said that, the reality was...
"Akumo, what exactly is a concept cafe...?"
"....A tavern where you hand money to handsome men and women and make them wait on you."
Akumo's eyes lost all color at the realization that the direction she wanted was in no way normal.
"....Then why are you there?"
But Aspi was puzzled by the fact that he kept hiding behind the curtain.
"....Don't ask, and don't even try to look."
Creak—!
"I'll kill you."
"Eep!?"
In response, a muscular arm emerged from behind the curtain and clenched a fist as though it would smash something at any moment, making Aspi jump back in alarm.
"A handsome boy in pretty clothes... how beautiful!!!"
"Thinking about that terrifying service attitude from before makes my heart race even more...!"
"High-class style for the vicious elf, and the essence of the Far East for the tyrant catfolk...! Goddess Aphrodite... are you a genius!?"
Watching the customers, who knew nothing of the situation, Aphrodite immediately puffed up with pride and recharged her confidence.
"Puffed up~☆ Ohohohohoho!!!"
At her reaction, the four Gulliver brothers were annoyed, but they were also surprised that the response had genuinely improved.
"I don't want to admit it, but this goddess... is actually pretty good at this?"
"I really don't want to admit it, but...."
That only made Aphrodite even more smug.
"The genius management consultant goddess acknowledged by the strongest in Labyrinth City Orario, [Freya Familia]. Aphrodite!!!"
Pa-ching—!
"Now then, now then~ Bow down before me! You incompetent, miserable host boys~!"
Of course, Aphrodite's smugness quickly recharged their killing intent as well.
"If we leave the employee training to Lady Aphrodite, this should work!"
"Though I do wonder whether the employees will actually follow along...?"
Syr was satisfied with the atmosphere, while Aspi remained baffled.
"There won't be any problem, since it's the order of the [hired manager]."
"""".....""""
"Right? Everyone."
"""""Ghh....!"""""
As if naturally expecting them to comply, Syr smiled and controlled them in an instant.
"And you absolutely must not hit anyone just because you're angry, okay?"
"""""Grr....gh!!!!!"""""
They could never disobey the manager's words.
"Now then, let's drink!"
"Huh? What about the manager's work...."
"A manager is, by nature, a title for slacking off and resting, you know?"
Seeing the girl cause trouble and then sit back to watch, Akumo, hidden behind the curtain, let out a deep sigh and lamented.
"Haa.... life is such crap...."
"You too! I'll train you re.ally!"
"..."
"Hmph! I'll make this a hard mode too, so be prepared!?"
"....."
"First! Everyone, my feet...."
And so Aphrodite, unable to hide her shoulders from rising with excitement, tried to command them.
Thunk—!
"Eep!!!!!?"
A giant sword, appearing from nowhere, stabbed down in front of her.
".....Please stop for real? Cross the line and I'll cut you."
"I-I'm a goddess!? And besides, this is a consultant, so...."
"I said I'd cut you? I warned you."
"Are you defying the hired manager's words!!!?"
Of course, since Akumo was not her subordinate but someone who had been dragged in, she could not stop him with words alone.
Kukang—!!!
"""""Nice."""""
In the end, Akumo, now furious, immediately punished her by locking her in a Camel Clutch.
For once, the executives praised Akumo for it.
"How irreverent~~~!!!!!!!"
"Enough already... just do that consulting thing...!!"
"The manager is just drinking and fooling around..!!"
In the end, with the thought that if she kept fooling around, Akumo would really blow up, Aphrodite had to get serious and begin consulting.
"....Hic!"
"Aspi.... are you drunk?"
"No... I'm fine, though...?"
"....."
'Fine, my ass.... anyone can see she's drunk....'
To make matters worse, Aspi, the one and only normal one, was now flushed red and even drunk.
"Aah... is this really okay....?"
Even in that chaos piled upon chaos, Akumo could not escape.
*
"To start with the conclusion, you lot are lacking the service spirit needed to satisfy customers..... no, princesses!!"
As Aphrodite entered full consulting mode, she pointed out the problems of the Einherjar.
"Why are you standing right next to me?"
"B-because you're the most patient...."
Even so, she was still scared, so Aphrodite was pressed right up against the curtain where Akumo was hiding as she spoke.
"Besides, if you're a staff member too, then do it properly! If not, I'll dump everything on you!?"
".....Damn it."
'She's not wrong, which makes it even more annoying....'
In the end, after obtaining Akumo's agreement, Aphrodite regained her momentum and began spouting solutions.
"You all need to treat the customers like real princesses and serve them! If you want to make a heart sealed shut by an iron mask smile, you have to dig all the way into the depths of the heart!"
"""".....""""
"It's easy to say, but hard to do.... opening the heart of such a strange woman is like the mystery of the moon itself...."
"For them, it'd probably be easier to just tell them to kill a dragon...."
As expected, Aphrodite had already prepared a model example.
"So! I'll teach you that method!!!"
Clack—!
"Begin! My followers!!"
Then, from wherever they had been hiding, Aphrodite's followers were suddenly summoned.
Led by Vöklin and Sandro, who were naturally among them, they immediately changed the shop's lighting.
"Yes~! Lady Aphrodite!"
Pabak—!
Within the shop, now bright with golden light, the followers' lively singing rang out.
'The sight was so shocking that.... I lost consciousness....'
Though the performance lasted less than a minute, Akumo immediately erased the scene from his brain.
"What do you think? Easy, right?"
"Bullshit...."
"What part?"
"Dirty... filthy... grimy.... a pile of trash..."
Still unaware of their state, Aphrodite's shameless words were met with cold replies from Akumo, Hogni, and Hedin.
"Just how disgusted do you have to be for Hedin to start sounding like a neat-freak heroine!?"
"Akumo is just outright cursing from the start!"
Whether they could do it or not, the more fundamental question was: who in the world would even like this?
That question filled everyone's heads.
"No... to be honest, I do get what you're trying to say...."
"Right!? As expected, if it's you...."
"But I don't want to do this in the first place, you know?"
"Eh!!?"
Still, even Akumo had to admit there was some demand for it, but he doubted whether they themselves could actually do it.
"I'd rather die than do something like this, honestly."
"Eeeh... joking?"
"Dead serious."
"Aww~ but still..."
"I'm serious about this."
Akumo, thinking there should be limits to this sort of thing, genuinely began consulting as well.
"First of all... this kind of lively atmosphere is a matter of taste depending on the person, you know?"
Swoosh—
"And if you suddenly make staff who already have a fit just from being spoken to politely do something like this, it'll have no meaning and no results."
Akumo spoke realistically, pointing out Aphrodite's policy one by one.
"And champagne, and drinking parties... isn't it obvious what this is...?"
"But that's the good part..!"
"Is this a paradise? This is just your crew's slacker-party version 2..."
"Ugh...!?"
This solution, which differed from Freya's intent and had absurdly little chance of being realized, was worse than useless.
"So, let's just wrap this up and—"
"Hmph, to be unable to do even something like this. Useless brats."
"Eh?"
"I'm already bored."
"No, right?"
"You can't even do childish little tricks."
"Don't do it?"
"Watch closely!"
"Uh... shit?"
Akumo tried to ride the mood and end the farce at once.
""""Music start!!""""
Ba-ba-bam—!!
And then, the Gulliver brothers' performance suddenly began.
"Now, everyone, raise your glasses~!?"
"Don't expect to go home before tomorrow morning~!"
Clack—!
"Okay, baby~! Go~!!!!!"
With lively music starting up, the four brothers' perfect movements fused together and the performance began.
"Drink it, drink it~ 𝅘𝅥𝅮"
"""Drink it, drink it~ 𝅘𝅥𝅮"""
"The liquor goes down 𝅘𝅥𝅮"
"""The liquor goes down!!"""
Led by Dvalin, their harmonized singing was more than expected.
"Aey 𝅘𝅥𝅮 Aey 𝅘𝅥𝅮"
"""Aey aey aey!!!!"""
"...Eh?"
Akumo could only stare blankly at the sight.
"It's a~ fes~tival, a festival!"
"""It's a festival, a festival~ 𝅘𝅥𝅮"""
"A cham~pagne festival!"
"""A champagne festi~val!!!"""
And then, with Dvalin's lively grin added in, the atmosphere of the performance rose even higher.
"Champagne in one hand~! Poor little~ Aphro-chan? Everyone in the Familia~! Let's drink ourselves to death 𝅘𝅥𝅮"
Whoosh—
"Let's drink~ and die in Labyrinth City Orario 𝅘𝅥𝅮"
"Even if someone really dies, I don't care!"
To top it all off, the brothers' full chorus.
""""Drink and drink again~ drink 𝅘𝅥𝅮 drink and drink again~ drink 𝅘𝅥𝅮""""
""""Drink! Drink~~~!!!""""
A perfect combination that even shattered Akumo's practical advice.
"What a wonderful combination~ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 Compared to that, Arne's side is...."
"Syr... please, can we end it here?"
""""Shut up~ You trash who can't even make one beloved god happy.""""
"""I'll kill you!?"""
In the end, Akumo had blown yet another chance to end things quietly.
Crack—!
"....Hahaha!"
Hearing the sound of something breaking inside him, he slowly reviewed the situation.
Kwang—!
Kwa-gang—!!
On one side, the angry Einherjar were beating the hell out of each other.
"As expected...."
"[Freya Familia] is scaaary~"
As for Aphrodite's side, they were just people who had come because it looked fun, with no intention of stopping anything.
"Hic...! Master Hermes is really mean~!!"
Tap—!
"You think of me as nothing but some kind of slave!!"
"That's because he's the type who won't feed prey once he's caught it~ One compliment is enough!"
Aspi, now completely drunk, was only drinking the alcohol Syr gave her and could no longer provide any real help.
Kwaang—!!!!!
"""!?"""
In the end, Akumo exploded.
"Screw all of this, you son of a b%&₩%&%!!!!!"
His recent fatigue, the way he kept being used, and yet still smiling as much as possible.
Even he finally exploded at this absurd situation.
"Are you people joking right now!!!? If you're going to end it, then end it, and if you're going to do it, then do it, you sh%&₩^@!!!"
"I'm already sick to death of being used!! What, am I your damn nanny!!!!?"
"If it's going to be like this, just bring the booze!! Let me drink it all and die too!!!!!"
Thud—!!!!!!!
His long-suppressed anger burst out as Akumo roared at them fiercely.
"Hey!!!? Am I wrong!!!?"
""""""...""""""
Shocked by his genuine rage, they could not say a word.
"Eh.... Akumo-san....?"
Thump—!
"Eek!?"
"Syr!!! You too, seriously!!!!!"
Even seeing Syr in front of him trying to stop him, Akumo still could not calm down.
"I like messing around too, you know!? But there are limits, damn it!!"
Akumo, now holding the sword that had been stuck into the table since earlier, shouted at them with complete sincerity.
"Is this fucking right!!!!!?"
"""Yes!"""
".....Huh?"
Those who answered him immediately.
They were the customers who had come in first and had been watching everything that had happened until now.
"Y-you really are [Pioneer], right!!!?"
"Wooooow.... amazing...!!!"
"This is more thrilling than anything I've seen today...!!"
Their faces were red, and they could not take their eyes off Akumo.
"What the hell ar—"
Swoosh—
Just as Akumo, unable to understand what they were saying, turned his head and looked at the mirror installed in the shop.
"Ah."
Ever since he first received the clothes from Aphrodite, he had fought tooth and nail to never wear them.
Even after he finally put them on, he had hidden behind the curtain so no one could see....
".....Heh."
A hollow laugh leaked out, born of disbelief and rage.
And that, in turn, only completed his current appearance even further.
========================
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