After we were seated, the girls all expressed their thanks to me, mixed with embarrassment at being treated.
Helping out some good kids who are short on cash, and trading a sum that's not much compared to my salary for their goodwill... I'm clearly the one who got the better end of the deal.
I voiced this thought with a bit of polish:
"It's no problem. I also wanted to see your smiles when you taste delicious sweets. Just remember to treat me next time you find a good new shop."
As soon as I said this, I could clearly feel the distance between me and the members of the After-School Sweets Club shorten considerably.
Even Kazusa, who had been the coldest at the beginning, had a much softer expression when she looked at me.
Natsu gave me a thumbs-up.
"I see. Sensei, you're a cream puff."
I didn't understand what she was trying to express, but I decided to take it as a compliment for now.
While waiting for the desserts, the girls chatted about topics that were quite fresh to me:
Things like which shop had a particularly delicious dessert, which lecturer's class was hard to understand, and a certain upperclassman who was kicked out of a public lecture for wearing a swimsuit...
They were also considerate of my feelings, frequently striking up conversations with me and asking for my opinion. When there were topics I didn't quite understand, they would roughly explain them to me.
Great! This is a very pleasant chat!
However, no matter how cheerful the conversation was, it couldn't hide the fact that the desserts were taking a long time to arrive.
They hadn't even served us water. The quality of service was truly worrying.
More than twenty minutes passed. My mouth was getting dry from talking, and my heart was nearly filled with impatience when the short, stout robot from the front desk finally ambled over with a tray.
"Specialty waffles and specialty lemon black tea. Please enjoy."
From the presentation, I couldn't see anything "special" at all. It was just a large plate of heart-shaped waffles and a large pitcher of black tea with a few lemon slices at the bottom.
The only merit was the generous portion size.
"Let's eat!"
After a unanimous declaration, we, who had been waiting for a long time, each picked up a piece of waffle and brought it to our mouths—
So sweet!
That was my taste buds' first reaction upon contact with the food. The crust of the waffle was as if it were coated in frosting, so sweet it was almost cloying.
But after chewing, I tasted the nearly flavorless interior, and my saliva diluted the taste, making it not quite unbearable.
To be fair, it was still firmly in the category of "bad."
We all instinctively placed the half-eaten waffles on our plates, looking at each other with expressions that weren't very pleasant.
Next was the lemon black tea.
Due to the shock from the waffle, all I could taste was sourness and bitterness.
Airi hesitated. "Um, this is just the beginning. There are still many other desserts to come!"
She was really trying hard to ease the tension.
However, as the desserts came out one after another, our expectations were chipped away, and our faces grew darker and darker.
Until the table was filled with all kinds of desserts, the girls finally couldn't hold it in any longer.
Natsu put down her fork and knife and sighed, looking up.
"It's not always a box of chocolates where you can never predict the next flavor. It could also be a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans."
Yoshimi spat the food residue in her mouth into a trash can, as if she'd given up completely.
"I don't care if you say it's a waste of food. I'm not eating this stuff."
Kazusa's face was grim. She made a "tch" sound like a delinquent.
"No wonder they had to launch this kind of package deal, and there are no other customers in the entire shop."
Airi, however, forced a smile and comforted everyone:
"Everyone, the final cake hasn't come out yet. So many people on the internet recommended it, it must be delicious, right?"
As the invited guest and the one paying, I also chimed in to support Airi's view, even though I had no expectations left in my heart.
It was mainly to increase their goodwill towards me even further.
I wanted to cultivate a gentle and mature image. When the students of Kivotos respected and loved me, thinking I was an understanding teacher, I could better advance my own plans.
Because everyone was in low spirits, the mood for chatting was gone, making the wait feel even longer.
Before the cake was even ready, the sound of the door opening came from the entrance again, followed by a voice that sounded slightly familiar:
"I'd like one Super Deluxe Dessert Combo Platter... yes, just for me. Is there a problem? What, the price went up? That's fine..."
Hearing this, I roughly estimated the number of desserts on the table and concluded that it was indeed enough to stuff five people. Normally, a single person couldn't eat this much.
But perhaps this customer just came for that lemon cherry chocolate mousse cake. After all, the rest of the desserts were terrible.
Just as I was thinking this, the new customer walked towards our table. As she passed by, she glanced over and stopped in her tracks.
"Sensei?"
The newcomer was tall, only a few inches shorter than me, with a mature and dignified appearance. She wore a black uniform with straps showing on the side, her black hair reaching her ankles, and a pair of large wings folded behind her back.
It was Hanekawa Hasumi, with whom I had met once before.
She belongs to the Justice Task Force, the main armed force of Trinity General School, and serves as its vice-president.
My first impression of her wasn't very good.
Compared to Yuuka, who was a normal human girl apart from her halo, Hasumi's wings were just too alien. For me, who had just arrived, it was simply horrifying.
But a person's ability to adapt is infinite.
Now, I just see her as a normally-dressed, slightly large student.
"Good afternoon, Hasumi. Are you out eating dessert by yourself?"
Hasumi subconsciously nodded, then reacted strongly and denied it:
"Yes—I mean no! Uh, well, I wasn't planning on eating it all myself! I was going to get it to go for President Tsurugi! It's definitely not that I can eat this much alone! Oh, by the way, these students, from their uniforms, they're also from Trinity, right?"
"Yes, hello, Hasumi-senpai."
"Kazusa, do you know this senpai?"
"Are you an idiot? Didn't Sensei just say her name?"
A faint smile appeared on Hasumi's face. "What lively underclassmen. Speaking of which, the desserts on your table are all... if you don't mind, could I have a taste?"
Realizing something was wrong, Hasumi made the request.
After getting permission, Hasumi tried a cookie, and her expression instantly twisted.
After taking the water I handed her and downing it in one gulp, Hasumi was silent for a moment before muttering with difficulty:
"How is this even possible..."
That was a very good question.
We all wanted to know the answer.
As we looked at each other speechlessly, the stout robot came over pushing a small cart with a cake on it.
"This is the last dish. Please enjoy."
With our last shred of hope, we divided the cake into six equal parts—one for me, one for each of the four Sweets Club members, and one for the newcomer, Hasumi, who had silently joined our united front.
We scooped a piece with a spoon and put it in our mouths.
The sourness of lemon and cherry, the bitterness of chocolate, the cloying sweetness of low-quality cream, all merged in the mouth, creating an unparalleled shock.
Airi lowered her head; Natsu closed her eyes.
Yoshimi clenched her fists; Kazusa gnashed her teeth.
Hasumi let out a deep breath.
I watched as the girls, emanating an ominous black aura, picked up their guns and walked towards the front counter. I thought for a moment and followed them.
"F*CK YOU! REFUND!"
"Making this kind of kitchen garbage, do you have any respect for the ingredients!"
"Give me back my expectations, you bastard!"
"This is completely false advertising, isn't it?"
And the stout robot timely displayed a mocking emoji:
"False advertising? What false advertising? What do rumors on the internet have to do with this shop?"
"Dear students, everyone has their own preferences. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean others don't! How can you force me to give you a refund just because of your personal reasons?"
"After all, you've already eaten it, haven't you?"
"This is completely in accordance with the laws of Kivotos!"
"And don't even think about beating me up. This shop has very good relations with the nearby armed factions!"
My suspicion was finally confirmed—
This was a complete scam shop, creating a false image of popularity through online shills to lure dessert-loving students, then ripping them off with inflated prices and low-quality food.
But even for a scam shop, making it this bad was too much. No, it was more than too much; it was stupid.
If the Schale cafe ever opens for business, maybe I can borrow this marketing technique. Paired with several excellent chefs, perhaps I can create a place that gathers a large number of students while also earning funds...
As relatively law-abiding good students, the Sweets Club members and Hasumi suppressed their anger and didn't resort to violence, intending to continue arguing.
And just then.
The door was pushed open again.
Another four students walked into the dessert shop, chatting and laughing.
The leader was a silver-haired girl in a military uniform with the proud air of a young lady.
"Hehe So this is the shop that's been trending online lately I'll have one... hmm? What's going on here?"
Seeing new potential victims arrive, the most agitated Yoshimi angrily described what had happened.
For some reason, when Hasumi saw the newcomers, she quickly calmed down, a slight smile playing on her lips as if she were watching a good show. She moved to my side.
The silver-haired military girl tilted her head, blinked, and smiled brightly.
"I see, another sinner who blasphemes against food. How boring. There's no need to even taste it now."
Hasumi suddenly pulled me into an embrace, shielding my body with her huge wings.
At the same time, the silver-haired girl had already taken the package slung over her shoulder and slammed it behind the counter—
BOOOOM!!!
In the explosion, the scam shop and the dishonest merchant were completely purified.
This boring farce finally came to an end amidst the lingering smoke.
-------
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