"Café Lucerne is looking for extra help."
Requirements: Good service attitude, no irritability.
This was the one.
Airi remembered getting this commission in the game too. It was simple, just helping the owner make coffee and things like that. No life-threatening danger involved.
Following the directions, Airi made his way to Café Lucerne.
What greeted him was an elegant little shop, not too different from how it looked in the game, except that now there were NPCs actually walking around.
The surrounding area was quiet as well. Maybe the customers who came here for coffee were all refined people.
"Hello, I'm Airi from the Adventurers' Guild. I saw the commission you posted. Does your shop need help? I'd like to take the job."
"Oh, hello there! Airi, was it? I'm Arouet, the owner of Café Lucerne."
"Yes, I'm the one who posted the commission. Here's the situation."
"I need you to help prepare coffee and serve customers. I'll pay you 1,000 Mora per hour."
The moment Arouet laid eyes on him, he felt Airi was perfect for the job.
Animal ears included. Way too eye-catching...
With such a cute clerk showing up today, there definitely would not be a lack of customers.
So after a simple introduction, he led Airi into the shop and started teaching him how to make coffee and serve guests.
Airi was a little clumsy at first, but after making a few cups, he got the hang of it completely.
All that could be said was that his talent was not bad.
After tasting Airi's coffee and finding it satisfactory, Arouet nodded in approval, and the two of them officially began work.
"Boss! One coffee for me!"
"Huh? Where did this cute young guy come from?"
"He just started helping out today. What do you think?"
"Boss, the one you've got here is... incredible. Can I pet him?"
The customers' eyes and the things they said kept circling back to him without pause, and Airi could feel the temperature in his face rising...
In his previous life, he had been a little handsome, sure.
But he had never been this attractive before, not like this beautiful cat-eared boy version of himself...
As time went on, more and more people came into the shop.
Whether they were really here for coffee and desserts, or because the café had a new cat-eared waiter who was way too pretty, was hard to say.
Focused on his work, Airi did not notice the frequent glances being thrown at him from a nearby table...
A group of female customers sat there together, and every single one of them was staring at him.
"He looks like a handsome outlander."
"I've never seen him before."
"He seems pretty young too."
"Do you think he left home, or has some tragic past, and ended up all alone in the Court of Fontaine, pitifully working here just to survive?"
"Oh... how tragic. I'll go ask later if he wants to come home with me."
"Oh, give it a rest. He's practically the same age as your son. Don't corrupt the poor kid."
"Cute boy, one milk coffee for me. Extra milk."
"Right away."
"One espresso, please."
"Right away."
"Sweetheart, get me a coffee mixed with your love~"
"Right away..."
Airi stared at the menu and ingredient list for quite a while, but he could not find any coffee that included "love."
So he looked back up at the customer.
Seeing the amused look in her eyes as she covered her mouth and laughed, the corner of Airi's mouth twitched.
Still, he forced himself not to lose his temper.
"Sorry, but it seems we don't carry the coffee you're asking for."
"Next!"
"Airi, make a Clear Coffee."
"Bring it over to Officer Melusine."
"Got it, boss."
After preparing the coffee, Airi looked around.
But he did not see anyone in a security uniform.
"Officer?"
"Boss, I don't see any guest wearing a security uniform..."
"Officer Melusine is a Melusine."
"Take a closer look."
At that moment, a voice came from below the counter.
It really was a Melusine...
She wore a tiny blue uniform and was staring up at Airi curiously.
Airi smiled and greeted her.
"Officer Melusine?"
"Sorry, I didn't notice you. Here's your coffee. Please enjoy."
She accepted the coffee, but her eyes remained fixed on Airi's figure, filled with confusion.
"Why is it that... you wake me up more than coffee does...?"
"What could the reason be...?"
Of course, Airi did not hear that.
Since he had worked as a waiter for a while in his previous world, he still had a bit of experience serving customers.
So Airi's service attitude left the guests very satisfied.
Of course, it might also have had something to do with the fact that his appearance alone was enough to make anyone's heart skip a beat...
After all, no female customer seemed able to resist Airi's smile, nor the temptation of those fluffy ears on top of his head...
His presence alone caused the café's customer count to multiply several times over compared to normal.
Especially the number of female customers who came for desserts and coffee.
No one knew where they had even gotten the news from...
And so the entire afternoon passed in a blur of busyness.
Finally, the number of customers gradually thinned, and it was time to close up.
"You worked hard today, little brother Airi. Here's the payment for your commission."
Arouet smiled as he patted Airi on the shoulder.
"The extra is a reward for you. And take these unsold pastries and breads too, if you don't mind."
"If there ever comes a day when you're tired of adventuring, you absolutely must come work in my shop."
"Ahaha..."
"Thank you... Boss. If you ever need help again, I'll come back..."
Airi looked at the bag of Mora and counted it.
A full 10,000.
And he had only worked eight hours today.
Just then, a notification appeared above his head, a short line of blue text materializing in the air:
[Ding! Reputation +5 (5/100)]
"It's finally here!"
"This is what working is really for... no, wait, this is the real purpose of commissions!"
It was not much, but that did not stop Airi from feeling happy.
...
After saying goodbye to the owner, Airi quickly headed outside.
Because he could feel that the Melusine at the entrance had been staring at him the whole time...
For a while, it even made him feel like he was being targeted by a bad person...
But since she was wearing a Special Patrol uniform, she probably was not dangerous, so he did not think too much of it.
He checked the gains shown on his panel:
[Reputation: (5/100)]
[Adventure Rank: One-Star]
[Weapon: None]
[Combat Talent: None]
[Passive Talent: Animal Affinity (Attraction 150%)]
[Passive Talent II: None]
[Passive Talent III: None]
[Vision: None (Even today, no god has cast their gaze upon you)]
Looking at all the locked entries on the panel, Airi did not feel disappointed.
He had earned 5 Reputation in just one day. If he took twenty more commissions...
Then it would not be long before everything could be unlocked.
Who knew, maybe they would turn out to be incredibly powerful abilities.
Airi still held plenty of hope for that.
...
But night had come again.
Where was he supposed to stay this time?
He could not trouble Furina again...
If he went looking for her now, she would probably see him as some useless person with no ability at all.
And who would be willing to keep helping someone completely worthless...?
As for repaying her, that would have to wait until later...
But what Airi would never know was this:
If Furina heard him say something like that, she would definitely shake her head frantically and drag him straight back to the Palais Mermonia.
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