Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: New Face: Pink Hair (5)
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“Manager.”
“Yes?”
“Does the Manager have no lingering regrets about the past at all?”
“None.”
I’ve always thought I gave my all in every moment of my life. Even if I went back, could I really do better? Probably not in most cases.
What matters more isn’t something left behind in the past, but whether I can keep running this café going forward.
Someday, when I have the leeway, I’d like to visit coffee plantations myself and handle quality control firsthand.
“Lately, I’ve been thinking that in relationships, maybe the one who tried their hardest is the one without regrets.”
“It depends on the situation, but generally, yeah? If you’ve poured everything in and there’s nothing more you can do, no regrets left.”
Karin stared at me blankly at my words. What was that about? Had something happened that made her reflect on relationships? I cast a cleaning spell on the coffee cup I’d just drunk from, swirling it clean, then flipped it upside down on the tray atop the espresso machine.
As I gazed at the ceramic mug steaming faintly from the hot water rinse, basking in satisfaction, Karin spoke up again.
“Sometimes when I think about the old days, I want to go back.”
“Even imagining any moment from the past feels worse than now.”
“Like wanting to see someone I used to know.”
“Not to brag, but I’ve never been emotionally close to many people. As you said before, from the position of a high noble, everyone approaching feels so transactional.”
“Hmm.”
“You mentioned your parents run a trading company, right? Treating business partners transactionally isn’t all that different.”
Whether she was nodding in agreement or deep in thought, I couldn’t tell, but she eventually slumped over the table like Mina usually did.
I checked that the moisture on the cup had mostly evaporated from the warm espresso machine and pulled a plain glass from the cooler for an iced Americano—one I kept for personal use, not the pretty one I’d bought last time.
“So, if someone you were close to before was in danger, what would you do?”
“If it’s a situation where I could step in, I’d grab gear from the warehouse and go help. I’d try to return here after it’s over, though.”
“You’d end up coming back here anyway.”
“Yeah. It’s the shop I’ve wanted to run since I was a kid, so quitting just like that... nah.”
This time, she crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and nodded, then sipped her own coffee.
I didn’t know the details, but she seemed convinced enough, so I didn’t add anything more.
In this world without plastic or coated paper, I slurped my iced Americano through a metal straw.
As Karin seemed satisfied, the status window popped up cursing about quest failure, but at this point, I wasn’t about to get hung up on some storyline reward—I just ignored it crisply.
“...I spaced out for a sec and forgot to ask—what’s with packing up like that?”
“Oh. Circumstances mean I need to hire someone to work at the shop, so I figured since I’m recruiting in Labyrinth City Astraea anyway, I might as well look for a sharp adventurer.”
“You’re heading all the way to the labyrinth entrance, then.”
“Yeah. Business has been slow lately, so anyone job-hunting would be perfect—I’m prepping to check them out in person and decide.”
I didn’t know about other skills, but operating an espresso machine was easy to pick up, and with the right methods and measurements, anyone could handle most brewing tools except hand drip in no time.
Someone handy would be ideal, but whether I could find one was another question.
“A part-timer, huh. Hard to imagine anyone but you brewing coffee here.”
“It’s not that widespread a drink yet. Honestly, with the tools and know-how, anyone can learn the basics quick.”
“I’d still rather drink the ones you make, Manager.”
“I think my coffee’s the best too. Just need to hire someone because of some business.”
“What kind of business?”
“I have to leave Labyrinth City Astraea for a bit.”
If an ambitious emperor picked up a duke’s heir rolling in the gutter, wouldn’t they scrape every last bit for all kinds of reasons?
No matter how I thought about it, nothing good came of it, so I concluded stepping away briefly and leaving the shop to a part-timer was best. Bluntly put, so what if an unskilled temp failed to impress the emperor with coffee? The real issue was showing my face.
Closing a thriving shop would just spark rumors like “Why’d he shut down and bail when he’s not even going out of business?”—so temporary closure was out too.
I slurped more iced Americano and let out a sigh.
Maybe pondering those relationship woes again, Karin sighed in sync with me.
I gave her a slight smile, but got a pouty look back.
“Namei-senpai told me.”
“Pardon?”
“Said Senior Julius’s expulsion got canceled, so he can come back.”
I set down my glass of iced Americano. Sure, I figured word of a noble booted from the Royal Academy would spread fast, but I hadn’t expected it brought up to me directly.
And I hadn’t imagined they’d boldly revoke my expulsion.
It took foreign students and was officially separate from the palace under Imir Kingdom, but it still had to consider the kingdom’s eyes.
Reversing my expulsion meant admitting Christoph that idiot’s actions were wrong, so it couldn’t have happened without the current king’s permission.
His Majesty just tossed Christoph aside like that? Was that okay?
It felt unsettling, like it’d only stir up the kingdom’s politics for no good reason.
How much scheming had my family, the royals, the academy, and entangled nobles done behind my back, and for what intent?
“I don’t know the details, but wouldn’t it be okay to meet someone like Namei-senpai?”
“...Dunno. Namei... Namei-senpai probably has her own tough circumstances too.”
“That damn ‘circumstances’ again?”
“Yeah.”
Great power comes with great responsibility. If she mobilized all her connections and means, she could’ve guessed my whereabouts, and with Karin holding the key clue, pinpointing me wouldn’t be hard.
But she couldn’t—because as a court mage designate, learning my location meant duty to report it.
So she avoided finding out directly, passing the message through Karin indirectly.
“I’d love to see Namei-senpai chatting casually with you, Manager.”
“...It’s not that simple. Given our positions, I’d likely get dragged straight back home.”
“Namei-senpai not actively searching for you either.”
“Same reason. So I’m truly grateful for it.”
My mouth felt bitter for no reason, so I downed the rest of my iced Americano. Still pouting, she mumbled.
“Namei-senpai’s a good person, and you’re a good person too, Manager, so it’d be nice if you two could get along.”
That’s how human connections go. If time, place, and situation don’t align, reconnecting comes with too many hurdles.
She was a great connection at the academy, but now seeing her meant giving up something precious.
Too regrettable to let go, yet too distant to reach for—that’s what she’d become.
“But knowing you’re staying here despite all that kinda makes me feel better, so I don’t know what’s right anymore.”
“Haha. Yeah.”
“Then, um... can I ask one more thing?”
“Sure.”
Straightening up at my reply, Karin took a deep breath, fiddled with the end of her pink hair, then stopped abruptly. Meeting my eyes with resolve, she said,
“Senior Julius. Please tell me why you decided to leave the academy.”
She’d always called me Manager—even today, after learning my name, it was Manager—but now calling me by name meant she was asking as a vassal of Imir Kingdom to Julius Lebedev.
“Karin, as a trading company daughter—why’d you enter the academy?”
“My mom was an adventurer, not in labyrinths but active elsewhere, and she ended up marrying my dad through guarding his caravans. The path of magic she walked ended there, and once she knew I had talent, she passed her dream to me. That’s why I came.”
“Hm, I didn’t have one. Born into a duke’s family, had some half-baked talent, so my parents poured expectations and every education into me. I lived up to their hopes, to my talents, and became a somewhat recognized heir. Got a proper fiancée as the duke’s heir, had to marry for the family. And when the time came, like every noble kid, I went to the academy.”
In a wuxia novel, maybe my village gets razed by evil sects or demonic cults, I find a manual, and seek revenge.
If regressing from a doomed future, maybe strive to avert it.
In an urban fantasy, maybe vampires or werewolves slaughter my family, driving vengeance.
Dropped alive into another world, maybe chase clues home via game quests.
Not me. No such motivation. None at all.
I died in my past life. On this second chance, I just decided to live gratefully.
Even realizing I was a game character as if fated, nothing changed. Just wait, get the quest, romance the protagonist when chosen, save the world—that was it.
What a joke.
Where was ‘me’ in this damn near-20-year life of mine?
No motivation. No will of my own. After endless boring, painful training and study, all I got was fate’s scripted path.
“I ran away.”
From the destined fate approaching me as quests, as nobility, as a conquest target.
At minimum, I did not want to live a life where I became Ermina Cassias’s conquest target, and then lived on as that.
“Have you ever seen a runaway crawl back into that pit?”
At least I haven’t.
I brewed coffee. A small shot of intense, stimulating, bitterly roasted Italian roast espresso for occasional sips.
Downed the damn bitter espresso in one go, face scrunching automatically, and declared,
“I’m never going back.”