The Coffee Shop in a Different World Station

"Good luck with your long ride - Here you go."

Harpertown Station, where Train 2 arrived. There was a look of Theo at its bidding gate.

We retrieve tickets in turn while trying to spare the labor of the customers who came off the train.

One man called out loud when he was doing his business as usual.

"Oh, Theo! It's Theo!

Theo, who was looking at hand to confirm the ticket, responds to that voice and looks up all the time.

There he was, an old friend that Theo knew well.

"Areas! What's going on up here again?

"A little bit for yabbo. Are you the station guy here? Didn't I tell you about the elite course at HQ before?

"No, actually, I've been transferred over here since last fall..." I'm sorry, can I show you the customer first?

Elias is surprised by the words and turns all the way back.

Behind, customers waiting for the ticket were still making a line.

"Never, ever. You got in the way. Hey, a ticket."

"Yes indeed. I'll take a break when this is over, so if you have time, just wait."

Theo speaks up as he puts his eyes through the tickets he receives.

Elias also shook his head vertically with cockroaches in the words, passing through the bidding slot.

Eventually, after all the customer bidding operations, Theo gently offers his fist toward Elias, who was waiting just around the corner.

"See you again. It's been a long time."

"I never thought I'd see you like this."

Elias offers his fist just like Theo.

And then we smashed those fists against each other with a knack.

Two greetings that haven't changed since I was a student.

"But I don't think you're working too hard."

"Come on, I'm serious all the time, huh?

"Serious means the one you're trying to skip if there's a gap?

"Shut up! Come here. I've been trying to change my mind a little bit! So, what's with the stand-up? You, did you eat the meshi?

"No, actually, I was going to eat before I got on the train, but I ran out of time. Do you have any good shops around here?

Theo lifts the corner of his mouth to Elias' words.

Speaking of the best shops around here, I can't think of anything other than “over there” of course.

"Then there's a good shop. It's been a while since we've had a meal together."

Theo said that, he headed to a coffee shop that served as a waiting room right next to the bidding gate.

―――――

"Whoa, hey! But this guy's so tasty!

Elias cheers as he cheeks the curry arrows (rice) all over his mouth.

Theo, hearing the words, gave me a proud look somewhere.

"This store, my boss is doing it, right?

"Huh? You mean the station manager, right?

"You're acting station manager, to be exact. Mr. Takumi, but this guy is amazing again. I also do the master of this shop while acting as station manager, and one after the other I produce surprising dishes, even if something happens at the station, I generally do something about it, well, it's amazing anyway. You're the one I admire most right now."

Theo lifts the corner of his mouth as he grabs the same lunch as Elias.

My old friend gave me an even more surprising look at the look.

"Heh, how amazing you say that. Well, even when you come to the country like this, you seem to be doing it without rotting."

Slightly keenly worded, Theo gives a slightly annoying look.

Nevertheless, Theo also understands that from the side, he cannot be seen in the "fall of the city”.

Rather, Theo himself sometimes thought so at first, so we can't deny it too strongly.

So Theo pointed a spearhead at him that was right for him.

"By the way, what about you? You were breathing about going to Roses City and flying a flag."

To the words, now Elias smiled invincibly.

"Pfft. Actually, he asked me to do a little big work for him at work today. I was just leaving to say hello to our guests."

Elias began to speak proudly after making such a forethought.

With dreams, Elias headed to Roses City, one of the country's largest cities, to start working at an arts merchant on edge.

The first of these days I run around as my husband's bag holder.

However, as I continued my days as an “apprentice," I gradually gained a sense of talent, and eventually became entrusted with the task one by one.

And after a long training, Elias was able to obtain forgiveness from her husband the other day as "independent”.

This visit to Harpertown was also made to greet “future customer candidates” in response to an incident entrusted to me by my husband.

"I see you've been working hard, too. Wait, can I sell oil here?

"Yeah, because it's an evening promise to go out the other way. We still have plenty of time."

"Oh, that would have been nice..."

"Well, how long has Mr. Theo been selling oil like that?

Pong and shoulder slapped from behind, frightening Theo.

Turning around in awe, there was a takumi figure there.

Theo smiles unexpectedly at his boss, smiling as usual.

If Takumi's moving gaze caught him and looked at the clock, he was about to plug in time to start preparing tickets for Flight 3.

"Wow, do it! I'm going back to work! Hey, if you like, write me a note at my place to stay over here. If the time seems right, let's go swallow at night!

"Aye! Well, I'll write you a note later and I'll take it that way."

Elias throws his voice on Theo's back as he rushes to grab his cap and try to walk away.

Takumi, on the other hand, had a bitter grin at how his men were still blind.

―――――

The next day, Elias came again when Theo was on the point of contact business as usual.

"Oh, you're working really hard."

"Why are you eyeing me from above, so, what can I do for you?

"Oh, was it a luggage flight? I wanted to ask him."

"Copy that. Then can I ask you to come this way?

Theo mixes the polite language of customer service mode with the undecorated tone of being friends with each other.

Elias accidentally blew out at the odd language.

"What are you talking about, work or private? Clearly."

"Shut up, I'm not feeling well when I'm talking to you about something. All right, so can I see your stuff?

"Come on, it's this guy..."

What Elias placed on the counter was a solid leather case.

A flat leather band is wrapped around the case.

Let's just keep in mind that the fasteners are securely secured with hemp strings and further wax seal the knots on those hemp strings.

Theo looks at this tightly sealed case.

"It's kind of a long time... but you don't have any hazardous materials in it, do you?

"Oh, that's okay. It's a deposit from a customer, and there shouldn't be anything particularly weird in it. I usually tailor carriage flights, but this time I was in a bit of a hurry, so I decided to use our luggage flights."

"I see, Roger. Then fill out the paper here."

Theo said so, handing Elias a slip for a luggage flight.

Elias fills the slip while soaking the ink in the feather pen provided.

Watching how it goes, Theo checks what's on hand.

"Should the destination be Roses City Station and the recipient be the store person?

"Oh, so, I asked you to contact me about your luggage arrival."

"Speaking of which, is there such a service in Roses City? That's a different city."

"What, you're not doing those services over here?

To Elias' words, Theo shook his neck to the side.

"No, it's hard to be honest over here. When it comes to the station staff, it's essentially just me and Takumi (acting station manager), and if it's just the next desk, I'm still not sure I can get in touch with them one house at a time."

"I see. I don't know what else to do, but you're a little inconvenient. Hey, hey, this is it?

That's what Elias tells Theo when he finishes writing his application.

I double-checked what was written there and nodded one.

"Yeah, that's not a problem. Well, that's all the price, so nice to meet you."

"Yes. Well, say hello to him."

"I did take care of it. Well, I'll sort it out."

Theo said that he carried the box to the shelf of the luggage storage area behind the station office.

Experience of “failure” when I started working in this station building suggests that I have a habit of checking if the box is not crushed or dirty when I leave my luggage.

When I checked the box as usual, I felt uncomfortable with the “contents”.

Though the contents of the vine cage feel quite stuck, I feel like I hear something bump into each other inside for that matter.

I was curious about that, Theo, once he grabbed the box on his shoulder and put his ear on the side, then tapped it gently with the pong as if to confirm the sound emitted from inside.

The sound of Cashan echoes in my ear.

The moment he heard the sound, Theo opened his eyes wide.

Slightly in a hurry, check the slip received

There, "artwork" was noted as the contents and "one point" in the quantity of the contents.

In other words, if this description is accurate, it would be difficult to think that something would bump into each other and make a sound inside.

I hope it's a mistake to hear, Theo pounding the box again.

Then again, the sound of Cashan echoed from inside just as earlier.

A cold sweat runs down Theo's back.

When I went back to the counter with my luggage on my shoulder, Elias was hanging his neck like a lot to see how Theo was doing.

"What's up? Was there anything wrong?

"... what's in this, can I ask you to go into more detail again?

"Ah, oh. The contents are a large plate of antiques..."

"Definitely one? Doesn't that mean it's got a few other pieces in it?

"No, that's not it. Definitely one... hey dude, what are you doing!?

Elias rushes to stop Theo, who brings out a knife while turning his face bright blue.

But when Theo quickly disconnected the hemp string, he removed the leather band and opened the lid.

And when I check in the box, I show it to Elias as well with my head in my arms.

"... are you serious?"

Elias was stunned.

What was in the box was a beautiful large plate with a beautiful pattern.

And the plates on which Elias was deposited were two in the middle, and had changed their appearance into a clean semi-circular composition.