Epilogue

"Raul-kun! Fino-chan!"

Inside the event venue, ravaged by monsters and reduced to wreckage, Manager Seara spotted Raul and the others emerging from the back of the rubble and came hurrying over.

At the sight of Assistant Manager Visor and Airi following behind her, Raul and Fino let out a sigh of relief in spite of themselves.

"Thank goodness, you're all unharmed…"

"You're not unharmed!!!"

Cutting Raul off mid-sentence, Airi grabbed him by the shoulders and raised her voice.

"What is this!? These wounds! What in the world happened to you two!?"

"H-hey, ow, that hurts…"

"Of course it hurts!? Anything broken? Is there anywhere you can't move…?"

… Cuts ran across every inch of bare skin: face, hands, and feet alike. The clothes the Manager had made for them were ripped to shreds, and blood was seeping out of the exposed skin underneath. They were, quite literally, the textbook picture of "battered and bruised." Maybe it was the lingering effect of being doused in Fino's mana, but Raul's vision still hadn't cleared.

Once she'd finished checking over Raul's injuries, Airi reached out and touched the cut on Fino's cheek.

"… Honestly. If you don't treat these right away they'll scar, you know? Come on, go wash them at that water tap, and then sit down over there…"

"O-okay…!"

"'All-A,' thanks, as always…"

"I-it's nothing, really. It's good practice for me, isn't it? With you two always coming back hurt…"

Even as she answered Raul's thanks gruffly, Airi dug bandages and disinfectant out of her bag. And, in defiance of her tone, the tail still attached to her skirt was wagging back and forth, looking very pleased with itself… And then.

… All at once, a hand settled on Raul's shoulder.

He looked up to find Manager Seara smiling gently down at him.

"Good work, Raul-kun… You protected Fino-chan, didn't you?"

Her amber eyes softened on the injured Raul, as if in commendation. Then, after a moment, the Manager turned to Fino, chestnut hair swaying, and smiled.

"Welcome home, Fino-chan."

"Ah…"

In that instant, Fino's blue eyes went wide, as if she'd just realized something.

Surrounding the girl, the Assistant Manager and Airi also let their expressions soften and spoke up.

"Ah… welcome back, Fino-kun."

"Welcome home, Fino-san."

"— Welcome back, Fino."

Speaking up last of all, Raul gave Fino a light pat on the back.

… After a moment.

Wagging her tattered tail so hard it looked about to tear off, a smile breaking across her scratched-up face, Fino nodded vigorously.

"Everyone, I'm home!!!!!"

"By the way, Raul-kun, just where on earth did you go?"

"Ah, well…"

… Faced with the Assistant Manager's question, Raul faltered for a moment.

Former Amada Manager Quan's conspiracy, the goal behind Fino's kidnapping, the cause of the monster attack, the matter of Assistant Manager Karen… at a loss for where to even begin, Raul started to speak haltingly.

"For starters, this whole disturbance was all Amada's…"

"Ah!"

Abruptly, a man's voice rang out through the rubble.

"To put it bluntly, the kidnapping of Lady Fino and the whole monster ruckus this time were all the doing of our store's previous manager!"

"Wha—…"

When the Leon staff all turned their gaze at once, there stood a hazel-haired man, accompanied by a single woman, his arms folded with full self-assurance.

"Ah, Amada's new Manager…!"

"Ka-chan…"

Fino and Manager Seara drew in their breath in surprise, exclaiming almost in unison.

The figure of Amada's Assistant Manager Karen, who, after the rooftop barrier had been undone, had dragged former Manager Quan off below, caught Raul's eye too, and he found himself staring.

Stepping forward in front of the Leon staff without hesitation, Karen, binder still tucked under her arm, bowed deeply.

"For all the trouble I've caused you on this occasion, I sincerely apologize."

"I've heard everything from Karen!"

… Beside her, Amada's Manager Cloud spoke up.

"It seems the fortune-teller who recommended I marry Lady Fino was actually Karen, acting on former Manager Quan's orders! In other words, although we lost this maid-cafe contest, there was never any need for the marriage to begin with!"

"… Manager Cloud, please be quiet."

Karen shot a sidelong glance at Cloud, who'd just demolished her conversational setup at full force, and sighed.

"… To begin with, the whole thing started because I consulted former Manager Quan about improving the image of Amada's Royal Capital Store. Manager Quan said he had a good idea and instructed me to…"

"Amada Onee-san!!!"

Cutting Karen off, Fino abruptly raised her voice.

"Hey, what about Amada's previous manager from earlier!!?"

"R-right! What about Quan!? What the hell happened to him!!?"

"You can leave that to me!"

In front of the clamoring group, Manager Cloud thumped his chest.

"So that he can never come back to the royal capital again, I'll have my old man transfer him to the 'Amada Magic Hell Island Store'!"

"H-Hell Island Store!!?"

"That's right!"

In response to Raul's parroting, Cloud nodded with brimming confidence.

"It's the branch we assign employees who've royally screwed up. The surrounding Black Dragon Current makes escape on your own impossible, and the place itself is a remote, ocean-isolated island where it gets up to 50 degrees during the day and down to minus 50 at night. Until he reaches retirement, he can serve customers like Hell-Bears and Hell-Seals. We won't let him lay a hand on Fino-kun again, so rest easy!"

"H-haa…"

… Raul couldn't help giving Cloud a half-lidded stare.

Beside Raul, Fino looked up at Karen and spoke up in a puzzled tone.

"… Amada Onee-san, you've got a really difficult look on your face…"

"It can't be helped."

Manager Seara, gently placing a hand on Fino's shoulder, answered the puzzled mutter softly.

"Ka-chan… Karen-san, you see, has a great deal of respect for Manager Quan."

"… Yes."

At Seara's words, Karen narrowed her eyes with deep feeling… and then.

Sucking in her breath, Karen rounded on her, voice sharpening with suspicion.

"Wait, how do you know about that, Seara-san?"

"Ah… come to think of it, I haven't told you yet, have I?"

With that, Seara produced a small stick-shaped MagicPlayer.

The moment the girl flicked the switch, a flat, detached female voice flowed from the speaker at one end.

"— I respected your skill as the manager of the Royal Capital Store, and I was prepared to follow you as your subordinate for the rest of my life. However —"

"Wha—…!"

Karen stared, dumbstruck at the sound of her own voice coming through the speaker.

In front of her, Manager Seara grinned brightly.

"You see, an Amada staff member once left a bugging device behind at our shop… and since this seemed like the perfect opportunity, last night, I returned it to Ka-chan. I slipped it into your binder, near the edge."

"…!!!!!"

Glancing down at her beloved binder with a start… Karen plucked out a fingertip-sized item nestled between the documents and turned eyes burning with anger toward Seara.

"Wait, you can't tell me you've been listening in on the exchanges between me and Manager Quan…!"

"Didn't I tell you? That I would absolutely not hand over Fino-chan."

In front of Karen, who was grinding her teeth, Seara feigned innocence as she answered.

"For that, I wanted whatever information I could get… but, I'm glad. As I thought, Ka-chan really is a good girl."

"Th-that's…!"

… Briefly disarmed by Seara's words, Karen let her eyes wander, and Seara smiled at her, looking faintly amused.

"And, you know, I didn't realize Ka-chan was such a cat person? To think the moment you got back to your apartment you'd slip into baby talk and have whole conversations with the kitty…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!"

In that instant, with an absolutely unbelievable shriek, Karen flung herself at Seara, and the moment she snatched the MagicPlayer out of Seara's hand, she wailed with tears in her eyes.

"Y-you, you horrible woman…!"

Glaring resentfully at the chestnut-haired girl who was smiling sweetly right in front of her, Amada's Royal Capital Store Assistant Manager Karen declared in a voice she could barely keep from spilling over.

"As I thought, I'll absolutely crush Magic Shop Leon…!"

In front of Karen, Seara let out a soft laugh and winked at her, looking somehow pleased.

"I won't lose either, Ka-chan?"

… And then.

"However. Looking at you again now, you really are quite cute."

"—!?"

Ignoring the exchange between Seara and Karen, Manager Cloud strode straight up to Fino.

Gazing intently down at Fino as she backed away with a wary expression, Cloud eventually spoke, slow and deliberate.

"Let me ask you one more time. You really have no intention of marrying me?"

"Hey, you…!!!"

… This guy, again…!?

As Raul instinctively braced himself, Fino clutched at his sleeve and shook her head.

"No way! I will not be marrying you!?"

"I see. That is regrettable!"

In front of Fino, who had flatly turned down the proposal, the new Amada Manager Cloud laughed broadly, shrugged, and turned on his heel without missing a beat.

 

*

 

"My, my, what a calamity…"

Letting out a heavy sigh as he watched the Amada pair depart, Assistant Manager Visor shook his head.

… Just then, Fino, who had been glaring at Cloud's retreating back, suddenly tugged at Raul's sleeve.

"Hey, Raul. By the way, what was that whole 'marriage' thing?"

"Eh…?"

"Hey, what is 'marriage'? What do you do when you do it?"

"Th-that's…"

… Faced with Fino's innocent question, Raul found himself at a complete loss for words.

In front of the two of them, Manager Seara spoke up with a beaming smile.

"Marriage, you see, is when two people who really love each other promise to stay together forever."

"Really!?"

The moment she heard those words, Fino's tail shot straight up, her eyes going wide…

The next moment, a soft sensation wrapped itself around Raul's arm.

The girl, flinging herself at Raul and latching onto his arm, cried out happily.

"Then I'll marry Raul—!!!!!"

"Wha—…"

The warmth of the girl pressed against his arm, the sweet, milky scent wafting up from her. As Raul stood there, too rattled to speak, Airi panicked and burst out.

"H-hey, Fino-san!!!!?"

"Hehe, hey, Airi, come marry us too!!?"

"H-hey, what are you saying—!!!!?"

"… Oh my, oh my."

Manager Seara and Assistant Manager Visor softened their gaze, watching their subordinates' friendly antics with fond smiles.

In front of Airi, who was beet-red and shouting, Fino laughed happily.