Chapter 38: Haruka Himuro Isn’t Someone to Be Bullied

According to Ai Oda, if Quillan refused to serve these women, he would incite public outrage.

Those women might even stage a protest right at the café’s entrance, potentially making it impossible for the Moe Jam Café to stay open!

Quillan was growing increasingly amazed by this country of Japan. Fine then!

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

At any rate, working a part-time job was something he couldn’t avoid. He couldn’t actually let Ai Oda’s café go bankrupt; if that happened, his own life wouldn’t be easy either.

With no other choice, he agreed to Ai Oda’s demands. Quillan didn’t even change his outfit, except that the sign hanging on his chest had been tossed away. He then went out to the front hall to work alongside Miyuki Sakurai and Haruka Himuro.

Miyuki Sakurai and Haruka Himuro proved to be quick learners. Besides, waitstaff at a café didn’t need to handle overly complex tasks, so they naturally got the hang of things in no time. Miyuki Sakurai possessed an adorable face with a round, youthful baby-face charm, while Haruka Himuro appeared somewhat more mature—though that was referring to her figure!

The café was split across three floors, with the first-floor front hall being the smallest in area due to the staff breakroom and kitchen being located on the ground floor. Ai Oda was clever; she arranged the other waitresses on the second and third floors, leaving the front hall for Miyuki Sakurai and Haruka Himuro to tend to together.

In doing so, she essentially displayed the shop’s two cutest young girls right where customers would see them at first glance. Of course, the first floor now featured Quillan as well.

"Hey, handsome, over here!"

Someone called out. Quillan took a look, only to realize that almost all the seats on the first floor were occupied by women at this point.

The person waving at Quillan was none other than the lady named Yoshiko.

Seated beside her were two other beauties, one of whom was the very woman who had spoken to Quillan earlier—the one who claimed a man shouldn’t reject a woman.

For words like that to come out of a woman’s mouth—and a mature woman speaking to a high school boy at that—the tone was naturally dripping with flirtatious undertones!

It could even be called blatant teasing!

Steeling himself, Quillan walked over and inquired politely, "How can I help you three beautiful ladies?"

As he said this, Quillan gave a slight, polite bow. Seeing this, the three beauties whispered to one another while giggling inwardly. When Quillan looked back up, Yoshiko flashed him a smile and pointed to the empty seat at the table: "Handsome, sit down! Let’s chat for a bit, shall we?"

"I’m sorry..." Quillan politely declined. "I’m currently on the clock, so I’m afraid I can’t agree to that!"

"Look at him, he’s embarrassed again!"

The two women beside Yoshiko spoke in excitement, their eyes continuously wandering over Quillan.

"Oh my, didn’t I tell you earlier?" Yoshiko looked at Quillan with a teasing smirk and said, "It’s best for a man not to be so quick to turn down a woman’s invitation. Or is it that you find a public setting like this unexciting, handsome? Do you want to exchange phone numbers with me and set up a private date instead?"

Quillan felt immensely awkward. Facing three mature and rather open-minded beauties asking such direct questions made him feel hard-pressed to handle the situation!

After a moment’s thought, Quillan still asked, "Have you three ladies placed your orders yet? If not, we have..."

Halfway through Quillan’s sentence, Haruka Himuro suddenly hurried out from behind him, looking at Yoshiko and her group with a beaming smile as she said, "We have very delicious dishes, as well as exquisite pastries..."

Haruka held the order pad in one hand while her other hand was clenched tightly into a fist. Although she wore a smile, the subtle thread of tension in her expression couldn’t be concealed at all.

"Little girl, are you here to joke around?" Yoshiko was annoyed. Haruka looked exceptionally protective of Quillan, clearly coming off as a young girl crushing on him. As a woman, being interrupted at a moment like this naturally made her displeased. Yoshiko asked Haruka, "Excuse me, cute little girl, did we call you over? Besides, that other girl over there already took our order earlier—what are you running over here for now? Right now, we just want to chat quietly with this handsome young man for a bit. Please run along!"

"I-I’m sorry!" Haruka didn’t want to receive a customer complaint on her very first day of work, so she hurriedly apologized. Clenching her fists, she turned and left the table to find Miyuki Sakurai. The two whispered something to each other; then Miyuki Sakurai stomped her foot, while Haruka flicked her head and walked away.

It looked as though the two had had a minor disagreement, causing Quillan’s brow to furrow slightly.

He felt more and more that his situation was far from ideal—it was like he had fallen into a whole pit of women!

Furthermore, based on what just happened, Haruka seemed to have suffered a bit of a grievance here. He wondered if she was upset because of it...

Quillan was overthinking things, unaware that he had underestimated Haruka. Although Haruka’s family background was indeed unfortunate, it had tempered her inner resolve to be much stronger than an ordinary girl’s. Moreover, her real-world experience was clearly not something a simple girl like Miyuki Sakurai could match!

After leaving Miyuki Sakurai’s side, Haruka went to tend to other customers—a table near the corner where several beauties were seated, obviously also there for Quillan.

Why does Master have to be so charmingly radiant...

Haruka muttered softly in her heart, feeling that the more attractive Quillan was, the more endangered her position became!

Because of this, Haruka wasn’t about to give up so easily. After failing her attempt to interrupt Yoshiko and her group from harassing Quillan, Haruka intentionally walked over to this table with a larger group of female patrons to take their order.

"One fruit platter, five coffees, and three steaks, correct?"

She noted down the items as she took the order. Once finished, Haruka deliberately put on an apologetic tone: "I’m so sorry. Because the waiter you requested is being detained by other guests and doesn’t have time to come over, I, as your maid, will have to serve you instead. I hope you masters enjoy your meal!"

With that, Haruka turned around, a triumphant smile appearing at the corner of her lips. She didn’t walk away immediately, because she knew that saying this would undoubtedly spark doubt and dissatisfaction in these customers’ hearts!

"Wait a minute!"

Sure enough, the customers behind her called out to hold Haruka back...