I Opened a Café in Another World

Volume 2, Chapter 15: Basil wants to express their wishes.

Basil headed towards Café Omusubi. Customers were entering the entrance one after another, so the café was already open. Basil looped around and entered the café from the back entrance. They peeked into the kitchen to see that person.

Zeke Brown.

The man that worked with Risa. Although he couldn’t see Basil, he couldn’t stand natto, just like them. He was the closest to Risa, not including the Claudes.

Basil was confident he would be able to help. At first they wanted to approach Gilford, who could see spirits, but unfortunately he wasn’t in the area. Even if they wanted to ask for his whereabouts, only Risa could commune with spirits, and Gilford’s spirits were also nowhere to be seen.

They gave up on meeting Gilford, and decided to come to Zeke, who could cook.

Zeke moved quickly around the kitchen, busy working. It would be difficult to ask him for help right now. Just then, Basil noticed the other person in the kitchen.

I saw that human when I went with Master to the castle. He can make food, just like Risa and Zeke.

Even so, Basil didn’t really know who he was, so they decided to ask Zeke for help.

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After they cleaned up the closed café, Helena and the chef from the palace left. Zeke stared down in deep thought, both hands on the countertop. Basil suddenly flew into his vision, and he flinched backwards away from Basil and the cutting of rubell.

“W-what?!”

“Mister Zeke, this is for Master!”

“… Hm? This is… Rubell? Where did this come from?”

“I went to get it!”

Basil puffed up their chest with pride, until they heard Zeke mutter to himself.

“Is this some sort of magic?”

Basil was completely crushed. Not only could Zeke not see them, but he couldn’t even hear them… But they were not to be deterred. They began to wave the rubell around to express their existence.

In a room where the air was still, the rubell plant shook by itself. It qualified as a scene in a horror movie, but Basil’s efforts were answered.

“Ah… are you Miss Risa’s spirit?”

“Yes! I’m Basil!”

Basil shook the rubell plant harder to show agreement.

“I want Master to eat this! I’m sure you can make it tasty!”

Basil came to find Zeke and no one else, because they wanted him to make it into a delicious dish. Rubell could be eaten raw, and was more nutritious that way. However, it was absolutely disgusting raw. It had a stinging bitterness with a distinct grassy taste.

Basil used the leaves on the cutting to try and act out the words, “please cook this for Risa.”

Zeke stared at the shaking rubell at length, finally nodding.

He understood!

Basil smiled from ear to ear, only to be crushed by his words.

“What dance is this? Is this a ritual of some sort for spirits?”

Zeke did not understand at all. Basil sighed and put the rubell on the countertop. Charades featuring rubell was a failure. Basil quickly realized that just shaking the plant was not enough to show such a complicated concept like cooking for Risa and wondered whether there was another way of communicating.

Oh! I can just write on paper!

Ignoring Zeke, who bemusedly poked the rubell that suddenly stopped moving, Basil flew towards the hall.

If I remember correctly, it should be somewhere around here…

Basil peeked under the counter as they had seen Risa do many times.

There it is!

They gathered a single chit and one pencil into their arms and flew back to the kitchen. Their flight was a little wobbly, but they somehow managed to land next to the rubell.

“… A chit and a pencil?”

Zeke tilted his head at the objects floating in from the hall.

Basil took a breath and placed them on the worktable. They spread the paper out on the counter and began to write with the pencil. Scritch scritch, went the paper as words slowly formed.

“Risa eat rubell good”

The handwriting and the words were childish and awkward, but Basil did their best. Finishing the last “d,” Basil sat exhausted on the table with the pencil and watched Zeke’s reaction.

“I’m guessing you want Miss Risa to eat this rubell, so you want me to make it into a tasty dish?”

Basil wobbled over to the rubell plant and shook its leaves.

“Does that mean yes?”

“Yes!”

Basil shook the leaves harder. At long last, he understood.

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It took a lot of time and energy to write words with the pencil, so Basil quickly gave up. They couldn’t keep shaking the rubell either, as it was the main ingredient. To that end, Zeke placed a teacup and one chopstick on the table and suggested one tap on the teacup as “yes,” two taps as “no.” If Basil wanted to say more, they could write on the paper.

“By the way, did you already decide on what to make?”

“Nope, not at all!”

Basil took the chopstick and tapped the teacup twice.

“I see. Rubell, huh… I’ve never had it before, though. It’s rumored to taste pretty bad…”

Rubell, in other words the Mythic Plant, was usually sold at a high price as a medicinal herb. This was the first time Zeke had ever seen the actual plant. He tore off a small piece and tried it, chewing once or twice before clapping a hand over his mouth and rushing to the sink to wash out the flavor.

“… That… Was worse than I thought…”

He grimaced, the taste refusing to leave his mouth, and returned to the worktable.

“This is going to be quite the annoying ingredient to cook… You went to get this especially for Miss Risa though, so I can’t give up now, can I?”

“Yes! Please help!”

Basil tapped the teacup once, and Zeke nodded.

“Okay. I’ll try my best.”

So the long night of experimentation began.