An Old Man Restaurant Owner Is Unparalleled by Relying on His Old Tricks. It Turns Out, He’s the Legendary Dungeon Conqueror. - 41

Chapter 41: A Different Kind of Request

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“Phew… I managed to get through another day somehow.”

I was closing the shop. After I finished cleaning up and preparing for tomorrow, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and sighed deeply. The number of customers I served today reached a brand new record. I served over 2000 customers today. Ever since I livestreamed the S-rank promotion exam that I did the other day, the number of customers had increased exponentially. However, just like usual, I was the one doing everything. From cooking, taking orders, serving the food, cashier, cleaning, everything was all me. 

“I thought I was good at multitasking, but this… This is definitely starting to overwhelm my brain.”

So far, I managed to avoid any major mistakes, but recently, I started receiving customers from overseas too. It seemed they came to my restaurant because they had seen my videos. At this rate, the number of customers would only keep on increasing. The view count on my videos was skyrocketing too. More customers meant I had to use more ingredients, which forced me to dive into the dungeon more on my days off to find more ingredients. I only had one day off a week. I really had no time to rest. 

“Having too many customers is a good problem to have, but still… I really need to seriously consider hiring some part-timers. Fortunately, I should be able to afford paying them proper wages now… Well, the interview process is going to be hard though.”

I was considering my future options when…

“Uncle Kenichi, thank you for your hard work today~”

“Nanoha?”

The one that came into the restaurant was my niece, Nanoha, who worked at the Dungeon Management Agency. She was donned in a suit. She probably came here straight after finishing work… Or maybe she was still on the clock. 

“And congratulations on getting promoted to S-rank! As expected from Uncle Kenichi!”

“Thanks. I’m glad I could live up to my adorable niece’s expectations.”

“No,no,no. There’s no need to be humble, Uncle Kenichi! I knew that exam was nothing for you! You even handled the anomalies at the Inokashira Dungeon… Everyone is talking about you at work!”

“Is that so?”

“That is so~”

I tried to ask her to tell me more about it and it turned out my recent accomplishments had been getting a lot of praise within the Dungeon Management Agency. They said they had me to thank for because all of those precious A-rank explorers could come back safely. 

“So, what brings you here today? Do you have another request from the Dungeon Management?”

“Hahaha~ No, no. I’m not here because of my workplace today. I’m here because of another reason.”

“Another reason?”

“That’s right. Hey, Koto-chan, come on in.”

“U-Uncle… Good evening.”

“Huh? Koto? What are you doing in Tokyo? And this late at night..?”

Koto was one of my six nieces, which meant Koto was Nanoha’s cousin. Kotona was a 16 years old high school girl and she was supposed to be attending a high school in Hiroshima. 

“A-Actually… I’ve made my debut as an idol. I recently moved to Tokyo because of it.”

“For real?!”

I was stunned upon hearing the unexpected news. Well, it wasn’t completely unexpected to be fair. After all, Koto had always had a fair face since she was young. She was an objectively beautiful girl and all of the family, including me, always said things like… 

“Koto is going to be very beautiful when she’s older.”

“She might become an actress.”

“No, no, she will become an idol.”

And it wasn’t just because our family was biased. A few years ago, she came to visit me in Tokyo when she was still a middle schooler and she got scouted by several talent agents just because of her looks alone.

“But still, what a surprise. I mean, you are cute enough to become an idol. There’s no denying that, but I thought you didn’t like to be in the spotlight?”

“Ye-Yeah… I still have a hard time performing in front of people, but… I thought this could be my chance to change that part of myself.”

When she saw an audition for an idol group, Koto took her chance and applied to the audition and to her surprise, she got accepted easily. 

“I see. So what idol group are you in?”

“I-It’s Phoenix Mountain 38…”

“Phoenix Mountain 38?!”

Phoenix Mountain 38 was a super popular idol group. That was also the idol group Miku Kanamoto belonged to.

“You know, Uncle has done a collaboration livestream with Miku Kanamoto before. She’s also in Phoenix Mountain 38.”

“Ye-Yeah. I’ve seen it… U-Umm… Uncle, I have a favor to ask…”

“A favor? Oooh, so the one asking for a favor is Koto,huh?”

“Yeah~ Like I said, I’m not here as the representative from the Dungeon Management Agency.”

it seemed Nanoha was here as a moral support for Koto. Nanoha probably had heard what Koto wanted. 

“If it’s Koto asking, of course I will do everything in my power to make your wish come true. You don’t need to ask Nanoha to accompany you, Koto.”

“Ahaha~ I already told her the same thing too~”

Well, Koto had always been shy, even with me, her own uncle. So I could understand why Koto didn’t have the courage to come to me alone. I chuckled to myself, finding my niece to be adorable when Koto shyly muttered. 

“Actually… It seems I’m an awakened too.”

“Huh?”

I was shocked to my core once again as Koto continued on. 

“I just found out that I’m also an awakened after they tested me recently and… And since I’m an awakened, I thought maybe… I could appear in Miku-senpai’s channel. I’m a huge fan of Miku-senpai… Not only is she super cute, but she’s also amazing at dancing and singing! She’s always working hard and she’s good at variety shows too! Also, it turns out she’s really kind and cool in real life! She’s truly the idol among idols!!”

Suddenly, Koto became so excited. She rambled on about Miku Kanamoto while breathing heavily.

“You know, I attended Miku-senpai’s handshake event and I almost got a nosebleed just because of her idol aura alone!! I thought I could get closer to her if I debuted in Phoenix Mountain 38 too and to my surprise, I’m also an awakened, just like her!! This is the perfect chance for me to get closer to her! I can become closer to her more than anyone else! But you know… The agency told me it’d be too dangerous for me to dive into the dungeon right now! That’s why I thought… Maybe the agency might let me go into the dungeon if Uncle comes with me. After all, you’re an S-rank explorer!”

“Wa-Wai—”

Her eyes were practically sparkling. She was so passionate and fired up. She wasn’t like the shy niece I knew. 

“That’s why… Uncle Kenichi!! Please help me!!”

Though I was a bit overwhelmed by all the sudden flood of information, but I still tried my hardest to maintain my composure as her uncle. Eventually, I managed to force my answer out of my mouth. 

“Le-Leave it to me.”

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T/N: Wow, Miku has a lot of die hard fans ( ˶°ㅁ°)