I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life After Transferring, but I Fell into a Rom-Com Trap and a Hidden Battlefield No One Knows About - Chapter 20: "Work, work!" they keep pushing me… At this rate, my stamina's gonna run out before this café even gets back on its feet.

Chapter 20: “Work, work!” they keep pushing me… At this rate, my stamina’s gonna run out before this café even gets back on its feet.

“Damn… this place is a total wreck.”

The moment I arrived at the café and opened the door, my eyes were met with—

a scene straight out of an abandoned ruin.

No, this is completely different from what I imagined. I look around the interior, and sure, the wallpaper has been freshly replaced. But everything else? Absolute chaos.

“This isn’t a café—it’s a freaking garbage dump!”

Chairs are toppled over, furniture is stacked upside-down on tables, and the floor is covered in a thick layer of dust and mysterious white debris. Just stepping forward sends clouds of dust swirling into the air, clinging to the hem of my pants.

The only things that even suggest this is supposed to be a café are the new wallpaper and the sign at the entrance.

Above the door, a sign reads “LIBRE.”

…What the hell kind of name is that? No clue what it means, but I bet it’s just Sasaki’s old man’s weird taste.

“Ahaha… y-yeah… it’s a bit messy, huh?”

Sasaki gives a strained laugh, looking apologetic.

…Uh, this is way past “a bit” messy.

“Come on, normal people clean up after they finish working! At the very least, put the damn furniture back in place before leaving!!”

My retort goes unanswered as the scene remains an utter disaster.

“Well, tomorrow’s the big day, so we just have to clean up properly today!”

Tsunekawa speaks up, tying her hair back and rolling up her sleeves—

the very image of a housewife ready to take on serious chores.

Then, she stares right at us, her gaze practically screaming:

“Alright. Time to work.”

“…Why is it that the moment I arrive, the cleaning starts?”

“Because if we started earlier, you’d just use it as an excuse to slack off, Misaki-kun.”

…Hah?

“Wait, what the hell do you mean by that!?”

“Exactly what I said.”

Tsunekawa states it matter-of-factly, completely unapologetic.

“Misaki-kun, you’re always slacking off, so to make sure you actually work, we waited for you to get here first.”

“…Huh?”

Wait… so they deliberately waited for me to arrive just so I wouldn’t get out of working…?

“You seriously don’t trust me at all, huh?!”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you…”

Tsunekawa smiles sweetly before dropping the finishing blow.

“But you always look like you really don’t wanna do any work.”

“…”

…It feels like I just got thrown onto a bed of nails.

“Oi, that’s literally the same as not trusting me!!”

“Yes, yes, enough of that.”

My protest is immediately cut off by Sasaki-sensei.

“Alright, everyone, get ready! We’re starting the cleanup!”

With a loud clap, she shuts the café door.

—And just like that, forced labor began.

“Phase One!”

Sasaki-sensei claps again, taking charge like a commander.

“Misaki and Satohama, organize all the scattered tables and chairs! Yuki and Nakano, go fetch water and wipe everything down! Tsunekawa and I will take care of the dust on the floor! That’s Phase One! Phase Two will be announced once this is done!”

And just like that, we were forced into action.

“…Why the hell do I have to carry tables?”

I grumble in frustration.

“You’re a guy, so obviously, the heavy lifting is your job.”

“No, no, no! That logic is completely flawed!”

Sasaki-sensei… what are you, some Showa-era relic!?

“Sensei, that kind of reasoning is way too outdated.”

I try my best to sound calm and logical.

“Just because I’m a guy doesn’t mean I’m automatically good at physical labor. There are plenty of guys who are skinnier and weaker than some girls. So, saying ‘men are better at lifting’ is a narrow-minded and biased assumption!”

With my arms crossed, I flash a triumphant smirk.

“I see.”

Sasaki-sensei nods lightly.

“You do have a point.”

Oh? That was surprisingly easy—

“But this is no time for a debate! Get to work!”

“Guh…!!”

D-damn it, she saw right through me!?

I was planning to drag out the argument and stall for time, then say, “Oh wow, look at the time! Guess I gotta go!”—

but she totally called me out!!

Tch… I can’t win against her…

“Alright, enough chit-chat! Get moving!”

Tsunekawa claps her hands, urging us to start.

Reluctantly, I team up with Satohama to put the scattered tables and chairs back in order.

Damn it… my perfect plan got completely shut down!

Looks like it won’t work on Sasaki-sensei…

“Satohama-san, let’s start by clearing the tables first.”

I scan the room before suggesting the plan.

“These take up the most space, so if we don’t move them first, it’ll just get harder to work later.”

“Got it! Leave it to me!”

Brimming with enthusiasm, Satohama rolls up her sleeves and immediately grabs the nearest table. I reach for the other side to lift it with her.

“Alright, on three, let’s lift together—huh!?”

Before I even finish my sentence—

Satohama has already lifted the entire table by herself.

W-wait, what!?

Why is she carrying it alone!?

She’s way too strong!!

But more importantly—her view is completely blocked!

She’s walking blind with a whole table in her hands!

That’s dangerous!

“Ayana-chan! Be careful!”

Nakano, noticing the danger, quickly shouts out. The entire group turns to look at her. For a split second, I swear all of our heart rates spike.

“Satohama! That’s dangerous! Work together with Misaki properly!”

Even Sasaki-sensei scolds her in alarm, but the person in question—

“Don’t worry! This is totally fine—huh!? W-wait, crap!!”

…See!? I knew this would happen!!

Her footing wobbles—

And then—

“Wahhh?! I slipped—!!”

Her foot catches on a stray wooden plank, sending her stumbling forward.

At this rate, she—and the entire table—are going to come crashing down!

“Nakano-san! Support Satohama-san!”

I quickly gave the order while holding down one side of the table, reducing the burden on her.

Nakano reacted immediately, managing to support Satohama’s body just in time.

“Phew… that was a close one…”

“Ayana-chan! That was seriously dangerous!”

“Ahaha, sorry, sorry! But hey, it turned out fine, right?”

No, it absolutely did NOT!!

“Satohama-san, I’m begging you, please carry this with me properly…”

I pressed my fingers against my forehead and let out a sigh.

Honestly, if she could’ve done it alone, I was planning to take a short break in the meantime.

But after seeing her struggle just now… no matter how I looked at it, it was only going to make things harder.

“Sorry, sorry! Nagisa-chan~ Don’t make that face, I promise I’ll help properly this time!”

“Yeah, you’re totally the type who says, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t drag you down!’ while actively dragging everyone down…”

“That’s so mean! I don’t do that!”

“No, you totally do.”

Despite the back-and-forth, Satohama and I successfully moved the table to its designated spot and reached for the next one.

The café wasn’t particularly large, but surprisingly, there were quite a lot of tables and chairs.

If it were just the chairs, that would’ve been one thing. But moving these heavy tables over and over… this was practically construction work.

Man… I’m exhausted…

As I silently complained to myself, memories from the past surfaced in my mind.

I never wanted to join a club, but at the very least, I thought I’d be able to slack off, read books, and take it easy.

And yet, here I was, playing café mover for some reason.

Back then, I was so bored I wanted to escape… but now, I realized just how peaceful that time actually was.

Cursing my fate, I lifted another table once again.

Once everything was in order, Nakano and Sasaki wiped down the surfaces, while Sasaki-sensei and Tsunekawa took brooms and dustpans to sweep up the accumulated dust and white debris from the floor.

The tasks were clearly divided, and the first phase was completed without issue. But we weren’t done yet.

“Alright, that’s it for phase one. Next, we clean the floors.”

Sasaki-sensei scanned the room as she continued.

“There should be spare mops in the restroom. Go grab them and start mopping. The café isn’t that big, so if everyone pitches in, it’ll be over quickly. I’ll be stepping out to get new coffee cups, so make sure you all do a good job.”

With that, Sensei grabbed her beloved coat, swung open the café door, and left.

That left us students… and “phase two” waiting ahead.

“Alright, let’s get to cleaning! Especially you, Misaki-kun!”

Nakano stretched widely before flashing a mischievous grin at me.

“The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home, you know?”

“…Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

No need to rub it in!!

Actually, while Satohama and I were moving tables earlier, I had noticed something.

Nakano had been working like crazy.

Not only did she finish wiping the tables, but afterward, she even grabbed a broom and helped sweep the floor alongside the teachers.

…Why was she trying so hard? What’s the point of going all out like this?

Or… am I just that much of a slacker?

No, I won’t deny that I like to take it easy, but it’s not like I’m completely useless to the point where someone needs to remind me to do my part…

Well, for now, let’s just focus on finishing this “phase two” as soon as possible.

We each grabbed a mop from the restroom and were about to start cleaning when—

“Wait a second.”

“…What now?”

I looked at Tsunekawa, a little annoyed. Just when I was about to actually put in some effort…

“It’s good that we’re all cleaning, but if we just start randomly, it’ll be inefficient and take longer.”

“…And what do you mean by that?”

Tsunekawa nodded slightly and continued.

“If we divide the café into sections and assign each person an area, we can avoid wasting effort and prevent moments like, ‘Wait, has this part been cleaned already?’”

Huh… that actually makes sense.

Thinking about it, if we just started scrubbing randomly, someone was bound to go, “Hey, did we already clean this part?” And we’d just waste time.

…Tsunekawa’s surprisingly sharp at times like these.

And since I wanted to finish and go home as soon as possible, I had to admit—I appreciated the idea.

With that, we all agreed to divide the floor into separate cleaning areas.

To keep it fair, we wrote the section names on slips of paper and drew lots from a box.

And the results—

I got assigned to the “Counter.”

…The area where the shopkeeper prepares coffee.

The seating area was split into four sections, each taken by one of the girls.

…Huh? Isn’t my workload way bigger?

Sure, my assigned space was technically the smallest.

But I had to clean the floor and wipe down the counter while organizing all the scattered equipment.

Unlike the others, who just had to mop an open floor, mine required actual effort!

This was totally the hardest job!!

“Why did I have to pull the worst one…?”

“That’s just bad luck, isn’t it?”

Tsunekawa smirked slightly, as if she was enjoying my misery.

“Damn it! I was praying not to get the worst one, and yet the gods have forsaken me…! How cruel…!”

“Well, don’t worry.”

Nakano suddenly spoke up, her voice unusually kind.

“If I finish my section early, I’ll help you out.”

…Wait, for real?

“Seriously?”

I instinctively looked at her, and she awkwardly scratched her cheek before answering.

“D-Don’t look at me like that… I mean it, okay?”

“Our senpai looks like he’s just glimpsed the light of salvation…”

Of course, I did!!

Nakano was nothing short of a savior to me.

Like a divine beacon cutting through my despair—

“But, just so you know, that doesn’t mean you get to slack off.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it!”

Even a little help was a huge relief.

“Fufu, good for you.”

“Hell yeah! I can’t thank you enough!”

But—

Just as I was basking in the joy of victory, a cold, merciless voice cut through the moment.

“Misaki-kun, the task you drew is your responsibility. Ouka, helping him is not allowed.”

“…What!?”

Huh!?

“But, Misaki-kun’s section is obviously harder—”

“Everyone handles their own job. That’s just common sense, right?”

No, no, no, hold up.

“This is completely unfair!! The workload balance is ridiculous!!”

“Maybe, but it’s still manageable if you take your time. You don’t need help.”

“Easy for you to say when you’re not the one doing it!!”

“Alright, less whining, more mopping! The sooner you finish, the sooner you’re free to leave, right?”

And with that, Tsunekawa grabbed a mop and walked off to her assigned section.

…This girl is actually a demon.

I stared at her retreating figure in despair.

In the end, I had no choice but to suffer through it alone.

And after it was all over—

I collapsed onto a chair by the counter, completely drained.

I don’t wanna do anything anymore…