The Story Where I, the Strongest Mercenary, Was Reincarnated as a Bullied Introverted High School Student ~ When I Was Freely Enjoying My School Life, for Some Reason the Girls Around Me Started Glancing at Me~ - Chapter 23: Unrivaled Language Skills

I was lecturing Kanai in the kitchen when a young foreign couple came in. From their features, they were probably French. They spoke to Sudo, the high school girl employee who was at the store entrance, in fluent English.

“We’re looking for a place to eat, what kind of restaurant is this?”

“Ah! Um!? S-Sorry! One more, please!”

“Well, we’d like to have a meal. I’m allergic to shrimp, would that be okay?”

“Shrimp is… that’s ebi, right? Ah, what’s allergy? Does she want to eat lots of shrimp?”

Was she trying to kill her? Sudo had completely panicked. None of the other high school girls around seemed to understand either. It was easy-to-understand English, but the nearby high schools had low academic rankings. And the pig dressed as the store manager predictably didn’t lend a hand, just glared at the high school girls with an expression that said “figure it out somehow”. When Kanai tried to go help from the kitchen, I stopped her with my hand.

This was the expected development. Instead, I came out of the kitchen and walked over to them.

“This restaurant serves various Japanese dishes. You can have a meal for about 1000 yen per person. We also have dishes that don’t use shrimp.”

When I smiled pleasantly, the expressions of the two French people changed from troubled to smiling.

“Amazing! You can speak French! Alright, we’ve decided on this restaurant!”

“Oh! You’re very good at it! And it sounds fun to be able to eat various things!”

“It’s nowhere near French cuisine. I’ll do my best to satisfy you two gourmets though.”

When I made a light joke and winked, the two burst into laughter. The high school girl employees and Saida were stunned seeing me suddenly speak fluent French.

“Sudo, I’ll handle guiding foreign customers, so please coordinate well with Kanai in the kitchen for serving the food.”

“Huh? O-okay!”

After giving instructions in fluent Japanese, I guided the two to their seats. Then I placed an English menu and told them my recommendations before returning to the front of the kitchen.

“Kanai, there will probably be many foreign customers today, so I’ll handle customer service. I’m counting on you for the kitchen.”

“F-Fushimi. You can speak English? Wait, was that English just now?”

“That woman is allergic to shrimp. Also, if possible, please make hot dishes lukewarm. Many foreigners can’t handle very hot food.”

“O-okay! I’ll be careful!”

“Culture differs by nationality. French people enjoy their meals leisurely, but Americans have a fast food culture. I’ll handle judging that and explaining serving times to customers, so please follow my instructions.”

Saying that, I put a headset on Kanai, then I attached a pin microphone and earphone to my chest. These were things I had borrowed from Char at home, thinking they would be needed. After doing a quick test to make sure we could hear each other, more foreign customers arrived.

“Japan is so hot! Give us beer for everyone!”

This time it was a group of five German men. They were apparently drinking from midday. I immediately told the kitchen through the intercom to bring five beers.

“Certainly, I’ll guide you to your seats.”

“Oh! Wait, you can speak German!?”

“Yes, German tends to get loud, so please speak in English as much as possible.”

“You’re not wrong! Gahahaha! You guys, in Japan they drink beer cold, you know? It’s weird, right!”

That’s why I’d said to be quiet. After that, more foreign customers came, and I responded in various languages. Saida watched this with displeasure, while the high school girls looked at me with somehow passionate gazes. I could speak 21 major languages. Well, there shouldn’t be any problems.

Since the restaurant was getting crowded, I went to speak to the middle-aged man and woman who had entered first.

“Chairman Inagaki, President Mizushima. I hope you enjoyed your meal?”

Naturally, I had researched them beforehand. They were the representatives of “Yamano Holdings”, the parent company of this restaurant “Kuroyagitei”.

This was probably Char’s doing. Last night when I’d said “a man named Saida is doing whatever he wants at the restaurant”, I think she took action. She immediately hacked the addresses of “Yamano Holdings” executives. Then, impersonating them, she probably sent messages requesting the chairman and president to come inspect this restaurant. This morning Char had suddenly decided to go out and play with Ami, so she seemed to have forgotten to tell me about it.

“Oh, so you know who we are?”

“Ahaha, we were trying to disguise ourselves. I even wore plain clothes, you know?”

“Of course. I apologize, but since there are waiting customers, could you please leave in about five minutes?”

The two frowned at my words.

“Are you throwing us out? We’re your employers, you know?”

“That’s right, let us stay longer.”

I smiled pleasantly and bowed my head.

“You two are also one group of customers right now. Unfortunately, I cannot give special treatment.”

When I said that, the two looked at each other.

“…This child is truly wonderful!”

“Indeed, it would be a waste to keep you as just a part-timer. I’d want to give you to my daughter.”

They said that and started laughing. Apparently they had put on an act to test me. I didn’t feel great about it, but I was getting fired today anyway, so whatever. While paying on the spot, the two spoke to me.

“That girl Kanai is nice too. When I ordered dessert, she brought warm tea as a service.”

“Indeed, she’s energetic and has a lovely smile. When listening to us talk, she properly nodded while looking at us.”

“Ah, that girl is surprisingly serious and considerate. But she has a really foul mouth, you know?”

As we laughed about that, heavy footsteps could be heard approaching.

“Hey hey! What are you chattering about! Hurry up and kick out those lingering old geezer and hag! You trash Fushimi!”

He had probably never once looked up information about his own company. Not knowing that they were his ultimate employers, Saida hurled abuse at both me and the two. He was in a good mood, finally finding a moment to berate me.

“Chatting happily with customers! Don’t slack off!”

“Hmm… is it slacking off for staff to talk enjoyably with customers? It wasn’t even that long a conversation.”

“True, we just came to eat. But if we can have experiences beyond that, it would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

“Shut up! If you’ve eaten and paid, get out already! Customers in shabby clothes who don’t have much money! We’re busy here!”

You’re only doing dishwashing though… Probably unhappy that I was active in customer service, Saida was in an even worse mood than usual and took out his frustrations on anyone, even customers.

When I pressed my fingers against my forehead as if I had a headache, the two patted me consolingly.

“Fufu… We’ll come again later. Next time in proper attire.”

“The name tag says… Saida. Let’s look into him a bit, and the restaurant’s records too. It was good we came, Fushimi-san. See you later.”

Saying that, the two left with scary smiles.

Saida, you’ll probably have trouble finding another job too.