The Restaurant: Chapter 2: Curses and Exorcism (Patreon)

Isekai Restaurant

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2: Curses and Exorcism

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- Silas -

I looked at the crowd gathered in my small Restaurant with a growing satisfaction.

A small group of regular customers came to my Restaurant. Some of them were oddballs while some had become good friends with me. 

For example, right now, when the rush hour had ended and I was sitting with some of my regulars, playing games.

"Heal me, heal me." Suzuki shouted while Saitama rushed in to attack the other team.

I cast a low heal on Suzuki's character, Momonga and threw in two buffs to reduce physical and magical damage later.

Our last team member, Mikami, tanked attacks meant for me.

Suzuki finished conjuring his spell and landed a massive AoE on the opponent team, clearing them all.

“Yeahhh!”

We cheered at our victory.

The crowd gathered behind us did the same.

The whole place had become almost like a close-knit family.

At one corner, Touma, Miu and Naruto were training under the guidance of Hayato who was drinking tea with the rest of the old men.

The three cheered at our victory and were quickly rewarded with a bash on their heads by the old man, making all of them return back to their forms with a  bump on each of their heads.

I got up and let the three play the rest, passing by Naruto and brushing his hair lightly, earning a smile from the boy.

“How are you liking your new home, Naruto?”

“It’s awesome. Everyone is very good to me. Apachai is fun to play around with. Pervy-sensei is funny. Shigure Nee-san teaches me how to throw Kunai and said she will even teach me how to use a sword and Miu Nee-san makes really good food. Although Akisame-sensei’s lessons are hard, he is really good.” He shouted excitedly, telling me about everyone in the Dojo.

It has been two weeks since he was adopted by Hayato-san and the guy has been nothing but happy. It was a drastic change from the kid who couldn’t even believe that I would feed him in my Restaurant. The kid got a proper haircut and a change of clothes and looked like a completely different person with the confidence he had now.

“Yes. All the Masters at the Dojo like Naruto-kun a lot. He has even been able to keep up with training many adults cannot. In fact, Grandpa found that he has an insane amount of Ki and can become a very great Martial Artist, even a Legendary Master like Grandpa.” Miu said.

“I will totally become a legendary Master. dattebayo!” The boy in question shouted with excitement, making me smile.

“You sure will. But you need to study and train properly for that.”

“Umm.”

As we were talking, the door to the Restaurant opened once again and another familiar face came in.

“Welcome Sakura-san.”

“Hello, Silas-san.”

Sakura Matou, another one of our regular customers, always came to the Restaurant. She liked to watch the new people come to the Restaurant and listen about their worlds.

The girl was very polite and liked by everyone in the Restaurant because of her attitude.

Being of similar age to Miu, they sometimes talked with each other.

Still… I don’t know why, but there was something odd about the girl. It was just a feeling but it always looked like she was sad when she was alone.

Although when talking with everyone here, she smiled and looked quite happy. So, I didn’t mind when she came here and spent time with everyone.

Today however something strange happened.

There was a knock on the door.

I looked out but couldn’t see anyone so I went ahead and opened the door… and froze at the sight in front of me.

"What happened, Silas?"

I heard a voice behind me.

Mikami, the owner of the voice came beside me and froze similarly at the sight in front of us.

"Eh, what's going on?" Naruto came from the back.

I shook awake from my shock and tried to stop him but he had already stepped out. 

"Woah. So cool!"

“Look out!” I said but Naruto was already jumping around and looking at the being in front of us.

A Dragon.

It was a fucking dragon.

“Nii-san. There is a sword on its back. It’s hurt.”

The little guy was much faster than me and was already on top of the dragon and pulled out the sword before I could say anything.

By now the other patrons of the Restaurant had arrived as well.

“This is…”

“Oh my.”

The Dragon looked in pain and somehow, I could see a ton of emotions in its eyes. It was as if it understood everything.

I decided to try my luck. “Do you understand us?”

It didn’t answer but just looked at us.

“We don’t wish to hurt you.”

And yet there was no answer.

So I decided to take a different approach.

“Don’t hurt it.” I ordered.

Saitama and the rest were waiting in alert to respond to any action from the said dragon.

I quickly went inside the Restaurant and bought a Cheese Rabbit, a hundred and eighty kilogram monstrosity. I couldn’t buy the entire thing but still got a sizable chunk of it.

Outside, the whole Restaurant had gathered around the Dragon by now.

It didn’t hurt anyone, thankfully.

The old guys as well as the Masters of Ryozanpaku were surrounding it. Hayato and Issac were checking its injury.

Naruto was playing around it.

The Dragon seemed to be in pain but didn’t make any kind of moves.

I carried the meat to it and kept it in front of it. “Here. Have something to eat. You must be exhausted with such an injury on your back.” I said and it looked at me.

“Umm Nii-san makes the best food I have ever eaten. Go on. Eat it.”

It smelled the food once and then gave it a light lick before taking a bite and just like that, in a matter of moments, the entire thing disappeared.

Over the next few hours, everyone stayed there, around the dragon, till it was time for me to close the Restaurant.

I bought another slab of meat for it. “You can eat this if you feel hungry.”

“Bye Dragon-san. Get healed up soon and play again tomorrow. By the way, my name is Naruto Uzumaki and I am going to be a Legendary Master dattebayo.”

….

I don’t think it understood what a Legendary Master means, Naruto.

We left the Dragon resting there in peace and closed the door to the Restaurant.

“Are you sure you will be alright, Silas?” Mikami asked.

Saitama waited too.

The guy had been losing his hair due to training and seemed more… muted nowadays. We have been trying to cheer him up with different things.

Today’s gaming session was the same.

“Hmm. I will be alright. I can manage as long as anything is in the Restaurant.”

“Take care of yourself. If you need any help, feel free to call any of us.”

“Sure.” I replied feeling warm at their words.

Really. Life has never been the same since I got this Restaurant. 

___________________________________x__________________________________

It was the next morning and I decided to get to my morning routine.

Generally, I made snacks and put up a small stall in front of my Restaurant to sell them since none of the people in the neighbourhood could find my Restaurant.

Many of them had asked me and I chose this method.

Even the cheapest of stuff from my System was a delicacy for the people of the world and my cooking was nothing to scoff at either.

I opened my stall and sure enough one after another, customers started coming one by one.

Some of the customers were regular faces and some were new.

It was the early hours and people generally came to get something for their bentos.

And today too, two such students were running in a hurry.

“Tobi-kun, wait a minute. Let’s get something to eat from here. Okaa-sama was sick this morning so I couldn’t make bento.” A girl said to the boy beside her as she stopped in front of my store.

The girl had brown hair and green eyes while the boy had black hair and black eyes.

“I didn’t know there was a store here. Did you open this recently? I don’t think I have seen you here before.”

“Yes. It’s been two weeks. I just moved in recently. My name is Silas by the way.”

“Tobio Ikuse. Nice to meet you.” The boy greeted.

“My name is Sae Toujou. Nice to meet you too Silas-san.”

“Would you like to try something? There are some pieces for the free trial.”

“Eh… thank you.”

They took a bit of the karaage I had made with a little hesitation and their faces lit up.

“This is amazing, Silas-san.” the girl, Sae exclaimed. The boy didn't say anything but his reaction said it all.

The two ordered two bentos and left in a hurry for school. 

_____________________________________x__________________________________________________

"And you know what, she totally meant that I wouldn't get married. That bitch! *Hick* Did she mean I am old?"

I smiled awkwardly as I placed a plate of tempura in front of her.

The lady in front of me was a new customer.

Shizuka Hiratsuka is a teacher at a nearby school. She had come in an hour ago and ordered some alcohol for herself.

Today was Saturday and tomorrow was her day off so she was here to drink today.

It’s just that… she was a bad drunk.

“You are still young, right Mikami?” I called for help from Mikami who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

Mikami had brought along his junior who was here to… well show off his girlfriend. Mikami had ordered sake to drown his sorrows of being single, and I, being his friend, helped him out by bringing out an expensive bottle of wine since it was his junior who was paying.

“Thirty year aged Wine bottle. 150,000 yen only. Your junior wouldn’t want his girlfriend to have anything less, right?” I gave him a smile. It took him a moment to understand and when he did, an evil smile came over the normally gentle guy’s face.

“Yes yes. They are a couple in love. People like those should…”

“DIE. The fools like those who show off their love in front of others, loving the fact that others have been busy with their lives and haven’t had the chance to find someone good yet and that they are growing old with each passing day. People like those… they should all die.” Shizuka muttered.

… I don’t think that should happen.

“Well not die exactly but going into debt and crying as their girlfriend leaves them is also good.” She continued.

….

This woman was quite vindictive.

“I like the second option more. I can then bring him here again and have him pay for the sake while I listen to his sob story with some tempura and wine which he pays for.” Mikami continued.

“Hehehehe.”

“Hahahaha.”

“Hehehehe.”

“Hahahaha.”

….

These two… they were getting along quite well.

"Would you like to come along for a drink? My junior has come here to brag about his girlfriend and is paying the bills." He showed her the bottle and gave her the same grin I gave him.

"Oh… is that so? Then let's rui… I mean congratulate him for this." She got up from her seat with a smile.

As I saw them walk to the seat where his junior was waiting, only one thought went through my head.

Did Mikami just pick up a girl?

At this time, the door to the Restaurant was opened and in came a face I hadn’t seen in a long time.

It was the cocky white haired guy. This time he had even come with friends.

There was a young girl, a bit younger than my own age and another guy who looked like a salaryman. There was also a guy who looked like a suspicious government agent with them.

“A Restaurant? Why did you bring us to a Restaurant?” The salaryman asked.

“Because this is the best Restaurant there is in the world and probably many other worlds. You should try the sweets here. They are to die for.”

The white haired guy praised my food and I would say that I was flattered a bit.

He came up to me directly. “Owner-san, long time no see. How have you been?”

“Welcome to the Crossroads Restaurant. Yes, almost three weeks. Were you out of the city?”

“A bit, yes. By the way, I realise I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Satoru Gojo. These are my friends and she is my student.”

“Hello everyone, my name is Silas Evans.” I looked at them before looking at the newly introduced Gojo-san, “Are they also?”

“Oh, yes. They are also sorcerers like me. In fact, this is the former Principal of my school.”

This attracted my attention and I couldn’t help but ask. “Is there a school where magic is taught?”

“Jujutsu. Who is this pretty boy, Sensei?” The girl asked as I handed them the menu.

“Silas-kun is the owner of this amazing Restaurant. Now go on and choose what you want to eat. Don’t hold back. I will be paying for this.” he waved her off before looking at me. “Jujutsu is different from normal magic so I don’t know if you will like it.”

“What other kind of magic is there?” The Salaryman asked. “I am Nanami Kento and I am just his acquaintance.”

“Ah you wound my heart, Nanami-kun.” Gojo joked.

“Hello.” I looked at Gojo-san. “You haven’t told them about it yet?”

“Nah, I wanted to surprise them.”

“What are you talking about Satoru? Is this another one of your pranks?”

“Nope. You can ask Silas-kun about it.”

They looked to me for an explanation and I explained the basics of my Restaurant to them.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Bullshit.”

“You could always see for yourself.” I shrugged.

It took me two minutes to show them a scene from Suzuki’s world and then back to their own and then I left the stunned group aside to bring their orders.

When I served them, Gojo-san questioned me again. “On a side note, is Touma-kun visiting? I have a new job for him. The same kind as last time.”

“Touma-kun has gone for his daily training. You will probably find him back in a few hours.”

“It’s fine. We have free time today.” He said. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, what other kind of magic have you seen?” The principal asked me.

“Other kinds of magic? Well, I haven’t exactly seen any in use but there are Espers in Touma-kun’s and Saitama’s world. Recently we had a Ninja come from a mediaeval world’s Ninja village. The kid was adopted by one of the patrons and from what we found out, they use Ninjutsu to do different kinds of things. Apparently, his village was saved from the attack of a giant Nine Tailed Fox by the previous leader of their village. There were also some kind of supernatural powers called Nen in Issac-san’s world too.” I answered as I recalled the things I had seen in the past few days. “Oh and we saw a dragon yesterday.”

“A Dragon?” The girl asked.

“Yup. A real Dragon.”

“Seriously. A lot of things happened while I was away. A Dragon of all things. By the way, you wanted to know about Jujutsu so let me explain about it in brief.”

They gave me a brief summary of the thing and seriously, their world was fucking dangerous.

But damn if I wasn’t interested.

I mean it was Magic.

Which kid hasn’t imagined making fireballs or water blades when they were kids?

Now that there was a chance for me to see and maybe even learn it for myself, why wouldn’t I?

“So, anyone can learn this kind of magic?” I asked.

“Hmm, not anyone per say. They need to have some talent for it. They will need to have a certain amount of Cursed Energy to see spirits and if possible some kind of innate tenchiques in them.”

“I see.”

“If you are interested then I can test and see if you have the talent for it.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“Then I would like to see too. We can check it when your work with Touma is completed.”

“Sure. Why not? It’s always nice to see new Jujutsu Sorcerers.” The principal guy said.

I served them their order and went around to take orders from the rest.

An hour or so later, the door of the Restaurant opened again and the Ryozanpaku group arrived. Miu and Naruto were missing as they went to school.

“Welcome. Touma-kun, there are people waiting for you.” I pointed towards Gojo-san who was already waving at him and his group.

The guy went to the group of Magicians or rather Sorcerers.

I gave them a private space in one of the rooms of the Restaurant to discuss and went to serve the other guests.

- Satoru Gojo -

“Is he the one, Gojo?” The Principal, Yaga asked him.

“Hmm. Hello, Touma-kun. It’s been a long time. How have you been? Did you get your payment for the last job?”

“Eh yes! It was too much. I didn’t do anything.” Touma tried explaining but he just waved it off.

“Trust me when I say that you did more than I could ever hope for. If anything, the payment I gave was far less than what you deserved.” He truly did. Considering the fact that Nanami and Kugisaki as well as Yaga might have just died along with several others, a few millions were comparatively nothing.

Still, Touma was quite a good kid. He reminded him of Yuji in a way, always ready to help others.

“No no. It was already too much. I don’t want more.”

“Gojo is right. You have done us a great favour. Don’t deny it.” Yaga-san said, making Touma quiet.

“I have another favour to ask of you Touma-kun.” He asked, bringing out a box with several talismans covering it and then went on to explain about several things.

Cursed Objects and Cursed Tools.

Cursed Spirits.

Jujutsu Sorcerers.

Cursed Humans.

“What we want to do is see if you can exorcise any cursed objects and cursed tools with your power. We will try with the low powered tools and go higher.” Principal Yaga explained.

“I can try.”

“In that case, let’s start with this one.”

They started with Grade 3 Cursed Objects and under the awed gazes of everyone, the object simply crumbled with a single touch from Touma.

“Amazing!” Nanami whispered.

“Right right! I told you it was amazing.” He poked, causing the man to ignore him completely.

Next up came a Grade 2 Cursed Object and then a Grade One and every one of them met the same end.

“Do you need any rest, Touma-kun? We are going to start with the important ones now.”

“Ah, I don’t feel anything wrong. We can start anytime you want.”

Seriously, Touma’s power was insane.

And this was coming from someone like him.

Next up, Yaga-sensei unsealed a Special Grade Cursed object for the test.

“Be careful when…” Before Nanami could finish it, Touma had already touched the object and it crumbled into a pile of dust, making the man shut his mouth.

Satoru just gave the man his best smile.

“Screw this. We have to work so hard to exorcise even one of these curses and this guy just erases them with a touch. That’s cheating sensei. Totally cheating.” Kugisaki complained.

“Now now, don’t be jealous. Everyone has their own specialities. Touma-kun’s gift is made specifically for these cases.”

“This changes a lot of things, Gojo. With this we can erase Sukuna’s fingers, maybe even the curse from someone’s body. We need to bring Yuji here to test it out.”

“Hmm. Tomorrow, I will bring him here. You two should get the other Special Grade Cursed Objects for exorcism. Keeping them sealed is just ignoring the problem.” He said and turned towards Touma. “You know what Touma-kun, if you ever want to become a full time exorcist, do tell me. We would love to have you among us.”

The guy denied it but he didn’t mind. Kamijou Touma was a living treasure by himself.

“Will you be free tomorrow for the same job? Today, we just bought some basic ones with us for testing. Safe to say, your power is far greater than what any of us could have imagined. We can begin our work in earnest tomorrow.”

“Ah, sure. You can find me here at the same time. I go to the Ryozanpaku Dojo for training. You can ask Silas-san for me.” He replied.

“Then I thank you in advance. You will receive your payment like the last time… and don’t deny it. This is the least we can do for your help.”

With everything done, Touma-kun left the room and he was left with the other three.

“Seriously, what kind of place is this? Other worlds? At first I thought that the owner was crazy… or using some kind of Illusion based Curse technique on us but this… just what kind of place did you wander into this time, Satoru?”

“This could be an even greater danger than anything we have in our world.”

“Or it could be a solution, if we don’t even explore our options, how would we ever know?”

“You are taking a very big risk, Satoru.” Yaga-sensei said before sighing. “But right now, we don’t have many options. What happens tomorrow, happens tomorrow. First we need to save today… and this, despite all the risks involved, is a great opportunity.”

“If those higher ups ever found out about this place, they would stop at nothing to try and take control of this Restaurant.” Nanami said.

“If that happens, then I won’t stop to give them a warning. I am a wanted criminal either way. I might as well earn it this time.” He warned.

Those bastards had done exactly as he had expected.

The only reason he was not making any moves was because Yuta, Megumi and Yuji were growing at a great pace due to the pressure on them. He didn’t want to interrupt their growth for now. Thus those old coots were living on borrowed time.

- Silas -

I served everyone from Ryozanpaku and at the same time Mikami and his group finished.

Mikami and Shizuka-san left one after another. They had a good chemistry going on.

If things went on well, then maybe… I smiled at the thought.

His junior on the other hand, was barely holding back tears at the sight of his wallet but his girlfriend had a huge smile on her face.

Well, not everything was bad for the poor junior.

The guys from Ryozanpaku left next.

Suzuki was going to spend the rest of his day playing his favourite VRMMORPG since it was shutting down today and Saitama was taking a rest.

And just like that, the Restaurant was almost empty again.

Half an hour later, Touma came out of the room and a few minutes later, the rest of the group came out.

This time, it was Yaga-san who transferred the money and I was a bit taken aback once more at the amount.

Thirty Million yen.

And I get twenty percent of that.

It’s a good day.

With this, I can purchase the house beside mine and expand my Restaurant a bit.

Things were getting congested with the arrival of the new groups.

But for now, I had something else I was excited about.

Magic.

“Ready for the test, Silas?”

“Hmm.”

“Then let’s try this. I cannot see any Cursed Energy within you.” My heart sank at his first few words. I was so close to learning magic and now I find that I didn’t even have the energy for it. Gojo however continued. “But then again, I can’t see the Cursed Energy inside anything in this Restaurant. We would need to test it out some other way.”

“Alright. Gimme a minute, I will close the Restaurant for the day.”

I did just that and followed them outside.

I looked around the area and it seemed quite similar.

“Is this Tokyo?” I asked.

“Shinjuku, yes.”

“No wonder it felt familiar.”

“Is there a Tokyo in your world?”

“Yes. I used to live there when my parents were alive. I moved to a town near Kyoto… due to some reasons and opened a Restaurant there.”

“How old are you by the way?” Nanami asked.

“I am eighteen years old. I just got out of High School.”

“That’s quite young.”

I shrugged. “I had to support myself. I might try to complete college later if I get some time. For now, I have my hands more than full with my Restaurant.”

“Let’s see. Since you are not from our world, I don’t know how Cursed Energy would work for you but we can check using a Cursed Tool.” He brought out a sword and handed it to me. “Try to concentrate on the blade and feel anything inside.”

I took a hold of the sword and closed my eyes.

“Take deep breaths.” Yaga instructed.

I did and… the blade somehow felt different, as if there was something inside it. A stream of something. It connected to my body and I could feel the entire blade, even with both my eyes closed.

“Good. What do you feel?”

“There is something, I don’t know how to describe it, inside the sword. It is flowing into my body and I can feel the whole sword now.”

“Good. The flowing thing is Cursed Energy. Try to feel the energy inside you and push it into the sword.”

I took a deep breath and willed the now identified Cursed Energy into the blade.

- Satoru Gojo -

“Amazing. The blade. It’s a Grade 2 Cursed tool. But the power it’s giving out is comparable to Grade 1, maybe even a bit stronger. What do you see, Satoru?”

He pulled up his blindfold and looked at the guy in front of him, who looked like a tsunami of Cursed Energy.

It was far above his own and at a level comparable to Yuta when he was using Rika’s power, and it kept on increasing.

The only reason why Cursed Spirits were not flooding this area was because of the barrier they had put around the area.

The energy stabilised when he was almost three times more than Yuta and Rika combined, which would make him have almost one and a half times more Cursed Energy than even Ryomen Sukuna…

And this was just his start.

Moreover, his Cursed Energy was Cold, almost as if ice and yet it flowed around like a stream full of clear water.

Was he even a human?

Ah, yes… he highly doubted that.

As if a Human could possess a power like the Restaurant.

Crack

The tsunami stopped with a cracking sound.

He looked down. The blade had cracked.

It couldn’t handle the Cursed Energy output anymore.

“Holy shit!” Kugisaki exclaimed. Normally such words would have earned her a bashing on her head by Yaga-sensei but right now, even the old man was stunned beyond words at the sight in front of him.

“Ah, I broke the sword. I’m sorry, Nanami-san. How much does this cost? I still have the sword which was struck on the Dragon’s back if you want a replacement.” Silas quickly apologised, looking quite flustered.

“I-it’s fine. It was just a spare piece. You can keep the sword from the... Dragon’s back for yourself. It would be a great tool for you.” Nanami denied.

“Oh, thank you. And again, I am sorry for breaking your sword.” He bowed before looking up. “By the way… did I pass?”

The innocent and expectant look on his face and the question, combined with the current situation, made Satoru crack and burst out in laughter.

“Hahahahahahahaha.”

“Did something happen?” Silas tilted his head.

“Nothing. I am just very excited at the prospect of teaching someone like you.” he smiled.

“You will not be teaching him Satoru. Let Nanami do it for now. You are needed outside.” Yaga-sensei interrupted.

“But…”

“You can offer him some advice later, but for now, Nanami is more than enough. The first thing he needs to learn is how to control his Cursed Energy and Nanami is a good fit for that.”

“Tch. Alright. Then from now on, you are officially a member of Tokyo Jujutsu High. We are currently on a vacation and will be operational in a month or two at best. Have fun.”

“Nanami will come in and instruct you on how to control your Cursed Energy reserves as well as bring some books for you. As Satoru said, your enrollment can be taken care of when the school reopens.”

The boy bowed lightly. “Thank you for your help.”

“Don’t worry. Your Restaurant helped us too.”

With a few more instructions, both sides parted ways.

“Well… talk about a surprising day.” He smiled, earning a deadpan from the rest.

Yup.

It was fun.

- Silas -

It had been a week since the day I awakened my Cursed Energy and just as promised, Kento Nanami or as I call him now, Nanami-Sensei came regularly to tutor me about Cursed Energy and the basics of being a Jujutsu Sorcerer.

My lessons basically consisted of learning to control my emotions as Cursed Energy is heavily affected by the emotions of the user and any kind of disturbance can affect the control. It consisted of meditating and other exercises.

In fact, there was another person who gave me very good advice on this topic.

Issac.

The guy shared some of his experiences with me and showed me a way to relax my mind very easily.

And it did help.

I was asked to continuously channel my Cursed Energy into any object to strengthen it.

I chose a knife.

A kitchen knife to be precise.

In fact, I gave them the sword which was pierced in the back of the Dragon and asked to make a few knives out of it.

I mean, it was something strong enough to pierce a Dragon’s defences, so it’s bound to be strong.

And so I now have a new pair of knives, enchanted to channel cursed energy.

These things are stupidly sharp.

I am pretty sure if my Restaurant wasn’t protected by the System, I would have sliced through the counter several times already.

I picked up the bowl of Soba Noodles and carried it out to the one who ordered it.

“Here’s your meal, Saitama.”

“Thanks Silas.”

Saitama was down for the last few days since both Mikami and Suzuki hadn’t come back in a while. The guy was already a bit depressed with his hairfall and now even his new friends had been missing…

Even Shizuka-san had returned and asked for Mikami once.

I was missing them too but I didn’t have a way to contact them in their world.

In fact, even Sakura hadn’t come for a few days.

I don’t know what happened to them but then again, Sakura was a student. Maybe she was busy with her studies while both Mikami and Suzuki were busy with their work.

I had been busy with the training. It was Saitama who was left alone. Combined with his hair fall, it was a pretty depressing time for the man so I treated him sometimes.

Money wasn’t an issue for now as Nanami was bringing some Cursed Objects everyday, which Touma exorcised and I got some fees for converting it into Touma’s world’s currency.

I was currently in the process of buying the building next door. It was old and rundown. I, however, was planning to reconstruct and renovate it soon enough.

Today was however a special day.

Today Gojo-san was going to bring a special Cursed Object to be purified.

As I was talking to Saitama, the door to the Restaurant opened and a familiar face came in.

“Is this your Restaurant, Silas-san?” Tobio Ikuse asked me.

He and his friend, Sae, have been buying bentos from me regularly.

“Tobio-kun. Please have a seat. How are you? Alone today? Sae-chan didn’t come with you?”

A sad look came on his face.

“Did something happen?”

His fist clenched as he looked up at me.

“Sae has gone missing.”

“What?!”

He explained the situation then.

Sae, along with the rest of his class had gone on a school trip but two days ago, the luxury liner they were on… disappeared at sea.

There still hasn’t been any news of them.

The reason Tobio was here was because he had fallen sick during the incident and missed the trip.

I had been so busy the past week that I didn’t even know about such a thing.

The boy was having difficulty talking about it so I didn’t force him either.

Tobio had lost his parents at an early age and was taken care of by his grandmother. Even his grandmother passed away later on and he was looked after by Sae’s family the Toujo. 

In fact, the rundown house next door actually belonged to him. He was currently living with Sae’s family.

They are childhood friends and I could see that the girl had an obvious crush on him. She used to bring him all three meals of the day and now, with her gone….

I made a bowl of Ramen for him and we talked about a few things.

I had noticed that Tobio and Sae were the only ones who could find my Restaurant in my neighbourhood. It was one of the reasons I had taken an interest in them.

It would help me gain some knowledge about how my Restaurant functioned.

We talked about a few things before he left. The school was closed due to the incident and he needed some time to cope up with it too.

As Tobio left, the door to the Restaurant opened and in came another person.

I was a bit taken aback at his getup.

Green skin tight suit with a bowl cut black hair and… those eyebrows.

What in the nine hells, was that?

“A new Restaurant in the area? How youthful!” The guy shouted, doing a fist pump in the air, making me sweatdrop.

“Is this a weirdo?” Saitama whispered in my ear.

I… couldn’t answer.

“Welcome to the Crossroads Restaurant. What would you like to eat?” I greeted.

“Ah, my youthful friend. Are you the owner of the Restaurant? Very well, show me the menu!” he shouted.

Why was he shouting?

I showed him to a table and gave him the menu.

“I have never seen such dishes. What are these?”

“They are the special dishes of the Restaurant.”

“Oh. In that case, I will order a stir fry and this Billion Bird egg.”

“Very well, I will be done in a minute.”

“Hahahaha take your time, my youthful friend. Good work can never be rushed!”

“My name is Silas.”

“Silas, what an odd name. My name is Might Gai, the Beautiful Blue Beast of Konoha.”

… Silas, name is odd?

Dude look in the mirror… and you are named Might Gai….

“Nice to meet you, Gai-san.” I replied, keeping my thoughts to myself.

It then struck me that he had called himself the whatever whatever of Konoha.

Wasn’t that the name of the village that Naruto was from?

The village of Ninjas?

Was this guy…

I prepared his order quickly and served him.

“Gai-san, are you perhaps a Ninja?” I asked, curiously.

“Yes indeed. You have a very sharp eye, Silas-kun. I am indeed a Ninja!” He showed me a headband which hung from his neck. “I am a proud Jonin of Konoha!”

“Oh. Great.” I replied, having no idea what a Jonin was or how strong they could be.

The guy… Gai… ughh, this is weird, gave me no time to think further.

“Awesome! This is the best stir fry I have ever eaten and what is this egg? So delicious. You are a very talented chef, Silas-kun!”

“I… thank you.”

“The fire of youth burns bright in you! Light the flames of passion and work hard to make even better dishes. I wish you the best of luck. I will come again the next day.”

“I… thank you for your patronage.”

The guy left just as he had come.

I was thinking of asking him about the basic structure of a ninja village but didn’t find time.

Are all ninjas weirdos like him?

Saitama was the next one to leave and I was left to myself in the Restaurant, alone.

With nothing else to do, I decided to practise my Cursed Energy control again.

I was getting a hang of it.

Nanami-sensei said that I was a natural at it.

Around half an hour later, I heard the ringing of the bell and looked over the counter to see a face I hadn’t seen in a week.

Sakura Matou.

She was in her school uniform and drenched in rain.

Was it raining on her side?

I quickly went out to give her a towel but found myself pausing at the expressions in her eyes.

They looked so lifeless.

“Sakura-san?”

“May I come in?” She asked, her voice almost a whisper.

“Yes. Please do.” I moved aside and let her enter my restaurant as I closed the door behind her.

I gave her the towel and showed her to the private room to let her dry herself while I hurried to prepare a bowl of ramen so that she can have something hot to eat.

By the time I was done, she had finished drying herself too.

“Here, have a bowl of Ramen. It will help you warm up a bit or you will catch a cold.” I put the bowl in front of her.

“Thank you.” She whispered.

“It’s fine. You are a regular at my place. We could even be considered friends. This is the least I can do.”

She raised her head and looked at me and once more I was stunned at the expression on her face.

“Friends?”

“Eh… yes. I would consider myself as such, although if you don’t want it then.”

“No! I… am happy.”

What was up with this reaction?

Did she not have any friends?

Or maybe she had a fight with someone?

A breakup maybe?

It was honestly painful to look at her like this and before I had realised, I had already said some words.

“Sakura-san.”

“Yes.”

“... are you.. Alright?” I asked, hesitating a bit.

She froze a bit.

It was very slight but I could see it due to my recent training with Cursed Energy as well as eating the high quality food from my Restaurant, my senses were enhanced by a bit.

“Yes. I’m alright. Thank you for asking.” She answered with a smile but both her smile and her tone… it almost seemed artificial.

She was lying.

“I… okay. Just in case you know, you have called me a friend and friends help each other. So… if you ever need any help, you can ask me.”

Her eyes widened a bit and she looked down.

I was about to probe a bit more when the door to the Restaurant opened again.

The new arrival was a boy with curly blue hair and grey eyes. He was wearing a  white and black jacket, a black shirt and blue jeans.

“So this is where you were. Wandering off to a rundown place like this. Who do you think will make dinner tonight, Sakura?” he said in an overly patronising voice.

I looked at Sakura and observed that her hands shook a bit.

She was afraid.

She still got up shakily.

“Yes, I will go and cook.” She whispered, not even daring to look up.

The boy walked towards her and held her hand. “Quickly, hurry up.”

“Excuse me. Would you please not disturb my customer?” I intervened.

The boy looked at me with a disparaging gaze and then his face took on a smile. “Hahahaha I think you are misunderstanding something. This is my little sister. I am just taking her home.”

I looked at Sakura and she nodded, not daring to meet my gaze.

“See, I told you. Now, if you will excuse me.” he pulled her by her arm.

At this time, I saw something.

The sleeve of her shirt had gone up a bit when he held her hand, and there was a black bruise like marking on her hand. It was as if….as if she was hit.

“Sakura-san.” I called out to her. She looked at me and once more I asked. “Are you alright?”

There was a slight pause and her face took on that same puppet-like smile, “Yes. I’m alright.”

The guy turned around, pulling her by her hand but I knew what I had to do.

I caught her other hand, making both of them stop.

The boy turned towards me, first surprised and then with a hint of anger in them. “What do you think you’re doing?” He asked, his anger leaking out lightly.

“She still hasn’t paid for her food.”

….

“Oh.” The guy was surprised at the answer, certainly not expecting it.

Even Sakura was taken aback at the statement although there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

I merely looked at the guy.

“I’m sorry, but she will have to pay before she can leave.”

“Eh, yes. How much is it?” He asked in an arrogant tone.

“One million yen.”

“One hun… what!”

“That will be one million yen, sir.”

“Are you joking? Does this Restaurant make jokes instead of food because you need to work at them more?”

“I’m being very serious here, Sir. The food Sakura-san ate was a premium item and the speciality of our Restaurant. It was made up of extremely expensive items and does cost one million yen and… I cannot allow her to leave until she pays.”

“Are you one of those scammers? Do you know who you are messing with? I am Shinji Matou. I can crush this tiny Restaurant of yours in a second, you lowly…” he went on a rant.

I didn’t wait for his rant to be completed and held his hand and separated it from her.

“You are free to do whatever you want or call whoever you want to.” I replied. In fact, I would be happier if he did call the police and they took notice of the abuse on Sakura. It would at least help her in a roundabout way. With this thought in mind, I continued. “But until she pays the bills, I cannot allow her to leave. If she has to stay here and work out her debts… then so be it.”

“Silas-san.” Sakura looked stunned at my reply.

I didn’t look at her and concentrated on the guy before me. “So, if you don’t have the money for the bills… get out.”

“You!” He gritted his teeth, face red with rage as he tried to punch me only for me to catch his fist with my hand. It was quite easy too.

While not at the level of a martial artist, I did become stronger due to a combination of my special food and daily work. Especially now, with the added Jujutsu training.

“I do not like fighting so I will warn you to control yourself and not force me to resort to violence.” I warned before releasing his hand as she staggered a few steps back.

He looked outraged but I stood firm and so he turned his target to Sakura. “I see. So this is your plan. Do you really think you can get out like this? Do you think he would let his heir get away so easily? Do you think this… this lowly cretin can save you? Ah, little Sakura wants a knight in shining armour, riding on a white horse to save her. But you will only be disappointed and this bastard will pay. I will make sure of it.” he shouted.

I looked from the corner of my eyes and while she looked pained at the first few sentences, she almost lost the colour in her face when he threatened me.

… this only made my determination to help her out more.

“Guest. You are creating a scene in the Restaurant. I will have to ask you to leave.” I stared impassively at him.

“You! I will see you. You don’t know who you have messed with.”

“Please leave.” I ordered once more and took a step in his direction.

He cowered back, stumbling on a chair before his eyes lit up and he grabbed the chair, swinging it at me.

“No!” I heard Sakura scream but my mind was clear.

It was as if things slowed down in front of me.

I crouched to dodge the swing of the chair and kicked the ground with my feet, propelling myself with cursed energy and focused my Cursed Energy on my fist instead of my knife as I… punched.

The guy hurriedly pulled the chair in between us but I didn’t stop.

What I wasn’t expecting was the steel chair, bending with my punch and hitting the guy’s face along with it.

The guy went flying towards the Restaurant’s door and coincidentally, at the same time, the door of the Restaurant opened.

Two girls entered the Restaurant at the same time. They yelped and dodged to the side while the guy crashed into their bag, face first.

I let out a sigh. “I am sorry. I was just throwing out a troublemaker.” I walked towards the guy, picked him up, opened the door and threw him out.

“Oh, and fifty million yen more for the property damage and assault on the owner. Now, get out.” With that said, I shut the door on his face.

….

….

There was an awkward silence in the room.

I took a look at the girls. One had long caramel coloured hair tied in a bun while the other had short black hair with a bob cut with equal fringes on both sides. Both of them wore sailor uniforms.

The girls were looking at me, frozen in shock.

“I’m sorry for scaring you two but the Restaurant is closed for today. You can come by some other day, and I will give you a treat, on the house.” I bowed and apologised again.

They quickly nodded and ran out of the Restaurant.

I turned towards Sakura. She was still quiet.

Taking a deep breath, I began, “Sakura-san. You called me a friend… and friends help each other. I don’t know the situation at your home but it’s hurting you. It’s… fine to ask for help.”

Her eyes watered and she shook her head.

“It’s fine. I can… we can help.”

“No no. You don’t know him. He is… you cannot fight against him. Let me go. I will… I will try to stop him. Please.” Her body was shaking as if she was falling into a shock.

I had never encountered such a situation before and did the only thing I could think of.

I walked towards her and hugged her.

She stifled.

“Trust me. You don’t have to go there if you don’t want to. I will not let you get hurt. I promise.” I slowly caressed her back but she was still shivering. “If you are worried about anyone hurting me, then don’t be. I will be fine.” I pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes. “If you want, we can go to the police and complain or you can stay here as long as you want. We can find a way to help you….so, don’t let yourself get hurt.”

“Oh, did I come at the wrong time?” I heard a voice from behind me and looked to find Gojo-san standing by the door. He had a smirk on his face but it faded away when he saw Sakura’s state.

“What happened, Silas-kun?”

- Nanako Hasaba -

They kept running as fast as they could and when that place was no longer in sight, she brought out her mobile and used her Curse to transfer both Mimiko and herself away from the place.

Finally, finding a corner, they collapsed behind a car and breathed heavily.

“W-what… what was that monster? That much Cursed Energy... I don’t think even Gojo Satoru has that kind of power. What was that place?” She shouted.

“I don’t know. I had just found out that the imposter that took Geto-san’s body was seen there, fighting Gojo Satoru. I thought we could find some clues about where he is… I didn’t expect to find such a…” Mimiko answered.

“We cannot go back there.”

“There is no need to. As long as we have Sukuna’s finger, we can make a deal with him to get Geto-san’s body back.” Mimiko replied and she agreed.

Yes.

They didn’t need to worry.

They can get the help of the King of Curses.

As long as they had this… she put her hand in her purse but didn’t find it.

“Where is Sukuna’s finger!”

- Shinji Matou -

“Cough cough. That bastard. How dare he? Cough cough. How dare he hit me? And what was that thing that I swallowed when crashing into those girls?”

….

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Author’s Note:

A day later than expected but I am back with another chapter of ‘The Restaurant’.

Life goes on in the Restaurant and without even realising, Silas has caused havoc in two worlds.

As for the amount of Cursed Energy of Silas.

It’s due to a combination of several situations, his being a natural born Devil and a reincarnation being two of them. I will explain it later.

Trust me, I put that value after a lot of thought.

Also, just having great Cursed Energy reserves doesn’t make him the strongest.

He still needs to learn how to properly utilise it and such things take time.

Anyways, we will see what happens in the next chapters.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.