Chapter 2006: Cafe Date ⑤

The high-end café was absolutely wonderful. The cake and tea were delicious, and the atmosphere inside was great...... But honestly, it might have been a bit too soon for me to be there.

Unlike the local café chains back on Earth, where you can relax and take your time, once I finished my cake, I felt somewhat uneasy. Maybe it was the aura of the high-end establishment, but I felt strangely tense, like I had to straighten my posture the whole time.

I wonder if nobles are used to spending time peacefully in this kind of atmosphere? I'm not sure, but as far as my personal opinion goes, I feel much more at ease in a moderately stylish café rather than a place of this caliber.

Even though I have a lot of money, my sensibility is still very much that of a commoner. I think that's why I don't have much of a taste for spending large sums of money. Well, it was my first time at a high-end café, so maybe I'd get used to it after a few visits...... After finishing our cake and tea, Illness-san and I left the café after some light conversation.

[......We've finished visiting that café, but it would be a shame to head straight back. Why don't we go somewhere else?]

[Yeeees. I'd love thaaaat.]

[Is there anywhere you'd like to go, Illness-san?]

[Well, actuallyyyyy, there is a place nearby that I'm a bit interested iiiiiin. If Kaito-sama is alright with it, shall we go theeeeeere?]

[Sure, that's fine. Let's go.]

Although we had finished our food and drinks at the café, it felt like a waste to end our date there, so I proposed that we continue to another location, and Illness-san kindly agreed to the suggestion.

I had only just started thinking about where we should go next, so I was honestly grateful that Illness-san had a suggestion. But considering the area, I wonder if it might be another high-end establishment?

[Is it close by?]

[Yeeeees, it's really just a short walk. If we keep walking a littleeeee...... Ah, there it is, over theeeeere.]

[......Eh? What's with that big gate?]

As she said, it was indeed very close, and after a short walk, we arrived at our destination. However, what stood in our path was a large wall and gate...... It didn't seem like a store; it looked more like the entrance to a noble's mansion.

[......Errr, Illness-san? What is this place?]

[It's a paaaaark.]

[Eh? A park? Beyond this gate...... is a park?]

[Yeeeees. It's a park with an entrance feeeeee. Nobles and otheeeeeers who come to shop in this high-end district use it as a place to reeeeest.]

[Ahhh, I see...... That's why there's a gate huh......]

Is it something like a nature park that requires an entrance fee? The large gate might be designed to allow carriages to enter as well.

If it's a place used by nobles, it's understandable that they wouldn't want just anyone entering. This setup makes sense for ensuring exclusivity.

Impressed that places like this exist, I moved to the building next to the gate to purchase an entrance ticket. The fee was 100R...... that's roughly equivalent to 10,000 yen. It was quite expensive for a park entrance fee, but considering it's a secure rest area used by nobles and the wealthy, that price seemed reasonable.

There are probably barriers throughout the park to detect intruders and prevent teleportation, and considering the security at the gate, it's understandable that the entrance fee would be somewhat high.

[I'm a bit excited now. I wonder what the place would be like......]

[This paaaaark was actually designed by the same person who worked on the royal castle gardeeeeeens. It's been selecteeeeeed as one of "Symphonia Kingdom's Top 100 Scenic Spooooots".]

[......There's a magazine like that? One of the "Top 100 Scenic Spots", that sounds really interesting.]

[It was actually published just recentlyyyy. It came out afteeeeer the Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company started selling recording magic toooooools, so for now, you can only order it through certain companiiiiiies. It's not available in bookstores yeeeeeet. It's quite expensive tooooooo. Milady already owns a copy thouuuugh, so if you're interested, you might be able to borrow iiiiiit.]

I see, it's a book that was created after photos started being used in publications, and since it's filled with pictures, it's expensive and currently available only by special order...... No wonder I didn't know about it.

I'm definitely interested, and since Lilia-san has a copy, I might ask to take a look...... or maybe I should just buy one for myself...... I'll look into it next time.

[If it's a recent publication, I guess the Sky Castle is featured too.]

[The Sky Castle was even on the coveeeeer. Other places chosen include the Spirit Tree Forest of Rigforeshiaaaaa. Also, a recent addition is the Church of Vareeeeeen.]

[That's the region where Mitsunaga-kun is the lord, right? Come to think of it, they did say they were going to focus their efforts in that direction after receiving a bouquet from Shiro-san, so I guess this is the result of that.]

Hmm, I really want to take a look at this "Symphonia Kingdom's Top 100 Scenic Spots". I mean, I wonder if there are similar books for places outside the Symphonia Kingdom, like one for Archlesia Empire or Hydra Kingdom? If there are, I'd love to purchase all of them.

<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [I'd like everyone to think about this rationally. The title is "Café Date", so once the café part is over, it should be fine to just end things and go home. There's no need for the two of them to go to this private park...... At that point, it's just a regular date......]

? ? ? : [Then if the title changes to "Park Date" , everything's fine, right?]

Serious-senpai : [No, that's not the point......]