And so, Sopia's investigation to find the man who had ensnared Rabi began, without her even knowing what it was about.
She circled the shop once more, confirming yet again that there were no other customers.
It was an action driven by the concern that the man might be lying in wait somewhere out of sight.
'As expected, apart from these two, there's no one else.'
To extract information from Aembeo first, Sopia settled onto the seat facing her.
"Excuse me for sitting across from you."
"Yeah. Sit."
Aembeo seemed to check her smartphone for a moment, but soon put it away in her pocket and gave a bright smile to Sopia, who had approached before she knew it.
"Actually, I have a bit of business at this cafe. Come to think of it, do you come here often, Aembeo?"
"Me? I come here all the time. You could say I know the owner over there... A close older brother? That kind of feeling."
It was truly an answer befitting her. To Sopia, Aembeo was the very image of a typical social butterfly who made friends far and wide.
Getting close to older men could also be considered one of her abilities.
'Still, it's fortunate that Aembeo is a regular.'
With her affinity for people, she must have been on speaking terms with the other patrons who came to this shop.
'...Wait, then could she also know that Rabi comes here?'
At any rate, it seemed she could expect some solid information.
"More importantly, what do you want to drink? They have desserts too."
"You're right. Let's see..."
It would certainly be rude to enter the shop and order nothing.
She picked up the menu beside her and skimmed over what to order, but—
"Hmm, so...?"
Sopia herself had expected as much since coming in, but she couldn't understand most of the coffee types written on the menu.
In this world, where the culture of teatime to soothe the fatigue of labor had not fully taken root, varieties of coffee were as bizarre as cryptic incantations.
'Americano...? And what's an espresso...?'
Moreover, since the etymology of Americano was none other than America itself, there was no way Sopia, a human from another world, could have known.
In the end, Sopia decided to ask Aembeo, who looked familiar with the shop, for help.
"Aembeo, is there anything you'd recommend?"
"Huh? Ahh, is it hard to tell since it's your first time? There are just so many kinds of coffee."
The two immediately moved to the adjacent seat and began looking over the menu together.
"What is this thing called Americano?"
"I heard it's a pretty common type of coffee, but I'm not a fan. It's just bitter and tasteless."
A brief time of asking about the coffees on the menu continued like that.
'...Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've been with someone other than Rabi.'
Though there were times she occasionally paired up with other magical girls, for Sopia, interacting with a classmate was quite a rare occurrence.
After placing their orders and waiting briefly, the cafe owner brought over a tray with coffee.
"A cafe mocha and an affogato."
"Oh my, I didn't order this one."
"That one is on the house. It's ice cream you eat with a bit of coffee poured over it, so if it doesn't suit your taste, feel free to leave it."
"On the house..."
It didn't appear to be a childish attempt to score points. Perhaps he was being considerate because she was Aembeo's friend.
"Ehh! That's not fair, only Sopia gets one!"
"You get free stuff all the time too. If you want it, order it."
"This kind of thing is all about the mood! The situation where dessert comes out as a freebie is what's enjoyable!"
The two exchanged bickering small talk, perhaps proving that being close to the owner wasn't mere bluster or a lie.
"Please call me if you need anything."
"Yes. Thank you."
While her first impression of him had been that of an ordinary man without ambition, he seemed considerate and mature, so Sopia decided to revise her assessment slightly.
And she took a sip of coffee.
"Huu..."
As she drank the warm, sweet coffee called cafe mocha, Sopia's body, which had been tense until just moments ago, relaxed.
Next, she scooped the ice cream with coffee poured over it and pushed it into her mouth.
'...Delicious.'
For her, who had always been forced to stick to nutrition-focused meals, it was a rare experience.
'Well then, I've quenched my thirst, so let's get to the main questioning.'
This wasn't the time to keep lingering in the aftertaste. She had come here for an entirely different purpose from the start.
"...Actually, Rabi's condition has been strange lately. You know, don't you, Aembeo?"
"Now that you mention it, she has been listless lately. Did something happen?"
Aembeo replied, slurping her refilled coffee.
"I suspect she's having a secret affair with a man who frequents this shop."
"Pfft! Cough, cough...!"
Sopia had a hunch.
This reaction—she knows something.
"Aembeo, do you happen to know who Rabi is having the affair with? We must stop a strange man from seducing that child!"
She hadn't expected things to unravel this smoothly, but now that it had come to this, she had to press on.
But the answer she received was more absurd than she could have imagined—
"I do know, but... actually, Rabi was the one who confessed first."
"...What?!"
Sopia let out a strange voice, surprising even herself, but that hardly mattered now.
"Wow, that's the loudest I've heard you today."
"No, but Rabi confessed first?!"
"Ah~ he's absolutely not a bad person! I can guarantee it. He even properly rejected that confession in the first place."
"Huuuh."
Setting aside the unprecedented blunder of rejecting Rabi's confession, he seemed to have at least been aware of the difference in their social standing.
'Hmm, so he rejected it... the confession.'
Her best friend was a kind child who could understand others. She wouldn't force herself on someone who had rejected her once.
'Then in the end, did I not need to come to this cafe at all?'
She had moved up all her magical girl duties to finish them for today, only for it to turn into a deflating result beyond imagination.
With her purpose gone and time to spare, there was only one thing left for Sopia to do.
To spend such a trivial daily life chatting intimately with a friend at the cafe.
***
"So I'm saying! Rabi is indifferent to me in so many ways!"
"Wow, that's harsh!"
By the time three hours had passed since Sopia came to the shop, she had been talking with Aembeo for a long time, airing various complaints.
'She looks like she's having fun, that kid.'
She had definitely come in angry at first, but it seemed she had calmed down thanks to Aembeo.
She's the type who melts into almost anyone's embrace and earns their trust, so that's how she ends up opening her heart and talking like that.
"Ah, it's already this late... I should call my mother."
"Then I should get going too. Let's go back together until halfway."
Sopia nodded twice in a gesture of understanding, then put her smartphone to her ear.
"Yes, Mother. I'm talking with a classmate right now... No, I'm coming home now. Yes..."
As I was listening in on the suffocating phone call, Aembeo had come up beside me before I knew it.
"Wow~ there's a certain thrill in leading a proper young lady astray. That kid's family is a bit strict, you know."
"I understood enough from watching that phone call. It must be suffocating."
Feeling like I had heard the words 'Mother' and 'Yes' about thirty times, I was the one who ended up more tense instead.
Sopia probably has a mother who dotes on her child to a frightening degree.
Of course, it's only natural for parents to worry about their children, but when that worry goes too far, an ironic situation arises where the child ends up feeling anxious instead.
'I wonder what Dad and Mom are doing right now.'
Though I could no longer meet them after sharing a passionate kiss with a large truck, I at least wanted to let them know that I was doing well in another world.
"More importantly, thank goodness. It seems our identities weren't discovered."
"Our identities? How could Sopia find out we're from Silbeodan?"
What the. She looks at me with such a clueless face, but I'm the one who's more troubled.
"...Don't tell me you still haven't noticed?"
"?"
The girl tilted her head on the spot, as if she didn't understand my intentions at all.
"You, I knew you were a fool from the start, but..."
"Hmph, what is it, saying that all of a sudden without any explanation! The one calling someone a fool is the real fool!"
She had been chatting and laughing with Sapphire without changing her expression once, so for a moment I thought she was a master of facial acting.
'So she was just a fool...'
I should just give up and tell her. Arguing with her is tiring.
"She's almost certainly the magical girl Sapphire."
"...Huh?"
She made a blank expression for a moment, then forced a smile as if refusing to accept it.
"T-that can't be. Haha... Just because Rabi came here recently, if you make that connection so rashly..."
"......."
You could call it rash, but on the contrary, I couldn't think of anything else.
"Wait. Ruby to Rabi, Sapphire to Sopia... Huh? Uwaaah?!"
"You caught on quick."
"No, no! How could you know something like this! That two classmates are magical girls!"
Of course, at first, I couldn't help but feel that I had made the connection based only on outward appearance and characteristics.
But as I watched Sopia talking with Aembeo, that suspicion gradually solidified and eventually led to certainty.
"Wow... If the Boss finds out I've gotten close with Sapphire, I'll get scolded like crazy..."
"It'd be fortunate if it ended at just a scolding."
A mere grunt of Silbeodan like me had figured out the identities of two magical girls in such a short time.
'At this point, you could say it's rather impressive that our identities haven't been exposed until now.'
Could it be that not just Aembeo, but all the humans in this world are more foolish than I imagined?
"......."
No, I shouldn't think about it. Thinking makes my head hurt.
Anyway, now that I knew Magical Girl Sapphire hadn't come here for anything related to Silbeodan, there was no need to be on guard more than necessary.
"Aembeo, sorry for taking so long."
"It's fine. Let's hurry! Take care, Senior!"
The moment I tried to wave my hand at Aembeo, Sopia suddenly turned around and walked briskly toward me.
"Um... may I come again?"
If there was no need to be wary, there was only one thing I could say to her.
"Of course, please visit anytime."
It was a greeting filled with welcome.