Slim trousers and a silk blouse that did not fit her age. A ponytail with even the bang tied to the back. Even the black swan broach on her left chest!
‘She’s completely Perelman Junior!’
Moreover, the glistening blond hair under the sun was reassuring Abel of this fact even more.
“Ah, you’re here Lady Perelman. Well, this guy here says he’s here to meet the captain! Do not worry! I shall chase him away.”
Yup… Perelman Junior she is.
“Hm… do you know my father?”
The girl scanned Abel from top to bottom. She looked very doubtful.
“You sure got that right, young lady! I met him every day for 3 months. Without missing a single day.”
“Ho! How dare you speak down to her! Do you wish to die?”
Seeing Abel using impolite speech, the gatekeeper was enraged.
Though, for Abel, that couldn’t be helped. This little lady was a middle schooler while he was thirty years old.
“It’s fine. I’ll take him.”
She seemed to have well-educated, as she was calm in these situations.
Creak.
The gates opened and the girl entered.
“Follow me.”
‘Wow… even her speech is just like his.’
The cold voice was definitely ‘Robot Mk. II’.
“But what are you planning to do after you meet my father?”
These days, her father visited the tower every day.
“I get lessons.”
“Swordsmanship?”
“Huh? Swordsmanship? No, it’s just writing, history and… lifestyle tips, I guess…….”
“…….”
Learning to write at that age? Was he more lacking than he seemed to be?
‘Why is father teaching someone like this himself?’
She became curious.
Eventually, the girl arrived in front of Perelman’s office and knocked on the doors.
Knock knock knock.
-Enter.
Serious, yet familiar voice. It was Perelman.
“Father!”
“Haha, my sweetie, you’re here… oh? Abel is here too. But why are you two……?’
‘Man, even this guy is all smiles in front of his daughter.’
Perelman’s rare smile instantly appeared as he saw his daughter.
Abel spoke of every single thing that happened at the gates to Perelman.
“Hahahahaha, that fella Ralph made a mistake. I’ll have a talk with him later.”
The scary-looking gatekeeper. Looks like his name was Ralph.
“Oh, it’s fine. I look like this after all. That’s why, can’t you give me some money to get some clothes? I actually came here to receive some money…….”
“I heard from the duke. Here. It’s 10 gold.”
Perelman gave Abel a silk pouch containing 10 gold. As an item of the Tardema household, it had a black swan on it.
“Eh? Only ten?”
As someone who didn’t know the currency of the empire, Abel did not know how much 1 gold was worth. He was just like a 3-year-old. Quantity was better than quality.
“You can come back after you use them all.”
“Well, okay. I’ll at least be able to get some meat…….”
Meanwhile, the girl who was watching this scene couldn’t grasp what was happening.
‘Why is father so polite to someone who doesn’t even know how to write?’
Having noticed her, Perelman quickly introduced his daughter.
“Oh, this is my daughter Reina. Reina, this is Abel, an acquaintance of the duke.”
What? An acquaintance of the duke? He looked to be her age at best……. Reina couldn’t understand. Was some fellow archmage playing a prank on her? That was all she could think of.
“Oh, hello. I’m Reina.”
Although she did greet him, she couldn’t bear to be polite with him. No matter how she looked at him, he was around the same age as her.
“Haha, pretty, isn’t she? She’s already at the age where she can go to the Academy. She even has got notified that she passed.”
Fathers praising their children seemed to be the same anywhere.
Perelman continued to speak.
“The castle is quite complex. I’ll put Reina by your side…. Go and buy him some clothes and guide him around.”
“Ah…. Yes……..”
Well, he must be someone important right? For her father to be willing to go so far…….
“Hmm… where do you want to go?”
Asked Reina as they exited the gates.
“Well, of course, it will be food. It will be meat. Definitely!”
“Pfft, okay. I was also just about to get hungry.”
Seeing Abel excited, Reina smiled a little. Abel looked slightly cute as he kept repeating the word ‘meat’ as though he was singing.
“I saw somewhere on my way here. It was called ‘Maronier Steak House’. They even line up to eat there. Let’s go there!”
Abel spoke excitedly. He was very confident in his decision.
“Haha, you’re not from around here, are you? That place is a franchise so it’s actually quite bad despite their premium price tag. I know somewhere good so follow me.”
That’s it! Famous shops from the internet were always disappointing……. The locals’ choice was always the real deal.
Abel followed Reina to a rather crude restaurant in a small street. Their name was ‘Garden of Bordeaux’. As a small store, there were only 4 tables.
Fortunately, there was one table empty.
“What would you like to eat?”
Asked Reina as she gave him the menu.
“The most delicious thing here!”
“Okay then. Excuse me!... One ‘Javuier Steak’ and One ‘Caesar salad’ please. Oh, and a cup of ‘Couriel Iced Tea’!”
From her ordering, she looked very reliable. This was most definitely a delicious place. His intuition said so.
In the Garden of Bordeaux, the steak would be chopped at the kitchen, in just the right bitesize pieces. And right now! Lord Beef was currently slowly making its way to Abel.
(T/N: Beef is expensive and is considered luxury/festive food in Korea)
Dat smoke tho.
“Mm, that smell~. The fragrance must be from a triple grade beef! I’m almost about to cry after eating all that grass for 3 months. *Sob*…. And hey, why are you ordering grass all the way here……?”
“Ha… I’m on a diet, so no…..”
Gulp.
It looked very delicious.
Reina also very much liked meat. Especially Javuier Steak that Abel just got. However, in three months would be the entrance ceremony for the Academy. She had to maintain perfect body condition.
‘No wonder she’s so thin. She’s having such a hard time.’
Even so, wasn’t she at an age where should be growing? As a Korean, he couldn’t stand it. Here comes ‘Korean’s kindness’.
“Here, eat this. Forget the diet! Eating and growing is the most important.”
There’s a saying in Korean – Even a single grain of pea is shared. Abel took two of his pieces and put it onto Reina’s plate.
“Eh…?”
However, Reina was confused. Actually no, not confused, shocked – cultural shock. She was brought up in a culture where food was not shared. Moreover, didn’t this person just say that he had no meat for the past 3 months? Reina was shocked by how he gave her some of his portion before he even started speaking.
Fu~.
Abel took a deep breath.
It’s finally here! Marbling more beautifully done than diamond, grilled to just the right ‘medium rare’. A piece of it entered Abel’s mouth.
‘……!!!!’
As soon as the meat touched his tongue, it started melting down like ice cream. As though hypnotized, he could see the vast plains. In those vast plains, cows were leisurely eating grass while mooing. Moo~ - He could almost hear them.
That’s it! This taste! He had a taste of it before! His father took him to a beef restaurant to congratulate his employment! It was that same test!
“Ahey, the meat is melting in my mouth~.”
“Pfft! It’s that delicious?”
Reina felt somewhat satisfied with seeing Abel eat so deliciously. Perhaps this was why people took their friends to good restaurants.
Instead of answering, Abel stuck his thumb up.
“Excuse me, can we get the bill please?”
After the meal, Abel called for a staff. From how there was no counter, it seemed like he needed to call a staff to pay.
“Did you have a nice meal? Then let me help you calculate. Let’s see… One Javuier is 22 silver, Caesar salad is….”
What the heck? So slow! As a former shopkeeper in the military, this was waaaay to slow for Abel. Especially since speed was life in the modern Earth. He felt twitchy.
‘So damn slow!’
“Steak 22 silver, salad 17 silver, ice tea 6 silver. That’s a total of 45 silver, 10% tax means 49.5 and 15% for tip. That’s around 56.9 silver. I’ll round up and give you 57 silver, okay?”
On the menu, 10% tax and 15% tip was separate, or so it said.
“……!”
God! Abel’s calculation speed made Reina’s jaws drop.
That amount of waiting time was normal around here. Normally, they would wait around a minute, but… he did all that under 10 seconds.
‘What? I thought he was someone dumb since he didn’t even know how to write… but that kind of calculation speed is insane! Who is this man?’
This man was very strange, yet refreshing.