Chapter 237
We left the arena and walked through the streets . The imperial capital had the same festive mood as the previous day . And so once again, we enjoyed some target practice and street food .
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Once the sun had set, we dropped Lemon off at her inn and we went our own way to have dinner .
“Now, we should go there again today . ”
Daniela said, matter-of-factly . She rarely diverged from choosing meat… And so I would have to choose a place today .
“Let’s eat here . ”
“I prefer the last place . ”
“Don’t be like that . ”
In front of us was a sign that read, ‘Lambrusen Cuisine . ’ Lambrusen was the first country I came to in this world . Though, there hadn’t been anything that seemed like local traditional food… Maris’s inn had only served normal food .
“Well, Fhiraldo is in a far corner of Lambrusen . It is different when you are close to the capital . Traditional cuisine is more popular on the other side, to the north . ”
“I see… Lambrusen is quite big then . ”
Fhiraldo was my first town . It was east of the misty hills . There were forests on both the north and south sides of it . The Alexia mountains stretch to the southeast from there, and the Empire of Flugelnia lay beyond them . We had traveled east from Fhiraldo, and gone to the city of the plains, Spiris . Then it was down south to Alessa and off to the Empire .
We had gone far south, really . If it was famous north of Lambrusen, then it was no wonder we hadn’t encountered much of it .
In any case, we were going in!
“Excuse me . Are there any tables available?”
“Yes! Please come in!”
The young woman who guided us in was wearing something I’d never seen before . Bold yet beautiful colors made intricate patterns in what I assumed was a traditional dress . She had long hair and wore a red bandana as well . Over the bandana, a hair ornament kept her braids tied together . It looked cool…
“Yes, this way please . ”
“Thank you . Your dress is very beautiful . ”
“Hehe . Thank you, sir . It is an old traditional Lambrusen dress . ”
She turned around for us . Her long skirt rose lightly in the air . It was beautiful .
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“Yes, just wonderful . Gorgeous . ”
“You’re very good at flattery . I’ll have to offer extra good service tonight . ”
She said quietly with a smile . Then she disappeared into the kitchen .
Daniela and I sat down and scanned the menu . However, it was hard to know what we were looking at .
“Did you really find her that pretty?”
“Hmm? Her dress was really nice . I don’t know much about clothes, but I’ve always appreciated traditional clothing like that . There were plenty of them back in my world . ”
I remember especially liking traditional European clothing . They would look good on Daniela . Hell, Daniela would look good in Asian clothes as well…
“So, that is your preference…”
“I guess so . Though, your clothes are nice too . At least for dates . ”
“Hmm…I see . ”
She said with flushed cheeks . I brushed my hand against them and everything was resolved . But she did look cute when she was jealous .
After that, Daniela gave me recommendations for Lambrusen cuisine and we made our order .
The same young women came to our table .
“Are you ready to order?”
“Yes . Uh, this…thing . Pavelyani…? Please . ”
“What? Pavelyani…?”
She looked at me with an expression of undisguised distaste . Eh, what? But Daniela recommended it?!
“He has never eaten Lambrusen before . ”
“Ahh…I see . Very well . ”
The woman nodded . Then she smirked as if a hunter who has seen her prey get caught in a trap .
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“And I will have some Ellefirasse with a baguette . ”
“Uh, I think I’ll have that too…”
“Thank you . So, that will be one Pavelyani and Ellefirasse with a baguette . I’ll bring it as soon as it is ready . ”
“Um, could I change…”
Perhaps she couldn’t hear me, because she quickly withdrew . Hmm . This atmosphere . It was like when people tried to feed wasabi to foreigners . I had a bad feeling about it all .
“Now, Asagi . Settle down . You will disturb the other customers . ”
“Are you my mother! Damn it, you tricked me . I know you did!”
Daniela just grinned with delight . From the corner of my eye, I saw the young waitress poke her head out and smile as well before disappearing again . Yes, I was about to step on a land mine .
I sighed about ten times before a large red plate came out and was placed in front of me .
A red plate? You’ve got to be kidding me .
Was it food? No .
“This must be some torture device . My nose hurts already . ”
“It’s your Pavelyani . ”
I’d be better off eating some chili peppers . I mean, this was clearly like the ‘compressed file’ version of chili peppers . It went straight to your nose . My tongue was already tingling . It was the kind of stuff that would make you go blind if it went anywhere near your eyes .
“Now, Asagi . This is a famous Lambrusen dish . ”
“Liar . I’ve never heard of such a thing . ”
“Just try it . You will not regret it . ”
“I have nothing but regrets! Damn it!”
But I was tired of sighing . There was nothing else to do… My hand shook as I picked up the spoon . Saliva pooled in my mouth like a defense mechanism . I gulped and then dipped the spoon into the red liquid from hell . The first thing I noticed was that it was like soup . Before that, I hadn’t registered anything but the color and smell .
“Uh…”
“Hurry . ”
“Don’t rush me . I’m not ready…”
“Let me help you . ”
“Agh!”
The kindly waitress pushed my hand so that the spoon and its contents went straight into my mouth .
And that was when I blacked out .
The next morning . I awoke in the military lodging facility . That was weird… I had no memory of coming back here . Yesterday… Some handsome bastard confronted us and then we watched that spear-wielder in the arena… Then we enjoyed the festival and split up with Lemon…huh!?
“My mouth hurts!!”
“Mmm…”
The tingling sensation suddenly hit me . Daniela groaned with annoyance and pulled the blankets over her head .
I slipped out of bed and headed for the washing room . There, I used water magic to rinse my mouth, but it only offered momentary relief . The sensation returned soon after .
“Are you kidding me? It really was a torture device . ”
Pavelyani, was it? I would never eat it again .
Still, I was able to get up quite early, thanks to it… It was still dim outside . In that case, I could secure us some seats without having to rely on Lemon .
And so I got out of my pajamas and into my outdoor clothes . Then I ate some of the street food we had stocked up on, but I couldn’t taste any of it . There was no mistaking it now . I had been tortured . I thought as I stuffed the tasteless noodles in my mouth .
“Daniela . Get up . Let’s try to look impressive in front of Lemon at least once . ”
“Hmm… What time is it…?”
“It is past five . Come on . We’ll get seats for all three of us . ”
“Yes… I will get up now…”
It was rather unusual for her to comply like this . She probably felt bad that we had been leaving things to Lemon .
Daniela dragged herself out of bed and scratched her shaggy hair as she made her way to the washing room . She would wash her face, hair, and body and then finally feel awake .
I looked out of the window, bored . The sun was slowly rising as it shone over the city .
“Oh, right . ”
This was a good time to practice using ‘Eyes of the God Wolf . ’ And so I looked at the city with my silver eyes .
My senses were shared with Jack of all Trades, Master of None, and I adjusted the focus while moving my gaze from right to left . There weren’t many people out this early in the morning, but I could see some that were headed towards the arena . It was the Rankers fighting today, after all .
“Ah . ”
Among them, I saw the executioner lady from the restaurant yesterday . She was wearing ordinary clothes now…not so surprising .
“Hmm . ”
I was getting used to it, but it was also tiring . Kind of like staring at a computer screen for too long . I hadn’t expected to feel eye strain in this world .
Now that I was tired, I looked at things that were closer . It was clear then, that it affected your eyes differently .
All the nearby buildings were military, of course . And people still worked at these hours . I could see soldiers walking in various directions . They seemed very serious about their work .
“Asagi . My clothes . ”
“Surely you can do that yourself…”
I began to mutter as I turned around . I hadn’t deactivated the zoom, and so my vision was filled with something that was pink . I hadn’t even thought to do it, but Jack of all Trades, Master of None automatically adjusted the focus for me .
“Asagi, what are you staring at?”
“Not sure . But I find it quite beautiful . ”
“Perhaps I will tell Rachel . ”
“My mistake, sorry . ”
I turned the skill off and took out Daniela’s clothes from the bag and handed them to her .
Now, it was off to see Group D .