56 - Fifty-four. What was his name?

When I wake up and wake myself up, I am surprised at how different it is from what I was used to.

I thought the sand beds were pretty good, but I guess that's only compared to sleeping on the rocks. A bed is a completely different kind of burden on the body. I didn't wake up in the middle of the day, and I woke up in the morning refreshed. Civilization is very important.

Good morning. Yuta. You're in a good mood.

"Good morning Sylphy. The bedding is very comfortable. It's nice to have a proper bed.

"Hmm. I see. I don't know about you, but I'm glad it's good for you."

...... It's a genie, isn't it? They said something about Sylphy dissolving in the wind...you never know.

"Yeah. "Yeah. That's good. So where's Belle and the others?"

Usually they greet me cheerfully.

"Oh, they're out exploring. I couldn't wait for Yuta to wake up. I'm sorry."

Sylphy shouldn't be apologizing. Well, she seemed to enjoy looking at ...... meat in the city yesterday, so I guess she's interested in it.

I'm sure she's interested in it.　Maybe you overslept a little?"

"Hmm, maybe so. Breakfast time is almost over and I was just about to wake you up."

Oh, no. I fell asleep as soon as I laid down after dinner last night. I must have slept pretty well. You slept over ten hours. No wonder I feel so refreshed.

I guess I wasn't completely exhausted from my bed of sand. I feel light.

"I'm sure Belle and the others will be fine, so if they don't come back after breakfast I'll summon them."

I head for the cafeteria with Sylphy. I rinsed my mouth a few times before I went to bed yesterday, but I could smell garlic on my breath ....... It's pretty bad if you can feel it yourself. I'm going to rinse out my mouth again. Etiquette is important.

"Good morning. Did you have a good night's sleep?"

"Good morning, Martha. You slept so well, you almost missed breakfast.

"Ha-ha-ha. Oh, yeah. Did you sleep well? If you slept well, eat well and keep up the good work.

I get a hard slap on the back. It hurts a lot. We are shown to the dining room and wait for our food to be served. Breakfast is also served. I wonder what they serve in the morning.

"Aiyo!"

With a thud, breakfast was placed in front of me: ...... meat. The meat is sitting in the center of a wooden plate. This volume of meat in the morning is a little scary.

"Martha. This is ......."

"Yeah, herb-roasted roughbirds."

...... is not exactly what I want to hear. What I meant was to ask if this volume is normal in the morning, but I guess I don't need to ...... ask.

"......Thank you."

I give up listening and start eating meat in the morning. Adventurers deserve this much in the morning, I guess.

It tastes ...... good. Is the herb basil? And the garlic is very effective. Maybe this inn is all about garlic with meat. Torque is really badass. It tastes good, though.

"How do you like it?"

Martha is very interested in what I have to say. I'm the only one in the diner, so maybe she's not busy.

"It's delicious. It may have a different name, but it has a nice basil and garlic flavor, and the meat is easy to eat because it is cut into pieces.

"Basil?　Garlic?"

I knew it had a different name.

"Uh... That's what they called it where I lived. The leafy kind is called basil, and the bulbous kind is called garlic."

"Heh. On this continent it's bapur and garlic. So you're from another continent?"

That's a subtle resemblance. Maybe you misheard garlic or garlic.　And I'm not from another continent, I'm from another world.

Yeah, something like that.

"That's great. My husband is a sucker for a strange culinary story. Would you tell him a story?"

I'd love to be friends with someone who likes to cook, but I have a lot of work to do for the time being. I'll let you know when I have some free time.

I'm not a cook, so I can't talk about the details, but if you don't mind, that's fine. I just have time. ......

"Ha-ha-ha, okay. That's great. Hey. Dad, come out here for a minute. You'll hear stories from another continent."

I wanted to say please when you have time. Martha, please, just hear me out.

"What? What is it, Martha?"

A burly old man came out of the kitchen with a thud. He's got some kind of cut on his face.

"You. Our guest is from another continent. You'll hear about the cuisine of another continent.

"What!　That's great. Sir, I'd love to hear about it. You want some ale?　I'll buy you a drink.

You. Don't start drinking in the morning.

"Really?　Yes, I know. Ha-ha-ha-ha. All right, gentlemen, we'll be serving ale tonight. So, how's the food on the other continent?

An old man sits across the table from me with a thud. Perhaps this is Mr. Toruku, the man with the big arm. The couple must be very cheerful. And they both look like the type of people who don't listen to others. Dangerous.

"I don't like to be told that out of the blue. ...... Yes!　What disappointed me when I came here was that the meat on the skewers at the food stalls was grilled over wood. It was strange to see the difference even if they were grilled over charcoal."

"Charcoal?　You cook meat over charcoal?　Is that all it takes to make it taste good?"

Martha looks doubtful. It tastes better when you cook it over charcoal, doesn't it?　I believe it was something about far-infrared radiation. Maybe firewood doesn't have the same effect?　I'm getting worried.

...... should also work. The Japanese have a near religious belief in charcoal fires. That's how great charcoal fire is. So it should be fine.

"Charcoal. Martha. I'm going to the blacksmith.

Dos-dos, the old man left the inn. What's the story?　I don't mind, but I can't keep up with what's going on.

"Uh, Martha?"

"Sorry, sir. He's going to try it right away. Charcoal is mainly used in the blacksmith shop.

"Oh, I see."

Well, that's good to know. I'll get some charcoal too. But if charcoal works, why doesn't basil?　Is it because I spoke the wrong name for the vegetable and assumed it wouldn't communicate?

I told you that I thought charcoal would be understood of course. ...... I guess I should ask you about charcoal, thinking it wouldn't work.

"Martha, can I buy charcoal?"

"Charcoal?　What's charcoal?　Is it from your hometown?"

"Oh, no, that's all right, I was mistaken."

Martha looked at me like I was crazy. But I get it. Maybe it's my understanding of language, but if I think it works, it works. If you think it doesn't work, your words reach the other person as they are. It's a great discovery. If you don't have to think about it, if you think you can understand everything, you'll be fine.

I finish my breakfast in a good mood and return to my room with Martha's small talk. But from now on, I'll try to eat at the busiest time of the day. Martha's conversation is like a machine gun, so fast and furious that there is no time to interrupt her.

"The Bells haven't come back, have they?"

Yeah, they seem to be having a good time. Should we call them back?

"Yes. I'm going to the Adventurers' Guild now, so I'll call them up.

When I summoned Bell and the others, everyone was excited. They were having so much fun.

"Yuta. You know, there's so much I want to eat.

"Were there a lot of things you wanted to try?"

"Yeah. It looks delicious!"

Rain, Tulu, and Tamamo all nodded and appealed to Belle's words. Were they cruising the food shops?　He seems to have recently learned the pleasure of eating, so he must be interested in a lot of things.

"After we go to the Adventurers' Guild, I'm going to do some shopping, so let's go shopping afterwards.

"Yay!" "Cue!" "I'm so happy!" "Coo!"

Belle and her friends are chatting and rejoicing with each other. It's so funny.

"Okay. I'm going to go."

I leave the key with Martha and head for the Adventurers' Guild. Belle, who is perched on my head, happily reports to me what kind of stores she has found. There are too many onomatopoeic sounds to understand, but I know he had a good time.

Rain and Tamamo do their best to tell us, but Cue and Coo can't understand them. Tulu's less wordy stories are the easiest to understand.

****

When we enter the Adventurers' Guild, the buzzing stops and they look at us intently. Then the whispering started. It was very uncomfortable.

"Hmmm. Yuta. I think you've got a second name."

Two names?　Is that what a second name is?　It's a name given to special adventurers. I got two names in one day. I'm about to start a life of being a "me-too" adventurer.

（What kind of name is that?)

I ask Sylphy in a hushed voice, a little excited. I'm sure yesterday's events will have an effect on him, so there might be a hammer in his voice.

"Everyone is calling you a fraud. You're a scoundrel who falsely claimed to be a spiritualist and then ripped off all the money from the people who were trying to mess with you.

(...... Sylphy. I'm sure you know that, but that's not two names, that's a swear word)

"Pfft. I guess so. Maybe that's a bad word."

Sylphy. He's totally amused.

"Ugh?　Yutta's bad words?　Do you want me to put it on?"

"Hmm. I guess so. If you guys can get him to do it, it'll prove that I'm not lying."

Oh, no. I feel like we're in big trouble if we don't stop this. He huffs and rushes to the motivated Bells.

（Don't get burned! (Don't encourage Sylphy, too...)

He manages to dissuade them by whispering. I wish Sylphy would stop laughing. Sylphy likes trouble. He hates war so much.　As I managed to calm down Belle and the others, Ertina noticed me and came up to me.

Yuta-san, is something wrong?

"Good morning, Miss Ertina. It's nothing. I'm just a little uncomfortable because of all the attention I've been getting.

"Yesterday's events were spectacular and word is spreading fast. I'm sure there will be a lot of attention for a while.

Ms. Eltina told me with a wry smile. Well, it can't be helped. The notoriety should cut down on the hassle. I'm not wrong.

I thought being a necromancer was cool... but I was surprised to find out that I have a bad reputation. If I had run away yesterday my life as an adventurer here would have been on the rocks. So it can't be helped.

"Well, it can't be helped. It won't be a problem if you show your ability. So, are we going to meet Gilmas?

"Yes, of course. Please wait here for a moment.

I see Ertina off to report to Guilmouth after being escorted to the bench. Ha-ha-ha. I feel the stares around me. I don't see any friendly glances so far, totally heeled.

I wonder if I'm going to end up playing the villain. I'd rather have a baby face and be cried at, but is that too much to ask?

While I was escaping from reality, Ms. Eltina came back. She is going to meet Guilmas. He hates necromancers, and I have no idea how the discussion will turn out. I am very worried.