CH 137

Chapter 137 : Iron Ore Inn

When we went down to the first floor, the dining hall was crowded with customers unlike when we first entered.

The customers are mostly men with well-built bodies. They are probably miners who work in the mining site.

Celine, who seemed to notice us, beckoned us while drinking her ale.

「I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you. I can’t hold it anymore~」(Celine)

「It’s okay. Alright, I wonder what I will eat tonight.」(Mark)

When the three of us sat at the same table as Celine, I heard the surrounding men saying, “She already has children, huh?” or “She’s married, huh? Too bad”. Looks like they were going to hit on Celine if we were not here.

Well, a beautiful woman like Celine is popular in a bar with mostly men like this.

After waiting for a while, the waiter came to our table.

「Welcome. You’re the guests who are renting the large room on the second floor, right? Can I have your order?」(waiter)

The waiter is a pretty girl who is as tall as me. She has pink hair and has her hair up in two side buns.

We didn’t see her at the reception desk when we entered, so she is probably a part-time worker like Delica.

「Hmm, let’s see…」(Mark)

When I looked at the menu hanging on the wall, the girl recommended a menu.

「If you want to try the specialty food here, I recommend rockworm soup.」(waiter)

「Rock… worm?」(Mark)

「You know, the monster that looked like a giant caterpillar I burned with my fire arrow on our way here.」(Celine)

Geh! That giant caterpillar, huh?

There was a culture of eating insects in my previous life, but I’ve never done that.

Well, this is not entirely insect. This is a monster. So I think the genre is a bit different from insect food in my previous life.

I’m a little hesitant to eat insects, but since she recommended that to me, I think I should try it…

「Alright, I’ll have rockworm soup then.」(Mark)

「I want sausages and salads.」(Delica)

「I want stew!」(Nicola)

Eh? They’re not ordering rockworm soup too?

They’re ordering ordinary menus… I see. They want to play it safe, huh? I feel betrayed somehow…

「W-Well then, you hear them. Also, can I have white bread as well?」(Mark)

「Alright, please wait for a while.」(waiter)

After replying to me, the girl headed for the counter, and a few minutes laterー

「Sorry for the wait. Here’s your order.」(waiter)

Saying that, the girl placed a bowl of rockworm soup in front of me. She then put Delica and Nicola’s meals on the table as well.

Fortunately, it doesn’t look bad at all. There were plenty of gray meat pieces that were cut in dice which were probably rockworm meat.

First of all, I took a sip of the soup with a spoon.

Mmm~ It’s a bit salty but it’s not bad at all.

Next is the main ingredient.

I scooped up a piece of meat with my spoon and brought it into my mouth.

Knowing that this is some kind of caterpillar meat, I was expecting that it had a chewy texture. However, it’s surprisingly crispy despite being soaked into the soup. It tastes like a fragrant nut that gives a refreshing sensation as I chew it.

Mmm~! This is tastier than I expected.

「Celine, you wanna try it? I think it goes well with liquor.」(Mark)

「Is that so? Let me try.」(Celine)

When I presented my bowl to Celine, she stuck her fork into a piece of rockworm meat and brought it into her mouth.

「Mmm~ This is surprisingly good! Excuse me, can I get rockworm soup tooー?」(Celine)

「Right away!」(waiter)

When Celine called out to the waiter girl who was still around, the girl replied energetically.

While I was looking at the girl, Nicola stole a piece of rockworm meat from me.

「Onii-chan, this is delicious!」(Nicola)

After she said that and smiled at me, she began to take more pieces and put them in her stew.

『Hey, that’s more than enough, right!?』(Mark)

『Puu! You’re such a cheapskate!』(Nicola)

Phew… Good thing I managed to stop her in time, or else I would just drink soup as dinner.

By the way, Delica is eating her sausages without showing any interest in my soup. Perhaps she doesn’t have the courage to eat it knowing that it was made of a large caterpillar-type monster.

When I continued eating while dipping white bread in my soup, I heard the hustle and bustle from the surrounding people.

「Oーi, Neiー! Give me more ale!」

「Me too!」(men)

「Hey, you shouldn’t drink too much! You can’t make much money because of those monsters, right!? Can you even pay for the drinks!?」(waiter)

So the waiter’s name is Nei. She answered the customers roughly, perhaps it’s because they are regulars here.

「Adventurers will come to subdue those monsters tomorrow, so we’ll be fine.」(man)

When another man interrupted her, Nei put her hand on her forehead and sighed.

「Haaahh… Why are men in this town so carefree…?」(Nei)

「Gaahaha! You’re totally right!」(man)

「「Hahahahaha!」」

The dining hall suddenly became noisy with men’s laughter.

That Nei girl… I thought she was the same age as me, but from the way she talked with the customers… Could it be…

「Say, Celine, do you think that girl the same age as me?」(Mark)

「Ahh, well~ I don’t think so… *Hic!* …She is probably a dwarf, that’s why she looks like a girl~」(Celine)

「I know you haven’t drank alcohol since yesterday, but don’t drink too much, okay? But… a dwarf, huh…?」(Mark)

I had learned about various races in this world including dwarves at Sunday School, but this is my first time I’ve seen one.

In the textbook, dwarves were described as the race that has a short height. The males are muscular, and the females are short, even shorter than the males.

However, after seeing that waiter, I think dwarven females look like legit little girls rather than women who have a short height.