CH 229

“Master, I’m sensing something tasty.”

I smell something nice from that stall too, but if we buy and eat something here, the others will probably be mad when we meet up with them, so let’s not. Hikari would probably get away with it, but I can’t imagine I’d escape being lectured for not looking after her properly.

“We’ll eat lunch when we meet up with the others. It’ll be tastier if we all eat together, right?”

“…Yes.”

She listens when I talk to her like this. Hikari is a good girl.

But contrary to what she says, she’s still slowly staggering her way towards the stall, so I have to grab her hand to stop her. At least she’s in a good mood, because she’s happily smiling for some reason.

“Finally. Over here.”

They find us quickly, so we don’t even have to look for them.

But Rurika, everyone’s eyes are focused on you because you’re yelling so loudly.

Hikari takes off running and hugs Rurika.

“…I’m hungry.”

“And you’ve been waiting?”

“…Yes.”

She’s praising Hikari, probably because she held back that healthy appetite of hers, I guess.

“Where are we going to eat?”

Asks Chris, and after thinking about it, I turn to Hikari.

I follow her eyes, and they take me to lined up stalls.

Everyone else also looks where she’s looking, and with a sigh of resignation, we head towards the stalls.

And of course, Rurika is holding Hikari’s hand so she doesn’t take off running.

There aren’t that many people around, but it’s still dangerous for her to suddenly start running. Although I think Hikari would probably be able to dodge anything that got in her way.

Once we reach the stalls, her eyes start shining, and she starts sniffing.

And after looking around, her eyes lock on to a specific position.

She pulls Rurika that way, and for some reason, stares while tilting her head in confusion.

“Hello young lady. Do you want one?”

Says the person behind the stall, who finds the way Hikari is acting amusing.

“…Yes. What is this?”

Hikari asks after staring for a while.

“You don’t know? Hold on a second, you’re not from around here, are you?”

“Yes.”

“I guess that makes sense. Outsiders tend to be surprised by this. This is my treat, young lady. Give it a try.”

Hikari happily accepts it and takes a bite.

She chews, and then…

“It’s great!”

Is what she says, and a big proud smile forms on the man’s face.

“Isn’t it? You have good taste.”

He says while peeking this way.

He’s a good businessman. I smile awkwardly, and after asking the other four, we all decide to eat here.

Some are a little reluctant, but decide that it has to be good if Hikari is enjoying it so much.

“Five more please.”

“Coming right up!”

A strong response.

I pay and take one. I take a bite, and with a crunchy feeling, a salty flavor fills my mouth along with the gentle white-fleshed fish flavor.

Yes, no doubt about it, this is fish grilled with salt. An entire one on a skewer.

I turn to the side, and see Rurika and the others talking with surprised looks on their faces, like they didn’t expect it to taste like this

They praise Hikari, and she looks a little proud of herself.

They’ve eaten stuff with the same texture as fish in Majolica, but it’s their first time eating grilled fish.

That had the same texture as fish, but was it actually fish?

“Was this caught in that lake?”

“Yep. There’s people who make a living doing that. And there’s many types of fish that can be caught there.”

So they’re also called fish in this world.

“How do you catch them?”

“There’s small boats for that purpose. They use them to catch fish, and leave the boats anchored in a small place in the corner of town that’s there just for that.”

So that’s why I haven’t seen them.

Can’t we use one of those boats to go to the island?

Afterwards, we go to other stalls under Hikari’s guidance. A lot of it revolves around fish, but even a meat lover like Hikari doesn’t leave unsatisfied.

“So, how did it go with you two?”

Rurika and the others take us to the inn, and we sit down in a corner of the dining hall to sort out the information we got.

“I couldn’t get laurel tree fruit. I asked the guild, but they say it won’t be easy.”

“Really? We went around the item shops, but they all said they didn’t have any.”

“So what now?”

Asks Mia, and I tell them what I heard in the alchemist guild.

“So we are going to see the feudal lord tomorrow?”

“Yes. I got an introductory letter, and the guild contacted them to say we’ll be visiting tomorrow.”

“I see. But… You should probably take that mask off.”

Says Rurika. I see people wearing masks in towns from time to time, but… I guess I probably shouldn’t wear it.

It wasn’t a problem with the feudal lord of Majolica, but that might be just because he’s Leila’s father. Then again I was also wearing it when I met the guildmaster, so…

Let’s see what Chris, an intellectual person with actual common sense has to say.

“Well, from what I heard around town, the feudal lord seems to be a moody person. You might make a better impression without the mask.”

I see… I don’t see any weird reactions with Presence Detection, and we’re far from Elesya, so I’ll take it off when we enter the mansion.

“Well then, I’m going there tomorrow. What about everyone else?”

“You should go with Chris. It’s best if you’re not accompanied by slaves. We’ll go buy disposable items in the meantime.”

Says Rurika, and that gets me thinking about this country’s stance on slaves.

Not to mention that I probably shouldn’t take a large group with me.