Chapter 84

“Your food is ready. Here is the Forest Hare Herb Grill and this is the Fried Forest Vegetables. And here we have today’s special, the Forest Boar and Wild Plant and Mushroom Meat Pie!”

The food arrived as we talked. The waitress talked in a leisurely manner, but her hands were quick as she placed the plates on the table. And she did not make any mistakes about who ordered what.

“Dessert will be served after you finish eating. Please enjoy.”

Ah, I did forget to say anything about the timing. My mistake. Though, I guess its normal to bring out the dessert at the end. A waiter would know.

“Let’s eat then.”

“Yes.”

There was a steaming meat pie sitting right in front of me. A meat pie…I’ve never had one before. I suppose it was like an apple pie but with meat?

I slid my knife in to cut it open and heard a satisfying crunch. Ah, the texture of something freshly baked. Yeah!

“That looks good…”

Daniela looked at my dish with predatory eyes as she ate her forest hare with a fork.

“I’ll share it, alright?”

I chuckled as I cut the pie into eight slices like a pizza. The walls of the pie oozed with juices. This needed to be eaten quickly, or the pie crust would get soggy. I hate it when tempura and deep fried food get damp.

“You should eat it while it’s hot.”

“Mmm, thank you. I will give you some of mine as well.”

“Thanks. Ah, that’s good…”

Daniela offered me a bite off of her fork, and so I ate it. There was a smell of herbs, and something tangy? It was very good. I had ordered the meat pie but was eating the hare first…I needed to eat the pie. It was good manners to eat your food while it was still hot.

“Hmmm…mm! Mｍｍ, this is good…!”

I cut off a piece and brought it to my mouth. The crunch of the pie crust felt amazing. The filling inside had the strong flavor of the meat and the chewy texture of mushrooms, making it a joy to eat. And delicious. The wild plants inside burned just a little. I liked these kinds of hot spices. I had some spices in my hollow bag as well. There was one called akapiri seed powder. It sounded spicy. Daniela even sweated a little as she ate the pie. She was fond of spicy food, and so I often used akapiri powder while cooking.

Our hands didn’t stop as we continued to eat, and it didn’t take long until our plates were scraped clean. The fried forest vegetables that Daniela shared with me were seasoned with salt and also very good. This might be a stupid question, but I wonder if they have sea salt in this world?

“Here is your dessert! This is the Fruit of the Forest Berulu Sap Stew. And this one is the Forest Fruit Cake. Is that all you ordered?”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

“Please enjoy.”

The waitress smiled warmly and left us. The timing was perfect…but I guess it was her job to observe.

“Well, this looks quite nice.”

“So does this berulu sap thing. But it does remind me of that forest goblin…”

“You should not be bothered by such things. This is a delicacy. Let us enjoy it.”

“Yeah…I’ve been wanting to try this out, really.”

All girls light up when they see something sweet in front of them. A modern girl would have whipped out her phone and unleashed a storm of camera flashes. But Daniela only jabbed a knife into her plate. She seemed like the type who would realize with remorse, that she meant to take a photo only after she had mutilated her dessert…

The berelu sap stew had the fruit of the forest, while the cake had forest fruit. I wonder if there was supposed to be a difference, as I break off a piece of the cake with my fork. It’s not one of those cream-filled cakes, but more of a pound cake in density. The sweetness and tartness of the fruits are incredible. This diner was the best. Everything we ate here was excellent.

We licked our lips in satisfaction at our dinner, delighted in our dessert, and spent our first night at the Leaves in Sunlight inn. And as was promised, Daniela coddled me well that night.

Then our second day in Valdorf began.

I, of course, woke up in my own room. And of course, Daniela was not next to me. I’m not sure why I expected anything else.

The morning sunlight streaks through the curtains like a forest roof. The sky will be clear today, I think, as I get up and wash my face before getting changed. We would go to the shoe and armor stores that we had found yesterday. I would have to make sure that anything I buy fits in with my current equipment. And so I put on everything except for the light armor, poncho and waist mantle as I head for the diner. I was wearing my old leather shoes.

“Morning, Daniela.”

“Ah, good morning, Asagi.”

Usually, Daniela would still be in a drowsy state, but the food here had taken a hold of her it seemed, and she was wholly alert. However, she had some unfortunate amount of bed hair, a glaring denial of her perfection.

“Daniela, your hair in the back.”

“…Hm? Ah, it has always been this way.”

Lies. Don’t tell lies.

□ □ □ □

We had a spectacular morning meal and went back to our rooms. There I put on my armor. All of it. No weapons though. I didn’t want to draw any attention by showing the ancient elven sword. I had heard that such artifacts were popular among nobles, and I did not want anyone to try and steal it… I decide to take the iron sword with me, as it was better than nothing. This one had sentimental value to me, and I didn’t really want to take it out. It was already in a bad state, and I would hate for it to get worse.

I’m careful to not hit the door or walls with the sheath as I leave the room. The hollow bag was on my back, and I had everything I needed. And so I locked the door and handed the key back to Dorothea at the counter.

“Are you going out on a quest then?”

“Nah. My sword and shoes were a little cursed, so I’m getting new ones.”

“Wha-, oh, uh, should I be worried…?”

“The curse seems to be an Asagi exclusive, so I wouldn’t worry.”

“What did you do…?”

Miss Dorothea gave me a suspicious look. What did I do, indeed…

“Asagi.”

I looked in the direction that the voice came from, and there was Daniel in full battle armor. It was like she was off to go hunt a wyvern. She was even wearing her mask.

“You two look like you are about to suppress a stampede.”

“With this old iron sword?”

Dorothea laughed heartily, which I returned as we left the inn. We were headed to the shoe store. They say that fashion starts with shoes. I pull out the sheet of paper where I had marked the location, in order to check the route. Turn east at the big fountain on the main road and make a left turn after the third block. Continue from there to a dark area with a tight row of buildings that formed a small shopping district. The shoe store was supposed to be located in this district. It seemed very hidden away when I was copying it off the map at the information center, and now that we were here, I found that it really was hard to find. This area seemed like it was purposely hidden. The word ‘slums’ entered my brain, but the people who walked here were the same Adventurers and tourists that could be seen on the main street. This town was pretty safe after all.

The buildings here were also made of wood. Though there were no sprinkler-like mechanisms installed in the area, except the one near the entrance. There was likely another by the exit. The shoe store was near the exit.

Shoes lined the front of the store, which had a shoe-shaped sign in front of it.

“Hanfell’s Shoe Store,’ huh.”

“These are good shoes. What about this?”

Daniela picked up a shoe and showed it to me. But it didn’t really look like it was for Adventurers? And was that a bright red ribbon on it?

“Those shoes raise the force of your magic spells. But you look like a fighter, so it should be of no use to you.”

A voice suddenly rang. But I couldn’t see anyone. I immediately thought of ghosts, but why would anyone haunt a shoe store? I was sure that someone must be near us, and so I kept looking around me.

“Down here!”

“Ouch!!”

I heard the voice and felt something punch my thigh. It was a strangely effective throw, and I nearly teared up when I looked down to see a child wielding a wooden hammer. This little shit. He hit me with a hammer!?

“Get out of here if you are not buying! You are hurting my business!”

“Oh, I’ve got business here alright. I’m here to buy shoes. Get out of my way kid, so I can go inside.”

I was not very amused after being assaulted with a hammer. It may have been wooden, but that shit hurt.

“Kid!? A kid you say!? Bastard. As if I would sell my shoes to the likes of you! Get out!”

“Your shoes?”

I looked down at the fuming hammer boy.

“Indeed! All of these shoes were made by me! Hanfell, the shoemaker!”

Is that right? The hammer boy’s name was Hanfell. And now he said he wouldn’t be selling me any of his shoes. That wouldn’t do. I would have to fight monsters in plain leather shoes.

“Uh, sorry. Hanfell. Please allow me to buy your shoes.”

“That’s Mister Hanfell. You sandal wearing bastard.”

Grrr! This kid was infuriating!!