Chapter 168

We talked together as we walked along the river’s edge. As things settled in my head, monsters appeared before us again. It was several grass wolves in the plains. These too, we killed together. The claws were torn off and went in my bag. We encountered more monsters after that as well, but they were always either goblins or grass wolves. As we leisurely took our walk, the shadows of the trees began to grow long.

“The sun’s starting to set…”

“The time passes so quickly.”

“Yeah. We should head back soon.”

And so our environment investigation of the area surrounding Usk was finished. And we would return. The setting sun was bright to the point that it hurt to look up as we walked in that direction, but Daniela looked beautiful when bathed in orange light. Her platinum blonde hair turned orange and her eyelashes seemed to sparkle.

“…Hm? And why are you looking at me so intently?”

Daniela noticed my stare and asked me with a chuckle, that I suspect was to hide her embarrassment.

“Oh, I was thinking about how pretty you look.”

“Fool. What has come over you…”

She muttered as she fidgeted with her hair. Her every gesture was a joy to watch, and made the journey back anything but tiring.

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We passed the east gate and entered the main street. As it was already quite late, we decided to search for a place to eat. I suggested that we could do something a little more interesting than the usual street stall, and so Daniela quickly replied with a ‘then we shall find a place,’ and escorted me away. Some might mistake this as the mark of a cool girlfriend, but she was just hungry.

We were now in a restaurant district. Daniela’s nose led us here, that was clear. And I wasn’t sorry, as I could smell delicious food everywhere. And there was such variety. The fact that I could differentiate between them, allowing for them to stimulate my appetite in different ways could only mean that I had an impressive nose.

As I watched from the back as Daniela navigated through the crowds, a familiar scent punched me in the nostrils.

“Ah…this…it’s curry…”

The familiar spices brought back so many memories. Well, there was no use now. I was fully committed to having curry.

“Daniela. Daniela.”

“What? Have you found a good place?”

“Yeah. A place that serves something I really like.”

“You, Asagi? Well, that does sound interesting…”

Daniela came back to me and so I relied on my nose to find the restaurant. My nose was telling me that it could not be very far. And so I put my faith in it and turned a corner and went up some steps as I searched. And then I saw a restaurant at the corner of a street. There was light coming from it. We stood in front of the stone building and looked through the windows. Yes, the smell was coming from inside.

“Here it is…”

“Asagi. Let us go in. I have reached my limit…!”

Clearly she was also susceptible to this smell. I was at my limit as well. And so I quickly opened the door and went inside.

“Welcome.”

“Are there enough seats for two?”

“Yes, please follow me.”

Said the young woman who had a somewhat slow way of talking. We took our seats near the back. Menus were stuck onto the wall here, and I quickly found the letters that spelled ‘curry.’

“I’ll have some curry.”

“Is that what is responsible for this smell? Well then, I will have the same thing.”

Daniela added after my quick decision. The lady quickly jotted this down on her memo pad and disappeared into the kitchen.

Upon looking around again, I saw that the place was quite full. It was a little bit outside of the main food district, but the smell was likely enough to lure people over… And this was a trade town. They had a lot of spices.

“Naan bread…”

I saw some people eating it. It was a kind of bread eaten with curry. Unlike rice, it was easy to forget how much you ate, which I had done often…

“You dip it into the curry.”

“I see…”

Daniela nodded with interest as she watched. Staring that much was a little rude…

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

It was just as I was starting to get anxious about the amount of drool that was surely accumulating in Daniela’s mouth, that the lady brought us our bowls of curry and very large naan bread.

“Enjoy.”

She placed them on the table and then quickly disappeared again. That was fast…

Aright, let’s eat.”

“Finally.”

Daniela tore off a piece of naan and used it to scoop up some of the curry. Then she stuffed it into her mouth.

“Hmm…mmm? Mm…mm…mmm!?”

Her expression seemed to change every second as she tasted it. Perhaps she was surprised at how spicey it was. I watched her with amusement as I tore off a piece, dipped it in the curry and ate it. It was an explosion of spices the moment it touched your tongue. The spiciness was intense and the scent went straight to your nose. This was what made curry so delicious. Unlike rice, the texture of the naan was fluffy and chewy. The toasted surface accentuated the smell in a delightful way.

“Asagi… This is very good…!”

Daniela reported with a big grin and a full mouth.

“Didn’t I tell you? This dish existed in my world.”

“Huh… Food from another world. A Hero from long ago must have brought it with them.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

I generally did not miss food from that other world, but this was an exception. Curry was one of those things that I craved no matter where I was.

After that, it was tearing and chewing, tearing and chewing. We both got a second serving and ended up leaving the place very full and satisfied.

“Ahh…I ate too much…”

“I do not think I can eat anymore… Did you call it naan? Yes, it is a lot more filling than it looks…”

“Well, it’s made from grains, after all…”

What was it made of anyway, bread flour? Flour…wheat. It was really not much different from bread or rice.

“We should buy some to take back with us next time.”

“Yes, we’ll be leaving in a week. I’ll try not to forget.”

Ever eager, Daniela was already talking about our next trip here. It was only in matters of food where I sometimes felt disappointed in her. But then again, it was also quite endearing.

The night wind did much to cool off our bodies, which still seemed to burn after that dinner. I was trying to search for a way back to the inn, but I had relied more on my nose to find this place than anything else, and so we became quite lost. Daniela looked around and finally found the stairs we had gone up, but it didn’t take us back to the restaurant district.

“That’s strange…were those the right stairs?”

“I am not sure. I had a feeling that there were a few more steps compared to before.”

With that feeling in mind, I turned around to look back at the brightly lit flight of stairs. I was not amused at the idea of going straight back up again, and Daniela was also looking annoyed by the notion.

“We’ll search for a different route then.”

“Yes… I am sure there is a way around it. Besides, a little walk should help with digestion.”

It was one of the charms of traveling. Being in a strange place, eating different foods and walking on unknown streets. This was the vacation abroad that I could only dream about while working my night shift long ago. How could I not enjoy it?

“Now, which way should we go?”

“Hmmm…over there.”

I pointed in a random direction. Well, if was either backwards or forwards at this point. And did it really matter? We wanted to reach the inn eventually, but the point wasn’t to walk straight in its direction.

“Alright then.”

“Daniela. Daniela.”

“What?”

I grabbed her arm as she took a step forward.

“Let’s walk arm in arm.”

“Embarrassing and uncomfortable.”

“Now, now. You don’t mean that.”

“Hmm…”

She turned a little red under the light of the torches.

“Well…as long as we do not make a habit of it.”

“Exactly. Exactly.”

“And do not press so close…”

Daniela pushed my face off of her cheek. Still, we kept together as we walked down Usk’s night streets.

“Hey, Daniela.”

“What, Asagi?”

She stopped pushing me away and looked at me.

“Thank you. For everything.”

“What is this all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know. Just a whim.”

“I see… Well, that can happen.”

She looked on ahead, but not at the streets. There was a faraway look in her eyes.

“I too would like to thank you.”

“Oh? You’re very welcome.”

“…You can stop grinning now.”

But I was too happy to do anything else, and my face did not return to normal for quite some time.