After visiting Chris-san in Archlesia Empire, we decided to move on again, but we’re still not sure where to go next. If we were to go around the Human Realm in the proper order, we would go to Hydra Kingdom next…… The only common acquaintance between me and Kuro is Laguna-san, and unlike how it was with Chris-san, Kuro and Laguna-san aren’t particularly close with each other.
And since Laguna-san isn’t a particularly good cook or anything like that, there’s no reason for us to consult her. That being the case, there’s no other mutual acquaintance between Kuro and me in Hydra Kingdom.
However, as for whether we aren’t going to Hydra Kingdom, that’s not necessarily the case. Hydra Kingdom is at the forefront of the latest trends, and has a wide variety of rare and unique ingredients. As Kuro pursues new possibilities for baby castellas, that place is a definite must-go in Kuro’s mind.
And thus, we came here to see the markets and other places around Hydra Kingdom.
[……Whoa, so this is that yuzu that’s recently come into circulation?](T/N: Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit. Like a smaller, rounder lemon or a yellow lime.)
[Yeah, that sure looks like it. So this is also being circulated now huh.]
[Shiro and Earth God have been talking recently, and various ingredients from the other world have been coming into the market.]
The reason why yuzu came into circulation is probably that Kaori-san wished for Eden-san to make a tree that would produce yuzu for her, and after talking to Shiro-san as well, she allowed it to be distributed.
I don’t know what happened after that, but is it likely that the Gods distributed them under Shiro-san’s instructions? Regardless, this is a rare ingredient in Kuro’s eyes.
[Let’s buy some of these too!]
[Well, depending on how you make it, yuzu certainly seems to go well with baby castellas.][Other than that, let’s also get some fresh fish……]
[That, I will stop.]
Yuzu and fish really is a wonderful combination. Whitefish, for example, would go well with yuzu. However, adding both of that to baby castella would be nothing short of a devil’s amalgamation.
It’s scary how she actually tried to buy fish with a completely normal look on her face.
[Ah, speaking of which, it’s almost lunchtime. What should we have for lunch?]
[Ahh~~ You’re right. Since we’re at it, how about we eat at that restaurant you said Kaori-chan runs?]
[Well, I’m sure we’ll be heading there after Hydra Kingdom anyway…… However, if we go there at lunchtime, I wonder if Olivia-san will be there as well?]
[Olivia-chan? ……Eh? Olivia-chan eats food?]
[She has apparently become a regular there. No, the original cause of why that happened was me but……]
Kuro seemed to know about Olivia-san as well, and it seems like she really is surprised about the fact that she eats lunch at the set-meal restaurant.
I told Kuro that I went to Friendship City and met Olivia-san before, but I haven’t mentioned how she became a regular at Kaori-san’s restaurant after that.
[Heehhh…… That makes me look forward to eating there even more. I also like Japanese food a lot.]
[Now that you mentioned it, they’re often served at Kuro’s house, right?]
[Neun loves them after all.]
Kuro is also good at using chopsticks, and it feels like she’s used to Japanese food. The cause for this is definitely Neun-san…… I just can’t imagine Neun-san eating bread, so I’m convinced that was the case.
Well, she probably eats bread as well, but she did mention in her diary how she dislikes eating bread all the time……
After we had enough shopping in Hydra Kingdom, we went to Kaori-san’s restaurant. It was still a little early in the afternoon, so we were able to get there before the restaurant got too crowded.
When Kuro and I entered the restaurant, Kaori-san greeted us with a bright smile.
[Welcome. Ahh, Kaito-san, you’ve come again huh. The one with you is…… Hyiiiih, Kuromueina-sama!?]
[Kaori-chan, it’s been a while~~ Last time we met was about 12 years ago, right?]
[Ah, l- long time no see!]
Seeing Kuro waving her hand with a bright smile, Kaori-san bowed her head with a look of astonishment on her face.
[I heard from Chris-chan that Kaori-chan runs a store here in Friendship City, so I came to have lunch here with Kaito-kun.]
[Ahh, I see. Thank you very much. Errr, please have a seat.]
[Thanks~~]
She seemed nervous, but Kaori-san just seemed to be just surprised by her sudden arrival, as she didn’t feel as still as when I brought Olivia-san here for the first time.
I guess she knows Kuro’s personality to some extent, having met her when she was playing the role of Hero.
Guided by Kaori-san, we sat down at the counter seats and looked at the menu…… when Kuro seemed to have suddenly thought of something and spoke.
[Ah, that’s right. Since we’re here, I might as well ask Kaori-chan about it.]
[Eh? What is it?]
[What do you think are the new possibilities for baby castellas?]
[…………Say what?]
Kaori-chan looked like a pigeon that had been hit by a peashooter, but upon further reflection, I guess her reaction was normal. The people we’ve met so far know Kuro well, people who would just be astounded, but convinced that “Kuro would say something like that”, but if someone suddenly mentioned the possibilities of baby castellas, it would be natural that they’d react that way.
With this in mind, I decided to explain to Kaori-san the circumstances.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [This character is well-qualified to be a new Stomachache Character, but as expected, she couldn’t come close to the Legendary Stomachache Lilia……]
? ? ? : [Indeed. If it was Lilia-san, Shallow Vernal-sama would have probably come at that moment as well.]
