Volume 2, Chapter 30 – The Gluttonous Queen, Again

After fully enjoying the hot springs, we returned to our inn and headed to the attached tavern.

If this were the Blue Star Republic, that hot spring would probably become a tourist hotspot by tomorrow, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen here.

“It’s been so long since we’ve had a proper meal. I’m really looking forward to this~”

“Mom, me too!”

“Indeed. I could hardly eat anything either. I want to eat properly so I can keep moving.”

All three of them had gotten hit hard by seasickness, and the meals on the ship had been nothing but meager rations.

“Well then, let’s eat a lot today. You have a limit of up to 2 gold coins.”

I say this while mostly looking at Liera-san.

“Hmm~ 20 gold coins.”

“Why did the price tenfold?! Fine, I’m lowering it to 1 gold coin.”

“Oh, don’t be so cold. How about 19 gold coins?”

“That’s way too little of a concession. Anyway, 2 gold coins is my final answer.”

“Oh, you’re so stingy~”

Liera-san is a beauty, but she’s also the Gluttonous Queen.

If I let her get carried away, she’ll melt through our savings in a heartbeat. I have to put my foot down where it counts.

“Fiene-sama, they say the specialty here in Silverfield is cod. The lobster is also supposedly delicious.”

“Hmm, in that case, I’ll have the lobster and fish ball platter.”

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“I’ll have the same.”

“I want the lobster, the herb-grilled salmon, and the smoked lamb. Oh, and the fish balls too!”

“Then, I’ll have one of every dish on the menu, from top to bottom, please~”

The waitress’s face froze in shock at Liera-san’s order, and the customers at the surrounding tables began to buzz.

“A-Are you truly going to eat all of that?”

“I truly am~”

“Um, her stomach seems to have a bottomless capacity, so it’ll be fine. She won’t leave any leftovers, and we’ll pay for it.”

“U-Understood…”

The waitress withdrew with a look of utter bewilderment.

After a while, a mountain of plates began to be carried out to Liera-san.

For Chris-san and me, they brought herb-grilled lobster split in half and fish balls made from mashed white fish shaped into rounds and grilled. The side dish was french fries.

Yeah, the lobster is delicious.

It would probably be even better with a squeeze of lemon, but it’s quite good as is.

But these “fish balls”… how do I put it? They kinda taste like nothing. No, there’s a hint of salt, but that’s it.

Yeah, this is the kind of taste that makes you crave ginger soy sauce.

When I stole a glance at Chris-san, she was indeed making a conflicted face while eating a fish ball.

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Yeah, yeah, it’s a bit lacking, isn’t it?

Lu-chan was operating as usual. She was happily popping food into her mouth one after another.

And Liera-san… well, she was the Gluttonous Queen as always.

Just watching her made me feel like I was getting heartburn as the mountains of food disappeared one after another.

It was seriously insane.

“Hey, miss. You’re pretty slim. Can you really eat all that?”

A drunkard with a shaved head and a ridiculously buff, muscular build came over to pester her.

“Oh? You think I can’t? If you like, I could eat twice this much. Would you care to treat me to all of it?”

Oh boy, Liera-san has entered “Scary Liera” mode.

“Ho ho. Fine by me. But in exchange, if you can’t finish it, you’ll have to pay with your body, eh?”

“That sounds fine~”

“Alright! Hey, waitress! Give this lady an extra serving of every single dish she ordered!”

“Hie—! U-Understood!”

The waitress was terrified. Oh well. I don’t care. She’s just going to eat it all normally anyway.

“Hah, I’m lucky to get a chance with an Elf woman.”

Am I the only one who feels that, regardless of how this turns out, it’s only going to end in misery for this drunkard?

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◇ ◇ ◇

“Wh-What… Impossible…”

An hour later, the drunkard muttered with a look of stunned disbelief.

Yeah, I knew that would happen.

“Now then, please pay for Liera-san’s extra orders. And so, waitress-san, if you would. Also, please give us four of these lingonberry jam pies for dessert.”

“Understood.”

The waitress’s gaze pierced Liera-san as if to say, ‘You’re still eating?!’ but I decided to ignore it.

“I-I won’t accept this—”

“You lost, Ben. We’ll chip in too, so just pay up.”

A group of men with shaved heads and ridiculously buff builds, just like the drunkard, spoke to him.

“B-But! This is just…!”

“You lost the bet. To not even admit that… Ben! Your muscles are crying!”

Excuse me? What do muscles have to do with anything right now?

And you, drunkard, why are you acting so shocked!

“Y-You’re right, Aniki. I was wrong!”

For some reason, he got all emotional and started stripping.

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Ugh, now he’s flexing his muscles and striking poses…

“That’s enough as long as you understand, Ben. People make mistakes. But the moment you admit your mistake is the start of growth. Now, swear to your muscles! That you will change your ways and correct your errors!”

“Aniki, I swear! I’ll train even harder from now on and obtain muscles of steel that won’t be shaken by something like this!”

“That’s it, that’s the spirit, Ben!”

Some kind of completely incomprehensible human drama was unfolding, but the jam pie was more important to me.

Ignoring the men hugging in an overly masculine way, I took a bite of the lingonberry jam pie that had been served.

Mmm, the sweet and tart flavor is exquisite and delicious.

While this was going on, the entire group stripped down and started twitching their muscles. Isn’t that basically obstructing business at this point?

Wait, Chris-san, why are you trying to mimic their poses? Is that your kind of hobby?

You’re already a meathead as it is, so please don’t add any more unnecessary muscle.

“Oh? Those people look like they might have potential~”

Uh oh, they’ve caught the eye of the Gluttonous Queen. I’m staying out of this.

“Well, I’m going back to the room soon. Oh, and Chris-san, I think it’s better if you don’t mimic that sort of thing too much, okay?”

I settled the bill and returned to the room.

According to rumors I heard afterward, those muscle-bound men were thoroughly taught something called the “joy of service” by Liera and became very fine gentlemen indeed.

Eh? I don’t know anything about it. It’s just a rumor I heard, okay? Got it?