Extra Episode — Pavella Date, The Day We Ate Too Much

“We’re going on a date, Keima!”

“Huh?!”

Rokuko suddenly looked at me and dropped a metaphorical bomb. A date...? What is that, really? It took me a second to understand what she had said. That’s like, the thing lovers do. Dates. Romantic trysts. A star-crossed rendezvous... Wait. Are Rokuko and I dating?

“...You’re always sleeping, Keima. What’s wrong with going on dates every now and again? I mean, isn’t it the town chief’s job to flirt with his girl in front of the town youth?”

“Town youth? I’m probably the youngest guy here, you know.” In this world, adulthood was recognized as beginning at the age of fifteen. Wataru, for instance, was treated as full-fledged adult. And since our town was basically a large gathering of adventurers, the only people were grown adults. By the way, the youngest person in town was definitely Niku... though maybe Rokuko in her loli form was younger? Her real age is a mystery, so I’m gonna say that doesn’t count.

“Whateveeer. Same thing. Come on, let’s go on a date.”

“Where would we even go? There’s nowhere worth going in town. Do you wanna go all the way to Tsia?”

“Nuh-uh, we went there before. I’m thinking we could go to Pavella this time.” Oh yeah. We dug a whole tunnel through the mountain but never actually went there.

“...I heard Pavella’s just as big as Tsia, so yeah, I have been thinking about going there someday.”

“It’s settled, then! We’re going! Get ready soon!” Rokuko dashed out of my room to prepare. But I didn’t say I’d go yet... Eh, whatever. Either way, it was obvious that if Rokuko and I went alone on a date, things would go very poorly very fast. Thus, I decided to bring a bodyguard with us. I figured it would be a good opportunity to bring Ichika, but...

“Ahhh, um, is that an order? I’ll go if you order me to, but honestly, dude, I totally don’t recommend going anywhere near Pavella with me. I sure fucked up some shit there, y’know...! So yeah, I’d be super pumped if you did me a solid and brought back some food. Thanks!” If she didn’t want to go home, well, I had no reason to force her. But that didn’t change that Rokuko and I going alone would just be asking for trouble. Thanks to turning our clothes into Golems and preparing all sorts of little tricks, we could probably take care of some average C-Rank adventurers, but that’d be a pain. Alright, I’ll bring Niku. She’s the strongest in our group, and although I’ve been forgetting it all the time lately, she actually is a member of my adventurer party.

“So. We’re on a date. Why is Niku with us? I mean, I get it, but still.”

“Don’t complain if you get it.”

“You better not interfere with our date, okay?”

“Understood.” Niku nodded to Rokuko’s order. So she says, but Niku’s still gonna be tagging along normally. I wouldn’t want to make her stand next to our table at a restaurant and just watch us eat or something.

We passed through the Tsia Mountain tunnel and ended up in Pavella territory. By the way, we were riding a horse-drawn carriage. Apparently, Dyne paid to have a large road constructed connecting the tunnel to Pavella. Guess that explains why I’ve seen a lot of richer-looking merchants passing by lately. The horses were real, living horses borrowed from the Adventurer’s Guild, but the carriage itself was a Golem Carriage. It was disguised to look like a normal carriage with a large canopy. Suspension? Obviously I built in a suspension system. I’d get sick otherwise. Not to mention, suspensions aren’t that rare since a Hero from the past spread the technology. Though my suspension is made from a Golem, so it absorbs shock a lot better than other carriages.

The carriage was subtly running against the ground, pretty much entirely removing the load from the horses. And on top of all that, the reins on the horses moved on their own to direct them to our destination. Niku was sitting in the front seat just for appearances’ sake and didn’t actually need to do anything. I, uh... I was planning on sitting there myself, but Niku wouldn’t budge.

“Ahaha. Since Niku’s driving, we get to be alone in the carriage together!”

“Yup. Guess I’ll nap until we get there.”

“...You’re not even going to consider talking to me?”

“I mean, we can have a conversation anywhere, this isn’t special. Like, we literally do talk all the time.”

“But we could talk about our trip to Pavella right now. Did Ichika recommend any restaurants or anything like that?” Ngh, Rokuko’s being pretty persistent today.

“We had a little talk, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise before we get there. Plus, she said it was pretty old info and the place could be out of business by now.”

“If they might be out of business, why not talk about them now before we find out?”

“...Do you wanna have a conversation about food that gets you hungry and all pumped up to eat, only to find out that the restaurant’s gone?”

“Okay, I get it, let’s not talk about them.” Rokuko backed off and sat quietly. Next to me. The space in front of us was free, but she went out of her way to sit next to me. I can’t lay down... Oh, right.

“If you’re gonna sit there, lemme use your lap as a pillow. I wanna sleep.”

“Bwuh?! Y-You sure are bold, geez... O-Okay. C-C-Come here?” Rokuko patted her thighs. Since she gave her permission, I rested my head on them without hesitation.

And so, I used a warm, soft, and even nice-smelling lap pillow to my heart’s content.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Keima! We’re here.”

“Mmm...? Alright.” I woke up to Rokuko lightly slapping my cheeks. Going back to bed... seems like a bad idea. Let’s wake up.

“Aaah! Um, my legs are pretty asleep right now! It really sucks! C-Could you lift your head a little slower?”

“And here we go!”

“HYAAAAAH! K-Keima, you dummyyyy...!” I shot up off her, causing Rokuko to let out a high-pitched cry and start convulsing.

“E-Even the carriage’s bouncing, isss, hyaaah! Oh, no...! Aaaah...!”

“Here, {Healing}... All better? Either way, it should go away soon.” After I used a Restoration Magic skill on her, Rokuko let out a sigh of relief.

“Whew, uh-huh, all better. Thanks, Keima. But I’m gonna get back at you for moving your head like that!” I didn’t know how she planned to do that, but either way, I decided to give her some melon rolls once we got back.

“Master, we need your Guild Card to get through the gates.” Oh yeah, Niku did some good work sitting at the front seat like that. Gotta give her a hamburger once we get home.

The port city of Pavella, visible from Tsia Mountain. The broad outer walls surrounding it were pure white, as if covered by a layer of plaster. Actually, this probably is plaster. There’s the ocean right there, they should have all the shells they need to make it. The buildings inside had a similar look. Most of them were basically white cubes, like something you’d expect a beginner at M*necraft to make. Overall, it definitely looked like a Mediterranean city. Not that I’ve ever been to a Mediterranean city. And I wonder, why does it feel like I’m visiting a summer resort when it’s still winter?

The entrance fee to the city was two coppers per adventurer and one silver per carriage, but since I had taken a delivery quest while borrowing the horses, we got to enter for free. Really, doing the quest basically gave us some free money to play with while we were here.

“Oh, by the way, do you know where the Adventurer’s Guild is?”

“Hm? First time in Pavella, eh? My man, just go totally straight down the road, then take a super hard right when you hit a wall. Should be just a little ahead past that. Really, it won’t be too hard to find on your own, dude.” The guard gave me instructions while waving his hands around and talking in a standard Pavella accent. Y’know... I really don’t know why the auto-translator is turning the Pavella accent into dudebro speech, but at least it works.

“Everyone talks like Ichika here, huh? This feels kinda weird.”

“Yeah, I mean, Ichika was born in Pavella.” We decided to start off by taking the carriage to the Adventurer’s Guild. Just like the guard said, we found it in no time. Though either way, I can technically see Pavella on my map, and Niku is good with directions on her own.

I didn’t know where to put the carriage, so I left it in front of the Guild building with Niku before going in myself. All eyes fell on me, but I ignored them and told the receptionist I had a delivery quest. A staff member immediately directed me to where I needed to go. Luckily, since I was on a delivery quest, they would temporarily shelter my carriage for me. Saved money there.

And so, we finished our Guild business without getting wrapped up in any special events, but apparently we weren’t getting off so easily either. On our way to the restaurant Ichika recommended, three thugs stepped forward and blocked our path. Yeaaah... You really shouldn’t go down back alleys in cities you’re not familiar with.

“Bro, you gotta pay the fee if you wanna go through here.”

“Give up your stuff and the ladies if you know what’s good for you, man.”

“We’ll like, spare your life if you do us a solid here and don’t resist.” I mean, flash your knives all you want, I literally have a sword here. Do I really look that weak? Guess choosing a loli as a bodyguard will have that effect.

“Beat the crap out of them. Don’t kill them if you don’t have to.”

“Take ’em down, Niku! Three of them in thirty seconds!” After I gave Niku instructions to get rid of them, Rokuko added on a pretty mean extra condition. And haven’t I told you to call her Kuro when we’re in front of other people? It is easy to forget, but still.

“How is this, loli, so strong...? Guuuh...”

“Wh-What the heck happened...? Gah...”

“.........” (The silence of a man uncertain if getting bones crushed by a loli is a blessing or a curse)

Either way, she still beat them in less than thirty seconds with little trouble. She had jumped off the walls to bounce all over the place, crushing them all before they even knew what was going on. What, did she learn that from Rin? I dunno if I should be the one saying this, but Niku sure is getting more and more inhumanly strong.

“Now, mind if I ask you for some directions?”

“N-Not at all. What would you like to know, my good sir?” I picked up one of the beaten-down thugs and asked for directions.

“I heard from a former adventurer that there’s a restaurant called the Azure Fishery around here.”

“Wha? The Azure Fishery... er, yeah, I know about it. It’s pretty famous around here, but it’s kinda hard to find if you’re not in the know. I’ll take you to it, bro.” The bruised thug guided us straight to our destination. But it didn’t have a sign or anything, so it just looked like the back door to a normal house. Is this really the restaurant Ichika recommended to us?

“This is the place? Mmm, I don’t know, there’s no sign or anything.”

“What? I mean, dude, this is the Azure Fishery we’re talking about, they can’t just have a si— Ah. Fear not, ma’am. This is undoubtedly the Azure Fishery. Well then, that’ll be all.” The thug ran off as if fleeing from something. Rokuko looked at me, eyes asking me what we should do. Niku was a short distance behind us so as to not “interfere.”

...Alright. There’s no backing out now. I knocked on the wooden door.

“...Shell.” A man spoke from behind the door. It was a code word. Ichika explained the whole process to me, and apparently we had to have this exchange to eat here. Must be a place that’s members only. That explains the lack of a sign.

“Er, bird.”

“...Who’s bird?”

“The Food Monster’s yellow bird.”

“...Come in.” The door opened. Inside was a counter with rooms behind it. Felt like an inn, really.

“...Er, how much does it cost to eat here? We want a table for three.”

“Six silvers. I got some good sea urchins right now...” Oh, urchins, huh? Not bad. I paid six silvers. But isn’t this a little expensive?

“Wait in the third room. It’ll be about half a bell if I can finish it. Be patient.” He gave us a key. Uh... If you CAN finish it? Also, half a bell was equivalent to about thirty minutes. Pavella, Tsia, and other large cities measured time by ringing a large bell once an hour during the day. Maybe I should set up something similar for our town... Actually, nah. That’d definitely get annoying when I’m sleeping.

Anyway, Rokuko, Niku, and I walked to the third room.

“I’m glad the restaurant she recommended is still in business.”

“We get to eat in a special room, too. Though this is basically an inn room.” Since there was a wooden box with a pair of sheets on it, we could easily guess that this building was also an inn. This is probably a secret restaurant just for members of some secret community. Friggin’ Ichika, couldn’t you just recommend us a normal place?

After waiting on the bed for a bit, our food was delivered at exactly thirty minutes past our arrival. We were served three wooden plates with pasta and cooked sea urchins split down the middle. Their shells were red like boiled lobster and looked pretty spiky. There was pasta stuffed into the shells, too.

“...C-Can you really eat this?”

“If this is like the urchins I know, it should be pretty good.”

“Should I taste test it, Master?”

“Nah, I’ll try it out first. Here we go.” I poked my fork into the cooked urchin and brought it to my mouth.

...The moment after I did so, a sweet flavor and soft texture spread throughout my mouth. I had known from the strong ocean smell that this was something you would either love or hate, but even so, the flavor was a lot stronger than I expected. It didn’t have any of the bitterness I remembered from Japanese sea urchins.

“Woah, this tastes pretty amazing.”

“Really? I’ll try some too, then...”

“I will as well.”

Niku and Rokuko both ate some sea urchin. Rokuko’s eyes widened, impressed, but Niku stiffened and her ears jerked. Guess she didn’t like it.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. This is kind of an adult’s meal anyway. I’ll put your food into {Storage} and give it to Ichika once we get back to the dungeon.”

“...I’m sorry.” Niku’s tail slumped down. I moved the food off her plate and stored it to give to Ichika, leaving the shell and taking only the inside parts so that my {Storage} wouldn’t get discovered.

“Aha, an adult’s meal. You really are still a kid, Niku, whereas I am a fine lady!” Rokuko brought another bite of urchin to her mouth, pleased. Seemed like the urchin’s flavor suited her just fine.

“I’m looking forward to this pasta too.” The pasta didn’t just have urchin on it, there were tomatoes and various fish there too. The spinach-looking vegetable on top gave it a nice look, too.

I spun the pasta around on my fork, making sure to get lots of sauce on it before eating. My mouth was filled with even more of the urchin’s sweet flavor. That mixed well with the tomato’s sourness and the fish’s soft flavor. The scallop’s juices were pretty amazing too. The pasta even bounced around in my mouth pleasantly as my teeth chewed through it. Oh? There’s cheese in here too. It brings everything together and really fits the dish.

“Keima, you’re grinning.”

“Really? Just goes to show how great this pasta tastes.”

“...Sniff sniff. Nnn...” Niku sniffed the pasta, but didn’t look too enthusiastic about it. Probably didn’t look too good to her. Guess Ichika’s getting a real feast when we get back.

“Ah! This really is tasty. He really didn’t hold back on the spices. I know Pavella spices are cheap, but still, I can understand the price now... Niku, are you really not going to eat this?”

“I don’t want it. Ichika will enjoy it more than me.” Rokuko ended up grinning while eating the pasta too. Okay, time to finish my plate... Aaah. This is too good. It’s taking me to heaveeeen.

Oh, right. I’m definitely gonna stop by a food stand and buy something for Niku.

After enjoying my our fill of the urchins, we got up to leave the restaurant.

“Aaah, I loved this place. It’s not often I get to see you smiling, Keima.”

“I definitely want to come here again. You’re a good cook, man.”

“...Thanks. Come again in about... a month. No sooner.” What?

“Sorry, but uh, why would we need to wait a month?”

“...Do you not know about the urchins? Tch, Sorin, give a proper introduction next time. The thing is. Urchins have poison. Eat too many, even ones I make, and you’ll have seizures. Might die if you don’t get {Cure Paralyze} cast on you. I’d do so for a small fee here, but...” Bwwuuuh?! I mean, I do remember that some urchins have poison in the spikes or something, but man. I didn’t expect the urchins of this world to have poison in their bodies. I’ll... I’ll learn {Cure Paralyze} once we get back to the dungeon.

“Woah. I didn’t expect that.”

“...Don’t tell anyone that you ate urchins. Without a {Detox} skill and proper handling, they can have addictive properties. It’s illegal to buy or sell them.” Seriously? Urchins sure are a big deal in this world.

Anyway, putting aside that Ichika definitely needed to be punished, we had just come to Pavella and there was a lot we could do despite how satisfying that meal was. We decided to head to the main street for a bit.

“According to Ichika, the food stands here sell all sorts of things you can’t find in Tsia.”

“Hey, look, they’re cooking something weird over there! Oh, the sign says shrimp! Shrimp!” I looked over and saw giant shrimps exactly like those from Japan getting chopped horizontally and cooked. They were also cooking squid, scallops, and all sorts of variously colored fish. Th-These aren’t poisonous too, are they? I don’t think they’d sell poisonous stuff on the main street, so it should be fine. Right?

“Niku, since you didn’t get to eat anything, you can buy whatever you want here. Keima will buy it for you.”

“Er, yeah, I will. I mean, obviously. I will definitely pay. I was going to do that anyway, so... Ah, whatever. Is there anything you want, Niku?”

“Ah, y-yes! I want to eat this.”

“Oh, let’s see...” I took a look and it was rabbit meat on kebabs. Is it just me, or does this feel like traveling to a foreign country only to have your children beg to go to a worldwide burger chain?

“...I’ll buy some of that later.”

“Hey, bub, you sayin’ my meat ain’t that great?” But right as I tried to step away from the stand, the mouse beastkin cooking the meat called out and glared at me.

“Aaah, nah, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that we can buy rabbit meat for cheap where we come from, so yeah.”

“Hah! The meat I’m sellin’s in a league of its own! I’ve got years of experience cooking meat to perfection, and the salt I sprinkle on it unlocks a nice tingly flavor... Not to mention that this meat is top of the class! It doesn’t smell bad like the meat everywhere else! I’m the only stand in Pavella that knows the secret to making meat like this! You’re wastin’ your money if you buy from anywhere else!”

“Oh, you’re bleeding the meat.”

“Hey hey hey hey hey hey!” The mouse beastkin hurriedly blocked my mouth. His hand stunk. He looked around, eyes shifting, before letting go and whispering to me.

“What, are you friends with my teacher?”

“Teacher? I dunno what you’re talking about, but I’m the one who sold the information about bleeding meat to a kebab stand in Tsia.”

“For real?! That’s amazing!” Don’t scream. You’re hurting my ears.

“N-Now that you mention it, I do remember him saying an adventurer with a dog-eared loli slave taught him about it. And you fit that bill, for sure... Alright! That changes things! Now I’ve got no choice but to bow my head and beg you to try my food, for free of course! Just tell me whether or not it’s actually good, okay? Please!”

“...Well, you heard him, Kuro. What’ll you do?”

“Thank you for the food.” Niku took the rabbit kebab held out to her. After sniffing it for a bit, she plopped it in her mouth.

...Her expression remained flat, but her tail wagged in happiness.

“Seems like she liked it. Good job.”

“Oooh! Dog beastkin are famous for their sharp senses, and now I’ve got a seal of approval from one of’m! Heck yeah! Time for me to call this recipe my specialty and make a brand for myself!” The pleased mouse beastkin laughed heartily.

“Yep, good luck with that.”

“Hahaha! I owe ya one!” His head shot down in an exaggerated bow. Yeah, he’s actually a pretty nice guy. Hahaha.

“Oh, are you done? Can I have my kebab now?”

“...You just ate pasta, Rokuko. You really want more?”

“He said he’s the best in Pavella, didn’t he? I’m interested.” I went back to the kebab stand, which had developed a sizable crowd from our exchange, and bought three kebabs. Aaand this time he made me pay.

“Hey, what’s that stand selling over there? It says fried octopus on the sign, but...” I glanced over and saw a fried food stand just like the kind you’d see at a school festival or something. They were definitely using the kind of iron plate with round cavities fit for making fried octopus.

“...Octopus? Those round balls are made of octopus?”

“Nope, I’m pretty sure the octopus is inside of them.”

“Pretty smart, bro. You’re totally an adventurer, right? Then you gotta try some of this! ’Cause I mean, fried octopus was invented by Ishidaka the Hero! They were such an amazing adventurer, you’ll definitely get some of their luck by eating this! Here, just gotta pay five golds!”

“Wha?! Th-That’s really expensive, but okay... give me a second.”

“Stop, Rokuko, the stand we just went to said the same thing. They mean five coppers. It’s a joke.” Imagine an ice cream parlor or something asking for a million dollars instead of a single dollar. Same thing.

“Sorry, she’s not so familiar with this kind of thing. What a cute airhead, am I right?”

“C-Cute? G-Geez, Keima.”

“Hahaha! I wouldn’t mind if you did pay in golds, man. Just don’t count on getting any change.”

“That’s no good. Here, five golds.” I handed over five coppers and got eight fried octopus balls. They already looked exactly like fried octopus balls from Japan, but the fact they actually included two seven-centimeter kebab sticks really took things to the next level.

“How do you eat these?”

“You stab them with the stick and eat them just like that. The trick is to use both at once to keep the ball steady.” I ate an octopus ball to show them how it was done. Gah! Oh crap, so hot! I hurriedly grabbed my water canteen and gulped some down.

“Ngh, gulp! Fwaah... Man, food that’s just been fried really is hot on the inside. B-Be careful, you two.”

“Uh huh, we will. Niku, let’s eat a lot slower.”

“...At least my sacrifice will have some meaning.” You know, even the sauce tasted a lot like stuff I’ve eaten in Japan. Might be smart to add sauce to the list of treasure in our dungeon. I’ll experiment a little.

“Soo hooot! Fwaah, aaah! Wateeeeer!” Aaah... Yeah, yeah. I warned you. I handed my canteen to Rokuko.

We weren’t planning on staying the night, so it was about time to leave. In the end, we only really did things related to food, but if we stayed any longer the sun would set on the way back. No point risking a bandit raid or anything like that.

I returned to the Guild with a red-faced Rokuko and got back in our carriage, now filled with stuff addressed to Golen Town. Niku was sitting in the driver’s seat for the way back too.

“Honestly, this was worth the trip. There’s a lot of places we didn’t go, so yeah, let’s take another trip here sometime soon.”

“Sounds good!” By the way, Rokuko (still red-faced) sat opposite to me on the way back, so I didn’t get to use her lap as a pillow again. I slept on the heavenly pillow in my {Storage} instead.

“Masteeer, how was that restaurant I recommended? Did you bring me anything baaaack?” Also, I smacked Ichika over the head as punishment for the urchin incident.