Chapter 182 (2/2)

Hikaru discovered something.

「I-I'm exhausted…」

Spending thirty minutes in the indoor market made them sick. Lavia threw in the towel, while Paula didn't have the energy to say anything. Their hands full of groceries, they stepped out of the building. The Pope also prohibited eating outside. Instead, a food court was built next to the market.

「They sure love their proper manners…」

The food court wasn't as crowded. They were able to take vacant seats and relax. Drake didn't waste time in devouring the dried fish. Every bite made a cracking sound as though he was eating dead twigs.

「I wasn't expecting them to have this…」Hikaru said.

For him, weaving through the crowd was worth it.

「Your eyes seemed to light up when you bought that.」Lavia said.

「What's that white thing?」Paula asked.

「It's staple food, kinda like bread. You cook it in water and it turns like this.」

Ill-shaped, round, white food. The wave of nostalgia made him buy five of it, even though he didn't really eat that many at once back in j.a.pan.

「It's rice. And this dish is called onigiri. Actually, I'm not sure if you could call it a dish.」

「Is it really that good?」

「Try one.」Hikaru urged.

The girls, wearing doubtful expressions, took one each. They frowned as the rice stuck to their fingers.

「Of course this world would have rice.」

Hikaru had already tried noodles made with rice flour, but not actual rice. Hikaru asked the seller why they were serving this and they answered “Because it's white”. Apparently, it wasn't really popular among the people.

This one moment made Hikaru thank this country's obsession with the color white. Hikaru took one as well. It was cold and hard.

He took a bite and chewed. It wasn't cooked enough and was still hard. The rice itself didn't have the sweetness that j.a.panese rice had. It was long and thin and had a particular odor to it. If this was served in a restaurant in j.a.pan, one bite and it would've been returned to the kitchen.

「Hikaru?」

「Hikaru-sama…」

The girls watched Hikaru eat quietly.

「It's weird. I have not once felt homesick ever since I came here. I never even felt happy while eating such horrible onigiri before.」

Lavia cautiously took a bite. She frowned and immediately returned the food in the bag. Paula, on the other hand, forced herself to eat hers. Hikaru couldn't help but laugh.

「You don't have to force yourself. If it weren't for the memories, I wouldn't eat it.」

「I see… You have precious memories about this food.」Lavia said.

「Yeah. I used to eat this a lot.」

Then, Lavia took her onigiri back out and started eating it.

「You don't need to—」

「I'm not forcing myself. I want to know more about you. Ugh…」

She choked, so Hikaru handed her some juice. The sweetness of the fruit juice didn't complement with the onigiri well.

「So you have this kind of food back in your hometown.」Paula said.

「They're much tastier back home, though.」

「Is that so… It's my first time having one.」Paula said with a hint of regret.

Hikaru understood how she felt. I want to know more about Hikaru-sama, too, is what she was probably thinking. But she hesitated. Hikaru didn't like people prying too much.

I did consider telling her about myself soon. I know. Once this is all over and we get back to Scholarzard, I'll tell her how I came to this world.

Hikaru ate the last piece of onigiri. There was actually one more, Drake's leftover.

『Tastes awful.』the drakon said.

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