Chapter 1097: To the Friendship City ⑤

After talking about Japan for a while, it seems that the set meal is ready and Kaori-san serves it in front of me.

[Sorry to keep you waiting! Now, eat up.]

A small plate with white rice, miso soup, pickles, and a platter with a beautiful lean gyukatsu and shredded cabbage……This looks very tasty.

I’m not sure if it’s just because I haven’t lost my taste as a commoner, but to be honest, I feel like this kind of set meal looks better than the long list of dishes served at a very expensive french restaurant.

[It looks delicious. This red meat…… is this filleted meat?]

[Unnn. It’s filleted meat. It’s not meat from a great brand or anything like that, but it’s still pretty good meat. Ahh, use the dressing over there on the cabbage.]

Nodding at Kaori-san’s words, I took a sip of the miso soup first. It has a very gentle flavor and is delicious. After that, I tried the gyukatsu, which, as Kaori-san said, was indeed tender and tasty.

Personally, I think the grated ponzu has a wonderful taste and is so refreshing that I could eat as much as I wanted.

[It’s very tasty. Personally, I like the grated ponzu.]

[I’m also glad you liked it. Well~~, I’ve always wanted to cook for a child from my homeworld, so I’m glad to see my dream come true…… Arehh? Speaking of which, I was just curious, but Kaito-kun’s necklace…… Could that be a magic crystal?]

[Yes, that’s right.]

[I- It’s another black one huh….. Errr, could it be that Kaito-kun is incredibly rich?]

Now then, how do I answer this…… If I were to be asked if I’m rich or not, I think I definitely am rich. It wasn’t really so much about me being great, but just the influence of the surrounding environment, such as Anima’s greatness, Shiro-san’s blessing correction, and the scales that Magnawell-san gives me every now and then.

[……Well, perhaps, relatively so.]

The necklace is also a gift, but I think the conversation so far has given the impression that I’m financially well-off, and since it would be wrong to deny it, I will simply affirm it.

Thereupon, Kaori-san’s gaze began to move, seemingly hesitating about something.

[……Errr. Ummm, Kaito-kun, you like alcohol?]

[To some extent……]

[You see, I have a good drink here…… No, it really is a great alcohol, and it tastes great……]

With mixed feelings of subtle guilt and faint anticipation quite apparent, Kaori-san pulled out what seemed to be a bottle of sake from her magic box.

The label was black and gold with the word “Zenith” written in this world’s language.

[It’s kind of a classy bottle, isn’t it?]

[U- Unnn. That’s right…… It’s very tasty, but this alcohol is extremely expensive…… N- No, I’m not really forcing you, but I’m just wondering, if Kaito-kun is fine with it…… It tastes like sake, but it’s not very spicy and it’s easy to drink.]

I kind of get what she wants. From Kaori-san’s point of view, I guess wants me to buy, or rather, to order that alcohol. That is why she recommended it to me, someone who seemed to have the money.

However, according to Kaori-san, it’s a very expensive sake, so even if I was rich, I guess she feels a bit awkward recommending it to a younger person from the same homeworld?

[Incidentally, how much is it?]

[Y- Y- Y- You see…… a cup…… costs 300R.]

[……………….]

Let’s calm down there. Stop thinking that it’s surprisingly cheap! It’s just my sense of money that’s completely off…… This still equates to one glass of alcohol costing 30,000 yen, which is a tremendous price.

It was just that a cup of Shallow Grande costing a million yen or Glorious Tea costing 500,000 yen that’s ridiculous!

As I was correcting my mind that reflexively thought it was cheap, Kaori-san, perhaps seeing my silence as bewilderment, hurriedly spoke while sweating profusely.

[That’s the usual cost! A- As a commemoration of getting to know Kaito-kun, how about 280…… no, 270? No, of course, I know it’s too expensive, so you don’t have to order……]

[Errr, Kaori-san wants to sell this alcohol, right?]

[Ugghhh…… Yes. To be honest, it doesn’t sell at all and I don’t think I would be able to sell it in the future…… so I would be happy if I could sell it……]

[I’ll take it then. However, I have plans to meet someone after this, so I can’t drink alcohol…… If that’s the case, how about I buy the whole bottle?]

[Eeeeehhhhhh!? T- T- The whole bottle? No, no, Kaito-kun, with the size of this bottle, that’d be about 10 cups…… That’d be 3000R, you know!?]

This sense of panic is quite new and refreshing…… I mean, even though I myself had agreed to it, she’s still a far cry from that certain person who takes a gold coin for a bowl of ramen.

I mean, in the first place, why did she stock up such expensive alcohol?

[Well then, 3 silver coins will do, right?]

[Eeehhhh…… How can you just take out silver coins so easily!? Rather, wait a moment. I didn’t mean to peek, but I could see inside your wallet because my line of sight is higher…… D- Did I just see what looked like big whitish coins?]

[Eh? Ahh, you mean the white gold coins?]

[Can you not casually place that on the counter!? That’s around 10 million yen a piece, isn’t it!? What would you do if I just snatched it…… No, it’s not that I would snatch it, but you’re being careless.]

I see, thinking about it again, you don’t see white gold coins in normal life. Even Sieg-san didn’t seem to have seen them before……

[……Hey, Kaito-kun? You don’t normally put all your money in your wallet, do you?]

[I suppose so.]

[That means, Kaito-kun has a lot more money than what you have in that wallet, right?]

[That’s true but……]

[Eh? The heck, what is with this difference between us……That’s strange, the situation of my wallet is too different from yours. Ahh, the other world may be peaceful, but it isn’t equal……]

[……I suppose.]

Kaori-san said something that sounded like a quote, but her gaze seemed to be looking far away.

Serious-senpai : [Exactly! The world isn’t equal! While there are favored characters, there are also misfortunate ones like me!!!]

? ? ? : {Serious-senpai being misfortunate? What are you talking about?]

Serious-senpai : [No! Aren’t I misfortunate? How much do you think I’ve suffered so far……]

? ? ? : [Can you say the same thing in front of Seigi-san?]

Serious-senpai : [I’m sorry. I was fortunate. Even if it’s only once a year, I’m happy that I appear in the main story.]

※ Seigi has had no dialogue or appearances in more than 200 chapters since his first introduction.

After his reappearance, there have been no dialogues or appearances for more than 800 chapters, or more than 5 years.