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「Here, please enjoy! Melir"s special potatoes with honey grains! 」
It"s the signature girl, Melir of the 『Seseragi Inn』 that Ardis stays in who brought meals to Ardis"s table.
「Kyrill-kun, please don"t be reserved and eat more! Today"s on big sister! 」
「T-Thank you very much. 」
Kyrill said his thanks while seemingly reservedly.
Although he had never said it loud, Kyrill is most probably screaming 「Why did it become this……」 in his heart.
Ardis and Kyrill who had said goodbye to the shaman store had sought shelter and warm food in the dining hall of the first floor in 『Seseragi Inn』. As they called Melir to take their order, she had interest in Ardis companion, Kyrill.
「Eh? He"s from the Coalition? He"s so young, alone? 」
Finding out that Kyrill had come to the capital by himself despite that young, Melir voiced out her surprise. On top of that, could it be that the appearance of Kyrill had triggered Melir"s motherly side, or could it be that she took an interest with Kyrill"s name, her treatment to Kyrill compared to other guests are clearly different.
In the end, she had forgotten her role as a waitress, and started offering Kyrill free food. Well, it might"ve been a good matter, if all the food offered to Kyrill aren"t Melir"s Specials.
As the signboard girl of Seseragi Inn, Melir also has a few t.i.tles,『Palate Killer』, 『Nemesis of Food』, or 『Direct Ticket to Toilet』, all of them describing her cooking.
『Anyone who is happy to be treated by Melir is obviously not someone that had tasted her cooking』
It"s a warning that"s always exchanged between the inn guests here, after all, all of Melir"s cooking were made as if with the purpose of going against the entire palate of humanity
The first bite that Kyrill had, it was bad enough for Kyrill"s eyes to spin. But thinking about Melir"s good intention to treat him, and seeing Ardis who continued to eat it without looking any different, Kyrill couldn"t bring himself saying anything.
As such, Kyrill is still doing his best to eat the works of art(Door to an unknown world) brought out by Melir tearily.
「Uhmm……, it"s the first-time I"ve heard『Potatoes with honey grains』. What kind of grains it is? 」
Kyrill who raised that question was answered with Melir proudly sticking out her chest.
「It"s not like that. The grains are just normal wheat but, the taste is thanks to my new culinary method! 」
「Method? 」
「That"s right. Grinding and mixing wheat and potatoes together, then soaking it in water for a while. Then, mix it with honey and it"s done after removing the floating pieces! 」
Kyrill replied with silence.
「Ah, that"s right. Ardis-san, Jean-san had been looking for you yesterday, he has something to ask of you it seems. 」
「Yeah, I heard about it. I plan to meet him tomorrow. 」
「That"s great. Jean-san seemed to be worrying about something deeply. Well then Kyrill, don"t be reserved and tell me if you want a second helping! 」
Melir who left those words behind went to another table.
Kyrill didn"t have any choice but to take up his spoon, and dip it into the vicious liquid in the bowl. It was a sticky texture that stuck onto his teeth, the vicious paste seemed to absorb all moisture inside his mouth. To top it off, the sweetness of the honey just made it worse.
Disgusting ― Kyrill shouts in his heart.
The wheat and potatoes mashed together and mixed with honey shouldn"t be this bad. But could it be that the method was bad, or is it just the despairing skills of the cook. The completed dish was farthest than anything delicious.
Kyrill who desperately held himself back from puking swallowed it forcibly, and looked up at the seat opposite of him. There it was, the figure of Ardis eating it as if nothing is wrong.
「Ardis-san. 」
「What is it? 」
Kyrill asked after a short period of awkward silence.
「…………Is it delicious? 」
Ardis who had been repeating the action of fetching food with his spoon to his mouth mechanically had stopped.
「…………Edible. 」
「I, see…………」
At Ardis"s answer which had a long suspense, Kyrill agreed. Just like what Ardis said, it"s still food at the very least.
As an orphan, Kyrill can"t be picky about what he eats. It"s not just Kyrill, all children from any orphanage are the same.
In the first place, Kyrill came from an orphanage where 『Eat till full』 isn"t even a possibility, so there"re no children who are picky. That"s why, Kyrill had thought that as long as he can get his fill, he should never complain about it.
And on top of that, there"s Ardis who"s eating it like it"s nothing in front of him. He couldn"t just be the only one whining about it.
After a short exchange with Ardis, even while shedding tears from the utter disgusting taste in his mouth, Kyrill continued to swallow down the food on the table.
「Oi, look. There"s someone eating Melir-chan"s cooking. 」
「Huh? Isn"t it Ardis? 」
「No. Ardis is there as well but, there"s another kid there eating. 」
「Lies……? He couldn"t be eating Melir"s cooking……」
「For real? That kid, he looks about the same age with my son. I bet my son would puke out every last bit of Melir"s cooking while crying. 」
「Should I try feeding it to my kid? 」
「Better not, Melir"s cooking isn"t for children to challenge. Look closely at him, that kid is crying while eating. 」
「Even so, he"s got quite the guts. As expected of Ardis"s companion. 」
「Is that what you call 『Birds of a feather flock together』? 」
The guests that sat around the dining hall were all commenting on Ardis and Kyrill as they wished.
But, for Kyrill who was only focused on eliminating his nemesis in front of him, he couldn"t have noticed any of those voices, only continue moving his spoon, feeding Melir"s demonic recipes born from good intentions into his stomach.