"So… What do you want to do first?"Erana and I were walking along the cobblestone streets of Ruks. The wooden buildings on either side made this road feel slightly cramped, but since it was just the two of us we could easily fit.
Though I was trying my hardest, I couldn"t brush off the slightly awkward feeling of the two of us being alone like this. It"s not like I"m trying to be weird, but she did call it something like a date so I can"t help but be a bit self conscious about what I"m doing.
"Maybe we should go get something to eat? After the goblin camp endeavor I"m a bit hungry. What about you?"
"Sounds good to me! Do you have any ideas?"
Erana placed a finger on her chin for a moment as she looked to the sky. I feel awkward staring at her, but I don"t know what else to do.
"To be entirely honest, I don"t really know any place around here. What about you?"
Ah. Of course. Why did I expect anything different? Of course Erana has no idea what"s around this city. She often gets lost when she"s just walking around! There"s no way that she would know any food places other than the guildhall.
"Well… To be entirely honest I also have no idea. I don"t really know the places in this town other than a select few."
"But Kany said that she met you 7 months ago! How do you have no idea what"s around here?"
"I"m very frugal."
Erana stared at me for a moment with a blank expression before she finally just smiled.
"Well, that means we"ll be looking for somewhere then! Let"s go." She began walking ahead which took me by surprise. I had to quicken my steps in order to catch up with her.
It didn"t take us long to arrive at a small commercial district. The hustle and bustle of people going from place to place ensured that the atmosphere was lively. We walked from shop to shop checking what they were selling.
"Kenji-san, Kenji-san! Look at these!" Erana excitedly pointed at a display that contained numerous strange acorn sized objects. Her wide eyes and smile reminded me of a child when they would get a new toy.
"Yah!" She threw a nut at my foot which promptly made a loud popping noise. I jumped up in surprise at this.
"Haha! I haven"t seen pockle nuts since I was a child! Come on, try one out! They make a loud noise like the one you heard earlier when they hit the ground with some force." Erana went over to me and placed a pockle nut into my hand. I threw this one on the ground and it made another loud popping noise.
"Oi you kids! Those are 1 jun each!" An old woman ran at us with a broom. She had a long crooked nose with a wart on it and one of her eyes was noticeably bigger than the other.
I stepped forward and held out 10 juns.
"Sorry ma"am. We just wanted to see if the batch was good. I"ll take 8."
The woman snached the juns out of my hand and tilted her head upwards.
"Hmph. Fine. Take 8 and be on your way."
"Ah wait! Granny, where can we find a place to eat?"
"Food? Down the street there"s the Ito place."
My ears perked up in response to this. That"s a j.a.panese last name! If this "Ito" guy really came from j.a.pan like Ania and I did then they might cut me a deal!
"Sounds good! Erana, let"s go!" I lightly tugged Erana"s arm before I started to head towards where the old woman indicated.
"H-Huh? Oh, okay Kenji-san!"
We quickly walked down the street until we came across a shop that had a different sign than any I had ever seen in this world. I could smell a familiar and nostalgic scent wafting out of the front door.
"Woah… What"s that symbol mean?" Erana stopped and looked at the sign.
"It says "Ito.""
"Huh? How do you know that?"
"That"s j.a.panese. Remember what I told all of you before? Well, that"s an example of the language." I puffed up my chest a little bit. That"s right. This is my special language!
"Woah… It"s so squiggly!" Erana took the wind out of my sails as she giggled to herself.
"L-Look, let"s just go inside." I walked forward through the doorway.
"Welcome!" A bearded man wearing white chef"s clothes waved to us as we entered. He couldn"t be older than 30. He had distinctly asian features including black hair like me. He wasn"t very tall, only around 168 centimeters. Despite his looks, I could feel the aura of an experienced cook coming off of him.
The interior of this shop is small and rustic. Pretty much everything is made of wood. To my right there"s a bar with several stools. The man is standing behind the bar. To my left there are 2 tables with 2 chairs each. Behind the man, there are several cooking tools that I could tell were used for making ramen.
I walked up to one of the stools and sat in it. Stepping inside of this shop was like taking a step back home. I can"t help but feel a bit odd while sitting in here.
"Kenji-san, his place looks cool!" Erana looked around from place to place quickly.
"Have you two ever had ramen before?"
"I haven"t!" Erana happily declared as she sat down.
"I have, but that was a while ago."
"Oh really? Where"d you have it?"
"Back in j.a.pan." I smugly looked into the chefs eyes as I said this.
"j.a.pan huh? I"ve never been there. What"s their ramen like?"
Eh? He runs a ramen shop, has the name Ito, and has a sign out front in j.a.panese yet he"s never been there?
"Um… Where"d you learn to cook ramen?"
"From my dad. He said it"s a food his dad taught him to cook for his family restaurant and he pa.s.sed it down to me. Why do you ask? Do you want to learn how to make it or something? Looking for a job?"
"N-No just… Look, it"s nothing. Don"t worry about it."
"Whatever you say. Let me get you the menu."
"No need for me. Can I get a bowl of chashu ramen with egg? Also can I get some gyoza?"
"Got it. What about you?"
"O-Oh um…" Erana leaned over to me and whispered into my ear. "Kenji-san, what do you recommend?"
"She"ll also have a chashu ramen. We"ll split the gyoza."
"Got it!" The chef turned around and immediately got to work.
"So… What exactly is ramen?"
"It"s a noodle soup, basically. It"s great. Back home people would eat it close to every day!"
"Every day? I find that hard to believe."
"Just trust me, okay?"
By the time we had finished our conversation, the bowls had already been finished and were placed in front of us. On top of the bowls there was a set of chopsticks. I took them and placed my hands in prayer.
"Itadakimasu." I instinctively spoke. At this the chef stopped everything they were doing.
"You… You say that?"
"Yep. We say it before every meal in j.a.pan."
"My dad would say that before every meal too! What does it mean?"
"It means "thank you for the food.""
"Um… Kenji-san, how do I use these things?" Erana was holding the chopsticks in a strange way.
"Here, let me show you." I took her chopsticks and aligned her hand to hold them properly.
"See? Simple. Now you just grab the noodles out of the broth and eat them."
"How unique. And you did this every day?"
I reflected on my hikikomori lifestyle for a moment before finally answering "yeah."
We dug into our food. The nostalgic taste made me feel an odd sense of comfort. I was honestly a little sad when I finished my food.
"This is great! Kenji-san, I understand why people ate it every day now! This "gyoza" stuff is great too!" Erana slurped up noodle after noodle greedily. I hope I haven"t created a monster.
"...Glad you like it." I sheepishly smiled.
We finished our food, paid, and stepped outside. Erana had a new spring in her step since her stomach was full. She ran over to a nearby stall that appeared to be a game of some sort.
"Solve my riddles! Solve all 3 and get a toy for thee!" A white bearded man moved his hands in exaggerated motions as he said this.
"Oh! Riddles! I wanna try!" Erana ran up and handed the man 5 juns.
"Alright! First question: I have many keys but cannot unlock a single door. What am I?"
I had to stop myself from blurting out the answer immediately.
"Um… a keychain?"
"Nope! Strike one young lady! Question two: Two sons and two fathers are in a carriage but there are only three people. How is this possible?"
"There"s only one son and the other is the sun! The other two people are fathers!"
"Nope! Strike two! Question three: What is the end of everything?"
Erana looked to the ground with a shockingly somber expression in response to this question.
"Death."
"N-No. Sorry young lady! That"s three strikes!"
Erana walked over to me with a harsh frown on her face.
"I suck at riddles. I"m way better at visual puzzles." She pout. "Still, it sucks. I really wanted that toy!" She stamped the ground with her foot.
I sighed and walked towards the stall. I handed the bearded man my five juns to begin.
"Question one: I have many keys but-"
"A piano."
"Y-Yeah. I MEAN Yes! Correct! Question two: Two sons and-"
"A grandfather, a father, and a son."
"Let me finis.h.!.+ I-I MEAN YEAH! Yes! Correct! Question three: What is the end of everything?"
"The letter g. Toy please." I held out my hand as I smirked at the man.
The man ground his teeth in frustration as he handed a small brown teddy bear to me. Sorry man, your fault for making an easy quiz.
I walked up to Erana and handed the bear to her.
"For me?"
I only now realized what I was doing. I began to blush.
"Y-Yeah! I-I just, you know? I saw you wanted it and I… um."
Erana took it and hugged it tightly. She smiled with a radiance that could outs.h.i.+ne the sun.
"Thank you, Kenji-san! I love it!"
We proceeded to have an enjoyable evening by shopping around at different stores.
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