◇

The j.a.panese food in the creative cuisine shop turned out not bad taste-wise despite looking bad.

The fried food looking strangely black is probably because they rarely ever change the oil.
It"s fine once a while but eating here everyday would make your cholesterol raised to dangerous level.

When we"ve eaten for awhile, some new guests appear from the shop"s entrance.

"Oy, Yui. Is this outskirt eatery really good?"
"U~n, I don"t know if it"s good, but it"s popular you see."

The one who entered first was a plump black-haired boy.
He"s handsome enough to pa.s.s as an idol if he were slimmer. Rather, he looks like a character from some 2D otome game.

And, the girl who"s linking arms with the boy is an acquaintance--the self-proclaimed idol of Southern j.a.pan Union who was summoned by Princess Menea"s kingdom, Yui Akasaki.

According to AR, the black-haired boy beside her seems to be Souya boy, the rumored highness of the school.
I was thinking of meeting him sooner or later in order to see if he"s the [Highness] that the [Light of Liberty] referred, so this is convenient.
I had confirmed his skill and t.i.tle without problem using Map search, but I wanted to meet the person directly to ascertain things.

"Ah! Isn"t it Satou-san and Arisa!"
"Long time no see~"

Arisa waves back at Yui who"s waving her hands while looking so happy.

That expression of Yui gets clouded.

"What"s wrong Satou-san, you"re wearing poor-looking clothes! Don"t tell me, your business failed?"

Looks like she misunderstood seeing our clothes.

"Are they Yui"s acquaintances?"
"Y-yes."
"If you don"t have any work, you can help in our house. You don"t seem to have the strength, but if you were a merchant before, then you should be able to do accountant works. We"ll also give enough food for the beastkin and the children over there to at least live on if they do odd jobs."

He"s quite cheeky, but this Souya boy seems to be unexpectedly the type who takes good care of others.
I had a prejudice since Arisa said that he was bullying someone weaker, but he might just be a common good guy.

Arisa and the others are putting difficult faces, so it"s about time to stop his unilateral performance.

"I am thankful for your kindness, but our jobs are already sufficient--"

Let alone 24, I"m already working 28 hours even now, so there is no need to add more works.

"What, you"re Yui"s acquaintances. No need to be reserved."
"We"re only traveling incognito today. Look at this, see."

Arisa takes the silver n.o.ble tag, and the mithril explorer plate from my chest.

"What is it? Silver--Vi-viscount?!"

Souya boy screams with an aghast face when he sees the tag.
There"s no way he"d have though that an upper n.o.ble would go to a cheap restaurant in commoner clothing after all.

"I"m sorry. I wasn"t trying to make fun of you, I couldn"t seize the right timing to speak."

I introduce myself to him since I feel like I"ve done something bad.

"Nice to meet you, I"m Viscount Satou Pendragon. May I ask your name?"
"So-Souya. I cannot tell you my family name due to circ.u.mstances. Please forgive me for that."

In case of s.h.i.+ga Kingdom, if an illegitimate child like him referred himself as Souya s.h.i.+ga, he would be hauled to the prison with illness as a pretext and be disposed of.
Yui interrupts with a friendly face between us.

"I"m sorry Satou-san. My darling acts bossy around everyone, but he"s not a bad guy so please forgive him."
"I don"t feel offended. To offer works just because they"re your acquaintances of your girlfriend is not something anyone would do just like that."
"Ehehe~, he"s not my boyfriend, he"s my fiance~"

Come to think of it, I heard such a thing from Aoi boy.
At that time I thought, "He must be a lolicon to fall in love with a 13 year old girl", but if the guy is a 14 year old himself, it"s nothing questionable.

Yui covers her mouth bashfully.
A ring fitted with a small diamond glitters on that hand.

"Uwah, stop showing off your ring plainly."
"Ehehehe, isn"t nice~ Darling made this for me."

--Hou?

The crafting quality is shoddy, but it"s quite a stylish ring.
Although you can"t possibly sell it to n.o.bles or wealthy merchants, but it"s good enough to be sold in stores.

"I had an opportunity to see a Mich-aelangelo-made pendant. I was just imitating that."

Come to think of it I remember creating many kind of pendants using [Michaelangelo] name.
Souya boy"s p.r.o.nunciation was slightly strange, but there"s no need to point that out.

"Do you want to become a jewel craftsman in the future?"
"...I do not. I (ore), no, I (watas.h.i.+) have to aim for the position of supremacy. That is my mother"s...."

Souya boy spoke painfully but lost his power to continue in the latter half. The only one who heard the part after [watas.h.i.+] was probably me with my Attentive Ears skill.
Looks like he"s burdened with various things as well.
I don"t have any intention of sticking my neck out for him though, so let" just watch over lukewarmly.

When I was at a lost as to how to change the subject, another carriage stopped in front of the shop.
It"s a gaudy carriage that lower n.o.bles like to ride in.

A sharp-eyed man wearing coachman clothing enters the shop and then looks around the shop interior as if evaluating it.
It seems he thought there was no problem with it, he went back to call the n.o.ble waiting outside the shop.

The pink hair swings like spreading flower scent, a beautiful girl treads upon the shop with light steps.
Her white dress covers to her ankles, her boots are peeking from the hem.
Even though her attire looks like something that doesn"t fit the TPO, it seems she"s aware that she was going to the downtown.

"Hee, so this is the shop with j.a.panese food."
"Yes, it"ll be nice if it suits Aoi"s palate."

A boy who looks like a girl entering afterward looks around the shop restlessly with great interest. He is a researcher of my Echigoya Firm, another summoned person like Yui earlier--Land of Prosperous j.a.pan Empire"s Aoi Haruka.

The pink princess n.o.blewoman--Princess Menea"s pink eyes seem to have finally caught me, she approaches me half-running happily.

"My, Satou-sama!"
"It has been a long time. Princess Menea."

It seem the other children around can"t catch up with the sudden appearance of Menea.

"My, please call me Menea."

Princess Menea wraps my hand at a strange distance, and pushes herself.
If this were a manga, I feel like her eyes would turn heart-shaped.

Arisa and Mia would declare me guilty if this kept up, so I gently separate myself from her.

"--Me-Menea. It"s been awhile."

The one who replied her instead of me was Souya boy.
Seems he has some feeling for princess Menea, he looks like the template of a boy in love.

Yui looks like she doesn"t find it amusing, but it doesn"t seem like she"ll reprove Souya boy.

"I do not remember allowing you to call me without honorific. I will not object this one out of respect for Satou-sama, but it"ll be dealt with appropriately the next time you do it."

--Scary.

Princess Menea rejects Souya boy with an expression that makes her look like a completely different person than the one I know.
Souya boy nods in agreement while trembling and looking pale.

Princess Menea has a good look but her personality is problematic, so I"d like for Souya boy to live with Yui"s pure love.

◇

We were going to leave after finis.h.i.+ng our meal, but since Princess Menea wanted us to listen to Aoi boy"s worry together with her, we went into the restaurant"s private room with them.
I"m surrounded by Yui, Souya boy, and Arisa so that Princess Menea won"t get close.

"I wonder what I should do...."

Aoi stares at the table and mutters.

"Hey, so what are you worrying about anyway?"
"If you"re being bullied by your senpai in Echigoya Firm, shall I go and stop them?"

Arisa and Yui looked at Aoi boy"s face and talked.
We"ve been eating the sweets on top of the table, so it"s about time for some serious flavor.

"It"s not like that. The manager told me to bring a new idea for invention the day after tomorrow, but I can"t think of anything good."
"There should be many for that though?"

Arisa tilts her head in puzzlement.
Apparently, Aoi boy is the type who thinks too deeply.

"That"s right! Aoi, make smartphones, smartphones. One that works with magic!"
"Please don"t be absurd. I"ve been told not to make smartphones or telecommunication devices. Also, cars and railroads are not allowed either."
"Why?"
"Long distance telecommunication and ma.s.s transportation violate the G.o.d"s taboo, so I can"t do it, said Kuro-sama."
"Eh~, G.o.ds are stingy~"

Arisa doesn"t join the two"s conversation, and puts herself on top of my lap as if constraining Princess Menea who"s gone around the table to try to sit besides me.

Aris-don"t stroke someone"s thigh casually.

"Do cars include golem carriages too?"
"You might not understand, but it"s about cars that work with internal combustion engines and burning oil."
"I see. It"ll be dangerous if they explode after all."
"...Y-yes."

While stopping Arisa"s s.e.xual hara.s.sment, I replied like a native would.

"Hey, what about pump?"
"By pump, do you mean the thing that pulls water?"
"Yes, that."

Arisa is probably talking about pumps that work with human-power.
People use buckets to draw water from wells in s.h.i.+ga Kingdom, so just having pumps should save quite some labor.

I thought it was quite a good idea, but Aoi boy shakes his head.

"That"s not good. Royal Capital has water service...."

Just as Aoi boy"s said, the Royal Capital is fully equipped with water and sewer services.

However--.

"It"s not like you have to sell it in the Royal Capital."
"Right right. There"s no waterworks besides in the Royal Capital, so I think it"ll sell explosively well."

Just as Yui and Arisa have said, it should be useful in rural areas.
It"s strange that it hasn"t been spread by reincarnated people and the others, but it really shouldn"t violate the G.o.d"s taboo.

"--Is it really so?"
"How about presenting that if it seems good?"
"You"ve got nothing to lose anyway."

Encouraged by Yui and Arisa, Aoi boy seems to be getting motivated too.

"Invention huh.... Aoi or something, you come from the same hometown as Yui right?"

Seemingly like having thought of something, Souya boy talked to Aoi boy.

"Y-yes--wait, you talked about it, Yui-chan."
"Un, sorry. I didn"t want to keep any secret to darling."

Aoi boy pressed on Yui who betrayed his secret, but Yui lightly apologized. Her face looks like she doesn"t feel bad about it.

"Souysan, if possible, could you please keep our origins a secret--"
"I know. I don"t want to let Yui becomes something like an experimental animal."

Souya boy flatly a.s.serted so, thus Aoi boy leaks out a sigh of relief.

"Now then, getting back on the topic, since you come from the same place, you should know about magical dishes that can be eaten immediately after pouring hot water into it, the 『Insutan』 or something? How about making that? You should have no problem regarding the market if you have some connection with the military."
"In-stant ramen or bouillon cube, something like them is it.... Making dried noodles and powdered soup seem doable. I"ll try doing a presentation about that to the manager!"

He"s quite good at looking at things.
I"ll scout Souya boy to Echigoya firm if he becomes a b.u.mp.

I"ll add some information while at it.

"I remember seeing dried noodles in Standell city in Oyugock Dukedom. It should be helpful if you order it right?"
"Thank you very much, Satou-san. I"ll ask about it once I go back!"

I"m glad that Aoi boy becomes energetic again.

◇

"It"s thanks to Satou-san that Aoi got well! What should I give as a thank."
"No no, I didn"t do anything."

Princess Menea approached me while looking impressed, but I really only gave a reference in the end, and actually not did anything. I think the three people besides me are the meritorious ones.

"That"s not the case at all! That"s right! Will you come for the hanami (sakura blossom viewing)? You can see the royal capital"s sakura tree from the girl"s dormitory garden well."

Yui gets on Princess Menea"s suggestion outright.

"Hanami huh~, that sounds nice! Menesama, could I go too with darling?"
"....I-it can"t be helped. If Yui insists, then I will allow--"
"I dislike Sakura. I won"t go. Yui should go if you want."

Princess Menea seems like she"s going to give in to Yui"s cheerful request, but Souya refuses with heavy atmosphere.

"--Darling? Wait for me. Let"s go together if you"re going back. I"m sorry, Menesama. Let"s do the hanami for later."

Yui hurriedly chases after Souya boy who heads toward the exit.

"Princess Menea.... Do not get close to the white-haired orphan anymore. He"s--eerie somehow."

Before going through the exit, Souya boy left a warning that also sounded like a backbiting.

◇

During the hanami with Princess Menea, the girls from the girl"s dormitory intruded when they found Mia, so it became quite a chaotic party.
Even though there were no liquor, the tension felt like they"d start stripping, I couldn"t follow, so we excused myself by saying that we needed to prepare for the evening party.

"Everyone should go to the evening party ahead of time once you"ve prepared, I"ll be going after finis.h.i.+ng my business at Echigoya Firm."
"He? We"ll wait."

I told that to Arisa who stopped her hand changing clothes while having a curious expression on her face.

"I"d like you to see Karinsama"s condition before the evening party."
"Okay then, but it"s rare for you to worry about Karinsama."

I think it"s not that strange for someone to worry about his employer"s daughter.
Lady Karina may get the opportunity to make some friends at that place, so I want Arisa and the others to remove her timidness.

If she were with me, we would get surrounded by n.o.bles who brought marriage proposals, it"d cut down the time.

"Then I"ll leave it to you."
"Okkey~"

I wave my hands, going to leave the room, but stop.

"That"s right Arisa. I have something to talk about after the evening party, so don"t get too frolic to the point of running out of battery like yesterday."
"Is it perhaps, YO・TO・GI?"

While feeling slightly uneasy toward Arisa who raised a shout of victory like "Hyaho~i", I leave for Echigoya Firm.