Abe's Guest House
City State of Magic, Kasteblum
December 18th
Year 1051
Eliza Lane was having a nice dream where she was in an all-eat buffet, with all of her favourite foods and more on display.
She then felt cold and hugged her body while rubbing her arms to generate a bit of heat, her eyes then caught sight of a hotpot on one of the buffet tables.
She happily ran towards that table, braving the obstacles on the way as she arrived at the hotpot and opened it up.
From within, a bright light shone, making her squint her eyes due to its brightness. When she opened them once more, she was met with a pair of piercing red eyes staring at her.
Her brain completely forgot everything that had just happened as she groggily sat up and looked around her.
"Huh?"
"You're finally awake."
A voice resounded in her ears as she turned to the speaker of the voice, her brain finally waking up from its sleep as it processed the images her eyes were seeing and scoured her memories for the identity of the owner of the voice.
"Pride?"
"In the flesh."
She looked around and saw Evan leaning on her shoulder with his eyes closed, his breaths even as he was still deep in dreamland.
"Why am I still in Evan's room?"
"I should be asking you that."
Pride replied to Eliza's question as she tapped Evan's shoulder and injected a bit of her aura into his body.
"The fuck?!"
Evan screamed as he jolted awake, half his hand instantly travelling into a small fifty-centimetre-long black hole that had appeared mid-air.
"Oh?"
It was then that his brain finally registered the sight of Eliza and Pride, his guard dropping as he closed his inventory.
"It's nice and all that your first reaction to that was to touch your weapon, but in reality, you'd be dead before you even get to wake up.
You should have noticed me from the moment I walked into this room."
"Well, you can't blame me. I'm not exactly as experienced as you are."
"Even an inexperienced brat should know to lock his room door before falling asleep."
Pride shot back as she pointed to the slightly ajar door before continuing.
"That door was opened by a kid who was randomly turning people's door handles. If I wasn't awake and on my way to your room, who knows what would have happened if someone walked in while you two were still asleep?"
The two instantly realised the gravity of the situation when Pride pointed it out to them. Upon seeing that they acknowledged where they went wrong and were reflecting, Pride stopped chiding them.
'Reminds me of when I was dealing with a younger version of Sloth. I wonder how he's doing now?'
The duo then took their baths at the general bathhouse at the bottom floor of the guest house, a service that made the prices of their rooms increase exponentially, before dressing up for the day.
As per Evan's words the day before, Eliza decided to spend her day freely, however, she had no idea on what to do for the day.
She took a stroll around the City state, keeping her adventurer's guild card on her in the event that she stumbled into somewhere she had to prove her identity.
She spent a few minutes randomly walking around, taking in the sights of the city and admiring the tall magic towers she could see on almost every street.
It was then that she apparently stumbled into a district built atop a small hill in the city known as the 'Culinary Heights'.
The road leading into the district was one that was very busy as hundreds of people shuffled about, moving in and out of various establishments on the street.
The scents of various kinds of delicious food that could be perceived were enough to make one's mouth watery.
Somehow, the scents of the foods seemed to complement each other and enhance each other even though a great majority of them were from different meals not even in the same food category.
Like so, Eliza ended up deciding what her free day was to be spent on, her figure hurriedly speeding up the road as she decided to try out as many restaurants as her wallet could let her.
◇ ◇ ◇
The first place that caught her attention was a restaurant three buildings in on the left side of the road.
From the outside, it looked homey, peaceful, and cheerful, with large and small stones and carved pillars making up most of the building's outer structure.
It was tough to see through the stained-glass windows, but the laughter and cheering from within could be felt outside.
As Eliza entered through the heavily used, metal door, she was welcomed by a sense of home and a pleasant atmosphere.
It was as alluring inside as it is on the outside. Squared, wooden beams support the upper floor and the lanterns attached to them. The walls were full of paintings, all in a different styles.
"Welcome! How may I help you today?"
Her entrance was noticed by a standby waiter who walked up to her with a smile on his face as he led her to a free table.
"Um...to be honest, this is my first time in this city so I don't exactly know what kinds of food are popular here."
"Oh, so a first timer then? Very well, we give first-timers a thirty percent discount on their first order.
As for what to get, here is the menu."
He helped her tuck the chair in and produced a cardboard paper board from underneath the table, placing it in front of her as he continued.
"The menu is simple and easy to understand, with each category clearly represented.
For each day of the week, there is a particular featured meal and today's featured meal happens to be 'End of Year Broth'.
Also, there is the chef's recommendation for the week which is the 'Foil-Baked Buttered Salmon and Mushrooms'.
For a first-timer, I would personally recommend the 'End of Year Broth'."
The waiter then looked around as if checking if he was being watched before lowering his head and whispering in her ear.
"There's a rumour that the action of cutting the noodles used in the broth cuts off all the bad fortune for the year."
He then stood upright and winked at her causing her to giggle in response.
"I'd take the 'End of Year Broth' then."
"Coming right up.
Would you like a drink while you wait?"
"Okay."
He gave a slight bow before turning around and speedily walking to the kitchen to process the order. Not less than a minute later, he re-emerged from the kitchen with a tray in hand.
On top of the tray, was a glass of orange juice, something that Eliza coincidentally happened to like. He placed the tray on her table and bowed slightly before returning to the kitchen.
As she waited for her meal to be served, Eliza took her time to look around her and admire the restaurant's design.
She studied some of the paintings on the walls, each of them having a different style from the last. Below each painting was an explanation of the painting and what it represented.
Another thing she noticed was that mages seemed to be the primary clientele of the restaurant, which is often a good sign in this city.
Several long tables were occupied by, what seemed to be groups of colleagues, all dressed in similar coloured robes and having the same insignia at the backs of their robes.
A few had some magic catalysts hanging from their neck with a few others having small wands beside them on the table.
She sensed the concentration of magic power was higher than it was outside, the result of having dozens of mages in the same place at the same time.
Although she did not have the appraisal skill, she could still sense the frightening amount of magic power that some of these mages emitted from their bodies and could tell they were very obviously over level 200 at least.
This spoke of the amount of military power that Kasteblum possessed as even the people she saw that looked like researchers, had absurd amounts of magic power, making her wonder when they found time to level up between all the research they were supposed to be buried in.
They all appeared to be enjoying the food, drinks, and company of each other as Eliza took her gaze off them so as not to be seen as rude for staring.
Within five to seven minutes, the waiter returned with her food and proceeded to explain each of the ingredients, from the type of broth used, to the brand of noodles and the specie of chicken added.
Eliza listened to his explanation, her mouth-watering when he got to the part about the chicken as she wondered how delicious it would be.
Still, saving the best for last, Eliza began her meal seconds after his explanation as she wondered just how many restaurants could she go to before being full.
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