EP16. Window of Cadeus (4)
Elsa, who was strolling down the street for a meal, stopped in front of a restaurant and said.
“Looks good here.”
“Really? Where····.”
If you have the eyes of a great nobility, you can trust it. Thinking so, Sean turned her gaze to the sign of the restaurant she had chosen.
[Seamen’s Shelter]
“Um…”
Are you okay? It’s hard to judge anything, but at least it doesn’t seem like a name suitable for a restaurant. But Levy shouted with a bright smile without any doubts.
“Come on, hurry up!”
“…Is that okay?”
It is already too late to object. Levi and Elsa had already opened the door and entered the store. Eventually, Sean followed them into the sea men’s shelter.
Going inside, Shaun first looked at the overall atmosphere of the store. Whether he was left or right, no matter where he looked, he was full of men with rugged and stern faces without a single exception.
In a way, it may be faithful to the name of the shop. Of course, Levi and Elsa weren’t the only women who would shrink from a man’s appearance. They occupied an empty seat in a corner without paying attention to the concentrated gaze.
“The employee is not coming.”
“Did you not see us?”
That can’t be. All the customers in the store were busy looking at them, but the restaurant clerk, who would pay attention to everything, couldn’t see it.
However, Elsa only spoke calmly.
“Let’s go to the front row and call.”
Sean and his party rose from their seats and sat down right in front of the waitress.
“I will order here.”
The waitress had no choice but to respond to Elsa’s words as she sat at a distance that could not be ignored.
“Yes. Can you tell me the menu?”
“Why don’t you explain what kind of food they sell here?”
“I forgot about this. Most of our stores are regulars.”
Anyone could see that it was intentional, but no one in Sean’s party bothered to point out that.
“Here is the menu.”
“I will do this.”
“Yes.”
As the waitress left, Sean whispered to Elsa.
“This is a bit unkind.”
“Originally, port cities tend to have an atmosphere of ostracizing foreigners.”
“It would be nice if it was just that.”
The dish Elsa ordered arrived soon. Seeing that, Levy was dazed and she was busy exclaiming.
“Whoa…!”
“What is this?”
“Crayfish.”
The dish we ordered was lobster. Upon hearing Elsa’s answer, Shawn was shocked and asked back.
“Is this crayfish? It’s so different from the crayfish I know…”
“Well, this guy is a lobster that only lives in the sea. They are much larger than the tiny freshwater crayfish that live in rivers.”
It was a truly frightening size. The bright red color and the thick skin at first glance had a magical power that made it impossible to take your eyes off it.
“It looks fresh because it is near the sea, but it still feels cheap.”
“····But how should we eat this? I have no idea.”
“I see. I will also teach you how to eat.”
Sean and Levy learned from Elsa’s way of eating lobsters by watching them sideways. The texture and taste when you first put it in your mouth are quite unusual. It was unlike anything I had eaten before. It didn’t taste like meat or fish. But one thing is important.
“Delicious! hehehe.”
“There were dishes like this. If you live by the sea, you will always eat something like this, right?”
“Of course. You will eat until you get sick of it.”
Sean and Levy hurriedly began to slaughter the crayfish. Even so, Levy would secretly give her crawfish flesh to Kün, who had hidden it in her bag.
“Isn’t it delicious?”
“Queup!”
“Now, ah~.”
“Queup~.”
“Levy. I don’t want to get caught, so give it to me secretly.”
“Of course I care about everything!”
The two ruthlessly ate the crayfish they had just encountered. In the end, I was able to finish a satisfying meal only after ordering one more crawfish and eating it completely.
“Lobster is the best!”
“I want to try other seafood dishes, but I am full…”
“The opportunity is always there, so let’s leisurely eat one at a time.”
After the meal, I ordered a drink to clear my stomach, and then sat down and chatted and spent time.
Then, naturally, my nerves turned to the conversation I heard from the seat next to me. Because the two men were talking about Vitalua.
“I just heard that some lunatics are going to take a boat to Vitalua.”
It was not difficult to infer who the madmen meant.
“What? Hey, you must have not heard the news. It is a complete hell right now.”
“Yes. It’s to the extent that they say there’s no going back because monsters have completely taken over the area.”
“I heard they are still trying to recapture it.”
“Because of the topography there, you can never penetrate by land. It’s just meaningless death.”
Vitalua was at the northwest end of the kingdom, but it was a land with a very unique topography.
To get to Vitalua via land, you must cross the path called the Mysterious Bridge.
The reason why it is called the Mysterious Bridge is that it is hidden for half of the day.
From noble mtl dot com.
The only passage to Vitalua was the narrow road that was submerged in the sea due to the ebb and flow of the tide. In fact, it is safe to say that it is half an island.
“So the method I am trying now is landing battle. I heard it was very upsetting.”
Fighting monsters on the mysterious bridge is the worst move. Then, when the tide comes in and the bridge disappears, they will all be drowned without moving.
“All famous adventurers gather, and even mobilize the army. Even after doing so, the results were disappointing. That’s all I’ve said.”
“Can’t we just give up? As hard as it is to get in, the monsters will have a hard time getting out of it.”
Fortunately, these characteristics also serve to prevent monsters from escaping outside. In other words, if you keep an eye on the mysterious bridge, you won’t have to worry about the aftermath of the monster invasion spreading outside of Vitalua.
“I don’t know that either. Just in case. There may be something important in it that you can never give up.”
“What is that?”
“If I knew that, would I be fishing here? Anyway, there must be a reason why they are working so hard to recapture that small city.”
After the men talked about that, they got up and left the restaurant.
And there were guests sitting next to us who listened intently to their conversation without missing a single one.
“This is good information.”
“I will. Thanks to you, I understood the general situation.”
Vitalua’s situation was worse than Sean thought. It was understandable why the man had been so angry with his refusal earlier.
“Then let’s get up soon too.”
“What about the boat? Based on what he said, it seems virtually impossible to save.”
“Still, isn’t there a way?”
It’s a way. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t think of anything else. Is it right to go outside and keep trying like before?
It was then. Someone put a hand on Elsa’s shoulder as she was about to get up.
She said coldly without looking back.
“It must be the first time I met you, but maybe I can’t remember?”
“We are new to each other. Pretty girl.”
“Then it seems polite to clean up these dirty, ugly hands.”
In spite of the stern warning, the man gave a leisurely chuckle. The place where his gaze was directed was the woman’s clothes, and there was obviously a dark desire in it.
“Why are you like this? It’s not like this has happened once or twice.”
“Of course. Besides, they were all different men. Well, she made it so that the man who did this to me once, she never flirted with her again.”
“It has a pretty sharp taste.”
Her man’s other hand moved gently towards her neck, this time. There was an ambiguous part to express exactly as a hand.
Because his right arm was replaced by a cold blade instead of a hand.
“A woman suitable for a great pirate.”
“That hook in my right hand, it’s a black snakefish…!”
“You got caught properly by the evil guy…!”
Despite the buzz around her, Elsa only laughed as if she was laughing.
“All of the pirates have strange nicknames. I’ll build it for you How about a bald webfoot octopus instead of a black stingray?”
“How dare this bastard…!”
“All you want is to hug me, right? That’s good.”
“Yes?!”
Sean, who had been watching the nervous battle between the two, was startled and shouted. He said he hadn’t dated any man before, so he couldn’t believe he had a taste for bald octopuses…!
“There are conditions instead.”
“You dare to do business with this body?”
“Winner takes all. Wasn’t that a pirate?”
“····hehehe. It’s good. A battle of pirates full of blood and flesh. Not bad. What is the product of the bet?”
Elsa said it casually, as if it wasn’t her job.
“If you win, I will give you as much as you want. As a bonus, I’ll give you all the gold coins I have.”
When she took out her purse, which she had taken out earlier, the pirate noticed a wave of gold peeking out inside her.
“····Unconventional. It’s very mouth-watering. Both you and the money.”
“On the other hand, if you lose, you will have to pay that much.”
“It can’t be, but it’s good. Do not accept hehehehe.”
The pirate gently stroked her shoulder with his normal hand. It was a very dirty hand. Sean frowned as much as possible, but Elsa, the person involved, was still, so he couldn’t come out first. Perhaps Levy is also quiet for similar reasons.
“Okay then, follow me. You’ll fall in love right away after sleeping with me, so please be considerate so you don’t get hurt too much. Ha ha ha!”
“I’m sorry, but I am not your opponent.”
“What? Hmm, you’re trying to fight a proxy fight? To whom?”
Elsa pointed with her finger and answered. Sean, who looked at the finger pointed at him for a moment, was confused and asked back.
“Me?”
“With such a clumsy guy? It looks trivial, but what is that guy fighting for you?”
Elsa was silent for a moment at the pirate’s question, and then she burst into laughter. Sean, who confirmed that smile, felt uneasy for some reason.
She answered very confidently, folding the corners of her eyes.
“This is my husband.”
“…Eh?”