Chapter 1: Journey to the Neighboring Country
The morning after his farewell with Celia at the Royal Academy, Rio was walking around the market outside the city walls to gather equipment for his journey.
He needed food, water, cooking utensils, clothes, bedding, medicine, weapons... humans clearly required a vast amount of resources to live. But since there was a limit to how much he could carry when traveling alone, Rio had to carefully screen his necessities and purchase only the barest minimum. He would take only those items with him on his journey.
Right now, he only had his casual clothes that were typical of a noble, and a single sword. It was much too lightweight a weapon for him to be comfortable traveling with.
That being said, ever since Rio had enrolled into the Academy, he had spent his entire life inside the city walls. While Celia had taken him to the markets within the city walls to go shopping before, this was his first time venturing into the markets that were outside the city.
He was at a bit of a loss, now.
I have no idea which store to go to...
He had gone around several stores already, but there were just so many of them. A few among them had sold such crudely-made products, making him furrow his brow on many occasions. Because he wanted to buy quality items that would last him a while, he didn’t want to randomly pick a store to buy from. After wandering through the crowds pondering this and that, he grew tired, and stepped into a back alley to take a quick break.
That was when a delicious aroma wafted to him, immediately piquing his appetite. It was coming from a street stall in the alley.
There weren’t many customers at the moment— possibly because it was that quiet period of time between breakfast and lunch, or maybe due to its unfavorable location— but the smell that was wafting from it truly smelled delicious.
Come to think of it, I haven’t had breakfast yet. I’ll buy something from that stall and ask them for shop recommendations.
Spurred into movement by his hunger, Rio’s feet carried him towards the stall. A little girl was behind the stall counter, looking somewhat bored by the lack of customers. Behind her, a woman that seemed to be her mother was busy toiling away at cooking.
“Ah, welcome!”
As Rio approached the stall, the little girl beamed from ear to ear and greeted him. She must have been around seven or eight years old. She was a cute child, if a bit thin.
However, the instant she saw Rio’s noble clothes, her expression stiffened. She had surely mistaken him as a child of nobility.
In the Kingdom of Beltrum, where society was based on social status, it was quite common for nobles to act violently towards commoners. That was why commoners feared the nobility. This little girl had probably learned that sentiment from her mother.
“Ah, erm, I mean...” Realizing she couldn’t act rudely, the little girl forced an uncomfortable smile on her face.
“You don’t need to be so nervous. It smells really good here... Are you selling something?” Rio spoke to her gently in an attempt to reassure her.
“Umm, it’s bread with sauce and vegetables and fried meat inside, sir.” The girl did her best to speak politely to Rio.
“I see. Then, I think I’ll take some.” Rio smiled softly, eagerly expressing his desire to purchase their product.
“Oh my, is it a noble? ...Huh? Ah, umm...” The mother noticed Rio’s presence and hurried to greet him, but her eyes widened dramatically when she saw Rio’s face.
“Is something the matter?” Rio asked her curiously.
“Ah, no... It’s nothing. P-Please excuse my actions.” The woman fearfully apologized for her strange behavior, but she continued to watch Rio with observant eyes.
“Oh, is it about my hair color?” Rio guessed at the reason as to why the woman reacted with shock, touching a hand to his hair. Black hair was rare in Beltrum; he had been ridiculed numerous times by students at the academy because of this hair.
“Umm, that’s... Yes. I actually knew someone a long time ago, a boy with black hair. So I thought that maybe... But there was no way that child was nobility, so it was just my mistake. I-I don’t know how I can apologize enough to you for this...”
“...May I ask what the name of that boy was?” Rio questioned the trembling woman. She kept her head down out of fear. Perhaps she was someone he knew back from when he lived in the slums.
“I-I believe it was Rio...”
Bingo—apparently, Rio had met this beautiful woman before.
Unfortunately, Rio was on the run right now, and couldn’t afford to confirm her suspicions so easily. If she had mistaken him for a noble’s son, then it was to his advantage.
“I’m sorry, I have no recollection of that name.”
“Is that... so...”
Rio decided to feign ignorance, and the woman showed her clear disappointment.
“Have you been looking for that boy?” Rio asked. He couldn’t remember any situation where he had met this woman before.
If he had to take a guess, he would assume it was through the gang of thugs that he had lived with in the slums. If that was the case, then the number of possibilities were narrowed down significantly. If it was someone who knew him well enough to remember his name, then it was most likely one of the people who frequented the small shack Rio lived in back then. Most of the women who frequented the shack were prostitutes that the thugs called over. The ones they favored the most had been Gigi, who had been killed in the shack, and her little sister Angela. There were several others they had liked as well, and Rio guessed this woman had to be one of them.
That being said, it had been over five years since he last saw them. The woman in front of him was not wearing any makeup, so she didn’t have the air of a prostitute at all, making it hard for him to place her.
“It’s just that he may have witnessed the final moments of my older sister.” The woman’s expression clouded over as she spoke. The little girl looked on in confusion at their conversation.
An older sister... Could it be Gigi’s little sister, Angela?
Thanks to her words, Rio was finally able to place the woman in front of him. He fixed his expression so that his surprise wouldn’t show, then swallowed a breath at their coincidental reunion. She used to wear thick makeup in the past, but he could see traces of her old self now that he knew who she was.
Come to think of it, Gigi had mentioned how she wanted to start a store with Angela one day... But he didn’t want to drag the conversation out any further, so he changed the subject.
“...I’m sorry, I asked something very intrusive of you.”
“N-No, it’s because I acted rudely to begin with. It’s my fault... Please accept my apologies!” Angela bowed her head reflexively at Rio’s apology.
“I’m actually rather hungry right now. Could I take two?” Finding it unproductive to continue their back-and-forth, Rio cut to the chase.
“I-I’m not sure our products would suit the taste of a noble like you, sir...” Angela replied, ashamed. She was worried that Rio would change his mind the moment he took a bite of the food. It wasn’t strange to meet nobles like that.
“That’s all right. I’m used to stall foods like this,” Rio explained with a strained smile. His words made Angela lower her guard just a little.
“Then... that’ll be eight small coppers for two.”
“In that case, you can take this. I don’t need change,” Rio said, offering one small silver.
“I couldn’t possibly accept that...” Angela hurried to take out his change. For her, a single small silver was over half her usual daily earnings.
“It’s to apologize for scaring your child. Please take her to eat something delicious.” Rio shook his head, smiling at the little girl standing quietly.
“But...”
“How about, in exchange, you tell me of any good, trustworthy stores that stock equipment for traveling? I’m actually not too familiar with the shops in this area...” Rio bashfully scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. For a brief moment, Angela stared back at him in befuddlement— before she broke out into giggles.
“In that case...”
She proceeded to tell Rio about several stores she recommended. He stored the shop names and their specialties in his head as he watched Angela prepare the food.
Just as she finished her explanation, the food was done.
“Here you are.” Angela offered him the completed sandwich. The ingredients were enclosed in a crispy baguette, the well-cooked meat and special salty sauce blending together thickly to waft a savory aroma. It was enough to make Rio drool.
“Thanks,” he said as he accepted the first sandwich.
Picking it up in his hands, he took a hard bite— the commoners seemed to favor this kind of tough bread. The taste of the juicy meat and salty sauce spread throughout his mouth. He couldn’t help but turn his lips up into a smile.
“It’s delicious,” Rio said in great satisfaction, making Angela sigh a breath of relief.
Just like that, Rio polished up both sandwiches. The little girl working at the stall looked up at him, watching the way he ate with awe.
“Come again anytime, big bro!”
“C-Cut that out, Sophie!”
As he departed, the little girl— Sophie— called out to Rio with a big smile. Her attitude had completely flipped from earlier as her wariness of him softened, then wore off. Angela quickly tried to shush her, worried that she came across as overly familiar.
“Thank you. I’m going somewhere far away for a while, but I’ll come visit you again soon. Bye bye,” Rio said, smiling at Sophie. With a small bow at Angela, he walked away from the stall as Sophie waved him off enthusiastically. He left the back alley and returned to the main street to head for the shop that Angela had told him of.
...Hm?
After walking for a while, he noticed he was being watched by someone. Rio stopped in his tracks and glanced around him, but there were so many people around, he wasn’t able to identify the source of the gaze.
Was it just my imagination?
Despite feeling uneasy, Rio continued walking.
◇◇◇
After that, Rio completed his shopping quickly. With the false accusation of what had happened in the forest currently placed on his head, he wanted to avoid staying around any longer than necessary. If possible, he wanted to leave Beltrum by midday.
He had just finished purchasing weapons, clothes, and a backpack to store his items in. He had sold the casual nobility clothes he had been wearing for his travel funds. They were high quality, and the price they sold for reflected that.
Rio had finished changing into his new clothes: a black robe that allowed him to appear like a rookie adventurer-for-hire with modest funds. All he had left was to purchase food supplies, when...
“Hey.”
Someone called out to Rio from behind. He turned back to see a man dressed like a hoodlum trying to peer beneath his hood with a glare. Rio looked back at him skeptically. Perhaps this was the person he had sensed watching at him earlier...
“What?”
“Ain’t ya that Rio kid?”
“...No, I’m not. If you’ve got the wrong person, I’ve somewhere to be.” Rio had nearly faltered for a second before he tried to brush the topic away. But the man stepped in front of him boldly, blocking his way.
“Now... just hold yer horses. Just now there was a wanted poster on the bulletin board for some brat named Rio. Bein’ an information broker ’n all, I was aware of it sooner than anyone else.”
As he spoke, the man bent forward with his eyes peeled to unabashedly peer at Rio’s face. Rio wiped any trace of emotion from his face and stared back at the man.
“Hey. Cat got yer tongue? Why don’t ya say somethin’?”
“Excuse me. I felt your foolish prattle unworthy of my time. Exactly what does that have to do with me?” Rio asked, voice subdued from holding back his simmering rage. The man gave a wicked grin.
“Well, to put it bluntly, the description of the brat on the wanted poster matches yer features exactly. You were wearin’ noble clothes at first, so I couldn’t speak to ya so easily, but now yuh’ve changed into some hood that avoids drawin’ peoples attention. So, as an information broker, everythin’ clicked into place. That’s why I spoke up to ya.”
“You’ve got the wrong person.” Rio immediately shot down the man’s conjecture.
“Don’t try tuh pretend. Ain’t many black-haired brats around here. Yer Rio, ain’t ya?”
“I’m not,” Rio denied, then began to walk away. But the man rushed up to stop him.
“Hey, wait!”
“Let go.” Rio shot a cold glare at the man who grabbed his shoulder with familiarity.
“S-Stubborn one, ain’t ya?”
“Because you’re wrong.”
“...Tch, cunnin’ brat y’ are. Well, whatever. But hey, you seem to be doin’ quite well for yerself. How much money you got on ya?”
It was just one question after another. The man continued to flap his tongue about endlessly, but Rio figured out his motive with those last words.
His aim was blackmail.
He should have just reported Rio right away, but he foolishly let his greed lead him astray.
Well, that makes it all the better for me, Rio thought coldly.
“I’ve had enough of this. I’m not opposed to using my right to strike on you, understood?” Rio said, reaching for the knife hidden at his waist threateningly.
Right to strike referred to a law where nobility had the power to cut down any commoner that affronted them, on the spot, without a trial. Of course, Rio was not a noble, but because he had been dressed as one until just before, he figured he could use the man’s misunderstanding to threaten him right back.
Just as he predicted, fear flashed in the man’s eyes.
“H-Heh, that’s a bluff. How about I kick up a fuss ’n yell for the soldiers right here ’n now? We may be outside the city walls, but the security here’s pretty decent. Not a lot of ’em, but they still patrol this area. Ain’t gonna matter to me if soldiers come, but you’d be in trouble, wouldn’t ya?” The man asked in a high-pitched voice, as though he was trying to convince himself.
“Not particularly. Would you like to try?” Rio replied indifferently.
“Y-You’re sure about that?”
“You don’t need to check with me before you yell. We’ll see who gets into trouble once you do,” Rio replied pleasantly, making the man bite his lip. In the face of such a big fish, the man felt conflicted.
“...If you’re done here, I’ll be going now.” With a frosty nod at the frustrated expression on the man, Rio left, concealing himself within the crowds of people and heading towards the exit of the capital.
He didn’t notice the small figure observing him from afar at all.
◇◇◇
Three days had passed since Rio left the capital of Beltrant.
He continued his beeline towards the east, aiming for the faraway lands of the Yagumo region. By making full use of his essence to enhance his physical abilities and body, he had almost reached the country that neighbored Beltrum— the Kingdom of Galarc.
Still, his near-supernatural speed would have attracted unwanted attention if he used the roads, so he moved through the mountain forests instead. Because of that decision, his route was made needlessly tougher: there was a higher chance of encounters with monsters and other dangerous beasts, resulting in fatigue accumulating in his physical body. However, while Beltrum was wider horizontally, Galarc was wider vertically — this meant that it wouldn’t take Rio as much time to cross the country horizontally.
East of the Kingdom of Galarc was the Wilderness — a wide area of land that existed outside of human control. There were no roads nor maps drawn of it, and the terrain itself was rugged, so Rio foresaw a drop in his movement speed when he reached that point. And while the Yagumo region was just beyond the Wilderness, it was said that following the trackless paths on foot could take years. The beasts and monsters that could be encountered in the area were far more ferocious than those found within the Strahl region, making the journey itself life-threatening.
Despite this, Rio chose to head towards Yagumo anyway — he wanted to see the ancestral hometown that his mother spoke of in his childhood, build graves for his parents, and organize the complicated feelings stowed away in his heart.
Setting all of that aside for now, though... At the moment, the time had just ticked into the afternoon hours. Rio would soon be crossing the border into the Kingdom of Galarc.
I should check the roads just once. There may be a city nearby where I can make a pit stop.
Once Rio came to that decision, he approached a towering tree nearby and scaled its tall trunk in the blink of an eye. From the top, he looked around at his surroundings and calculated his position using the sun. He directed his gaze towards the direction he needed to go towards, and spotted puffs of smoke rising into the air in the distance. It was probably being produced by a human settlement; the amount of smoke heavily suggested that it was a city.
With his destination decided, Rio climbed down from the tree. Once he was safely on his feet, he took a guess at the location of the road towards the city and ran towards it. While he did come across a number of goblins and orcs along the way, he left them in the dust of his overwhelming speed. It would be a waste of time and energy to stop and fight each and every one of them, like some kind of righteous fool, so the most he did was intercept a pack of nimble wolves that surrounded him as he passed by, as a warning to them.
Rio skillfully evaded the dense overgrowth as he ran with light-footed steps. About ten minutes of running later, he spotted a road weaving through the forest. He slowed down, stepping firmly on the ground to kill his momentum and onto the road with a hop. The road was about ten meters wide, which was enough for a horse-drawn carriage to easily pass through. Once he confirmed that there was no one else nearby, he set off at a speed that wouldn’t cause suspicion if he was spotted.
Roughly twenty to thirty minutes later, he arrived at his destination city.
The road into the city was occupied with visiting carriages and travelers on foot. Rio followed them from behind at a distance. The lands near the city were scattered with wheat fields, vegetable farms, vineyards, pastures, and cattle barns; Rio could spot farmers working here and there. Then, after following the road for a while, the walls surrounding the city came into view.
The city still appeared to be under development, as there seemed to be sections of the wall that were still being constructed. Rio could see several figures energetically working away.
I hope my wanted status hasn’t reached Galarc yet... As he gazed upon the people going about their lives from afar, Rio considered his current issues.
At present, Beltrum and Galarc were allied. If the Kingdom of Beltrum sought action from Galarc, then Rio’s wanted poster might have validity within this country, too.
And there was something else to keep in mind: in the Strahl region, there were ancient artifacts known as enchanted airships. They could fly through the air at an average speed of a little under 50 knots, so it was more than possible that notice of his situation had already reached Galarc.
I’ll have to check the bulletin board near the city gate first. If everything seems okay, I’ll go find some food. Then I have to send a letter to Professor Celia and let her know I’m safe... Rio counted off his tasks on his fingers.
He was actually rather low on food stock at the moment. The problem of the wanted poster at the capital caused him to flee the country early, prioritizing his escape over buying more food. That was why he absolutely had to restock on supplies for his journey here in the Kingdom of Galarc before he ventured into the Wilderness.
Rio readied himself and put on the hood of the robe he had purchased in Beltrum.
He walked to the gate that acted as the entrance to the city. Next to the gate was a bulletin board with various official notices posted on it. Among them were detailed wanted posters, and Rio cast his glance over them one by one.
My name... doesn’t seem to be here.
Unable to find himself on the board, Rio let out a sigh of relief. His expression relaxed now that he knew he’d be able to pass through the gate into the city.
And with that, understandably, his hunger suddenly increased tenfold. Other than small water breaks, he hadn’t consumed anything while on the run.
Next to the gate — right beside the bulletin board — were rows of various street stalls cramped together like a marketplace. There were cheap-looking bars and inns too. Because the gates were closed at night, setups like this could be found outside any large city’s walls.
But right now, Rio was drawn towards the food stalls more than anything else. There were probably plenty of delicious restaurants inside the city walls, but he wasn’t interested in going out of his way to find them.
I can buy something at a stall while I gather what ever information I can.
Lured by the mouth-watering smells, Rio let his feet carry him forward. He came to a stop in front of a stall selling grilled beef skewers. There were no other customers at the moment, so he stepped forward.
“Sir? Please give me three skewers.”
“Sounds good. That’ll be six small coppers.”
Rio put in his order with a friendly smile, to which the owner replied in a cheerful voice.
“Here’s a large copper.”
“Righto. Here’s your four small coppers-worth of change... and here’re the goods. Eat up.”
After exchanging the currency, Rio took the food in his hands. The beef skewer was seasoned simply with just salt, but it was freshly grilled, and it let off a hunger-enticing scent. Perfect for filling a hungry stomach. The meat itself wasn’t high quality, and it was rather tough to chew on, but Rio polished off the skewers in an instant.
“Hehe. You sure eat well, boy,” the owner said happily as he rubbed his nose.
“That’s because you cooked it well, sir. By the way, could you tell me a little bit about this country? I’ve actually come here from the countryside of a much smaller nation,” Rio asked in a polite but friendly tone.
“Sure thing. You must be a rookie adventurer. Am I right, boy? Most rookie adventurers your age get jaded early on, but from what I can see, you don’t appear too haughty, so you’re doing well. If you wanna use this city as your base, I’ll welcome you here.”
“Thanks.” Rio wasn’t exactly an adventurer, but he didn’t feel the need to correct the man either, so he let the comment slide.
“Right, so you wanted to know about this country. Well, there’s the Proxia Empire to the north, who we squabble with by way of the smaller nations between us. We have an alliance with Beltrum, located to our west. Then there’s the Kingdom of Centostella to the south, who we aren’t on bad terms with, either. This is a pretty comfortable place to live in, if you ask me. Especially in this city.”
“It’s a small city, but it seems lively and bustling with people.” Rio voiced the thought he’d had earlier while he watched the workers.
“You got that right! And it’s all thanks to—”
“— the way Lady Liselotte’s governed this trade city, Amande! How about it, boy? Wanna try some ‘pasta’ soup? It’s a kind of ‘men’ food that Lady Liselotte invented.”
The skewer stall owner was building up the tension in his speech, when the owner of the stall next to him suddenly butted in. He had just seen off his last few customers.
“Aww, bro. I was just about to say that myself.” The skewer stall owner sulked at having the spotlight stolen from him.
“Hehe. Don’t say that, little bro. You were gonna recommend that boy over here, weren’t you?”
Apparently, these two were brothers. The older brother apologized, making the little brother brighten up with a smile.
Liselotte... Wait, did he just say ‘pasta’ and ‘men’?
As the two brothers chit-chatted, Rio’s ears zeroed in on the vocabulary that had appeared in their conversation, because ‘pasta’ and ‘men’ were two words that Rio— no, Amakawa Haruto— was quite familiar with. ‘Pasta’ was a type of Italian cuisine, while ‘men’ was the Japanese word for noodles, which derived from the Chinese word ‘mein.’ Neither were foods that Rio had experienced eating in this world before.
There was no way the inhabitants of this world should have known those words.
“Pasta soup and... men, you say?” Rio asked hesitantly.
“Yep. Pasta’s a type of food that’s made from processed wheat. Lady Liselotte says it’s a type of men. The only place you can eat it outside of the city walls is at my bro’s stall,” the skewer stall owner explained proudly.
“Then... can I get one serving of that pasta soup, please?” In this case, seeing was believing — so Rio decided to go ahead and order it.
“That’s the spirit! Normally, I’d charge eight small coppers... but since you just came from the countryside, I’ll give you a discount. That’ll be four small coppers, just for you, boy.”
With the stall owner’s discount, Rio handed him four small copper coins with thanks.
“Pleasure doing business. I’ma cook it up right now, so just sit tight. While you’re waiting, you can hear all about the wonderful Lady Liselotte from my bro.”
“Then, if you’re willing to oblige?” Interest piqued by the talk of this pasta-inventing Liselotte girl, Rio decided to go along with the man’s suggestion. He turned to face the skewer stall owner.
“Righto, leave it to me. Lady Liselotte is the governess of the city of Amande. She’s the daughter of Duke Cretia, and she graduated from the Royal Academy of Galarc when she was ten years old. Duke Cretia left her in charge of governing this town shortly after her graduation,” the skewer stall owner explained evenly.
The trading city of Amande was a small city created by logging the trees in the forest. It was located on the westmost outreaches of Duke Cretia’s territory in the west of Galarc. It was only half a year ago that Liselotte assumed the post of Governess of Amande; ever since she came into power, the town that had been nothing more than a pit stop for travelers had rapidly progressed in development. Now, Amande was on track to become a vital trading site that connected the west side of Beltrum and the east side of Galarc. The population was around 1,000, but the hustle and bustle of the city far surpassed that number.
Liselotte herself was still eleven years old, yet she had a number of different achievements under her belt. The skewer stall owner spoke of them all with pride.
First, she had caused an agricultural revolution in the farmlands of Duke Cretia’s territory. Second, she continuously invented new foods and recipes. Third, she also put consideration into the ability of the cityfolk to have leisure and recreation-time. Fourth, she was also the leader of the largest trade organization in the city, the Ricca Guild. And there were more achievements in addition to those, still.
“And above all else—”
“— she’s absolutely adorable!”
Just as an infatuated expression appeared on the skewer stall owner’s face, the pasta stall owner interrupted from his side. The two brothers’ words overlapped neatly.
“H-Huh...” Rio drew back a little at their creepy synchronization, but the skewer stall owner paid no mind to Rio’s reaction as he continued.
“She doesn’t act arrogant when dealing with commoners like us, either. Every now and then she’ll come to inspect the market outside the city walls, and last time, she even smiled at me!” he said with a grin, but the pasta stall owner looked exasperated by his words.
“That was just you mistaking her line of sight. She was definitely smiling at me back then.”
“What?! ’Fraid I can’t let a comment like that slide so easily, brother!”
Liselotte was basically the idol of this city. Truth be told, being the daughter of nobility already put her far out of the reach of commoners. Having a cute appearance — and a kind personality on top of that — made it easy for misunderstandings to occur. Even so, this Liselotte was only eleven years old, and the brothers before Rio were easily in their thirties. He couldn’t help but smile bitterly at that.
“I see you both have a lot of love for Lady Liselotte,” Rio said in an attempt to placate them.
“F-Fool! We’re not good enough to love her!”
“T-That’s right! We may be happy to lay down our lives for Lady Liselotte, but that’s beside the point!” Their love for Liselotte ran so deep, Rio’s face twitched in his attempt to keep smiling.
“Aaand... it’s done! This is the renowned pasta soup of my stall. It’s hot... Be careful so you don’t burn yourself,” the pasta stand owner said, holding out a wooden bowl, fork, and spoon.
“It looks delicious. So this is pasta soup... I see...” Rio accepted the bowl and peered carefully at its contents.
Inside was a type of pasta that Amakawa Haruto was undoubtedly familiar with — Italian noodles that were called spaghetti. The soup was clear, and most likely seasoned with nothing but salt. There were bacon and vegetables in the soup, too, adding a delicious fragrance to the steam wafting from it.
“Hehe, thanks. Oh, you’re meant to eat men foods with a fork and spoon. Do you know how to use those, boy?” A fair proportion of commoners didn’t have access to cutlery like forks and spoons, so the pasta stall owner asked, just in case.
“Yes, I do.”
“That’s great. Must’ve been raised well, huh? Most adventurers find them too bothersome and just slurp up the food by grabbing at it with their hands. They get burned a lot.”
“Haha, I’ll have to pass on slurping like that,” Rio gave a strained laugh as he lowered himself into a seat next to the stall. He set the bowl down on the makeshift table before him and picked up the fork and spoon.
As he enjoyed the smell of the soup, he moved the fork and spoon with practiced hands and considered the texture first. From the tender, springy texture, the pasta used was probably fresh, not dried or preserved. The flavor was simple and salty; he could appreciate the taste of the vegetables and bacon, too. Still, Rio would have preferred a spicier taste with garlic, chilli peppers, and olive oil instead. But those things were probably hard to offer here, due to their costs.
If there are dried noodles out there, I could take them as preserved food on my journey, Rio thought to himself as the nostalgic taste of pasta relaxed his expression. If there was fresh pasta being made, then dried noodles should be more than accessible, too.
“Sir, can you tell me where I can buy this pasta?” Rio hastily asked the owner about his stock.
“Oh? Have you fallen for pasta, too, boy? If you go to the Ricca Guild shop inside the city walls, they’ll sell you some. They sell other products exclusive to the Guild, so it’d be well worth a visit. It’s kinda pricey, but they also sell meat ‘manju’ at their shop.”
“Meat manju, you say?”
“Yeah. They’re round, and they kinda look like bread, but their texture is fluffy and surprisingly soft. And the best part is, they’re filled with juicy minced meat. It’s expensive, but worth trying once.”
The pasta stall owner’s explanation made something click in Rio’s head. The food he had described just now sounded very similar to ‘nikumanju’ — which were meat buns that Amakawa Haruto had eaten before.
“Huh, that sounds nice. I’ll try it out later.” Rio pasted a smile on his face as he expressed his interest, then he resumed his meal, silently, as he processed his thoughts about this mysterious Liselotte.
Meat buns... right.
Pasta, noodles, and meat buns — all of these foods existed on Earth, with the exact same names and ingredients. What were the chances that this world and Earth would, coincidentally, have words that sounded the same and have the same meaning?
He couldn’t go as far as to say it was absolutely impossible, but...
While one word might have been believable, having a second and third word in the same instance made the possibility much lower, especially because they were all foods invented by a single person. As a result, Rio’s suspicions seemed more and more conclusive.
Perhaps this Liselotte girl was in the same position as him, Rio suspected. In other words... perhaps someone who was living on Earth had died, only to be reborn as Liselotte Cretia in this world. That person was most likely Japanese.
Of course, it was also possible that Liselotte was simply a facade. A third-party of Japanese origin may be acting as her brain instead — but there was no proof of that, either.
At any rate, Liselotte definitely had access to Earth knowledge — knowledge she was most likely using to revolutionize Amande, Rio deduced. But that was as far as his thoughts went before they came to a screeching halt. He had no intention of aggressively pursuing his curiosity any further than that. Even if Liselotte really was experiencing the same circumstance as him, he didn’t have the slightest desire to meet her and discuss it.
Because the human named Amakawa Haruto had died full of regrets.
Meeting her wouldn’t change anything, only remind him of his bitter memories and unwanted lingering attachments — that thought alone prevented Rio from acting.
Amakawa Haruto was dead.
Right now, Rio was Rio, not Amakawa Haruto. That was the undeniable truth.
Sure, Amakawa Haruto’s memories and personality might have been residing within Rio’s body, but they were blended in.
No... he wasn’t even sure if they were real or not.
On top of that, even if he were to return to Earth like this, he wouldn’t be able to live as Amakawa Haruto anymore. It would be impossible, because Amakawa Haruto had his burdens, while Rio had his...
At any rate, this Liselotte situation opened the possibility of others being placed in similar circumstances to himself. Rio considered himself fortunate enough to learn that much. And while he was postponing the matter for now, if he was lucky, it might not even end up being an issue at all.
In any case, there was no way they’d let someone of unknown origins meet a daughter of high-class nobility anyway. For now, just being able to smack his lips at the nostalgic taste of this cooking was enough.
“Thank you. The pasta soup was delicious. I’m going to go check out the Ricca Guild now... I’ll stock up on pasta and try out the meat manju,” Rio said after polishing the last spoonful of soup from his bowl, then left the stalls behind.
“Later, boy,” both owners said warmly to see him off.
Rio headed straight for the city gates, where he entered the city itself and made his way towards the Ricca Guild to buy pasta.
◇◇◇
The main road of Amande, lined with shops and inns, stretched from the east to the west of the city. At its center, in a square that could only be described as the city’s prime location, was the main branch of the Ricca Guild.
So this is the Ricca Guild headquarters...
Rio looked up at the stylish building made of wood and brick. Towering over the surrounding buildings at five stories tall, its high class aura was almost awe-inspiring. At the front of the Ricca Guild was a small counter, where the rumored meat buns were being sold. They were moderately pricey at two large coppers each, but a line had formed regardless.
Rio joined the line, deciding to purchase them before he went inside. He handed over the coins and took the meat bun from the shop attendant; it was fairly large, and its steaming hot texture was soft and tender. It looked quite similar in appearance to a Chinese steamed bun. Rio moved himself to a corner of the square and eagerly prepared himself to taste the meat bun. He chomped down into it and felt the scalding hot soup squirt onto his tongue, nearly burning his mouth. As for the taste...
It’s good, but...
He was taken aback. The taste was nothing like what Rio expected from something that looked like a Chinese steamed bun. If he had to guess, he’d say that the meat inside was flavored with salt, pepper, and a lot of onion. Rio guessed that the ginger, oyster sauce and sesame oil needed to make that signature meat bun flavor probably wasn’t available here.
For the record, while it was impossible to find foods with the exact pronunciation as Earth words like the Japanese men and manju, the produce and livestock eaten on Earth existed in this world, too. For example, wheat and other condiments like salt were available here.
However, there were some ingredients that couldn’t be obtained in Strahl for climate reasons, so recreating the same recipes and flavors from Earth was difficult. Once Rio made it through the Wilderness and arrived at the Yagumo region, he’d probably be able to get his hands on some new ingredients that were unavailable in Strahl. If he did, he might be able to use Amakawa Haruto’s knowledge to recreate some Earth dishes.
As Rio’s imagination ran wild in his head, he finished eating the meat bun. “Thank you for the meal,” he murmured in Japanese, the taste of the pasta and the meat bun making him feel a bit nostalgic.
Now that he was finished with his meal, he directed his gaze at a corner of the square, where the Ricca Guild building impressively stood. The entrance to the building was wide open, welcoming anyone inside, like a peddler who had just walked in. Rio decided to head inside too.
Immediately after stepping through the doors, he was met with several female store attendants waiting to serve the customers. There was also a security guard on standby, positioned where most customers wouldn’t notice his presence.
“Welcome to the Ricca Guild.”
Upon noticing Rio’s arrival, the store attendants all gave a polite bow as they greeted him. Their clearly practiced movements caught Rio by surprise. Then, a young girl with beautiful, wavy hair stepped towards Rio.
“Sir, we apologize for the inconvenience, but weapons are forbidden in the store. If you have any on you, we will gladly hold onto them for you until you leave.” The beautiful girl gave a gentle but friendly smile.
She looked to be around Rio’s age, if not a bit younger; young enough to be a store attendant in training. But there was something oddly mature about the way the girl held herself. She was wearing the same uniform apron dress as the other attendants, yet she was overflowing with the elegance that would rival a noble daughter.
“...I understand.”
Taken aback at first, Rio then readily agreed and began to remove his weapons: the sword at his waist, two hidden daggers, and several throwing knives. A second attendant came to take Rio’s weapons away.
She asked Rio his name for administrative purposes, to which he confidently responded: “It’s Haruto.”
Rio was still wearing his robe with the hood up over his head; while he knew it wasn’t a good look to have his face hidden, it was a typical look for adventurers, and the shop didn’t seem to have any complaints, as long as he removed his weapons.
“Would you mind if we performed a body check?”
“No, go right ahead.” Rio lifted his arms with a nod.
“Excuse me,” the female attendant said as she gently began to check Rio’s body. The investigation was over in seconds, and the girl deemed Rio completely disarmed with a nod to the other attendant.
“Thank you for your cooperation, sir. I will now lead you inside — please follow me.”
At the store attendant’s guidance, Rio went into another room, looking around the shop as he walked three steps diagonally behind her. The first floor was a wide open space with several sectioned-off conference rooms for the store attendants to discuss business with potential customers. Rio was led to one such room. The rooms were sectioned off with partitions, so the discussions would be kept private as long as they kept their voices low.
“Please, take a seat here.” The girl offered Rio a seat on a soft couch in the room, which he took with a word of thanks. She then sat down on the opposite seat, facing him.
“Once again, welcome to the Ricca Guild. My name is Lotte, and I shall be assisting you today. Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir.” Lotte bowed her head politely.
Based on her age, Rio had assumed she was only an attendant in training and expected someone else to come and meet him instead, so he was caught slightly off guard. He wasn’t foolish enough to let his discomposure show on his face, though. Seeing Lotte’s mature manners, which rivaled that of a noble daughter, made Rio sure that she was more than adequate to see to him.
Could she be...? Nah.
A ridiculous thought flashed through the back of Rio’s mind for an instant, but he immediately dismissed it as highly unlikely. Judging by Lotte’s lack of awkwardness, which was typical for a newbie, her capabilities were probably legitimate. Rio braced himself and greeted her respectfully.
“Thank you for your hospitality. My name is Haruto. I am traveling alone due to certain circumstances, so please forgive me for leaving my hood up like this.” Rio’s greeting was carefully calculated; Lotte wasn’t disrespectful enough to ask a customer remove his hood, but if he worded it this way, she’d come to her own conclusion about his circumstances. That being said, she could see a glimpse of Rio’s face under the hood from where she sat directly opposite him. The refined features of his appearance that peeked out made her eyes widen a little in surprise.
“That should be just fine, sir, as it causes no inconvenience on our behalf. Now, would it be alright if we moved on to business?”
Faint flames of curiosity ignited in Lotte’s eyes, but her customer service smile did not wane. She had no intention of intruding on her customer’s privacy, so she got straight to the point.
“Yes, I have come today to inquire about purchasing pasta. If they can be preserved to last longer in storage, I would like to purchase some in bulk. I’d like some other ingredients and spices, too.”
“I see. We do have a dried type of pasta available for purchase. As long as it’s not left in a hot and humid environment, we can guarantee that it will last at least a year in storage.”
“May I ask what the price is?”
“Certainly. We charge one large copper and five small coppers for every 500 grams.”
“Thank you. And how much do you charge for barley?” Rio asked, placing a hand against his mouth in mock thought.
“One large copper for one kilogram, sir.”
“Then... could I ask you to prepare fifteen kilograms of pasta and ten kilograms of barley for me?”
Lotte’s eyes widened slightly at the figures Rio put out.
That’s quite a lot for your average adventurer... will this be okay?
While fifteen kilograms of pasta and ten kilograms of barley was normal for a merchant intending to resell the product, it was a rather large amount for an adventurer to buy for personal use. On top of that, pasta was still a new product — most of the general public had no idea how much was needed in one serving. Only merchants and nobility really had any sort of understanding of its weight.
Since there had been many cases where misunderstandings had brought conflict to discussions pertaining to business, Lotte double checked that the numbers were correct.
“500 grams of pasta will feed five or six people. Fifteen kilograms will be quite a large amount for one person to consume... Are you sure that this all right with you, sir?”
“Yes. Fifteen kilograms would feed roughly 150 to 180 mouths and cost four small silvers and five large coppers, correct? Those are indeed the numbers I intended.” Rio gave a faint smile, immediately calculating the numbers in his head.
“My apologies, sir. We will prepare fifteen kilograms of pasta and ten kilograms of barley for you immediately.” Lotte bowed her head deeply, impressed at Rio’s instant arithmetic skills.
Just then, a store attendant in her late teens brought in a tray of tea.
“Excuse me,” she said in a quiet voice, and began to pour the tea. The mellow fragrance of the high quality tea leaves wafted through the air, tickling at Rio and Lotte’s senses.
Rio nodded to the attendant in gratitude. “Thank you very much.”
“Please help yourself, sir.” Lotte offered him the tea.
“Thank you. Then, if you don’t mind...” Figuring it would be rude not to touch the offered tea at all, Rio accepted the cup.
The table was a fair distance from the couch, so he picked up the saucer together with the cup and admired their color and design first. Then, after appreciating the color and fragrance, he took a sip of the tea. Lotte found herself unable to tear her eyes away from Rio’s graceful movements.
“Do you enjoy tea often, Mr. Haruto?”
“Yes. I have a female acquaintance who is very fond of drinking tea, and I picked up a lot of relevant knowledge drinking with her.” Rio nodded with a fond smile. He recalled the times when he would drink tea and chat with Celia almost every day. Thanks to those experiences, he had perfected tea-drinking etiquette to a point where he could easily attend a tea party hosted by a noble daughter without any kind of awkwardness.
“Oh, that’s wonderful to hear, sir. People often say that tea is a drink for women to enjoy, so not many gentlemen are interested in it. Might you know what kind of leaf is in this tea?” Lotte asked, expression brightening like a blooming flower.
“Judging by this unique scent and faintly bitter taste, I’d say it is a leaf produced in Lis?”
“That is correct.”
“Then you’re using good quality tea indeed. And I see the tea set is also of wonderful quality. Forgive me for saying this, but from what I can see of the couch, as well as the table... Isn’t the furniture a little too high-quality to be used for greeting small trade customers?” Rio asked, trying to draw out more on the topic from Lotte.
The space they were sitting in was set up with partitions to imitate a private room. The couch and sofa placed there were both of such high quality, they could easily be used in a conference room for high profile guests.
Lotte’s face lit up with a happy smile as she answered Rio with pride. “Fufu, the best business transaction starts with the perfect business environment! That’s our guild motto, sir. And it doesn’t change depending on the scale of the transaction.”
“...I see. That must be one of the secrets to the Ricca Guild’s sudden growth. With attendants as young and cute as you, Miss Lotte, I can understand why people feel inclined to empty their wallets.”
“Oh, you flatter me.” Lotte covered her mouth with a hand in refined bashfulness.
“No, I truly believe that. I have some other items I am in need of, which I am thinking of purchasing here as well.”
“Fufu. In that case, how about we resume our business discussions? It is the job of a merchant to meet the demands of the customer, after all. We will gladly prepare all the items you need for your journey.”
Thus, Rio and Lotte resumed their talk.
Rio still needed preserved food and various ingredients, as well as the utensils to prepare them, and he was able to purchase all of the items he needed through the Ricca Guild’s service. Some of the items were somewhat pricey, but other items he wouldn’t have been able to find elsewhere, like many of the spices cultivated and imported from the southern islands. And with his main purpose of purchasing pasta accomplished, Rio was extremely satisfied with the outcome of his visit.
“Is there anything else you require?”
“No, that’s all I need. But if your guild also offers mail delivery services, I would like to request that too...” Rio made one last inquiry once all of their business discussions had wrapped up.
He couldn’t leave the Strahl region without sending a letter to Celia.
“We do have that service available, but we don’t deliver to certain regions. Where do you wish to deliver your mail?”
“The capital of the kingdom of Beltrum.” Her favorable answer prompted Rio to tell her his letter destination.
“That won’t be a problem. Your items will take a moment to prepare, so would you like to write your letter during that time?”
“Yes, please.”
Rio paid for his purchases with coins and Lotte left the meeting room to make a few preparations. Not too long after, a female store attendant appeared with some parchment, quill, and ink for Rio to write his letter. Rio accepted the equipment and — after a moment’s hesitation — slouched over the table and dipped the quill in the ink. His hand moved steadily over the parchment and scratched out neat characters.
The letter spoke of his journey so far: that he was in Galarc at the moment, and other little things that happened on the way. He signed it off as ‘Haruto’ at the end. After he finished writing, he waited a while for the ink to dry, then rolled the parchment into a scroll. He used the candle on the table to melt the sealing wax and drip it onto the scroll before sealing it. With the seal of the Ricca Guild on the scroll, the letter was finally complete.
Having the merchant guild that was run by a duke’s daughter responsible for delivering the letter was a lot more reassuring than asking any random organization or individual, as there was a much lower risk of losing the letter or breaking confidentiality.
Rio called over a nearby attendant and informed her that he was done writing. The attendant retreated to the back for a moment before returning with Lotte and the tea-serving attendant from earlier. All of Rio’s purchases had been prepared and left outside the meeting space.
“Please deliver this to Professor Celia Claire of the Royal Academy of Beltrum faculty.” Rio handed the important letter to Lotte.
“Understood. The address is the Royal Academy of Beltrum, for Professor Celia Claire. We will be sure to deliver it, sir. Your order items have also been gathered, so please confirm that everything is present.” Lotte’s eyes widened faintly when she heard the addressee was Celia, but only someone who was next to her would recognize the change in her expression — and only upon close observation.
Rio packed the items into his backpack as he checked them. It was quite a large number of items, but his backpack was large enough to accommodate everything. Once the backpack was packed full, Rio swung it over his shoulder easily, making Lotte’s eyes widen in shock.
“I see that you have a lot of strength. Fitting for an adventurer.”
“Traveling can be harsh, after all... I made sure to prepare myself for it. Now, I shall take my leave.” Rio said, Lotte’s words making him smile. With those parting words, he bowed once and turned on his heel.
“Thank you for your patronage, sir. If you ever pass through Amande again, our doors will always be open to you.” Lotte gave her words of farewell, then bowed alongside the attendant next to her. The two kept their heads lowered until Rio had left the building.
Then, once Rio was outside of the premises... “Celia Claire... The prodigious daughter of Count Claire, from the famous sorcerer family. The genius sorceress who graduated early from the Royal Academy,” Lotte raised her head and mumbled.
She was aware of Celia’s reputation as Beltrum’s genius sorceress, despite living here in the Kingdom of Galarc all her life. Because of the fact that simply having good grades wasn’t enough to graduate early, an overwhelming amount of excellence and talent had to be displayed in a specific area. That was why early graduates were rare — occurring once in a decade if the Academy was lucky — so any educated individual in a noble circle would be aware of Celia’s name.
On top of that, Celia was the youngest graduate in the history of the Royal Academy of Beltrum, making her far more famous than even she realized.
“What a mysterious boy that was, Lady Liselotte.” The attendant next to Lotte — or rather, Liselotte — spoke up.
“I wonder if he’s a noble son sneaking out to go on a journey. And I’m ‘Lotte’ right now, Cosette.” Liselotte narrowed her eyes and glared at the girl named Cosette.
“By the way, inspection time is over. Aria and Natalie sent a message to hurry back to the estate and finish off the rest of the accumulated paperwork,” Cosette reported with slumped shoulders.
“Oh my, then we must make haste.” The corners of Liselotte’s mouth turned up in a pleasant smile, making Cosette eye her curiously.
“You seem to be in a good mood today.”
“It was a good change of pace... The business talks were quite fun.”
“Hmm. Ah, I understand now. That boy just now was handsome, wasn’t he?”
“You... are not wrong, but that has nothing to do with it.” Liselotte denied it reflexively out of exasperation, but memories of Rio’s facial features resurfaced in her mind, making her respond in a perplexing way.
Seeing her master’s fascinating reaction made Cosette grin cheekily.
“See? That must be the case.”
“Enough already. I’m going now!”
With a faint blush tinged on her cheeks, Liselotte walked away briskly. Cosette gave a small giggle before following close behind.
