kscans

Chapter 230 - An Outing

At Lydia-chan's request, we decided to go to a shopping mall, heading there by taxi. Once we arrived, Kaede-chan took Lydia-chan to look at some clothes, so Arc and I were left to wander around the mall aimlessly.

"I wonder why we couldn't go look with them."

It would probably take a while, but I wouldn't have minded tagging along to help pick out clothes. All I'd have to do is say it looks good and that she looks cute. And really, Lydia-chan would probably look good in anything.

"She's probably embarrassed to be seen by you or me. For Lydia, clothes from this world are a complete unknown."

I see. The heart of a woman. It's a mystery to me.

"What about you?"

"I don't really care... It's better than wearing armor all the time."

So he did realize, on some level, that the armor was strange.

"Well, I guess we can leave her to be flattered by Kaede-chan and the store staff. More importantly, what should we do? Want to hit the arcade?"

"I'm good on games. Let's investigate the food ingredients. So, that means the supermarket on the first floor."

That's all this guy ever thinks about.

"You're still buying more?"

"His Majesty told me to check out the meat selection."

"Hmm... alright, let's go have a look."

Arc and I headed down to the butcher's corner on the first floor to check out the meats.

"They sell it in small portions like this..."

When we reached the meat section, Arc picked up a package of beef and murmured to himself.

"That's beef."

"Huh..."

"The other main types are chicken and pork, I think."

There are others, but those three are the most common.

"I recognize birds."

Well, they did have Great Eagles over there.

"Do you eat them where you're from?"

"If we can catch them. It's difficult."

They do fly, after all.

"I don't know the details, but in this world, they've been domesticated and bred to be flightless."

I seem to recall that being the case with chickens.

"Hmm, I should look into it..."

"You should. You're smarter than me anyway, so look it up online."

"Maybe I should just take one of those birds back with me..."

Would that be okay for the ecosystem? Well, it is just a chicken, I guess.

"You should consult with the King and Lydia-chan."

"I will. For now, I'll buy some and send it to Mia. If it tastes bad, we don't want it."

That makes sense.

"Good idea."

Arc placed packages of beef, chicken, and pork into his basket, then headed to the snack aisle and began piling large quantities of sweets into it.

"Hajime, you carry this one."

Arc handed me the basket, now overflowing with snacks.

Just how much is he going to buy...

"If you find something you like, you should buy it in bulk online. They'll deliver it right to the house."

"They even have a system like that... Okay, I'll do that."

Arc cheerfully walked toward the checkout counter, so I followed him, and we purchased the items. After storing them in an Item Bag, we went to a clothing store on the second floor to meet up with Kaede-chan and Lydia-chan. Lydia-chan had presumably bought some clothes, but she hadn't changed and was still wearing the hoodie.

"Senpai, should we take a break somewhere?" Kaede-chan suggested.

"Want to go to a restaurant...?"

"I want a parfait."

Arc never fails to assert himself in these situations.

"Alright, let's go. Is that okay with you too, Lydia-chan?"

Kaede-chan checked with Lydia-chan.

"I am not familiar with the options, so I will leave it to all of you."

"Okay, let's go!"

Arc, now in high spirits, started walking toward the restaurant we had visited before.

"Sigh... Master, would you be so kind as to teach Arc how to escort a lady?"

Lydia-chan sighed, looking down at her own left hand.

E-Escort... Should I be escorting Kaede-chan? We're just Commoner A and Commoner B, though...

"Uh, yeah. I'll tell him later........... Kaede-chan, do you... want my hand?"

"No, thank you. Let's just follow him."

"Right."

We started walking and caught up to Arc, then entered the restaurant together. When we arrived, a waiter showed us to a table. Kaede-chan and I sat next to each other, with Arc and Lydia-chan sitting across from us. We finished looking at the menus, called the waiter over, and each ordered what we wanted. Which, as it turned out, was a parfait for everyone. Honestly, I was just going to have coffee, but when the other three ordered parfaits, I suddenly wanted one too.

After we ordered, it wasn't long before the waiter brought over parfaits for all of us, and we began to eat.

"This is incredible. To be so delicious with such an artistic appearance!"

Lydia-chan ate with an astonished look on her face, scooping up cream with her spoon.

"Right? It's amazing. I was moved the first time I had one, too."

Arc nodded sagely, a proud expression on his face.

"I'm glad you like it... I wonder how many years it's been since I last had one of these...?"

I have memories of my parents taking me to have one when I was a kid. But I have no memory of it since then.

"You never came with your friends?" Kaede-chan asked.

"Hmm... well, to ramen shops and beef bowl places............"

It probably would have been different if I had a girlfriend. My source for that is me, the guy who's currently at a restaurant with three girls.

"I suppose boys tend to prefer those places. Especially guys in sports clubs. My younger brother would eat ramen on his way home and still eat a full dinner without any problem."

That's just like me. I could totally do that. In fact, if I didn't, I'd get hungry in the middle of the night.

"It's amazing you can eat that much," Arc said with admiration, the guy who's always scarfing down snacks.

"That was a long time ago. I couldn't do it now. You two can have a second one if you want."

Eat as much as you like. I have the money. I really do.

"I wonder if I can finish another one? I'd love to let Mia try this, but I can't exactly send it to her, can I?"

"You'd better not. Just buy the ingredients and have Mia make it. It can't be that hard."

It's just a bunch of stuff piled on top of each other. The actual preparation seems simple enough.

"Maybe I'll do that............ Hmm?"

As Arc was lost in thought, he suddenly looked up. I knew why. There was a man standing there, looking down at our table.

The man was wearing a plaid suit, sunglasses, and had his hair slicked back. He gave off a decidedly unsavory vibe.

"What do you want?"

I turned only my eyes toward the man.

"Hmm... so it's true you've practiced swordsmanship. You look pretty strong."

Huh?

"Oh, if it isn't my old neighbor. How've you been?"

The rough-looking man was Yaa-san, the guy who lived next door to me in my old apartment.