Chapter 2-5 : The Girl Eats Dungeon Meal For The First Time
「Next person.」(guild employee)
After queuing for a while, it was finally Ingrid’s and Elle’s turn.
Ingrid took out her guild card and handed it to the guild employee standing by the gate.
「A Quatre-ranked Magick Archer. Alright, you can enter.」(guild employee)
After checking Ingrid’s rank and class, he returned the guild card to her.
「Next person.」(guild employee)
Next was Elle’s turn. She handed her guild card to the employee.
「A Lithomancer, and a… Quatre…?」(guild employee)
After checking Elle’s card, he shifted his gaze to Elle and stared at her, looking dumbfounded.
He couldn’t believe the little girl he was looking at was a Quatre-ranked adventurer.
「……..」(guild employee)
「…Umm… Is there something wrong, Sir?」(Elle)
「…Nothing. All good. You can enter.」(guild employee)
「Thank you.」(Elle)
After receiving back her guild card, Elle followed Ingrid through the gate.
Since it was a massive labyrinth, she was expecting dark, branching corridors when she entered the building, but instead, she saw stalls and facilities like an armory, an infirmary, and even a cafeteria with many people around.
「I thought we would be greeted by monsters as soon as we entered. The atmosphere here is not different from the outside.」(Elle)
「Well, we haven’t entered the labyrinth yet. This is like the rest area where people can take a break and resupply. The real entrance is that thing.」(Ingrid)
Ingrid pointed to a large glowing magic circle on the floor in the center of the room.
「Is that a teleporter?」(Elle)
Elle remembered seeing a similar drawing in one of Mortiz’s books.
「That’s right. It will teleport us to the labyrinth. But, before we’re going, let’s walk around for a bit. Unlike the stalls at the outside that are mostly scams, the goods here are legit since this place is managed by the Adventurer Guild.」(Ingrid)
It seemed that in this place, you could buy necessary items for exploration without worrying about being scammed.
「I see. But I don’t know where to go first.」(Elle)
「In that case, let’s fill our stomachs first. We can’t fight with an empty stomach.」(Ingrid)
「Now that you mention it, I just realize I’m a bit hungry.」(Elle)
「We haven’t eaten lunch after all. You know, this place has a unique meal you can’t find anywhere else.」(Ingrid)
「A unique meal?」(Elle)
「You can call it the Great Labyrinth’s specialty. I think you’ll like it.」(Ingrid)
Saying that with a smirk, Ingrid then took Elle to the cafeteria in a corner of the room.
There were people lining up, waiting their turn to order food.
「There are so many people.」(Elle)
「It’s really popular, you know. Apparently, some adventurers come here just to eat this meal without entering the labyrinth.」(Ingrid)
「Really?」(Elle)
「Yeah. It is that delicious after all. Honestly, I was skeptical when I tried it for the first time since it was made from an unusual ingredient.」(Ingrid)
「Unusual ingredient?」(Elle)
「You’ll see~」(Ingrid)
After joining the queue and waiting for about ten minutes, they finally got their chance to order food.
「Two bowls of meatball noodle soup, please.」(Ingrid)
「Got it. Please wait for a moment.」(cafeteria staff)
「Alright. Let’s secure a table.」(Ingrid)
「Un.」(Elle)
The cafeteria was filled with people; most of them were adventurers taking a break after exploring the labyrinth, but luckily for them, they found an empty table for two people in a corner.
Elle put away Flamberge and leaned him against the table before sitting. Meanwhile, Yoyo was lying flat on the floor, trying to act like a normal cat.
After waiting for a few minutes, a waitress came with the food.
「Here it comes! Let’s enjoy, Elle!」(Ingrid)
「Un.」(Elle)
In her bowl, there were six bite-sized meatballs, a large portion of noodles, and some chopped vegetables in the red-brownish, piping hot broth.
It looked similar to regular meatball noodle soup. The only difference is that the meatballs and the noodles looked somewhat half-transparent.
「It looks a bit weird… Is it really delicious?」(Elle)
「Wait until you taste it. Oh, right. There are a few things you need to bear in mind before you eat it. First of all, don’t stab the meatballs with a fork or chopsticks. Also, don’t bite them in half when you eat them. You have to eat them as a whole.」(Ingrid)
「So that’s why these meatballs are made in bite-sized pieces. But why can’t you bite them in half?」(Elle)
「Becauseー」(Ingrid)
「ーBweeh! Dammit! My armor!」(adventurer)
Suddenly the adventurer sitting at the next table screamed.
Elle noticed his armor was wet with some kind of thick liquid.
Watching him, Ingrid giggled and continued.
「Because you’ll end up like him. These meatballs have special juice inside them. It will burst out if you cut them in half.」(Ingrid)
「I see.」(Elle)
「This is the right way to eat them.」(Ingrid)
Using her spoon, Ingrid scooped one of her meatballs and put it into her mouth as a whole.
「Mmmmmm~!! It’s been a while since the last time I ate it! It’s as delicious as ever!」(Ingrid)
Although it looked a bit weird, the most important thing is the taste when it comes to food.
Watching Ingrid enjoying her meatball so much, Elle grabbed her spoon and did the same.
「ー!!」(Elle)
As soon as she chewed her meatball, she understood why Ingrid was so excited.
The meatball itself was extraordinarily chewy, and the juice burst out from it was super savory, and when it combined with the hot and salty soup, it resulted in the pleasant, flavorful sensation in her mouth.
She didn’t expect it would be this delicious.
「Mmmmm!! It’s so good!!」(Elle)
「Right~? I knew you would like it. Now try the noodles.」(Ingrid)
「*Sluuuurp* Mmmmm!!」(Elle)
Just like the meatballs, the noodles were chewy and had a pleasant texture. They melted in her mouth when she chewed them.
「This is probably the best meatball noodle soup I’ve ever eaten. You said it was made from an unusual ingredient. What is it exactly?」(Elle)
When Elle asked that, Ingrid smirked kind of suspiciously and answered.
「Slime.」(Ingrid)
「…Waiー What!? Slime!?」(Elle)
Elle was so shocked that she dropped her spoon. She wasn’t expecting that at all.
「I just ate… Slime!? I… I don’t want to be a Monster Eater!」(Elle)
「Oi, oi! Ingrid, what the hell did you just feed her!?」(Yoyo)
Yoyo was shocked too. He jumped onto the table and pointed at Ingrid angrily with his paw.
In this world, consuming monster meat was a taboo because it contained mana and could corrupt human bodies and minds, resulting in them turning evil and even ending up with death.
The people who broke this taboo and ate it were called Monster Eaters. They were mostly wicked magicians who had gained stronger bodies through curses or forbidden rituals that could stand the contamination.
The reason why Elle was attacked by the villagers near the forest she used to live in was because they thought Moritz, her master, was a Monster Eater. (ch 1-5)
Elle was panicking that she had consumed monster meat, but in contrast to her, Ingrid stayed cool.
「Well, well, calm down, you two. Eating monsters is indeed a taboo, but not with slimes.」(Ingrid)
「What? Slimes are monsters, right?」(Elle)
「Yeah, but they have the lowest mana among monsters. Plus, the guild has invented a method to eliminate that small amount of mana and process slimes into food ingredients. Simply put, it’s completely safe to consume.」(Ingrid)
「Really…?」(Elle)
「Yeah. No way I would feed you something weird. See these people? They’re enjoying it.」(Ingrid)
Elle shifted her gaze and looked around the cafeteria. The people were eating the same menu, and none of them were worrying about taboo or anything.
「I see… So, it’s nothing but food ingredients…」(Elle)
「That’s right. Besides, this cafeteria is owned by the Adventurer Guild. There’s no way they would break a taboo, right?」(Ingrid)
「Now that I think about it. You’re right.」(Elle)
「Phew… I almost got a heart attack. I still remember when those people accused Moritz of being a Monster Eater…」(Yoyo)
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Yoyo got off the table.
Meanwhile, Elle stared at her bowl and thought for a moment before she grabbed her spoon and took another bite.
「Mmm… It is truly delicious. It feels so strange that I’m eating a monster right now.」(Elle)
「Haha! You don’t have to think about it too much. Just enjoy your meal.」(Ingrid)
「You’re right. But I still don’t understand why the guild dared to turn slimes into food. Normally, you won’t even dare to think about it.」(Elle)
「Do you know the reason why the Adventurer Guild was created in the first place? It’s to discover the unknown. Consuming monster meat is one of the many ways to learn about monsters. Of course, it’s a risky one. An extremely dangerous method, even.」(Ingrid)
「So… They dared to try to eat slimes just to learn about them?」(Elle)
「Yeah, and because of that, we learned that slimes taste really good and contain a lot of nutrients. To begin with, consuming monsters is taboo because the mana it contains can turn humans evil. However, if we can eliminate that element and turn it into a safe food ingredient, it won’t be a problem anymore. Right?」(Ingrid)
「I see now.」(Elle)
Now that she was convinced, Elle continued eating her slime meal.
「Mmm~!」(Elle)
She realized there were still so many fascinating things in this world waiting to be discovered.
For now, it seemed that slimes were the only monsters that could be consumed safely after being processed using a particular method, but she wondered if the future, where eating any monster meat was no longer forbidden, was not that far away.
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