Chapter 1-31 : The Girl, The Cat, And The Bunny Walk Around The City (part 2)
When Elle left the Long Tail Factory, the sky and the scenery of the royal capital had turned orange, indicating the sun was about to set.
「It’s going to be dark soon… This is not good…」(Elle)
She hadn’t searched for a place to stay in the city, and she had to find one, ideally before dark. She didn’t have much time left.
Seeing Elle’s troubled face, Neige asked.
「Master, what’s the matter?」(Neige)
「I need to find an inn, but I’m not familiar with this city. I don’t know where to find one.」(Elle)
「Perhaps we should go back and ask the shopkeeper.」(Yoyo)
「Yeah, you’re right.」(Elle)
Agreeing with Yoyo’s idea, Elle turned around, but when she was about to head back to the shop, Neige stopped her.
「Master, wait! I can take you to an inn!」(Neige)
「Oh? You know where to find one?」(Elle)
「There are so many inns in this city, and I know where they are.」(Neige)
「Really? How do you know?」(Elle)
「I got many kinds of knowledge planted into my memory when I was made, including the map of the royal capital.」(Neige)
「So you have the map of this city in your head? That’s awesome!」(Elle)
「Wow. You’re such a high-tech stuffed animal.」(Yoyo)
「Of course!」(Neige)
Neige put his tiny hands on his waist and puffed his chest, looking proud.
「The nearest inn from here is a deluxe inn with large rooms that cost five gold coins per night. What do you think, Master?」(Neige)
「Five gold coins per night!? That’s a bit too much for me…」(Elle)
「Then, how much is your budget?」(Neige)
「I haven’t found a way to make money in this city yet, so I don’t want to spend too much… Maybe… ten copper coins per night?」(Elle)
「With that budget, you can only stay at a cheap, rundown inn in the downtown area. However, it’s not safe there, and the security is bad. I don’t recommend staying there.」(Neige)
「I see. Are there any safe inns with affordable rooms?」(Elle)
「There is one, but it costs thirty copper coins per night.」(Neige)
「I think that’s a fair price. Can you take me there?」(Elle)
「You can leave it to me, Master.」(Neige)
Neige put his hand on his chest and bowed like a knight. He then turned around and started walking.
「Follow me!」(Neige)
Elle and Yoyo then followed Neige walk down the street.
As they headed toward the busiest part of the central district, the number of people they saw on the street kept increasing. Elle even started to spot people of rare races, such as harpies.
There was a gentleman with an eagle head and human body wearing a frock coat walking next to a woman with large wings on her back wearing trousers.
Elle had read about harpies in a book, but it was the first time she had seen them.
The male harpy and the female harpy were walking while holding hands. They seemed to be a couple.
Not just people of different races, Elle also spotted a living stuffed animal.
There was a cat stuffed animal with a humanoid body like Neige walking on its two tiny legs behind a young girl in a fine dress on the opposite side of the street.
However, Elle noticed there was something wrong with the cat. It was a living stuffed animal, but it looked lifeless and dirty as if it had never been washed for a long time.
While following the young girl who seemed to be its owner, the cat kept falling over. It would get up and continue following its owner, but after five – six steps, it fell over again and again. That was probably why it looked dirty.
After it fell over for the fifth time, it stopped moving. The girl then threw a tantrum, saying that she didn’t need it anymore, and threw the poor cat into a trash can by the side of the road.
It seemed to be one of the fake artificial spirits the shopkeeper was talking about. The cat looked similar to Neige at a glance, but it was actually a poorly-made, defective product. That’s why the girl had had enough and decided to throw it away.
「That’s horrible…」(Elle)
「It’s not a pleasant thing to look at. You should ignore it, Master.」(Neige)
「He’s right. Don’t let it bother you. Let’s go.」(Yoyo)
「…Un…」(Elle)
Elle looked away from the lifeless, dirty cat stuffed animal in the trash can and continued following Neige.
◇◇◇
After walking for a while, Elle found a huge open space with a lot of people. It seemed to be the square of the central district. However, what made the place special was that there were many stalls selling various things, mainly food. It looked like a food festival in the middle of the city.
It was almost dark, but this place was as bright as daylight because there were hundreds of magic stone lamps installed around the stalls.
「Whoa… Neige, what is this place?」(Elle)
「It’s the night market. It’s held almost every night, and it’s always busy.」(Neige)
「I see. I want to take a look.」(Elle)
「Hey, Elle, we need to secure a room first.」(Yoyo)
「Don’t worry, I won’t take long.」(Elle)
「Hahh… Alright, but no longer than thirty minutes.」(Yoyo)
「Un.」(Elle)
After the worrywart Yoyo reluctantly let her go, Elle turned to the night market, taking a detour.
As she approached the market, she was greeted by the delicious smells coming from various foods being cooked on the stalls.
「Come and get some freshly baked bread!」
「Our fish is cheap and fresh!」
「Our grilled meat is the best here!」
「Come have a taste!」(stall vendors)
The appetizing smell made Elle’s stomach growl. She ate lunch with Gilbert in the stagecoach, but she hadn’t eaten dinner yet.
The first stall that came into view was selling various types of bread. Bread was nice, but Elle kinda wanted to try something new, so she walked away and took a look at the next stall.
The second stall was selling a dish of fried white fish with the toppings of sliced fried potatoes, roasted sausages, and a sauce called tartar sauce.
It looked delicious but the portion was huge and Elle didn’t think she could finish it all by herself, so she also skipped it.
The third stall was grilling a huge chunk of meat that was bigger than Elle’s body. They would cut the grilled meat into slices and wrap them in a wrap made of flattened flour dough.
Next to the stall, Elle saw a man eating the dish. He had to open his mouth wide. Watching him eat, Elle didn’t think that it would fit into her tiny mouth, so she skipped it too.
The fourth stall was selling noodle soup with soft and juicy-looking slices of meat and fresh vegetables. It reminded Elle of when she was eating noodles with her father.
Back in the day, Hugo used to occasionally bring dried noodles from the royal capital and make noodle soup for Elle.
Remembering that precious time with her father, Elle was interested. She shifted her gaze to the signboard in front of the stall saying, “Beef Tendon Noodles : 3 copper coins”.
It was cheap, and one portion of it was not that much, perfect for a child like Elle. Moreover, it looked delicious, so she decided to eat it for dinner.
After queuing the queue of five people and waiting in line for about five minutes, she finally got herself a bowl of beef tendon noodles.
It seemed that you had to return the bowls and forks after you were done eating. There were tables and chairs next to the stalls for people to eat.
After paying for her noodles, Elle sat at a table, joining three adults who were also eating at the table. They curiously looked at Elle, wondering where her parents were, but they didn’t bother to ask and just kept eating their food.
Since Yoyo didn’t usually eat human food, and Neige didn’t even need to eat at all in the first place, they were only watching Elle eat.
「Mmm~~!!」(Elle)
Elle was surprised because it was so different from the noodle soup Hugo made for her.
Not only were the noodles chewy, but they also had flavor as if they were absorbing the rich savory taste from the broth. However, the best part was the meat. The pieces of beef tendon were surprisingly soft, and the meat juice matched perfectly with the broth. The pleasant texture of the noodles and the rich flavor of the broth and meat spread throughout her mouth.
「It’s a hundred ーNo, a thousand times more delicious than Dad’s noodle soup!」(Elle)
「Haha! Of course, it is. Your dad is not good at cooking. You know that.」(Yoyo)
At that time, Hugo was trying his best to learn how to cook for Elle’s sake. The food he made was not that bad, but it was far inferior compared to the food made by a food stall vendor.
「Fufu. You’re right. You’re much better than him at cooking.」(Elle)
「Of course, I am. Say, Elle, do you like it? If you do, maybe I can try making it for you.」(Yoyo)
「Really!?」(Elle)
「As long as I have the right ingredients, perhaps I can make it.」(Yoyo)
「Whoa, Yoyo-senpai, you can cook? You’re awesome!」(Neige)
「I am! You can praise me more!」(Yoyo)
Yoyo looked so happy being praised by Neige. He couldn’t help but make a smug smile.
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