Two days after Ray's nightly use of Emperor Flame's red armor. Today was also a weekly holiday at the military academy, and Ray was walking with Grink through the streets of Gracial.
　Originally, Ray tried to go out into the city alone for sightseeing, but Erinde told him that it was unexpected that Ray, who was being targeted, would go out of the military academy alone, and after negotiations, the compromise was to act with Grink.
　Grink's job was essentially to follow in class, and in daily life it was Samaroon's domain... unfortunately Samaroon is a wizard, but his physical abilities are not so high.
　As a pure bodyguard, Grink, who was training himself as a warrior, was still superior to magic, and Grink was chosen instead of Samaroon."

(Well, if there are any rules unique to Graciale, I hope I can hear them right away.) --but I wish I could bring Seto.)

　Seto would outweigh Grink if it meant pure bodyguards.
　However, he was put on standby in the stable today, because there was a high possibility of problems and disturbances arising when he walked around in this Graciale.
　Seto seems lonely when he learns he won't be able to play with Ray, but manages to convince him that he will be back in the evening.
　However, I was made to promise to buy delicious food as a souvenir instead.

"First of all, I'd like to have a meal. Is there any good place?"

　When asked by Ray, Grink bows his head and thinks about something.
　This may be because Grink recognizes himself as a bodyguard. He was dressed in leather armour and, at first glance, looked adventurous, like a sheath with a long sword around his waist.
　Although he is taller than Ray in itself, he is a smaller glink than the average, but nobody is entangled.
　That's probably because Grink's body is covered with muscles.
　Watching such a glink somehow, Ray had the impression that he was a small tank...
　Such a small tank, Grink, speaks in a polite tone that doesn't match his appearance as usual.

"Well, if you go straight down this main street, you'll find a block of stalls on the side of the road. Fortunately, the weather is so good today that there are probably a lot of stalls."

　There are no clouds overhead, and the sun is shining. Ray also looks up into the sky as he tells Grink about the sunny winter weather.
　The dazzling sunlit sky looked as if it didn't matter if Ray was being targeted by anyone else.

"Well, let's go, shall we?" If possible, I'd like to have a hot meal."
"Isn't there a stall that serves cold food at this time of year? It's cold."
"Is that so? It's good to keep the room hot because it's cold and eat cold food in the heat?"
"...you can't normally imitate doing such a luxurious thing." If there were people who could do this, they would probably be aristocrats or royalty."

　In Grink's words Ray muttered in private that he should say so.
　When he was in Japan, he used to warm himself up in the living room in winter, using electric stoves in his room, and eating cold ice cream in a room temperature of nearly 30 degrees Celsius. However, in this Elgin, only a handful of people could afford such luxury.
　However...

"Really? In my case, I can do similar things because I'm good at the magic of fire. It's okay to put cold food in the item boxes."

　Yes, Ray can imitate drinking cold fruit water or eating cold fruit in the hot weather, even though it's winter.
　From the point of view of the general public, it is very enviable...no, perhaps because it is far beyond one's imagination, one cannot tell whether one is enviable or not.

"That's enviable, isn't it?" Then, if Mr. Ray is short of money, can't he do business with that?"
"If you ask me if I can... I'm not cut out for business."

　He shrugs his shoulders down the road until he arrives at a street lined with many stalls that Grink was talking about.

"Oh... this is great,"

　Ray exclaims at the innumerable... over fifty stalls in front of him.
　There was a street in Gilm where there were many stalls, but the number of stalls was clearly higher than that.

(But the problem with stalls is the taste, after all.) It doesn't matter how many they are, if they taste bad.)

　The reason why Ray mutters so in frustration is probably because he instinctively understands that Gillum is half home.

"Can you tell me if you have anything good to recommend?"
"Well, I think soup would be good for a hot dish. Soup, which is full of ingredients, warms your body and fills your stomach."
"Then,"

　Following Grink's suggestion, Ray orders a few bowls of soup.
　I've had breakfast properly before I left the staff dormitory, but Ray still orders soup one after another, dries it up, eats it up, and heads to the next stall.
　Of course it would stand out if he did so, but Ray himself doesn't seem to care at all.
　There's a feeling that you're sure to get through something, and there's a glink in case something happens.
　...though Grink was troubled by the conspicuous presence of his bodyguards.
　No wonder. The best thing at the moment is that Ray's targets don't discover them.
　But it would be like asking the other person to find it if the bodyguard doesn't care about it at all.
　Leaving that worry out of Grink's mind, Ray moves on to the next stall.
　For the first few cups Grink was drinking soup with Ray, but now he's full and just following Ray.

"Oh, have you come to my shop?" That's great of you're amazing. brother or sister?"
"If you say one of them, it's my brother." I'd like a drink."
"Aye,"

　Lightly speaking, the soup that came out was quite different from what Ray had been drinking.
　The smell coming out of the soup is different from that of the past.

"This is the first soup I've ever seen."
"Oh, it's a local specialty. It tastes a little interesting, so you should try it little by little at first."

　Interested in the word "funny taste" and try only the soup with the spoon that was handed to you.
　In an instant, Ray's eyes opened wide, with his hood down because it was a hindrance to his soup.

"Is this... It's sour? No, it's spicy? It's sour? It's a taste I've never tasted before."
"Right? There are quite a few likes and dislikes. However, those who like it love it very fond of it. Well, that's why my stall can run like this."

　If Ray had knowledge of Thai food, he might have named it Tom Yamkun.
　However, Ray, who lived deep in the mountains in Japan, could never have eaten a dish called Tomyamukun, so it was just surprising that he could do it now.
　Generally speaking, Tomyamukun is a dish containing shrimp, but Ray is drinking dried meat soup, so it's different from Tomyamukun.
　If anything, it's a chicken-based tom yam.
　Having never eaten that kind of food, Ray gazes at the soup in his bowl.
　With milky white soup, I don't know what the ingredients are.
　Still, it was true that it had a strangely trailing taste.

(For bread... well, I don't know.) I think noodles would be better suited to me if I had to do with it.)

　Although both sourness and pungency are fiercely self-assertive, the taste of the soup on which it is based is by any means bad.
　No, it's probably because the basics are solid that you can feel that this kind of sour and spicy soup tastes good.

"Yes, it's delicious. I like it quite a bit.""I'm surprised,"

　It was Grink behind Ray who told him so, not the shopkeeper...
　As he said, he looked genuinely surprised.
　It's unusual for a glink who is usually polite, but doesn't change much.

"Is that so?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I am I?

　Then he stops talking and makes a small bow to the stall owner.
　The owner of the restaurant laughs and shakes his head, though he may have been offended by the fact that the restaurant has been told that the taste of his hometown is bad, even though he muddles his words.

"Don't worry," As I told him earlier, I know this taste is very addictive. Well, I was surprised to come out to Graciale because everybody used to drink it in my hometown."
"Oh, there's such a thing,"

　Ray nods to the owner of the stall.
　Ray himself lived in the countryside all his life, but he still took part in school excursions.
　"At that time, I remember being shocked by various things, such as the chawanmushi served as a dish was not sweet, potato salad was not sweet, and on the contrary, egg rolls were sweet."
　...I wasn't so surprised to see that tamagoyaki is sweet in comics and novels, but when I actually ate it, I felt quite uncomfortable.
　Strange feeling, different from the egg of sushi.
　And what surprised Ray the most was potato salad.
　In Ray's house, potato salads were generally sweet.
　That's why salty potato salads even gave us a kind of culture shock.
　The shopkeeper probably felt something similar to him when he recalled those memories. cast a peer‐like glance at Ray

"It seems that there is a dish in your area that is not very acceptable anywhere else."
"I don't think it's worth mentioning that much, but I think there are a lot of things like the environment in which I've grown up. This soup tastes better than that. Can I have another drink?"
"Aye,"

　Even if the taste is too difficult for others to understand, you must be happy to be pleased with the taste of your hometown. The shopkeeper put out the soup with a smile and tried to give it to Ray...

"Get out of the way, please, get out of the way!"

　With the words, the stall shakes and the shock causes the owner's plate to fall to the ground.
　Then the soup would naturally fall to the ground...

"Ah,"

　Who uttered the word?
　Whether it's a glink watching from behind, or a passerby who ran into a stall when he was pushed from behind, or a shopkeeper who dropped a plate on the ground because of the impact, or ... Ray, who's had his refill drained to the ground for himself.
　Anyway, it's true that the soup Ray was going to drink was gone. . . . .

"Oh,"

　a word
　It was a really short word that came out of Ray's mouth, but everyone who heard it felt something ominous.
　There was no emotion in it.
　I just muttered.
　and yet the stall-keeper, and even the Grink, not to mention those who had seen the current course of action nearby, felt an ominousness in his muttering.

"The bitterness of eating is terrible. I'll teach you this maxim by myself. Grink, I'm sorry, but I'll go first."

　Tell them that, give them a little bit of copper, and run away.
　Grink could only watch the stream, but soon recovered when he saw Ray disappear from his presence.

"Oh!? Ray!"

　And when the glink that followed Ray disappeared, the owner of the stall and the people around him remained.
　And without this series of uproar, all the unfortunate expressions of the stall owners were that Ray would probably have moved on.





"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! Uncle, you must be too indiscreet."

　One man... between boys and young men, running through the crowded streets, trying not to let anyone else get involved in him at all the time.
　...no, it should be described as exactly being cornered.
　When I tried to escape, a dagger flew in as if I had taken the initiative, and I was being guided in one direction or the other.
　Still, I had no choice but to accept the invitation to survive.
　He ran through a lot of people, and soon found himself in an alleyway.
　The wall is just ahead of the man's eyes.
　Completely driven to a dead end in the alley, the man takes even a little time and draws his long sword out of the sheath of his waist to hold out until his guards arrive.

"Oh, boy, don't you think he' You're going to give up.
"Yes, give me that life for our money,"
"Are you going to kill me? ... kill me!"
"Calm down, boys," I'm going to clean up and leave here. It's become quite a fuss. Our faces must be seen, too.

　The four men said so, and with arms in their hands they tried to shorten their distance from the target man."

"Oh, you look familiar to me. and yet the bitterness of food is dreadful."

　That kind of voice echoed through the alley.