A little while later…
“Nekoya?” After putting her dagger away, Sarah asked the restaurant’s master about his strange “business.”
“Well, yeah. Just an ordinary Western… er, eatery.”
“An eatery, this deep in the mines?”
The master raised his shoulders in response to Sarah’s question. “Mines? Ah, I’m guessing you used the same door William did to come here, ma’am.”
“The door William used…” In response to the master’s answer, Sarah turned back to look at the entrance she came through earlier. It was a large door made of black ivory with a gold bell hanging from the top and a picture of a cat with its right paw raised on the front.
“Is it some sort of magic item?”
Examining it once more, Sarah realized that the tiny bell contained incredibly strong magic energies within it. In response to her question, the master nodded his head.
“Yeah, you could say that. Not that I really get how it all works. One of the old regulars here says it bends space-time and creates a bunch of ‘doors’ in another world. That said, it only connects once every seven days.”
“Another world?” asked Sarah. “Are you saying I’m in another world?”
She immediately scanned the inside of the restaurant. The gods and demons of old who left this world behind also created all sorts of parallel realms. The demon realm, hell, the heavenly realm, the mirror world, the fairy kingdom… All of these could be called “other worlds.” Although Sarah never personally visited one, other more famous treasure hunters such as William Gold had traveled to them and brought back powerful items, like a staff made from the wood of the Holy Tree. William even sold it to the great sage, one of the four legendary heroes, for a large sum of money. It was a famous story among treasure hunters.
And so Sarah herself didn’t doubt the existence of other worlds. She simply found it hard to believe that the restaurant she was standing in was one of them.
“It looks pretty normal to me… Or not.”
This time, Sarah looked at her surroundings with the eye of a pro treasure hunter, and she immediately changed her mind. This was nothing like the “restaurants” she was familiar with.
The room appeared to be cut away from a larger basement, with no windows anywhere to be found. On the ceiling were orbs of light, most likely powered by magic, that warmly lit the interior as if it were the middle of the day. Both the chairs and tables were kept in pristine condition as well. Said tables were set with fairly expensive looking glasses and small, porcelain water pitchers.
Things like this were impossible to find in all but the most expensive of restaurants, and yet there was no sign of any servants. If anything, it looked as if the whole place was run by the one man in front of her.
“We’re just an ordinary little restaurant, you know?” he said. “How about it. Care to grab a bite? Things are gonna get kinda rowdy here in a bit, but since it’s still early, I’ve got some free time on my hands.”
“Sure,” Sarah said doubtfully. “I guess I’ll give it a try.”
A meal recommended to her by a total stranger. Sarah initially wondered if it was some sort of trap but remembered that this was the place William had been so enamored with: a Restaurant to Another World. She couldn’t help but be interested in the food that captured his very heart.
“Glad to hear it! Sit wherever you’d like.” With that, the master retreated to the kitchen.
Food from another world, huh? she thought to herself. What am I going to be served? I hope it’s not anything too strange.
Sarah grabbed herself a seat and took a closer look at the objects on her table. At the far edge were a series of glasses: one filled with some sort of red liquid, another filled with what she assumed to be salt of a sort. One of the containers appeared to have a bunch of tiny, sharp wooden sticks in it. There were tags on them, most likely explaining their purpose, but unfortunately they were all written in the language of a world that Sarah was unfamiliar with.
The master returned from the back as she examined the strange black liquid and white particles in the containers. “Ma’am, can you read the Eastern Continent’s language?” he asked.
“Yes, of course,” Sarah nodded her head.
The Eastern Continent’s language had been used since ancient times. A resident of the land herself, Sarah would not have survived as a treasure hunter if she could not read or write.
“Then here’s our menu. Take your time!”
The master then handed her a sharp-cornered menu card written in the language of the Eastern Continent and placed a transparent cup filled with ice and water in front of her.
“Excuse me, I didn’t order any water,” Sarah grumpily replied as she watched him.
While it was true that she was thirsty and considered ordering water, it’d be bad news if she let the strange man impose his will on her. Coming from a long line of merchants, Sarah was careful when it came to matters of money. In this day and age, acquiring ice water required the use of magic, which meant paying upward of a silver coin. There was no way she was going to let this man force her to pick up the bill.
Much to her surprise, however, the master simply laughed at her response. “Oh, the lemon water is on the house. Refills are free, too, so help yourself!”
The master once again returned to the kitchen, beginning his work within Sarah’s line of sight.
“What’s with this place?” It appeared as though this really was another world. Having once again confirmed this for herself, she took a sip of the water from her cup.
It was cold and delicious. There was just a hint of fruit juice in the water, giving it a refreshing taste that spread throughout her mouth. After spending ages traversing the old mines, this was enough to bring her back to life. Without her even realizing it, all the stress in her body began to fade away. Considering the hard-to-argue price of free, she gulped down the water as she looked over the menu. There she found all sorts of dishes written in the language of the Eastern Continent…but none that she recognized.
“Hm. I think I know what I’m getting into with roasted beef and the like, but I have no idea what the rest of this is.”
Next to the name of each dish was a single sentence explaining what it was. As far as she could tell, the Western Continent beyond the ocean had a great many dishes that utilized rice. There were also dishes that utilized fried bread crumbs of some kind. These were all foods well outside of Sarah’s knowledge.
“Honestly, I’m not sure what to order… Oh.”
Sarah’s eyes found their way to a particular menu item just as she was beginning to feel lost. The daily special. Apparently, it was a dish that changed every day, recommended by the master. It was even two silver coins cheaper than everything else.
After taking a look at it, Sarah decided to go with the special. Since she wasn’t sure what was good anyway, she thought she might as well go with the cheapest item on the menu.
“Are you ready to order, ma’am?” the master asked.
“Yes. I’ll have the daily special, please.”
“Great. That’s one daily special coming right up. Please wait a moment,” the master replied.
“Oh, excuse me!” Sarah called out to the master just as he was returning to the kitchen.
“Yes?”
“Um, what exactly is today’s special?” Sarah didn’t expect to recognize the name but thought to ask anyway.
“Um, let’s see… Hah hah, this must be fate.” The master laughed out loud as he went on to explain. “It’s minced meat cutlet. It was William’s favorite dish.”
The master retreated back into the kitchen, and Sarah heard the sounds of oil sizzling a moment later. She tried to piece things together.
Looks like this really is the reason why William Gold settled here in his final years.
Once every seven days… A suspicious little restaurant that could only be visited on the “Day of Satur.” This was what William meant. Looking at all the information available to her, it was clear that this little place was the reason why William settled in this old mining town.
Which would mean that the food here has to be even better than the fancy joints in the capital, right?
William used the fortune that he acquired in life and business to build a spectacular mansion in the capital. The most prosperous city in all of the Eastern Continent, the capital was where all manner of people and things gathered, including the most delicious of restaurants.
As far as Sarah was aware, in his late years, William was known in the capital to be one of the wealthiest men of them all. He had more than enough money to spend on good food should he have so wished. Yet despite all of that, he still chose to live here, near this specific restaurant. The only conclusion to be drawn was that the food was on another level.
Eventually, the master returned to Sarah with her plate.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here’s your minced meat cutlet set.”
The master placed down several different dishes in front of Sarah. A quick glance at the various foods in front of her served as further confirmation that this really was a Restaurant to Another World. That was just how beyond her experience all of this was.
The large dish in front of her held two large, brown, sizzling balls the size of an adult’s fist. Next to those sat a fruit sliced into four pieces and a mixture of steamed vegetables and pasta with a white sauce over them. On the other side was a pile of delicately cut fresh vegetables.
The plate next to that one had two pieces of bread on it with what appeared to be butter wrapped in some kind of silver paper. Last but not least was a bowl of soup with minced onions and smoked meat floating in it.
Sarah’s stomach let out a roar. She hadn’t eaten since leaving the inn earlier that day. Her face turned bright red as the master smiled and let out a laugh.