Yesterday, I’d been able to get Konrad and Keralt on my side, bringing me one step closer to an alliance. Tomorrow, I would discuss matters with Honnoson Alphtel, an influential senator, which could cement the decision. So for today...
“How about we have a look around the city, Lysa?”
“Yeah! Can we?!”
We were cooped up in the hotel’s guest room, but upon seeing Lysa gazing longingly out the window, I suggested we go outside. Lysa had spent her life in the forest, so a big city like this was probably a new experience for her. When we’d seen the sea in Marine, she had been the most enthusiastic out of all of us.
By comparison, Sérignan was handling it more maturely. She and the Masquerade Swarm were taking shifts standing guard.
“Sérignan, we’re going outside for a bit,” I said, intending to invite her along.
“Is that so? I shall accompany you, then.”
The suite was nice, but spending a whole day there still felt suffocating. With the big meeting I had coming up tomorrow, I also didn’t want to tire myself out.
“We’ll be back.”
We left poor Maska to hold the fort and went out to have a look around Khalkha.
Put simply, Khalkha was a lively city. It was our first experience walking through the peaceful streets of a country’s capital. Maluk was in ruins, we had charged into Schtraut’s capital, and Frantz’s capital had been silent upon our arrival because of the heretic hunts.
Everything in sight was unique and unfamiliar. The street stalls sold all sorts of curiosities. One vendor sold some kind of meat skewer. Another sold a kebab of sorts made by smoking and cutting off lumps of meat. A third offered meat fried in sizzling oil on the spot.
Have I just been looking at meat this whole time?
“Are you hungry, milady?” Lysa asked me, noticing my covetous gaze.
Right now, she wasn’t allowed to call me “Your Majesty.” The various adventurers’ guilds of this country had already learned about me. Back in Schtraut, no one had known of me, so there hadn’t been any point in going out of our way to hide my title. This time around, we needed to be discreet.
Keralt had guaranteed my safety, but if the guilds’ information were leaked, the Nyrnal Empire could dispatch assassins to kill me.
Seriously, being a despot’s pretty hard.
“Yeah, I actually am a little hungry,” I admitted.
“Then let’s get something to eat.” Lysa grinned. “I’m sure we’ll find someplace nice.”
I wasn’t even doing anything in particular, so why did I have to go hungry? At this rate, I’d just get fat. Imagine that: a round, chubby Arachnea queen. More like an Arachnea piggy. Forget “Your Majesty”; they’d be calling me “Your Portliness” then. I was really jealous of the Swarm since their figures never changed no matter what or how much they ate.
“Erm, milady?” Sérignan eyed me with worry. “True, our figures don’t change, but I don’t think you are gaining any weight.”
I sighed. “You don’t know that. I haven’t been exercising one bit recently. I could be well on my way to being fat.”
Sérignan and Lysa had the privilege of not gaining any weight, so they didn’t understand how I felt.
“If you stick to an elven diet, you probably won’t get fat,” Lysa suggested. “It’s mostly based on vegetables.”
“Yeah, but there’s one problem, Lysa,” I said, my voice wistful. “I love meat.”
The food we had eaten back in Baumfetter was very healthy, but it had left something to be desired. Every now and then, I got the craving for some nice, juicy meat. But once that mean protein went down the hatch, it was bound to turn to needless flab. I hadn’t been particularly fat before, but I still had to worry about my eating habits.
“Then let us go to a place that serves meat, if that is what you desire,” Sérignan said. “Consuming what you want when you want it is a good way of preventing fatigue. Besides, you have an important meeting tomorrow, so you should treat yourself to a pick-me-up!”
“You’re tempting me like the devil, Sérignan. But I’ll allow it since I’m really craving here. Are you okay with meat too, Lysa?”
Making peace with the inevitability of my unhealthy diet, I decided to get some meat. What about Lysa, though? She was an elf, and they didn’t usually like meat that much.
“I’m fine with it.” Lysa offered a faint smile. “People think elves never eat meat, but we incorporate meat into our dishes pretty often. The only exception is when it’s a closed season for hunting.”
“Let’s find a place that serves some good meat, then!”
“A steak would be good,” Lysa said cheerfully. “Or maybe one of those Hamburg steaks I’ve heard so much about.”
I was virtually salivating at the thought of munching on some fine meat.
Lysa pointed at one small establishment. “That place looks nice!”
It was small and snug, but it looked clean. A tantalizing smell wafted from the inside. I supposed it was a coffee shop that doubled as a restaurant. It seemed just like what we were looking for.
“All right, let’s give it a try.” I approached the menu plastered on the nearby wall. “Today’s specials are...”
Beside me, Lysa read it aloud. “A mixed grill meal and a Hamburg steak combo.”
Hm. Think I’ll go with the Hamburg steak. But the mixed grill sounds nice too.
“Our senses are connected through the collective consciousness,” Sérignan reminded me. “So don’t worry. I can eat the mixed grill, and you can have the Hamburg steak. That way, we’ll be able to experience both.”
“Yeah, we could do that. But I kind of want to eat it directly, like a human. Shrug it off as a whim of mine, would you?”
Which should I pick, though?
Just then, Lysa came up with the perfect solution. “Let’s share! I’ll get the mixed grill, and you can order the Hamburg steak, and we’ll sample each other’s orders.”
Oh, Lysa to the rescue with the good ideas!
“Sounds good. And if Sérignan orders something different, we can try that too.”
Looking a bit bashful, Sérignan murmured, “D-Dining with you is too great an honor for me, milady, if these are your orders.”
As always, she approached everything with the formal stiffness of an ancient samurai. But that’s part of what makes her cute.
“C-Cute?” Sérignan stammered, sensing my thoughts.
“Ah, yeah. You’re cute, Sérignan.”
The collective consciousness had its perks, but it was a bit of a downside that my thoughts were leaked to the Swarm.
“I think you’re very cool, Sérignan,” Lysa chimed in as Sérignan flushed crimson. “The way you protect our lady, the strength of your will... I’ve always admired the way knights can be so determined!”
“That’s right.” I nodded. “I can sense your will too.”
“I’m quite honored,” Sérignan said sheepishly.
She really was an admirable knight.