Miss Tag-along

"I'm off-duty today."

As soon as we got out of the armor shop that catered to nobles, Col.

Serena immediately declared so as she stared straight at my face.

"I see. So you plan on tagging along huh."

"…That's right."

She was surprisingly honest about her intentions. Well, it's not like this

was the first time she's bothered us while she's off-duty. Back then, she

even rushed inside Krishna and eventually got dead drunk. As a result,

she exposed a lot of her less-flattering sides to us.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Umm… Anything should be fine except for drinking alcohol, right?"

"Let's see. How about having a meal without drinking any alcoholic

beverages? You two just moved around a lot, so you should be feeling

hungry now, right?"

"Now that you mentioned it, that does seem like the case."

After having breakfast in the hotel, I called brother-in-law Ernst while

the women went out shopping. After that, I met up with the girls

outside, had a bit of tea with them, went to the armor shop, and

eventually ended up sparring with Col. Serena. So I really haven't had

the chance to eat lunch yet. It might be a little bit early for lunch, but

since we still needed to find a place to dine in first, the timing was

pretty much perfect.

"Alright. Let's go with that. Would that be fine with you, Colonel?"

"Yes, certainly."

"Ok. How about you, Kugi?"

"Of course, it's fine with me as well, My Lord."

Since Col. Serena and Kugi had also agreed, we decided on looking for a

nice restaurant. Mei? Mei just nodded in response when I turned to her.

She was practically the perfect maid, so she just quietly sticks to close

us like a shadow at times like this.

"Mm. Since Col. Serena is here, should we look for something a bit

fancier this time?"

As we were about to head out to the main street, Mimi took out her

tablet terminal from her waist and held it aloft as she walked. Walking

while looking at smartphones or tablets is dangerous y'know, Mimi.

"Right. It might be nice to eat at a place that's a little more classy."

"I don't really mind where we eat though?"

Since they've known each other for quite a bit already, Mimi, Elma, and

Col. Serena started to discuss about where we'd eat in a relaxed and

familiar manner. Since Col. Serena was the daughter of a marquis, Mimi

was hesitant when interacting with her in the past, but ever since she

saw Col. Serena drowning her frustrations in alcohol in a sloppy

manner, she seemed to turn a lot more relaxed in her presence.

"Aren't you going to join in on the discussion, Kugi?"

"I'm not familiar with the eating habits of this country yet, and I'm not

familiar with the restaurants here either in the first place…"

"I see… Oh, right. Come to think of it, we haven't exchanged contacts

yet, haven't we? Should we do it now?"

"Ah, yes. Umm…"

Kugi searched inside a bag-like accessory pouch slung on her shoulder

and took out a small data terminal. It looked brand new.

"Actually, I haven't gotten used to this yet… Our country still uses coins

and banknotes as currency, and we also don't need to use such devices

for communication."

"I see? Then let's start with turning on the terminal first… Oi, oi. I think

it's better to enable the identification function of the device first."

"What's this identification function?"

Kugi tilted her head to the side. Ah, this girl really didn't know anything

huh. Well, I sure didn't expect to encounter a person who was

absolutely no good with technology in this sci-fi world. Just how did she

make her way to the Windas system if she's like this? I wonder if

someone else escorted her here.

"Yosh, let's put that back inside your bag for now after all. I'll teach you

step by step once we get back to the hotel. Be careful not to let others

get their hands on it though."

"Yes, My Lord!"

Kugi obediently heeded my words and gently placed the small data

terminal back into her shoulder bag. Just like she said, she really was a

sheltered girl. It looks like having her adapt to our lifestyle is gonna

take some time.

Mei watched over us quietly while Kugi and I were having our exchange.

Why did it seem like she was staring a bit too hard? I turned toward her,

but Mei just shook her head lightly in response. It kinda feels like Mei's

a little strange. I wonder what's wrong?

"Hiro, come over here for a bit. You too, Kugi. We've narrowed down our

options, so let's decided where we're going to eat among these shops."

"Gotcha. C'mon Kugi."

"Yes."

When we finally reached the main street, we got called out. So I and

Kugi caught up with the three ladies who were walking ahead while

engaging in small talk. We then gathered near the wall of a building

right around the corner to discuss our final destination. We wouldn't

get in the way of the other pedestrians here.

"So, how many candidates are there?"

"Yes! This is my personal recommendation!"

Mimi showed us her tablet terminal's screen. What it displayed were

mysterious glowing spheres, as well as pink-colored noodles– No, they

weren't noodles. They were some kind of worm or larvae. Anyway, it

was basically an image of a plate of mysterious long and slim creatures

with some sort of powder sprinkled on top of them. What appeared to

be meatball soup was made out of some sort of four-legged bug… Err,

crab? Was it a crab? No, it's probably something else. Anyway, there

were lots of images of some pretty hardcore-looking dishes that were

not for the faint of heart.

"It's apparently a specialty restaurant that serves authentic Planet

Pippiperoni native dishes."

"Un, I see… Let's see the others."

When I glanced to the side, I saw that Kugi's ears were drooping as she

lightly trembled while looking at the screen. It kinda looked like her

three bushy tails were puffed up slightly as well. It seemed that Kugi's

sensibilities also found native Pippiperoni dishes to be unpalatable. Or

rather, just what kind of place was Planet Pippiperoni anyway? Was it

somewhere in the Graccan Empire? I feel like I definitely don't wanna

try going to that place though.

"I chose a safer option."

Elma declared and reached for Mimi's tablet terminal to display her

choice of restaurant. Apparently, it was a restaurant that mainly serves

imperial cuisine. It also seems that they didn't use synthetic ingredients

made from food cartridges in their dishes, but real vegetables and meat

instead. Yeah, it was safe alright. Definitely safe.

If I had to find fault with it, then I'd point out that the dishes they

served were a little bit too similar to the food served at the hotel.

"And the last one is… Eh?"

The last one was a fast food shop chain that had a lot of branches

spread across the empire. It was directly managed by the largest autocooker manufacturer in the empire, and the number of staff employed

was minimal. A wide variety of auto-cookers were installed inside the

store, and customers could order food using their favorite auto-cooker

models to dine.

"…What?"

"I just think it's quite an unexpected choice for you."

"It wouldn't be fun to keep eating in fancy restaurants you know."

I see. That's true. Kugi did say she's rarely eaten dishes made by autocookers, so it might not be a bad choice, all things considered. We've

recently only been eating at high-end shops whenever we dined outside

after all.

"I want to go with Colonel Serena's suggestion. Sometimes, it's nice to

enjoy flavors catered more to the masses, don't you think?"

"Yeah, doing so from time to time might be good."

"There was also a branch of this chain store back on Termaine Prime. I

used to come there with my friends often. It's… a bit nostalgic."

Mimi displayed a slightly forlorn expression. For Mimi, it should be a

place that reminded her of both happy and painful memories. For Mimi,

Termaine Prime was both her hometown and a place where no one

extended a helping hand to her when she needed it the most.

"Alright, don't make a face like that. You'd lose out if you don't enjoy

your meal y'know?"

Elma seemed to have sensed Mimi's mood and slapped her back to

cheer her back up.

"Yes. That's right! I'm looking forward to what kind of menu they're

offering now. Other than the standard menu, some other items get

offered depending on the season."

Mimi pulled herself together and displayed a cheerful smile. Well, at

times like these, it's better to focus on having fun together to replace

those sad memories with happy ones rather than just cheering people

up with words alone.

"Well then, let's go ahead and enjoy the taste of junk food. The food

prepared by auto-cookers isn't half-bad at all."

"Right. I'm looking forward to it."

It looks like Kugi was also looking forward to the experience, so we

better hurry up and head out already. I'm gonna enjoy a cheap hotdog

or hamburger for the first time in a while.