"Sorry for the wait."
Carrying the large serving plate filled with food, I stepped into the dining room.
Before me was a simple table with a pair of chairs nicely cleaned up and free of dust. A large window in the wall was open and the light of the sun bounced off of the huge amount of dust in the air. The mini god rays gave me a distinct feeling of unease, but that couldn't be helped. It wasn't like they would suddenly angle further into the room considering that it was still before noon.
Peitho was patiently waiting while sitting on the far seat.
(Or maybe less than patiently? She's staring at me real hard.)
"No, it's not a problem."
She might have said that, but I didn't miss the gulp the elf did as she finished her sentence.
I put down the plate in front of her before sitting down on the remaining chair.
"That's, quite a bit of food."
I may have been the one to have made it, but even I agreed despite my weird ability to eat more than my body should be able to fit.
"Sorry. I've been making food for groups a lot lately, so I ended up making too much."
"No no, it's fine. I can just have the rest later on. Ummm, what about cutlery?"
(Right. I forgot about that. Well, it's not a big deal.)
"You eat it with your hands."
After all, what I had placed in front of her were a bunch of burgers and fries. While technically they could be eaten with a knife and fork, that kinda killed the spirit of this sort of quick and easy meal. At most you'd only use a fork for the fries, and only if you doused them in some sort of sauce. A napkin was more than enough otherwise. Presuming that I didn't forget that either.
Peitho hesitantly picked up a burger and brought it close to her face.
The elf gulped as she got a concentrated whiff of its scent before opening her small mouth as wide as it could go. Fortunately, I hadn't made the common mistake of stacking the sandwich too much to fit in my diner's mouth.
Despite that, I clearly saw the contents shift slightly as she bit down, but pretending not to notice, I watched as her nervous expression changed drastically.
The elf quickly gobbled up the burger, and despite spilling some of its contents she picked them up with her fingers and finished it off before continuing to the fries, then a second burger. This time she learned her lesson and squeezed the bun hard enough to imprint her fingers into the toasted crust. This time she managed to finish the burger without spilling anything, but that was her limit.
Though from my perspective, it was quite a surprise to see her eat almost half the fries and two of the four burgers. Her slim figure suggested that she wouldn't be able to eat nearly that much. It made me wonder if there was some sort of strange effect in play on the stomach of a native of this world, allowing them to eat more than someone from Earth could.
But the glow on Peitho's expression when she leaned back against her seat as she patted her belly which visibly bulged out slightly gave me all the satisfaction I needed. Any doubt that tearing her away from that restaurant was wiped clean away.
I understood her complaint fully. Alicia hadn't spent much time in a vampire body compared to me, so this fact seemed to still surprise her. For me, at most it was a mild annoyance, but just because I couldn't enjoy the food directly didn't mean that I couldn't enjoy it through others experiencing it.
Nowadays, for the most part the only bit that really sucked about not being able to eat normal food was the nervousness that came from making food not from a preset recipe since I couldn't taste test it myself to know that it was turning out well. An assistant during my cooking would be nice but...
Putting aside the ass kissing of one individual, the words that rang in my mind further made me blush.
"*Chuckle* I suppose you're not used to being complimented, are you? It really is a shame, but I hope you don't quit being an adventurer to become a cook."
"I don't think I'd do that."
"Though personally, if I'd be able to eat your cooking every day, I'd be willing to pay that price."
I turned right towards the elf in shock, but the way she was staring at the remaining food made me feel like an idiot for somehow expecting something.
(What was I even expecting in the first place anyways?)
Somehow my misinterpretation of that unexpected line had messed up my feelings and I didn't know what I was feeling anymore. All I could do was forcibly shove those confusing emotions down and put a lid on it. It wasn't like I was planning on staying in this city, nor could there be a good enough reason to stay, so we weren't going to see each other for a long time after this.
"Ahem, anyways, do you have a magic bag? While this won't spoil before dinner, it won't be nearly as good after it's cooled down and simply heating it up won't make it as good as new."
"Right, that's true. I have one right here."
Peitho pulled out a small hip bag she had slung on her belt. Since it matched the colour scheme of her uniform, it made me wonder if it was guild made or something. I doubted that such a thing would've conveniently shown up in a dungeon as a drop or something, though it might have been modified to look like a part of the guild uniform on the outside.
"Since you already have an idea about me regarding these sorts of things..."
"Yes? You've done quite a lot for both the guild as well as myself, if it's something I can answer, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Then...that bag. Is it made by the guild, or was it from somewhere else?"
"Ah, this thing?"
The assistant guild master patted her bag after she shoved the whole plate straight into it.
"They're usually made by guild employees at large branches like the ones here, though in reality magic bags of this level can easily be made by almost anyone with a decent rank in [Enchanting]. That said, magic bags are only issued to high ranking personnel and members who need it in the line of work. They're not so cheap as to be a standard part of the uniform. Everyone else just has normal bags of the same design."
"Ah, I see."
(The [Enchanting] skill is it? I have that, and it's even at rank 8. I don't really need another magic bag, but if this is made from that skill, then maybe I can add some more magical properties to some of my other gear?)
The thought was enticing, but I didn't even know how to use the skill, so for until I learned more, it was on hold.
"Well, I'm sure that you don't need such an item anyways. Your bag is much better than mine. If you need something, I should be able to get our branch's enchanter to put something together for you, but it won't be cheap."
Peitho shrugged. It looked like she hadn't decided to change back to her professional mode yet, as she was still sitting slouched in her chair. It made me wonder if this was the real her, or if it was just how she looked like when she managed to unwind.
"Hmm...I don't think I need anything enchanted for now."
Unless if there was some sort of anti-sun enchantment, I couldn't really see anything that I really needed. And while as much as I'd like some enchantment to protect me from the sun, it would instantly give my species away, and I wasn't ready to do such a thing. Especially not for something where I didn't even know if such a thing even existed.
"That's fine. The offer's still on the table the whenever you come to visit. And when you do, you can stay here rather than in an inn. You'll only have to make my meals for payment."
"That sounds convenient. I'll consider it...if you clean the place up first that is."
"I'll make sure to do that then."
Peitho's expression soured instantly, but the determined glint in her eyes suggested that she was taking my words pretty seriously. To be honest, I didn't mind if she continued to neglect her home as long as she put in some basic effort to clean it up if I chose to stay here in the future.
Then again, if she made keeping her home clean on even a basic level a habit, it would probably be better for her health when she did actually use it, even if it was only to sleep.
After spending a few minutes watching the assistant guild master's uncharacteristic way of relaxing, I slowly got to my feet again.
"Well, I think it's time for me to get going."
"Mmm...I suppose. I need to get back to work as well."
The elf's expression turned gloomy, but the instant she forced herself to fix her posture all traces of that darkness had disappeared as if it had never existed.
"I hope you'll come visit us again soon. While it was short, it was nice having you here."
"It was nice being here as well."
I shook Peitho's extended hand before she showed me the way out and we went our separate ways. The assistant guild master to her office and me to the shopping districts.
While taking care to not cause too much havoc to the local economy, I took advantage of my recently acquired riches and spent the next while clearing out the various grocers in the area. From fresh fruits and vegetables to bread, flour, nuts and seeds. I had especially taken the effort to gather a large amount of eggs, butter, sheep milk cheese, sugar, salt, herbs, spices, and virtually all the goat milk I could find.
Since almost everything was kept at ambient temperature, things that went bad quickly was only kept in small quantities at specialist stores, so while I had cleared out the few places that carried milk, I had only managed to get a dozen litres of it or so, and all of it was goat milk. If I tried to make ice cream, I'd probably end up using it all for just a single large tub of it.
Despite my experiences on Earth, it seemed like there wasn't such a worry regarding that with the eggs. Either that, or the sale of eggs were just that good in this city so such a thing wasn't a concern? Regardless, I managed to easily acquire 50 eggs.
Overall, this was quite a lot of food that I, nor my companions couldn't eat ourselves, but all that depended on the idea that I'd end up not meeting people who I felt were worth making food for. But considering the trend I had experienced over the last few months, it was better to be prepared for such an occasion. At the worst, I could just use it all up on Magni when we met again.
Finally, I spent a little bit of time at a used clothes store.
While I was a little hesitant on buying clothes where I didn't know where they had been, I didn't have the time to spare on having new ones tailored and it seemed like the idea of selling premade clothes was absent in this world.
(Well, the economic power of the cities I've seen compared to my old home city was virtually incomparable anyways.)
After quickly browsing through the items and not being satisfied by the selection nor the materials, I simply gave up and grabbed whatever would meet my bare minimum requirements on the idea that I would work on replacing it all once I returned home again. These would only be temporary until I got around to gathering enough spider silk and went through the arduous process of turning those single strands into threads, then cloth, then full fledged clothes.
I bought three pairs of leather gloves that varied between slightly too tight to so-big-that-they-almost-slip-off-while-my-hands-are-hanging-at-my-sides, four shirts that despite being so long that they could be dresses on me yet made me worry that the buttons could close around my chest, four pairs of pants that all were way too long for me but the only smaller sizes were child size, and three sets of dresses. I didn't know what I'd do with those dresses, but at least they seemed to fit for the most part at a glance unlike most of the rest.
The reason why I had bought so much was because frankly I had no need to be reserved, and having to go without clothes again after it being damaged in a fight because I was being cheap when I was carrying more wealth than I knew how to use felt stupid. I didn't know when I'd next be able to buy more anyways, aside from the next city I was visiting, but I'd likely not need to buy any that soon.
With all my purchases done, I made my way to the southern gates and passed through to the outside.
As it was still the early afternoon, there was a trickle of people coming towards the city, but not a single person could be seen making their way southwards.
I checked that the little fluffballs were mostly accounted for. As they would often disappear for no reason and more would suddenly take their place, I didn't worry too much about any individual ones. Happy with their condition, I went into a light jog and started my way down the packed dirt road.
The moment that Knossos city was out of sight, I turned off of the road and made my way until the other travellers were little more the specks on the horizon.
Here, I finally did what I had been craving.
Not eating, but rather, I dug a large hole in the ground before using the displaced dirt to create walls and a roof. Only a singular hole in the middle let a small amount of light enter, but the hole was angled so that no direct sunlight could enter. The light was little, but enough for my enhanced sight.
Inside, I made a large tub from hardened clay and filled it with hot water before stripping down and placing my things on some simple shelves made from one of the walls.
Taking out a bar of soap, a jar of hair oil, and a rag, I took my time to thoroughly wash myself before rinsing my body and settling into the big bath tub. I eased by body into the heated water as the excess overflowed and filled the sealed ground, but I didn't mind about such details. My mind was filled with the bliss of finally being able to enjoy a proper bath after so long.
"Ahh, this is what I needed."
"Sorry for the wait."
Carrying the large serving plate filled with food, I stepped into the dining room.
Before me was a simple table with a pair of chairs nicely cleaned up and free of dust. A large window in the wall was open and the light of the sun bounced off of the huge amount of dust in the air. The mini god rays gave me a distinct feeling of unease, but that couldn't be helped. It wasn't like they would suddenly angle further into the room considering that it was still before noon.
Peitho was patiently waiting while sitting on the far seat.
(Or maybe less than patiently? She's staring at me real hard.)
"No, it's not a problem."
She might have said that, but I didn't miss the gulp the elf did as she finished her sentence.
I put down the plate in front of her before sitting down on the remaining chair.
"That's, quite a bit of food."
I may have been the one to have made it, but even I agreed despite my weird ability to eat more than my body should be able to fit.
"Sorry. I've been making food for groups a lot lately, so I ended up making too much."
"No no, it's fine. I can just have the rest later on. Ummm, what about cutlery?"
(Right. I forgot about that. Well, it's not a big deal.)
"You eat it with your hands."
After all, what I had placed in front of her were a bunch of burgers and fries. While technically they could be eaten with a knife and fork, that kinda killed the spirit of this sort of quick and easy meal. At most you'd only use a fork for the fries, and only if you doused them in some sort of sauce. A napkin was more than enough otherwise. Presuming that I didn't forget that either.
Peitho hesitantly picked up a burger and brought it close to her face.
The elf gulped as she got a concentrated whiff of its scent before opening her small mouth as wide as it could go. Fortunately, I hadn't made the common mistake of stacking the sandwich too much to fit in my diner's mouth.
Despite that, I clearly saw the contents shift slightly as she bit down, but pretending not to notice, I watched as her nervous expression changed drastically.
The elf quickly gobbled up the burger, and despite spilling some of its contents she picked them up with her fingers and finished it off before continuing to the fries, then a second burger. This time she learned her lesson and squeezed the bun hard enough to imprint her fingers into the toasted crust. This time she managed to finish the burger without spilling anything, but that was her limit.
Though from my perspective, it was quite a surprise to see her eat almost half the fries and two of the four burgers. Her slim figure suggested that she wouldn't be able to eat nearly that much. It made me wonder if there was some sort of strange effect in play on the stomach of a native of this world, allowing them to eat more than someone from Earth could.
But the glow on Peitho's expression when she leaned back against her seat as she patted her belly which visibly bulged out slightly gave me all the satisfaction I needed. Any doubt that tearing her away from that restaurant was wiped clean away.
I understood her complaint fully. Alicia hadn't spent much time in a vampire body compared to me, so this fact seemed to still surprise her. For me, at most it was a mild annoyance, but just because I couldn't enjoy the food directly didn't mean that I couldn't enjoy it through others experiencing it.
Nowadays, for the most part the only bit that really sucked about not being able to eat normal food was the nervousness that came from making food not from a preset recipe since I couldn't taste test it myself to know that it was turning out well. An assistant during my cooking would be nice but...
Putting aside the ass kissing of one individual, the words that rang in my mind further made me blush.
"*Chuckle* I suppose you're not used to being complimented, are you? It really is a shame, but I hope you don't quit being an adventurer to become a cook."
"I don't think I'd do that."
"Though personally, if I'd be able to eat your cooking every day, I'd be willing to pay that price."
I turned right towards the elf in shock, but the way she was staring at the remaining food made me feel like an idiot for somehow expecting something.
(What was I even expecting in the first place anyways?)
Somehow my misinterpretation of that unexpected line had messed up my feelings and I didn't know what I was feeling anymore. All I could do was forcibly shove those confusing emotions down and put a lid on it. It wasn't like I was planning on staying in this city, nor could there be a good enough reason to stay, so we weren't going to see each other for a long time after this.
"Ahem, anyways, do you have a magic bag? While this won't spoil before dinner, it won't be nearly as good after it's cooled down and simply heating it up won't make it as good as new."
"Right, that's true. I have one right here."
Peitho pulled out a small hip bag she had slung on her belt. Since it matched the colour scheme of her uniform, it made me wonder if it was guild made or something. I doubted that such a thing would've conveniently shown up in a dungeon as a drop or something, though it might have been modified to look like a part of the guild uniform on the outside.
"Since you already have an idea about me regarding these sorts of things..."
"Yes? You've done quite a lot for both the guild as well as myself, if it's something I can answer, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Then...that bag. Is it made by the guild, or was it from somewhere else?"
"Ah, this thing?"
The assistant guild master patted her bag after she shoved the whole plate straight into it.
"They're usually made by guild employees at large branches like the ones here, though in reality magic bags of this level can easily be made by almost anyone with a decent rank in [Enchanting]. That said, magic bags are only issued to high ranking personnel and members who need it in the line of work. They're not so cheap as to be a standard part of the uniform. Everyone else just has normal bags of the same design."
"Ah, I see."
(The [Enchanting] skill is it? I have that, and it's even at rank 8. I don't really need another magic bag, but if this is made from that skill, then maybe I can add some more magical properties to some of my other gear?)
The thought was enticing, but I didn't even know how to use the skill, so for until I learned more, it was on hold.
"Well, I'm sure that you don't need such an item anyways. Your bag is much better than mine. If you need something, I should be able to get our branch's enchanter to put something together for you, but it won't be cheap."
Peitho shrugged. It looked like she hadn't decided to change back to her professional mode yet, as she was still sitting slouched in her chair. It made me wonder if this was the real her, or if it was just how she looked like when she managed to unwind.
"Hmm...I don't think I need anything enchanted for now."
Unless if there was some sort of anti-sun enchantment, I couldn't really see anything that I really needed. And while as much as I'd like some enchantment to protect me from the sun, it would instantly give my species away, and I wasn't ready to do such a thing. Especially not for something where I didn't even know if such a thing even existed.
"That's fine. The offer's still on the table the whenever you come to visit. And when you do, you can stay here rather than in an inn. You'll only have to make my meals for payment."
"That sounds convenient. I'll consider it...if you clean the place up first that is."
"I'll make sure to do that then."
Peitho's expression soured instantly, but the determined glint in her eyes suggested that she was taking my words pretty seriously. To be honest, I didn't mind if she continued to neglect her home as long as she put in some basic effort to clean it up if I chose to stay here in the future.
Then again, if she made keeping her home clean on even a basic level a habit, it would probably be better for her health when she did actually use it, even if it was only to sleep.
After spending a few minutes watching the assistant guild master's uncharacteristic way of relaxing, I slowly got to my feet again.
"Well, I think it's time for me to get going."
"Mmm...I suppose. I need to get back to work as well."
The elf's expression turned gloomy, but the instant she forced herself to fix her posture all traces of that darkness had disappeared as if it had never existed.
"I hope you'll come visit us again soon. While it was short, it was nice having you here."
"It was nice being here as well."
I shook Peitho's extended hand before she showed me the way out and we went our separate ways. The assistant guild master to her office and me to the shopping districts.
While taking care to not cause too much havoc to the local economy, I took advantage of my recently acquired riches and spent the next while clearing out the various grocers in the area. From fresh fruits and vegetables to bread, flour, nuts and seeds. I had especially taken the effort to gather a large amount of eggs, butter, sheep milk cheese, sugar, salt, herbs, spices, and virtually all the goat milk I could find.
Since almost everything was kept at ambient temperature, things that went bad quickly was only kept in small quantities at specialist stores, so while I had cleared out the few places that carried milk, I had only managed to get a dozen litres of it or so, and all of it was goat milk. If I tried to make ice cream, I'd probably end up using it all for just a single large tub of it.
Despite my experiences on Earth, it seemed like there wasn't such a worry regarding that with the eggs. Either that, or the sale of eggs were just that good in this city so such a thing wasn't a concern? Regardless, I managed to easily acquire 50 eggs.
Overall, this was quite a lot of food that I, nor my companions couldn't eat ourselves, but all that depended on the idea that I'd end up not meeting people who I felt were worth making food for. But considering the trend I had experienced over the last few months, it was better to be prepared for such an occasion. At the worst, I could just use it all up on Magni when we met again.
Finally, I spent a little bit of time at a used clothes store.
While I was a little hesitant on buying clothes where I didn't know where they had been, I didn't have the time to spare on having new ones tailored and it seemed like the idea of selling premade clothes was absent in this world.
(Well, the economic power of the cities I've seen compared to my old home city was virtually incomparable anyways.)
After quickly browsing through the items and not being satisfied by the selection nor the materials, I simply gave up and grabbed whatever would meet my bare minimum requirements on the idea that I would work on replacing it all once I returned home again. These would only be temporary until I got around to gathering enough spider silk and went through the arduous process of turning those single strands into threads, then cloth, then full fledged clothes.
I bought three pairs of leather gloves that varied between slightly too tight to so-big-that-they-almost-slip-off-while-my-hands-are-hanging-at-my-sides, four shirts that despite being so long that they could be dresses on me yet made me worry that the buttons could close around my chest, four pairs of pants that all were way too long for me but the only smaller sizes were child size, and three sets of dresses. I didn't know what I'd do with those dresses, but at least they seemed to fit for the most part at a glance unlike most of the rest.
The reason why I had bought so much was because frankly I had no need to be reserved, and having to go without clothes again after it being damaged in a fight because I was being cheap when I was carrying more wealth than I knew how to use felt stupid. I didn't know when I'd next be able to buy more anyways, aside from the next city I was visiting, but I'd likely not need to buy any that soon.
With all my purchases done, I made my way to the southern gates and passed through to the outside.
As it was still the early afternoon, there was a trickle of people coming towards the city, but not a single person could be seen making their way southwards.
I checked that the little fluffballs were mostly accounted for. As they would often disappear for no reason and more would suddenly take their place, I didn't worry too much about any individual ones. Happy with their condition, I went into a light jog and started my way down the packed dirt road.
The moment that Knossos city was out of sight, I turned off of the road and made my way until the other travellers were little more the specks on the horizon.
Here, I finally did what I had been craving.
Not eating, but rather, I dug a large hole in the ground before using the displaced dirt to create walls and a roof. Only a singular hole in the middle let a small amount of light enter, but the hole was angled so that no direct sunlight could enter. The light was little, but enough for my enhanced sight.
Inside, I made a large tub from hardened clay and filled it with hot water before stripping down and placing my things on some simple shelves made from one of the walls.
Taking out a bar of soap, a jar of hair oil, and a rag, I took my time to thoroughly wash myself before rinsing my body and settling into the big bath tub. I eased by body into the heated water as the excess overflowed and filled the sealed ground, but I didn't mind about such details. My mind was filled with the bliss of finally being able to enjoy a proper bath after so long.
"Ahh, this is what I needed."
