"Well... I've heard from Marina that shopping is the best pastime for women... that was true."

　Elena, who left the magic shop, says so with a big smile.
　The sky is covered with clouds, and it may begin to snow at any time.
　But the sight of Elena smiling was as bright as a blue sky.
　Ray nods with a slightly tiring smile, fascinated by Elena.

"I'm glad you liked it. Not only Vichela, but also Marina, Bune, and... Elena's share were bought safely."

　For Ray, this purchase was a relatively large expense.
　But for Ray, who makes a big profit by hunting for thieves, asking for various things, and selling the materials of the monsters he killed, this amount of expenditure is no problem.
　...I paid enough to build a house.
　Still, seeing Elena smile, it was a cheap purchase.
　In fact, a house was not a house that aristocrats and merchants bought, but a house that a middle-class person bought.
　Anyway, Ray leaves the shop after shopping, hesitates about what to do and consults with Elena next door.

"Elena, what are you going to do now? You bought souvenirs for the marina, so you can eat something like that, right?

　Elena told me that memories would be good for close friends.
　The question is, if you're not close -- only compared to the marina -- is it really good to have souvenirs for the other person as food?
　Elena, immersed in Ray's words after shopping, nods after a moment of thought.

"Well, yes. In Ray's case, you can take your food as it is. And how about alcohol? There's a well-known brewery in Anesis. It's not that expensive, so you'll be happy to get it."

　Ordinary people would be frightened before they would be happy to receive as much liquor as they need white or light.
　In Ray's sense, it's like being given a new car as a souvenir... a luxury car.
　Most people would even be terrified if they were given such souvenirs, rather than happy.
　In that sense, if you can buy sake at a reasonable price, and if it comes from a well-known brewery in this case, it is highly likely that drinkers will be pleased.
　...though it is undeniable that some people may think it is not palatable to their tastes.

"Then shall we go and buy some drinks?"

　That's what Ray said, but to Ray's taste, alcohol doesn't seem so delicious.
　Of course, it's not that I can't drink, and it's not that I get drunk just by taking a sip, but it doesn't taste good when I drink.
　However, I know that it's just that my taste doesn't go well with alcohol, or that my taste isn't developed, so-called kodomo-tongue.
　It is also common to use sake as a hidden flavor in cooking, and among the dishes Ray has actually eaten, there were many that way.
　Thinking this way, Ray walks down the road, guided by Elena.
　If they sell delicious food at a street stall, they buy it.

(Come to think of it, Elena didn't know the store that sells magic items, but she knows the brewery for that matter... well, she's a famous brewery in Annesis, and maybe she's been there before.)

　While eating the simple dish of baking potatoes and pouring sauce on them, Ray looks at Elena next door.
　I was eating the same baked potatoes as Ray, but I still saw Elena eating, and it seemed to me something elegant.
　Ray and Elena are eating the same dish, but the sauce is different. 　
　Ray's sauce is slightly spicy, while Elena's is sweet and spicy.
　Ray's impression of eating seemed to resemble the salsa sauce his mother had bought him at a supermarket or something when he was in Japan.
　However, the salsa sauce wasn't necessarily spicy... but at least the salsa sauce Ray ate was spicy.

"Huh? What's wrong, Ray? Look at me. ... You'll be embarrassed."

　Even Ray's beloved Elena would be embarrassed to be able to watch herself eat something, as a matter of course.
　True to the words, Ray tells Elena, who looks a little embarrassed, to mislead her by looking at the food in Elena's hand.

"No, my sauce is a little spicy, but it tastes good in its own way, but I was wondering what Elena was doing."
"Huh? Mine? It's sweet and salty. It tastes a little strange. Of course, it's not bad, it tastes really good."
"...I should have bought that, too."

　Ray bought only what he was eating, because it was a simple dish just baked potatoes, and because he was heading to the brewery, he couldn't spend much time on stalls.
　While Ray is looking at the potatoes he is eating with interest, Elena suddenly remembers what she had heard from Arra before.
　It seems that if you're a lover, you're doing it normally...
　Arra doesn't actually have a lover, so it's either from someone else or from a book.

(My father and I, though it's a tacit understanding, agree to go out with each other. So... I don't mind if I do this kind of thing, do I?)

　When Elena asks someone in her heart, she opens her mouth.

"Well, Ray. If you're curious about the taste of this dish I'm eating, why don't you try it? Oh, look. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh...

　Frustrated enough to believe she would be nicknamed General Hime, Elena offers Ray her own food.
　Ray was confused by Elena's sudden behavior, but I still understand what Elena wanted.

(No, before that, why does Elgin have an "ahn" culture?)

　It was Ray, who thought it was a culture peculiar to the earth, but if you think about it, there is a fact that some people have come from Japan in the past.
　Ray could have guessed that it was probably left behind by someone else.

(If you leave something like this, it's better if you leave soy sauce or something like.)

　Looking at Elena's potatoes, Ray thinks half-out.
　However, I remember how to make fish sauce because I saw it several times on TV, but I don't remember how to make seasonings such as soy sauce and miso.
　In Ray's house, instead of buying miso at a supermarket, they made it at a shop that sells miso.
　That's why soybeans are made from Ray's house.
　Given the circumstances, Ray could have known if he really wanted to know how to make miso.
　However, as long as I didn't expect this to happen, I didn't want to know how to make miso.
　Ray knows nothing about how to make soy sauce.

"Why don't you eat it? I'm a bit embarrassed."

　True to words, Ray gently explores the surroundings of Elena, who tells her shyly.
　Not surprisingly, celebrities like Elena are doing this, which is attracting a lot of attention.
　A number of passers-by around are stopping and staring at Ray and Elena.
　That's what makes me wonder if I'm looking at myself more enthusiastically.
　It felt like a show, but she couldn't ignore the potatoes Elena was offering, so Ray gently put his mouth on them.

(This is...)

　What spread through my mouth was, as Elena had said, a concurrent taste of sweetness and salt.
　It sounds rather rough, but Ray remembers the teriyaki sauce.
　The teriyaki sauce that the Japanese have come up with is something too much to say, but it's a favorite sauce in many countries.
　That's why Elgin might have a similar taste.

(Oh, maybe this was another story from Takum, or others who came to this world, even if it was incomplete.)

　I want to eat teriyaki chicken if possible.
　Thinking so, Ray enjoys what he calls Elena's potatoes... teriyaki potatoes.
　Elena blushes her cheeks lightly at the sight of Ray biting where his tooth profile is and savoring it to the full.
　For Elena, such behavior could not have been more embarrassing.
　... Ray himself didn't think his actions were seen as such, he was just tasting teriyaki potatoes.

"Well... what do you think?"

　Elena timidly asks if she could not stand the silence.
　The red-cheeked inquiry and ear-to-ear would not seem to be the same person to anyone who knew Elena as a princess general or duchess.
　In fact, passersby watching the sequence of events were even wondering whether it was real or not when they saw Elena."Yes, it's delicious. I'm glad I bought this dish."
"I see! Yeah, I thought so too.

　When Ray saw Elena muttering unnoticed, he thought of leaving before he knew.





"Here it is,"

　About twenty minutes' walk from where I did that.
　We could have arrived a little earlier than usual, but it took us a long time because we found a delicious-looking stall on the way and bought it as a souvenir, or bought dishes and vases at a shop.
　Ray and Elena, though, had absolutely no problem with each other in that they enjoyed each other's date.

"Here? Pretty big, isn't that big."

　As Ray muttered, the building in front of Ray and Elena was quite large.
　Of course, it's nowhere near the Duke of Kelevel, but it's probably wrong to compare.
　The aroma of alcohol floating outside doesn't sound very pleasant for Ray, who doesn't like alcohol, but it's probably a good scent for anyone who likes alcohol.

"Well, let's get it home right away. I just don't know what kind of liquor to buy. What should I do? Elena, do you know about that?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't know much about that either. But if you ask the shopkeeper and tell him the budget, he'll make a fair estimate of it."

　Ask your profession what you don't understand.
　Ray agrees with Elena's words.
　In fact, it's only natural that the profession should make decisions based on the necessary knowledge rather than the amateur thinking and wasting what he doesn't understand.

"I know a thing or two about alcohol, but I still lose to professional people. Besides, there are so many high-class things I know that Ray buys as a souvenir... a little bit."
"All right. Shall we go in and ask them?"

　Tell him so, Ray walks into the shop with Elena.
　As soon as you walk in, the smell of alcohol drifts deeper than it drifts outside.
　Before Ray and Elena, who were slightly frowning at it, a man who seemed to be a clerk in this brewery approached.

"Hello, Elena and Ray. How can I help you today?"

　The clerk knew, of course, Ray and Elena as people who worked at this liquor store.
　The reason why Elena's name came first when calling her was probably because this was the Annesis ruled by the Duke of Kerebel.

"Well. Actually, Ray and I are going to Gilmoo soon. So I came here to buy some liquor as a souvenir."
"That's great. Then I'll pick a drink for you right away."

　Elena's words made the clerk say so with a big smile on his face.