After following Argo through Lomba's twists and turns for nearly ten minutes, the three of them arrived at a place that could no longer be described as merely "secluded."
"This is the… restaurant you said serves tasty specialty food?"
Staring at the cave before him, Akimi immediately felt he'd been duped—what decent restaurant looks like a cave?
And not just any cave, but an underground one, a cave within a cave.
Around the entrance, the cave's stone walls were smeared with a thick layer of some unknown black substance, making the whole place look far from sanitary.
The restaurant's wooden signboard was riddled with holes—whether from insects or rot was anyone's guess—and hung at a crooked angle, looking ready to fall at any moment.
It seemed dangerous and was anything but reassuring.
From the faint, worn lettering on the sign, you could barely make out the words: "Heteroia Moorhsum."
"'Heteroia' means 'different-colored,' but what's the second word supposed to mean?
I don't think it exists in English, French, or any other common language," Akimi asked Argo while studying the name.
But Argo didn't even respond to him.
Instead, she slipped an arm around Asuna's slender waist and said, "Asu-chan, let me tell you—this place only serves all sorts of mushrooms… Hey, hey, stop looking at me like that! I'm not tricking you, I swear. The food here is absolutely fine…"
Asuna merely glanced at Akimi and then walked into the restaurant with Argo—thus, the world in which only Akimi suffered was achieved.
For some reason, Akimi suddenly felt like he was being NTR'd right in front of him.
His mouth opened slightly, his hand half-extended in protest, but the words stuck in his throat.
In the end, he lowered his hand and, like a silent little follower, trudged in after the two girls.
The moment they stepped inside, a wave of incongruity hit him—compared to the filth and gloom outside, the interior was surprisingly clean and brightly lit.
Cute mushroom-shaped tables and chairs were neatly arranged with meticulous order.
The restaurant's walls even featured a large mural depicting strange-looking mushrooms—their caps were upside down, with the smooth side facing down toward the stem, while the gills were flipped upward toward the ceiling.
And it wasn't just their shape that was odd—the colors were equally bizarre.
Every gill was a different, vividly bright hue, while the cap was a revolting poop-brown, transitioning into a rainbow gradient along the stem.
Looking at the mural, Akimi suddenly realized the restaurant's name—Moorhsum—was simply "Mushroom" spelled backward.
All he could say was… the naming was certainly creative.
After the three of them sat down, Argo grabbed the menu and started recommending dishes to Asuna.
"Trust me, Asu-chan, you have to order this signature dish. The flavor is really unique—absolutely worth trying… Oh, and this mushroom sashimi is great too. And this one, and this one as well…"
After going through nearly the whole menu, Argo finally looked up, passed it to Akimi, and said casually,
"Alright, we'll go with these… Aki-bou, you want to add anything else?"
"…No, that's fine."
Akimi shook his head.
Although the restaurant didn't have a huge variety of dishes, they had already ordered around eleven or twelve items.
If they ordered any more, the table probably wouldn't even hold them all.
Besides, it looked like he was going to be the one footing the bill this time.
He had taken a peek at the menu earlier and found the prices here to be on the higher side…
The real problem was that, having just bought a house, he was pretty strapped for cash.
Even the furniture had been bought by Asuna.
Argo's lips curled into a teasing grin as she said slyly,
"Oh my, oh my… Big sis here was going to treat you and Asu-chan to a nice meal, but since you're so thoughtful about saving me money, I guess I'll reluctantly agree… You're sure you don't want to order more?"
"Not. At. All."
The corner of Akimi's mouth twitched.
He felt a bit speechless—did he really look like the kind of guy who loved mooching?
He could at least afford a meal.
Seeing his expression, Argo smiled from ear to ear, handed the menu to the waiter, and began humming an unrecognizable little tune—it was the kind of annoyingly cheerful melody that made you want to smack the singer.
If you listened closely, you could even hear her muttering between notes: "Aha aha Aki-bou got tricked by me~"
A vein throbbed visibly on Akimi's forehead.
While Argo was snickering to herself, Asuna suddenly gave her a light smack on the head, shot her a glare, and then got up to sit next to Akimi.
"Huh?! Asu-chan!" Argo gasped in mock heartbreak.
"You're abandoning me for that stinky man? Nooo~!"
"Alright, alright, that's enough," Asuna replied with mild exasperation.
Argo put on a pitiful face and stared at Asuna with puppy-dog eyes, but Asuna simply picked up the mushroom-shaped cup from the table, gently blew on it twice, took a small sip, and ignored her entirely.
Akimi blinked in surprise, then the corners of his mouth lifted in a grin.
Childishly, he stuck his tongue out at Argo and leaned smugly a little closer to Asuna.
"You rotten Aki-bou!!!"
"Bleh~ yee"
Asuna could only put a hand to her forehead in resignation—these two were complete children.
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