Despite some small problems, Shirou and the others successfully got on a ship headed for the central continent.
Paul's helper, Vera, prepared all the things they would need for the boat trip before they left.
Besides food for the trip, she even included medicine for sea sickness.
With the sea sickness medicine, Eris no longer needed Shirou to use Avalon's healing magic all the time and could enjoy the boat ride.
But maybe because she was worried about getting sea sick again, she was very careful and stayed close to Shirou on the ship.
Shirou quietly stayed with Eris, and they looked out at the sea together.
Even though it wasn't very exciting, they both enjoyed this peace after a long time.
Until land appeared again at the end of the sea.
They had finally arrived at their destination, the Dragon King Kingdom.
...
The Dragon King Kingdom is in the southwest of the central continent. It's a large country surrounded by the Dragon King Mountains, and part of it is next to the ocean.
Because of its special location, even though they speak the same language, the Dragon King Kingdom feels very different from any other country in the world.
The ship entered the eastern port of the Dragon King Kingdom.
Shirou and the others arrived at the biggest port in the Dragon King Kingdom.
Maybe because the trip was so long, neither Shirou nor Eris reacted much to the new place.
They went to the adventurer's guild to check in almost as a routine, and then started looking for a place to stay.
Just then, Eris suddenly said, "That smells really good!"
"Smells?"
Hearing Eris's words, Shirou was surprised and realized that there was indeed a smell coming from somewhere.
The smell was very special, and even Shirou was a little drawn in. Plus, they had been on the ship for a long time, and their stomachs were starting to growl.
"Should we get dinner?"
"Yes, yes!"
Eris nodded quickly.
Even though Eris wanted to eat Shirou's food more, she didn't want Shirou to cook after such a tiring trip.
So they followed the smell and soon saw a restaurant in a quiet corner.
The first impression of the restaurant was that it looked bad.
The brick walls were falling apart, and there were even holes in them.
The wooden sign was dirty and worn, making it impossible to read the words on it.
The door hinges were loose, and it looked like the door could fall off at any time.
It looked more like an old, ruined building than a restaurant.
However, the smell coming from it was real.
The smell was strong, and even though it wasn't a smell that made you want to eat, it had a special, delicious smell that was hard to ignore.
"Should we go in?"
Ruijerd asked.
When most people saw a restaurant that looked this bad, they would probably stop.
Even Eris hesitated after seeing the restaurant.
Shirou didn't judge by appearances. He slowly said, "The smell from this place is real. Maybe we can try some different food."
Shirou was just as interested in cooking as he was in swordsmanship and forging.
So when he found someone who might be a good cook, he wanted to visit their place.
"Okay, if you say so..."
Eris and Ruijerd listened to Shirou.
They followed Shirou's steps and went inside the restaurant.
Inside, it was indeed very run-down.
Of course, "dirty" wasn't the right word. The inside of the restaurant was still clean, but it looked old and broken.
Not only were the chairs missing legs and the tables cracked, but there were even holes in the floor.
In such a bad place, there weren't any customers.
"Did we come to the wrong place?"
Even Eris started to wonder if the restaurant was normal and showed some hesitation.
But Shirou didn't change his mind. The closer he got to the smell, the more sure he was that the person who ran the restaurant had a special talent for cooking.
"Is anyone there?"
"Welcome..."
As soon as Shirou spoke, someone answered.
A very skinny man who looked like a skeleton came over with the menu. He was tall and thin, like a bamboo stick, so he looked like a walking skeleton.
Most importantly, his face was dark and gloomy, like a zombie. Even though he was talking to customers, he didn't smile at all.
"Shirou, I think we should leave."
Even Ruijerd, who was usually nice, hesitated when he saw the man and was startled by the sudden appearance of this strange man.
"Ahem, let's ask first."
Shirou tried to calm them down.
He knew that this was his own idea.
So he asked the skeleton-like owner about the food on the menu.
The owner opened the menu happily (but still didn't change his expression). The menu only had two items: Dragon Meat Seven-Star Fry and Stewed Alba Fish.
"Only two dishes?"
"That's right."
Shirou hesitated at the owner's answer.
He couldn't understand how a restaurant that only sold two dishes could survive.
And one of the dishes had "dragon meat" in the name.
He guessed that the "Dragon Meat Seven-Star Fry" probably wasn't real dragon meat and was just a fancy name, but it still made him curious.
"Can I have the Dragon Meat Seven-Star Fry?"
"No problem."
When Shirou ordered, the skeleton-like owner went back to the kitchen.
Shirou and the others waited for their food and realized that there wasn't even water to drink.
The service was terrible.
Even Shirou started to doubt whether the food was really worth trying.
He knew that there were many special things to see in the Dragon King Kingdom.
Especially the armor.
The Dragon King Kingdom's Dragon Knight Order had special skills and could make very strong armor. Shirou had been interested in the armor of this country before he came and wanted to see it.
Instead of wasting time in this unreliable restaurant, he should go to the Dragon Knight Order and ask about their armor-making skills.
"Excuse me!"
Just as Shirou was wavering, the door suddenly burst open.
A man who looked like a classic thug came into the restaurant rudely.
Hearing the noise, the skeleton-like owner, who was cooking, came out from the kitchen.
"Shagar..."
"Randolph, I need an answer today!"
"No matter how many times you come, my answer will be the same. Please leave."
"Hmph! How long are you going to keep this empty restaurant open?"
"This restaurant has been in my family for generations... Of course, I'll keep it open until I die..."
Their short conversation revealed the situation of the restaurant.
The skeleton-like owner, Randolph, was bad at running the restaurant and was about to close down. The man named Shagar was probably trying to collect a debt.
While Shirou and the others were thinking, Shagar looked over at them and said in surprise, "This broken place actually has customers? That's rare."
"..."
Shirou and the others didn't respond to Shagar's words.
Shagar didn't seem to want to cause trouble. He found a spot nearby and sat down.
Randolph sighed in relief and went back to the kitchen.
Soon, Randolph finished cooking and brought the food to the table.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
After a long wait, the food was finally on the table.
The Dragon Meat Seven-Star Fry had three parts.
The first part was soup, clear vegetable soup.
Next was rice.
Shirou hadn't seen much rice since coming to this world. He later learned that white rice was a specialty of the Dragon King Kingdom, so it was a rare food.
He had only eaten it occasionally in Buena Village before.
The last part, of course, was roasted meat.
And it was fried meat.
In this world where most meat was roasted and even boiled meat was rare, fried meat was definitely a surprise.
Shirou realized that he might have found the right place.
This restaurant might have something special.
With this thought, Shirou ate a bite of the food with anticipation.
The soup and rice were fine, nothing special, but they showed the natural taste of the ingredients and were pretty good.
The only problem was the fried meat.
The moment he ate the fried meat, Shirou felt many different emotions running through his head. It was like he was eating something he shouldn't be eating, or like someone was trying to make something delicious out of terrible ingredients.
The meat was so bad that it ruined the whole taste.
Shirou had thought that the way the dish was made was interesting and that fried meat couldn't be that bad.
But after trying it, he realized that you can't make good food with bad ingredients.
Shirou had never had such bad meat in his life.
Even the meat of monsters from the Demon Continent wasn't as tough as this fried meat.
He even wondered if it was really dragon meat.
But how could an ordinary person get dragon meat?
Shirou hesitated and tried another bite, but he almost threw up. The outside of the meat was soggy and smelled like old oil, and the meat was dry and hard.
The more he chewed, the more the bad smell of the meat and oil filled his nose.
It made him feel sick.
"Ugh—!"
Before Shirou could say anything, Eris threw up. Because of her sea sickness, she threw up a lot and made a mess on the floor.
Seeing this, the owner, Randolph, looked upset.
The man named Shagar laughed loudly and clapped, saying, "I told you that you're not good at cooking, Randolph. Don't open a restaurant here, join my knight order!"
"This..."
Randolph hesitated at Shagar's words and Eris's expression and started to doubt his abilities.
But when Shirou saw this, he suddenly said, "Dragon Meat Seven-Star Fry, can you tell me how you make this dish? Maybe I can help you improve it."
"What?"
Randolph was surprised by Shirou's words and looked doubtful and hesitated.
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