Street Stall Lunch

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“In that case, let’s buy some food and eat it.”

At Ms. Lyra’s suggestion, we decided to leave the store and head to the main street where we could buy some food.
Leo remembered how we had bought all kinds of food when with Mr. Ekenhart, and so her tail wagged happily as we walked.
Liza rode on Leo’s back, and her eyes moved from one stall to the next.

“Oh, over there. That one over there tastes very good.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. We found it the last time we were here with Mr. Ekenhart, and it was really good.”

I guided Ms. Claire and Johanna over to the stall that we had gone to before.
They sold a kind of fried pasta…that was like yakisoba.
I could see them frying a great amount of noodles on a large pan.

“I see they are cooking it. And there are a lot of vegetables.”
“It is very…brown.”
“It is not the most colorful dish, but it does taste good.”

Ms. Claire was surprised to see the noodles being fried with so many types of vegetables, while Johanna was more surprised by the color.
While it was not some kind of luxurious dish, even Mr. Ekenhart had enjoyed it.
Besides, there was something very nostalgic about it for me.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Ms. Lyra and Nicholas had gone ahead and bought it for us.
There was enough for everyone.

“Here, Liza. Now get down from Leo while you eat. Or you might accidentally drop some on Leo’s nice fur. …Leo. You should let yours cool down a little first.”
“Wow! It smells so nice!”
“…Wuff.”

I accepted the noodles from Ms. Lyra and handed them to Liza and Leo.
I told Liza to come down from Leo and stand on the ground… It would be a lot of trouble if I had to wash Leo’s fur later.
And since the noodles were hot enough for steam to be rising from them, I told Leo to wait for them to cool off first.
But Leo was impatient, and though she nodded, she did not sound pleased.

“Indeed, it is a very appetizing smell.”
“While it looks strange, it is quite fragrant.”

Apparently, Ms. Claire and Johanna were feeling more positive about it now that they had smelled it.

“Well, let’s eat then.”
“…Mr. Takumi. Are you going to eat while standing up?”

When I held my fork and was about to eat, Ms. Claire looked at me with a baffled expression.

“Uh, yes. That’s what you usually do when you buy food from street stalls…”
“I-I see. Well, this is a new experience for me… I am sorry.”

I didn’t think there was any need to apologize. But I suppose the idea of eating food right after buying it on the streets was unusual for her.
It probably seemed very ill-mannered.

“Mr. Ekenhart didn’t seem to mind doing it?”
“Well, father doesn’t mind doing such things…”
“Ah, that is true…”
“Lady Claire. Perhaps we should move somewhere else?”

As we wondered what to do, Ms. Lyra made a suggestion as she returned with a lot of meat skewers she had bought.
When had she bought all of that…
But I had eaten them before, and knew that they were delicious. So it was not a wrong decision on her part.

“Well… While I would rather go somewhere else… The food might get cold.”
“Indeed. And it will not be half so delicious.”

Clearly, Ms. Claire greatly preferred to eat at a table.
But the longer we stayed here indecisively, the colder the food would become.

“…Very well. We will eat here!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Since Mr. Takumi recommended this, we should eat it while it is the most delicious. It would be such a pity if it were to get cold.”

Mr. Claire said, finally making up her mind.

“Thankfully, it seems like we haven’t attracted much attention. So there should not be a problem if we eat quickly.”

While there were some people looking in our direction, as Ms. Claire said, it wasn’t like everyone was staring at us.
Besides, it was just Leo who they were looking at.
Unlike the first time we were here, where Sebastian was in the lead, and Leo was in the back at a short distance, Leo would attract more attention than us, even if we were close by.

“Indeed. Let’s eat it up now.”
“Yes!”
“Then I’ll eat too…”

Ms. Claire wanted to take advantage of this moment, when eyes were on Leo, and she began to eat.
Ms. Lyra, Johanna and Nicholas also started to eat. Leo’s food had cooled off enough as well, and she was able to eat.
Liza had been watching us, but upon seeing us eat, she took a bite of the food as well.

Next Chapter

My Beloved Dog is the Strongest in Another World