<h4>Chapter 30: Mine and your food tasting</h4>


    As Dase is the center for the distribution of goods, not only that there is a wide variety of selections but the number of items for those varieties is a lot.


    They weren’t that strict with these types of items, the range and item selections of their shops were more misceneous aspared to the Royal Capital or the capital of Laius. However, that itself had added liveliness to the town.


    It is a bustling town overflowing with various people such as merchants, sailors, and tourists. The town is full of energy that if you are not careful enough with your surroundings, you will be swept and swallowed by the constant swarms of people carrying their loads around.


    “Wah! Wow! Amazing! It’s as high as a mountain!”


    “Oh! It is amazing!”


    Jasmine eximed in admiration as she looked up to the piles of fruits. The fruits were of all colours and kinds, of all shapes and sizes, some piled up in bags, some in boxes, and some in heaps.


    There was a mixture of smells among the fruits, some were unripe, some were sweet, and some were sour. Then, the four of them decided to stand side by side in front of the mountain of fruits. Jasmine expressed her admiration and Kaid responded in aposed manner. As for Samua, he was looking up towards Kaid.


    “He’s so tall…”


    “Yeah…”


    “Do you think my height can go up to like him? I wonder what I should eat? What did he eat for him to get that big?”


    “Hmm…”


    My response to Samua’s innocent question was an answer that can’t be considered as one. Because of that, Samua wasn’t satisfied with my ambiguous reply that he ended up asking Kaid directly.


    “My Lord!”


    “Yes?”


    “What should I eat to get taller?!”


    “………… Stewed Bear Meat.”


    It was an answer that was given after long considerations of all the different types of food that he had previously eaten. I feel like besides Kaid himself, I am the only one who realized the truth behind the answer.


    It’s hard to say that he had previously eaten poisonous mushrooms, poison nts, and even leather shoes as food. Noticing that Kaid had answered with so much contemtion, Samua gave a devastating look. Indeed, stewed bear meat wasn’t amon home-cooked meal. Plus, you won’t be able to find it in stores as well. Regardless of anything, the ingredients are not something that can be easily obtained.


    Kaid wore a troubled smile and ruffled up Samua’s hair.


    “Don’t worry, you’re still young. As long as you eat and sleep well. You’ll be able to grow taller than I was when I was sixteen.”


    “You really think so?!”


    “If you grow out too fast, your joints will hurt, so hang in there. Although, I do think drinking poison would be more effective.”


    “Urgh…”


    Kaid had thisplicated expression pasted on his face as if he was remembering the pain. The fact that it was said by someone who had multiple contacts with poison sounded scarily convincing.


    However, he has grown up. The more I learned of his past, the more I feel the need to thank the world for letting him grow up safely.


    “Well? Where do you guys want to go?”


    “Ah! Master! I want to go here.”


    “I’m thinking about here.”


    Both of them took out their papers cheerfully to show Kaid. Apparently, they had been writing their agenda down, and just by ncing from afar, I could tell that they had written a lot. I wonder how many sheets of paper were there in total. I don’t think we will be able to go through all those ces now.


    Kaid went and stopped at the side of the road to avoid interfering with the traffic. He then tried to consolidate whatever the ces the two had written down.


    “These are the shops that you wanted to go to, isn’t it?”


    “Right! They’re just meant for souvenirs! Or maybe, more like errands? We thought of buying anything if we saw anything that catches our eye along the way… Is it too difficult to go through it all?”


    “Not everything. But, I’m not sure if you would be able to shop at the Royal Capital, and on our way back, I doubt we won’t have the time to stop by to shop. So, it’s best to get whatever you can here now… Samua, you don’t need to buy the items on ourst row. Who asked you to get those?”


    “Is that so? I couldn’t find any store as I didn’t know what it is. So, I thought that I could ask about it at the other stores on where to find it.”


    “You can forget about thatst one. Right. For now, let’s just go wherever we can. Additionally, we won’t be getting items that don’tst long. Things like fresh fruits or fish are not possible no matter how you think about it… You do know that it’s okay for you guys to refuse something? You always ended up epting everything even if you do know some are just impossible. So, this was what Carolina was worried about when she said that you guys can’t say no.”


    Kaid let out a sigh as he shoved the memo into his pocket. He then turned and faced me.


    “Do you have any ces in mind that you wish to go to, My Lady?”


    “Not particrly. This is the first time I went out to y with my friends. So, I’m feeling nervous.”


    After I said that, both Jasmine and Samua were quite shocked by it. For a person of my age to not ever hang out with friends was something quite rare. Especially, when the both of them were people that could be friends with about anyone, Which in turn made them even more shocked.


    After all, they were the two people who became Wilfred’s regrets


    “Shirley! Let’s y lots together, okay?!”


    “I-Is shopping alone enough?! Are you sure you are okay…? Do you want some kind of entertainment?!


    I was surprised when the two of them grabbed hold of my hand on each side.


    “I’m sure it’ll be fun regardless wherever we go. However, I don’t know any etiquette of going out to y with friends. So, I might not have realized it myself if I had made any mistake. It would be great if you would tell me whenever that happens.”


    The two of them agreed to it readily as they nodded their heads vigorously. I felt guilty for leaving everything up to them including where we would be going as well as what we will be going to do. I wonder if I would be able to voice out my thoughts to them next time.


    I never thought that I would be able to have this kind of wish one day. I never thought that the day woulde when I would be allowed to go out and y with my friends in my previous life, and to wish for something in my current life.


    “Shirley! There! Let’s go to that shop!!”


    As Kaid had said, from tomorrow onwards, I’ll be putting more effort and attention into myself from head to toe. At the very least, I hope that I’ll be able to stretch my wings and have a good time today.


    “Alright. Let’s go.”


    She had held onto my hand as she headed off. I tried my best to follow suit at a pace that I wasn’t used to.


    “Shirley! This is really delicious! Try it!”


    Jasmine offered me a tasting but I wasn’t able to respond to her as I already had it shoved into my mouth.


    I just tried one of what Jasmine had offered earlier and I had already finished the new one. So, I covered my mouth with one hand as I hurriedly tried to munch down the food.


    “My Lady, it’s okay to take it slowly.”


    Kaid wasughing mirthfully while acting as a barricade to prevent the passing people from colliding. He must have tasted the same thing and had already finished eating.


    “Master, I’m here to pass you the receipt.”


    “Oh, thank you.”


    “Much obliged.”


    Samua returned afterpleting the purchase. We went around to several stores, and each time we bought something, a Laius person would appear out of nowhere and take it with him, so we went around the town almost empty-handed. Likely, there are still soldiers guarding us in the vicinity, just not in our line of sight.


    “Samua! Both this and this are delicious!”


    “… Ah. You’re right. It’s good.”


    I was shocked to see Samua started talking right after putting a piece of the food sample in his mouth.


    Jasmine was full of smiles and energy, and was so open in sharing the deliciousness with us that the people at the store kept offering her samples one after another. Each time we were offered a sample, I was the only one whogged.


    At first, I thought it was because they weren’t used to eating while standing. However, after looking at their behaviour, I can’t help but to feel that something is fundamentally different rather than something that they were used to.


    Up till earlier, I was depressed for not being able to give a proper answer at the sundry store to the question asked “Which is better?”. I didn’t expect to be in a different kind of haste here.


    I’ve been moving my mouth for quite some time, and Kaid had been waiting for me without rushing me. While smiling,


    “My Lady, this might be the first time to see someone rushing to eat.”


    When I saw Kaid chuckling, I ended up bing more embarrassed. I used one hand to cover up my mouth, whereas the other reached forward to stop Kaid. This is what happens if you don’t have any chance tomunicate back.


    The food that they gave me to try was slightly bigger than I had expected. I had trouble trying to stabilize it before cing it into my mouth as it was on a skewer. Even when it was being passed to me, I was so nervous thinking I might end up dropping it.


    After sessfully biting the big piece into smaller pieces to have it swallowed in one bite, it was still too big for me. Reflexively, I got teary-eyed with thatst piece as I got surprised thinking that it might get stuck in my throat.


    My voice broke a little as I desperately tried to speak up.


    “Please…don’t stare too much… It’s embarrassing.”


    “It’s because you tried to finish it in one go. It’s alright for you to take it slow.”


    “But, you wereughing at me.”


    I was so embarrassed that I didn’t expect myself to give such a sulky response. Even though I was done eating, I kept my mouth shut and red up towards Kaid.


    “I had forgotten… That you’re mean at times.”


    “I apologise. I knew that you would forgive me. So, I couldn’t help it.”


    It was the same with Helt, where sometimes he was being mean. I then turned my head away from him.


    “Even I am capable of getting even with you, you know.”


    “As much as I’m interested in that, I’m ashamed of my actions. By the way, what kind of payback is it?”


    I returned my gaze towards Kaid. He may seem to be having fun in the situation but at the same time, I could also see that he truly felt bad for his actions. I’m so frustrated that I can’t seem to read his true intentions. However, if I were to reveal what kind of payback I would be doing, I’m sure he would be troubled rather than astonished.


    “I will be randomly talking to you whenever you have your mouth filled with lots of foods.”


    “Ah. I can just swallow them up and give a proper answer to you. So it’s fine by me.”


    “Eh? You can do that without biting? Guys are amazing. Or is it that you have arger throat?”


    “Any other ideas?”


    “Wait… Erm… That’s right. I will randomly stop by your room, especially when you are done with your work and is about to have your rest time.”


    “I’ll be happy if you do that.”


    “Eh? Aren’t you tired by then? You can be mad at me for interrupting your early rest, okay?”


    “I’ll be delighted. Any more?”


    “Erm…Let’s see…Only your meals will be changed to food that is prepared by me.”


    “I’ll be happy though.”


    “Eh? You’ll end up being the only one unable to eat the Chef’s delicious cooking, you know?”


    “I’ll still be happy.”


    Kaid’s facial expression changed to a somewhat more serious one. His previously amused and fearful face that had been floating about disappeared.


    Maybe it would have been better if he had been amused. I’m really bad at conversations as well as word choices. My shoulders slumped down seeing Kaido who was neither intimidated norughing at me.


    “Getting even… is difficult…”


    “No… In a sense, they were all quite intense. Although rather than anything else, I would prefer to have thest one.”


    “Are you sure? Back at the nursery home, I used to cook in a big pot. So, I’m not that good at cooking in small portions. The pot I used was amazing! It’s like a huge ball of feather duster.”


    I couldn’t do a very good job of getting back at him, but we slowly continued our rxed conversation.