Book 4: Chapter 127: 127 |
The following day.
What came after Christmas Eve --- something known to everyone and their mothers --- was christmas.
"Woah! Amazing! So this is Christmas in Mallorca!"
Since the school would be closed from today till the 4th of January, Tenji cooked up his plan to dive into the dungeon in the morning.
He woke up Chisato, who was mumbling something incomprehensible in her sleep, and walked through the town.
The path was colored in Christmas hues, with various foreign Christmas cultures blending into a slightly unusual and lively cityscape. And this was already the central district of the 3rd layer, Toulouse Central Pablo. He could imagine the grandeur that will be in the main streets of Mallorca's 1st layer.
The aromatic smell of nuts wafted into the air, and the scent of curry, grilled seafood, even beer and chicken tickled their noses.
Tenji and Chisato had purposely avoided having breakfast back at their home precisely because they knew that would be how the situation would play out. Knowing was one thing, it still didn't help in anything as they found themselves becoming enchanted by the smell and at the same time, their stomachs make 'guu~' growling noise.
"What do you want to eat, Chisato-chan?"
Chisato put her index finger on her lower lip, seemingly pondered. She walked down the street, her nose constantly twitching to smell the whiff of drifting smell to look for a meal that would suit their taste.
Eventually, Chisato stopped in front of a certain food truck.
"I choose it!"
She had chosen her option relying on the smell, rather than her eyes. As for the food truck that she had pointed out with certainty------
"Hey, kids. Today's menu is Christmas special spicy chicken and lobster moon-viewing muffin. Wanna buy some?"
Passing through the familiar streets, they arrived at the shop of food truck Ojii-san they saw almost every day. Though, the food truck today was set-up in a different place than usual. Tenji and Chisato looked in each eyes before laughing out. In the end, they were going to have their Christmas morning special breakfast at the same shop.
"Ojji-san, good morning! Then, we will take four portions."
"Right away, thank you for your patronage! I will whip it up quickly so help yourself with the drink for the time being."
Ojii-san poured some kind of drink from a container into small plastic cups and placed them on the food truck counter.
Chisato picked one unhesitatingly and gulped it down.
"Delish~. What is this, Ojii-san?"
"That? It's christmas tea they drink in england during christmas. It's made with spice, dried fruit, secret ingredient and milk which makes it suitable for children to drink as well."
" "Oh~" "
"There are surprisingly quite a lot of people from England who have come here. So such items from their home country sell like hotcakes."
Ojii-san answered delightfully.
Contrary to his usual unsociable self, he was currently exuding an air of friendliness. Perhaps, he seemed to have made a huge profit today. And Chisato being herself, fearlessly posed her doubt at him.
"Did something happen, Ojii-san?"
"What do you mean what?"
"Nothing~ It's just you look unusually in happy mood today~"
"Ahh, is it really that visible?"
" "As visible as the sun in bright sky" "
Chisato and Tenji replied, their voices coincidentally overlapping. Their reflexive answer just goes to tell what a rare sight it was to chance upon a friendly Ojii-san.
The man then, with a grin on his face like never before, lowered his gaze to the sizzling juices of the chicken. His cheeks adopted a slight vermilion hue.
"Ahaha......well......"
" "Well?" "
"......My wife is pregnant. It's going to be born next spring, though it's always spring here."
Chisato's lower jaw dropped hearing the news outside of their expectation. Tenji smiled with a look of genuine joy and raised his voice.
"Woah, really!? Congratulations! Ojii-san!|
"T-thanks...... I think I should tell you kids. I am planning to return to my hometown once the new year begins, considering my wife’s condition and all. So these are the last days of my business before I temporarily close it."
"Huh?"
"I am sorry, I know you kids are always looking forward to it."
"I see, well of course. Don't worry, Ojii-san. We will not forget the lemonade you made!"
Tenji lightly makes a joke. Just then, the 4 muffins were pretty much ready so Oji-san quickly packed them in paper. Chisato's lower jaw was still hanging in the air from earlier shock, showing no sign of moving.
"Where is your hometown, Ojii-san?"
"Marseille, a city in the france. It's not very far from here."
"That's good. Then we will be coming here for the rest of the days!"
"Hmm, thank you. Here, your four muffins are ready. I added a bit more lobster just for you. Eat up, give it your all today!"
"Your craftsmanship is amazing as well! Then, see you later!"
"You kids too, take care of yourself."
Tenji waved his hand in bid of goodbye while pulling the hand of Chisato who was still frozen like a machine without its power source and began walking down the streets once again.
Eventually, they arrived in front of the fountain and said their destination for the teleportation gate.
"------«To the 62th floor»."