Chapter 199.1

Chapter 199 : Food cans that won’t open

After morning classes, it was time for lunch.

We were walking through the streets of Gailadite, looking for a place to eat.

Various restaurants were lined up on both sides of the road, giving off appetizing aromas.

Since it was around noon, all the restaurants seemed to be quite crowded.

“No doubt, when it comes to Gairadite, trying their famous Hero fried balls is a must in my opinion. They were a little out of season during our previous school exchange, but now they’re serving them at all kinds of restaurants.” Eleonore explained as she led the way.

“Hero fried balls…? I don’t like that name…” (Sasha)

When Sasha blurted that out, Misha tilted her head.

“What do they fry?” (Misha)

“…Hero… meat…” Zeshia answered with her hands gripped tightly, and a serious look on her face.

Misha blinked in response.

“Fufu! Zeshia’s joking, of course.” (Eleonore)

“I like… telling… jokes…” Zeshia said with a giggle.

“You definitely picked that up from Eleonore…” Sasha commented while glancing at Eleonore in dismay.

“So what are they actually made of?” Misa asked, to which Lay replied.

“Hero fried balls are made with ingredients that require courage to obtain, hence their name. There’s alpine medicinal herbs that can only be obtained by climbing up steep cliffs, lotus seeds that grow in poisonous swamps, and dragon meat that could be obtained by slaying dragons two thousand years ago. But…” (Lay)

Obviously, eating dragon meat wasn’t part of any custom in this era.

When Ray turned to look at Eleonore, she answered.

“Now they use beef. They hunt a ferocious beast called a Fighting Bull for it. Ah! Speaking of, here’s where we’re going to eat. They serve the best Hero fried balls in Gairadite.” (Eleonore)

Eleonore stopped in her tracks.

In front of us was a restaurant called ‘The Meaty Flavor’.

“It’s often crowded, but it’s empty today, so we should be able to eat right away. Let’s go.” (Eleonore)

Lay, Sasha and the others entered the store after Eleonore.

Just as I was about to go inside, the wind carried a familiar voice to my ears.

“…Come on, why won’t it open?!” (Emilia)

When I turned around, I found Emilia.

She was sitting on a rock in an unpopulated plaza, and sending magic power into a can.

It was probably a magic can.

The principle of it was to send magic power into it to open the lid, but she seemed to be having trouble with that.

Realizing that she couldn’t open it with her own magic power, she eventually started pounding the can against her rock. However, it was too sturdy, and Emilia couldn’t force it open with her slender arms.

“Misha.” (Anos)

Just as I called her, Misha, who had just entered the store, popped out of the entrance.

“Can you order whatever you think I’ll like for me?” (Anos)

She nodded and glanced once at Emilia.

Then she looked at me again and smiled.

“You’re kind.” (Misha)

Misha went back into the store.

Instead of heading inside, I went to Emilia in the plaza.

Without even noticing my presence, she was frantically smashing her can against the rock.

And as she did so, she grumbled things like, “You’re persistent for a stupid can of food”.

“Let me take a look at it.” (Anos)

When I called out to her, Emilia looked up with a curious look on her face.

“Umm… If I remember, you’re Anosh Polticoal-kun, aren’t you?” (Emilia)

“That’s me. These magic cans don’t react to a demon’s magic power wavelength. However, this condition isn’t very strict. Altering your own magic power to make it more human-like should do the trick.” (Anos)

I held out my hand, and Emilia placed her can of food on it.

I grabbed the top of the can, and pulled out the lid by force.

“What happened to altering your magic power?!” Emilia shouted in surprise.

I handed her the food can with the lid off.

“I thought this way would be faster.” (Anos)

“…Thank you…” Emilia said as she accepted the can back.

She looked down and stared at her food can.

It was filled with salted meat.

“Is that all you eat?” (Anos)

“I bought a lot of other things.” (Emilia)

Emilia drew a magic circle and put her hand inside.

She pulled out a food can, and another, and another again.

“I can’t open any of them, though.” (Emilia)

“Kuhaha!” (Anos)

I sent magical power to the magic cans.

Then the lids opened.

Inside were fish pickled in oil, canned bread, and cooked beans.

“Does canned food taste good? They probably serve plenty of it at restaurants and other such places.” (Anos)

“I don’t like noisy places. Once you put food in your mouth, it tastes all the same wherever you eat.” (Emilia)

Such an odd one.

“What kind of individual eats canned food outside when there are so many food stalls all around?” (Anos)

“Up until yesterday, I was buying my meals from food stalls. But I find it bothersome to talk to people when I purchase them. So, before I knew it, I had suddenly stocked up on food cans for the entire year.” (Emilia)

“But you can’t open any of them, can you?” (Anos)

Emilia skewered her salted meat with a fork and shoved it into her own mouth, as if to tell me to be quiet.

She looked like she was chewing on it out of hatred.

Hmm. Well, if she didn’t want to talk to anyone, I might as well leave her alone.

Without saying anything else, I started turning on my hell.

“Anosh-kun…” (Emilia)

When I turned around, Emilia was staring at her cooked beans.

“You’re skilled at magic too, aren’t you?” she seemed to mutter to herself.

“You’re good at rolling the dice and using your Magic Eyes, you’ve got so much power, and you’re still so young. You’re a real genius.” (Emilia)

“Hmm. I won’t deny it, but this power I was born with isn’t something I can be particularly proud of.”

“…I’m so envious…” (Emilia)

That was unusually honest of her.

Was it because she was talking to a child?

“…Ah…” (Emilia)

When Emilia raised her head and looked at me, she averted her gaze in shame.

“Looks delicious.” (Anos)

“Eh?” (Emilia)

“Your salted meat.” (Anos)

“Ah.” (Emilia)