Food Court

“I’m starving!”

Kaho exclaimed as soon as we left the clothing store.

Seram nodded in agreement.

When I checked the clock, it was already past two in the afternoon.

No wonder they were hungry.

“Shall we grab some lunch?”

“Where are we eating?”

“The food court.”

“Aw, come on!”

“By the way, you’re paying for your own food.”

“Then the food court is definitely our best option!”

Kaho had initially seemed dissatisfied with my choice of the food court, but the moment I told her I wasn’t treating her, she changed her tune completely.

“What exactly is this ‘food court’ place?”

“I could explain it, but we’re almost there, so it’ll be quicker if you see it for yourself.”

Since the food court was on the same floor as the clothing store, we arrived before I could even explain it.

The spacious, open area was filled with tables and chairs, surrounded by a wide variety of restaurants and food stalls.

“Oh! There are so many shops! Are all of these places restaurants!?”

Seram exclaimed in astonishment at the sight of the food court.

“Yeah. You order whatever you want from whichever restaurant you like, find an empty seat, and eat. That’s how it works.”

“With this many restaurants, deciding what to eat will be quite difficult.”

After hearing my explanation, Seram began wandering around, examining the various restaurants.

She probably intended to make a full circuit before deciding.

“I’ll order first and grab us a table.”

“Thanks.”

Kaho seemed to have quickly decided what she wanted and joined the line at a tempura rice bowl restaurant.

I followed Seram as she browsed the restaurants, occasionally explaining the different dishes to her.

“Have you decided what you want?”

“Ugh, there are so many tempting choices! Everything looks delicious.”

Seram groaned, clutching her head in frustration.

“Then how about ordering something you don’t normally get to eat at home?”

“Something we don’t normally eat at our house… Ah, bread!”

“Right. We mostly eat rice at home.”

Since I strongly preferred traditional Japanese food, I didn’t even keep bread in the house.

“Rice is delicious too, but I would love to eat bread again after so long!”

“Bread, huh…”

I immediately thought of Western dishes that went well with bread, but unfortunately, there weren’t any restaurants serving that sort of food in the food court.

However, there was a world-famous hamburger chain.

Hamburgers certainly qualified as a proper bread-based dish.

“In that case, how about trying that hamburger restaurant over there?”

“What exactly is a hamburger?”

“It’s something like a sandwich, with meat, vegetables, and other ingredients between pieces of bread.”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful! Then I’ll have one of those!”

After hearing my rough explanation, Seram joined the line.

“All right, I’ll give you some money, so try ordering whatever you want by yourself.”

“What!? Won’t you be ordering for me, Jin-dono!?”

“Think of it as practice for shopping on your own. Don’t worry, I’ll be right beside you.”

“V-very well. I’ll give it a try.”

I had already taught Seram about the currency used in this world.

If she was going to live independently here, it would be better for her to learn how to shop on her own. Kaho had accompanied her this time, but I couldn’t exactly go with her whenever she needed to buy underwear or other necessities specific to women.

She had studied arithmetic in her original world and could handle practical calculations, so shopping independently should have been within her capabilities.

“Welcome! What would you like to order?”

“Y-yes! U-um, which hamburger is delicious?”

Her very first response was already making me nervous. Surely there weren’t any bad hamburgers on the menu.

Under normal circumstances, the employee might have wondered what was wrong with her, but Seram’s foreign appearance seemed to earn her a particularly understanding smile.

“Let’s see. Our teriyaki burger is the most popular.”

“Then I’ll have that.”

“Would you like to make it a meal? It’s a better deal.”

“A… meal?”

“It comes with fries, which are made by deep-frying potatoes, and a drink. It’s cheaper to order them together, so go ahead and get the meal.”

When Seram froze at the unfamiliar ordering system, I stepped in to help.

“Then I’ll have the meal.”

“What size fries would you like? We have three sizes: small, medium, and large.”

“Hmm? If the price doesn’t change even with this large size, then I’ll have the large.”

“Certainly. Please choose a drink from this menu.”

“…Jin-dono, I’m afraid I don’t understand any of these drinks…”

Seram had successfully navigated the choice of fries, only to stumble when it came to the drinks.

The menu displayed the names and familiar branding of various popular beverages, but naturally, none of them meant anything to someone from another world.

“Just get orange juice.”

“Understood. I’ll have orange juice, please.”

“Certainly.”

With a little advice here and there, Seram successfully completed her order and paid for it.

“Phew. Shopping in this world is quite nerve-racking. There are so many options, and the process is rather complicated.”

“Well, it’s just a matter of getting used to it. Once you’ve ordered something, it gets easier.”

“Indeed. I have now learned the concept of ordering a meal. I’m certain I’ll be able to order much more smoothly next time.”

Seram clenched her fist, letting out a satisfied breath through her nose.

I could already picture a future where she ordered a meal with absolutely everything, driving up the price without realizing it.

Well, that would be a valuable learning experience in its own right.

“All right, I’m going to order my food too. Once you get your hamburger, meet us at that table where Kaho is sitting.”

Looking in that direction, I saw Kaho setting her tray of tempura rice bowl on a table and taking a seat at one of the four-person tables.

After confirming that Seram had nodded in understanding, I went off to order the food I wanted.

After collecting my order, I sat down at the table where Kaho and Seram were waiting.

Seram was sitting there patiently, displaying impeccable manners.

“You know, you could’ve started eating without me.”

“It would have felt wrong to eat before you when you’ve been accompanying me all this time, Jin-dono. I simply wished to wait, so please don’t concern yourself.”

“I see.”

Food was always best eaten while it was still hot, but if she felt uncomfortable eating before me, I couldn’t exactly force her to start.

Seram was as conscientious and earnest as ever. Personally, I wished she would relax a little more.

“Seram-san, you’re so sweet and devoted. Jin-san, you really found yourself a wonderful wife.”

“Y-you… You really think so?”

…Despite having come up with the whole wife story herself, Seram’s face turned bright red.

I had gradually gotten used to it, but Seram still seemed particularly vulnerable whenever someone caught her off guard.

“You, on the other hand, could stand to be a little more considerate.”

Unlike Seram, Kaho had been enthusiastically devouring her tempura rice bowl.

“Tempura rice bowls taste best while they’re still hot!”

“Even so, you’re eating way too fast!”

Only about a third of her rice bowl remained.

How fast did she have to eat to be almost finished by the time I sat down?

“Well then, let’s eat.”

“Indeed.”

I sat down and pressed my palms together, and Seram politely followed suit.

Although she hadn’t been in this world for very long, she already looked surprisingly natural performing the customary gesture and saying “Thank you for the meal” before eating.

Once she lowered her hands, Seram peeled back the hamburger wrapper and took a bite.

Her eyes immediately widened in astonishment.

“What incredibly fluffy bread! It’s so soft in my mouth, and the flavor of wheat spreads through it all at once! I’ve never tasted bread this delicious!”

“Seram-san, it’s hilarious that the bread is what surprises you instead of the filling.”

“Of course, the combination with the filling is wonderful too, but to think bread could be this soft and have such a rich flavor…”

“Well, it’s a hugely popular chain all over the world. Now that I think about it, they really do use good bread.”

Seram’s astonishment at the quality of the bread had brought out her otherworldly perspective again, but Kaho merely laughed without thinking anything of it.

Well, I supposed it was unusual for someone eating a hamburger to focus so much on the flavor of the bread.

“This is delicious. The combination of chicken and sauce is exquisite. I can certainly understand why it’s their most popular item.”

Seram shared her impressions between eager bites of her hamburger.

Since the ingredients were familiar to her from her homeland, she seemed to be enjoying her meal without hesitation.

For Seram, bread was another taste of home.

Maybe I’d buy her some bread when we went grocery shopping later.

While Seram continued happily eating her hamburger, I started on the chilled udon noodles I’d ordered.

I added finely shredded green onions, sesame seeds, seaweed, and wasabi to the dipping sauce, then dipped a small portion of noodles into it and slurped them up.

The noodles certainly had a different firmness and chewiness compared to instant noodles or the packaged ones I boiled at home.

They were easy to slurp, and every bite carried the distinct aroma and flavor of the noodles themselves.

During a hot season like this, cold dishes were especially easy to enjoy.

“…Jin-dono, isn’t that rather poor table manners?”

As I continued noisily slurping my noodles, Seram gave me a disapproving look.

“No, it’s not. This is how you’re supposed to eat chilled udon.”

“…I-is that so?”

“Yeah, slurping noodles like that is the normal way to eat them.”

Kaho answered Seram’s hesitant question for me.

I’d heard on television that foreigners weren’t accustomed to slurping noodles and were often surprised when they saw Japanese people doing it. This was probably the same phenomenon.

“If you’ve never tried it before, why don’t you have some too, Seram-san?”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yeah, go ahead and try a little.”

Cold udon and soba noodles were particularly delicious during this season.

They were also incredibly easy to prepare, making them one of my go-to meals at home.

However, if Seram developed an aversion to them, serving them at home would become rather troublesome.

Preparing a separate dish just for Seram would be a hassle, so I’d prefer it if she didn’t develop an unnecessary dislike for them.

With that in mind, I pushed the tray of chilled udon toward her.

“But these are the chopsticks you’ve already used, Jin-dono… If I eat with them, w-we’ll be… indirectly kissing…”

Hearing Seram mumble those words, I realized I’d been inconsiderate.

“Huh? But Seram-san, you’re Jin-san’s wife, aren’t you? Why would you worry about something like that now?”

I was about to fetch another pair of chopsticks or a fork, but Kaho immediately pointed out the inconsistency.

She had a point. It would be strange for someone supposedly married to me to worry about an indirect kiss at this stage.

If I knew a married couple who behaved like that, I’d probably wonder just how ridiculously platonic their relationship was.

“I-I was only joking, of course! I-I shall gladly try some!”

Hearing the suspicion in Kaho’s voice, Seram quickly reached for the chopsticks.

She was still unfamiliar with using them, and watching her desperately struggle to pick up the noodles while trying to maintain the story she’d invented was almost painful.

Despite her clumsiness, Seram managed to lift some noodles, dip them into the sauce, and put them in her mouth.

“…………”

However, she apparently didn’t understand how to slurp, because she stopped with the noodles hanging halfway out of her mouth.

“Slurp them up like you’re sucking air into your mouth!”

After Kaho explained the technique, Seram finally managed to slurp up the noodles with a soft sucking sound.

“Well?”

“Y-yes. They’re quite delicious.”

She appeared to be maintaining her composure, but her ears had turned a faint shade of red.

She was probably so preoccupied with the indirect kiss that she could barely taste the noodles.

Once Seram finished her sample, the tray of food she’d been tasting was returned to me.

Naturally, the chopsticks that came back were the very ones Seram had just put in her mouth.

However, with Kaho sitting right in front of us, I couldn’t exactly replace the chopsticks simply because my supposed wife had used them.

If I did something like that, Kaho might start suspecting that our marriage wasn’t going well.

In the end, I decided to resume eating with the chopsticks Seram had used, acting as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

“Ah…”

The moment I put the chopsticks in my mouth, Seram let out a little gasp, her face turning bright red.

Stop that. It’s not like I’m completely unaffected by this either, so don’t react like that.

You’re going to make it impossible for me to taste my udon.