Have You Eaten Yet?
Porona Restaurant was a place Noah and I went to often.
A restaurant run by a retired hunter.
Apparently the dishes he'd cooked during his hunting days had been so good that he quit the work entirely and opened a place of his own. The resolve to recognize his own worth and boldly walk away from hunting was genuinely impressive. It was a restaurant that always made me think of someone.
Would Cheiler open a place like this when he retired…?
I amused myself with the rather cheerful image of forcing someone who hadn't even retired yet into early retirement.
I sat at a corner table, trying to stay out of sight as much as possible. Not that this face could ever fully escape attention. Wherever I went, white hair stood out as something alien, and every so often eyes drifted my way. The sharp gazes of so many people had a way of making a body shrink into itself.
"She's gorgeous."
"Hey, that's the one…"
"So that's the hunter from the rumors."
A few people recognized me, but since I was tucked in the corner pretending not to notice, they only murmured among themselves and left it at that.
"…Hunter?"
"Ah."
Somehow the waitress had appeared beside me, smiling. She had a pleasant smile.
"You're here again today."
"…Yeah."
"The other hunter isn't with you?"
"Just me today."
Noah and I came here often enough that greeting the waitress every time had made us familiar faces. Not that we'd ever had a deep conversation. We were nothing more than a regular and a member of the staff.
"What can I get you?"
"One Mudridon tail skewer."
"Just that?"
"…Yeah. Food later. Someone else is coming."
"Alright then. Please wait a moment."
The waitress gave a slight bow and left.
All I'd ordered was a single Mudridon tail skewer for the table. Mudridon were livestock monsters, something like pigs or cows — so docile they were easy to raise, and the meat was tender. The tail especially was a delicacy people sought out for its chewy texture.
Whether it was a slow hour or I happened to be the only customer placing an order, the skewer came out faster than expected. I swallowed hard looking at the glistening tail meat on the table.
The reason I'd set the meeting place at Porona Restaurant was simple: I was hungry. Once someone accepted the quest and came to find me, I planned to have a proper meal then.
That's how people work — share something delicious and the wariness melts, the bond grows. You don't just meet someone for the sake of meeting. There's always food involved. Coffee, a meal, drinks. Eating with someone isn't about the food itself. You eat so you can enjoy the conversation together. A sip while exchanging greetings, a bite while making small talk.
If you're just hungry, you can fill up alone. There's always a reason you call someone to the table. Spend pleasant time with someone, and good food tastes even better. The warm feelings the occasion creates become a seasoning that deepens the flavor — and that brings people closer.
But what if they already ate somewhere else?
I fretted while nibbling at the meat.
…Would anyone turn down free food? Even if they're full, they'd probably still eat.
I didn't care who showed up, as long as they weren't weird — just a decent person. I wasn't asking for much. Someone I could talk to. A good person. That was enough.
I'd made the quest itself sound like some intimidating mid-sized company… but I hoped they'd understand I wasn't actually that scary.
So who would come?
It felt like being a child waiting for a present. Blind hope usually led to disappointment, but I couldn't help the swelling anticipation. I stared at the restaurant entrance, full of expectation.
I'd been waiting a while. Five people had already come through the door, but all of them were just here to eat. I was starting to wear out when someone else opened the door.
This one didn't look like a customer.
Small-framed and completely hunched in on herself, glancing around like a little animal — a girl.
Our eyes met.
Her dark brown hair was curly and fell all the way to her waist. Those dull light-brown eyes had no energy at all, but they flinched the moment they locked with mine.
…Did I do something wrong?
Pina was a poor hunter.
Her family had no trade to pass down, so they'd been poor for generations, and there were a lot of mouths to feed. Five siblings raised under their parents — Pina was the eldest of the five.
Her parents could barely make ends meet on their own wages, so the moment Pina was old enough to understand the world, at the young age of sixteen, she was practically pushed out to become a hunter.
"Barely making ends meet" was generous. The real problem was her father. Whatever money he brought in, he spent freely, so nothing ever accumulated. Pina becoming a hunter was about reducing the number of mouths at home while also bringing money back.
Truth was, Pina had wanted to do something else. There were clothing shops, restaurants — or, like any girl her age, she'd dreamed of becoming an actress. She had plenty of things she wanted to do, but her parents said hunting paid well, and without any real say of her own she was half-forced into becoming a hunter.
The hunter exam just required four people working together to take down a Pienos. A Pienos wasn't that hard once you got close, and Pina hadn't struggled with it either. But standing face-to-face with one, the thought that hit her was pure fear — she could never do this kind of work.
She knew the rewards for hunting monsters were large. A subjugation order meant risking your life for other people. The Association's pay was closer to a hazard bonus for putting your life on the line. She'd started hunting for that high income, but for a cowardly girl like Pina, it was hard.
Fortunately, hunting wasn't only about killing monsters. After that, Pina took non-combat quests. Plenty of the board's requests only needed passion and grit. Working herself to the bone brought in decent money, but sending it home left her broke again almost immediately. Because of that, even at an age when she should have been dressing herself up, she'd never once indulged in luxury.
In a situation like that, she naturally gave up on herself and lived by looking up to something else. Not Master Hunters — those were too unrealistic, too far away — but things close to her own life.
For example, the new light that had recently appeared in Antico.
The person who'd fallen like a comet and become the hottest topic among hunters. Before she was called the New Light, people called her the White Devil of the Flood, the white-haired greatsword hunter. Pina had always wanted to meet that person she'd only heard about in rumors.
She often tried to guess what kind of person they were. In Pina's mind, the New Light was her complete opposite — always confident, overflowing with self-assurance, incredibly skilled, rich, an indomitable hunter who never flinched before a monster. That was what the New Light meant to Pina.
"Haa…"
Today again, Pina dragged her exhausted body out to look for a quest. She wanted to move past simple labor and earn a little more. Recent overwork had left her bedridden for a while, so her income was tight — she didn't even have enough to send home.
She'd started the day without breakfast, trying to save money. She planned to eat lunch later, then hit the commercial district late in the evening for discounted leftovers. So all she'd had that morning was water. She tried to ignore the growling protest from her stomach.
Pina scanned the board a few times, but nothing suitable turned up, and she sighed. To earn the pay she wanted, she'd have to take down a Pienos or the low-grade monsters just above it. What Pina usually hunted were the lowest-grade monsters with almost no aggression and no real danger — herbivores like Mudridon or Amargamos.
Maybe sticking to what I already do is best after all…
Pina fretted over a quest paper.
"How long are you just going to stand there staring? Move it already."
"Ah— s-sorry!"
Even that got her pushed aside by other hunters. Pina rubbed her arm and stepped back. From a little farther away, she craned her neck to look at the board.
The hunters in front of it all carried weapons — combat hunters who fought monsters. Watching them deliberate over the low-grade monster quests she'd given up on, she felt somehow pathetic and clenched her clothes.
"Anything good…?"
"Oh, look over there."
"It's the New Light."
The hunters murmured in a way that didn't suit them. Pina lifted her head. Before she knew it, they weren't looking at quests anymore. Their eyes had left the board and fixed on the Association counter entrance. Pina followed their gaze.
"Ah…"
There was light.
A beauty whose radiant white hair suited her perfectly. Unusual peach-colored eyes and a cold expression — she looked like she'd stepped out of a fairy tale.
The New Light. The white-haired hunter. Alice.
Pina stared at Alice in a daze. Alice, finally before her, was beyond anything Pina had imagined. Alice didn't so much as glance at the murmuring around her.
Somehow it was hard to stay calm. What mattered was that the hunter from her daydreams was moving, right there. Her imagination shook her freely. In her mind, Alice was nothing like herself, crushed under poverty — she was like a noble princess. The excitement made her feel dizzy.
Her eyes followed Alice all the way. She couldn't look away until Alice finished speaking with the reception clerk and left the Association grounds. And when the clerk posted the quest paper, Pina squeezed between the hunters still looking at the board and checked the contents.
"Hmm, what kind of quest is it?"
"Looks like they're looking for a porter or something."
The hunters muttered over the newly posted quest. Only two things registered in Pina's eyes: the client's name was Alice, and the pay was negotiable.
Helping someone she admired was wonderful, but for a financially cornered Pina, money mattered too. In that sense, this quest was perfect. Worth the wait.
While everyone else was still deliberating, she struck first.
"Huh? What—"
"Tch, she grabbed it right away."
Before anyone else could do anything, Pina stretched out her hand, yanked the paper free, and headed for the counter.
"This one."
"Uh… yes?"
"I'll take this quest."
The reception clerk looked at Pina like she was something curious, then spoke. The clerk checked the quest details and asked back and forth whether Pina met the conditions — was she healthy, was she passionate enough, did she plan to stick with it long-term, was she responsible.
Honestly, Pina barely focused on most of what the clerk said. She was confident about all of it. Only the client's location mattered. Pina just kept nodding at the clerk's words.
The moment she got Alice's location and finished with the clerk, she left the counter at once. Her heart was pounding.
Had she ever imagined something like this could happen to her? After a life full of misfortune, luck had finally found her.
She could be with the New Light!
She walked to Porona Restaurant with energy, but the moment she opened the door, her body trembled. Thinking she was about to meet her, her mind seized up. She looked around for Alice. Soon her eyes met those of the white-haired girl in the corner.
Pina flinched with fear. Her timid nature made her shrink the moment she faced Alice. She felt like darkness curling away under a bright light.
After hesitating, she managed to sit down — but that was where the real problem began.
"Hi."
"Y-yes, h-hello…"
After the greeting, a silence neither of them could explain settled between them. Pina rubbed her hands together, fretting with her mouth.
Somehow, even her voice is nice.
Eyes lowered, Pina snuck a glance at Alice. Then she startled — Alice was quietly looking at her. Eyes that seemed to be coolly appraising her. Pina's eyes darted around, then dropped again.
What is she going to say?
Pina looked at her own hands with slightly anxious eyes. She was a little small, but she believed her grit and passion didn't lose to anyone. Hard work hadn't left her with poor stamina either. You only know by trying, right?
What if she gets rejected…
"Hey…"
Alice looked at Pina and opened her mouth.
"Yes?"
"Have you eaten?"
"N-no…"
"Want to eat, then?"
"…What?"
"I was waiting so we could eat together. The food here's good."
Pina blinked in confusion. Alice picked up the half-eaten tail skewer from the table. It had been sitting a while — the skewer had cooled a little.
"I'll treat you."
With that, Alice took a bite of the skewer. Her cheeks moved cutely as she chewed the meat.