Auntie
“I hope something delicious comes out for lunch again today. Right?”
“If possible, something with strawberries in it….”
“Sure, sure. I’ll give you all the strawberries, so let’s just go.”
And so I arrived at the restaurant with Soli. The place was as lively as ever, no different from usual.
“Looks like this restaurant’s theme is Japanese food?”
“More like seafood, if you ask me.”
The moment we stepped inside, the scent of the ocean filled the air. Sushi and live sashimi, of course—but also snow crab and shrimp, things I never even got to see in ordinary life. My mouth was already watering.
“Is something wrong?”
The look on Soli’s face as she stood beside me had gone noticeably stiff. Did she not like seafood? In that case, I shouldn’t go overboard showing how much I was looking forward to it.
“No, I was just wondering if Seha would be okay.”
“Me?”
“Kids Seha’s age usually aren’t big fans of seafood.”
Ah, right! I completely forgot how I must look to other people.
At best they probably saw me as the age where I’d throw a tantrum over carrots. None of that applied to me at all.
Of course I have likes and dislikes too.
Give me a meat side dish and I’d clean the plate; put eggplant namul in front of me and I’d force it down. But everything here was bound to be delicious, so there was nothing to worry about.
“I, I love this kind of stuff!”
“R-really? I only ever saw you being a picky eater before….”
“When did I ever do that!”
Even if it was Soli, I couldn’t stand being slandered. After the first floor, hadn’t my tray always been piled high with every kind of food? Granted, the dessert ratio had been a little high—that much I couldn’t deny.
“You really like seafood, huh?”
“Come on, I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”
I called a server and confidently ordered a snow crab. Soli’s eyes went wide with surprise. The enormous shell that had caught my eye the second we walked in had kept tugging at my attention; I simply had to try it. In my previous life I would never have gotten to eat something this expensive—I wouldn’t even have gotten to look at it. Right now I just wanted to eat every luxurious thing I could get my hands on.
“Your order is ready~”
Seeing the snow crab up close, it was even bigger than I’d imagined. Ten of my palms still wouldn’t have been enough to cover it. My hands started moving on their own—until my reason yanked them back.
Last time the server told us to wait, right?
It was the same this time.
Ziiing—
Aura bloomed from the server’s hands as if they were gripping a sword, and they began neatly dismantling the crab with the edge of their hand. Chop, chop.
“Whoa….”
“The staff on rest floors are never ordinary, are they?”
Soli’s words hit the mark perfectly. At first I’d thought the restaurant servers looked plain compared to the elves and dwarves living in the shops. The truth was they could sprinkle sweet powder from their fingertips or even wield aura—extraordinary people, every one of them.
But… how am I supposed to eat this?
The snow crab I’d been waiting for now sat on the table in front of me, yet I had no idea how to approach it. I could only stare like a dog that had chased a chicken onto a roof.
“Ah, this is how you eat snow crab!”
Soli, ever sharp, kindly showed me the method—treating me like an adorable child who knew nothing.
“See? If you do it like this, just the leg meat comes out clean.”
“Whoa, awesome!”
Because it had already been prepared, a gentle pull was enough to reveal the tender white flesh. Then… did that mean the giant claws had meat inside too? I wasted no time finding out for myself.
“Oh! The claw meat is actually chewier and tastier—looks like you know a thing or two.”
Soli sounded impressed. Getting praised for something like this somehow pricked my pride a little. I popped the claw meat into my mouth.
“Isn’t this just imitation crab?”
“Well… imitation crab is made to taste like the real thing, after all.”
Somehow this isn’t the flavor I was expecting.
I’d thought something this expensive would live up to the price, but maybe not. It wasn’t “I refuse to eat this” like eggplant, just… underwhelming.
“Or try dipping it in soy sauce?”
Seeing me freeze with the huge claw still in my hand, Soli smiled gently and offered advice. I must have been making a face without realizing it.
“Yeah, with soy sauce it’s actually pretty good.”
“You say that, but your body is honest.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve already cleaned out every single leg.”
“Wait, what?”
I’d reached out without thinking and there were no legs left. Maybe I liked snow crab more than I thought.
“Hold on! We’re not done yet.”
Soli stopped me just as I was about to order the next dish.
Don’t tell me she wants me to pick every last scrap of meat off the tips of the legs?
Leaving meat on chicken bones looks bad too, after all. While I hesitated, Soli held up the crab’s carapace.
“Actually, this is the real delicacy.”
“You’re saying I can eat what’s inside that?”
“A lot of people eat snow crab just for this part.”
I trust Soli, but this feels wrong.
The visual alone looked like something that would give you food poisoning and land you in the hospital on the spot.
“Hey, you shouldn’t joke about food.”
“I’m serious! You don’t just eat it plain—you mix it with rice like this.”
“Hmm….”
“Seha, don’t tell me you don’t believe me?”
I do have a recent memory of believing you and ending up with a flooded room.
If I said that out loud there was a 347% chance Soli would pout, so I swallowed the thought.
“I’ll really try it?”
Soli had completely forgotten her own meal and was just watching me. Half in hope, half in dread, I squeezed my eyes shut and shoved a spoonful into my mouth.
“Urgh—ptoo, ptoo, ptoo!”
“Hehe, I had a feeling Seha would react exactly like that.”
I got played perfectly!
It felt exactly like telling someone boarding a plane for the first time that they had to take their shoes off. The bitter taste flooding my mouth made me spit it out before I could even swallow.
“Hmph, I never thought you’d lie about something like this….”
The carapace sat roughly discarded in the bowl. Soli snatched it up as if she’d been waiting and said,
“Lots of people like this, okay? Me included. Want me to show you how I eat it?”
The instant she finished speaking she scooped up a big spoonful of the crab innards. The sight was so shocking I couldn’t even care that my saliva had been on it.
“Kids usually don’t get this flavor yet.”
“What am I, some middle-aged guy smoking cigarettes….”
Watching her eat with genuine enjoyment, it didn’t look like she was just teasing me. Had my body becoming younger made my taste buds younger too? In the end I could only order something else, looking thoroughly dejected.
In the end, strawberries are still the perfect match for my palate.
I flipped through the menu without much hope—it was a Japanese place, after all—when an unexpected name jumped out at me.
“Fruit sando? What’s that?”
“Never heard of it? Just think of a sandwich stuffed with whipped cream and fruit.”
“A fruit sandwich?!”
Doesn’t that count as weird food too?
Fruit is delicious and sandwiches are delicious, so why mash them together? Today really felt like a parade of strange dishes.
“Don’t think of it that way. Just picture a strawberry cake shrunk down small.”
“Whoa, when you put it like that it actually makes sense.”
I felt like I’d been persuaded by weird logic. Though it was also true.
“Then I’ll order it?”
I was about to call the server without a second thought when a voice stopped my hand halfway to the call bell.
Huh?
It had been so quiet I’d assumed there wouldn’t be any trouble—why show up now? The World Tree’s very next explanation answered the question.
What is that even supposed to mean….
No matter how you looked at it, this was just the World Tree throwing a tantrum because it wanted to eat something it liked. I should at least ask what it wanted.
Hmm….
I’ll take the eel rice bowl!
Height was a serious matter. I’d been feeling quietly gloomy that nothing about my height had changed at all. One snow crab hadn’t filled me up either—I was still a little hungry—so the timing was perfect.
“Eel rice bowl? I didn’t know Seha ate things like that.”
Soli’s eyes went round with surprise. It really didn’t match the foods I usually went for.
“It just looked tasty, and I heard it’s good for you, so I wanted to try it.”
“Is that so…? It would definitely be good for the body.”
Soli answered with a faintly awkward expression, then ducked her head and went back to her own food.
“Your order is ready~”
The eel rice bowl was set in front of me in no time. I was just thinking that, unlike before, the server hadn’t used any special magic when they spoke again.
“This dish has been prepared so the guest may enjoy it however they prefer. Please refer to this guide for the detailed methods.”
The server flicked their fingers and a guide sheet popped into existence right before my eyes.
“Oh….”
“What is it, what is it? Let me see too.”
“Looks like there’s a way to eat it with side dishes, and also a way to mix it with broth?”
So you divide the rice into four portions and eat it differently each time?
First enjoy the pure flavor, second with green onion or seaweed, third mixed with broth, and the last portion however tasted best—that seemed to be the idea.
“Wow! This is insanely good!”
Unlike ordinary grilled fish, it had already been smoked and smelled promising from the start. Fluffy rice, rich eel, and a sweet-savory sauce on top. The World Tree’s recommendation far exceeded my expectations.
“Surprising. This is usually a dish older folks enjoy.”
“Really? It just tastes good to me.”
“Taste is one thing, but there’s another reason older people like eel….”
Soli trailed off mid-sentence, looking like she was debating whether to say more.
“I guess it’s still a bit early for Seha to hear.”
“Come on, I’m old enough to know everything I need to know.”
At most it’s just that it’s expensive and hard to eat often, right?
Watching Soli keep her mouth firmly shut and offer no explanation, I reached my own conclusion.
The World Tree suddenly spoke up again without so much as a turn signal.
That was literally just a moment ago—of course I remember. I’m not a goldfish.
The World Tree trailed off exactly the same way Soli had. So what on earth was it?
After glancing at my reaction, the World Tree finally continued.
What the hell is this crazy auntie saying!!!
My cheeks burned tomato-red from the embarrassing words. All I could do was scream at the World Tree inside my head.