The Secret of Lampades
If this place called Lampades were a game, and the events within this city represented about 50 hours of gameplay, this secret would likely have been revealed just before the final chapter. A city on the verge of destruction. I haven't grasped the exact background yet, but it’s a city that holds a festival as a funeral for itself. It defies common sense. If you want to live, you should just run away; even if you have a mountain of assets tied up in the city, you can't face extinction alongside it at the cost of your own life.
I wish I had more clues, but as a 10-year veteran hero, I had already revealed the answer to Shin Yuhee. It would have been fine for her to deduce the truth by finding other clues, but—
"Just eat comfortably."
I couldn't just watch her eat the table full of food with such an uneasy heart.
"Does it bother you? Are you worried about what might really be inside?"
"......."
The room service had arrived. The two maids who visited earlier had tried to serve and guide us directly in the living room, but I had politely declined and sent them away. The new maid who followed them in seemed to keep glancing toward the room where we had just finished our 'business,' but I decided to let it slide for now. Right now, I needed to take care of Shin Yuhee, who was staring at the exquisite food without even being able to pick up her knife.
"Are you just going to let it sit? You won't be able to eat food like this anywhere else."
"Are you talking about the luxury, or the ingredients?"
"The ingredients, obviously."
The spread before us was so dazzling that just looking at it made one realize, 'This is what fine dining is.'
"Even without knowing the ingredients, it looks magnificent and beautiful, doesn't it? You could say they painted a picture with food."
"That's true."
Everything I had only seen in photos or videos from trendy fine-dining restaurants on the internet was laid out before us. This was just room service—though, given the nature of Lampades, they probably put their best effort even into that—but I couldn't help but wonder how much better the full course would be if we ate it at the restaurant.
"It's not just the ingredients. The quality is unbelievable for a meal prepared near 2:00 AM."
"...It hits me all over again that I've fallen into another world."
"Because of the ingredients?"
"The ingredients, yes, but also this."
Shin Yuhee moved her hands and posed in front of the food.
"To think I can't even take a picture of this."
"You like taking pictures of food?"
"I don't usually. But when it's food I'm eating for the first time, or something fascinating, I want to keep a record of it."
That—I can sympathize with. If you think about what lies ahead, you could write a thousand-page thesis on how much a camera helps a hero's mental health. There are magical tools that can replace a camera, but none are quite like the real thing.
"Should I ask an angel later to make something like a camera?"
"To do that, you'd need the Goddess's favor, wouldn't you?"
"Once I get one somehow... Ah, there are other things I need to get first, so that's a lower priority."
"What's the top priority?"
"It's a secret. I'll tell you as soon as I get it. More than that... hmm."
Shin Yuhee, who had been framing the food and me with her hands like she was taking a picture, tilted her head.
"Senior, have you been to many course-meal places?"
"Hmm?"
"The way you hold your fork and knife... it looks so... practiced. You seem very experienced."
"Ah, this."
Damn.
"I'm just faking it. You never know, right? Maybe one day I'll become a noble and have to eat in front of the Empire's Emperor. It's practice for that. How is it? Do I look like a noble?"
"Your posture is noble, but your robe's waist tie is undone. Your junk is completely exposed."
"You're the one to talk... what's with the sense of putting a napkin on your chest while you're naked?"
"I can't have sauce getting on the robe, can I? And... who was it that got me into the habit of being naked like this?"
"I have nothing to say to that."
It was none other than me who made her live naked when we were alone. If it had been a simple sandwich, I would have shoved it into my stomach regardless of the robe, but the quality of this meal made it feel like I should at least be wearing something.
"Senior. Is there an order to eating this? I didn't hear it properly earlier."
"Appetizer, soup, main, dessert, drink. Just eat in that order."
Since the food had been served in two separate portions for Shin Yuhee from the start, she arranged the dishes in front of her just as I had and picked up her fork.
"This, I think they said it was a date..."
"They said it was permafrost salmon tartare with oasis date syrup. The stuff sprinkled on top is gold dust. They called it 'Caviar Beluga'."
"......."
"Does explaining things like this make you feel bloated?"
"Ah, no. Um, that's..."
Shin Yuhee smiled awkwardly. I chuckled because I saw a flicker of, 'Do I really need to know that?' in her eyes.
"Now you can eat comfortably. You don't seem to be thinking about what's inside anymore."
"Ah."
"Or did what I just say make you think about it again? That there might be suspicious poison in—"
Crunch.
Shin Yuhee shoved the food into her mouth with her fork. Although appetizers are meant to be bite-sized, she swallowed it in one go like she was eating a penalty dish on a variety show.
"Senior."
Wiping her lips with the napkin set aside, she picked up her fork with a determined face.
"I think it's better to just eat comfortably. Whatever the background of this place is, the people who prepared this food wouldn't have made it to inconvenience us."
"That's right. Even if there's a 20% chance of suspicion, 80% of it was likely made to celebrate a newlywed couple."
From appetizer to soup. Without needing to mention the name—Golden Turtle's Tears and Saffron Cream Soup—Shin Yuhee scooped up the soup and savored the taste.
"Hmm...."
"What's wrong? Is the flavor too strong?"
"No. It's delicious. It is, but... for some reason, I think the soup Shemily-unnie made was better...?"
"It's a difference in environment."
No matter how much Shemily resides within Shin Yuhee, in terms of pure cooking skill, this is far superior.
"Wouldn't anything taste good in an extreme environment? If we had to go back to the arena right now and eat that again..."
"......."
"You don't want to go back, right?"
She nodded.
"I might visit once someday to reminisce, but I don't want to live there forever. Especially now... Shemily-unnie wouldn't be there anyway."
"The bread would be hard as a rock, and the soup wouldn't be this thick. And if I could, I'd like to eat food like this three times a day... even if the flavor is a bit strong. Having someone else prepare it and clean it all up."
"That's a truly noble life. Having someone else clean up the food you ate."
"That's why I'm building up my strength, and that's why I'm scraping every bit of the tutorial clean before moving on as a hero."
I picked up my knife and moved my hand toward the main course. The thick steak gave off a deep scent of spices, but fortunately, it was well-cooked to the core, and the reddish-pink color looked quite appetizing.
"Senior, this is..."
"Sand Drake sirloin."
"Isn't that a monster?"
"It is a monster. Cooked so it can be eaten."
A Drake. It's not meat you can eat normally.
"Can't you eat it?"
"I need a bit of courage."
Humans are naturally reluctant when there's food different from what they usually eat.
"Because I don't know what it tastes like. ...And honestly, I don't know if there's poison inside anymore."
For Shin Yuhee, who doesn't even know what a Drake looks like, could she easily stick her fork into it, no matter how well-cooked it was?
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. If this is the past of the world we're about to fall into, the food culture won't be much different. ...Then we have no choice but to get used to it."
Chomp.
She took a bite. She squeezed her eyes shut as she put it in her mouth, but soon her eyes began to open slowly. Chew, chew. She kept chewing the meat without a word. Seeing her blinking with such a surprised face, I added the garnish placed on the side to her plate.
"How is it? Is it okay?"
"Why is it so delicious?"
"Because it's food meant to be delicious? It's a 5-star hotel; it would be a problem if the room service wasn't good, wouldn't it?"
"My goodness...."
"How about it? Do you feel a bit more at ease now?"
"...Yes."
She grabbed the next piece of meat in one go and moistened her throat with water.
"Now, if poison were sprinkled on food like this and ruined the taste, I think I'd actually be angry."
"That's right. If it were a lethal poison... you'd just die. Fortunately, the tableware is silver."
"...Ah. Poison?"
"Yes."
It's a trivial detail, but later on, you have to pay attention to things like this while you eat. The reason the main party's tableware on the front lines was silver wasn't to show off, but to be careful in case a demon disguised as a porter or cook had poisoned the food.
"Shin Yuhee. It's a bit late to ask, but what do you think we need to learn in Lampades?"
"...Things like this."
Shin Yuhee tapped the dessert, which had been shaped like a round crystal ball, with a silver spoon.
"Getting used to the lifestyle of another world. Adapting to a living environment different from Earth. If you want to enjoy and savor things like this... don't hesitate to fight the demons."
"That's right. It's one of the many things you have to learn in the tutorial."
Adaptation to the culture of another world. There's no other place as luxurious and wealthy as Lampades, and one that can be enjoyed for 'free' at that.
"Then... Shin Yuhee. Are you ready to get a good night's sleep?"
"Yes?"
"Yes. Passing out."
By now, we had eaten enough to be comfortably full, and since we'd even finished dessert, all that was left was a drink.
"Even if you pass out, it won't be a big problem."
I approached Shin Yuhee with the drink in the glass, then clinked my glass against hers from her side.
"This is a place overflowing with skilled people who would have killed us already if they wanted to."
"...Then, is this some kind of paralysis-poison-flavored ade?"
"It's probably an ade with a sleeping pill in it, right? What will you do?"
"...If I don't drink it, they'll be suspicious, right? I ate everything else, but if I didn't drink the one thing that had something strange in it..."
Clink.
"I trust you, Senior, so I'll gladly drink it."
Shin Yuhee and I clinked our glasses and drank the beverage.
"...Really, the taste is strange—"
Not long after setting the glass down. Thud. Before Shin Yuhee could even say anything, she collapsed toward me, and I caught her.
'It's a good thing we're in Lampades.'
The number of heroes killed by food laced with sleeping pills is countless. Calming my breathing as I tried to force my mind to resist the effects of the sleeping drug, I buried my face in Shin Yuhee's chest and closed my eyes.
Creak.
Amidst the warmth, before I lost consciousness, what I heard was the sound of the door opening.
Ah. I should have taught her that the poison wasn't in the drink, but on the glass itself.
"......."
At the sound of the same maid's heels I had heard earlier, I quietly closed my eyes.