"Ooh! This is the best, it is! It has a squishy texture, but then the flavor seeps
through! It is incredible, it is!"
"Right? There aren't any other sausages around that are as tasty as this one!
You have great taste, young lady!"
"Come here, try this one out! I'm sure you'll love it!"
"If you insist... Mmm! These peaches are so fresh and delicious, they are!
They are truly addicting!"
I couldn't believe my eyes.
When we came down the escalator, we saw Yae surrounded by some older
women who were giving out free samples of food.
There was a large crowd surrounding them all, as well. They were all looking
at Yae's reaction to the samples, and deciding to buy boxes of the food.
Somehow, Yae had been roped in as an unaware sales assistant.
"That looks good... When did Yae start working here, though?"
"I don't think she is, Sue..."
It was more like she was being used. She was very much the kind of person
who overreacted when it came to meals, and her reactions often made people
want to try out what she was eating. This made her the perfect lure for
advertising free samples.
Yae wasn't picky when it came to her meals. She had a few things she disliked,
but she'd eat just about anything available. In Yae's mind, there were only two
kinds of food: good and super good.
It wasn't that she didn't have a good sense of taste, mind you. She just knew
what she liked, and I could respect that... But her reactions were often so over-
the-top that it honestly seemed like she'd have been a perfect TV personality.
I was mostly amazed at how she could still be eating, given we'd only recently
had lunch.
Sorry, old ladies... but we're here to pick up our Yae.
Yae, who was still being fed like a baby bird, was about to have her eating
spree brought to a halt.
"Oh! Big Sis, there you are!"
"Big Sis? I am your wif— Mfgh?!"
Even though I deliberately spoke like a child, Yae didn't get it and had to be
muffled by Hilde before she blew our cover. I was glad Hilde wasn't quite as
dense.
"Heeey. We gotta go! Mommy's lookin' for us!"
I tried talking as childishly as I could, but it ended up coming out pretty
forced. I'd seen an anime about a teen who turned into a child, and it kinda
went like this too... Acting like that really hurt my pride... I was ashamed of
myself.
"Mommy? But my mother is in Eashen, she i—" Yae, continuing her campaign
of obliviousness, was sharply elbowed in the side by Hilde.
Luckily, she finally got the picture.
"O-Oh, yes. I understand, I do. We should go back, we should."
"Aww, you're leaving?"
"Yes. I have some business to attend to, I do."
Yae apologized to the older ladies with a smile.
Just as we were about to leave, we were struck with a silent pressure from
the women. With a sigh, I picked up some boxes of the goods Yae had sampled.
It wasn't such a big deal, since we needed food anyway. I just wanted to go
and find Lu already.
"All the food here is so yummy, it is."
"I'm glad you like it, but we've gotta find Lu so we can do some grocery
shopping."
Um... I guess she's this way...
I followed my smartphone display until we came to an aisle with frying pans
and cookware. Of course she'd be here of all places.
Lu was standing in the corner, narrowing her eyes as she scrutinized a square
frying pan.
"Lu."
"Mmm..."
"Lu?"
"Huh? Oh! Touya! Sorry, I was just thinking about this pan..." Lu said as she
looked up at us with a smile. I had no idea what there was to think about. It was
just a frying pan, but square, right?
"I was wondering about the shape. All the other ones are round, but this one
isn't..."
"Oh, right. I think this one's for cooking tamagoyaki. You know, egg rolls."
I'd heard somewhere about professional cooks using separate pans just for
eggs. If you used a pan for various things, the residue would stick to it, which
would ruin the eggs. I didn't know if square frying pans were common in
western countries, though.
"A pan just for frying eggs... Amazing... Can I, um..."
"Yep. We can buy one. No, let's get two, since Crea would probably like one
as well."
"Hurray! I think she will!"
Lu smiled gently as she brought the pan over to me. Crea served as Lu's
teacher in the culinary arts. The two of them had developed a close bond over
the course of their cooking lessons. She'd probably be delighted to receive a gift
from her apprentice.
I turned to put the pan in a basket Hilde was holding... only to see her and Yae
looking at some kitchen knives.
"This knife is not well-made, it is not. It will chip easily."
"I agree... There isn't much soul behind the construction. I would wager the
smith didn't care much for it."
It's factory-made, guys... There's definitely a difference between handcrafted
blades and mass-produced ones, though there's been some advancement on
that front in recent years. Either way, if it cuts, I'm not gonna complain much.
"Now that we're all together again, I have to ask... What do we want to eat
for dinner?"
"This!" Lu immediately answered Leen's question in an excited tone.
I wondered what she had in mind. She held up a small card with a picture of a
meal on it. The back of the card had instructions on how to cook it, as well as an
ingredients list.
"I got this at the entrance. They said I could take it for free, so I thought, 'Why
not?' I'm amazed at how clear all the instructions are!"
Oh, a free recipe card, huh? Looks like you picked up quite a few...
"They all look so delicious! I'm itching to try cooking them!"
Lu's eyes were positively blazing. I'd given her tons of recipes for dishes from
Earth, but so far she'd had to make do with ingredients from the other world.
However, now she finally had the opportunity to cook meals with authentic
interdimensional ingredients, so I couldn't blame her for being excited.
But you won't have time to cook all of these, right?
"There are a few too many dishes, so try focusing on a couple you like."
Think about it this way, we're not gonna be here forever. We won't be able to
eat all of these meals...
"Yae's here, though."
"...Point taken."
Yae was certainly the master of waste disposal in our household.
For the time being, we walked around the grocery store, checking off
everything on Lu's list. I'd never been to this grocery store before, but Japan's
rigid system of labeling and structure made finding our way around simple.
There were veggies, meat, fresh fish, and more. We even picked up a couple
of boxed lunches.
We got sidetracked once or twice. Sue went to the candy aisle, while Linze
and Sakura wanted to try some ice cream. Eventually, though, we got all our
ingredients. The rice was really heavy, and they'd bought way too much
dessert.
I almost died from shock when I saw the total price at the checkout counter.
Sure, I'd become unreasonably rich in the other world, but seeing such a vast
amount of yen on the screen messed with my head.
I wondered if that was normal for a family of nine... Though, without Yae, the
cost probably would've halved. Still, with nine of us, there was plenty to share,
so it would make for a lot of fun.
We merrily left the grocery store after that, and I found a quiet corner in the
parking lot to activate [Storage]. I made sure to take the extra precaution of
having the girls surround me like a barricade.
Magic sure was convenient. Never again would I take it for granted.
We could've gone to a private place and used [Gate] to head home, but
everyone wanted to see a bit more of the world, so we rode our bikes back
instead.
On the way back, we found a small boutique with little trinkets and clothes.
The girls did a little more shopping in there. By the time we made it back to my
grandpa's house, it was almost dusk.
"It's time to do this! Linze, Sue, could you help me out?"
"Oh, okay. I'd be happy to."
"Yeah! Let's gooo!"
Lu charged headlong into the kitchen with Linze and Sue in tow. They were
the best choices as far as kitchen help went.
Yumina and Hilde were royals, so they had virtually no direct cooking
experience. Yae could make a few basic dishes, but her main talent was eating.
Leen and Sakura just weren't interested. Elze, on the other hand, was actually
quite a skilled cook... Though everything she made inexplicably became
horrifically spicy.
Linze could cook just fine, and Sue had been learning a lot during her bridal
lessons.
To be fair to Yae, she was a valid helper. Lu probably just didn't want her to
nibble on the ingredients, since it was her first time working with Earth-based
foodstuff.
"Touya! Bring the ingredients out!"
"Oh yeah, almost forgot."
I opened up [Storage] and dropped the bags on the kitchen table. My grandpa
lived alone, but he had a very big fridge and a pretty high-grade kitchen because
he often entertained guests. Plus, he enjoyed cooking as a hobby.
I prioritized ingredients that looked like they'd spoil soon for today's dinner.
After cramming as much as I could in the fridge, I left the rest of the ingredients
for the girls. The stuff in the fridge was mostly veggies, so they wouldn't spoil
super fast, and as they got used up, they'd free more fridge space.
I went back into the living room and sat down in front of the TV. The girls had
question after question about things that showed up on the broadcast. And
obviously, I was the one who had to answer it all.
As the smell of food from the kitchen grew stronger and stronger, the girls got
so distracted that they stopped asking me questions. Only Leen continued to
probe my mind until the food was ready.
"Mealtime!" Linze's voice immediately summoned a stampede into the dining
room. There was a fairly large table there, but it could only seat four people on
either side. We remedied that issue by bringing in two extra chairs and placing
them at either end.
"Wow, amazing!"
"This is a lavish sight, it is!"
The table was covered in various dishes. There was salmon drizzled with
tartar sauce, cabbage and apple salad, swordfish in lemon sauce, potato and
bok choy simmered in cream, paella with clams and chicken drumsticks, gyoza
dumplings, a yakisoba noodle platter, and many other smaller sides.
I was utterly amazed by the sheer quantity of food, especially since Lu had
made it all with only a hobbyist's kitchen to work with.
"Come on, everyone, take a seat."
Everyone grinned wide as they sat down. The plates, chopsticks, and forks
were all set out.
"Let's eat!"
We all cheered and dug in, greedily devouring the vast smorgasbord of food.
Unfortunately, just like in the family restaurant, I couldn't eat very much at all
on account of my diminutive form.
Food definitely tasted different with ingredients from the other side, but
maybe my obvious nostalgia and general bias tinged my opinion.
After we finished eating, Linze and the others brought out the ice cream. And
they didn't stop there. They also set out cakes, pudding, jelly, and more
traditional Japanese confections. I really couldn't believe their appetites...
I was a little worried we'd start getting fat, but they seemed happy, so I
couldn't complain. Besides, no amount of weight gain was going to stop me
from loving them. Although, it was possible the divinity in them would prevent
their physical forms from changing all that much... As I pondered that idea, I bit
down on a sweet treat Linze passed to me.
Oh, this one's good... I haven't had this style of ice cream in a long time. I
prefer the one wrapped in mochi, though.
"What will we be doing tomorrow, Touya-dono?"
I was amazed Yae could speak, considering how many sweet buns she was
ramming down her throat.
"Well, we can't visit my parents until they're sleeping at night... so why don't
we take a day trip somewhere?"
I wanted to make some fun memories.
"In that case, Touya, I would like to ride a train."
"Me too! I wanna ride a train with Yumina!"
A train, huh? I guess that could be fun. So long as they bring their phones, and
it's not too crowded, anyway...
Just riding the train seemed a little boring, though, so we needed an actual
destination...
I pulled out my phone and looked up the train line.
Museums... That's no good. The girls don't really know any of this world's
history.
A movie theater, maybe? Nah, they watch stuff on the smartphone projector
all the time. Then again, the experience of going to the movies is pretty unique...
The amusement park's way too far out, so how about the zoo or the
aquarium? That's within riding distance.
"A... zoo? And you say you can see lots of animals there?" Yumina asked,
sounding mighty curious.
In the other world, there were regular animals... but there were also a lot of
monsters, so zoos hadn't really caught on. Some palaces had botanical gardens
for wild birds and fish, but I'd never visited any.
"What kinds of animals?! Could we see one of those striped horses?!"
"Uh... maybe? I dunno..."
Don't get too excited, Sue. I'm pretty sure most zebras are in Africa...
I looked it up on the zoo website, and apparently, they actually did have
zebras. They were known as Grant's zebras... and they were surprisingly
common in zoos. I had no idea.
"Here, it looks like this."
"Ooh!"
I projected an image showing what the zoo had to offer. Lions, tigers,
kangaroos, camels, bears, chimps, gorillas, hippos, elephants, and more...
"What about food...?"
"We can eat there, Sakura. It's okay. They'll have a cafe or something."
I chuckled softly as Sakura nibbled through her slice of cheesecake. She was
getting worried about tomorrow's meal a little too prematurely, I thought.
Lu probably wanted to make lunch, judging from the disappointment on her
face. Even my grandpa didn't have enough lunch boxes for ten people, and I
wouldn't be able to use [Storage] in a place as crowded as the zoo.
Elze stopped eating her pudding, glanced at me, then opened her mouth.
"Are there no monsters or magical beasts in this world? They're just regular
animals, right? Are any of them dangerous?"
"They're all in enclosures or cages, so there's no risk. Some are dangerous,
though."
"Can I punch one if it chases me?"
"No! I mean, that'll never happen, but I guess if it really comes down to it,
maybe...?"
I didn't think it would happen, but if a lion or tiger happened to escape, then
Elze had my full blessing to kick its butt. If it was just a goat or a red panda,
though... not so much.
I knew for a fact that Elze could probably kill anything in that zoo. Even
without her [Boost] enchantment, she could clobber a gorilla or an elephant.
"Hey, isn't that a bit rude?!"
"What, no way! It's mine!"
"Really. Really now, Linze? You're gonna pretend I didn't see it first?!"
"First come, first served!"
Elze and Linze started bickering over a cream shortcake... I really couldn't
believe how many desserts they'd eaten. It seemed like, when it came to sweet
foods, everyone was Yae.
"I hope I am not overstepping my bounds, I do..."
"Don't sweat it, just keep eating!"
"Yeah, feel free to take it."
Yae sighed softly, but the other girls encouraged her to reach for a slice of
castella cake.
Hmm... Ever since we got married, the girls have been able to read my
thoughts more clearly... Did they develop a telepathic link or something?
Sometimes, it feels like they just know what's being thought around them... It's
kinda like how I have that link with Kohaku and the other heavenly beasts.
Then again, it might just be because they have sharper intuitions. They've
gotten to know each other a lot better, after all... Still, I should be careful what I
think, just in case...
◇ ◇ ◇
It took thirty minutes by train to reach the big city from my grandpa's town.
From there, we took the subway to the zoo, which was our destination for the
day.
The girls had enjoyed watching the scenery fly by on the train, but the sight of
the dark subway made them shudder in fear. The rumbling noises probably
didn't help, to be fair. Yumina was the only one who gazed out into the black
with curious eyes.
"An underground travel system... That's very interesting. It'd be a fairly safe
method of travel back home, since it could help avoid monsters or bandits... We
could probably start building one if we employed a group of earth mages..."
An other-world subway, huh? Maybe we can think about it after Felsen figures
out their magic train properly.
Yumina was pretty interested in taking inspiration from Earth, it seemed.
We walked out of the subway, and from there it was only a few minutes of
walking until we reached the zoo.
It wasn't too big, but it wasn't that small, either. It was also fairly modern, but
not to the point that it felt unwelcoming or sterile. All in all, it was a fine zoo.
Let's get those tickets... It should be a hundred and fifty yen for the kid ticket,
and five-hundred yen for an adult one.
"Let's see here... I guess it'll be five kid tickets and five adult ones?"
Yae, Hilde, Elze, and Linze all looked like high school students, so they'd get
the adult tickets. Sakura probably just fit into that bracket, too. Yumina and Lu
were technically old enough to be high school students, but they were still kind
of petite. Plus, it was better to make use of the reduced rate, all things
considered.
Leen and Sue definitely looked like they were in junior high, and obviously, I
fit into that category as well.
I couldn't reach up to the ticket counter, so I gave Yae the money and asked
her to do it. She came back with the tickets and a small pamphlet.
"This is a map, isn't it?"
"Wow, look at all those animals."
As the twins spoke, I unfolded the pamphlet into a map. It had illustrations of
animals all over it. That'd make navigating the place easier, at least.
When we entered the zoo, the tall trees all around us made it feel like we'd
traveled into the wilderness. It was a weekday, so the place didn't have a ton of
people. It was mostly parents with their little kids and a few junior high
students in some places. Presumably, they were on a field trip.
A few pigeons were hanging out on some nearby benches, but something told
me they weren't part of the zoo attraction. Pigeons just had a habit of gathering
around places with food.
"Ooh! Look at that white birdie!" Sue pointed forward and charged a nearby
pond.
I didn't think much of the birds Sue was so enamored by, but they weren't a
super common sight from our castle. Though, if she'd ask Kougyoku, I was sure
she could see whatever kinds of birds she wanted...
Still, there were definitely a lot of birds by the pond enclosure. I glanced
toward a nearby plaque that listed them.
"Whooper swans, tundra swans, snow geese, and spot-billed ducks..."
They were definitely swans, geese, and ducks. That made sense. Some of
them made loud honking noises from behind the fence.
I'd seen swans on TV before, but never actually in person. It was kind of cool
to look at them up close.
I glanced down and noticed some of the pigeons eating the swans' leftover
food. That explained their presence.
"Touya... Is that a bird as well?"
"Hm? Whoa! It's a penguin!"
Hilde pointed at another nearby pool, and much to my surprise, there was a
penguin there. I'd never seen one before, so that was really cool!
I was maybe a little too excited, but I just rolled with it, since it wasn't out of
character for a five-year-old to act rowdy at a zoo.
The information plate said it was a Humboldt penguin. There were quite a few
of them waddling around. It also listed their individual names, but I couldn't tell
them apart. I wondered if the person who cared for them knew the difference...
"So cute..."
"Yes... I want to take one home..."
Yumina and Lu instantly fell in love with the adorable penguins. Personally, I
thought the sight of their smiling faces was far cuter than the birds.
We reluctantly headed away from the penguin display, then carried on until
we saw some llamas.
Wait, are these llamas? They look a little funny.
I checked the information plate, just to be sure.
Ohhh... They're llamas, I guess? I think they might be more related to those
humpless Andes camels, though.
Everyone looked over at the llamas as I read the information aloud.
"Let's see... When angered, the llama will spit a foul-smelling substance at its
aggressor. This substance is derived from stomach acid..."
Once I finished reading, I noticed the girls had backed up as far as possible.
Wait, what's that smell?
I nervously glanced at a nearby llama, and it was craning its neck back as if
preparing something. That was all I needed to see to escort everyone away
from the beast.
Next, we saw some Bactrian camels. They were massive... With those two
humps, it looked like they'd be easy to ride.
Apparently, they were used as mounts in deserts because they could go days
at a time without drinking water. That made them unique in such dry climates.
With the aid of the camel, humanity managed to dominate those sandy dunes.
It's just standing there menacingly... The thing's barely moving at all... Oh
wait, it kinda twitched a little, I guess...
"It's not doing much... Is it a slow animal?"
"I think some cultures have camel races, so it's probably fast if it wants to be.
There's just no reason for it to act right now."
The camel's enclosure, surrounded by a fence and a small moat, wasn't all
that big. It probably didn't need to trot around at high speeds.
We waved our goodbyes to the motionless creature and carried on to the
next exhibit, which contained a red panda. It was bigger than I thought it'd be,
but about as cute as I'd expected.
For some reason, it kept prowling the perimeter of the fence, but it didn't
stand up on its hind legs like the one I'd seen on television.
We walked down the path some more, seeing animals like Japanese
macaques having fun in their playground, black bears lazing in the sun, and wild
boars taking muddy naps.
"They're tiny... Really cute..." Sakura was enchanted by the sight of several
black-tailed prairie dogs playing with each other. Or at least, I assumed they
were black-tailed prairie dogs on account of their black tails.
One of them stood by the entrance of the burrow, feeding himself with his
tiny paws. If I remembered right, he was basically acting as a sentry.
"They're hugging! They're hugging!" Hilde cheered out in sheer amazement as
two of the prairie dogs gave each other a big hug. They even moved to kiss each
other shortly after that. I remembered reading somewhere about how they
greeted each other, and that seemed to line up. With happy expressions, we
moved on to the next enclosure.
"King of the jungle? That means it must be dangerous, no? It doesn't seem all
that scary..."
I understood Leen's feelings as she read the information plaque. The massive
lion was laying down on his back behind the tempered glass. He was so limp
and defenseless that he didn't exactly conjure the image of a king. He looked
like a big kitty, if anything.
No matter how long we stared, the cat simply stayed still.
I sure hope he's not dead in there!
We moved to the exhibit next door and saw a Sumatran tiger. A man with a
hefty-looking camera took several shots of the beast, but it didn't really move a
muscle. It looked like it was enjoying a morning catnap.
"It reminds me of Kohaku, it does..." Yae couldn't help but make that
comment, and I kind of agreed. Though, Kohaku did have some responsibilities,
like commanding the mammals around town, so at least she had that going for
her... Sometimes, anyway.
We left the tiger enclosure and headed into a cave-like structure. Then, we
carried on through the dark until we came to a wall of tempered glass. On the
other side of the glass, we spotted a pool of water that reached higher than
Yae's head. I wondered what kind of creature this enclosure was for... Seals,
perhaps?
All of a sudden, a huge white mass dove into the water. I almost fell over from
the shock!
"Wh-Wh-What was that?!"
"It's a bear! It's a huge white bear!" Elze excitedly roared as she pressed her
face up against the glass. She clenched her hands into fists the very next
moment.
Wait, don't punch the glass! It'll break!
Elze must have realized my concern, as she lowered her hands. I didn't know
exactly how thick the glass was, but I had a feeling Elze could break it with ease.
"Geez, a bear huh...? That scared the crap out of me..."
I looked at the nearby plaque. Sure enough, it was a polar bear. I guess that
made sense. We'd just seen a lion and a tiger, so the seals were probably kept
in a different section.
The polar bear swam through the water with incredible ease. And eventually,
it rose to the edge of the glass and stared right at us.
"Heh... This one reminds me of Paula... I do hope she's doing okay," Leen said
as she placed a hand up against the glass, looking right into the polar bear's
eyes. The bear recoiled from her glance, then swam away immediately.
"Goodness me... Is he scared?" Leen giggled softly as the polar bear fled.
We quickly exited the polar bear cave and arrived at the birds of prey section.
Various falcons, owls, eagles, and other such birds glared down at us from their
perches behind high wire fences. I was in the body of a five-year-old boy,
though, so I was pretty much used to being looked down on...
We finished our walk around the east side of the park, so we decided to head
west. And once we did, we walked past cages of ring-tailed lemurs, lion-tailed
macaques, siamangs, and chimpanzees. At one point, our walk continued up a
slope that went so high I could see the swans from earlier down below.
There were quite a few groups with little kids... Though, my group was no
exception. I even noticed a few elderly couples sitting around, watching the
birds together.
"Hey, what's this pretty bird?"
"That's an Indian peacock."
Sue loved to comment on all the animals. The two peacocks were a vibrant
blue and green. I'd read that female peacocks were more subdued in terms of
coloration, so that meant they were likely males. The females, if there were
any, were probably hiding somewhere in the shade.
We waited a while to see if they'd fan out their tail feathers, but they didn't. If
I recalled correctly, they only did it as a method of courtship, so that tracked.
"...Don't male peacocks spread their feathers out toward each other, too?"
"Well... maybe if they're trying to intimidate their opponents or something..."
For some reason, I felt like that wasn't the answer Linze wanted.
"Oh, Touya-dono! That establishment seems to be for eating, it does!" Yae
exclaimed as she pointed toward a restaurant in the middle of a park area.
There was a small terrace for outdoor dining. It wasn't noon yet, so there
weren't many people eating there.
"It's a little early, but maybe we can..."
Before I even finished my sentence, Yae, Lu, Sue, and Sakura began speedwalking toward the restaurant. Clearly, they had their eyes on the prize.
I followed after the four of them, walking through the restaurant's automatic
doors. The moment we walked inside, we were greeted with a cheery
"Welcome!"
"Wow... This place is really nice!" Linze said, seeming impressed by the
restaurant's interior. It was a wooden building, and the inside was surprisingly
roomy. The warm sunlight poured through the glass windows and doors,
making it feel like an outdoor space.
Hilde turned her attention toward a machine near the entrance and asked,
"Touya... Is this a ticket matcheen?"
"A ticket machine, yeah. You put money in and it'll print out a ticket, which
you can then exchange for different foods."
The ticket machine let you pick from various dishes, and there were pictures
of each meal on an acrylic panel nearby. In short, it was an electronic menu.
"Ohhh... Cute!"
"It really is."
Elze and Leen smiled as they looked over the pictures. They weren't wrong,
the food was definitely cute.
There was a hamburg steak arranged to look like a bear paw, with cheese
clumped up to form the paw pads. Then, the rice on the side of that dish was
arranged to look like a bear's head. There were other such animal-themed
dishes, including curry with rice clumped to appear like an elephant, as well as a
parfait with cookies shaped like rabbits and goats. There were also more regular
meals like spaghetti, pizza, and omelets.
We each decided on our meals, bought our tickets, then brought them to the
counter.
After we got our food, we decided to eat outside in the terrace area. It was a
sunny day, so the weather was perfect for it. There weren't any tables that
seated ten people, however, so we split into two groups of five.
...Hold up, Yae. I definitely do NOT want that kiddy chair.
"Mmm... This is good... Yeah, it's tasty."
"It's cute and yummy! We'll have to get Crea to make this back home."
Sakura and Sue had purchased the Beary Yummy Meal, which was the
hamburg steak with rice. It was served with fried shrimp, salad, and fried
potatoes. Quite the versatile dish, really.
Lu and Crea would definitely be able to make it, and it was the kind of thing
kids loved. Which was great, since we'd have nine of them to entertain,
eventually...
I sat with Sue, Sakura, Yae, and Lu. As a result, there was quite the spread of
food in front of us. I could sense jealous, confused eyes from those that passed
by.
"...Mm... This has quite an interesting texture... The tomatoes have a sourness
and sweetness to them, but it matches perfectly with the rich nature of the
cheese..." Lu muttered to herself as she ate her pizza. She'd ordered most of
the food on the table, but it was Yae who ate the vast share of it. Lu had eaten a
single slice of pizza, but three had already disappeared into Yae's belly. Still, it
was nice to see them sharing... Sort of.
"Mmm! This is delicious, it is!"
Lu loved savoring all kinds of food, while Yae loved devouring all kinds of
food. In a way, they really worked well together. I was glad to see them happy.
The meal I'd ordered was spaghetti bolognese, and I was quite keen to tuck
into it.
Ahhh... It's so nice.
"Grand Duke, where are we going after this?"
"We've seen the eastern part of the zoo, so I figure we can hit the west next.
There should be elephants, gorillas, rhinos, and zebras. More stuff like that."
"Ohhh! Zebras! I can't wait!"
Judging from the map, there were also giraffes, ostriches, and flamingos. The
western side of the zoo seemed to have an African savannah theme to it.
"The animals here are very docile, they are. I heard they were locked in cages,
so I assumed they would be more ferocious, I did."
"Tigers and lions usually are pretty deadly, actually. You definitely can't use
Kohaku as a baseline. She's way too friendly."
The fact that the big cats we'd seen so far were mostly napping didn't exactly
help my case... We might've gotten to see more active animals if we did a drivethrough safari where we watched the animals roam free from the safety of a
car, but that would've proved difficult.
"Is this the only place to see animals like this? Aren't there many in the
wilderness?"
"Well... Japan doesn't have many large animals. There are some, but they're
really rare and quite dangerous. I wouldn't want to see any."
Japan's wilderness was home to some surprisingly deadly creatures. Wild
boars were a real risk, for one. Otherwise, it was mostly just stray domestic
animals or wild monkeys.
In the other world, it wasn't uncommon to run into wild wolves and stuff, but
feral canines weren't exactly common here. All in all, Earth seemed to be a
pretty good planet for humans... Though that made me wonder... was it any
good for other animals?
Creatures like Behemoths and Dragons existed in the other world that most
humans couldn't defeat, but they couldn't exactly live in peace with them,
either.
It made me wonder what would happen if Dragons existed on Earth. Would
the people here have captured them and put them in cages for display? I had a
feeling that would be a pretty difficult feat, especially when you factored in
their ability to fly.
There was also the fire breathing to consider... Well, Earth probably wouldn't
ever have a Dragon zoo, so it was a moot point.
"Ready to get going again?"
We finished up our desserts and started to walk around the park again. And
as we moved along the path, I pulled out the brochure map again.
Hm... So we've got the African Zone up ahead and... a reptile house?
◇ ◇ ◇
We saw two elephants in the distance. They both looked down at the ground.
Our group watched the elephants from a bridge suspended over a moat. It was
a bit more natural to see them without a cage, but it was also a shame they
were so far away.
"It's pretty big... I expect it'd be hard to prepare."
"I imagine biting through it would be tough, I do."
I turned toward Lu and Yae, not entirely certain what they had in mind as they
observed the elephants.
I think people used to eat mammoths, but I don't know if elephants are
common food...
I looked up elephant meat on my phone and found that it was traded
alongside ivory on the black market in Africa.
I didn't know if it was because I'd eaten weird stuff like Dragon meat already,
but I kind of wondered what an elephant tasted like... Maybe it tasted good... I
didn't plan to try it, but the thought still lingered. The elephants in front of me
suddenly turned around and started heading away. Perhaps they'd read my
mind?
We left the elephant area and headed to the ostrich enclosure. Much like
with the elephants, we found two ostriches lingering at the edge of the moat.
"They look like Mismede's runnerfowl," Leen stated as she tapped her chin
while looking at the ostriches. Apparently, there was a similar kind of bird
native to the south of Mismede. Some of the beastmen there had domesticated
them and trained them to pull carts, so they served as mounts.
"They eat them in Mismede, right?"
"That's correct. It tastes much like horse meat, but less fatty. I'd like to try
cooking with it..."
"That sounds yummy, it does."
Lu and Yae joined in the conversation. Frankly, it made me feel concerned for
the animals.
Leen was a being with a long lifespan, so she always took the chance to eat
whatever kinds of interesting things she came across. I once had a friend like
that, too. Though, obviously, he had a normal lifespan. He was the kind of
person who'd always buy whatever new, weird flavors of soda came out. Even if
he knew they'd taste bad, he couldn't stop himself from trying out new things
on the off-chance they were delicious.
The ostriches, perhaps sensing the danger emanating from Yae's hungry eyes,
fled for their lives.
"Ooh! Look! Zebras!" Sue screamed as she pointed over to some distant
zebras, then promptly began running toward them. Everyone hurriedly followed
after her.
The zebras stood on the other side of the fence, leisurely walking around
without even paying attention to us. There was a long, artificially-created river
flowing between us and them.
We could see the elephants from earlier off in the distance. Clearly, the
enclosure was all connected, but separated from us by the water and fencing.
"Aww... I wish I could ride one..." Sakura said quietly with a frown on her face.
Some places let you do that, but this wasn't one of them. Plus, I'd heard that
zebras were kind of temperamental.
"Look! A baby!" Yumina exclaimed as she pointed toward a rock. And sure
enough, there was a zebra foal there. It stuck quite close to its mother.
"What a cute baby..."
"If that's the mom, then the dad's gotta be that one, right?"
Linze and Elze smiled at the zebra family.
...Well, it's hard to tell which one's the mother and which one's the father.
The image of an older woman watching a TV drama while a frantic dad tried
to wrangle his kids came to mind.
Good luck, zebra dad...
We left the zebra family behind and moved on to the next area.
"Wow..."
"That's a long neck..."
Yae and Hilde stared on, feeling amazed by the creature behind the fence.
There stood the giraffe, the tallest creature on Earth. It was so docile and
motionless that at first, I thought it must've been fake.
"It's not moving..."
"No, look, it blinked."
Just as Elze said, it moved its eyes here and there. It wasn't doing much else,
though. I wondered what it was thinking.
I hope it's not tired or stressed. I'm sure even animals have troubles like that,
right?
I kind of wanted to coax it over, but I decided it was best to let the giraffe
rest.
The next area had water all over the place, like a big river.
What kind of creatures live in African rivers...?
Just as I wondered that, one such creature surfaced and approached.
"A hippo!"
I've never seen one in person before. Man, it's huge. It's the second-heaviest
land animal after the elephant, right? I think they range from anywhere
between one and three tons... That's kinda crazy. They're supposed to be a
ferocious species, especially their females when protecting their young... Can't
say they look it, really... But I guess mothers can be really scary.
I certainly never wanted to get on my mother's bad side. She was my
grandfather's daughter, after all... I was sure she could be even more
frightening than him. Frankly, I'd rather find myself locked in a room with a lion
than with my mother in a bad mood. She was really scary...
"What's wrong?"
"O-Oh, nothing... I just remembered something..."
I cowered slightly, prompting Yumina to ask after me in concern.
I had a flashback to my mischievous days in junior high... There was nothing I
could do when faced with my mother's firm spankings...
We passed the hippo area and walked across a wooden bridge that went over
a pond. Various flamingos were resting below. One of them had darker
coloration than the others. He kind of seemed like a show-off, if you asked me.
"That one's a similar shade to your hair, Sakura. It's cute."
"Mmm..."
Linze's comment made Sakura touch her own hair and blush.
"Why are they that color?"
"It's based on the food they eat. The pigment in it helps color their feathers."
"Ohhh..." Elze nodded as I answered her question.
I was at least sixty percent sure I was right, but I checked the plaque, just to
be sure.
Yep, says it right there. Oh, what? These are European flamingos.
I'd assumed the darker-colored flamingo was just a big eater like Yae, but it
was actually an entirely different species. It was an American flamingo.
We went to the gorilla enclosure next, but they weren't there. Apparently,
they weren't feeling well. I did manage to sneak a peek at one through the
glass, but he looked a bit lethargic. I hoped they'd get better soon.
We'd visited most of the zoo at that point, so there was only one place left.
"The reptile house..."
The building's entrance was decorated with two large carvings, one was of a
snake and the other was a Dragon. The snake I understood, but surely there
wouldn't be any Dragons in there.
"Oof!"
The moment we stepped into the building, sweltering heat washed over us.
The temperature in there was far hotter than outside... Clearly, it was some
kind of climate control for the reptiles' sake.
There was a paneled wall with various little habitats for different reptiles.
Ratsnakes, striped snakes, pythons, even anacondas...
Ugh... I'm pretty used to snakes because of Kokuyou, but the fact that I can't
talk to these ones makes me feel a little uneasy...
"They're not moving much..."
"That's because they don't have any prey. There's no need to zip around."
Hilde tapped at the glass, gazing down at a rat snake. None of the snakes
moved much. Most just remained coiled up.
The girls weren't scared of the snakes, since they'd seen much scarier
monsters before... but at the same time, they clearly didn't find the snakes all
that cute, either.
We walked through the area, striding past the reptiles behind the panels on
the walls.
Snake, snake, turtle, turtle... Oh, a crocodile! A smooth-fronted caiman from
Brazil. That's the second-smallest crocodile, I think?
"Creatures like these exist in the Sea of Trees. They're primarily used for
food."
Leen's comment prompted Lu and Yae to turn their heads.
"Ohohoho... Is it delicious, is it?"
"How is it cooked? Is it roasted whole?"
"I'm not entirely sure how it's cooked. I think it's baked? It tastes quite a bit
like chicken, and has a chewy texture to it."
Geez, Leen. You've got more patience than I do, considering the fact that you
entertain their questions all the time like that...
Leen was secretly quite a caring and motherly person, but I had a feeling
she'd be embarrassed if I pointed that out.
I crouched down and looked at some other small habitats.
Oho, an African spurred tortoise... That's much nicer than a snake.
I had a feeling Kokuyou would probably consider me a racist for saying that...
They didn't just have snakes and tortoises, there were lizards too. I saw a
Japanese skink, a Chinese crocodile lizard, and a leopard gecko... They were all
pretty docile.
There were a few seats nearby to rest on. I didn't personally see the appeal of
sitting down while surrounded by reptiles, but I was sure there had to be some
people who loved the idea.
It was pretty interesting to see the different patterns on the snakes, at least.
It reminded me of how much I liked Kokuyou's scales. They were black like
obsidian, which was pretty cool.
Once we left the reptile house, the regular temperature outside felt like a
welcoming breeze.
Ahhh, that's nice...
I was happy to be free of the humidity. I wanted to enjoy the breeze a little
longer, in fact, but Yumina suddenly pointed toward a relatively modern-looking
two-story building that was nearby.
"Touya, what's that?"
"Hm? I think it's like an exhibit hall. It should have displays of skeletons,
stuffed animals, and stuff like that. Oh, I think there'll be a gift store as well," I
answered Yumina's question, confirming the information on my brochure.
"A gift store? I'd like to pick up some souvenirs, then."
"I would like to go as well, I would!"
"Hey, Touya! Let's go!"
"O-Okay! No need to drag me!"
Hilde, Yae, and Elze started yanking me along to the building without a care in
the world for my poor little legs.
We walked through the automatic doors... and the first thing I saw was a
stuffed polar bear.
...Damn, that thing's huge. Wait, what does this say...? Polar bears have
transparent fur? It's not white...? Lemme read more... What? The sunlight
refracts off the black skin beneath and just makes their fur look white? That's
nuts! Polar bear fur is hollow like macaroni tubes, and that helps insulate them
against the cold... Wow, what a textbook case of environmental adaptation.
"There's a lot of specimens here..."
Linze looked around at the stuffed animals and skeletons that lined the room.
There was even a zebra skin hanging up on the wall.
"You can learn a lot from these remains... It's quite interesting," Leen
muttered as she glanced between herbivore and carnivore skulls.
Wait, this is an elephant's skull? I didn't know they had no bones in their
nose... It looks totally different. I wouldn't even recognize it without the stuffed
one nearby.
The room had a stuffed black bear, a stuffed antelope, a stuffed boar, stuffed
pine martens, and anatomical models of birds flying in formation. They all
looked surprisingly intricate.
"I like living animals better!"
"Mmm... I agree..."
Sue and Sakura didn't seem to enjoy this section of the zoo. Leen, Linze, and
Yumina seemed quite interested, however. I was even surprised to see Yae and
Elze peering at some skeletons.
"So the bones are weakest here, they are..."
"Looks like it. If we hit them here, here, and here... they'd definitely crumble
fast."
Oh, that explains it... They're just thinking in terms of combat again...
"Ooh! It's a giraffe!" Linze exclaimed as she pointed up at an extremely tall
skeleton. Standing up close to it really gave you a sense of scale... Or maybe it
was just because I was shorter than usual.
"Where's the gift store?" Hilde asked as she kept glancing around, but I
couldn't see one anywhere.
Oh, there's an arrow pointing to it on the wall. How convenient.
We followed the directions on the wall until we came to a set of automatic
doors. The gift store was right through them. It had a warm atmosphere, with
pine flooring and bright lights giving the place a more natural vibe. The shelves
were lined with different animal-themed products. They had everything from
cushions, to tableware, backpacks, figurines, plush toys, and more.
"Yumina! Yumina! Isn't this cute?!"
"Ohhh! It is! Look at this, Lu!"
"Hey, Sis, do you like this backpack?"
"Wow, that's nice... I wanna get one too..."
Everyone ran toward the items that interested them most. I was just glad the
place wasn't as big as the mall, so there was no chance of them getting lost.
They really did have a lot of stuff... Keychains, placemats, even lunchboxes... I
figured I'd take the chance to get some souvenirs for the castle denizens.
Hmm... Maybe Laim would like this tie? But it has a sheep printed on it... Oh,
there's a set here with animal-ear hoodies, paw pad gloves, and paw pad
slipper-socks... If the girls wore these... Man, that'd be a sight for sore eyes... I'm
gonna buy some... J-Just to commemorate the occasion, obviously. I have no
ulterior motives, I swear!
There were lots of animal figures lined up on a shelf. It'd be hard to collect
them all. They even had a ton of stuffed animals, ranging in size from tiny to
massive.
"I want this toy zebra!"
"Yeah?"
"Mhm! I'm gonna give it to Ed!" Sue said as she grinned wildly. She was being
very considerate of her brother. I was certain that even though he was a baby
right now, he'd come to appreciate that side of her.
Yumina picked up a stuffed lion doll for her brother, too.
King of the jungle for a future king, eh? Fitting.
We bought enough souvenirs (mostly snacks and stuffed animals) to
completely shock the cashier.
There were ten of us, so there was no avoiding it... I figured I could quietly
stash it with [Storage] once we left the zoo.
That was a pretty random detour, but we had a lot of fun. I didn't exactly
think of a zoo trip when I thought of a honeymoon, but it was only the second
day.
Tonight, we had a pretty big event ahead of us. I was going to introduce
everyone to my parents. That was why we'd chosen Earth to begin with. I
planned on using magic to put them in a fake dream-like state. They'd probably
recognize me like this, but I was gonna use [Mirage] to project my regular form
anyway.
I wanted to tell them that I was okay, even if it was through a dream.
I wonder how they'll take the news that I have nine wives... Hell, I wonder if
they'll be shocked. Oh well, whatever happens, happens. I'm ready to see them
again.