When she thought of her father, who was still in jail eating prison food, Raiden Mei's mood suddenly started to get depressed again.
"That, this guest, may I interrupt for a moment?"
At that moment, a clear and crisp voice rang in her ears.
That voice was gentle and clear, a rather clean teenager's voice, and the way it spoke was quite decent, so even though she was suddenly interrupted in her thoughts, Raiden Mei didn't have the half-hearted feeling of being offended.
Of course, being interrupted from thinking while recalling bad things could be considered a good thing in itself for Raiden Mei.
She raised her own eyes, her pupils that suppressed various feelings silently looking towards the shopkeeper who had a smile on his face, tapping her chin with a slightly puzzled look in her eyes.
"It's almost time for lunch, if this customer doesn't mind, do you need to try the new products that we just developed in the shop?" The shop manager whose face was full of modest colours smiled and said, "Of course, because it is a product that has just been launched, in the case of not having been tested in the market, we can't guarantee whether it is suitable for each guest's taste, if this guest can give a personal evaluation after trying it, then today's expenses in our shop can be fully paid for by me. "
Because you need to let me try a new product, you can get the bill free? Raiden Mei slightly grew her own eyes, feeling a bit incredulous.
Did this shop really want to make money?
Raiden Mei did not lack money.
Before Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned, Raiden Mei was the eldest Miss of the ME Club, of course there was no way she would be short of money, even at the present moment after Raiden Ryoma's imprisonment, the remaining property of her family was still a considerable amount.
Even if she wasn't able to spend as much money as before, it was still possible for her to spend the rest of her school life securely and without worry.
Of course, under her good upbringing, Raiden Mei had never been a spendthrift child, so after hearing the shopkeeper's proposal, she nodded her head after only a moment's hesitation.
Honestly speaking, the image that this cafe brought to her was quite great, a clean and comfortable environment, an eye-catching decoration style, well-groomed waitresses and shop managers, and skilled baristas.
Raiden Mei licked her lips and tongue, savouring the aftertaste of the coffee in her mouth, and a hint of anticipation flashed in her eyes.
With such good coffee as a base, the food in this cafe shouldn't be bad either, right? Raiden Mei thought like this.
--Then, she regretted it.
"..."
A few minutes later, Raiden Mei was holding a fork and spoon in her hands, her face turning blue, the corners of her mouth twitching as she stared at this plate of things that she didn't know if it could be called food that had been served in front of her eyes, and her voice, filled with the feeling of rejection, was dry and incoherent:
"That ... this is ...?"
"Brand new in our shop, spooned by our chef under the moon, a selection of the finest Broken Abyssal Shadow's crab pincers and crab yolks ... No, crab blue? It's made with all-natural Shadow of the Phantom's wing and tail, and then the shrimp from Tonatiuh mixed into the soup." That shopkeeper had a smile written all over his face with self-congratulation, and spoke in a voice of unparalleled confidence, "How about it, doesn't it look rather appetising?"
That gesture inexplicably gave Raiden Mei the illusion as if she, who felt there was a problem, was the one by the side of the problem.
No, no, no, this shop and its manager are designated as having some kind of major illness, Raiden Mei said in her heart.
Out of good manners, Raiden Mei chose the latter between the option of "slamming this plate of food that doesn't look like food directly into the manager's good-looking face" and "firmly refusing this plate of unmentionable things with a more euphemistic speech":
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm a little bit ... uhm, overwhelmed by seafood ... so ... "
Quite a subtle statement.
At least Raiden Mei thought to herself that such a statement had already given the other party enough face.
"Really?" That shopkeeper showed a hint of regret as he sighed, picked up the unused fork that was on the table opposite Raiden Mei's in front of her, and then as if nothing had happened in the middle of Raiden Mei's frantically twitching eyes, he stuck up a flimsy - supposedly UFO's Shadow's winged tail - thing and whispered. "The flavour is still fine with me ah ..."
He then shoves the still-stupid thing into his mouth, chews on it for a moment, swallows it with a gulp, and nods:
"Well, the fire control is quite a bit better than before huh."
"..."
Raiden Mei, who had witnessed all of this, revealed a jaw-dropped expression.
This thing is really edible?
Are you kidding me? Am I really the one with the problem?
The so-called human is an intelligent creature that is good at thinking.
Relying on this ability to think, humans stood at the top of the food chain.
But it is also because of this ability to think that the human's desire for knowledge has also become incredibly inflated.
The specific manifestation is - when a person sees a completely inconsistent with his own knowledge, but irrefutable facts, he will doubt his own past knowledge, and produce a kind of emotion that can easily kill the cat.
Curiosity.
Maybe, it's really me who has the problem?
This plate of something that doesn't look like food is indeed the signature of this shop that is ready to launch a brand new one?
"..."
Once curiosity had risen, it would be difficult to contain it again.
"Personally, I can't handle something like seafood a bit well, but ..."
Gulp, Raiden Mei swallowed, and somewhat tremblingly sounded the fork in her hand at the bowl of "seafood" that gave off a strange aura.
"If it's just one bite ..."
Then, without any surprise.
Raiden Mei, lost consciousness.
--At the same time.
Belobog, the administrative district.
The Trailblazer party led by March 7 pulled open the door of the cafe.
"Hello, shopkeeper! Here we go again...errr..." Only just entering the shop, the kind-hearted young girl blinked her bright eyes and pointed a little worriedly at the young girl whose entire face was smashed into a bowl of soup, " Why would a girl bury her face in soup, hey~ are you okay?"
"..."
There was rightfully no response.
"Ah, she probably felt that the bowl of soup was too delicious, so she was a bit overwhelmed by it." The young shopkeeper smiled gently, and there seemed to be some doubt in his eyes as well, "But would it really be so good that it tastes this ... good?"
"Shouldn't someone else be asking you this kind of question?"
March 7th spat breathlessly as she leaned her ear towards the young girl buried in the soup, temporarily letting go of the worries and oddities in her heart after confirming that the other party's vital signs were very smooth and healthy, even a little too healthy.
As a trailblazer who travelled the universe, what kind of strange fetishes had she not seen before?
It was just that she liked to bury her face in soup, and since it wouldn't affect anyone else, let her be, the optimistic young girl praised herself for her enlightenment and perspective.