The Other World Dining Hall - Chapter 127

Chapter 127 – Chicken Nanban

When Lydiane came out of her egg, her mother was already gone.

The only family she has is her adoptive father, a sorcerer who had bought Lydiane’s egg from an adventurer.

The tower that is his laboratory and home, and the forest that surrounded it. That is all Lydiane knew of the world.

When her father went into town for a few days to get some of the things he needed, Lydiane sometimes felt lonely.

But her father had taught her from a very young age not to leave the tower, and as a child she had tried her best to get out of the forest and into the nearby village on her own, only to be screamed at and chased around by adults with weapons.

She understood why as learned what she was.

The tower was full of books that her father had collected over a long period of time, and in one of them he had written the reason why Lydiane was not allowed to go into the city.

The Lamia, an evil demon with the body of a human woman and the tail of a snake. They attacked people, mingled with men and then ate them.

She has never wanted to eat a human being, but she realized that she was a Lamia with a black snake tail.

From then on, she lived a serious life, helping her father with his research.

Her father was a half-elf who lived for hundreds of years and would probably outlive her, so this life would continue until the day she died.

…Lydiane thought that, but when he died of a cold so easily, she was at a loss.

Fortunately, she has been able to grow a few crops in her garden and keep some chickens so that she could live self-sufficiently.

For the time being, she can live in the tower as she always had. But not for long.

Until now, a few days a year, her father goes to the villages and towns to sell herbs from the forest, his own concoctions, magic stones and paper.

In exchange, he would get salt, cloth, iron tools and other items that were difficult to obtain in this place.

Unlike her father, who had wandered around the human world and had learned how to live and how to get along with people, Lydiane had no such knowledge or experience.

In the end, she will either live like a beast, like the Lamia, who are feared as demons, or she will be hunted by humans.

This fact, which the clever Lydiane realizes, casted a dark shadow over her mind.

She knows nothing but what is written in the books. She knows nothing of the human world, nothing of the demon world, nothing of the mysterious door that sometimes appears in the garden.

—And then the day came.

It started with an introduction from Kane’s master.

He was one of the wise men and hermits of the continent that he had heard of when he started his journey.

I don’t know all the details, but he is a half-elf sorcerer, a friend of my master’s master, and he has been alive for a hundred years.

He is a hermit who has chosen to retire to his tower in the countryside, but he is said to be a great sorcerer with a wealth of knowledge and magic.

In many parts of the continent, there are sorcerers who build their own hermitages and towers in remote places, where few people live, for the sake of their studies.

It’s usually the half-elves who have no career prospects as long as they’re in the human world, even if they’re the most skilled and accomplished sorcerers in the family.

They no longer see the value of living in the world with people who are younger and less capable than them.

They live in undisturbed lands where they can further hone their magic.

Visiting these people and exchanging skills and knowledge is one of the reasons why sorcerers make the dangerous journey.

Jack and Terry, who are my childhood friends and also adventurers, aren’t busy.

That’s why I decided to visit the sorcerer with them.

“You mean you’re going to meet him and he’s going to tell you everything?”

“Yes, that’s the plan. But…”

As we walk along, while nodding to affirm Jack, who was the strongest kid in the village, I thought about the story you heard in the village where you stayed last night.

It seems that the sorcerer we are about to visit used to come down to the village every year at the time of the festival and barter for the things he needed.

But last year he was nowhere to be seen.

“Do you think he might be dead?”

Terry, one of the chief’s sons and a student of swordsmanship, followed Kane’s stuttering words.

“Yes. If you’re a magician living in a remote area like this, your master said that you should be careful about their heritage when you visit a remote magician’s house.”

Even the most accomplished sorcerer can die from injury, sudden illness or old age.

And when that happens, it’s not always only the corpse of a dead sorcerer that’s left.

It’s not uncommon for a sorcerer’s tower to have such a『heritage』left behind.

“I mean, you never know what you’re going to find. It’s going to be an handful.”

“It may be that there is a reason why they have not come out yet. You can’t be too careful.”

“I’m counting on you both.” Kane says, looking at them reassuringly.

“Well, let’s just go. If we don’t go, we won’t know anything.”

So the three of them set off for the sorcerer’s tower.

In the middle of a deep forest, there was a tower.

It was about five stories high, set in the midst of large trees.

It was a simple structure, build with wood on a stone base.

In front of the tower is a fenced-off area with a well-kept garden and a broken but repaired cattle shed which was probably ransacked by foxes.

“There’s something here.”

Jack says to them, looking at the garden in front of the tower.

The weeds had been pulled out and what looked like medicinal herbs had been planted.

From Jack’s rural point of view, it looked like a proper field.

“Did the owner of this place just happen to not show himself in the village?”

Terry agreed with him.

The tower is old, but the entrance has been cleaned and there are signs that someone is living there.

It’s not as if it’s a ruin where no one lives anymore.

“I think the sorcerer is dead. So maybe there’s a golem that does what it was instructed to or some intelligent demon.”1

The stone has the name of the sorcerer carved into it, and there are flowers in front of it.

“If it can make a proper burial and a grave, it must be as intelligent as a human being. Then why doesn’t it interact with the people of the village?”

According to the villagers, the tower was only inhabited by the sorcerer.

They had lived here for decades and were occasionally visited by sorcerers and adventurers like themselves, but there was no mention of a wife or children of any kind.

“Something he couldn’t show?”

There was a crash and all three of us reflexively looked in that direction.

“Ah! Ua…”

There was a beautiful girl with a frightened look on her face, carrying a tub of water. Her long flowing black hair and white skin peeked out from under her wide-brimmed hat.

She wore a long dressing gown that covered her feet and a small staff at her waist.

The most noticeable thing about the dressing gown, though, is the long snake tail that can be seen underneath it.

The tail of the snake was longer than the girl was tall. This indicated what she was.

“Hu-humans… ah, bandits!”

“No, no, no!”

Jack can’t help shouting back at the girl, who was flustered and said rude things.

But from an objective point of view, three armed men. In her eyes, they may indeed look like terrifying bandits.

“Hyah!”

After being startled at the words, the girl tried to run away towards the forest.

“Wait, wait, wait! We’re just adventurers visiting Joshua-san!”

“I presume you are a resident of this tower! We mean you no harm! Even if you are a Lamia!”

At their words, the girl stopped and swiveled in a snap.

It seems that they were right.

“Do you know about Lamia?”

She turned to me and asks with a hint of caution.

She was trembling like a frightened little animal, but at the same time she was curious.

(She probably knows what people think of Lamia and is afraid that she would be attacked.)

In fact, if it weren’t for this situation, they would definitely do so.

But the three of us know. Lamia is a…

“I’ve heard that they are dangerous demons, but I know that some of them can be talked with. Perhaps you are one of them?”

They are a species that can be talked with.

“Yes, yes! I don’t attack people! So…”

Kane says to the girl, who is desperate to show that she isn’t hostile.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you. Maybe there’s something I can help you with.”

“I understand. My name is Lydiane. I’m a sorceress like my father… I’m sorry to bother you like this, but please come here.”

Then, slowly and shakily, she approached the three and opened the door of the tower.

The three of them nodded to each other as she glanced at them and urged them to enter the tower.

*

When I entered the tower, I saw a black door with a picture of a cat in the middle of the entrance.

“I don’t know what it is, but if you don’t touch it, it will go away on its own.”

The girl, Lydiane hurriedly explained the suspicious door.

“It was a door with some kind of powerful magic, and when I opened it just a little bit, light leaked out from the other side of the door, and I felt that there was more than one of them, so I hurriedly closed it.

After that, I was more scared than interested, so I did nothing.”

“Wow. This is the door to the Otherworldly Restaurant. It was today, wasn’t it?”

“Why is this door here? Is it a coincidence?”

“I’ve heard that new doors tend to appear in places where there is a lot of magic, so maybe that’s why?”

But for some reason, the three of them seemed to know a lot about this door. They didn’t seem to be afraid of it, but they approached it and looked at it sullenly.

(Oh, adventurers are so bold…)

Puzzled and a little jealous of this, I led the way to the living room in the back.

It’s not a very large room, and it doubles as a dining room.

It is a room with a large table and only one chair.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I don’t use a chair. I’m sure there are chairs in my father’s study and bedroom”

Lydiane, now aware of this, apologized and went to get a chair.

Her father was the only one who used a chair in this tower. Lydiane found it difficult to sit in a normal chair, and it was easier for her to stand in a spiral chair.

“No, I don’t mind.”

“I’m the one who came without an appointment. Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine standing up.”

They reassure Lydiane, who was confusedly trying to deal with her first 『guest』.

Apparently, Lydiane had never had a guest before. However, her education was good, and her words were not stagnant.

“So you’re not used to it.” Kane said.

“We were hoping to exchange information about magic with Joshua-san, but it seems that… he has passed away.”

“Yes… about a year ago, but I was trained to be a magician by my father, and I know a lot about his research.”

She cut off her words and looked at Kane and the others, asking the question she had been wanting to ask for a while.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking… about the Lamia who can talk…”

The existence that was mentioned in the previous conversation. It is a very important existence for Lydiane.

It is common knowledge in this world that lamia are horrible monsters and are incompatible with humans.

“I’ve never talked to her, but I’ve seen her getting along with normal human beings.”

“Yes. The way she was dressed, the lamia was probably a nobleman. It was a different lamia every time, and probably from a big town or country.”

“From the colour of her skin, I wonder if she was a Lamia from the Land of Sand? I’ve heard that people in the Land of Sand have brown skin and wear strange clothes.”

But that’s not the case for the men in front of me, apparently.

We are talking about a Lamia that is naturally familiar with humans.

“Um, where did you see that?”

Where in the world is it? Maybe I can be accepted there.

When I asked this, the three of them all pointed at the entrance of the tower, where the door was and said at the same time.

“””The Otherworldly Restaurant.”””

Lydiane could tell that the door was apparently the entrance.

*

With the sound of a bell, the door opened.

“Eh…?”

As she and the three of them went through the door, Lydiane squinted in surprise at the sudden light that was as bright as it was outside in the daytime.

Behind the door was a windowless room.

It looked like a basement, but it was very bright and the air was not stagnant.

The temperature was comfortable, neither hot nor cold, and there was no sign of dampness.

…And there were many people and non-human beings in the room.

(What’s that? An elf and a demon…?)

There were lizardmen, ogres, and sirens, just like the ones described in my father’s books, who was a researcher of demons.

There were no lamia to be seen, but all of them were said to be horrible demons, but the people in the shop didn’t seem to mind that.

“Welcome to Nekoya.”

I was surprised and bewildered when a woman with dark hair spoke to me.

She was dressed in a strange outfit and her skin was much more yellow than Lydiane’s. Her face was also very different.

She looks at my tail for a moment, but doesn’t seem particularly concerned as she continues.

“Is this your first time here?”

“No, we’ve been here many times, we know what to order. It’s the first time for this girl.”

The trio seemed to have been here many times before, and they seemed to be used to it. They told the woman, who was probably the waitress who brought the food, about them.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll show you to your seat.

As if satisfied by their words, the waiter led us to a seat.

It was a large table with three chairs. If you look closely, you can see that another waitress has taken one of the chairs out of the way.

(They’re used to dealing with Lamia…)

Thinking about this, I wrapped myself around the table and stood in front of it.

“We serve Japanese… Otherworldly cuisine. Do you have any requests for flavours, ingredients or anything else?”

When the waitress saw that Lydiane was ready, she asked her what she wanted to eat.

“You’ll find a lot of things in this store, from sweet treats to fish so fresh you can eat it raw.”

As if to add to that, Kane described the features of this restaurant.

(If so, what would I like ……?)

Hearing this, Lydiane thought about it.

It’s a good idea to have a good idea of what you’re looking for.

Is it better to order a rare dish because we are in a different world, or to eat a dish that I know well but cannot usually eat?

She thought for a while and then decided:

“I want to eat chicken meat and eggs.”

It was her favorite food, which she had not been able to eat since the fox had wiped out all the chickens in her coop.

When I lived with my father, we used to bake our own bread and cook or boil our own eggs, and meat soup made from mashed up chickens that no longer laid eggs was a treat.

These are the ingredients that came naturally to me when I was asked what I wanted to eat.

“Yes. Chicken and eggs… many of our customers don’t like rice… How about chicken nanban? It’s a dish of chicken fried in oil, seasoned with sweet and sour sauce and tartar sauce with plenty of eggs.”

The other waitress tilted her head at Ridiane’s request, thought for a moment, and said the name of a dish she had never heard of.

Lydiane nodded at the waitress’ suggestion.

I don’t know anything about deep-frying, sweet and sour sauces, or egg tartar.

This, in turn, aroused my curiosity and made me want to try it.

“Yes, sir. With bread and soup to go with it. And what would the rest of you like to order?”

“Yes, we’ll all have burgers. And we’ll all have a Coke.”

“Yes, sir. All right, then. One moment, please.”

After the waiter had finished taking everyone’s orders and had gone to the back where the kitchen seemed to be, Lydiane asked, “So what is this place?”

What I’ve been wondering. What is this place?

I’m no longer wary. Obviously, the customers and the waitresses are used to this place.

So the fundamental question remains.

“Oh, this is the Otherworldly Restaurant. People from all over the world come here to eat.”

“Not just people, but non-people too.”

“That door you just came through, it appears in many places and it all leads to this place.”

Lydiane’s question is answered by the three of them, who are now regular visitors.

“This is the place that made us want to go on adventures. It’s one of the most important places for us.”

“That door is ……”

“Yes, that’s why the customers who come to this shop come from all over the world.”

The door opened again.

Lydiane looked at it and was startled.

(Eh?!)

The guests who came in were a young man with brown skin and a lamia with red hair and tail.

Yes, a lamia like myself, naturally, comes in and chooses one of the appropriate seats and sits down.

The other customers don’t seem too surprised by her appearance. When I think about it, when I came in earlier, there wasn’t much of a fuss.

Some of the customers who come to the otherworldly diner are of different races, and they take it for granted.

(I see. It’s okay here…)

This fact makes me itchy and happy.

There are no windows, but a cool breeze blows in from somewhere, and the restaurant is bright. The tables and chairs are well-kept, and there’s something on the table that I’ve never seen before.

(This is another world…)

For Lydiane, who had only known the small world of the tower and the forest, it was a fresh surprise and something that made her want… more.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I’m sure you’ll like it. Enjoy your meal.”

It was a different person than the one who had served her earlier, and judging by the black curly horns peeking out from between her golden hair, she was probably a demon.

She placed the food in front of each of them with a relaxed and practiced movement.

(This looks delicious…)

The chicken, with its sweet and sour aroma, a colour like that of freshly baked bread and a yellow and white sauce.

A bunch of thinly sliced, pale green vegetables on the side add to the colour.

Next to the plate was a small loaf of bread, apparently freshly baked, and a pale yellow soup.

“There you are. Oh, my God, that looks delicious!”

“It’s what you’d expect from a diner in another world.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve had it.”

The three of them are happily beginning to eat a large bread-like dish.

Then there was nothing to be afraid of. Lydiane took a silver knife and fork from the table in front of her.

(It’s been a while since I’ve had meat…)

She cuts off a large piece of chicken, the aroma of the sauce wafting to her nose.

The meat, covered in a thick, translucent brown sauce, smells slightly of vinegar.

If you look at the cross-section, you can see that the brown is only on the surface and that the chicken is white on the inside.

She swallowed her drool and took it to her mouth.

(Wow, what is this …chicken?)

It tasted exactly like chicken. The juices were flowing out of the meat and the skin had a nice crispy texture because it was fried in oil.

Sugar, honey? The meat is unmistakably chicken, with a slight sweetness and the acidity of vinegar.

But the chicken she knew was much tougher and smelly because it was so old that it no longer lays eggs.

So the tender, yet crunchy meat of this dish was new to Lydiane, and she had never tasted anything like it.

She took another bite.

This time with a different sauce, a mixture of white and yellow.

It was softly sour, eggy, crunchy and spicy, with a hint of raw oranie mixed in.

The sauce, softly enveloped the tender, oily and sour fried chicken and mingles with it in her mouth.

(This sauce with eggs is delicious on its own!)

The egg sauce is also a perfect accompaniment to the crisp, cold leafy vegetables and the incredibly soft bread.

Chicken, vegetables and bread. As long as there’s egg sauce, you can eat as much as you like.

Again, a bite of chicken, then a bite with vegetables, then a bite on bread, then try it in different ways.

Lydiane ate in silence, and in no time at all she had devoured her meal.

She drank the last of the soup to cleanse our palates. It was as sweet as a pastry.

I was satisfied… she thought.

“Do you want another?”

“…Un.”

But when Kane suggested it, Lydiane nodded without a second thought.

*

After eating two plates of chicken nanban, Lydiane exhaled with satisfaction, this time with a full stomach.

All the gloom that she had felt since her father’s death seemed to have disappeared.

Now, for once, she could forget her fears about the future and her uncertainty about what to do.

…And it was shortly after that that she saw a new perspective.

“I was wondering, would you like to be an adventurer?”

“Eh…?”

The other two boys nodded in agreement, although Lydiane was confused by Kane’s unexpected words.

“I see. That’s a good idea.”

“It’s not a bad idea.”

The two other boys nodded in agreement.

“What, but… I’m a Lamia, as you can see?”

“We could say that you’re a『demon』who was mistaken for a lamia because you were a snake from the feet down.”

I hear a coughing sound from somewhere, but I ignore it and Jack continues talking.

“Demon…? Oh.”

I’ve read about them in books. The demon race is an evil race that worships the evil gods and is born from humans and elves.

As I recall, they are characterized by a strange appearance due to the blessings of the evil gods. Their appearance is said to vary from one another.

“Yes, yes. There are a lot of demons in the adventuring world, and not all of them are bad. There are also a lot of demon customers in this shop.”

Jack looks around the shop as he says so. Lydiane follows suit and looks around the shop.

There was a guest who was a demon with features that did not match any of the demons, if you ask me. I mean, the girl who works there is probably a demon.

(The book says that demons are violent, evil and incompatible with humans…)

I thought about it and thought again. If everything in the book was true, the Lamia who kidnaps and eats men would not have been sitting around the table with humans in the first place.

‘Yes. If you’re on your own, you might be exposed as a lamia, but if you’re with us and other human adventurers, you’ll be fine.

The town and village people usually don’t want to get into trouble with a traveling adventurer.”

“Of course, it’s a prerequisite that you don’t attack people. We can’t work with evil demons that attack people. But if they have morals and decency, they are welcome.”

She was tempted by those words.

And Lydiane…

“Un… Please take care of me.”

With a tearful smile, she replied, and the group had one more member.

…Later, the demon king heard an interesting story, he found out that『a group with a female demon with a snake tail』were living together in a corner of the downtown area.

Edit: Repeated line removed. Some minor mistakes fixed

Edit 2: “a group of female demons with snake tails” —> “a group with a female demon with a snake tail”

Chicken Nanban (チキン南蛮) is a Yōshoku dish, meaning it’s a Japanized European Dish. It is fried chicken seasoned with vinegar and tartare sauce. It originated from the Miyazaki Prefecture. (Sources: Wikipedia and Japan Centre)

1 don’t get this one, improvised. here’s the original line (「いや、多分だけど魔術師の人は死んでると思う。それで命令通りに動くゴーレムとか、獣並の頭しかない魔物じゃない何かが、いる」)