In Another World with JUST MONIKA 26 The Girl from the Far Eas

"Y-you okay?" I asked. "Everyone okay?"

We panted for breath, and then began to introduce ourselves.

"Thank you for your assistance. Truly, I am in your debt. My name is Kokonoe Yae… ah, yes. My apologies, Yae is my given name and Kokonoe is my family name, that it is."

"Oh! Are you from Eashen?" Linze asked. "Um, I'm Linze Silhoueska… and this is my sister-"

"I am Elze."

"Silhoueska is our family name," Linze finished.

Yae bowed slightly. "Indeed I am from Eashan, that I am. I am honored to meet you, Elze-san, Linze-san." Then Yae stared up at me quizzically.

I grinned. "Then I am Zah Playa Von Chara, Von Chara being my family name, Zah Playa my own name." I poked at my own chest with a white-gloved thumb. "You may refer to me a Playsan… easier to say than Zah-san, eh, Kokonoe-san?"

"This is happening. This is really happening isn't it? We are going max weeaboo. I was dreading it, but I knew this would someday happen."

"Ah! You understand the rules of Eashan speech? It is indeed an honor to meet you Plays" Yae bowed and said and but then suddenly -

"GRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOWWWL!"

We looked around to find out where that noise was coming from, and then realized that it was coming from Yae's stomach. She was frozen, mortified, in a half-bow. Her hungry stomach betrayed her by grumbling again.

I laughed weakly and scratched at my cheek. "Aheheh… why don't we continue this somewhere else? It's always better to do this thing over a spread of munchies."

"No, no, I would not dare!" Yae replied swiftly. "Though it shames me to say that I lost my travel funds on the way here, I could not possibly place myself any more in your debt, my apologies, I cannot!"

She held her palms out open as if to push us away. Then her stomach growled again.

She looked away, cheeks puffed out in embarrassment.

"Eheheh, no big. We haven't eaten yet since we've arrived either. Things like this happen. No need to feel embarrassed, we've all been there at some point along our travels. Let's go eat something and trade stories like the daring travelers that we are!"

"Said the city boy."

"Which one among us here had any real experience with air travel, eh? Eh?" I turned around, leaned facing the wall and mumbled under my breath.

"I am fairly sure flying first class doesn't count anywhere as any sort of adventurous travel."

"Being audacious with your wallet is also a part of experience!" I shouted out to nowhere.

Elze sighed and beckoned to Yae. "Just go along with it. He's a weirdo but he doesn't mean any harm."

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We found a high-class place that served buffet-style. We were seated around a large table that normally sat six, and every bit of it was filled with food of all kinds. There were meats and breads and soups and skewers and salads and things that were salty and crunchy and things that were soft and creamy, and all sorts of seafood and vegetables and fruits.

A discreet question to the waiter answered that it was also an eat-all-you can, within limits, and it would cost us three silver. Thirty copper, or thirty percent of a gold coin, and equivalent about 270 USD. It was… not the most expensive meal I've ever seen, but it certainly had all the others beat in sheer amount.

It could possibly be worth it if your stomach could contain that much grilled crabs, and Yae was making a good try of it. She was gulping down food with every other word out of her mouth, and while Elze and Linze boggled at first now they were just happily enjoying their own meal talking with Yae about her home and Eashen and her long journey all the way to Belfast.

"So you're on a journey to make yourself stronger?" Elze asked. "A warrior's journey?"

"Yes… (nom nom) that is so. Mine has been a warrior family for generation, we have. My elder brother is to inherit the house, and so I have left in a journey to improve my skills. Yes, that is so."

"Whoa, that sounds rough! You're quite considerate for your family, huh?" Elze had a somewhat starstruck gaze. Unlike her and Linze, who left home for money, Yae had a much more purer and more heroic motive.

There was also awe in there was apparently no problem in women in Eashen being expected to be strong on their own rights too. In Belfast, if you're not a noble and in training to be a knight, or an adventurer, a strong woman was no lady. Society disapproved, as much as it subtly disapproved of adventurers as an unruly lot even with how completely necessary they were for their society's existence.

"A rurouni, eh? A wandering swordswoman?" I said. "You are very very far from Eashan. It's an island on the opposite side of the continent, isn't it? How long did it take to get here?"

"(nom nom nom) It hash been… less than half a year? I took a ship to the Knight Kingdom of Leshea, and sought to know more about their swords. It was most interesting to discover the difference in fighting with longswords and in full armor, that it was. Then I boarded a ship to pass through the Great River Gao to arrive here."

I nodded. "I suppose long straight arming swords are useful, but not really exceptional in any particular angle. I imagine you would aim for weak points in their armor or tire them out, but in the end I've found swords of all kinds were pretty weak against plate." I raised my hands and made some swinging gestures, "... even those two-handed swords mostly rely on blunt force to batter the person inside the armor."

"Yeah, but plate is expensive, isn't it? If you're fighting against a noble you've got bigger problems than just trying to get through their armor." Elze had a faintly mischievous expression on her face, because she knew her own blunt force punches was the best way to cave in some idiot's expensive chestplate.

Unless there was protection magic applied to it, but really even that could be overcome with enough force.

"You did not draw your sword, Playsan. But from what I can see… is that similar to a nagamaki?"

"Correct, Miss Kokonoe. An anti-cavalry weapon, but with a less curved blade that could still be used for thrusting."

Yae nibbled down on fried breaded shrimps and nodded. "You know much about Eashen… have you not visited it before?"

"Well there's still nothing like hearing things from a native. A lot of what I know is from really old stories, you know?" I gestured towards Elze and Linze. "We have never gone to the East, so hearing things from you about all you've seen heading West is also terribly new to us."

"Yes, please continue," Linze added.

/"Yes, player. Things you learned off anime are not exactly reliable..."/ Monika whispered.

Hey, now. That's not the main source of my information. That would be Shogun: Total War.

And then while the girls resumed conversing, a waiter approached and softly asked me about what more I would like to order. He apologetically noted that the restaurant will have to start charging for extra dishes. I had a feeling he was wondering if we had the money for what we had already eaten, and I reassured him that we could cover it.

Yae was now speaking of the warrior's philosophy she was taught by her father: train as hard as you can, eat as much as possible when able – this is the road to strength!

Well he wasn't wrong.

I asked the waiter to bring out some low-alcohol wine. We were adventurers, there was no such thing as age limits for drinking here.

If the girls ever heard of the price of what we were having they would probably have thought it nothing short of robbery, which really begged the question how could this town have so much economic activity for this and yet have a public crime problem?

Well, that was not my problem.

Well that was what I thought, until we noticed a commotion by the entrance. A group of people in dingy old breastplates and leather were arguing with the restaurant staff, until one of them – wearing civilian clothes – pointed towards us. That person then decided to leave quickly as the town guards approached our table.

Because this was a high-class restaurant, we were obliged to leave our weapons to the care of the restaurant's storage room. This also meant that we couldn't just cut and run.

Elze's hands tightened into fists, and she placed her palms under the table's edge ready to flip it over for cover. Yae's expression gradually shifted from caution to outright horror, and she began to chow down even faster while keeping her attention on Elze.

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Chapter end