Despite the headache caused by the troublesome rumors at school, we thoroughly enjoyed the dishes as they arrived. Every course was exquisite, and while the flavors were entirely new to me, they were deeply satisfying.
Eventually, after the grilled, simmered, and fried courses had passed, the final dish arrived—the dessert.
"This is a crepe-wrapped apple and pear compote, served with a strawberry sauce," the waitress announced.
"Thank you."
"And for your drinks, we have coffee and tea..."
"The ladies will take tea, and we'll have coffee," Yuji said, stepping in as she hesitated over the placement. She moved quickly to set the cups down.
"This concludes the meal. If you require any further drinks or assistance, please don't hesitate to call."
"Understood, thank you. Oh, could you let us know when our time is almost up?"
"Certainly. Please, enjoy the rest of your stay."
When the conversation gets lively, it’s easy to lose track of the clock. Once Yuji finished requesting the time-check, the waitress bowed and withdrew from the room.
"So, that’s the end of it. Every dish was so delicious, I’m actually sad to see it finish..." I murmured.
"I'm glad to hear that. It makes introducing this place worthwhile," Yuji replied.
"Haha, the food really was incredible."
My stomach could have done without the stress-induced ache from the unfamiliar, high-pressure atmosphere, though. While everything was delicious, I think I would have preferred a place where we could eat without feeling like we had to be on our best behavior.
That said, by the time the meal reached the halfway point, everyone had pretty much stopped worrying and just ate and drank their fill.
"It's true, everything was superb," Hiiragi-san added. "I can’t replicate these exactly, but I’d love to use the concepts as inspiration for new menu items at my family’s restaurant."
"Wait, you’re going to serve stuff like this at your place, Hiiragi-san?" I asked, looking surprised.
"Replicating the ingredients and techniques would be impossible, obviously. But the culinary concepts are adaptable—it would be a matter of adding this place's 'essence' to our existing menu. We’re currently serving ramen made with dungeon food, but lately, other shops have started using dungeon ingredients as a matter of course. I want to find a way to differentiate our menu from the competition."
"I see. Now that you mention it, restaurants serving dungeon food really are on the rise. You can even find the ingredients in supermarkets now, though they’re still treated as luxury items. The cost-performance for a restaurant probably isn't great yet."
"It's not," she confirmed. "We’ve been handling dungeon food since the early days, so we have the name recognition and a loyal customer base. We can make the ingredient costs pay for themselves. But a new shop wouldn't have the volume, so they’d struggle with overhead. Unless it's a limited-time special, it’ll be hard for most places to make it a staple until the prices drop further."
"So even then, because they’re appearing everywhere else, you want to stay ahead with a new twist?"
I understood her dilemma, but I was curious how she planned to blend this high-end style with her family’s cooking. If she incorporated the flavor profile from here... would it become a Japanese-style ramen? Wait, modern ramen is already essentially Japanese, isn't it?
"Something like that. It’s hard to change the base soup from scratch, so I’ll probably start by experimenting with the toppings. If I play with the spices, I might be able to capture this unique sensation. I’ll start there."
"Like making the chashu or the eggs Southeast Asian style?"
"South American style might be good too. I won't know how much I can change it without making it feel 'off' until I try."
"Just try to avoid the punchline where you overdo it and it turns into something that isn't even ramen anymore," I teased.
It would be a funny story if she tried to improve it and ended up accidentally recreating an existing local dish from that region.
"True. But this really was helpful. Seeing these kinds of cooking methods was a real eye-opener."
"Yeah, I don't usually eat this kind of food either, so every dish was fascinating."
"Is that so?" Yuji asked. "Don't you eat this kind of thing at events sometimes?"
...Even then, we don't use restaurants of this rank, Hiiragi-san and I replied in unison with small sighs, poking fun at his lack of perspective.
Even for a decent event, the rank of restaurant we’d frequent was several levels lower than this.
"Sigh... let’s just eat the dessert."
"Yes, let's."
"Good idea."
Hiiragi-san and I used our dessert knives and forks to cut into the crepes, coating the pieces in strawberry sauce. Despite their thickness, the knives met very little resistance; the apples and pears inside had clearly been simmered until they were incredibly soft. Looking at the cross-section, I could see beautiful, alternating layers of poached fruit.
"The fruit isn't just chopped up; it looks like they’ve layered thin slices of apple and pear."
"By layering them like that, they’re creating a multidimensional flavor profile," Hiiragi-san noted.
We both admired the cross-section, impressed by the meticulous labor. It would have been much easier to just wrap minced fruit, but this was a careful effort to ensure there were no inconsistencies in texture.
"Well then, let’s eat... Oh, the balance of sweetness and acidity is perfect."
"The quality of the fruit itself is excellent," Hiiragi-san added. "Even though they’re simmered soft, you can still clearly feel the difference in their textures."
"Yeah, the contrast in acidity is great," Yuji said. "The different types of sweet and tart notes bring out the best in each other."
As Yuji noted, a pleasant, balanced sweetness spread through my mouth. Both the apples and pears were poached, but the sugar was used sparingly, allowing the natural sweetness of the fruit to shine. The crepe was also lightly sweetened, with a rich, buttery fragrance that made the dough exceptionally flavorful.
"Ah, this goes perfectly with the coffee. The bitterness is just right against the sweetness."
"It suits the tea as well. Combined with the aroma of the tea, it's truly delightful."
"It feels like everything is working together in perfect harmony."
We shared satisfied smiles as we alternated between bites of crepe and sips of our drinks. Mika and her friends were doing the same, their expressions glowing as they enjoyed their tea.
"It's so good."
"Yeah, it's delicious."
"For such a sweet dessert, it doesn't feel heavy at all."
"It’s that tartness. It’s so refreshing."
They looked truly happy. For a while, the table fell silent as everyone focused on finishing their dessert.
Once the plates were cleared, we lingered over fresh cups of coffee and tea, savoring the afterglow of the meal. Since it was a course meal served slowly, the actual quantity of food hadn't been massive, yet I felt quite full. Considering our usual appetites, the volume could have been double, but the level of satisfaction made up for it.
"Phew. That was incredibly satisfying."
"I agree. When you eat slowly like this, you feel full even with smaller portions. Our usual meals are more like trying to pack in as much as possible as fast as possible."
"True," Hiiragi-san agreed. "Normally, we’d never spend nearly an hour over a single meal."
I thought back to my usual lunch times and realized I really never did eat this slowly. Even at all-you-can-eat places, we usually just shoved in everything we could in the first thirty minutes, which made it impossible to keep eating for the full duration of the time limit.
"It’s not really my style, but maybe a slow meal like this is okay once in a while?"
"At our age, our daily meals are usually quantity over quality. But once in a while? I think it’s good," Yuji said.
"I suppose so," Hiiragi-san added. "But next time we do this, let’s pick a more casual place with a slightly lower rank."
I nodded firmly in agreement. It might be nice occasionally, but a place where just the storefront makes you want to shrink back is a bit much.
"Is that so? Well, I'll pick a different place next time..."
A different place, huh...
A "different place" by Yuji’s standards was a terrifying prospect. I was afraid he’d introduce us to some world-class, Michelin-starred establishment even if the 'rank' was technically lower. It was scary being introduced to restaurants without signs, but just as scary being introduced to famous ones. After today, I couldn't take his suggestions at face value without a bit of trepidation.
"Setting that aside, are we okay on time? Since it was a last-minute reservation, the slot was short, wasn't it?"
"Well, I asked the waitress to let us know when our time is up, so we should be fine for a bit longer."
I’d brought up the time to change the subject, and since Yuji had arranged a reminder, we were likely safe for the moment. However, I doubted we had enough leisure time to just lounge around indefinitely.
"Now then, shall we talk a bit about our plans for the year-end and New Year period?"
"Good idea," Yuji agreed. "Since everyone is here, it’s best to establish a common understanding."
"Right."
I called out to Mika and the others, who were currently basking in their post-meal bliss.
"Hey everyone, listen up. I'm going to explain the plan for the holidays."
"Eh? Oh, okay."
Reacting to my voice, the four of them looked startled for a second before straightening their posture and giving me their full attention.
"Alright, I'll explain. There won't be any specific club activities or official explorer business. Everyone is sending their weapons in for maintenance, so serious exploration is off the table anyway, and I'm sure you all have family obligations. Basically, we won't be doing anything until after the first three days of the New Year."
"So that means no dungeon exploration, right?" Mika asked.
"Yeah. Of course, that doesn't mean you should stop training. You should still do your running and practice swings. If you spend the holidays just lazing around, it’ll be a massive pain to get your dulled body and senses back. Even if you lower the intensity, you should keep moving."
"Got it. 'Reasonably,' right?"
"Understood."
Mika and Saori-chan nodded vigorously, but Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san looked a bit uneasy. Having just finished their very first real combat, being told to do "independent practice" likely made them nervous. For the two of them, who probably didn't know what "reasonable" looked like yet, I added a clarification.
"Of course, you can coordinate and practice with each other. I’ll hand out a maintenance training menu before the closing ceremony to help you keep your current form, so just follow that over the holidays."
Y-Yes, sir!
Since I’d been overseeing their progress, I knew exactly what they needed to do to stay where they were. I’d finish the menu by tomorrow and hand it over at school.
"And for the plans after the first three days of the New Year, I’m thinking we should all hit the dungeon together at least once during winter vacation. If we leave too long a gap, Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san’s combat senses will dull."
"At that time, our main weapons will still be in the shop, so we’ll be exploring with spare equipment," Yuji added. "Well, consider it good practical training for what to do if your main weapon breaks mid-dive. We’ll be sticking to the 1st and 2nd floors, so worst-case scenario, we can handle it even with our bare hands."
"We could, but the point is to get used to fighting with spare weapons," Hiiragi-san corrected him. "There are monsters like slimes that are a pain to touch with your bare hands, so no bare-fisted fighting."
She was right; even if slimes could be dealt with by sprinkling salt, there were other monsters that were just as unpleasant to touch. If we had weapons, we should use them. Mika and Saori-chan nodded firmly, while Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san looked increasingly anxious.
"Right, let's stick to using weapons. Also, Tatebayashi-san, Hino-san."
Y-Yes!
"In the next exploration, the two of you will be fighting monsters again, but we won't be retreating just because you killed one. Next time, we'll be staying in the dungeon for a while even after the battle. You have to get used to the atmosphere and the constant tension of not knowing when a monster might appear."
...Understood.
Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san caught their breath for a moment but nodded with serious expressions. They were likely still processing their first kills, so the idea of staying in the dungeon for a long time afterward was probably daunting. But if they were going to continue as explorers, it was a hurdle they had to clear.
"For now, that's the general flow for the holidays. We'll adjust as needed through messages. Does that work for everyone?"
"Yeah."
"Yes."
"Roger."
"Understood."
...Understood.
Just as we reached an agreement, the waitress called out from outside and slid the door open.
"Excuse me, it is almost time."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
"Of course. And here is the itemized bill for your meal. Thank you very much."
"Understood."
The waitress handed the bill, tucked into a black binder, to Yuji. She gave a slight bow and left the room.
"Well, time's up. Shall we get ready to head out?"
"Yeah. More importantly, Yuji, that’s the bill, right? How much was it?"
"Hm? Well, I suppose you're curious. Here."
Yuji opened the binder and placed it in the center of the table for everyone to see.
We all leaned in, and in unison, we let out a stifled, collective groan.
"Gah?!"
Our eyes went wide as we stood there in stunned silence. I never imagined it would be this much...
A high-priced bill always follows a delicious meal.