Though Rest had left the villa, he didn't head back to the Royal Capital immediately. The sun was already beginning to set, and it felt far too late to start the journey home. Instead, he decided to find lodging at an inn in a nearby village.
"Still... this is quite the impressive inn. It seems far too grand for a village of this size..."
The inn was massive compared to the scale of the village. It was a two-story building with over twenty rooms. No matter how he looked at it, such a place was entirely out of proportion for a tiny fishing village that wasn't even a tourist destination.
"The villagers say the same thing," the landlady replied as she guided Rest to his room. "They tell me a village like this has no business having such a massive inn."
As one might expect, Celestine was not in this room. She was staying in a separate room with her female attendant.
(Given how things usually go, I almost expected us to be in the same room... Yuri and the others have really corrupted my common sense...)
"Madam Sanada built this place for us," the landlady continued. "She even paid the maintenance costs for decades in advance. Well, since we only see the occasional traveling merchant, we mostly use it as the village hall nowadays."
"Madam Sanada..." Rest murmured.
That was Shoko—the Queen Dowager. It seemed she had gone so far as to invest her own private fortune to build this inn for some specific reason.
"The Madam visited quite often while she was alive. She always enjoyed the hot spring here at the inn."
"A hot spring? You have an onsen here?"
"Yes, we do. There's an open-air bath that the villagers use as well. It's reserved for your private use tonight, so please, feel free to enjoy it to your heart's content."
Rest caught his breath.
An onsen. An open-air bath. These were things every Japanese person loved with a passion.
(I never really went on family vacations, so I've only ever soaked in one once or twice... but still, for a Japanese person, nothing beats an onsen!)
He finally understood the Queen Dowager’s intention in building the inn. She had constructed this unnecessarily grand facility just so she could enjoy the hot springs herself.
(I guess she really was Japanese after all... Maybe there was a hot spring in that rural town where Shoko used to live...)
Japan was a country where you could find hot springs anywhere. It wasn't surprising. By contrast, the Aiwood Kingdom had very few. On the bright side, there weren't any earthquakes here either... but still, as someone who had lived in Japan, he couldn't help but feel a certain way about it.
"I’ll be bringing your dinner shortly. Would you like to bathe after you've finished?"
"I'll do that... By the way, what's on the menu tonight?"
"I'll be bringing our village's specialty fish dish. I'll have it ready for you in just a moment."
The landlady left the room with a beaming smile. Left alone, Rest let out a long sigh and sank onto the bed.
"An onsen inn, huh... If that's the case, a room with tatami mats would have really set the mood."
The room was a standard Western-style guest room with a bed, a table, and chairs. He felt a Japanese-style room would have been far more fitting for an onsen inn, but the rush grass needed for tatami probably didn't grow in this country.
(Shoko probably found that pretty frustrating too, I bet...)
After having met and spoken with her once, Rest felt a strange sense of kinship with the Queen Dowager. Aside from Gascoyne, she was the first Japanese person he had met in this world. Perhaps this was the feeling of encountering a fellow countryman while staying abroad for a long time.
"Thank you for waiting. Here is your dinner."
"Is that... sashimi?!" Rest cried out in delight.
The main course of the dinner was indeed sliced raw fish.
"This was another dish Madam Sanada was very fond of. It’s called 'Sashimi.' Most people from outside are hesitant to eat raw fish, so if it's not to your liking, I can bring you something else..."
"No, this is perfect! Please, let me have it!"
"Oh, alright then..."
"Thank you for the meal!"
The landlady, looking a bit taken aback by his enthusiasm, laid the dishes out on the table. Rest immediately tucked into the sashimi.
"It’s delicious...!"
The fish had a flavor similar to sea bream. He was slightly disappointed to be using a salty dipping sauce instead of soy sauce, but it was still a nostalgic taste of home. It was genuinely good.
"Now I'm really starting to crave rice... Why did it have to be bread?"
"Oh? Madam Sanada used to say the exact same thing."
"I don't doubt it for a second!"
It was something any Japanese person would think. I want sashimi. I want rice. Give me soy sauce and miso... The Queen Dowager must have lived here while struggling with those same cravings, trying her best to recreate her life in Japan.
"This is salt-grilled fish and a fish-powder soup. Please, enjoy."
"Thank you."
The other dishes weren't perfect recreations either, but they all had seasonings that somehow reminded him of Japan. Rest savored his dinner, feeling a deep sense of gratitude toward a friend named Shoko Sanada.