Chapter 36: I Was Raised on Being Scared! (Patreon)

"Miss Pandora..." Hearing this, Fribal blinked, startled. "You can't possibly be unaware of how you look, can you?"

Pandora just waved a hand. "I know. Is there a problem?"

The royal capital had all sorts of strange people in it — surely her outfit wasn't anything unusual by comparison.

"That's true." Tishua nodded as well. "Even I feel the urge to pull you into my arms and pet you when I look at you..."

(So that's what she meant — my looks...)

She paused for a moment as she spoke.

"Veltol, what do you think?"

Put on the spot, Veltol gave a stiff little smile.

"Yes, that's how I felt the first time I met Miss Pandora too. But after all my sword training, my mind's settled since then, so..."

(Veltol really has a strong instinct for self-preservation!)

Seeing this, Tishua nodded, satisfied, and turned her gaze to Pandora. "That's why a girl needs to protect herself out in the world. Miss Pandora might have some sort of physical Divine Protection, but you should never let your guard down."

That face alone was enough to tempt people into sin, never mind the "white cloth" draped over her body...

"..." At this point, Pandora had no idea what to say anymore.

Who would dare mess with her? Regulus Corneas — remember him? Know what he's doing right now? After what happened to him, that's the fate waiting for anyone who tried!

"Miss Pandora, please don't take this so lightly..."

Seeing Pandora's indifferent expression, Tishua leaned in close and whispered a few words into her ear.

When Tishua sat back with a smile, Pandora let out a sigh. "Miss Tishua, are you serious?"

"Of course!" Tishua nodded firmly.

This left Fribal baffled. "What did you two just say?"

He hadn't caught a word, even sitting this close...

"Miss Tishua made a little joke with me." Pandora spread her hands.

"A joke?"

"Yes, the rather outrageous kind."

"What was it?"

"Miss Tishua said: if you don't protect yourself properly, a witch will come and carry you off."

[Author's Note: Mothers everywhere say this to children when they misbehave.]

"Uh..."

For a moment, both Fribal and Veltol turned to look at Tishua.

"W-well, it's true, isn't it..."

"How old were we when we first heard that... I think it was around five..."

"..."

Fribal raised an eyebrow at Veltol's silence.

"You don't actually believe that story, do you?"

Just picturing "Veltol, afraid of being carried off by a witch" was enough to make him want to laugh...

"I may still be young, but I can't go back to my childhood..." Right then, Veltol found himself thinking of the moment Pandora had told him she was a witch.

Seeing this, Pandora smiled. "Sounds like Mister Veltol has his doubts."

"Sorry, I don't."

"Is that so? Fair enough."

Their brief exchange left Tishua and Fribal completely lost.

"What are you two even..."

Knock, knock, knock.

Just as Tishua was about to ask, a knock sounded from outside...

"My lords and lady, may we bring in the dishes?" came the waiter's voice.

Hearing this, Tishua shot Veltol a puzzled glance.

"Of course."

With the sound of the door opening, dish after dish was carried in.

"What is this?"

Pandora studied the dish beside her, puzzled — it looked beautiful, but she couldn't tell what it was made from.

"This is the 'Flower-Language Fish Feast,' the restaurant's signature dish."

Tishua was quick to clear up her confusion.

"Go ahead, try it."

That's just how people are — when something tastes good, you want to recommend it to others.

Hearing this, Pandora blinked in surprise.

The meat, sliced into pieces with "blossoms" arranged on top, turned out to be fish...

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

And Pandora didn't hold back — after all, elders eat first, and she was older than every young man and woman at this table!

Of course, here there were only knives, forks, and spoons...

(Kararagi probably has chopsticks, though — it was founded by Hoshin, after all.)

Since the restaurant followed a separate-serving style, she picked up the medium-sized communal fork and knife and set a few pieces of fish onto her own plate.

Then...

(Fork in the left hand, knife in the right...)

Yes, that was right.

Once she had her utensils properly in hand, she carefully cut the fish — the piece was too big — and, under everyone's watchful eyes, brought it to her mouth.

"Mm, it really is delicious."

Tender and juicy, it practically melted on contact... ahem...

"Of course it is." Tishua nodded, pleased, then gestured to the two beside her. "Stop staring and eat already."

"Mm."

"Thanks, sis-in-law."

"..."

Veltol simply couldn't understand why his younger brother could be serious one moment and completely ridiculous the next...

It wasn't like Fribal calling Tishua "sis-in-law" was anything new, but hearing it still left him feeling oddly conflicted — definitely not embarrassed...

Before long —

"My lords and lady."

"Come in."

Another dish arrived... uh... dumplings?

Why would there be dumplings here? By rights, the Kingdom of Lugunica shouldn't have dumplings at all.

Seeming to notice Pandora's confusion,

"This came over from Kararagi. The flavor's quite good."

Tishua explained, swallowing a piece of fish.

"Mm..."

Though it was called dumplings, only the shape resembled them — as far as she could tell, these were actually pan-fried dumplings.

After all, she and Hoshin had come from different countries back in her original world, so their whole dumpling cultures differed too.

"Something wrong?" Fribal asked, setting a pan-fried dumpling onto his own plate and noticing Pandora hadn't moved. "You don't like this kind of food?"

It wasn't an unreasonable thought — plenty of people in the royal capital couldn't stomach it either.

Pandora just smiled. "No, I was just thinking of something, that's all."

Without further hesitation, she scooped up a dumpling, set it on her plate, and popped it into her mouth.

(Boiled dumplings really are better, though...)