The Other World Dining Hall Chapter 115

Cutlet Sandwich

At one corner of Death Capital, Gustav was regretting that he came there as he held his severely painful broken leg.

(d.a.m.n it… is it too early for me…)

When he was 17, he ran away from his parents who were like hanger-on, and it had been five years since he became an adventurer that dreamed of fortune.

He went through many hards.h.i.+ps by honing his skills. Now it was time for him to challenge the Death Capital to get out of his poor life.

Decision made, Gustav embarked there.

The Death Capital.

It was a chaotic place that adventurers like Gustav admired in awe, but that hope and desire were mixed with despair and fear.

There were countless treasures and undead inside.

According to legend, the Death Capital was the capital city of the Old Kingdom, the first country of humankind.

The Old Kingdom, ruling the whole continent, freely manipulated magic which was the heritage of the elves; it was more prosperous than any other country.

It was said that its people enjoyed abundant harvest and lived happily.

However, when its last king became afraid of death, he dabbled in forbidden magic and caused the Old Kingdom to end.

The king that transcended death became an evil lich that killed all of the inhabitants of the city and turned them all into undead.

And any living thing that died in the city would also turn into undead due to the curse, and the last king began to reign as the eternal king of the capital city filled only with undead.

Other than the last king that became the evil lich, there were also his dead faithful va.s.sals that followed the king.

The priests that served the G.o.ddess of Light embarked on a subjugation to purify the last king and dispel the death curse, and a knight team of a certain country who went in aiming for the treasure of the Old Kingdom was annihilated and became a flock of Dullahan.

And then there were countless corpses of adventurers which became undead after they failed to obtain any treasure.

Gustav entered the Death Capital that continued to grow as with more undead… and now he was waiting for death.

(At least I have the money to buy healing medicine.)

He sighed while he wanted to cry at his poverty and his luck that seemed to have run out.

He had prepared holy water that was effective against undead, and he had no thought of entering too deep into the city, just staying near the entrance… there were not much undead, and he was only going to search in the place where it was said that adventurers with decent skills could return alive.

The problem was that the city was deteriorating as it had already been destroyed hundreds of years ago.

The moment he stepped into a house he was going to carefully explore, the floor collapsed under him and Gustav might have broken his leg after he fell down.

It was impossible to climb a gaping hole in the ceiling, not to mention it was hard to even walk on his probably

broken leg.

It was about half a day from the Death Capital to the nearest town where adventurers gathered. He’s probably going to die before he could arrive.

(This, it seems the end for me…)

Feeling resigned, he closed his eyes.

If he couldn’t move, there’s nothing he could do other than rest to restore his energy.

…Even if the only thing waiting for him was death due to dehydration or starvation, he should try to hope even a little that other adventurers might find and help him.

He wondered how much time had pa.s.sed since he stayed inside the barrier.

[O-i, the adventurer over there.]

Gustav suddenly trembled when he heard the voice.

(Bad… this is really bad…)

What he heard was a voice that’s strangely clear and cut through the wind, a voice that couldn’t be generated by a living being.

Just like the howl a beast, it was a voice similar to the resentment of the dead that could be heard even during daytime in the Death Capital.

Actually he didn’t want to see it, but he couldn’t help but to see it.

Gustav slowly opened his eyes.

There was an undead in front of him.

The room in the bas.e.m.e.nt was completely dark even during daytime.

There was a white man that was strangely visible in the dark room where visibility was low.

[Hii…!]

His eyes were like dark holes with no eyeb.a.l.l.s and red lights s.h.i.+ning inside instead, Gustav screamed when he saw it.

A wraith.

Even a skilled adventurer could be easily cursed by it, and the dangerous being with no hands and feet was in the presence of Gustav.

[Do not panic. I won’t kill you. For now.]

The man spoke to Gustav in a tone that was strangely relaxing.

[I think I will to help you first… a little better. Can you walk?]

Gustav desperately nodded as he did not know what would happen if he did not answer the wraith’s question.

Although he did not seem to attack now, Gustav did not know what he was thinking. He might attack the next moment.

[Okay, come on.]

[I, I understand…]

So Gustav carried his equipment and started following the wraith while dragging his painful leg.

Fortunately, the destination was not too far.

[First of all, this is my body. My cause of death is roughly the same as you. Perhaps it’s possible for me to think clearly thanks to the presence of the holy water you brought and being inside the barrier.]

The brownish white skeleton was equipped with adventurer’s garb, and one of the legs was bent in a strange direction.

Below the body laid things that seemed to be the undead-free barrier, and there was even a bottle of holy water rolling beside.

[But in the end, no help came and I died. I guess it was many years ago. I have always lingered in this dark underground, so I don’t know how long ago it was.]

He pointed at something while saying as if it was nothing.

{TN: I don’t know how he could point at something if he had not hands, but oh well.}

[And then, after my death, that door starts to appear once

once in 7 days.]

Following the direction he was pointed at, Gustav found a black door that did not fit the dusty and moldy bas.e.m.e.nt.

[Otherworld restaurant Nekoya? …No way, it’s a food shop?]

From the letters written there, Gustav arrived at an unbelievable conclusion.

[Aa, the signboard changed recently… in other words, there are people inside.]

The wraith also nodded to Gustav’s reasoning.

[Aa, unfortunately I can’t open the door since I lost my body. So I can’t do anything except look at it.]

[…I understand.]

Anyway, he would die if he didn’t do anything.

An adventurer would even uselessly resisted even to survive.

Gustav felt resolute and opened the door.

‘Chirinchirin’, the sound of bell that resounded felt like alarm noise to Gustav, he checked for any traps before stepping into the unnaturally bright room.

A customer came after the last customer was seen off, and the air flowed.

The person stepping inside was a dirtily dressed young man.

As he entered the restaurant, he crumbled down on the spot and groaned in pain.

[Kyaa!?]

[Wha, what happened!?]

[Oi, calm down.]

It was obvious that this was an abnormal situation.

But the owner was used to it.

Sometimes customers that suffered disasters like this would come.

At first he thought that it was a coincidence, somehow or another, he recently noticed that that was not the case.

After all, until recently the signboard was written in j.a.panese that they couldn’t read, and for the customers that did not know about the restaurant, the door that appeared anywhere was regarded suspiciously.

And only those with strong curiosity would open the door even if there might be a trap.

The owner squatted down and checked his condition.

[It’s broken… Aletta. Get the medicine from the medicine box at the back.]

He approached and saw that the man’s right foot was swollen under his trousers, the owner told Aletta to bring the medication.

[Yes!]

[E? Can a bone fracture be treated with a medicine!?]

Aletta nodded and went off quickly, while Saki was confused by the owner’s words.

Hearing about the medicine, she knew it intuitively.

It was probably a mystery wound medicine that was counted as one of the seven wonders of Nekoya in the first aid kit of this restaurant.

The container was the bottle of a commercial perfume, but later the owner seemed to have filled it with an unidentified medicine that could treat burns, sprain, gashes…

It was a medicine that could heal injuries when sprayed on them while numbing the pain, and sometimes his work colleagues asked him where he bought it.

[Aa, I forgot to tell you about it. The medicine is very effective because it’s made at the otherworld… it’s insanely expensive.]

Whether or not Saki knew the subject or not, the owner easily said its true ident.i.ty.

Every time his predecessor was injured, he would buy the medicine from a merchant customer.

The price was paid in gold coins of that world, but the owner knew that it was a miraculous medicine that could even heal lower body paralysis, not just broken bones.

[Master! I brought the medicine!]

While speaking about it, Aletta came bringing the medicine, the owner then talked to the man.

[Ou,

the man.

[Ou, thank you… customer-san, this will be a bit painful, but please bear with it.]

He rolled up the trousers and poured the medicine on the bruised foot after removing the bottle cap.

[Gu, guaaa!?]

When the medicine was sprayed on the foot, the man screamed…

[The pain… it disappeared!?]

He raised his face in surprise.

[That’s good. It seems to be all right now.]

The owner said so to the man with a smile.

[By the way customer-san, this is a restaurant… do you want to eat something?

Although unfortunately the dishes I can prepare are limited.]

The moment he heard those words.

The man who was until now distracted by his pain had not eaten anything, so the owner’s question was answered by the rumbling of his belly.

(How did it come to this way…)

While seating on a puffy comfortable chair, Gustav thought idly.

The room was strangely bright although it was already midnight; the temperature was neither warm nor cold.

Inside the water served to him, expensive ice was currently melting.

His foot was no longer painful, and when he smelled the food being prepared at the back, his stomach groaned.

Until a while ago, he was waiting for death while trembling in fear.

Thinking about it, he drank the water in the gla.s.s cup.

(Aa, it’s delicious. This…)

The cold water like winter well water contained the scent of unfamiliar fruit, it penetrated Gustav’s dehydrated body and cooled it.

After he drank it all in one gulp, he felt more alive.

[Thank you for waiting. I brought your food.]

While he was relaxed, a girl with golden hair came carrying a white plate.

Served on the plate was a black and brown thing sandwiched between something white.

[Etto, what is this dish?]

Gustav’s question was answered by the girl with a smile.

[Yes. This is cutlet sandwich! It’s very delicious… well then, please enjoy. A, let me refill your water.]

After she said so, the girl returned to the kitchen.

[Cut, cutlet sandwich…? Maa, I’m hungry so I’ll eat it.]

After seeing her off, Gustav started on the food in front of him.

He wiped his dirty hands with wet cloth and then he looked at the food.

(What kind of dish is this…)

Since it was served in a short time, it was probably made beforehand and a fragrant aroma drifted from it.

Looking at the light burn mark on the light brown surface, it was probably a piece of cut meat cooked with fire.

(Maa, it shouldn’t be poisoned…)

If they intended to kill him, they wouldn’t waste such an expensive medicine on him.

Thinking so, Gustav reached for the food.

[…This is, white bread?]

Holding it, Gustav noticed that it was bread, an expensive white bread.

The surface was dyed in light wheat colour, but the visible part from the gap was white like fine cloth.

In addition, although the surface was crisply baked and hard under his hands, the inside was soft and pushed back against his fingers gently.

And sandwiched between the bread was grey meat with black coating. The meat with its greasy white fat appeared to be very appetizing to Gustav who hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.

(It seems like I seems like I can expect more than I thought…)

He knew what kinds of dishes were served in restaurants, but he thought that this would be very delicious; he then carried it to his mouth

He opened his mouth widely, put the square bread in between and took a big bite.

[Oo!]

At the moment, Gustav was delighted at the taste that was more delicious than he thought.

While the surface was baked crisply, it has soft sweetness and fine wheat taste from the soft part.

Beyond that was the black coating.

Apparently, the meat was coated and then deep-fried like Empire cuisine before it got soaked by some sort of sauce. When he chewed, the meat juice overflowed in his mouth.

The intense sweet and sour taste of the sauce was followed by a bit of spicy taste, before it was diluted afterwards by the meat juice and the greasy fat leaking from the meat, making a new flavour combination.

Once he tasted it, it was finished quickly.

Gustav devoured the cutlet sandwich like a starving dog that just ate for the first time in a while.

And when the waitress came back with more water, the cutlet sandwich was already finished.

The owner said that there was no need for him to pay for the medicine since the situation warranted for it. All he had to pay was the price of the food.

Thankful to the owner, Gustav pa.s.sed through the door… he then remembered that he was in the Death Capital.

[Yo, it seems that there’s something good behind the door.]

Gustav looked at the wraith that beckoned him there and noticed that the door had disappeared.

[Honestly I don’t know if I can help, but would you like to be rescued?]

Floating with a smile, the wraith asked Gustav.

[Wha, what…?]

If he refused, the wraith would probably attack him.

Along with such belief, Gustav asked with hope.

[What, it’s not so difficult.]

That said, the wraith looked at his remains.

[I had a dagger and a notebook. I want you to deliver it to the Kingdom. I could not become a good treasure hunter like my father and brother.

But since they don’t know that I’m dead, they’ll be worried in vain. I request you.]

After he said so, he disappeared.

[…I’ll do it.]

Although the figure had disappeared, he could still feel a gaze staring at him, while feeling a light ache in the stomach that had eaten the cutlet sandwich earlier, Gustav rummaged the corpse and found the rusty dagger and tattered notebook that the wraith mentioned.

From there, it would take a month to the Kingdom, and based on the bone’s colour, he had died for decades.

Probably neither the father nor the brother was still alive.

However, there may be descendants.

…If he didn’t exert any effort at least, it’s likely that he would be killed.

Again, Gustav thought that it was fortunate that he could leave the Death Capital alive, so he left.

…When the dagger was polished, there was a name “Julius Gold” engraved on it, he got a reward when he delivered the items to the Kingdom, but that’s a story of another time.