83. Royal City Stroll

Shiro walked, scanning the city’s atmosphere. No matter how he looked at it, the place didn’t feel medieval at all.

The more he examined the goods on sale, the buildings, tools, decorations, and clothing, the more it struck him that the civilization level vaguely resembled a blend of Earth’s 18th to 19th century.

Still, the architecture and overall layout bore strong traces of Gothic influence—so much so that the city felt like it belonged to the 12th to 13th century, Shiro speculated.

Overall, the vibe was reminiscent of early 1900s Europe—buildings in Gothic style, common fantasy attire, but oddly not truly Gothic. Light Gothic fashion mixed with steampunk elements—probably the work of adventurers and mages—while steam and electricity had been entirely replaced by magic, he thought.

Sotohaim was a bit older, with a Germanic cityscape, but the capital was newer, cleaner, and more French in style.

Shiro figured magic must be behind the modernization of certain industries.

As he passed by numerous old buildings, he mused: given that the world was fundamentally peaceful, traditional values endured; and because magic enabled progress, new innovations emerged quickly, and both old and new coexisted neatly.

Shiro, Mitoka, Shestia, Aria, and Albert decided to explore the capital city.

The culinary standard here was surprisingly high. Of course—some parts of the civilization were on par with the 19th century. Shiro had quietly imagined he’d be using a cooking cheat code… but he realized, with a faint smirk, that it was completely unnecessary.

In the capital, for some reason, cuisine resembling Italian food from Earth is all the rage. Pasta, salads, and wine—excellent. Along the lake's edge, dishes made from fish caught in the lake are plentiful, expertly prepared, and seasoned in a variety of ways. Shiro is thoroughly satisfied.

Shiro grinned as he happily chewed on the fish dish.

"Shiro, you like fish?" Shestia asked.

“Huh? Ah, yeah, I like it. Back in the country I grew up in, fish—well, sea fish, but still—were pretty commonly eaten,” Shiro explains.

"Then let's go to Nagate someday!" Shestia says, her eyes sparkling.

"Shiro?"

“Fufu. Shestia’s a glutton, after all,” Aria said. And then,

"Nagate is a port town on the sea, part of the Commercial City-State Union Feliorin," Aria explains. "The fresh seafood here is delicious."

"Yeah, I agree with that too. The seafood dishes from over there are delicious," Albert said, unusually animated.

“That sounds great. I really want to go!” Shiro replied.

"Hey, isn't that miso and soy sauce?!"

Shiro was walking through the town when he shouted in front of a shop.

"Shiro, you like miso and soy sauce?"

And Shestia asks with an innocent expression.

"No, well, back in my country that was standard seasoning. Haven’t seen it since I got here—figured it must be gone," Shiro replies.

"That's made in the Beastfolk Kingdom," Albert replied. "I like it too."

"Is that so? And this place is… a soba shop? Why is it here…?" Shiro muttered, half-dazed, then stepped inside with a determined "Alright, let's eat!"

"Me too," "Same here," Shestia and Albert.

Mitoka smiled faintly, and followed silently as always.

"Alright, how much are you all going to eat... I'm not eating anything," Aria said, reluctantly stepping into the shop.

"Ah—tastes good. This is great. I might just move to the capital now?" Shiro said.

"Sounds good," Shestia said.

"Indeed," Albert replied.

"Al, you're such a glutton?" Aria asked.

"My brother's a glutton. I know," Shestia said.

"...Well, I guess I've always liked eating. Feels like I've been letting my guard down ever since I started following Shiro, to be honest..." Albert muttered.

As they ate, they chatted about miso and soy sauce—how they were made, what fermentation even was—trivial talk, really. But Shiro suddenly realized something.

(When we dealt with Shirena, I used hyper-precise mana sensing and hyper-precise mana layer analysis to purge the virus. But could we use a homing-type spell, executed via spirit magic, to target microbe-level entities? If we call on enough spirits, couldn't we do it faster and easier? The method we used back then just burns too much time and mana.)

Shiro thought it over, then sent a mental message to Mitoka.

『Shiro, you're absolutely right. That would be far more efficient. With the external module issue for spirit magic, we should consider reapplying that approach.』 Mitoka replied.

Later, the group found a bread and cake shop. They said they were full, but still walked in, savoring desserts. Aria, though she pretended to be shocked, ended up eating even more than Shiro.

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