落とし穴９９堀：好み (Part1)
**Pit 99: Preferences**
**Side: Yuki**
*Min-min-min...*
The sound of summer rings out once again this year.
Viva, the sweltering Japanese summer.
Well, even if this is another world.
I wonder about that.
I was happy that this place had four seasons, just like Japan, but I didn't necessarily want the temperature to be this similar to Japan’s, either.
Current temperature: 34°C (93.2°F).
With the heatwave continuing day after day, the nights are bound to be tropical.
That’s what the weather report on the news just said.
"Man, it sure is hot this year."
"It really is. Oh, would you like some barley tea?"
"Yeah, I'll take some."
*Glug, glug.* The brown liquid fills the glass with a pleasant sound.
It must be quite cold.
The glass immediately turns white with condensation, beads of water forming on its surface.
Taizo-san grabs it and pours it down his throat in one go.
*Gulp, gulp...*
"Phew. That’s good. Taiki-kun, would you like some?"
"Yes, please."
Taizo-san pours barley tea into Taiki-kun’s glass, and Taiki-kun drains it instantly.
"Ahhh. That brings me back to life."
He drinks it so well. Seriously.
"Yuki-san, how about you?"
"Oh, yes please."
When I hold out my glass, Taiki-kun pours the tea for me.
The coldness of the barley tea seeping through the glass feels wonderful.
I drain it as well.
The aroma of the barley passes through my throat, and the chill spreads throughout my entire body.
"Nothing beats barley tea after a workout."
"That’s for sure."
"It’s a nostalgic taste, isn't it?"
"Yeah. We’d run around the hills and fields, and this is what we’d be served when we got home."
"Exactly. Grandma used to serve it to us all the time."
"It really feels like summer."
We chatted like that while catching our breath on the veranda.
Today was a day off for all three of us, and at Taizo-san’s invitation, we had been practicing swordsmanship as a bit of exercise.
I’ve never seriously practiced Kendo or swordsmanship, but Taizo-san said it didn't matter, so I joined in.
"Yuki-kun, how was it?"
"Well, moving my body is fun, but I realized that this kind of thing is all about building up experience. As an amateur, I was exhausted just from the practice swings. But are you sure it was okay to let a novice like me join in?"
"It doesn't matter. The Jigen-ryu style is designed for real combat. There’s no such thing as bowing before a fight to the death. The door is open to anyone. But, are you sure you’ve really never done Kendo or swordsmanship before?"
"Now that you mention it, that’s true. You were dodging both my and Taizo-san’s attacks quite naturally."
"Well, I had an acquaintance teach me a little bit back in the day. But I’ve never studied it properly."
"Ah, I see."
"At most, it was just a single class level in school."
"Hmm. Well, I don’t mean to doubt you, Yuki-kun, but you just seemed very accustomed to it."
"I guess I’ve been through the wringer since I got here."
"I see. Was it from your wife, Seraria-dono, and the others?"
"Exactly."
My skills didn't improve just because an old man I knew taught me a little; I’m just an ordinary person.
"Come to think of it, the barley tea reminded me—do you guys have juice where you are, Taiki-kun, Taizo-san?"
"Juice?"
"...Juice? Oh, you mean like grape juice, orange juice, or lemonade?"
"Wait, you had juice in your era, Taizo-san?"
Taiki-kun is surprised by Taizo-san’s reaction.
"We had it normally. Carbonated lemonade was supposedly brought over by Perry, so it existed in Japan at the end of the Edo period, the Bakumatsu era."
"Wow. Juice has been around for that long? By the way, what’s the etymology of the word 'juice'?"
"It’s exactly what it sounds like. 'Juice' refers to the liquid from vegetables, fruits, and even meat."
"Ah, so it’s just literal."
"Anyway, getting back on track, I was wondering if juice exists in the current Ranks or the Hifie Holy Kingdom."
"Ah, sorry. In Ranks... well, we add citrus juice to water to make it refreshing, so maybe that counts as juice?"
"That would probably be classified as 'citrus water' in Japan, but I don’t think there’s any problem calling it juice. How about your place, Taizo-san?"
"The Hifie Holy Kingdom is much the same. It’s like adding a little citrus juice to water. It’s like watching the birth of lemonade. Well, even if we tried to make proper juice, we don’t have orchards, so we can’t guarantee a stable supply."
"Ah, that’s true. But you have wine, so couldn't you repurpose that?"
"I wonder. Wine turns into a luxury item called alcohol, so I don’t think anyone has the idea to mix it with water."
Hmm, I see.
It seems juice hasn't really caught on yet.
In Weed, we have all sorts of goods from Earth and Japan, so we have a wide variety of juices, but I was curious about the surrounding countries.
"In that case, there aren't any particularly interesting juices."
"Hm? What do you mean? What is an 'interesting' juice?"
"Ah, I see. You mean the 'bizarre' kind."
Taizo-san tilts his head because his era had few types of juice, but Taiki-kun seems to understand why I brought up the topic.
Well, seeing is believing, so I head to the refrigerator and bring out the things I mentioned.
"Since we’ve had enough barley tea, I prepared some juice."
I place the juices in front of them.
Their reactions are polar opposites: Taizo-san looks at them with interest, while Taiki-kun’s face twitches.
"What’s this? This isn't cola, it’s... Azuki? Red bean flavor!! And this one is... watermelon!?"
"W-what kind of stuff did you bring? And you even have cucumber..."
Yes. As Taiki-kun says, they are bizarre.
They’re the kind of products where you have to wonder who gave the green light for development.
Some of these drinks are legendary for all the wrong reasons.
"This is that shiso juice, isn't it? The one that’s pointlessly turned into a liquid and carbonated. Why not just eat the leaf?"
"Oh, so this uses shiso? Indeed, it’s hard to imagine that flavor as a liquid."
Taizo-san is quite carefree, probably because he hasn't tasted it yet.
Well, I brought them specifically for that reason.
"Since we just finished exercising, I thought I’d bring a variety of juices. I thought they might actually become an industry in your countries, Taiki-kun and Taizo-san."
"I see. So that was the intention."
"...No. Absolutely not. You’re just using us as test subjects, aren't you?"
Taiki-kun hits the nail on the head.
Some of these drinks are no longer in production, but Luna’s inventory is based on copies.
In other words, once the original is recorded, it can be restocked forever.
Magic and the power of gods are convenient, aren't they?
Thanks to that, I can go on my own "Bizarre Beverage Tour."
By the way, I’m not doing this alone.
Things like this are more fun when done with others.
"Anyway, there are four bottles for the three of us, so we should be able to handle it."
"Four bottles is impossible for one person, but if we all taste-test them together, we should be fine."
"...This is definitely going to be bad. Can we retreat..."
"Of course not. You shouldn't waste food. Right, Taizo-san?"
"Well, I suppose so. But Taiki-kun, is it really that bad if you’re resisting this much?"
"I honestly don’t know. I haven't tried them myself yet."
If we all drink the bad stuff together, there’s nothing to fear.
No, wait, is that right?
Well, that’s the spirit of it, so it’s fine.
"No, no, these are all drinks that I know disappeared into history!? That means they didn't sell at all, so they couldn't be mass-produced. In other words, they’re terrible!"
"But Taiki-kun, you haven't actually tasted them, have you?"
"Well, that’s true, but..."
Of course, he’d avoid them just based on the labels.
That’s the level of stuff we’re dealing with.