After leaving the magic shop.
Naruto rubbed his belly, feeling a bit hungry.
Back in Konoha, he basically survived on instant ramen.
Having tossed and turned for most of the day without eating a single thing, his stomach was rumbling accordingly.
Serie glanced at him, just about to say something when her gaze was suddenly drawn to a restaurant diagonally across the street.
The entrance of that shop had dark fabric curtains hanging, and warm yellow light filtered through the windows.
Through the windows, people could be seen sitting inside, and one table was occupied by a man and a woman.
They were precisely Duncan and Lektile, whom they had seen earlier at the city gates.
Serie’s lips curved slightly upward, and she pulled Naruto’s hand as she walked toward there: “What a coincidence, there’s a restaurant over there.”
After walking into the restaurant.
The two of them chose a window-side seat and sat down, picking up the menu to flip through it.
The very first thing Naruto did upon sitting down was lean over the table to look at the menu, lifting his head after two seconds: “Master, I don’t know what to eat, you help me order.”
Serie didn’t even raise her head: “Then you can eat three steak cutlets, is that enough?”
“Enough, that’s enough!” Naruto hastily nodded.
The food was served quickly.
Three steak cutlets were stacked on a large plate and brought over, still steaming with heat, their surfaces slightly charred and golden, with sauce dripping down the texture of the meat.
Beside them were a few pieces of softly baked potatoes and a handful of green vegetables.
Naruto picked up the knife and fork, his posture a bit awkward.
When eating in Konoha, they used chopsticks, but he had never used a pointed fork like this or a bladed knife, so he could only learn to use them by watching the surrounding customers.
He tinkered with it for quite a while before finally forking a piece and stuffing it into his mouth.
“Mph!” Naruto’s eyes lit up instantly, and after chewing a few times and swallowing, he forked another piece: “Delicious!
It’s really delicious!”
In front of Serie were placed two small dishes of desserts, one being a pale yellow pudding-like food, and the other being small round cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar.
She used the tip of her fork to pick up a small piece of pudding, put it into her mouth, and chewed slowly.
“However…” Naruto stuffed another piece of meat into his mouth, speaking vaguely, “I still think Ichiraku Ramen is the best after all.”
“Ichiraku Ramen?” Serie put down her fork, picked up her tea cup, and took a small sip.
“That’s my favorite delicacy!” The moment Naruto started talking about this, his whole person perked up.
Serie put down her tea cup and said leisurely: “As long as you become an excellent Mage, you can use magic that conjures up various delicacies.”
Hearing this, Naruto stopped his fork mid-air: “Really?
Then Master, can you conjure a bowl of ramen right now?”
“Although I have seen it from your memories, I have never eaten it.” Serie picked up her fork and gently poked the small round cookie in front of her: “Magic requires imagination, and I cannot conjure food that I have never eaten.”
“Once you learn food magic, you can conjure whatever you want to eat yourself.”
“Mm!” Naruto nodded heavily, forked a large piece of steak cutlet and stuffed it into his mouth, acknowledging vaguely.
He ate fast, and the three steak cutlets soon left only the sauce in the plate.
Naruto leaned back against the back of his chair, let out a burp, contentedly rubbed his belly, and then turned his head to look at the corner of the restaurant.
Duncan and Lektile were sitting over there, with quite a few plates of food spread out in front of the two of them.
Lektile was eating a dessert, and Duncan just tilted his head to look at her, his gaze very gentle.
Every few seconds, Lektile would look up at Duncan, and then lower her head to continue eating.
Naruto watched for a moment and whispered: “They must be a couple, they look so happy.”
Serie’s gaze paused on those two people for a moment, then she withdrew her eyes, picked up her tea cup, and spoke in a very soft voice: “Yeah…
truly happy.”
She could tell that the female was already terminally ill and didn’t have much lifespan left.
At this moment, a waiter walked over carrying a small tray in his hand, with the bill placed on top.
He first glanced at the empty plates on the table, and then asked with a polite smile: “Two guests, are you satisfied with the food here?”
Naruto immediately said loudly: “It’s simply too delicious!”
Serie gracefully put down her tea cup, looking at her newly accepted disciple whose mouth was greasy from eating, her lips curving slightly: “So you have one more reason to study food magic hard.”
“Only in this way can you always eat such delicious food.”
Naruto asked quizzically: “Why is that?”
“Otherwise…” Serie bluntly stated, “Perhaps one day in the future, this restaurant will either go out of business or its flavor will change.”
“For human restaurants, such things are commonplace.”
Hearing this, the waiter smiled and took over the conversation: “Respected Mage, please rest assured.”
Serie raised her eyes to look at him.
“More than thirty years ago, the hero Himmel’s party once passed through our city.” The waiter puffed out his chest slightly, his tone carrying a trace of pride, “At that time, our head chef Mr.
Lake’s ancestral kitchen knife was stolen by demons, and it was the hero and his companions who helped get it back.”
“As a reward, Mr.
Lake made an oath on the spot, saying that he would pass down this flavor unchanged to future generations.”
Naruto tilted his head: “Hero Himmel?”
This was the second time he had heard this person’s name.
The waiter smiled and nodded: “Yes, so please don’t worry that the flavor will change.”
Serie leaned back against her chair and said in a self-talking tone: “Is that so?”
“Then I look forward to seeing whether this place can still maintain the same flavor a hundred years from now.”
“My lord, please rest assured, there will definitely not be any changes!” The waiter was slightly startled, then smiled again.
Serie didn’t reply; she reached into her pocket, felt out a few gold coins, and placed them on the table.
When the waiter lowered his head and saw those gold coins, his eyes widened slightly: “Respected Mage, this meal doesn’t require nearly this much money to pay…”
“I know.” As Serie spoke, she tilted her head toward Naruto’s direction again, “When my disciple comes here to eat in the future, deduct it from this.”
“I understand.”
The waiter carefully took another look at the blonde-haired youth with sapphire-like eyes.