Chapter 1579: Chapter 1579

"I-I'm fine… sorry for bumping into you."

"No, it was my fault. Here, let me help you."

I helped them stand, and they sighed in relief, brushing dust off their clothes. Their tail wagged cutely under their garments, slightly restricted.

"Thanks. I guess I got distracted thinking about what to order today… Huh? Are you all new around here? My party and I are regulars at the Golden Sakura. You seem like new faces."

"Brother! Are you okay?!"

A girl's voice interrupted as she ran toward us, hugging the fox from behind and glaring at us angrily. She looked identical to her brother but with longer blonde hair and a slightly smaller frame.

"Grrr! Why did you bump into him?! Do you have a death wish?!"

Partner bristled, ready to throw punches, but I stopped her before she escalated things out of proportion.

"Sister, please calm down! It was an accident," the fox boy said, petting her head. "Sorry about her. She's my younger sister, Melianna. I'm Ferleen. We came from Floor 34 with our party."

"I'm Maria, nice to meet you both," I said. "This is my party. We're a big family, actually."

"Oh, really? Just like us, I guess!" Ferleen said with a cute smile, his small fangs peeking out.

I really wanted to pet him! Why was he so adorable? His sister too!

"Hey, Ferleen! What's taking you so damn long?!"

"Come here already, or we're going to eat everything!"

"Hurry, Ferleen. Slow. Slower than Granite Men."

Their party consisted of a human woman with long red hair, a wolf beastman likely from their world, and a huge creature resembling a talking golem made of granite. It spoke slowly, yet it ate food like everyone else, swallowing it into a hole in its chest.

"Okay, okay! We're going! Sorry about that!" Ferleen said, hurrying back to his party.

"Bleh!" His sister stuck out her tongue, making an angry face at us. She really just hated me for no reason.

"Wow, they were so fluffy!" Nyx said. "Mama, can I pet them later?"

"No, Nyx, they're people. You can't just pet them without their consent," I said.

"Was that another human with them? I wonder if we could ask them about your world, Maria. Maybe they're from Earth," Alma said.

"Yeah, but I don't know them, and they likely don't even know who my sister or mother are," I said.

"Hm, still, we could learn a thing or two about how Earth is doing," Emeraldine said. "Perhaps find out about a shortcut too? The ticket we got only lets us skip two floors. We still can't easily teleport to Earth yet."

"Hm, right," I nodded. "We have that key to Thebes too, but that's way higher, so we don't need to go there… yet. Gotta find my family on Earth, then return to Yggdrasil and take down Odin, then start climbing to see what's going on with the Heavenly Father."

"Sounds simple enough… but how long will it even take us to get down there?" Arthur sighed. "We're still at Floor 48 after all this time."

"Don't worry. I'm sure the floors below won't be too long. Floor 49 was especially tough," I explained. "Because we had to save that whole world… If the other floors let Players pass through easily, I mean, look at everyone here in this city. It's easy to guess they won't be too complicated. Even that Splex guy got through them all."

"Ah… yeah, you're right. We should just rush through them then," Arthur nodded.

"Yep, today was a day of rest to prepare for what's to come," I said. "Hopefully, the floors below won't be as challenging as Floor 49. I assume they shouldn't be, right? The lower the floor, the weaker the world, right?"

"Let's hope that's the case," Arthur nodded. "So, um, what do we order?"

"They'll bring us a huge feast, like a whole menu for everyone to share," I said. "We don't need to choose anything."

"Sweet! I wonder what they'll bring. Hopefully yummy food?" Alma wondered.

As we chatted, an Onsen Spirit floated toward us, carrying three bottles of red wine and two of clear white wine. It wasn't the white wine I knew, though, but one made from fermented rice—sake.

"Here are your drinks. We shall promptly bring the appetizers, Master Maria," the spirit said.

"Wait, do you have anything for the kids?" I asked. "Tea, milk, or juice?"

"Of course. We'll bring all three options right away. We have delicious green tea sweetened with forest mountain bee honey, three different fruit juices, and freshly squeezed mountain cow milk."

"Sounds great, thank you!" I nodded.

We sat around a large wooden table. There were no chairs, so we sat cross-legged. The floor was soft, covered by a tatami mat, and the walls were wooden, with each area separated by paper doors for privacy, though most people kept them open.

Soon after, they brought the juices while the adults tasted the drinks. The wine was delicious, very flavorful, with just the right amount of spice and a hint of woody notes. The sake was different, milder, with a slight rice flavor—not for everyone, but I liked it.

Alma tried some of the wines but quickly stopped, saying they were pretty gross… Yeah, I'd usually agree, but since becoming a ghost, I've somehow grown to like them.

Maybe you have to die to appreciate wine, who knows.

The juice was tasty, not too sweet, with a slight tang. They had melon, strawberry, and mango flavors, which Alma and the others loved. The milk was creamy and refreshingly cold, while the green tea had a rich matcha flavor.

When the appetizers arrived, I was surprised to see a lot of sushi, featuring various fish and even some with slightly grilled red meat atop rice, served with soy sauce, unagi sauce, and that green spicy stuff—wasabi!

"Hmm! Not bad! I sushi thing, but they're way too small! I want to eat a lot at once," Partner said, stuffing her mouth with them.

"Oi, Partner, don't hog all the food!" Lucifer protested, holding a bottle of wine. "They only gave us this large menu, so we have to share!"

"Fufu, it's nice. I never thought raw fish could taste this way. It's fresh and kind of chewy, without that bad raw fish smell. How do they do it?" Emeraldine wondered, eating another. "The soy sauce and unagi sauce are especially nice with it."

"I think they dip the fish in hot water first," I said. "It removes the nasty smell and cleans it… I think."

"Yes, they do that. I remember seeing videos on Utube," Alma said. "Aw, I miss the internet now that I think about it… My smartphone doesn't work anymore. It has no signal."

"That's a pity. I wonder if there's a device Players use to connect to a wide web across worlds?" I mused.

"We'll have to ask those new fluffy friends you made later," Jonathan said. "I really like the tuna sushi. It's quite tasty."

"I like the meat sushi!" Nyx said.

"Hmm, salmon sushi is good," Celes said.

"I agree," Nia nodded. "I wonder if they have chicken sushi…"

"I don't think chicken should be eaten raw…" I said. "But if it's deep-fried like tempura… Oh?!"

While we were enjoying the sushi, two more spirits arrived, bringing more appetizers: thirty spring rolls, fifty gyoza with various flavors, more sushi, and tempura! A lot of fish, chicken, meat, and veggies, all deep-fried with crunchy batter and a sweeter sauce than the unagi sauce—it was divine. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on NovєlFіre.net

We couldn't stop eating with all these appetizers, and they weren't even the main dishes. When those arrived, we were stunned. Large pots of vegetables and meat came separately, along with kettles of boiling broth in four flavors: chicken, meat, fish, and vegetable.

"This is the main dish, hot pot and oden," the spirits explained. "Simply place the food in the broth and let it boil to achieve delicious flavors. Enjoy!"

After they left us with these wonderful ingredients, we dug in, quickly adding as many ingredients as we could fit into the boiling broth pots and waiting a bit while enjoying the appetizers and drinks.

Once the food was ready, we served ourselves broth with veggies, meat, and other ingredients. They were all incredibly delicious, and the soups hit just the right spot.

After everything we ate, we felt completely satisfied and slept like logs afterward.

We spent just one day here, but it was an unforgettable experience.