Chapter 3

The spring of the other world is drawing near.

When I first came here, it was so cold that even inside the castle, I felt like I was freezing, and the snow piled up deeply. But now, although there is still some snow on the side of the road, young leaves are peeking out from between the snow, and the wind is gradually losing its winter chill.

Feeling drowsy in the warm spring air, I gaze out the small window of the carriage. The unfamiliar scenery makes my expectations rise despite myself.

Today, I am heading to the market with a few guard knights to buy ingredients.

To buy ingredients.

At first, with Prince Cain's full cooperation, we were to receive ingredients from the royal kitchen for my sister's meals.

When the ingredients were lined up and presented to me with a "Here you go!" I thought to myself,

—How boring.

Cooking is about going to the market, looking at the ingredients, and coming up with a menu while thinking, "Not this, but maybe that." Sometimes, unexpected seasonal ingredients change the menu on the spot. It's also common to get complaints from my sister when the menu I announced in the morning turns out to be something completely different.

Ah, just cooking with prepared ingredients!

Given that I usually look forward to the moment of discounts at the supermarket in the evening and find joy in securing my prey, I really want to go shopping myself.

I want to haggle with the shopkeepers in this other world.

Thinking this, the highest-quality ingredients provided by the royal kitchen lost all their appeal to me.

After that, I dragged my sister into it and made a big fuss to get the right to go shopping at the market.

It must have been quite a hassle to adjust the security and other aspects. I can't sleep with my head facing Prince Cain.

The scenery outside the carriage gradually becomes more lively. We seem to have entered the commercial district from the residential area. I can see shop assistants setting up items in front of their stores and trying to attract customers.

I can't help but lean forward to look outside.

Maybe it's a reaction to the reclusive state I've been in since coming here, but my cheeks have been relaxed the whole time, and I must look quite silly.

"Are you looking forward to the market?"

Suddenly, Jade, who was sitting across from me, spoke.

He seems to be my dedicated guard knight, and he has been taking care of me since I came here.

With his short black hair and beautiful honey-colored eyes, he always wears a silver armor and carries a large sword at his waist. He's a good person who helped me when I made pudding for the first time since coming here.

He's a noble, but he doesn't act superior, and I think he does a good job protecting a mysterious Japanese girl from another world.

"Was I that obvious? It's a bit embarrassing. —But, yeah. I am looking forward to the market. I wonder what kind of things will be there."

I was aware that I was excited, but it's a bit embarrassing to know that others saw it too.

Jade looked straight into my eyes and told me various things with a slightly amused expression.

"There's a large port town not far from the capital. Thanks to that, we have a lot of seafood here. The Kingdom of Gilberta has good relations with other countries, so there are many items from different countries. I hope you find something you like, Akane."

His honey-colored eyes narrowed, and his voice was as gentle as ever.

Seafood! I was excited for a moment, but his smile made me feel a bit embarrassed, so I said, "Yes, that's right," and looked away from him.

Jade is always like this. I, who have almost no experience dating, sometimes get scared.

As a guard, it's natural for him to be kind to me, his charge. If I were a guard, I would do the same to ensure efficiency.

—So, his kindness isn't special.

I tell myself this.

A kind and handsome man like him is dangerous. He unconsciously exudes his charm, and a shy girl like me can't handle it.

What if I mistakenly think he likes me?

And if that misunderstanding is exposed, everyone will laugh at me.

I don't want that. Absolutely not.

I lightly bit my lower lip and firmly tightened my mental belt.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

"Wow...!"

The market in this other world was incredible.

As Jade said, the shops selling seafood were the most numerous.

There, huge fish and brightly colored shellfish were lined up. When a large, emerald-colored fish in a basket glared at me, I almost screamed.

The shop assistant, noticing my curious and excited gaze, explained the fish to me in detail. He proudly said that the key to running a fish shop in the capital, where many people from places without the sea visit, is to explain the products well and sell fish to people who don't know the sea.

At the vegetable stand, the vegetables were much more colorful than those in Japanese supermarkets, and fresh fruits were piled up. Like a market I once saw on TV, the vegetables and fruits were displayed on wooden shelves.

Sometimes the shop owner used magic to blow mist from his hands to keep the vegetables fresh. The tomatoes, which seemed to be vegetables, looked delicious after being moistened by magic.

However, every time I peeked into a shop, the shopkeepers pushed food into my hands, urging me to taste it. It reminded me of the chestnut sellers in Chinatown, and I felt a bit strange. Eating as I was urged, I ended up feeling full and couldn't eat lunch. ...I was looking forward to the street food. I cursed my inability to refuse.

The butcher's shop was quite shocking.

There were freshly strangled chickens hanging from the eaves, a pig-like creature with mysterious horns, and a hairy something peering out from a basket. There was also a mysterious purple meat of unknown origin.

...I might not have been able to approach if Jade wasn't there. I think the butcher's shop was the most chaotic. From the back of the shop, I could hear the sounds of animals, and at the same time, the sound of knives chopping. My cheeks twitched.

...Maybe I should rely on the prince for buying meat. I thought.

Various stalls lined the roadside.

The most numerous were the herbalists displaying medicinal herbs and potion bottles. This area was filled with the mysterious scent of herbal medicine.

Colorful bottles lined up, and green smoke rose from the incense burners placed next to them. A suspicious old man in a robe, who seemed to be an herbalist, was smoking a water pipe. I saw other herbalists buying items from him. He seemed to be selling raw materials for potions. Upon closer inspection, I found black-baked lizards and eyeballs mixed in with the spices and herbs. ...I decided to try to avoid getting sick or injured in this other world.

The ingredients in this other world range from unfamiliar to familiar ones from my original world. Moreover, even if they look like ingredients I know, they can be different, leading to continuous surprises.

For example, when I cut open a melon-like fruit, it turned out to be a watermelon-like fruit. Even with a single fruit, there are surprises hidden everywhere, and it's exciting to look at them for a long time.

However, as a cook, it's quite troublesome to buy ingredients.

Even if I know what I want to make, it's difficult if I don't know the ingredients.

My sister's desired dishes are "dishes from the original world."

Recreating dishes with the unfamiliar ingredients of this other world is not easy. I had one idea.

I stood in front of the vegetable stand and looked at the shelves.

"Akane, hold my hand."

Jade, as always, offered his hand with a gentle voice. I looked at his large hand and his face alternately and sighed softly.

I gently placed my hand in his, trying not to look at him and focusing on the fruit in front of me.

Then, I could feel warmth flowing from Jade's hand into mine. It spread through my body, from my palm to my veins, and it felt so good that I almost sighed in relief. After a while, when I felt it had sufficiently circulated through my body, I narrowed my eyes slightly and said in a small voice,

"Identify."

Then, a mysterious black window-like display appeared in my vision, providing information about the fruit.

...For example, like this:

* Licorice Fruit

* A fruit harvested during the snowmelt from winter to spring.

* The small red fruit, rich in sugar, is often used to make juice. In the northern regions with deep snow, people dig up licorice fruits from the snow in spring to celebrate.

* The candied version is popular as a wedding gift.

* The taste is similar to "blueberries" on Earth.

This is magic.

Moreover, it's a rare magic that only people summoned from outside this world can use.

According to my sister, it's a common magic in other-world trips, but by infusing magic power and saying "Identify," you can investigate anything in this world. Moreover, it even tells you what it's similar to in the original world.

Honestly, when I first learned about this, I thought it was a convenient magic, but it's incredibly useful.

In a world where watermelons masquerade as melons, there's nothing more convenient for making proper dishes.

...So, I shouldn't waste this opportunity. I understand that in my head.

After identifying the licorice fruit, I felt his gaze and looked at him standing next to me.

"......"

"......"

Our eyes met, and Jade was looking at me with a bright, cheerful smile. Despite our eyes meeting, we were both silent.

Jade was relentlessly cheerful.

I had a strained smile on my face.

Despite the differences, ...

"Since the identification is done, can we let go of hands?"

"Still, you'll need to identify other things, right? I don't mind holding hands."

"No, it's fine to do it each time."

"But you'll need to identify other things, right?"

"Yeah, that's true, but we don't need to hold hands continuously. It might be a bother, right?"

"I don't mind."

"Y-Yeah, but..."

"I don't mind."

"......"

To use magic, you need magic power, and unlike my sister, I don't have a lot of it. I have average stats.

However, the identification magic requires a fair amount of magic power, so I can't use it continuously with my stats.

That's why the magic-using guard knight, Jade, is lending me his magic power.

I should be grateful. I am, but...

...According to Jade, for some reason, you need to hold hands to transfer magic power. It seems you can also do it by placing a hand on the back, but for some reason, he prefers holding hands. He always says with his usual smile that it's the most efficient way and grips my hand tightly.

If that's the case... well, I guess I have to accept it. Every time I finish identifying something and look at Jade, he looks at me with a very cheerful expression. I wish he would cut it out. I also wish he would stop rubbing my hand with his thumb. It makes me feel uncomfortable.

When I think about his beautiful honey-colored eyes looking at me, I get a tingling sensation in my lower back.

...What is it? What is it? I'm trying hard not to misunderstand, but he always looks at me with a gentle, cheerful expression. In the back of my mind, I start to wonder if Jade likes me or something.

—Please, just stop.

While screaming in my heart, I desperately repeated the identification to finish quickly and bought the necessary ingredients.

Thanks to that, I think I have most of what I need.

Now, I'll make my sister's favorite dish for dinner tonight.

Thinking this, I pretended that holding hands was nothing and thanked Jade for the magic power while subtly letting go of his hand.