Chapter 5

......I seem to be tougher than I thought.

I’m not the type who can’t sleep when the pillow changes. Even just being in a different country would be enough to make me feel strange, let alone being in a completely different world. Any ordinary girl would probably be crying her eyes out. In such an unexpected situation, and on the very first night, it should have been impossible to sleep...

...But I ended up sleeping soundly.

When I woke up, I was even more shocked than when I was brought to this different world.

"Good morning, Lady Lina. How are you feeling?"

In the bedroom, Lana, the head maid, gently called out to Lina, who was in a daze. From the outside, Lina must have looked pitiful.

"Ah, good morning... I’m fine."

She barely managed to swallow the words, "I was just surprised by my own toughness..."

While changing into the clothes prepared by Lady Lana, Lina casually asked about the country.

【Valtar Royal Empire】—that’s the name of this country. One of the seven great nations, the king of this country passed away last year, and the current king, who was the eldest son, succeeded the throne. At that time, there were plans to change the 【Empire】 to a 【Kingdom】. However, with the chaos that would ensue from the emperor’s death, the rise of monsters, and policy reforms, changing to a kingdom suddenly would only lead to further confusion. But Emperor Felix, who disliked being called an emperor like his father who had ruled with tyranny, decided to call himself a king, thus creating a conflicting state... that was the story.

Whether as an emperor or a king, Prince Schuzel and Prince Egiedilus are still the king’s younger brothers...

...Lina thought she had been summoned to an incredibly troublesome country.

By the way, the king is currently on an expedition to quell a "stampede."

"What’s a 'stampede'?" she asked, and was told it was, in simple terms, "a rampage of monsters."

Monsters are scary enough on their own, and now a rampage.

And the king is going to fight them himself!?

Are they really letting him?

And no one is stopping him!?

Lina was secretly exasperated.

The clothes prepared by Lady Lana were not frilly dresses like those worn by noble ladies but simple, easy-to-move-in clothes for commoners, which made Lina inwardly relieved.

Did they consider my needs...? she thought.

After changing, she moved to the adjacent room, where a breakfast Monica had prepared was laid out on the table.

A vegetable-rich soup, scrambled eggs, and a loaf of bread that looked incredibly hard.

...What is this?

Lina couldn’t help but frown.

She realized how much her world had been blessed with food.

Unless they thought that someone as useless as me, a fat person, would be fine with this, it was indeed too simple.

"Is it not enough?"

Monica asked, noticing Lina’s intense gaze.

"Ah, no... I was just surprised by the difference in food culture from my world..."

She hurriedly tried to cover it up.

Probably, she was kindly asking if it was enough.

If she had seriously asked if it wasn’t enough, I would be disheartened.

"Yes, that’s right... Since Lady Lina is from a different world, it’s understandable to be surprised by many things," Monica said with a slightly apologetic smile.

"No, I’m sorry! To have you prepare this for me..."

Lina apologized. Just because she was in the palace didn’t mean she would get luxurious meals. As someone who wasn’t a saint or anything, it was even less likely. It was rude to complain about something that was prepared for her.

"Thank you, I’ll eat now."

Lina sat down and picked up her spoon, first taking a sip of the vegetable soup.

Potatoes, carrots, onions—though I’m not sure if they have the same names, they looked and tasted the same.

...So, it’s just a soup.

Water with vegetables, boiled, and salt. The faint aroma suggested a bit of herbs.

Just a tasteless soup... or rather, a water boil?

The bread was so hard it froze me.

...Was this left out for 2-3 days?

It’s not impossible to chew, but it requires a lot of effort.

"The bread is hard, so please soak it in the soup before eating it."

...What?

She almost shouted.

Because, I want soft things to stay soft and hard things to stay hard.

I want my croutons to stay crunchy, not soggy.

Why would you make a wet senbei soft?

...Come on, you can do it, Lina.

While struggling with the gap between her world and this one, Lina crunched on the bread.

By the way, I don’t dislike the taste of wet senbei.

It’s just the texture I can’t stand.

By the way, there’s also a type of bread called "hard bread."

It’s a long-lasting bread that feels more like a rock than bread.

I can’t recommend it to people with weak teeth. It can seriously chip your teeth.

For those interested, try it once...