Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 242: G-Gyo… It’s a Fishing Village, but Isn’t This a Date?
“Good morning, Rest-san.”
“O-Oh…”
The next morning, after finishing breakfast, Rest found himself face-to-face with Celestine once again.
Recalling last night’s events, Rest blushed… but Celestine remained completely composed, showing no signs of embarrassment.
“Do you have any plans for today?”
“Uh, um… I was thinking of doing some sightseeing?”
It was just a rural fishing village, but since the Queen Dowager had chosen this place as her final home, he wanted to explore it.
There was probably plenty of delicious seafood, and considering he had been buried in work for so long, staying a little longer didn’t seem like a bad idea.
“In that case, may I accompany you?”
“Ah, yes. Please?”
Rest’s response came out more like a question.
His behavior was clearly suspicious, but Celestine simply smiled as if she found it amusing.
Even though Rest had far more experience interacting with the opposite sex, Celestine carried herself with a calmness and composure that made her seem older and more mature.
“Shall we go, then?”
“…Yes.”
The two of them left the hot spring inn and wandered through the fishing village.
Though they were technically alone, Celestine’s attendants followed at a slight distance, keeping watch.
Feeling a bit awkward, Rest walked through the village.
“There certainly are a lot of fish.”
“Looks like it’s their specialty. There are plenty of boats too.”
Out at sea, numerous fishing vessels were scattered about, with fishermen shouting energetically.
All around the village, fish and seaweed were being dried—likely for making dried fish and other preserved seafood.
“The fish make sense, but… what are those black leaf-like things used for?”
Celestine tilted her head curiously at the sight of dried seaweed.
To a Japanese person, it was a common sight, but to Celestine, it seemed unfamiliar.
“That isn’t… food, is it? Do they use it for fibers or fragrances?”
“That’s kelp. They use it for making broth.”
“Broth? As in, an ingredient for soup?”
“Yeah. You had some in your meal this morning, remember? The soup had broth made from seaweed.”
Unfortunately, this country didn’t have miso soup.
Still, it seemed like this village had a common practice of extracting umami from seaweed for cooking.
“I thought the seasoning had a unique taste… So that’s where it came from.”
Celestine listened to Rest’s explanation with keen interest.
“I suppose they dry it for preservation… If that’s the case, it could be transported all the way to the capital. If production was scaled up and trade routes were established…”
She began mumbling to herself, pondering ways to popularize kelp.
If she took the initiative, kelp might become widely available in the capital.
(At this rate, I wish she’d work on developing miso and soy sauce too… With so many reincarnated persons in this world, isn’t there at least one person who knows how to make them?)
Rest himself had no knowledge of making miso or soy sauce, but with seventy-eight reincarnated people around, surely someone had the know-how?
(Then again, not all reincarnated people are Japanese… Maybe it really is a long shot…)
“Is something wrong, Rest-san?”
“No… nothing.”
As Celestine peered into his face, Rest shook his head with a slightly melancholic expression.
“The dried fish they sell over there is delicious when grilled. It tastes different from river fish.”
“I’ve had dried fish before. What surprised me was seeing raw fish served at the table.”
“Ah, you mean sashimi… Yeah, I guess it is rare, huh…”
“If we used ice magic, we could transport fresh fish to other regions without it spoiling… But the cost would be quite high.”
As they walked through the fishing village, Rest and Celestine continued chatting about various topics, their conversation flowing naturally.