Chapter 490: I could get addicted to this!
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
Seiji was paying close attention to Matsutani and was just about to ask what happened when he saw Mastutani's face completely relax as Mastutani closed his eyes and revealed an utterly blissful expression.
"Incredibly delicious…" Matsutani muttered to himself in a tone that sounded like he was a child.
"Mastutani-senpai, what's the matter?" Seiji was curious what was going on.
However, the pudgy middle-aged man didn't respond as he maintained his expression and continued shoving curry rice into his mouth.
Seiji felt that something was off, so he patted Matsutani on the shoulder.
Only then did Matsutani open his eyes, which were sparkling like the stars.
"This is super spectacularly delicious!" Matsutani indicated the curry rice before him. "It's amazingly delectable! It's just like something directly out of a cooking manga!"
"So, it's delicious, and there's no problems with it?"
"The problem is that it's too delicious! I could get addicted to this!" Matsutani shoved another spoonful of curry rice into his mouth and closed his eyes again. "I'm already addicted to this! No need to worry about me, just allow me to fall into depravity with this beautiful taste that words cannot do justice!"
Matsutani then proceeded to devour the plate of curry rice before him. It was obvious that he was lost in the bliss of enjoying his wonderful food.
"I suppose it seems fine…" Seiji returned to his own seat. "Would you like to try eating something, Ishihara-senpai?"
"I… I'd like to try something." Miyabi's cat ears quivered.
"I'd like to as well, so let's order together." Seiji picked up the menu that was on the table.
Both of them ordered some food and waited for it to be cooked.
When Seiji's pork chop rice arrived, he tried having a bite.
An instant sensation of delicious food filled his entire mouth and head!
The flavor was so wondrous that Seiji was completely unable to describe the sensation. The only word he could even think of was "delicious!" It felt like his entire brain was trembling. Apart from being addicted to the taste, he was no longer able to think of anything else.
After gulping down this bite of food, he couldn't control himself anymore and scarfed down another spoonful. His expression also became uncontrollably blissful…
When Seiji returned to his senses, he discovered that the large bowl before him had been emptied out completely with not even a single speck of rice remaining.
The delicious taste was incredibly fearsome!
Meanwhile, Miyabi across from him had a blissful expression as well as she ate her fried fish. The cat ears on her head were now soft and laying flat on her head.
Next to them, Matsutani was already on his second serving of curry rice.
Seiji wanted some more food as well! But, he forced himself to withstand the desire.
After all, he still needed to explain the situation to Yuuko Hashiomoto. He couldn't allow himself to get lost in only enjoying the food.
After Yuuko heard Seigo Harano's explanation, it took her a while until she could barely manage to bring herself to accept what was going on. She then explained what had happened to her.
"What should we do now?" Yuuko looked at Seiji after finishing her explanation. "What do we need to do in order to return to reality?"
"Right now… I don't know what we need to do, either." Seiji looked around the restaurant. "We arrived here by following the cluster amaryllis flowers. Normally speaking, based on experience by how they led us to Ishihara-senpai, we should need to do something here in order to go to the next location. However, nothing seems abnormal here at all… apart from the fact that the food seems ridiculously delicious."
"Perhaps… we need to cook some food that tastes even better than the food here?" Miyabi hazarded a guess.
"I think that's pretty much impossible to pull off… Hashimoto-san, are you skilled at cooking?"
Yuuko shook her head. "Although I'm interested in cooking, I can't say that I'm very skilled at it."
"Ishihara-senpai, how about you?"
Miyabi shook her head as well.
"I can't call myself skilled at cooking, either. As for Matsutani-senpai…" Seiji glanced over at the pudgy middle-aged man who was now in the middle of devouring his third plate of curry rice. "It doesn't seem like he would be an expert in this field."
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
"A cooking contest sounds impossible. The only conflict I can think of that we would need to overcome here is one of might." Seiji looked towards the direction of the restaurant's kitchen. "About this restaurant's owner… Hashimoto-san, did you make him into a particularly powerful character?"
"In my mind, he was going to be someone who had visited the other world and became a hero there: a top-level warrior who had defeated the demon king," Yuuko said. "However, I still haven't written his character background into the story."
"So, this is still only in your head, but not in the actual story that's been published so far, correct?"
"Yes."
"Hmm…" Seiji rubbed his chin in contemplation. "We currently still don't know just how this realm was formed. It's possible that even your future plans for your story have taken form here. In that case, it might be quite difficult to suppress the restaurant owner by force. I don't know what will happen if we fight. Nor do I know what will happen even if we fight and win." Seiji sighed.
Everyone fell momentarily silent.
"Why don't we just simply wait here?" Matsutani spoke up.
Seiji and the others looked at him.
"Everything here is so delicious! I could eat the stuff here forever!" The pudgy middle-aged man stated. "Rather than trying things which may or may not work, why don't we just stay here where it's safe and enjoyable, and wait for people back in reality to save us!"
"Will someone save us?" Something flashed in Yuuko's eyes.
"Yep. The handsome guy sitting across from you is no ordinary Spiritual Ability user. Soon, someone will be coming to save him, which means all of us get to be saved along with him as well."
Yuuko and Miyabi both glanced towards Seiji.
"Judging from the current environment, perhaps it'll be fine to wait here for someone to save us. But, there's problem with that as well…" Seiji paused for a moment. "First, we don't know specifically just how long we'll have to wait here. Yes, people I know will notice that something has happened to me after some time passes, and they'll come to save me. However, time may pass at a different rate in this realm compared to reality. If time indeed passes at a different rate here, it might be that time is passing at a far slower rate in real life than in here. That would mean that we'd have to wait an incredibly long time in here. Second, it's also possible that the situation may worsen before any help arrives for us. We have no idea just how this incident occurred in the first place, or what else could be going on around us. We have no way to obtain information on anything that may be happening elsewhere in this realm. Is it really alright to simply stay here just because this place seems really nice and safe?"
"But, we don't know what else to do…"
"Even if we don't know, that doesn't mean we should give up." Seiji's eyes brimmed with the light of confidence. "We can try talking to the restaurant owner, or we can try talking to the customers in order to obtain some more information. Perhaps we can learn from them just what it is that we're supposed to do."
"Then go ahead and talk to them. Tell me if you learn anything." Matsutani continued to do nothing but eat.
"Senpai, have you already become enslaved by gourmet food?"
"Yes, I have! As long as I have this godly curry rice, I can live on in here for several tens of years with no problem!"
'Live on only curry rice for several tens of years… are you someone trapped on a deserted island?' Seiji couldn't help but comment in his mind.
"I can try talking to the restaurant owner," Yuuko offered in a soft voice. "Although I'm still a bit scared, Harano-san, you'll help me out if anything happens, right?"
"Of course." Seiji nodded.
"I'll try talking with the customers here." Miyabi looked around the store and tried to identify any customers that might be relatively easier to approach.
"Thank you both for the trouble. Please be careful," Seiji told them.
Right after he said this, the restaurant's door was forcefully opened as someone rushed inside.
Seiji and the others reflexively looked in this direction. They saw a silver-haired boy who wore a mystical-appearing uniform. He was panting heavily.
They all paused in surprise to see that this person was Koushi Nomura!
"Nomura-san…" Seiji was the first to regain his senses. "What happened…?"
"Harano…-san…" Koushi Nomura's expression flickered upon seeing a face he recognized. "Where… is this…"
Nomura collapsed on the floor before he even finished speaking!