The Blue Road Home (8)

As I watched the women twist and bend their bodies to the music, I reached for a plate on the mat.

The dish on the plate was a rod-shaped roll of steamed fish paste wrapped in kneaded wheat dough and baked.

It was meant to be dipped in a special sauce before eating, but it was easy to eat by hand and quite tasty as well.

After chewing and swallowing, I picked up a small jar and took a sip of the fruit juice inside.

The sensation of the sweet liquid sliding down my throat was pleasant.

When I glanced to the side, Suin, who had brought me here, was chatting with another merchant.

Apparently, he had treated me to today's meal at what was probably a rather upscale establishment, partly out of hospitality and kindness.

The other half of his intention was probably to advertise that he had brought a rare elven guest, thereby expanding his connections and raising his standing in this country.

As far as I was concerned, I was merely being treated to a meal, and if it helped Suin, I had no complaints.

He was probably bringing me up in conversation that way while also looking for a ship headed west.

Besides, this was likely my last opportunity to be of any use to him.

The next dish brought out was apparently fried fish wrapped in leafy greens.

Many of Mintar's dishes had been designed to make them easy to eat by hand.

Even so, seeing deep-fried food made with copious amounts of expensive oil appear so readily made me think that Mintar must be truly wealthy, and that this was a very expensive establishment.

When I put it in my mouth, the texture unique to fried food was delightful, and the flavor trapped inside spread through my mouth all at once.

In short, it was a truly luxurious dish.

I wanted to wolf it down, but if I acted too uncouthly, I'd damage Suin's reputation for bringing me here.

On the other hand, if I ate with too little enthusiasm, I would offend the people who took pride in their country's cuisine.

It was a little troublesome, but I might as well eat with obvious pleasure while maintaining my decorum and help Suin save face.

But next time—yes, starting tomorrow, I'd find a more casual place to eat on my own.

This sort of thing wasn't beyond me, but it really wasn't suited to me.

Resisting the urge to lick the little bit of oil on my fingers, I casually looked around.

Then I noticed several people wiping their fingers on the edge of the mat, so I imitated them and wiped off the oil.

I didn't know whether that was the proper thing to do, but it was surely better than licking it off.

After that, I took another sip from the jar of fruit juice.

Come to think of it, people in Mintar apparently didn't drink alcohol with their meals.

That wasn't to say alcohol was completely prohibited; apparently, people in this country drank it quietly in their own rooms at night.

It was probably a custom meant to avoid trouble related to alcohol, but it felt a little lonely to me.

After all, getting unruly, making mistakes, and sometimes even ending up in fistfights were part of what made alcohol fun.

Though perhaps that was an opinion closer to a dwarf's than a high elf's.

...Yeah.

Even so, it was interesting to see and experience cultures and customs I had never encountered before.

There were things that felt strange or didn't sit right with my own values, but if I learned more about a place's climate and history, I could uncover the circumstances and reasons hidden behind the way things were.

I wondered just how people in this land had come to drink alcohol in secret.

Imagining that perhaps some king long ago had made a terrible blunder at a drinking party was amusing in itself.

Suddenly, I happened to meet the gaze of one of the dancing women.

She was a glamorous woman, beautiful by any standard.

Every one of her movements had the power to draw people's eyes.

If I were to nitpick, her movements matched the music and the dancers around her, but at their core they were meant to show herself to best advantage, rather than to blend with the surrounding dance and elevate the performance as a whole.

But the other dancing women were no different: they flaunted their charms as though competing with one another.

Suin had told me the reason beforehand: the women who danced at this establishment sometimes spent the night with customers.

However, customers had to do more than simply pay the necessary amount; they also had to win the women's favor through their conduct and gifts.

Dancing was considered one of the markers of refinement in Mintar, and the standing of women who mastered it was by no means low.

Apparently, taking a famous dancer as one's wife was a source of honor among the wealthy of this country.

In short, none of this had anything to do with me—an outsider and a member of another race—which was precisely why I could casually enjoy the dancing and indulge in such thoughts.

When I clapped my hands in praise, the woman whose eyes had met mine gave me a proud smile and began dancing with even greater passion.

If Suin, who was well connected and wealthy in this country, were to do the same, it might arouse strange expectations or jealousy among the dancers.

That was why Suin never stared at any particular dancer and took care with his behavior.

But none of that had anything to do with me, so I was able to enjoy this one-time meal and the dancing to my heart's content.

The fruit served at the end of the meal had been beautifully carved, and... this, at least, made me reluctant to eat it.