Just then, I smelled something in the air. I sniffed quietly, it had a nice smell. Someone was cooking. No, it seemed like someone was grilling. It was faint, but I could smell it nicely.

It seems to come from the right turn in front of us.

I turned to trace the source of the smell. I raised an eyebrow as I saw the source, which piqued my interest. By the side of the street, there was a spot where smoke was rising. 

A few people gathered in lines in front of a small store on the outside.

“Brother.”

I called Estevan as I led us towards the store. It actually smelled good. There I saw that someone was indeed grilling. Now I grew more interested. I didn’t expect grilling to exist now in a world that appeared to be in the medieval age. As I thought, I shouldn’t always compare this world to the old one. There ought to be differences.

But whatever. I was glad to find that barbecue exists here. I ate plenty of barbecues in my old life, and it was delicious! Not the ones you find in expensive restaurants. The ones I was talking about were those on the streets.

I don’t know what I ate made it so delicious, perhaps the sauce? Or some secret ingredient. It was so delicious that it would do well in an expensive restaurant. If memory serves, what I ate were pork and beef, which was stuck into wooden sticks. Oh! There was also the liver, aah, how nice that was.

While I tried grilled foods from restaurants, the barbecues from the streets had a unique appeal.

Oh well, I just hope these are at least on par.

“Let’s take a closer look, brother.”

“Ah yes, that place.”

“You know of it?”

“I’ve been there a few times. Been a long time since the last one. I was with the other knights and soldiers. The soldiers actually recommended this place, and it was worth it.”

“Then the food must be good. Alright then!”

We reached the eatery. The sign above it said Meaty Sats. Interesting name.

I looked with anticipation at the food they were grilling.

I visibly winced at one of the things I saw.

The hell?

I pulled Estevan’s cloak. “Brother…”

“Hm? What’s the matter?” 

He legit looked puzzled at me, as though there was nothing wrong about it at all.

“Well… Are those worms?”

Yes, you heard that right! There were long and big worms on each stick. They were already turning brown from being cooked, but I could see some that were still raw, and I could see a dark greenish color from their skin.

Don’t tell me they eat that?

Eeeeewww.

Estevan chuckled in amusement. “Yes indeed, dear sister! Those are worms.”

He even sounded enthusiastic as he answered my question. I grumpily stared at him.

“And it’s being eaten?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Why was indeed the question. Come on!

He chuckled again. “Why so reluctant, sister? It’s actually delicious.”

“So you ate that?”

“Trust me, when you try it, you’ll crave for more. And it’s not like those worms you see on the ground. So it’s fine.”

“Uh-huh, then what kind of worms are those?”

“Greleaf Worms. Those worms are actually found on trees and plants. They only eat plants, the leaves to be precise.”

“I don’t see how that is different from other worms. They crawl on the ground, right?”

“Well, yes. But they don’t dig down. So that’s a key difference. Believe me Estel, it’s delicious and completely edible.”

I frowned. That didn’t make much of a difference to me.

“Come on, give it a try. You won’t know you’ll like it until you try.”

I was hesitant since it was a freaking worm. But there were other people eating it. And my brother had also tried it, so maybe it’s fine to try? Well, the experience wouldn’t be all that bad to have.

“Fine. But if I don’t like it, you’ll eat it!”

“Fine by me. Come.”

We approached the front desk and Estevan took out some copper coins from his pocket. I also had some coins on me, well I have to ask to have some money since it would be required to buy daggers. That aside, my family really went on their way to also include some copper coins on our allowance.

Copper coins are the lowest currency on the continent. Higher to that is silver, then the highest is gold. One hundred copper coins equals one silver, and one hundred silvers equals one gold coin.

Estevan gave the man eight copper coins. Then the man gave him two of those worms. He gave one to me. Again I winced as I had a grilled worm before my eyes, I could even smell its d… delicious aroma… But smell and appearance was different from flavor.

My brother saw my face, so he took a bite on his own with a smile.

“See? All good.”

Seeing him chew the damn thing made me feel bewildered. Bad thing was, I was starting to be convinced that it was indeed not bad. However, the appearance of the food made me feel unpleasant.

Fuck it!

I slowly opened my mouth, then took a small bite. My face contorted, not negatively, but positively. It was actually not bad. There, I said it. The damn worm was not bad. There was sweetness as though it was dipped in sauce beforehand. The skin was a bit crunchy, and the insides were delicious.

If not for its appearance as a worm, I could have eaten this with no hesitation at all. But come on, a girl has preferences. And presentation is essential.

But despite its appearance, I took a few more bites. But I’ll only eat this on rare occasions. 

“I hate to admit it, but it’s good.”

“See?”

“But I’m not having another one.”

“Hehehe, whatever you say.”

“So, what are the others?”

I pointed at the meat being grilled.

“Well, that one is grilled pork, and the other is grilled beef. Both are also delicious.”

Now we’re talking!

After I ate the whole grilled worm, I asked my brother to buy me the pork.

He paid fourteen copper coins and received two. The pork was sliced in a number of pieces and was pierced through by a wooden stick.

As for the taste, well, it was not that bad. I preferred it way more than the damn worm. However, the one from my old world was more delicious. Of course, I shouldn’t expect such things. But I couldn’t help it, you know. Sometimes you just couldn’t control your expectations.

After trying the pork, I tried the beef, which has the same price as the pork. Come now, it’s rare to go out, so the least I could do was taste all of it. Plus, why would I deny such an experience?

After eating all of them, I nodded my head with satisfaction.

“Hm, it’s very good. But I’m not trying the worm again.”

Estevan chuckled in amusement upon hearing my words.

“I guess that’s very lady-like of you.”

“... Of course, don’t expect me to like something like that worm.”

“If you say so. Then, let’s go onward?”

“Certainly, dear brother.”