Shun patted Ryaʼs back gently as she bent over and retched again. “Yeah, this is what it means to be carsick.” 

“M…my stomach hurts…” She whimpered as she heaved and coughed. He winced as well; clearly Rya was having it much worse than him after the bumpy cart ride to Central. To think that they even tipped the old man one gold ingot for the trip—if the old man was an Uber driver, he would have rated him one star without hesitation. 

He quickly glanced up and spotted a café at the corner of the street up ahead. “Hang in there, Iʼll take you there to rest and have something to eat, alright?” 

“Mm-hmm…” She leaned on his arm and slowly they walked towards the cafe. The sky was still light, and the dinner crowd rush hadnʼt arrived, so they werenʼt expecting the café to have many customers at this hour. 

“...hmm? Shun and Rya, what a coincidence to meet you two here!”

And out of everyone they expected to meet at the moment, it definitely wasnʼt the pair of girls sitting at the frontmost table who were dressed in matching casual loungers. 

“Shihime?” he murmured. “And Zhuʼer too…what are you two doing here?” 

“Oh, we just finished our linner, but didnʼt feel like leaving yet,” Shihime said, smiling at Zhuʼer before turning to Shun. “Would you and Rya care to join us? Though…what happened to Rya? She looks extremely pale, is she okay?” 

“N-no, um, Iʼm feeling better now,” Rya answered weakly as they sat down at the same table as Shihime and Zhuʼer. “My stomach just feels kind of funny after our journey here.” 

“Journey?” 

“Well, itʼs a long story, but…” Rya briefly told them what happened in the day, to which Shihime laughed and shook her head several times. 

“So, you two just arrived at Central after a two hour horse cart ride from the outskirts of the South District?” she asked while she wiped tears from her eyes, still trying to regain her composure. 

“We were stuck because of the rain a few times on our way here,” Shun muttered, letting out a small sigh for emphasis. “It was a tough journey to come here.” 

“Mm, I can tell…oh, how about this?” Shihime clapped her hands in delight. “Iʼll treat you two to dinner today. Order whatever you want from the menu.” 

“Really?” he exclaimed. 

“Why do you sound so surprised? Am I that bad of a person in your eyes?” She chuckled as she handed them a menu. 

He shook his head and gave a sheepish smile. “N-no…” 

Rya took a glance at the list of foodstuffs on the menu. “Iʼll take the, um, the bánr cốhn, please.” 

It was Shihimeʼs turn to be surprised. “Are you sure? You can choose more expensive dishes, you know? Itʼs my treat after all.”

She shook her head and smiled. “Itʼs fine, I can only eat a little now anyways.” 

“Oh…then what about you, Shun?” 

Frankly, he canʼt make heads or tails out of the menu, so he just chose the same thing that Rya had chosen. If only thereʼs a shortcut to learning languages in this world…

Shihime turned to Zhuʼer last. “Darling, do you still want to eat anything?” 

Darling? Hold up, are they in a…never mind, I should just pretend I never heard that. 

Zhuʼer shook her head quietly, so Shihime called for a waiter and ordered two bánr cốhn.

“Whatʼs a ‘linner’, by the way?” he asked out of curiosity. “Iʼve never heard of such a thing.” 

“Oh, itʼs a term I invented by mixing the words ‘lunch’ and ‘dinner’ together,” Shihime said proudly. “You know, those meals that you have in the afternoon, when itʼs too late for lunch, but too early for dinner? Thatʼs a linner. Sometimes my genius, itʼs almost frightening really.” 

“...wow.”

“—!” She gasped, making a shocked face. “Thatʼs all you have to say?” 

“If you ask me, ‘linner’ just rolls off the tongue too weirdly…” Rya cocked her head in thought for a moment. “Maybe ‘brunch’ would sound more natural.” 

“What, ‘brunch’?” Shihime shook her head. “Isnʼt that word simply formed from the words ‘breakfast’ and ‘lunch’ joined together? Itʼs describing a different meal altogether.” 

“Then, an afternoon brunch?” 

Shihime sighed. “Youʼre making it more and more complicated, Rya—oh? It looks like your food has arrived.” 

The same waiter from before scurried over to their table, holding a large golden tray in his right hand. Without hesitation, he placed two dishes on the table and hurriedly bowed. “P-please enjoy your meal.” 

“Thank you for the service.” Shihime casually placed three gold ingots on the waiterʼs tray. “Here, take these as your tip.” 

“Shi niang-niang…this, um, this is too—” 

“Ah, sorry about that.” She added another two gold ingots and smiled apologetically. “This is all I have on me, please feel free to share it with the other waiters.” 

D*mn, I can only imagine having the ability to give away money this easily… 

The waiter had a conflicted look on his face, but took the five gold ingots back with him nonetheless. 

“Mm? Why are you two staring at me like this?” Shihime asked, cocking her head to the side. 

“No, itʼs nothing,” Shun and Rya mumbled in unison and began to eat. 

He took a pair of chopsticks and slowly picked up a thin rice sheet; dipping it into soy sauce before putting it into his mouth.

“Hmm?” Rya commented in a quiet voice as she watched him.

“?” 

“No, itʼs just that youʼre the first person Iʼve seen who eats steamed rice cakes with soy sauce…” 

He glanced at the ramekin of soy sauce on the table. “Oh, itʼs not eaten like sushi?” 

“I donʼt think people usually put any sauce on rice cakes, since it ruins the flavour.” She nibbled at a slice of rice cake and asked, “Whatʼs ‘sushi’, by the way?” 

“Itʼs like sticky rice wrapped in seaweed, I guess?” He shrugged. How do you even describe sushi in words? “And then you put some fillings in the middle, or you can put it on top.” 

Rya and Shihime exchanged confused glances with each other. “What sort of fillings?” 

“Um, I think raw salmon fish is the most common? But you can put basically anything as long as it fits.” He paused, blinking in surprise. “Thereʼs no such thing being sold in Shangri-La?” 

Shihime pursed her lips for a moment before calling the waiter over. “Can you ask the chef to try making a rice ball, but put raw fish fillet in the middle and wrap it in seaweed?” 

“A-a rice ball with raw fish and seaweed wrapping…?” The waiter scribbled something down on his notepad. “Of course, I’ll get back to you in a minute.”

Ehhhh?? They’re really going to make salmon sushi on the spot?

The waiter rushed back while holding a small plate in his hands. Panting, he presented the dish to Shihime. “H-here is your…order.” 

“Is this what ‘sushi’ looks like?” she asked Shun. 

“Ah…um…” He stared at the ball of steamed rice placed atop a sheet of seaweed, with bits of orange-red salmon meat poking out from the center. No, seriously. What the hell is this thing? But I’m not too sure how to describe sushi in a better way either… 

“Yeahhhh, something like that, I suppose.” 

Rya leaned forward to take a closer look at the alien food. “Huh, it looks…unique. I didn’t know you have a knack for inventing new dishes, Shun.”

“No, I didn’t really invent it…”

Shihime reached for her chopsticks. “Hmm, guess I should give this a try then...” 

“Shi niang-niang, please let me try it in your stead,” Zhu’er politely said.

“Ah, sure darling, you can have the first bite~” 

She picked it up with her chopsticks and took a small nibble. After swallowing it, she tilted her head thoughtfully. “Mm, it’s definitely edible, but somewhat tasteless…maybe adding a little salt will help to enhance its flavour.” 

“Of course, I’ll forward your feedback to the kitchen.” The waiter paused and asked with an embarrassed smile, “What is the name of this particular dish again?” 

“Itʼs called…sushi, right?” Shihime directed her gaze towards Shun. 

He nodded his head hesitatingly. “T-that’s correct.” I sincerely apologise to the Japanese for screwing up sushi this badly—sorry!!