Chapter 88: No… but it’s for getting skills. This isn’t the time to feel out of place

Following Tint’s advice, he thought a pub with a solid non-alcohol menu would suit him better.

While walking and searching, a blue glowing sign reading "Church House" came into Kazui’s view.

It was a large brick building with a presence that somehow suggested a church.

But it clearly stated it was a pub, and posters advertising recommended drinks and food were put up on the wall near the entrance, so there was no mistake it was a pub.

It had formerly been a church of a major religion in this world, but when this street became a tavern street the church moved and only the building became a pub.

(A pub!)

Finally finding a pub, the happy Kazui saw a man and woman opening Church House’s wooden door and coming out from inside.

They were a man and woman who looked to be in their twenties in casual clothes, their faces flushed with alcohol, chatting enjoyably.

They were linking arms familiarly, so it was obvious they were a couple... or something close to it.

Whether they had originally been a couple or become one inside the shop, Kazui did not know.

(This place seems good.)

The man and woman coming out of the shop were in casual clothes, so he judged that he would be fine in casual clothes too.

From how familiar and happy the man and woman looked, it seemed to him not to be the kind of shop that ripped people off, but a shop where men and women could enjoy themselves.

That was why he judged Church House seemed good.

(I should at least check my appearance... and my money.)

A few meters from the entrance, he confirmed there was nothing messy about his safe, casual look of jeans, a denim blouson, and a white T-shirt.

The denim blouson was not that different from the jean jackets common in Japan.

He took a black long wallet from the inner pocket of the blouson and checked the contents.

(Fifteen thousand Dale should be enough.)

Dale was the unified currency of the Northern Continent.

Roughly speaking, one Japanese yen was about one Dale, so combined bills and coins he had about fifteen thousand yen in cash in his wallet.

After moving two thousand Dale in bills and one thousand Dale in coins to the outer pocket of the blouson, he put the long wallet back in the inner pocket.

Next he checked the time on his watch.

(Ten thirty at night...)

Kazui had visited Tax Street a little earlier than Honey Hour.

He thought it would be better to go into the pub early and get used to the shop’s atmosphere.

Incidentally, portable clocks in this world were often spring-wound wristwatches.

But adventurers easily broke watches on their wrists during work or training because of combat and the like, so they usually put them in a pocket and used them like pocket watches.

Right now Kazui was not working as an adventurer or training.

That was why he had the watch on his left wrist.

—-

(Well, it’s probably just the right time to go in.)

Kazui took a deep breath and settled his feelings.

Then, in a mood like heading to a battlefield, he walked up to Church House’s entrance.

He gripped the knob of an ordinary old wooden door, opened it, and went inside.

The lively voices of drunk men and women immediately jumped into his ears.

(It’s big. Isn’t it bigger than Narciso?)

Narciso was a family restaurant Kazui had used often when he was in Japan.

The menu was cheap across the board, so even high-schooler Kazui could use it easily.

There were two counters. One seemed to be for standing drinks only and had no chairs, but the other had chairs.

There were also many table seats, enough that well over a hundred people could use them.

About a third of the seats were filled, but there were also customers drinking standing, so it was not that only a third of the customers were there.

Most of the customers were adult men and women in casual clothes.

(I feel like I came to a place I don’t belong.)

At an age that could be called underage, and aware that he looked younger than his real age, Kazui felt a little out of place.

(No... but it’s for getting skills. This isn’t the time to feel out of place.)

He fired himself up again and started walking through the shop.

Since he was alone, he thought an empty counter seat would be better than a table, and headed for the counter with chairs.

"Kid, minors aren’t allowed in!"

Kazui was suddenly called out to by a nearby female clerk.

She was a woman in bartender-like clothes, black slacks, a white dress shirt, a bow tie, and a black vest.

She had black hair pulled all back, white skin, and a stern, well-featured face with no makeup.

She was a little taller than Lumia, and her chest looked modest, maybe because of the clothes, giving a mannish impression.

(Well... I actually am a minor.)

Thinking that, he silently showed the back of his left hand to the clerk.

"Excuse me. You’re an adventurer."

The clerk apologized and bowed to Kazui.

Seeing the Orb, she realized he was an adventurer.

Kazui passed beside the clerk and headed for the counter seats.

The counter seats were empty and he could choose, so he picked the seat on the far right and sat down.

The far right seat seemed to him to be in a convenient position for looking over the shop.

That was why he chose it.

To small Kazui, the counter felt a little high.

(I’m hungry, so I should eat something light for now.)

He had eaten dinner, but because he had planned to eat and drink at a pub he had eaten less than usual.

He had done hard training and then kept dinner modest, so he felt hungry.

The wooden counter was coffee brown, and small blackboards with menus written on them were placed here and there.

Inside the counter drink dispensers were lined up, and in the back there was also a shelf lined with bottles of various colors and shapes, a so-called back bar.

There were two back bar shelves side by side, and in the wall between the shelves a window opened through to the kitchen.

It was a window for the kitchen cook and the clerk inside the counter to communicate and pass food through.

Inside the counter Kazui was using was a silver-haired man who looked to be in his thirties, in the same clothes as the female clerk who had called out to him right after he entered.

The clean-looking male clerk was serving as bartender.

Kazui looked over a nearby blackboard and picked out food for the time being.

"One roast beef sandwich!"

After hesitating a little between that and a meat pie, he ordered a roast beef sandwich.

He thought if he was going to order anyway he should get something he did not usually eat, and even though it seemed a little expensive he went with the roast beef sandwich.

"Ours is big. Is that all right?"

The bartender asked Kazui.

"It’s fine. I’m hungry."

He felt hungry, so he thought even a large one would be no problem, and answered immediately.

"Then one roast beef sandwich!"

The bartender called toward the kitchen through the window.

"One cider."

A young male customer in a dark green combat uniform who had come up to the counter Kazui was at placed an order with the bartender.

The male customer did not sit in a chair and stayed standing.

(They have cider?)

Watching the bartender work the drink dispenser knob and pour a slightly yellowish clear liquid flowing from the tap into a glass, Kazui remembered Tint’s talk.

(Just like Tint said, there are drinks that aren’t alcohol too.)

The bartender set a large glass filled with foaming clear liquid on the counter.

"That will be seven hundred Dale."

The male customer, who had already prepared coins, set the coins on the counter and picked up the glass.

"Thank you."

Hearing the bartender’s thanks, the male customer turned his back to the counter and walked away.

He was going back to the table seat where he had been drinking.

(Does this shop take payment at the counter for each item ordered? I didn’t know. Good thing I got to see another customer’s order first.)

While surprised, he was relieved he had been able to learn the shop’s system before the roast beef he ordered came out.

The tavern he had visited with Yuri before had a system of paying all together at the end, so he had not known this shop’s system was different.