Eventually the pink-haired goddess, the angel, and the two kids arrived in the dining hall. Everyone was handed a nu by the elderly man who looked at Hikari.
"You said you had questions?"
"Ah yes, why is this restaurant so empty right now? It's only our table in here."
The man nodded and handed everyone their silverware. "There are two reasons for this. As you'll see, our prices aren't very cheap. We keep them as cheap as they can reasonably go, but it's still too much for many regular custors. Secondly...there's an event going on with the Ocean Explorers."
"An event?"
"Yes, due to a low supply of sea spider silk, they've gathered many people to hunt for them. Many people joined just for the potential to make a lot of money, and all of it's hosted by our lord."
Hikari thumbed through the nu in her hand. "This actually reminded of the other question I wanted to ask, but first, I'll have this drink right here."
The waiter looked where her hand pointed and smiled knowingly. "That fruit drink is popular with tourists. People co from all over just to taste the tropical rigold."
Nona raised her hand next. "I'll have the sa thing! That fruit is really good, my goddess."
Out of so sense of duty, the other girls ordered the exact sa thing. anwhile, Kai ended up ordering it awkwardly, likely not wanting to be the only one ordering a different drink.
The waiter wrote down their drink and put away his writing pad in a pouch on his waist. "Now then, what was that question you had?"
"This will be the last one, so I'm not holding you up," the elf said. "I was just wondering what kind of lord you have here. Is he a good lord? The people here seem much nicer than those of the harbor we ca from."
Samuel smiled. "You can definitely say that. He cares a lot for the people of this island. We get this sentint a lot. The thing is, the lord here is actually the Emperor's older brother. He should have had all rights to the throne, but he was born crippled. Not much he can do in that state, so they gave the throne over to his younger brother and moved the older one out to the sea. But don't tell anyone in the capital I told you this."
Hikari nodded.
"Well then, I best get to preparing your drinks. Please wait patiently and decide what you'll be having to eat in the anti."
The mont the waiter left, Ayase decided to continue the topic.
"I'm slling a big conspiracy brewing. Can this all really be a coincidence? If I go over all of the events in my head, it seems too rigged. First order of events, there's a goddess on a rampage in so islands not too far from here. Second, there's the issue with the spider silk that's hosted by the Exploration Guild. There's the lord of this city who was cast out by the Imperial Family. And too many other oddities have been happening. Like that thing with the rmaids."
Hikari sighed and looked over the nu again. "You can't really connect the thing with the rmaids to this, can you? That was an entirely different deity who took over their waters. I doubt they'd have a connection to that goddess. Sotis a bunch of coincidences are just coincidences."
"Yes," the witch said, "but there is one thing I'm sure of. The thing with the Imperial Family can hardly be a coincidence. They've most likely a connection to this voyage of silk."
"Sure, they're probably the ones who had the guild initiate it, so that their capital can gain more silk. But we can't be certain they have anything to do with this goddess. From what I've seen, they worship different gods."
Alia sighed from the conversation. "I really don't like where this is going. I hope that my sister is not involved in so sche, but I'm most willing to agree with Hikari. These events seem too random to be connected to one another. Also, I'm just hoping to get this voyage over with as soon as possible."
"Is that really true, Miss Mother?" Hikari teased and looked at the kids intentionally.
The pink-haired goddess blushed and flicked her nu. "That's not important! Just figure out what you're going to eat already."
Hikari turned her nu towards Ayase and pointed at a certain line. "I've already decided. Doesn't this item look familiar with the ingredients."
"Seriously? Is that curry?"
Hikari chuckled. "Yes, well, it seems they call it sothing different here."
"Kurry...It's like a person transmigrated and didn't know how to spell." The witch laughed.
Sohow everyone mutually agreed on eating curry.
Hikari tried the drink while they waited for their food. The flavor was everything her new elf senses relished in. It had the sweetness and fruitiness that her taste buds longed for. Her ears twitched in glee from the flavor.
The witch smiled at her. "It's always so cute watching your ears. They give away your emotions more than your facial expressions."
Hikari grabbed onto her ears and felt them twitch in her small hands. "Hmm, I guess I got used to it, or I never really noticed."
"What was it like changing races? I couldn't imagine going from a human to a divine elf."
"What are you talking about?" Hikari asked. "I don't rember you being an ancient witch on Earth."
Ayase laughed. "I guess that's true, but my change didn't co with any crazy visual changes that I'm aware of."
Hikari shrugged. "For , the change was natural. It was as if I'd always been capable of controlling this form. When I first arrived here, even sothing like magic ca easily to . The first thing I did was summon Kurayami."
The dragon nodded. "Master's always had this form after all. The strangest thing about the conversations between you two is making it seem like Master was a normal person."
"I…"
Hikari started to say sothing, but Ayase cut her off. "You were never a normal person in my eyes. Even on that place full of normal people, you were like an enigma. It always seed that if I reached for you, you'd float away. I was always scared of moving, but a thousand years away from you made loathe my past self. That last day we hung out together, I should have grabbed your hand like my mom would have wanted."
In a rare show of affection for soone other than Hikari, Mizuko patted the witch on the back. "You cannot change the past, and I'm sure you were lonely all of that ti, but the mistress loves you too. I can tell she was very happy to see you. You can always make up for the lost ti now."
Even Kurayami nodded towards Ayase. "That's right! Besides, we'll all be counting on you to lead us around when we go to that place you both were talking about. I can't wait to try all of the food."
The witch wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. "Thanks, both of you. I should consider myself so lucky."
"Speaking of food," Alia said, noticing the arrival of their kurry.
The waiter handed each of them their plates. "Here you are, Ladies and Young Master. Please enjoy the food, and if you need anything else, feel free to call on ."
Everyone started digging in, except for Hikari. Her mind was focused elsewhere.
The elf couldn't get certain thoughts out of her head. For one, she felt bad for realizing Ayase's feelings on Earth but never doing anything. In the end, she didn't even deny them. She could have reached out to find the girl at so point, yet at the sa ti, Ayase could have reached out as well.
Moreover, the idea that she was never really a normal Earthling haunted her. She'd always felt normal on Earth. It wasn't as if she had any magic powers. She was simply a girl who enjoyed basking in the warmth of the sunlight and watching mother nature. Was there anything weird about that? No, plenty of other girls would do the sa. So even made it their job to take photographs of the scenery they'd visit. These so called photographers captured the beauty of the world for all to see.
Hikari closed her eyes and cleared her mind, focusing on the warm sll of the kurry in front of her. Yet even the delicious taste with a mild amount of fruitiness couldn't distract her from that one thought. It reminded Hikari of what Ayase had said earlier about coincidences.
Was it really a coincidence that Ayase had thought Hikari was a goddess in the previous life. It sounded like sothing soone who was love stricken would say, but the words used to convey this feeling rang differently. They were all about Hikari's aura and seeming different to other people.
In the end, the goddess could only sigh and shrug away her feelings on the matter. She needed a sharp mind focused on the surroundings and the oncoming events.
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