Side Story: Epilogue

The conversation with Serie ended soon afterward. Although he was still disturbed by the sudden talk, Galan was too exhausted to continue and fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up again, it was already evening.

"Lia, are you awake?"

He got dressed and left the room.

I arrived at Lia's room and knocked on the door. Just then, Lia opened the door.

"Hmm? I was just about to look for you."

"What a coincidence! Are you hungry? Let's go out and get something to eat."

Looking at Lia, who was still rubbing her sleepy eyes, Galan asked with a smile.

"Let's go to Lake's restaurant. I heard he's come up with some new dishes, and I've been wanting to try them for ages."

Honestly, it feels like it's been ages since I've eaten at his restaurant. This is a rare opportunity to relax after this job is done, and I don't even have to help out at the restaurant. I'll just treat it as a little vacation.

"Hmm? Let's eat at Lake's restaurant? Sure!"

Hearing Galan say that, Lia was clearly delighted. After all, she was very familiar with Lake's cooking, and she had no objection to having the opportunity to taste it again.

After tidying themselves up a bit, the two went out and walked along the street.

It wasn't late at night, and the streets were still full of small vendors.

The air was filled with the enticing aroma of food, especially for the two who had just emerged from the Dungeon and hadn't had a proper meal yet.

"Ah, how wonderful it would be to have some fried skewers and a few drinks at this hour."

Galan sighed, saying that although there are decent grilled skewers in this world, he still prefers the simple roadside skewers.

Even though some stalls aren't very hygienic, the food is delicious, and sometimes even knowing that, I'd still risk blasting the toilet and go for some skewers with a few close friends.

He went to a barbecue stall and bought six skewers of meat from the boss.

When he returned, he handed three strings of Lia.

"Hmm, I remember Lake's shop also has grilled skewers, right?"

"Hmm - it's still a bit of a walk there, so let's just have a bite to eat. We're already here, why don't you eat something?"

Galan raised an eyebrow, looked at Lia and asked, while making a gesture as if to take back the skewers he had just handed out.

Hehe, I won't give it to you!

Seeing that Galan wanted to take back the skewers, Lia refused. She quickly took a few steps back, stuffed all the skewers into her mouth, and acted like a possessive person, which made people feel a little comical.

Just as Lia stepped back, she accidentally stepped on a passerby's foot.

"Oh? I'm sorry!"

Realizing what had happened, Lia quickly turned around and apologized to the person.

"Hiss--Is everything alright-? Isn't that Lia? Galan's here too."

At this moment, Lia and Galan realized that the person who had been stepped on was actually Lucina, who was also holding some skewers, clearly having come out to find food like them.

"Oh! Lucina! You're eating out too?"

Lia felt a strong liking for the girl who had cared for her like an older sister in the Dungeon, so she couldn't help but feel excited upon seeing her again. Although, strictly speaking, they had been apart for less than half a day, for some reason, after a nap, seeing her again...

It felt like a long time had passed.

Lucina, having been teammates with the two before, was surprised and delighted to see them again, and quickly started chatting with them.

You guys are here too!

Before they could exchange more than a few words, Pass appeared with his mouth full of roast meat, followed by Clinton, who was none other than his brother.

"Oh, what a coincidence! We meet again."

Since Pass hadn't swallowed the meat in his mouth yet, Clinton had to greet the two of them on his behalf.

He had thought that after parting ways upon leaving the Dungeon, it would be difficult to see the two again, but to his surprise, not long after, they reunited on the street.

"What a coincidence! We're on our way to Lake's restaurant for lunch now, do you want to come along?"

Since it was fate that they had met, Galan invited them to have dinner together.

"Lake? Is he the chef at the most famous restaurant in [Äußerst]?"

Pass hurriedly swallowed the food in his mouth and asked.

"As expected, almost everyone in this city knows the name Lake."

I initially thought that if I gave my name, the other person might not know which store it was, but it seems I was overthinking it.

Lake's fame in [Äußerst] far exceeded his expectations.

Because there were three more people, the dinner was quite lively. Pass dragged Clinton and Galan along, determined to see who could hold their liquor better.

However, Galan withdrew from this war without bloodshed by citing his "alcohol allergy."

Meanwhile, Lia and Lucina chatted on the side, but no matter when you looked, there was always a different dessert in front of Lia.

After finishing their meal, the group parted ways at the entrance because they were going in different directions.

Looking at his left hand, which had become somewhat unreal, Galan was unsure whether it was because he was drunk.

I noticed this by chance just now, but after a moment of distraction, my left hand was back to normal.

Is it just my imagination?

Based on Galan's intuition and experience, that's definitely not the case.

Did my left hand become ethereal because I was rejected by the world?

Does that mean my time in this world is running out?

How much time is left?

Perhaps a year, perhaps half a year, or perhaps... Less than a month later, Galan's expression grew increasingly grave. After all, he couldn't judge this matter on his own; he still needed to ask Serie. "Galan— "

"Um?

Just as he was thinking this, Lia's murmur interrupted his thoughts.

Right now, because she ignored his advice and insisted on drinking with Lucina, she was completely drunk. On the way back, she could only lean on Galan's shoulder and was practically being half-dragged along by him.

Why is the sun so dim today?

"Because those are stars - I really shouldn't have let you drink them - "

Galan sighed. Although he wasn't a big drinker, he would never get himself drunk like this.

After feeling the weight on his arms getting heavier and heavier, he shook his head, stopped, and picked Lia up in his arms.

Anyway, it's only a short distance left, carrying him back won't be a problem, and more importantly, he's already fast asleep in my arms.