Not long ago, Coral Hill.
Located in the southeast of Merfolk Island, this was the most prosperous area of the Ryugu Kingdom. It was also home to a mermaid café.
Unlike the Mermaid Café opened by Shyarly in the original timeline, this shop was owned by a male merman.
Thanks to its excellent desserts, the café was fairly well-known on Merfolk Island. Most of its customers were merfolk, and Otohime was a regular here as well.
"I'll have a Coral Coffee. What about you? Everything here is good, though they don't serve fish or meat. Miss Kate, would you like to try the grilled scallops? The oyster chowder is good too."
Merfolk did not eat meat or fish, and the shop did not sell them either. This race mainly got its protein from shellfish, which merfolk regarded as edible animals.
"We'll have one of everything. And we'll take all the desserts in the shop. Miss Otohime, you don't need to pay. Meow will cover it, or you'll go bankrupt."
Kate stopped Otohime from trying to pay. Oran's various research projects took up the largest share of their living expenses, and funding for new equipment sometimes ran into hundreds of millions.
The technological development across the seas was already uneven. To purchase such equipment, they had to seek out industrial islands and Future Island. With the cost of sea transport added in, the prices never came down.
Most of Oran's share of the profits from Feld was reinvested into new research.
The second-largest expense was Terra and Lyliana's food. One drake and one bottomless pit—their appetites were enough to make anyone ashamed.
Only the BIG Pirates were a special case. Otherwise, if Lyliana truly ate her fill, she could force a banquet to end halfway through.
After looking at her wallet,