It was dinnertime.
Ruger looked up at the petite girl sitting at the head of the table opposite him, who was shorter than the chair back, then glanced at the gray-dressed girl standing nearby, doing a respectable job of serving as maid, cook, and waitress all at once.
What a strange dinner, he thought.
Everything was interesting, from the people to the food to the atmosphere. Even the place where they were dining had been seized from someone else.
Still, the food really was unusual. Perhaps it was due to the environment of the Black Valley Domain, but the subterranean beasts here all had a distinctive texture. They were cooked over the same sickly green flames found along the streets, which made the food even more unusual. Even simple preparation gave it a unique flavor.
Ruger chewed carefully, even using his mental power to examine it.
Eating this sort of food over a long period would naturally have particular effects on the body.
"You came here for an Ascension Ritual?"
Nana Erz suddenly spoke while enjoying the fine wine treasured by the house's original owner.
Ruger blinked and swallowed the pungent beast meat in his mouth. As he recalled, he had only said he had come here to meet someone. He had never mentioned an Ascension Ritual.
"For a Level-Five Wizard Apprentice, there are only so many things worth pursuing, worth traveling all this way to obtain..."
The petite figure let the wineglass tilt in her hand, looking utterly certain.
The gray-dressed waitress beside them seemed not to understand, but she listened closely nonetheless. These bewildering matters involving extraordinary beings were always so fascinating to ordinary people.
"Besides, you seem to have forgotten that you tried to trade with me in the Nightmare World for an Ascension Ritual that would