That Day, She Saw Hell

Ritsuka walked through the bustling market streets, street vendors' cries ringing endlessly in her ears. She stopped in front of a chili stall.

The fiery red color was invigorating. Since this was a type of chili she had never seen in another world—and it might not even be called chili here—Ritsuka could only beat around the bush with her question.

"It's not spicy. Add a little when cooking, and it tastes quite good."

The middle-aged man smiled faintly. A diagonal scar ran across his somewhat fierce face, making him the perfect image of an otherworldly street vendor.

Maybe he had some incredible past?

Ritsuka had no interest in that. She immediately wiped all expression from her face. "Not spicy? Then never mind."

With that, Emiya-chan turned and left, leaving the stall owner with a face full of question marks as he sat in his chair, stared up at the sky, and began questioning his life.

This seemed a little different from what he had expected.

She wandered purposefully through the market, and before she knew it, noon had arrived.

She carried a bag containing three different kinds of chilies, all at a level of heat she had never dared try before.

Ever since some time ago, she had suddenly developed an interest in the stuff. Spiciness was one of the few sensations that could still make her, who had lost most of her senses, feel alive.

No, scientifically speaking, spiciness was supposed to be a form of pain.

Father Mape was a pleasure-seeking bastard. Ritsuka had despised his personality more than once, but she still respected him deeply.

Not only had he saved her and brought her into the world of the Holy Grail War, he had also introduced her to something called Mapo Tofu Ramen.

During that period, she had practically gone mad. Even though one bowl left her drenched in fragrant sweat, she simply could not stop herself.

To the point that all three meals were Mapo Ramen.

Being able to guarantee she never had to visit a hospital's colorectal department was already quite an impressive achievement.

"Hehehe..."

Humming a little tune, Ritsuka returned to Emiya Family's Confectionery and lightly pushed open the door.

What she did not notice was that a figure had quietly followed her. Emerald hair fluttered in the wind, while magic entirely unlike that of the Type-Moon world covered that person.

"Old Man Matsuzaki, I'm back. Thanks for your help."

"Well then, I'll be heading back first. Just come find me if you need anything. I'm free every day anyway."

The old man, craving Ritsuka's sake, left with a cheerful grin.

She casually tossed the chilies onto the table. Light glimmered at her fingertips, and the Crystal Dice flashed into existence as a large bag. She took out separately packaged meat and vegetables from within.

The Crystal Dice only had twenty slots, so its capacity was truly limited.

Back in the Dungeon, Ritsuka had found this quite troublesome. After all, most of her half-day period happened to correspond to nighttime outside, when novice adventurers had generally returned to their respective Familias to rest.

Thus, by sheer coincidence, Ritsuka had not encountered any humanoid creatures for quite some time.

She spent all her time scouting the terrain and hunting Minotaurs born from the walls. Since she could not carry the huge number of crystals they dropped, Ritsuka eventually came up with a wonderful method that neatly bypassed the Crystal Dice's storage restrictions.

She packed them into bags, cramming in as many as possible. That way, they counted as a single unit and only occupied one slot in the Crystal Dice.

It had to be said, that was quite a clever idea.

Ding—!

"Welcome."

The wind chime hanging on the door gave off a crisp sound. Ritsuka looked toward the entrance, a professional smile naturally appearing on her face.

Then, a green-haired elf girl(?) entered the shop.

"It's you. What a coincidence."

"Yes, it really is. My name is Riveria. Please take care of me."

Riveria introduced herself, then slightly lowered her head in greeting. Her intelligent eyes assessed Ritsuka, who had just put on an apron.

Though she was clearly still a very young girl, Emiya Ritsuka was brimming with the air of a married woman.

"Riveria... That's a lovely name. I'm Emiya Ritsuka. Just call me Ritsuka." As she pointed to the menu above, Ritsuka glanced at Riveria's hair—or more accurately, the prominent pointed ears poking through it. "Are you an elf?"

Riveria nodded. As a member of the elven royal family, she was indeed an elf.

"I'm very curious about you."

Riveria sat in a corner. After casually ordering a few things, she looked seriously at the puzzled Ritsuka.

As Ritsuka began making a strawberry cake from scratch, she placed Riveria's fragrant sweet tea and sesame crisp pancakes onto her table.

"I'm just an ordinary human. What could make an elf curious about me?"

"Elves are mostly exceptionally beautiful and possess tremendous pride... Moreover, every elf has a condition comparable to a physiological reflex: they only allow people they acknowledge to touch them."

Riveria spoke softly. As elven royalty, her condition might have been even more severe than that of ordinary elves.

Yet this girl, whom she had met for the first time, had directly touched her without being reflexively struck back by her magic.

She did not feel the slightest rejection in her heart. That indicated certain things.

"Even if you say that, I don't understand. I only arrived in Orario four days ago."

Ritsuka awkwardly rubbed her nose.

Riveria had already made herself very clear, and Ritsuka was not an idiot. It was not as though she could not understand even that.

Thinking back carefully, she did not seem to have touched anywhere she should not have. She had merely lightly pushed Riveria away in an emergency... probably.

"I see. You're an outsider."

Riveria narrowed her beautiful eyes, realization flickering within her green gaze.

In Orario, elves' magical talent was publicly recognized as powerful. As long as they received the power of a Blessing, they could generally grow rapidly in a short period, so no one dared offend them casually.

There had been a reason she had not dodged that incoming dagger. Her robe possessed the ability to repel others.

And the most crucial point was that the girl named Emiya Ritsuka had not triggered the formulae on the robe...

Or had they already been triggered, only to be cancelled out because their power was not strong enough?

Ritsuka, who had not sensed any danger at all due to the constantly active defensive Noble Phantasm, Twelve Trials, tilted her head in confusion.

She looked adorably at the thoughtful Riveria and obediently placed the strawberry cake before her.

PS: 1. This book will be going premium on Friday.

My editor, Orange, contacted me today and said the new book would be going premium this Friday. Honestly, it feels a little fast, and to be frank, this book's situation is not exactly good. It only has a little over six hundred bookmarks.

Today is Tuesday. I don't have many chapters saved up, and I'm not sure how many bookmarks will drop after it goes premium. After all, quite a few people like to read for free these days...

This book most likely will not have a premium reward campaign, because if I start one, I definitely will not be able to keep up.

2. Consider this an early notice. Also, take some time to check the comments section. I posted there about the worlds this book has confirmed or is considering visiting. See whether any interest you, and feel free to leave a comment.

That Day, She Saw Hell

At lunchtime, Riveria was the only elf in the shop, making it feel somewhat deserted.

Though Ritsuka called it a "confectionery," she also sold main dishes. However, they were only available for one hour each in the morning, noon, and evening. Once the time passed, they were no longer sold.

At its core, the shop still mainly focused on desserts and snacks.

Because of her exceptional physical condition, Riveria was not very hungry. She ate the cake in small bites, every movement graceful and elegant. The bearing of elven royalty seemed woven into her bones.

After scooping up another spoonful of strawberry cake, Riveria sighed with feeling. "It's so delicious..."

It was no worse than the pastries made in the Tower of Babel. After tasting it, Riveria gave it extremely high praise.

With unimpressive ingredients, that came down to personal skill.

And in terms of price, Emiya Family's Confectionery had an overwhelming advantage.

Clearly, Emiya Ritsuka possessed remarkable talent when it came to cooking, though the specific reason was unknown to others.

"I'm glad you like it." Ritsuka smiled and nodded. Being acknowledged by someone put her in quite a good mood. "Oh, right. This is for you. Consider it a gift for a new customer."

Ritsuka took a small portion of the freshly baked snacks and placed them into an oil-paper bag.

Then she gently placed it in Riveria's hand.

"Huh, what is this?"

The fragrance spilled out. Riveria, who had already finished the strawberry cake she ordered, sniffed it and revealed a curious expression.

"Red bean cream fried potato balls. In a sense, it's a technique I secretly learned from someone else, so make sure you don't tell anyone."

While wandering outside earlier, Ritsuka had bought some fried potato balls from the roadside stall where goddess Hestia worked part-time. She had thought they tasted good after trying them, so she had copied the technique.

Of course, she would not sell them to others. At most, she would make them for herself to eat.

"Thank you. I'll savor them properly."

Opening the oil-paper bag, Riveria used her chopsticks to pick one up while it was still hot and tossed it into her mouth under Ritsuka's expectant gaze.

A trace of mischief flashed through Ritsuka's eyes.

"Mmph..."

The freshly fried potato balls were naturally quite hot. Caught off guard, Riveria's expression changed dramatically.

"Pfft, hahahaha..."

Ritsuka had never received professional training, but with her unyielding will, she could naturally control herself from laughing no matter what happened.

Unless she could not hold it in...

Riveria's cheeks reddened as she reached out and punched Ritsuka. The fist of Orario's first Level 6 mage achieved nothing.

As she dodged, Ritsuka laughed even harder.

"Stop it, stop it already. Catch."

Her finger passed over the shelf. Skipping past a bottle of the original Mapo Water, she picked up a bottle of fruit wine.

Riveria did not stand on ceremony. She decisively accepted it, opened the cap, and began easing the pain in her mouth. The small bottle of fruit wine was emptied in the blink of an eye.

Honestly, if she had not been maintaining her persona as a non-adventurer and wanted to further observe the girl before her, Riveria would absolutely have used magic just now to hammer this troublesome girl into the floor.

Once the disturbance settled, Ritsuka, pleased with her little prank, began preparing her own lunch.

She took out some leftover Mapo Tofu, heated it, added a handful of noodles, poured in soy sauce, and finally took out No. 1 Revised Mapo Water and added it.

Holding her enhanced soy sauce ramen, Ritsuka began eating.

The bowl was filled with bright red broth and tofu. Thanks to the right amount of crispness, it tasted quite good. As Ritsuka quickly slurped her noodles, she failed to notice Riveria's slight swallowing motion, along with her astonished and utterly shocked gaze.

Was that... hell?

That porcelain bowl churned like a volcano. The fiery sensation seemed to coil around her even without touching it.

Blood-red. Utterly blood-red...

"May I ask... what is that...?"

Riveria's voice trembled slightly.

Ritsuka glanced at Riveria, her face filled with confusion and strange suspicion, as though eating that bowl of noodles was no big deal.

"Mapo Tofu Ramen."

"Where are the noodles?"

Clearly, Riveria had never seen noodles like Mapo Tofu Ramen.

Ritsuka immediately stirred the bowl with her chopsticks and lifted up a noodle from the bottom. "See? Aren't these noodles?"

Mapo Tofu Ramen had six characters in total, and the part related to Mapo Tofu made up two-thirds of them. It was obvious which part was more important. The noodles were merely garnish.

That was something Father Mape, Kirei Kotomine, had once said.

Ritsuka herself still primarily ate it for the noodles, so she had added a bit more when putting them in, though not much more.

After all, she was not a big eater. She could not eat too much.

The sound of slurping echoed through the shop. Riveria's corner of the mouth kept twitching. She was beginning to doubt her own judgment.