Adapting to Local Customs and... a Warning

"My life is like one huge orange."

The chubby young man sat at the table with a numb expression, listlessly feeding ramen into his mouth while pricking up his ears to "eavesdrop" on the conversation beside him.

In fact, the citrus family was quite vast, including mandarins, tangerines, oranges, pomelos, lemons, and more. Generally speaking, if one wanted to, one could enjoy citrus fruits in practically every season of the year.

But by custom, people in this island nation mostly preferred eating mandarins in winter.

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Not long after a diner had taken his seat, another newly arrived guest brazenly snatched the two finest-looking oranges—fresh, glossy, and plump—from the bag the college student had bought shortly before entering. He then leisurely took a seat at this table.

The first three people at the table each reacted differently to this fourth guest.

"Mephilas, what are you doing here?"

Faced with this outright "banditry," even the homeless man eating meat looked up and gave him a careful once-over.

Wu Shaoyou wore an exceptionally complicated expression, yet he did not dare speak rashly.

Only the man named Shinji Kaminaga, while waiting for his chashu ramen, coldly asked a question. In return, he received only a joking reply.

"No need to be so cold, Mr. Kamiya. Naturally, I came here to eat. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I rather like that saying."

The newcomer held up the two oranges in his hand, smiling pleasantly.

"The fruit in this country is expensive and mediocre. It's rare to find someone treating me, so surely it isn't strange that I'd be willing to spend some time in an izakaya like this?"

Perhaps the saying was true: squinty-eyed people were all monsters.

Watching this suited and booted yet utterly ordinary-looking "middle-aged uncle" maintain