“We’re going to the import shop next huh.”

“Yes! They seem to have various rare goods and ingredients!”

Mimi, who made it her goal to taste all sorts of gourmet food in the galaxy, answered in high spirits.

“Can’t go wrong with food, I guess.”

“……Yeah.”

Elma, who was following behind, gave the two of us an ambiguous smile. What’s up with her?

I got the answer to that particular question right away the moment we arrived at the shop.

“Hey……”

“H- Hi, Hiro-sama, i- isn’t that a……”

Mimi pointed at an unidentifiable ‘something’ thrashing about in a cage. What the heck is that scary-looking sh*t? It definitely looks like a super-dangerous creature. Rather, ain’t that a freaking F*cehugger!?

“It seems to be a rare food item. Wanna try eating it?”

“No, I’ll have to pass on that.”

“By the way, there seem to be processed goods available.”

“Hii……!”

Elma suddenly took out a vacuum-packed sample of the mystery food item (aka. F*cehugger).. Is this thing really edible? You gotta be kidding me, man.

“This seems to be a type of military food ration from a distant star system. Everything from the head down can be eaten, apparently.”

“Is it good……?”

“No idea. I haven’t tried eating one of these things yet after all. But it seems to be very nutritious? According to the packaging, that is.”

Elma shrugged her shoulders as she replied. I looked towards Mimi and saw her shake her head vehemently. Thought she’d react like that. Eating this thing’s impossible for me too.

“But I think this would be a good start if you want to eat all the rare foodstuffs in the galaxy.”

“Well, we’re both beginners y’see. Let’s start with the less-radical items first.”

“T- That’s right! Ah, Hiro-sama! It seems they’re selling some delicious-looking meat over there!”

“Oh! Yeah, I see it!”

Both of us hurriedly escaped from Elma who was grinning in amusement while holding that mysterious vacuum-sealed food(?) thingy. No, this isn’t us escaping. We’re just moving towards a new objective. Yup, that’s it.

“Th- This is…… manga meat!?”

It was a juicy-looking piece of meat skewered by a large bone in the center. It’s unmistakably manga meat!

“Uhm… Three kilos of this meat cost about 76 Enels. It’s already been pre-cooked so it’s ready-to-eat.”

“It seems to have been smoked.”

“Okay, let’s buy some then. I’d really like to try em.”

“Yes!”

One manga meat skewer costs 7600 Yen… It’s expensive! It’s expensive but I just can’t resist this temptation.

I wonder what kind of meat it is though. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. I already have an idea. I bet this is also artificially cultured meat.

“I’ll go buy some with my salary.”

“Nah, it’s my treat, Mimi.”

“No, I really want to try and spend some of my earnings right now. I’ll get one for each of us.”

Mimi turned toward me with sparkling eyes. Hmm, well, if she insists that much, then it can’t be helped.

“Alright then. Thanks for the treat.”

“Yes! Please leave it to me!”

Mimi excitedly put some vacuum-packed manga meat in the shopping basket. I turned around to see how Elma was doing. She seems to be busy shopping as well and was tossing a lot of stuff in her shopping basket. Most of it is alcohol though.

“Yosh, I’ll go look for some stuff as well!”

This place is kind of like a grocery store so I don’t think they’ll be selling anything dangerous. So I separated from Mimi and proceeded to look for rare foodstuffs myself. There was really a lot of curious stuff; from edible worms to Kobe beef… Wait, Kobe beef!? How’d they get their hands on Kobe beef!?

I didn’t manage to sniff out the supplier, but it seems like Kobe beef was shipped to all corners of the known galaxy as one of the finest quality meats…… 100 grams of the stuff costs a whopping 1000 Enel. And it seems it can become even more expensive depending on the type of cut. It’s way too expensive, man. I could buy it, sure. But I don’t really feel the urge to after seeing that ridiculous price.

While I was busy marveling at how expensive Kobe beef was, Elma, who had one hand pushing her shopping cart, approached me and gave me a curious gaze.

“You can at least afford to splurge that much with our current income, can’t you?”

“Look here you. 300 grams of this stuff is equivalent to one pirate ship y’know. Knowing that… You still think you can eat this stuff without worries?”

“It’s a piece of cake for you though.”

“Heck no! Luxury is the enemy! There should be cheaper but tastier food in this universe for sure! Artificial meat steak is tasty enough anyway!”

100 grams of artificial meat steak is 5 Enels by the way. That’s a 200% price difference you guys. So that’s decided. I’m the kind of guy who much prefers his artificial meat, thank you very much.

“Well, I guess you’re right. It’s not like things would be more delicious if they’re more expensive.”

Elma left the meat section after saying so. I think I saw a sample of that vacuum-packed F*cehugger(?) in Elma’s basket just now. Let’s just pretend I didn’t see that.

Next up’s the drink corner. There’s a lot of suspicious-looking juices lined up… Cola, is there any cola……!

“This is…!?”

I saw a dark-colored liquid inside a bottle. The label even explicitly shows『Ｃｏｋｅ』on it. There’s no mistaking that, man! It’s my favorite cola! This marks the end of my journey, it seems.

I took out one bottle from the fridge. I think I startled the shop clerk a bit, but I didn’t care and paid for the item right away. I went out of the store and opened it in anticipation. I missed the distinct flavor of this stuff. I took a large swig.

“……Yeah, thought this would be the case.”

The sweetness and sourness that danced in the tongue were unmistakably that of cola. However, there was no refreshing feeling accompanying it. This was non-carbonated cola. Oi, oi, oi! This cola’s as good as dead.

But anyway, it did taste like cola. I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I thought, but it was still cola. I finished the contents of the bottle and went back inside the store to ask the clerk about it.

“How much of this stuff do you have in stock?”

“U, Uhm… We have seven cases inside the store and seven cases out in the backyard.”

“I’ll buy em all.”

The pupils of the store clerk narrowed to dots.

“All of them.”

“Yes, with pleasure!”

I paid the money and finished the delivery procedures. Hehe, now I’m all set. It wasn’t my ideal cola because it was uncarbonated, but the taste was fine. I’ll put up with it until I manage to find the real deal someday… Or maybe I can carbonate them myself?

I went towards the entrance of the store and searched for the relevant info on my portable terminal. But it looks like no device for carbonation exists in the market. Why the heck is this the case even if technology has advanced leaps and bounds already……? This world is warped… And I will be the one to correct it……

“H- Hiro-sama?”

“That’s some scary-looking gaze you have on there……”

“Fwahahaha! Don’t mind me. I just got a little upset, that’s all.”

Oh well. Accomplishing one’s goal so easily doesn’t seem interesting anyway. Let’s just reflect on this feeling of frustration for now… This bitter reality… fufufu.

We went back to the ship after finishing our shopping trip and tried out the various stuff we bought.

The manga meat was… the most ideal manga meat ever. It was absolutely filling, flavorful and had the perfect texture… But having one skewer each proved to be a bit much for us. That’s because even without the bone, each skewer was 2 kilos worth of meat y’know.

It would have been fine if we just bought one skewer and divided it evenly among ourselves with a knife. But being unable to finish manga meat is a kind of romance as well.

And Elma really did buy one of those mystery creatures. I tried eating it after plucking up my courage and found it surprisingly alright. The flesh covered by a hard-looking shell was surprisingly soft and tender. It kinda had a kamaboko-like texture. The flesh was actually nice, creamy and slightly sweet. I can only describe this as creamy croquette… Nah, creamy kamaboko [1. TL Note: Kamaboko – a type of Japanese delicacy made by forming various pureed deboned white fish with either natural or man-made additives and flavorings into distinctive loaves, which are then steamed until fully cooked and firm.].

“This is actually pretty good.”

“It’s just that its appearance is unappetizing.”

Mimi had an expression that looked like she couldn’t believe I and Elma were eating the thing.

My cola? I tried having the two of them drink it.

“Doesn’t this smell like medicine? I don’t really like it, sorry.”

“It’s sweet……”

Elma plainly told me she didn’t like it. Mimi gave an unclear evaluation but had a subtle expression on her face. That’s fine you guys. I’ll just enjoy them by myself then. I’ll definitely find a way to make them carbonated and let you taste real cola! Just you wait, guys!