Perhaps it was just a coincidence or maybe a case of convergent evolution, or perhaps a [Hero] from the past had influenced things, but Alissa couldn’t help but feel a pang of nostalgia as she tasted the dinner served before her.

In the southern regions of the Kingdom, where Clearridge was situated, the common staple crop was not wheat like in the north, but corn. At least, Alissa thought they were what passed for corn in Ephemera. The stalks were smaller and thinner compared to the cobs she was familiar with, and each only held around forty or so kernels, albeit with each kernel roughly the size of the nail on her index finger. The taste was very similar, though, perhaps even sweeter than what she was used to.

The “coincidence” was in how the locals processed those kernels – and stalks, which were apparently soft enough to consume as well – and the local preference for food with some spice, which resulted in flavors that were similar but not quite like the mexican food she had in the past, in her previous world. Rather than call them similar, it was more like they were distant cousins to each other that just happened to taste sort of like each other, maybe.

Neither the corn nor the spiciness – which in Ephemera was apparently considered a more “peasant” taste and was disfavored by the high nobles – were things Nadine and Maribel were familiar with, as both of them had lived their lives entirely in the north until recently. Even in the fort, those who were considered important like them often were given different rations to the rank and file.

Dinner was brought to them by a smirking daughter of the inn’s proprietor, which consisted of a large bowl of thick stew that had a hearty aroma, a small pile of flat, toasted cornbread that looked halfway between a tortilla and a pancake, as well as several links of sausages fresh off the griddle that looked rather alarmingly reddish in color.

Rather than use utensils, they ate the stew by picking up some of it using chunks of torn cornbread, holding the solid ingredients with the bread which also soaked up the thick stew before they popped the whole thing into their mouths. Normally, Alissa would have expected that a Royal Princess like Nadine would be unused to eating with her fingers, but after their many dungeon delves and their experience during the war, she knew that the latter would have no issue whatsoever nowadays.

Sure enough, Nadine just nonchalantly ate along with them.

The stew itself was hot and hearty, with chunks of tender, fatty pork as well as some beans that soaked up the flavors of the stew yet remained on the crunchy side. There was a sweet-sourness to the stew as well that reminded Alissa of tomatoes, a sweetness that was further amplified by the rather sweet cornbread. All that was capped off by a spiciness that slowly built up at the back of their tongues as they ate more of the stew.

Similarly, the sausages, while savory and very rich, had a heat to them that slowly built up as they ate. Alissa herself found the spiciness pleasant. Nostalgic, even. She enjoyed wrapping a link of sausage as thick as her thumb and twice as long in a leftover cornbread and eating it almost like a wrap, the natural sweetness of the bread a complement to the spicy, rich sausage contained within.

By the time they polished off the food it was evident that both Nadine and Maribel were feeling the heat, though, given the way they sweated. Since they mostly polished off the food with some local ale, Alissa flagged down a passing waiter and asked him to bring them a couple mugs of milk. The waiter acquiesced to her request with a knowing smile on his face.

As Alissa guessed, it was apparently common for northerners to react like Nadine and Maribel on their first taste of the local cuisine. She had no idea if the locals pranked them by making their food extra-spicy or not, but guessed that was not the case since she found them just pleasantly spicy. Then again, she had food similar to that in her previous world, while Nadine and Maribel clearly had very little to no experience with spicy foods.

“Haaaaaahhh,” sighed Nadine after she chugged down half of the milk in her mug in one go. Her face was still a touch reddish, and she still sweated quite a bit, but she seemed to have the spiciness under control for the time being. “I’m not going to say that was bad or anything, but that did get a bit hot at the end there. I’ve been burned in battle before, but none of that fire got in my mouth!”

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“It’s part of the appeal,” replied Alissa with a smirk while Nadine drank some more. Maribel had finished her own mug of milk and ordered for more from another passing waiter, clearly still feeling the heat from what she ate. “We had similar food where I’m from, and sometimes people would even try to outdo each other in eating the spiciest things they could find, go figure.”

“That… just sounds like madness to me,” admitted Nadine with a shake of her head as she thankfully received a fresh mug from Maribel. “Wait, I don’t see you sweat like we do. Is your food less spicy than ours or something?”

“Not really, I think it’s pretty much the same. Want to give it a try?” asked Alissa as she picked a link of sausage from Nadine’s plate. The Fifth Princess did the same with one of Alissa’s remaining sausages and both of them took a bite at the same time. “Yeah, I’d say they taste the same, so this is probably just the local standard.”

“You don’t feel the… spicyness?” asked Nadine with some surprise as she took another gulp of milk to alleviate the heat in her mouth. Alissa looked completely unaffected by the food she ate, without any change to her expression other than a smile.

“I’ve had worse, so this is pretty much just mild for me. Still feel it, but won’t make me put my tongue out or something,” said Alissa with a smirk as she took another big bite out of the sausage. “I guess I’m just more used to it than you are, is all.”

“Sure took it like a champ, lass!” said the inn’s proprietor as he visited their table and apparently caught the tail end of the conversation. The man placed three clay mugs filled with steaming, dark liquid that had a pleasant fragrance Alissa thought she recognized on the table. “On the house, some of Clearridge’s local specialty! I’d wait till the burning in your mouths subside first before you try it, though. Hot drinks make the burning get worse!”

“Keep up the good fight out there, you hear!” added the man as he left with a chuckle. “Were I younger or my kids any good at soldiering we’d be out there as well, but nobody wins against age, I guess. Also tell old Henri that we’re doing just fine and that he should visit more often!”

“Huh, I guess he must know Sir Inolet well if they’re on a first name basis,” noted Alissa with a raised eyebrow once the proprietor left earshot.

“They were old war buddies, I think. Sir Inolet told us that he was an old friend who retired because of injuries and age. Being in the third tier helps keep us fit for longer, even at an older age, but it has its limits compared to those that manage to reach the fourth tier,” explained Nadine. “You probably noticed that he’s not moving particularly faster than most people despite being a third tier in a combat profession. That’s his injuries, pretty much. If he wasn’t a third tier combat class with a focus on the Body attribute those injuries might well have crippled him.”

“I see,” nodded Alissa as she picked up the mug placed before her and took a sniff at the dark beverage. The smell was fragrant and vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn’t place it. It likely wasn’t coffee, since the fragrance was different, and unlikely to be some sort of tea either. In the end, she shook her head and just took a sip from the mug.

“Huh…” she noted as she tasted the hot beverage. It was bitter, but the bitterness was a pleasant one. The drink felt smooth on the tongue, and had a richness to it as well that meshed well with the bitterness, which was what finally clued her in on its actual identity. The drink was some sort of hot chocolate, unsweetened and with nothing to dilute the original taste. It tasted almost like drinking diluted, molten dark chocolate that was all cacao.

It was also a pleasant drink that warmed her stomach and definitely hit her with a pang of nostalgia for the easy life she used to have.

Across the table from her, Nadine and Maribel seemed to enjoy the drink as well, given the appreciative looks on their faces. The three slowly enjoyed the hot beverage as they chatted for a while more and finished off the last of their food before they retired to their room. As it happened, since the three of them came into town a bit early and the soldiers from the previous batch were still in town, that meant many of the town’s inns were full thanks to those soldiers, who would not be leaving for another day.

Because of that, the inn was pretty full as well, but as fortune had it, one of the larger rooms was vacated just earlier that day. The three of them had no issues sharing the same room, so they took it.

The room itself had a larger bed that could fit two to three people at once and two smaller, single-person beds. Clearly it was intended to be used by families or the like, which were quite commonly seen amongst travelers or wandering merchants. Alissa herself took one of the smaller beds while Nadine and Maribel shared the large one.

Not long after they retired to their room, the three fell asleep, comfortable and feeling safe for the first time in a while. They slept soundly through the night until the distant crowing of roosters woke them up the next morning. The roosters were far away, and the sound was faint at best, but it was clearly audible to their sharp hearing.

Alissa felt refreshed after the first proper night’s sleep in an actual bed in the past while. She stretched her muscles a bit as she rose up and felt the tension just loosen as she did so. After another visit to the bathroom – albeit a brief one this time – the three went to the inn's main room which served as the dining room for a breakfast of more cornbread, this time served with a plate of what looked like scrambled eggs that had slices of the spicy sausage mixed into it.

They had plans and things to do that day. Alissa had no doubt that Nadine and Maribel had their own plans to relax, while she herself had made her desire to peruse the academy’s library known before they left. Nadine would accompany her to pay a visit to the academy’s headmaster and get her access to the library, since Nadine’s identity as the Fifth Princess was more of an open secret, while Alissa being one of the summoned [Heroes] was something they were asked to keep a secret for the time being.

Sir Marsten was worried that if the demons got wind that one of the [Heroes] was outside the fort they might attempt another attack, or worse, send assassins on a suicide mission to strike at Alissa, so he would rather they keep her identity hidden whenever possible.