Taimanin: The Weakest's Resolve

Five Days Break - 04

Second day.

Inside an empty dining hall, Kotaro stared at his food tray with a thoughtful expression. The left eye that had a faint dark circle underneath blinked. When he came here, the food'd been prepared beforehand. It was a very simple meal with rice, grilled port, egg roll and miso soup. When he turned to look at the ceiling, as usual, the whole place was decorated by cobwebs, adding such a unique feeling he couldn't put into words to describe the experience. This inn was truly something else.

"What's wrong? You did not sleep well last night?"

That was Ingrid who was sitting on the other side of the table. Since the dining room was deserted, there were many vacant spots. But here they were, sitting in the same place as the Hell Knight decided to take the seat in front of him. She had a coffee cup with a little spoon to stir up the sugar inside. Ingrid took a sip and waited for his reply while her chin rested on the back of her hand.

"It's nothing." Kotaro replied and started eating. "I remembered something important back home and didn't get much sleep because of it, that's all."

Ingrid said nothing and responded with a nod.

"Guk!"

After drinking the soup, Kotaro's yelped. His head recoiled back at the horrible flavor. It was supposed to be a tender taste combining with seaweed, he didn't expect the soup to be this salty. They added too much salt! Coming from a traditional inn, this kind of food being served shredded another light on the quality of this place. If only he had a bit of sugar around here.

Kotaro reached for the cabinet where the seasonings were kept. To his surprise, the bottles were also covered in a thick layer of dirt. No one bothered to keep the whole place cleaned for business' sake. Seriously, he should definitely complain to the owner about this when he meets him.

That was not all.

"Hm?"

He felt a weird odor coming from it. Kotaro brought the sugar bottle to his nose and took a whiff. Goosebumps formed on his arms, his expression turned pale according to Ingrid's casual remark, something like "Your face resembling the color of that tree."

Well, he couldn't believe it. The content of this bottle he was holding and the rest in the cabinet, everything was already expired. And yet, this inn still left it here in the kind of public place where anyone can reach should they need it.

Breakfast didn't taste good anymore.

Kotaro pushed the food tray to the side once he quickly finished the meal. Saika and Tokiko always told him not to waste food. Of course, the soup left untouched because it became inedible to him. Insufficient balance of nutrition but no worry, some of that snacks he prepared for the trip will be deal with later.

By the way, seeing Ingrid sitting there with a coffee mug had him pondering.

"You're not going to have breakfast?" Kotaro broke the silence.

"Not yet." Ingrid said as she took another sip of her coffee. "Though I'm not in the mood to eat anything, I only need this."

"Can you point me to it? I've been looking for some. My room only has tea bags."

"Unfortunately, this is something I brought with me. I haven't used anything provided by the inn."

Did that mean the mug and the sugars are hers? Kotaro was curious. Though asking about it would make him feel like prying into her personal reason.

"Really? I thought the inn is serving drinks but turns out they have nothing asides from water and tea."

Sigh. If only they served at least milk, a nice warm cup of hot chocolate milk would be good for the day ahead.