Chapter 500 - White Rice......

Its a celebration! Weve reached 500 Chapters~~!

As we leisurely walked towards the Special Monster Races racetrack, we exchanged a few words.

[Is Lynn-chan asleep again?]

[Looks like shes sleeping out her grumpiness.]

Just as Dr. Vier and Neun-san had said, after her conversation with Fafnir-san, Lynn crawled into my clothes again, looking like shes sulking as she fell asleep.

Hmmm, I dont really know whats going on, so I cant say anything for sure, but Lynn isnt the type of person who wont drag out her troubles, so Im sure shell be fine after some rest.

[Speaking of which, Im going to change the subject but isnt Bell also a Monster Race champion?]

[Yes. Though I say that, its only one race]

[Gaoo!]

As if hes proudly puffing out his chest, Bell nodded his head, which only made him look cute, so I just patted his head.

[Heehhh Fafnir said its also fine to just directly partic.i.p.ate, so why dont Bell-chan join in?]

[Gaooohh!]

[Youll get dirty, so no.]

[Guruaah!? K- Kuuuuu~~]

[No!]

[Kuuuu]

I firmly scolded Bell, who looked really motivated to go on the race even after all the running he did earlier. I bet Bell only wants to partic.i.p.ate since he just wanted to run around.

However, in a Monster Race, where almost everything can happen, its inevitable that Bells fur will get dirty. Thats something I cant let happen. If that happens, wed have to stop going around the festival so I could start cleaning Bells body.

[M- Miyama-kun? B- But you see, Bell-chan wants to go though?]

[I said no. Thats final. Besides, if Bell were to partic.i.p.ate in the Monster Race, he would just end up overwhelmingly winning, which would be bad for the other monsters. It would just be bullying the weak.]

[I- I guess youre right.]

I would have liked to see Bells performance, but since I know what the outcome will be if he partic.i.p.ates, I didnt see the need to partic.i.p.ate.

Hearing what I said, stiff smiles appeared on Dr. Vier and Neun-sans lips for some reason, but I decided to not mind it and clear up a misunderstanding that Bell might have in his mind.

[Also, Bell. Just so you know, you cant put me on your back in a Monster Race.]

[Guruuaahhh!?]

Yes, what Bell likes to do is run with me on his back. After hearing my words, Bell looked shocked before he started leisurely following behind me.

It seems like he had lost interest in Monster Racing. I havent been able to take him for a walk for a few days since the Six Kings Festival started, so I guess thats why he wanted to join the Monster Race earlier Ill just take him to the gra.s.sland again later.

[Miyama-kun really takes good care of Bell-chan and Lynn-chan huh. Speaking of which, you did buy that miniatureable pet house before, didnt you?]

[Eh? How did you know about that, Dr. Vier?]

What Dr. Vier was referring to that pet house that I had won from the auction when I went around with Isis-san. Im pretty sure that Dr. Vier hadnt arrived yet at that time though Did Alice tell her? It must have been Alice who told her.

[Shalltear-sama told me about it.]

[I knew it.]

[Ahh! That reminds me! Didnt Miyama-kun bid on that diary that Neun wrote?]

[Wha!?]

Hearing what Dr. Vier said, Neun-san vigorously reacted. Speaking of which, I did accidentally bid on it huh.

I was so confused after that meeting with Luce-san before that I completely forgot that diary that I was going to give to Neun-san.

[H- Hey K- Kaito-san!? W- What does she mean? Why did Kaito-san bid on my diary]

[I actually won the bid for that by accident, and I was going to give it to Neun-san later but I had completely forgotten about it. Please dont worry, I didnt look at whats written on it. .]

[I- Is that so T- Thats great.]

[Errr, where did I put it Ah, here it is. Here, please- [ Miyama-kun, wait right there! Eh?]

[Vier?]

Although it was late, I tried to return the diary just as I had originally planned, but for some reason, Dr. Vier stopped me.

[Miyama-kun. If Im not mistaken, you won that for a white gold coin, didnt you?]

[A white gold coin!?]

[Y- Yes, I did]

[Fumufumu Hey, Neun. I dont think this would be the case, but theres no way that youre just going to accept that diary and be done with it, are you? After all, it can be said that that diary is Miyama-kuns property, isnt it?]

Uwaaahhh~~ Vier-sans expression looked so evil that I cant even imagine it from how she usually looks. Come to think of it, Dr. Vier had only been teasing Neun-san a lot huh

Hearing what she said, it seems like Neun-san had a bad feeling about something as her face turned pale.

[W- What are you trying to say?]

[Well, its just that I think Miyama-kun deserves to at least read that diary. By the way, Id like to have a peek too.]

[Wha!? Y- You cant! Rather, isnt the second half your true intention!?]

[Now, now, its fine, isnt it? If its a diary about your journey, its not like you wrote anything strange in it right?]

[T- That is certainly true but]

Dr. Vier and Neun-san continued to argue for a while, but I had a feeling that Dr. Vier would win their argument.

It seems like I predicted right, as after being convinced by Dr. Vier, Neun-san reluctantly agreed to let me and Dr. Vier read her diary.

A diary she wrote during her journey to defeat the Demon King Id be lying if I said I wasnt curious too. Dr. Vier would probably like to know what Neun-san was thinking during her journey to defeat her.

[Then, Ill open i

t.]

[Uuuu, alright However, when was the diary written?]

[Errr. it seems to be written in Earth month.]

I heard that the current Light month used to be called Earth month.It was changed to Light month in honor of Neun-sans achievement in signing the Treaty of Friends.h.i.+p.

(T/N: Ive explained it before in c344, so I wont repeat it again. Anyway, this is the 6th month (Earth/chi), not 4th or 10th (Earth/do).)

[Ah~~ That means its a diary written around this month wait, arehh? Its written with otherworldian letters though. I cant read this Miyama-kun, do you mind reading this for me?]

[I- I understand.]

It is easy to forget since I can read the letters of this world due to the Translation Magic automatically granted to us after we were summoned as Heroes, but for Dr. Vier, j.a.panese is definitely a language from another world.

This means that most people in this world wouldnt know what was written in Neun-sans diaries.

Ahh, I see So thats why Neun-san isnt madly searching for her past diaries

Thinking about this, I looked at the stack of papers and started reading.

Earth month, Day 12

N- No more, Im already at my limits. I know that I cant be extravagant as were in the middle of a journey but still, there are still things I cant stand! Theres no rice here! Rice, Im telling you!!! I dont want to eat bread anymore! I want to eat a breakfast of white rice, miso soup, takuan and grilled fish

I mean, putting aside the grilled fish, theres no miso or takuan here T- This must be h.e.l.l

Earth month, Day 16

We stopped at a diner in a town that we stopped at during our journey. The food didnt look great, but they tasted wonderful. It kind of looks like chikuzenni. Eating the well-seasoned vegetables made me feel happy.

Ive been eating a lot of dried meat lately because we have been camping out in the wild, and even having to eat a warm meal is already a treat in itself. Ahh, how happy would I have been if this meal is served with white rice instead of bread I still cant find rice.

Earth month, Day 20

Today is a wonderful day! I may not be a Christian, for Im a buddhist, but I thank G.o.d for this wonderful day! In a village we had stopped by today What a surprise, I had found soybeans!!! No, the soybeans here are a bit different in size from the one in my world, but that taste! That texture! They were definitely soybeans!!!

Ahh, Im beginning to see hope. As long as theres soybeans, it should be possible to make miso and soy sauce! It will take some thoughts and a lot of trial and error though

T- Thats right! If theres soybeans here doesnt that mean theres red beans somewhere in this world!? I- I may even be able to eat the Anmitsu Ive always dreamed of! Now Im fired up!

Earth month, Day 24

I cant find rice. Laguna mentioned about how theres something resembling rice on the frontier of Hydra Kingdom but thats in the opposite direction of our journey. Its on the complete opposite direction of the Demon Kings castle, so we cant go and collect it.

G- Gununu How long do I have to wait until I get to eat white rice!?

I have to defeat the Demon King as soon as possible and go get some rice Now, I have a definite mission in my heart! I will defeat the Demon King. I will defeat the Demon King, so that I could eat some rice!!!

Starting tomorrow, lets do better than ever before!!!

[Hey, Neun? Do you mind if I get angry at you? Its kind of obvious that youre trying to beat me here I mean, why the heck are all the things written here about food!? What the heck are you doing!?]

[Ehh, I mean, I wanted to eat white rice.]

[Oi, look over here, will you? If one looks at the diary, they wont see it as the diary of the Hero who went on a journey to defeat the Demon King, you know? They would see it as a d*mned foodies journey looking for the food from her hometown!!!]

[Ehh, I mean, I wanted to eat anmitsu.]

Vier-san, who had thought that the diary would talk about her, the Demon King, upon hearing that all it contained was about the food she ate and the j.a.panese food she was craving, became astounded and got mad at Neun-san.

Dear Mom, Dad Well, this certainly is a diary that cannot be shown to the people in this world who were faithful believers of the First Hero. After all, the most important motivation she had for defeating the Demon King- is white rice

Serious-senpai ZERO : [Havent I been in this novel for more than 300 chapters? I guess it cant be an exaggeration to say that Im already the protagonist of this novel, isnt it?]

? ? ? : [Yes, yes, lets just wait until you come out of the main story before you say such delusions, okay~~?]

Serious-senpai ZERO : [If I could get out of here, I would have left long ago!!!]