“Ooh~ this market really is quite different from the one in the town of Al-Flare.”

“There are sooo many shops here!”

“As expected, most of the shops are open at this time of day.”

In the morning, we had been experimenting with extracting sugar from Belmarcon, and since that had gone well, we decided to visit the large market in the town of Eibra.

As Lilia said, we had already visited this town yesterday to purchase Belmarcon from the market, but since it had been evening at the time and the market wasn't all that large, the number of open shops had been completely different compared to this large market.

It was just around lunchtime now, so the market streets were bustling with customers. Since we had a solid breakfast at an expensive inn, we planned to just grab a light lunch from the food stalls.

“Exploring markets in different towns is always fun.”

“I wish Lange had come too.”

Of course, our escorts Berna and Ferry were with us, but Lange wanted to explore the town on his own.

Well, while exploring a town in a big group is fun, strolling at your own pace is enjoyable in its own way. Lange is a B-rank adventurer who doesn’t need protection, so there’s no need to worry about his safety.

“It looks like prices here are a bit higher than in the town of Al-Flare. Still not quite at royal capital levels, though.”

“Yeah, when you compare them, the royal capital really does feel overpriced. But then again, there are more high-paying jobs in the capital too.”

As Dolph and Angel said, the cost of living here is just a bit higher than in Al-Flare. Prices seem to rise the closer you get to the capital, the center of the country.

Thanks to Slep, we got to Eibra in a flash, but normally it would take days by carriage. It really drove home how far we’ve traveled from Al-Flare.

“The goods on sale are slightly different from what we saw in Al-Flare too. Let’s look around the market and then check out the food stall street.”

After passing through the market selling various daily necessities and foodstuffs, we arrived at the food stall street where ready-to-eat meals were being sold.

Sure, sitting down at a proper restaurant for a leisurely meal is nice, but there’s something fun about walking through appetizing smells and watching the food being cooked right in front of you as you choose.

“The food and ingredients sold here really are different depending on the location. Yesterday’s inn meal was delicious too, but this kind of food stall street meal is great in its own way.”

“Enjoying local cuisine is one of the best parts of traveling. You get it, Tetsuya.”

“Whenever I visit a new place, I make a point to try the local food. It’s one of the joys of being an adventurer.”

Ferry and Berna both agreed with me. It seems even high-ranking adventurers feel the same way about these kinds of things.

Adventurers travel through various towns, so being able to enjoy the food and sights while on the road is something to envy. Of course, encountering monsters or bandits is a serious concern for someone like me with no combat ability.

“Well, the two of you can’t cook, so you’re stuck eating prepared meals in town anyway.”

“Th-that’s one way to put it!”

“...I can cook the instant soup and stick ramen you gave me!”

Ferry... Adding hot water to instant soup or stick ramen doesn’t count as cooking, you know?

“Step right up! Special skewers of grilled meat with our secret blend of spices!”

“Our shop’s stew is slowly simmered and topped with plenty of pepper—only one silver coin! Don’t miss out!”

As we walked through the food stall street, the delicious smells of various dishes wafted toward us from every direction.

“Every stall smells amazing.”

“Everything looks so delicious!”

“Just like in Al-Flare, many of these stalls are using a variety of spices.”

“Yeah, now that spices have become cheaper, it’s only natural that more shops would start using them. I bet the food tastes great.”

As Angel said, many of these shops offer dishes featuring a wide array of spices. Just like in Al-Flare, the use of magic in spice cultivation has made them more affordable, so even ordinary food stalls now serve spiced dishes.

“Big brother Tetsuya, that skewer stall over there looks really yummy!”

“This noodle dish here looks pretty good too.”

“Alright. Since we’re a big group, let’s each buy what we want and share it.”

That’s the best way to enjoy food stalls with a big group—everyone shares and gets to try a variety of dishes.

“Yeah, every stall’s food is really good!”

We all bought different dishes and sat down at one of the tables and chairs in the food stall area to enjoy them together.

“Tetsuya’s food tastes better, but it’s still a big improvement over what I’ve eaten in this region before.”

“Back then, everything was seasoned only with salt. Thanks to the spread of spices, we can now enjoy a wide range of flavors—it’s wonderful.”

As spices spread, they bring with them more variety in cooking, and food culture develops as a result.

In the same way, spreading the sugar we can make from Belmarcon might lead to the creation of many new kinds of sweets too.