"Are you ready for lunch now? So, what would you like to eat?" The old man's voice was hoarse, yet warm, as if seeping through the inn's walls, which smelled of damp wood and old dust that lingered in the gaps between the ceiling beams.
Aoki turned his head, his eyes briefly fixated on the faded menu board hanging on the wall behind the old man's back.
The handwriting was nearly faded; the letters seemed to have crawled away with time, some of the scribbles remaining only faint traces of peeling black ink.
Aoki's stomach growled softly, forcing him to move to one of the long wooden tables near the window. He walked slowly with Tetsu, Mei, and Ajisai.
The table was covered in knife marks, dried sauce stains, and even some cigarette ash, belonging to an unknown person, stuck to the corner of the decaying wood.
"What's wrong?" Aoki asked. His voice sounded relaxed, but his shoulders tensed slightly. The wooden chair creaked softly as Aoki pulled it back.
Behind Aoki, Tetsu chuckled softly, holding back laughter as he heard Aoki's stomach groan again shamelessly.
The old man responded with a hoarse laugh that seemed to cut through the hot air in the dining room. His veiny hands rose, his five fingers spread wide, moving slowly as if counting treasure.
"We have fresh grilled fish, hot fish soup, crispy fried fish, French fries, battered fish, and hot fried chicken. Take your pick!" the old man added with a chuckle, his shoulders heaving.
A savory aroma suddenly wafted in, thin but sharp. From behind the kitchen door, the smoke of spices and the smell of hot oil mingled, piercing their nostrils, arousing a hunger that lingered on their tongues.
Aoki turned to his friends. Aoki nodded slowly, and his palm lightly tapped the edge of the table, leaving a thin layer of dust on his fingertips.
"I'll have fried chicken. The crispy kind, okay? If it burns, I throw it in the sea." Aoki's voice was hoarse, the corners of his lips curling up slightly to hold back saliva.
"Fried fish! The kind with lots of flour!" Tetsu immediately retorted, his hands still firmly in his pockets. The corners of his lips curled wide, his eyes squinting cunningly like a child about to steal a cake from a party table.
"Same here, fried chicken too," Mei interrupted. Her voice was flat, but her hand reflexively smoothed the bangs that clung to her forehead, before gripping the back of the wooden chair to make sure it wouldn't wobble. The corners of Mei's lips turned up as thin as dusk.
Ajisai simply raised her hand, half-lazily, her shoulders slumped to one side. "Fried chicken," Ajisai said curtly, but her eyes—the eyes of a child not yet tired by life—lit up as she stared into the kitchen smoke.
The old man was taking notes quickly on a crumpled piece of yellow paper clipped between a thick, faux-leather notebook. The scratching of the pencil sounded hoarse, echoing the creaking of the old ceiling fan.
"Okay, three fried chickens, one fried fish. What to drink?" the old man asked, looking at each of them, his eyes dull but sharp like a fisherman who had been watching the waves for half a century.
Aoki raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward slightly, and tapped his index finger on the table three times. A short tapping sound broke the silence.
"What's the drink? A port village like this doesn't have any strange drinks, right?" Aoki asked with a chuckle.
The old man chuckled too, his shoulders shaking slightly. "Hahaha, nothing unusual, kid. Just hot tea, sweet iced tea, warm milk, iced milk, cold orange juice, and cold apple juice. Not bad, it can chase away the heat and sweeten a bitter heart."
________________________
[Note: 555+ latest chapters have been added! For Just 3$ You Get Access To Chapters Way Ahead,
Now you can access the chapters before Webnovel And Scribblehub by following,
Just become a patron on Patreon:
Pa*treon.com/Alex_Fabianoki]