Inside the Regent Hotel, the pure-blooded dragon's tail swayed with excitement and anticipation.
"Hey! Can you please hide that tail of yours?"
Nono was helping Melusine change into a newly bought outfit when she frowned, noticing the jet-black tail with a sharp tip slipping playfully out from beneath the hem of Melusine's flowing navy-blue skirt, wagging cheerfully.
"…Oh." Melusine's tail quickly curled back into the folds of her clothes, subtly hidden against her back while still gently swaying.
"..."
Today was finally the day they were leaving. Shirou and Nono were packing their things, ready to leave the seaside city. Old Tang, however, seemed unwilling to give up — still eager to stay and battle it out with his online gamer rival, determined to challenge the young genius to the bitter end. So, he would remain behind for a while longer.
As for Melusine, Nono — for reasons unclear — decided to grant her a proper human identity and bring her along. To do so, Shirou had to contact the chip girl, Su Enxi, and pay her to arrange a legal identity for Melusine as "Nono's distant cousin from France."
"…So from now on, Melusine, you're my distant cousin. Got it? Call me onee-chan, okay?"
"Got it, Goshujin-sama."
Melusine's response made Nono go momentarily blank, then her eyes continued wandering around the luxurious hotel, mesmerized by the glittering chandeliers and ornate decorations.
The three of them were headed to the executive floor restaurant for one last meal before checking out.
The restaurant was nearly empty, but the kitchen and service staff were still ready to serve guests during business hours. They selected a private booth in a quiet corner. As soon as they picked up the menu, a waiter approached to pour tea and lay out clean utensils.
"What should we eat this time?"
Shirou glanced at the two girls while flipping through the menu. Nono looked indifferent — she had always eaten well in the Chen family and now, after enjoying Shirou's cooking, even this five-star menu felt like an ordinary canteen menu to her.
Melusine, meanwhile — enjoying her first public outing in a human guise — was staring at the menu's exquisite pictures as if it were a picture book. She clearly didn't understand how ordering worked and probably thought the menu was just for decoration.
"Alright, I'll decide… I'll have the Mexican tacos, basil pesto pasta, and also these — Vietnamese spring rolls, Peking duck, Thai green curry chicken, matsutake tuna belly, black pepper mushroom steak well-done, blue lobster with black truffle sauce, Vegemite toast… and desserts and tea, of course…"
Shirou was clearly familiar with these dishes and their diverse flavors. He swiftly named his selections while flipping pages.
The waiter, highly professional, took notes without questioning why one man and two women were ordering so much food. He simply asked them to wait patiently and refilled their tea before stepping away.
"Seriously… do you really need this much food?"
Nono glanced at the list Shirou just rattled off — enough to fill an entire round table — and looked at both Shirou and Melusine in disbelief. It was understandable that the dragon girl ate a lot… but Shirou?
"Well, yeah. My appetite has definitely been growing lately…"
Shirou figured it was probably due to the magical energy he expended crafting Noble Phantasms, combined with his dragon-blood-enhanced physique — he now resembled Artoria in metabolism.
Melusine answered matter-of-factly, "Materialization consumes more mana. To lessen Goshujin-sama's burden, additional food intake is necessary."
"I said call me onee-chan! And don't explain things like that in public!"
The hot, delicious food soon arrived. The three dug in with gusto. Nono ate like a proper human, while Shirou used his cutlery and chopsticks at high speed to shovel food into his mouth — even using Mind's Eye to boost his reaction time for grabbing food!
"!" Melusine realized she was at a disadvantage in this technical competition. Instead of being frustrated, she excitedly shouted, "Let's see who's the ultimate eater!" and suddenly whipped out her tail from behind!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh — the sound of her tail zipping across the table echoed.
"You guys seriously want to battle for top glutton at a restaurant?!" Nono yelled in frustration as Melusine's sharp, hook-shaped tail moved like a crane, sweeping entire plates off the table.
The three clashed in a fierce culinary war until the waiter's voice interrupted.
"Excuse me, your desserts — bird's nest egg tarts, Dragon Well shrimp dumplings, and truffle foie gras soup dumplings — are ready. Please enjoy."
The waiter bowed and stepped back, though he briefly wondered… did he just see a shadow zip across the table? Was that a hallucination?
"…Melusine, better hide your tail again. Someone might notice and get the wrong idea," Shirou muttered after the waiter left.
"Okay…" Melusine obediently tucked away her tail but didn't stop eating. She reached for a sauce dish and aggressively poured it straight into her mouth.
"What the heck, girl!?" Nono was shocked to see the dragon girl downing sauces like drinks. She finally noticed that beside Melusine were piles of empty containers: avocado sauce, oyster sauce, chili paste, Marmite, cold noodle dip, balsamic vinegar…
Even for a dragon, wasn't this extreme? Didn't she worry about burning out her tongue? Or did dragon taste buds function differently?
"Delicious!" Melusine replied through stuffed cheeks, shocking her two companions. So this little dragon girl was secretly a hardcore sauce addict!
After the feast, to ensure Melusine wouldn't be without sauces during their travels, Shirou and Nono paid extra to the Regent Hotel's kitchen to buy a full set of premium cooking sauces.
Of course, it wasn't entirely for her — Shirou planned to use them when cooking at home too. Whether Melusine could sneak some would be up to him.
"Cooking at home?" Nono's eyes lit up when she heard Shirou mention this. They hadn't yet decided their next destination. "Didn't that snake lady say some Japanese clan invited you? So our next stop is Japan?"
"No, I'm going home just to go home — nothing to do with any invitation."
Shirou carefully packed up his glowing Noble Phantasms.
He wasn't planning to respond to every invitation — just like the snake lady said, there were too many forces out there trying to win him over. Even the Clock Tower and the Holy Church would welcome him with open arms. So what if a few Japanese clans showed up?
Shirou wasn't some mercenary chasing bounties with Old Tang anymore. He wasn't broke or lacking background. Many needed him — but he didn't need them.
"By the way, before heading home, we'll drop by the Zhou family again."
———
In the main hall of Tang City, Shirou, Nono, and Melusine returned to the place where the snake lady usually worked. Though they hadn't been gone long, a wave of nostalgia hit them… probably because too much had happened in the meantime.
"I'm back."
"Ah, Shirou, welcome—!"
Shirou greeted the snake lady, who smiled warmly. Nono responded casually. The group exchanged pleasantries but hadn't yet started the real conversation when Melusine suddenly interrupted.
She tugged at Shirou's sleeve and spoke clearly, "Shirou, I want it again. Feed me."
She even opened her pink lips and stuck out her tongue, wiggling it playfully.
The hall was instantly plunged into deafening silence.
The snake lady's mind nearly exploded.
She almost lashed out at this shameless French girl, but forced herself to stay calm. This wasn't the time to lose it.
Shirou and Nono stayed unfazed. Shirou calmly pulled out a bottle of sweet chili sauce and handed it to Melusine. "That's your seventh bottle today. We agreed — no more extras during the trip."
"Okay~" Melusine didn't seem to hear. She eagerly twisted the cap and started guzzling the sauce directly.
The snake lady finally began to understand. "So… you regularly feed her sauces?"
"Yep. Try to understand — she recently developed this new obsession. You can think of it as a deep love for all things salty and spicy." Shirou zipped up his travel bag and shrugged.
The snake lady gave him a subtle look: Is this French girl mentally unstable?
Shirou gave a thumbs-up: Many foreign girls are like that!
She nodded silently — Stereotype +1 — and eased her hostility. After all, mental illness deserved compassion.
Peace returned to the hall. Shirou, Nono, and the snake lady chatted leisurely, while the sound of Melusine slurping sauce from the bottle echoed powerfully in the background.
The snake lady grimaced at the bizarre noise but forced herself to keep talking. "…About that Black Tide Aquarium you mentioned earlier — we looked into it. The yakuza group behind it, 'Aoiya,' seems to have some serious issues as well…"
(End of Chapter)
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