Takatsuki and Seele walked around the restaurant and saw many dishes, mostly the lizard-like food and a kind of braised meat wrapped in dough with an iron can.
Next was a fried food that looked like a crab, about the size of a fist. Takatsuki watched a diner shove it into his mouth, shell and all, then chew and swallow the whole thing.
After circling around, the two finally saw the hotel's menu.
"Rock-grilled Cave Salamander, that must be the one we saw initially."
Seele nodded beside him. Although she hadn't seen a cave salamander, she generally knew what it was.
"Canned Braised Salamander Meat… so that was also cave salamander meat."
Takatsuki had thought it was just ordinary braised meat, but thinking carefully, it made sense. What kind of livestock farming could there be underground? Without livestock farming, where would the meat come from?
Then below were names like Fried Rock-Dwelling Crab, Gem Lizard Skewers, a series of food names that made one feel uneasy just by looking at them.
"Seele… do you want to try it?"
Takatsuki looked at the menu, with no intention of trying it.
"That, Seele thinks…"
Just as Seele was about to say something, a woman walked in from outside.
"Boss, I caught a few more. How much do you think they're worth?"
As the woman spoke, another woman came out from the back kitchen, saw the cage in the woman's hand, and said, "Caught cave salamanders again? But cave salamanders are a bit cheaper today."
"Cheaper?"
"Yeah, a lot of people have been catching cave salamanders recently, so we're not really short of them for now."
"Ah, never mind, I've already caught them. Just tell me how many winter city shields you'll take them for."
The two watched as the proprietress of the Goethe Grand Hotel completed a cave salamander transaction right in front of them.
Looking at the slippery-skinned animal in the cage, which resembled both a snake and a lizard, Seele turned to look at Takatsuki.
"Veliona feels like Veliona isn't very hungry yet..."
In the Underworld, there's a saying: the trick to eating a cave salamander is never to see what it looked like alive.
Unfortunately, these two who had just arrived in the Underworld had already seen the animal that filled many dinner tables in the Underworld.
"Oh, are you two here for dinner?"
The proprietress, having finished her transaction, looked at Takatsuki and Veliona, holding the newly acquired cave salamander in her hand.
Generally, girls dislike creatures like lizards, snakes, and insects. Seeing the proprietress approach with something between the former two, Veliona scurried behind Takatsuki.
"What's wrong with this child?"
Takatsuki gave an awkward laugh; he naturally guessed the reason for Veliona's actions.
He reached out and shielded Veliona further behind him, saying, "We're not here to eat; we're looking for accommodation."
"Oh, accommodation. It's been a long time since anyone stayed here, but I've kept the rooms very clean."
"That's great. Please give us two rooms. We'll be staying long-term. Just tell us how many days this covers, and let me know when it's not enough."
Takatsuki didn't know the prices here, so he handed over all the winter city shields Natasha had given him.
"So much! This is enough for five days. But are you really not eating?"
"Ahaha, no thanks. My sister and I already ate outside."
The proprietress said with some regret, "Is that so? What a pity."
She walked behind the counter, pulled two keys from a cabinet, and handed them to Takatsuki: "Here, these are your keys. The room numbers are on them. It's dinner time now, so I won't take you up."
Takatsuki took the keys and hurried upstairs with Veliona.
"Um, Takatsuki-nii, aren't we supposed to maintain contact? Why did we get two rooms?"
Following behind Takatsuki, Veliona asked with some confusion.
"Hmm?"
Hearing Veliona's words, Takatsuki turned around with a strange expression: "The contact time is cumulative. It's not like it can't continue if we separate. We just need to accumulate over seven hundred hours."
After speaking, Takatsuki asked with a half-smile, "Or is Veliona saying she wants to sleep with me?"
"No... no way! Good night, Takatsuki-nii!"
With that, Veliona snatched the key from Takatsuki's hand and dashed into her room.
"Haha, this little girl."
Takatsuki shook his head and walked towards his own room.
After opening the room door, Takatsuki realized that this hotel was truly...
Not very good.
Although it was clear the owner had meticulously cleaned it to be spotless, the room was still too rudimentary.
It had a wooden structure, only one room, and it wasn't spacious, yet it was crammed with a wardrobe and a set of tables and chairs.
Most importantly, there was no bathroom...
Takatsuki shook his head, casually left a stone imbued with his thoughts here, and walked towards Veliona's room.
And Veliona on the other side...
At this moment, Veliona was sitting on the bed, covering her blushing face with both hands.
"I told you that guy had impure thoughts."
A voice with the same pitch but a completely different tone echoed in her mind.
"Veliona, don't say that. It was my own oversight. If Takatsuki-nii wanted to trick us, he wouldn't need to get two rooms at all."
"Huh? Veliona, you haven't actually fallen for that guy, have you?"
The words of her other self made Veliona's face turn even redder: "I... I haven't! I'm just very grateful that Takatsuki-nii came to save us, isn't Veliona grateful?"
"Huh? As for saving us from the Sea of Quanta, I am very grateful to that guy, but, Veliona, your reaction..."
Veliona spoke as if she had suddenly discovered something: "Oh~ I see. You thought that because that guy saved you, just like in a fairy tale where a prince saves a distressed princess, you've made him your Prince Charming, haven't you?"
"Prince Charming or whatever..."
Instead of refuting, Veliona let out an inexplicable laugh after hearing that.
Amidst Veliona's strange laughter and Veliona's helpless sigh, a sudden knock came from the door.
"Ah!"
Startled by the sudden knock, Veliona immediately snapped out of her strange state.
"Veliona? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Takatsuki's voice came from outside the door.
"Ah, it's Takatsuki-nii."
Veliona quickly got up from the bed and said loudly to the door, "N-nothing, wait a moment, I'll open the door."
Veliona walked to the door and opened it, looking at Takatsuki outside and asking, "Takatsuki-nii, is there anything else?"
"Of course, I came to call you out for dinner. Veliona said she was hungry earlier, didn't she?"
"Ah?"
Veliona froze for a moment: "But, the food here..."
Veliona found it hard to speak, as she really found it difficult to eat something that resembled a lizard.
"Of course, we're not eating that stuff downstairs. Eating the local specialties here is worse than me cooking myself. I'll take you to eat something else. I'll cook personally and show you my skills."