"Good morning, Rest-san."
"O-Oh, good morning..."
The following morning, after having breakfast, Rest once again found himself face-to-face with Celestine.
Rest blushed as memories of the previous night came flooding back... but Celestine showed not the slightest hint of embarrassment, remaining perfectly composed.
"Do you have any plans for today?"
"U-Um... I was thinking of doing some sightseeing, maybe?"
It may have been just a rural fishing village, but... he wanted to look around the place the queen dowager had chosen as her final home.
There would probably be delicious seafood, too, and since he had been buried in work up until now, staying for a while longer wouldn't be so bad.
"If that's the case, then might I accompany you?"
"Ah, yes. Please do?"
Rest answered in the form of a question.
He was obviously acting suspiciously... but Celestine found it endearing.
Rest had surely had far more interactions with the opposite sex, yet Celestine was the one who carried herself with the composure of the more experienced one.
"Well then, shall we be on our way?"
"...Yes."
Rest and Celestine left the hot spring inn together and set out to tour the fishing village.
Though the two of them set out together... in reality, Celestine's attendant was watching over them from a short distance away.
With a subtly awkward atmosphere hanging between them, Rest walked through the fishing village.
"As I thought, there really are a lot of fish."
"Looks like they're specialty products. There seem to be quite a few boats too."
Out on the water, numerous boats bobbed about, and the fishermen called out in lively voices.
Fish and seaweed were hung up to dry all over the village — it looked like they were making dried fish and other preserves.
"Forget the fish, but... what do they use those black leaf-like things for?"
Catching sight of the dried wakame, Celestine tilted her head in puzzlement.
It was a scene that wouldn't be unusual to a Japanese person, but apparently it was something unfamiliar to Celestine.
"That's not... food, is it? Do they use it for fibers or spices?"
"It's kelp. I'd imagine they use it to make stock."
"Stock... like an ingredient for soup?"
"Yeah, it was in this morning's meal too, wasn't it? The soup should have had stock made from seaweed in it."
Unfortunately, this country did not have the dish known as miso soup.
Still, in this village at least, the cooking method of extracting stock from seaweed seemed to be common practice.
"I always thought it had a rather unique flavor... I see, so that's where the taste comes from — from that seaweed."
Hearing Rest's explanation, Celestine's face lit up with interest.
"They're drying it for preservation, I suppose... If that's the case, it should be possible to transport it all the way to the royal capital. If we could produce it on a larger scale and establish distribution channels..."
Celestine began muttering to herself, considering ways to promote kelp.
If they left it to her, kelp might well become readily available even in the royal capital.
(If she keeps this up, I'd love it if she could develop miso and soy sauce too... If there are other reincarnated people around, wouldn't someone have already made them?)
Rest didn't have the knowledge to make miso or soy sauce, but if there were seventy-eight reincarnated people, surely at least one of them would know how, wouldn't they?
(Then again, not all reincarnated people are necessarily Japanese... so maybe it really is difficult after all.)
"What's wrong, Rest?"
"No... it's nothing."
As Celestine leaned in to peer at his face, Rest shook his head with a forlorn expression.
"The dried fish they sell over there is pretty good too when you grill it. It's a different flavor from river fish."
"Oh, I've had dried fish before. If anything, I was surprised to see raw fish appear on the dining table."
"Ah, sashimi... yeah, I figured it would be rare here..."
"If you used ice magic, you could probably transport it to other regions without it spoiling... but the cost would likely be quite high."
Rest and Celestine chatted about such idle topics as they strolled through the fishing village.