Is That My Alter Ego - Chapter 123



Chapter 123 – The Banquet Hall

Thanks to my desperate plea, I finally managed to get Kali and Royu into the restaurant known as the Banquet Hall.

We bent our waists at a steep angle, over 90 degrees, almost to 100, and began to follow the staff who guided us.

“You’re not surprised at all. How many times have you been here?”

“Hmm… I think it’s at least ten times. All forced by work, though.”

“Wow… wow! What is all this! Is this really a restaurant?!”

—

“Well… indeed…”

“….I can’t quite remember which time we came here. It’s all a blur.”

We had roughly divided ourselves into three groups.

The first group, consisting of Seris and Ariel, wore expressions of indifference, having visited this restaurant more times than they could count.

The second group, which included Kali and me, walked with our mouths agape, astonished by the sheer scale and bizarre scenery of a place that could barely be called a restaurant.

And then… there was the group with Royu. Honestly, I couldn’t even begin to fathom what Royu was thinking.

Anyway. As I surveyed the vast restaurant bustling with countless people, the aroma of fragrant dishes swirled around me, dizzying my senses.

In all my life (including my time on Earth), I had never seen or heard of a restaurant this enormous.

It was as if a building the size of a department store, four stories high, had been entirely transformed into a dining hall, lavishly adorned with gold and decorations.

And even that immense space seemed insufficient, as a never-ending line of people snaked out in front of the restaurant.

All of this made it clear that this banquet hall, known as the Imperial Feast, was the most famous and popular restaurant in the empire.

“Please step inside.”

After walking for a while, a staff member called us into a narrow space where the door had opened.

“Venice? Come here quickly.”

“Right this way, my lady. If you’re scared, I can hold your hand.”

“What is this?”

I could see Seris and Ariel extending their hands toward me with worried expressions, as if they thought I had never seen such a thing before, while Kali followed them, bewildered.

Yes. For someone born in this world, it might be unfamiliar. If it weren’t for them, I would never have dared to set foot in such a restaurant.

“Venice? You know what this is, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

However, Royu spoke as if she knew everything. And what Royu said was accurate.

This object—no, this was something so familiar to both Royu and me that it had become part of our daily lives.

“You know this? The mana-engineered elevator?”

“Indeed, it is you, my lady…!”

“No, so what is this?”

I stepped into the ‘mana-engineered elevator’ without fear, taking my place inside.

I never imagined I would see something like this in this world.

Once everyone, including Royu and me, had boarded, the elevator doors closed, and the numbers displayed on the interior screen began to change.

As if to showcase the craftsmanship that Ariel had described, the floors ascended without so much as a tremor, the sensation of movement entirely absent.

Ding-!

“Follow me once more.”

“Oh… wow! What on earth is this?! Is there some kind of teleportation magic at play?!”

“Ugh… such a country bumpkin.”

“Stay calm. It’s not a good look.”

In an instant, the scenery changed, and Kalli bounced around in wonder, while Seris and Ariel sighed, casting reproachful glances at her.

“Am I the only one amazed by this? Aren’t you all the least bit surprised?”

Kalli looked at me and Royu as if to say that couldn’t possibly be true, but the way we subtly averted our gazes made her expression crumble, as if the world had shattered around her.

Anyway. We had arrived not on the fourth floor, but the fifth. It appeared to be a four-story building from the outside, but it seemed some trick had been employed.

“This is the VIP floor. A place you wouldn’t know unless you were someone of my caliber.”

“Oh…”

In truth, it was my first time stepping into a place like this, a VIP lounge, and I felt a mix of wonder and unease.

-…Isn’t that Lady Ariel Frost?

-Oh my… it really is her! She hasn’t shown her face in ages…

-Hey! Next to her… that’s… Deputy Seris!

-Wow! Do you think I could get an autograph?!

-Who’s that little kid beside them?

As we followed the staff through a grand dining hall adorned with magnificent chandeliers and a soft red carpet, whispers began to ripple through the crowd.

-…Wait. Isn’t that a beastkin? What’s a beastkin doing here…

-Hey. Get a grip. Times have changed, you know!

Crack.

I heard nothing, but suddenly Kalli’s ears perked up, and veins began to throb on her forehead.

“…Hey! You there, what did you say?!”

-Hi… hick!

“Come here, you brat! Say that again!”

Kalli glared at a table as if ready to leap at it, and the two men seated there turned pale, fear washing over their faces.

“K-Kalli! Don’t do this…!”

“What?! But…!”

“If you threaten people, they’ll hate you!”

When Kalli didn’t calm down even at my words, I shouted at her, a hint of anger creeping into my voice.

As my words echoed, the atmosphere suddenly turned icy. It felt as if they had all inhaled sharply and held their breath.

….Did I go too far? I only said it because I hoped Kali wouldn’t scare people…

“………..!”

“What-!”

“Th…that can’t be!”

“This is a bit…”

Turning back with an awkward expression, I found Kali frozen in place, as if turned to stone.

The other three women stared at me with wide, horrified eyes, their expressions grave.

“U…ugh… please don’t hate me… Hwaang…”

And then, at that moment, it seemed as if time had stopped, tears began to well up in Kali’s eyes.

Kali started to cry out loud, her sorrow palpable, and the once warm atmosphere of the VIP floor turned damp, as if cold water had been splashed upon it.

“Uh…uh?! I… I’m sorry! I won’t hate you, so please stop crying…! T-tuh!”

“Hwaaa… sniff. Do… do you really mean it?”

“Y-yes! So please don’t cry…!”

“I’m sorry… I’ll listen well, so please don’t hate me…”

As I hugged Kali and patted her back, she seemed to struggle to compose herself, tears still glistening in her eyes.

“…Venice. Please… don’t say such things. I beg you.”

“If I hear those words… I really think I’d want to give up on everything…”

“Yes. Those words hurt so much.”

Kali nodded slightly, her voice trembling as she spoke, her own eyes glistening with tears.

To me, it might have seemed like a fleeting comment, but to them, it must have felt like a nail driven deep into their hearts…

“Y-yes… I understand. I won’t say I hate you again. I promise!”

I promised them. That I would never say such words again.

“….Do we have to promise? Let’s make a mark…”

“Yes, here.”

“Hehe… thank you.”

Kali extended her finger, and I made the childhood promise we used to share, and she began to smile shyly.

It felt a bit cute to see the usually strong Kali doing something like this.

“I… I want to do it too-!”

“Me too, please!!”

“Me as well.”

And as the three women gazed upon me, they charged forward, leaving me no choice but to sweat profusely while making promises with our pinky fingers.

*

“This is the place. I hope it pleases you.”

Even after we had reached the VIP lounge, we walked for what felt like an eternity before finally arriving at a vast chamber.

The room was so expansive that one could easily believe a whole house had been lodged within it, dominated by a colossal round table surrounded by chairs.

“Wow….”

The entire room was enveloped in a deep crimson hue—the floor, the tablecloth, the chairs. A sleek chandelier hung from the ceiling, and decorative pieces adorned the space, ensuring it felt anything but empty.

As I stepped into the dining hall where the lords of film would feast, an inexplicable thrill began to swell within me.

“But with the table set like this, I suppose we’ll have to compete again?”

“”………..!””

At the sudden words of Royu, they all turned to me, their expressions tense.

The massive round table, the chairs positioned a little distance away. It seemed they were eyeing the seat right next to me.

Ugh… it feels like another strange contest is about to unfold. Is there no way to avoid this…?

“No, there’s no need for that.”

“Now that I think about it… there’s really no reason to.”

From the way Seris and Ariel spoke with such confidence, it seemed they had some method in mind.

Thwack-!

“Yes. You called for me?”

“Yes. Change this table to a ‘Feeding Table.’”

“Please wait a moment.”

As Ariel snapped her fingers, a staff member approached and promptly exited, heading somewhere unknown.

“A Feeding Table….?”

What a bizarre name. But judging by the expressions of Ariel and Seris, as well as the staff member’s actions, it didn’t seem like a joke…

An unnameable tension began to rise within me. What on earth is about to happen…?!

And the answer soon became clear with the swift return of the staff member, accompanied by several others, who brought in the table.

They quickly dismantled the desk in the room and began to set up what they had brought.

And its form gradually morphed into that of a table.

…Was that a table?!

“Venice? Step inside. It’s a ‘Feeding-Only Seat.’”

“Please, do hurry inside!”

The shape of the ordinary table remained the same, yet it bore a gaping hole in the center and a small desk. Pointing to the chair placed there, Ariel and Seris nudged me forward.

It was just close enough for the person seated in the middle to reach out, but the size was such that it seemed there would be no shortage of space for food.

…So this was what they meant by a ‘table for feeding.’

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“Ah….”

I felt as if I might glimpse my own future, and I tried to ignore the throbbing in my head as I made my way to my ‘place.’

And my trudging form must have resembled that of prey stepping into a lion’s den…

“Heh… heh heh… Finally, I get to try this!”

“I’m finally fulfilling one of the 139 wishes I’ve dreamed of!!”

“F-feeding? What a brilliant idea…!”

“Heh heh… It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

And there they were, those who gazed at me with drooling anticipation. Perhaps they were the lions.