“Hello! Sorry for the wait, Traveller-san!”
“Hi. Thanks for the food.” Kino was sitting in a restaurant, having entered the country only a little while ago. Upon seeing the food served in front of her, she muttered, “What is this?”
“What a rare thing to say before eating.” Hermes, parked next to Kino, said.
“Don’t make me seem like a world-class connoisseur, Hermes.”
“But I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Save it for later.” Kino turned to the young waiter who had carried out their food. “Excuse me. What kind of food is this?”
Since the restaurant was mostly empty, and the waiter didn’t seem very busy, he began explaining.
“This is our country’s most popular authentic lunch set. The main dish is a sandwich.” He then inquired politely, “Traveller-san, do you know what a sandwich is?”
“Yes. It’s two slices of bread enclosing other ingredients, right? Then, what is this soft black filling?”
“Isn’t that just asphalt, Kino?”
“Hermes, shut up for a second, will you?”
“Ahaha. Your companion seems nice. The filling of the sandwich is chocolate.”
“Chocolate?” Kino and Hermes asked in unison.
“Correct. ChocoSandwich. In this country, when we say ‘sandwich,’ we mean ‘ChocoSandwich.’ There’s not many other types.”
“I see. Then-“
Kino pointed to the small plate next to the sandwich. A few small objects seemed to clump together inside a black liquid.
“What are these?”
“That is our ‘Pork Meat Simmered with Chocolate’ dish. Boneless pork meat is delicately simmered in chocolate. It creates the most tender texture.”
“…Then, what about those black things stuffed inside the lotus root?”
“Kino, were you not listening to his explanation?”
“Of course, that’s our ‘Lotus Root Stuffed with Chocolate’ dish! The crunchiness of the lotus combined with the slightly bitter flavor of chocolate is a match made in heaven!”
“And this black drink?”
“Naturally, that’s hot chocolate!”
“What about, this black cake?”
“Kino. Enough already.”
“…Then, time to dig it…”
“Have a good meal!”
The two were driving along the side of a cacao plantation.
“What’s wrong? There were so many delicious types of chocolate for lunch,” said Hermes.
“Yup. They tasted… good. But no matter how you cook chocolate, it just ends up making the dish sweet.”
“Well, you still cleaned your plate right?”
“It’s just…”
“Hm?”
“It’d be nice if my next meal doesn’t have any chocolate in it. Anyhow, guess it’s about time to find a place to spend the night. I wonder what kind of dinner they’ll have?”
“Traveller-san! Sorry for the wait! Here’s your dinner! Our hotel chef’s specialty: Chocolate Beef Stew! It has carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms. The mushrooms were freshly picked today, so you’re in for a treat!”
“…Time to dig in…”
“Oh, before that, there is something I must ask you. For breakfast tomorrow, would you like chocolate waffles or chocolate toast in your chocolate salad?”
“…I’ll have the toast then. I just have one question.”
“What is it?”
“Why do the people in this country eat so much chocolate?”
“Well naturally, it’s because chocolate is our staple food! We harvest a lot of it, it’s rich in nutrients, and it’s good for you. So there’s no reason we wouldn’t eat it, right? Traveller-san, you ask some very odd questions.”
On the day they were leaving the country, Kino was standing in front of the country gates, surrounded by a group of elementary schoolers on a social studies field trip.
At the request of the teacher, Kino was now answering various questions. A boy was asking questions about Kino and Hermes and things wholly unrelated to the field trip.
“In other countries, how is chocolate eaten? Do they eat it three meals a day like us?”
“Not at all. Chocolate is eaten as a dessert. Children really like it, but since it causes cavities, parents don’t let their kids eat too much of it. Most countries are like that.”
Upon hearing Kino’s words, the boy, along with the rest of the children, cried out.
“Please take us to those other countries!”
SomewhatOkay Translations 
Chocolate isn’t supposed to be sweet when you add it to savory soups and meats. You can just keep the sugar and milk out.
The previous decade wasn’t too big on dark chocolate, huh.
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Fun little chapter lol , thanks
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That was fast, thanks for the chapter 🙂
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