Bery nibbled on her fish with a look of content on her face. "The fish from the sea really does taste different!"

It had a light saltiness to it, but the grilled fish was spectacular. The kitten purred each time she took a bite of the fish's warm flesh.

Valerie savored her own fish, watching Bery with a loving gaze. The dragoness patted Bery's cheeks with a napkin each time the kitten got a piece of meat on her cheeks.

However, in the midst of eating, both of their gazes settled to a figure on the horizon walking towards them.

It was a tall man with a crab's body. He had two legs beneath him and a hard red shell. Four limbs were on his upper body. Above two red humanoid arms with four fingers on the hands, there were two more arms. These ones ended in large crab pinchers, and on top of his head were antenna, pointing towards the sky.

"A walking crab!" Bery shouted in disbelief.

Valerie chuckled at her reaction. "He's a Granchin."

"A Granchin?"

The man arrived near them, picking up the tail end of their conversation. "Named after Lord Granchino. And you are a Kanai'n aren't you?"

Bery's face flushed red in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

The man chuckled to himself, pressing one of his pinchers to his chest. "There is no need to be sorry. I am the one who intruded. I couldn't help notice the smell of your dinner…"

Valerie's eyes narrowed. "What's your point? Just so you know, I am an expert at cooking crabs."

The man flinched. "Sorry, I am Luigi. You both caught my curiosity. I never see people come this far to the east. Those look like Killi fish. Quite rare…"

"Valerie," the dragoness said, "now that we've introduced ourselves, we can depart." Valerie grabbed Bery's arm. "Let's pack it up, kitten."

"Wait a second," Bery said, looking flustered between Valerie and the crab man. "Is this really okay?"

The crab turned his attention to Bery. "I have a lot of dishes that would be good for you to try. Have you ever had pizza?"

"Piz'za?" The kitten asked with a cute tilt of her head.

"It's a dish of Granchia. All of the outsiders who travel through here end up enjoying it."

Bery's eyes widened, and she looked pleading towards her dragon, her ears flattened against her head. "Do you know how to make piz'za?"

Before Valerie could answer, Luigi corrected the kitten. "This must be a difference in languages. There is no separation between the sounds. It's pizza."

"Piz'za," Bery repeated.

Valerie glared at the man, her eyes softening when she looked towards Bery. "I am sure we could learn this piz'za from anyone else."

The man laughed heartily. "Try all you want, you'll never find a better pizza chef in all of Granchia. I used only the finest crushed mana rock directly from the sea, capiche?" The crab finished with a gesture of his claw, opening it towards the sky, and wiggling it slightly.

"Alright," Valerie said, "but what do you want for this pizza?"

"Hmm, merely a helping of that fish you made. You see, I am a traveling chef by nature, so I would like to try the dish you made here."

Bery nodded towards the dragoness.

Valerie sighed. "You are lucky that my kitten is so kind. Otherwise, you'd become a crab boil."

Bery lightly tapped Valerie with her hand. "Don't start boiling people. Even if they look like crabs…"

The dragoness picked up one of the skewered fish and gave it reluctantly to the crabby man.

Luigi bit down into the fish, breaking off pieces easily with his pinchers. "Mmm, mmm…"

The crab man savored the flavor, the steam of the food floating away from his mouth. "I must say, you are quite good."

Valerie lifted her head and patted her large bosom. "Of course, all of my skills were harnessed in order to feed a precious kitten."

Luigi responded with a chuckle. "And that is a noble cause as any, I say. The quickest way to anyone's heart is through their stomach. However, I must say that you are quite lacking in seasonings. This dish could be made way better with…"

While the man was speaking, flames already started gracing each one of Valerie's fingertips. "Do continue."

The crab's voice died in his throat, and he looked towards Bery for salvation.

Bery giggled. "It seems that merchants are the same no matter where you go. Were you trying to sell us something?"

"Have you already seen through me? Oh well, I will still fulfill my promise of pizza. Come with me." The crab waved them with his pincher and started walking west along the beach.

Valerie noticed Bery's ears wiggling in anticipation, and ultimately, the dragoness's heart couldn't stop the kitten from getting what she wanted. She picked up the stove and the leftover fish, stowing them away in their travel bag.

"If this guy is a fraud, I am cooking him inside of a pot," the dragoness said loud enough for the crab to hear and jump slightly.

Bery latched onto Valerie's hand. "Either way, it's another adventure for us. We could consider it our second date of the day."

Valerie grinned, kissing Bery on the cheek.

They followed the crab along the way, and eventually, a city was spotted on the western horizon. They walked halfway towards the city before turning back up the beach towards the forest. In the middle of some trees and a basin, there was a small, wooden cabin. It had a chimney with steam rising towards the sky.

"Welcome to my abode. Please take off your shoes…" The crab stopped, noticing that neither of them had shoes on. "Uh, make yourselves at home."

Bery walked into the cabin, finding one of the most pleasant scents she'd ever had the pleasure of taking in. It was like a party of smells in the air, all created to draw in her nose. The only thing that Bery would ever say smelled better was the dragon girl standing next to her.

The crab man chuckled, gesturing towards a couch with both of his pinchers. "You may sit here. I already have some things prepared. I just need to put it in my brick fireplace."

Luigi went towards a counter top and picked up what looked like a large, circular, wooden paddle. On it was a dough with ingredients that Bery had never seen in her life. The only thing she recognized was the cheese.

"In a little more than 20 minutes, you will have tasted of Granchino's divinity."

Valerie crossed her arms, staring at the grab more intently. "We shall see about that. If you are all talk, I have a big pot prepared."

The crab's antenna waved wildly, but he wasn't deterred by the threat of being eaten. He placed the wooden implement in his brick oven and walked back towards his counter top, opening a wooden fridge. "In the meantime, you two should try this."

Luigi reached into his fridge, grabbing a bottle of wine and uncorking it. A sweet berry smell coated the air, and he poured three glasses. The crab pulled a large cushioned seat for his grand body and placed it across from them before placing the glasses on the table.

"Don't worry," the crab said, "I will drink it first, so you can see it's not poisoned. I didn't poison the glasses either."

Bery stared down at the wine. She'd never been much of a drinker, but the sweet scent of the alcohol was alluring.

Valerie picked up her glass first. "I am immune to poisons either way."

The dragoness took a sip, and her eyes went like saucers. She maintained her elegance, licking her lips, and placing the glass back down on the table. "It's not half bad, I suppose."

Bery picked up her own glass and took a drink. The alcohol went down smoothy, the fruity flavor making it sink into her tummy with ease. And the scent of berries hung in front of her nose. It was like she'd taken a drink from freshly squeezed berry juice, and her tail coiled around Valerie's leg.

"It's so good!" The kitten cheered.

"At least one of you is more honest." Luigi stood from his seat as soon as the pizza was done and placed it onto the table.

Bery's eyes took it in, becoming like a starving kitten. Her pupils had almost turned themselves into slits in the process. A beautiful browned crust lay in front of them. Pretty pieces of red, circular meat covered gorgeous melted cheese. Intermixed within all of the wonderful smells was a hint of garlic.

The crab let it sit for a moment before grabbing a strange circular roller blade. He used his humanoid hands to roll the blade across the pizza, cutting it into eight different slices.

"Voila, Granchia's finest dish in the land! I behold unto you, freshly baked pizza!"

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