From Street Vendor to Myth: Selling Noodle in Another World

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Darius. I am currently traveling across the country to better understand the lives of the people. Please, keep this a secret for me."

"Your Highness… why are you revealing your identity so openly?"

The attendants behind him immediately drew the weapons they had concealed on their backs, their eyes full of wariness as they stared at Darius Noctis.

"Crown Prince? Hey, what's with the swords and blades? Did I commit a crime or something?"

Darius Noctis took a step back, retreating to his stall while placing his hand on a knife, ready to defend himself.

Damn it, I haven't even offended anyone yet! Darius Noctis cursed silently in his mind.

If this truly was a feudal era, then he was doomed. Even if he were a fool, he knew well that defying the royal family in such times meant beheading. He had just transmigrated into this world, barely understood anything, and was already on the verge of execution. Who would mourn his untimely death?

"How insolent! Lower your weapons! I trust Brother Darius, which is why I revealed my true name. Acting like this, how do you expect me to save face?"

Zentharis Lam's furious shout startled his subordinates, who hastily sheathed their weapons and stepped back.

"Are you not going to apologize to Brother Darius?"

His cold, authoritative tone carried the dignity of a ruler.

"Our apologies, Lord Darius. We were too rash. His Highness's identity must remain a secret, under no circumstances should it be revealed. Please, we ask for your discretion."

One of the three attendants stepped forward and bowed to Darius Noctis, but his words carried a subtle warning.

Darius Noctis remained silent, thinking that the people of this world were absolutely insane. Simply revealing one's identity was enough to warrant killing someone? He was utterly shocked and beginning to doubt his survival in this world.

Zentharis Lam, noticing the grim expression on Darius Noctis's face, couldn't help but let out a somewhat embarrassed laugh.

"I must have made a fool of myself in front of you, Brother Darius. It's my fault for not properly disciplining my subordinates. My status makes it difficult to form genuine friendships. But I sincerely want to be friends with you, which is why I revealed my identity. I hope you don't mind my position."

"My surname is Noctis. If we're friends, just call me Darius."

"Noctis…?"

Zentharis Lam's expression flickered with surprise. He seemed to be searching his memory for something, and after a moment, he finally spoke.

"Impossible! Are you certain your surname is Noctis?"

"Of course, I know my own surname. Why would I lie? My surname is Noctis."

Darius Noctis rubbed his temples. Was there not a single normal person in this world?

"As far as I recall, there's an ancient legend from the medieval era mentioning the Noctis family," Zentharis Lam said, stroking his chin. "There was once a human clan bearing the name Noctis. They were warriors of unparalleled might, fighting alongside humanity in the battle to conquer the supercontinent Eldorneast. The foundation of human civilization was largely built upon the contributions of the Noctis clan."

"But for some unknown reason, the Noctis family suddenly vanished. From that moment onward, humanity fell into internal conflicts, leading to the formation of the many nations we have today. The Noctis name became so rare that it was almost unheard of."

Zentharis Lam recounted the story to Darius Noctis.

"Ah, it probably has nothing to do with me. Just a coincidence in surnames." Darius Noctis laughed it off. As if it could be related.

"I think so too," Zentharis Lam said with a wry smile. As a crown prince, he had come across a few people with the Noctis surname before, but none of them were particularly remarkable—just ordinary people.

A sudden silence fell between them, neither knowing how to continue the conversation. Being perceptive, Zentharis Lam knew it was time to leave.

"It's almost noon. After you finish closing up the stall, will you still be selling here, Brother Noctis? You look like a traveler, with that strange vehicle of yours. You must have come from a distant land beyond the empire?"

"Something like that. I need to close up shop now."

Darius Noctis smiled politely, subtly hinting at Zentharis Lam to leave.

Although he wanted to gather more information about this world, it was best not to get involved with someone of such high status.

In a normal world, he might have tried to build connections, though he probably wouldn't have bothered anyway. After all, in his previous life, there was no war—life was peaceful. But in this world, people would draw their weapons at the slightest provocation. It was terrifying. He just wanted to sell his noodle soup, not get entangled in dangerous affairs.

"In that case, I won't trouble you any longer. I have business in the next town. If you happen to pass by, find me, and I'll pay you properly for today's meal. Farewell!"

Zentharis Lam seemed to understand his reluctance. He sighed inwardly, then clasped his hands together in a respectful farewell before turning to leave. His subordinates also bowed slightly toward Darius Noctis.

They didn't seem like bad people—just overly cautious. But seriously, why did they react so dramatically just because of a revealed identity?

Feudal times were really tough to live in.

Darius Noctis quickly pushed the entire ordeal out of his mind. As he cleaned up the noodle bowls, he reached Zentharis Lam's table and discovered that the prince had actually left behind a gold ingot and five strings of silver coins.

"Oh, come on, I told him not to leave so much money."

Darius Noctis picked up the money and tossed it into a bucket. The currency of this world was seriously inconvenient—gold and silver took up too much space and were a hassle to carry.

"Whimper…"

"Huh?"

Darius Noctis felt something tickling his foot. When he looked down, he saw the stray dog from this morning at his feet. As soon as it noticed his gaze, the dog rolled over onto its back, waving its paws in the air as if trying to please him.

"What do you want? Begging for food? You've been hanging around my stall all day—don't tell me you couldn't even get a single bone?"

Darius Noctis gave the dog a skeptical look.

The dog sprang up and shook its head. In reality, it had gotten plenty of food, but bones were just for gnawing—eating them was hard to digest. If it could talk, that's exactly what it would say.

"You… understand human speech?" Darius Noctis was startled.

He then glanced back at the empty bowls of noodle soup. Indeed, not a single scrap remained—not even a drop of broth. The people of this world cleaned their bowls so thoroughly that there wasn't even a speck left. Even when the meat was gone, they were willing to eat just noodles with broth.

Darius had always kept a bucket for customers to pour their leftover broth into, but this time, it was completely clean. There was no excess broth, no bones—everything had been eaten or finished every last drop.

He was confident in his cooking skills, but in his old world, people still left some broth behind. Mostly out of etiquette—finishing every drop was considered impolite—or simply because they didn't like drinking broth. This was the first time he had encountered a situation where every single customer had finished everything to the last drop.

At this rate, even flies would starve to death.

Looking down at the dog wagging its tail eagerly, Darius then scanned his surroundings. This place was merely a rest stop between villages and a nearby town—no one actually lived here. The dog likely belonged to someone in the town and had just wandered too far.

"Is your home in the town? Where's your owner?" Darius asked.

As if it understood, the dog shook its head, then rolled onto its back again.

Having owned a dog before, Darius recognized this behavior—it was trying to gain his favor, hoping for some affection. Typically, dogs with owners wouldn't expose their bellies like this, even when begging for food. Only stray dogs did this as a desperate attempt to be taken in.

Seeing this, Darius couldn't help but kneel down and rub its belly. The dog seemed to enjoy it immensely. This morning, when he had been stressed out, the dog had annoyed him to no end. But now that things had settled, he realized he had been too impatient.

"I guess you don't have an owner, huh?"

"Meooowww~~"

"A cat!?"

Clank, clank, clank…

Lost in thought about the dog, Darius suddenly heard the sound of his soup pot shaking. He turned in time to see it tipping over, spilling the remaining broth onto the ground. The dog immediately sprang up and rushed over to lap up the spilled broth, while a cat emerged from inside the pot, scraping up the last bits of softened meat stuck to the bottom.

"You two act like you haven't eaten in days!"

"Meow!!!"

The cat, seeing the dog stealing its food, lashed out with a paw, smacking the dog hard enough to make its head snap back.

But the dog was persistent. It endured the attack, ignoring the blood dripping from its nose as it continued licking up every last drop, even slurping the broth off the dirt.

Darius finally snapped out of his shock and chased them away. This was his cooking pot—he couldn't let animals stick their heads into it! Fortunately, all the customers had left, or no one would dare eat his food again. Now he'd have to scrub the pot thoroughly before he could use it again.

"Looks like I'll be wasting more soap. I wonder if water is cheap in this world…"

Darius sighed, gazing off into the distance while clutching his soup pot.

Suddenly, he felt something brush against his leg, while his other foot was… wet? Looking down, he saw the cat rubbing its head against him while the dog was busy licking his other leg.

"Alright, alright, you two starving creatures, move aside. I'll make some food for you."

Watching them squabble over food, Darius couldn't help but laugh. Back in his old world, he used to feed stray cats and dogs too. He even had a pet dog once—but after a few months, the authorities took it away, as stray dogs weren't allowed in the city.

That time, he had fought with the dog catchers so fiercely that he ended up in jail for three days before they finally let him go.

In the end, his dog was "humanely euthanized." Humane, my ass. He had been furious back then but was completely powerless to do anything about it. Since then, he had never owned another pet—losing them was too painful.

A homeless man like him… what right did he have to keep a pet?

Despite his words, the cat and dog continued glaring at each other. The cat hissed menacingly, making the dog leap back behind the wagon, peeking out nervously.

"You useless mutt. How are you supposed to guard a house if you're scared of a cat?"

"Whimper… whimper…"

The dog wanted to say that this cat was really strong—it simply didn't stand a chance.

Ignoring their squabble, Darius finished packing up and started cooking fried rice. This morning, he had already cooked a large pot of rice but hadn't had time to eat. He cracked two eggs into the pan, added some vegetables, and quickly stir-fried everything. In no time, a hot plate of fried rice was ready.

Luckily there was enough rice for everyone.

He rummaged through his wagon and found two old bowls—ones he used to feed his dog long ago. He washed them, then scooped out portions for the cat and dog.

By some strange twist of fate, as soon as he turned his back, the two animals had swapped bowls—the cat was eating the larger portion while the dog got the smaller one.

Leaning against his wagon, Darius watched them with amusement. If these two really had no owners, he supposed keeping them wouldn't be a problem. The dog was fine, but the cat seemed stubborn—it would need some discipline.

The road ahead was still uncertain.

In this strange world, where should he go to sell his noodle soup?

Should he become a traveling merchant, roaming the land like the crown prince had suggested?