The Commander’s Triumphant Return (Part 2)
「You thought of a bento, huh…」(TL: bento = lunch boxes)
In front of Berthold’s eyes, the eel bentos were selling one after the other.
The eel bento that Helmina had thought of was successful from the very beginning. The queue of people lining up in front of n.o.bu stretched all the way to the next block.
Helmina and Eva were the attendants serving at the sales stand that was set up in front of the store. s.h.i.+n.o.bu had selected the uniforms for them. It was an adorable costume that used white as the main color, which suited the two young ladies really well.
The bento’s contents consisted of rice, eel with sauce on top, and umaki on the sides. There were also pickles mixed in it.
In addition, the secret to its popularity was due to the included wooden spoon, which made eating it much easier.
By using Han’s father’s network, they managed to enlist the help of the Woodworking Guild to manufacture the wooden lunch boxes at a reasonable price. Many apprentices had joined since spring arrived, so they had accepted the offer willingly, as it would serve as good practice material for them.
Even though there were occasionally lunch boxes with strange shapes mixed in, the customers did not mind.
It was s.h.i.+n.o.bu’s idea to set the price a little bit higher at noon during lunch hours. It was necessary to set a price when selling famous products like these, since there was a limit as to how many could be produced in a day.
The eel bento became an instant topic of gossip in town.
G.o.dhardt and Eleonora from the Water Transportation Guild and Councilman Gernot made good use of their subordinates to buy them. This made its popularity soar even higher.
The people knew that this food was something the gourmands would also eat. Even if they had to empty their pockets, the people of the Old Capital definitely wanted to try it.
Since Gernot could finish three servings by himself, he made his subordinates queue up before the sales even started, in order to buy the bentos before they got cold.
Even if there were stores that tried to copy them, they were helpless when it came to making the sauce.
They couldn’t do anything with the eels they had in stock either. It was said that they ended up putting up a sale and went around selling jellies. Obviously, their reception wasn’t that good.
Even though Izakaya n.o.bu was flouris.h.i.+ng, they would never serve eel at night.
Naturally, there was criticism from the customers. However, since it would not be served, no matter how long they persisted, they had no choice but to back down in the end.
Even though they expected trouble for a while, it could be eaten during the day, so the situation unexpectedly calmed down after a few days.
「Eva-chan, is my Helmina working properly?」
「Yes. Helmina-san is also good at calculating money. She’s amazing, you know!」
Helmina blushed a little as she handed change to a customer.
Although they had been worried about whether the quiet Helmina would be able to serve the customers, it seemed that it was just a needless worry.
The husband, Berthold, didn’t approve of it very much, but there were some customers who came to buy a bento just to see Helmina.
There seemed to be indications that the moving issue would be resolved in a few days, but it was Helmina’s wish to continue working in n.o.bu until the eel uproar had settled down. Of course, Berthold was in favour of that too.
Even though he preferred for her to stay at home, he wanted to let Helmina decide for herself.
「Here’s one eel bento. Thank you very much!」
Eva, who cheerfully handed over the bento, also looked lively.
Taisho and s.h.i.+n.o.bu we
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re inside the store preparing the eel bento, which would then be followed by the preparation work for the coming night.
「Here you go, Berthold-san.」
Helmina took the chance and handed over a bento to Berthold before serving the next customer.
That wasn’t an eel bento, but a handmade bento made by a wife instead, filled with love and care. As a girl from a fis.h.i.+ng village, Helmina was good at cooking as well.
When she came to work at n.o.bu, she had borrowed a corner of the kitchen to prepare a bento for Berthold’s lunch. It seemed that Taisho had taught her various dishes too.
「Thanks, Helmina. I might be able to return a little bit early today.」
「That’s good. Then, I’ll wait for Berthold-san here. Let’s eat something before returning to the inn.」
「Yeah, let’s do that.」
(Berthold & Helmina)
After they made the plans, he was all fired up for the rest of his afternoon work.
The training of the subordinates, who had slacked off during Berthold’s absence, was progressing smoothly, with a bit of time to spare.
There were strange activities coming from the northern territories, where they had started hiring mercenaries and purchasing more food. However, that was something out of Berthold’s control for now.
As long as the Old Capital wasn’t attacked, it was not the Sentry Corps’ business.
Anyhow, all he wanted now was to have a meal.
The gla.s.s sliding door opened, even though the store had not opened yet.
For these past few days, eating the bento here while listening to his wife work as an attendant outside was an absolute pleasure to Berthold.
After a hurried greeting from Taisho and s.h.i.+n.o.bu, he chose a seat at the front table. This too, was a small form of luxury.
He then carefully opened the lid of the bento with both hands.
「Oh? What’s this?」
There was only rice in it.
Even though the eel sauce was poured over it, the vital part, the eel, wasn’t present.
「What the heck is going on?」
Chuckles resounded out from Taisho and s.h.i.+n.o.bu, who were behind the counter, while he held the spoon, at a loss for words.
Apparently, both of them seemed to have known about the contents of the bento.
「Hey, what is so funny? Having just married and only receiving a bento with rice and sauce…this is a couple’s crisis!」
「No, please try it out a little first, Berthold-san.」
He plunged the wooden spoon into the rice at Taisho’s suggestion. Although he had thought that there was only rice inside, he felt an unexpected resistance. When he moved the rice to the side, while taking care not to destroy it, a little deformed eel appeared in the center.
「The eel is inside?」
「It’s called mamus.h.i.+. It seems that during the olden days, they steamed the rice together with the eel in the centre. Doesn’t it look stylish?」
(TL: mamus.h.i.+ = viper. But in this context, it’s a way of steaming the eel in the centre of the rice.)
「If that’s the case, you should have told me early on, d.a.m.n it.」
Berthold held the wooden spoon while cursing.
The fragrance from the delicious eel stimulated his appet.i.te, to the extent that his stomach was aching in hunger.
The taste of the sauce had permeated into the boiled rice seamlessly. The hidden eel was so soft that it crumbled on its own.
「Delicious. As expected, Taisho is the only one who can grill this.」
「It is impolite to Helmina-san if you say such things.」
s.h.i.+n.o.bu interjected while preparing a dish.
「Eh, is this eel grilled by Helmina too?」
「Well, the truth is, I grilled most of it. But have no doubt, Helmina-san helped out too.」
「I’ll take whatever my wife makes.」
As he ate the mamus.h.i.+ bento, he gradually understood why the eel wasn’t placed on top. It was because of its deformed shape.
Even though Taisho said something like that, perhaps Helmina had tried grilling it before asking Taisho for help.
After all, the eel did end up being deformed. Nonetheless, it was still delicious, even though she had been helped.
When he thought about it, every mouthful of that ordinary bento became precious and was filled with love.
「Tasty. I am fortunate to be able to eat such delicious bento.」
「Please tell those words to the person who made it yourself.」
s.h.i.+n.o.bu teased him while bringing out a wooden bowl with steam rising out from it.
「This is s.h.i.+jimi in red miso soup. This was also made by Helmina and me.」
(TL: s.h.i.+jimi: clams)
「Eh? Thanks for letting me drink soup in the afternoon.」
Speaking of the usual bento in the Old Capital, it was normally made out of bread and cheese.
Since it was like that, it was natural for n.o.bu’s eel bento to stand-out.
He brought the bowl to his mouth and took a sip.
The hot soup flowed from his mouth to his throat, then to his stomach. He appreciated the strong seasoning of the soup, considering how much he had sweat during the morning training.
He alternated between eating the mamus.h.i.+ bento and drinking the soup.
Even though he was sweating a lot from it, somehow it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
He let out a big, satisfied sigh after cleanly finis.h.i.+ng every single grain of rice. It was a form of happiness he couldn’t have imagined during his mercenary days.
A lovely bride, good subordinates, and delicious rice and alcohol.
He wished this day would continue forever, while he refused to deal with anything troublesome.
While he thought about such things, his old wound suddenly hurt.
His self-conceit was the cause of his old injury. He would be useless if he became careless in the battlefield.
Despite that, he still wanted to enjoy this bit of happiness, for just a little while longer.