Isekai Izakaya Nobu

Leontaine agreed in satisfaction and, with her hands on her waist, conveyed the order to the chef in the kitchen.
A pleasant crackling sound could be heard from behind the counter.
It was the sound of oil.
Usually, only a small amount of oil was used to fry food, but what about this establishment? From the sound of it, there was plenty of oil, and the ingredients were probably swimming in it while it was being fried.

He felt that it was quite luxurious, but was also interested to see how it would turn out.
Jean, who was from the Eastern Kingdom, was familiar with fritters.
He was interested to see how food was fried in the Empire. He could probably come to a conclusion based on that.

If he could manage to obtain important information here by filtering the truth from the lies, he might be able to return to the Collectors of Mysterious Tales organisation.
He scooped up the tofu in the appetiser with a spoon.
Dishes using this tofu had become a secret topic of interest among the high society of the Eastern Kingdom. It had become a hot topic because Crowvinkle, a well-known minstrel who loved food more than anything else, had sung songs praising the das.h.i.+maki and anakake yodofu.
There was a rumour that it could be eaten somewhere in Aitheria, but it must have been fate for it to be at Izakaya n.o.bu.
While he was enjoying the plain taste, a metal box and a small personal plate was placed in front of him.

「This is the sauce. Double dipping is not allowed.」

「Double dipping is not allowed? What do you mean?」

Leontaine grinned broadly at that question.

「You’re not the young prince of the Eastern Kingdom, so can’t you grasp the amount of sauce that you need just by sight?」

「Ah, I certainly can.」

「If you dip too many times, the sauce will get contaminated. The employees and customers of this shop prefer to keep things clean.」

「Keeping things clean is definitely good.」

When he heard her mention the young prince, Jean struggled mightily to hide his discomposure.
The current king of the Eastern Kingdom was 12 years old.
Since he had succeeded the throne at such a young age, there were constant rumours of his incompetence surrounding him.
There were rumours that when he was eating his favourite food, he didn"t know how much sauce he should pour, so he would keep applying it over and over again.

Why had the waitress purposely brought up the young prince here? Had she realized that Jean was a subordinate in an organisation under the Princess Regent?
He wanted to get out of here as soon as he could, but he could not afford to be impatient. First of all, he had to finish his food.
After that, he would try to calmly escape.

He didn"t regret living life as a spy, as he was on the country"s payroll, but he still had to bring information home.
In fact, it was due to his loyalty to Celestine de Oiria, the Princess Regent who was the young prince"s elder sister and was overseeing all of the political affairs of the Eastern Kingdom.

「Now then, let’s start with the shrimp, sir.」

Shrimp. He had thought Aitheria was landlocked, but he was not going to make mistakes the same he had made during the salad incident.
There were reports that some of the Waterworks Guilds had joined hands and started to import maritime products from the fishermen’s town up north. He didn’t know how the shrimp was transported, but they might have come up with a clever method.
First, a bite.
After he bit into the crunchy batter coating, what he tasted was sweetness.
Had shrimp always been this sweet? It was his first time learning about it.
The tender meat, the coating, and the sauce came together in exquisite harmony. He could many skewers if they were like this one.
He thought more prawns would be served, but Leontaine served the next dish.

「Next is onions.」

There were round slices of well-fried onions.
He tried to imagine what they would taste like, but he could only recall the pungent taste they gave after being exposed to water. Although the sweetness was drawn out when they were stewed, Jean had not tried fried onions before.
Crunch.

「Ohh.」

His voice leaked out due to the sweetness. He had never thought that they could bring out so much sweetness just by frying it. He resisted the urge to take another bite…and brought the mug of beer to his mouth.
It was as he expected.
The kus.h.i.+katsu and "Toriaezu Nama" really paired up well.
Crunch. Gulp. Crunch. Gulp. The onions soon disappeared.
Ah, when did they disappear? As he thought this, the next skewer arrived.

「Next up is quail eggs and broad beans.」

The three adorable, small, round quail eggs had a rich taste contrary to their appearance.
Furthermore, he felt that the small, broad beans tasted good and finished them too.
They were delicious. Then, he drank.
After he emptied the first mug, he ordered a second. He didn"t need to wait very long, since his next skewer was promptly served .

「Scallops and pork hire. You should eat the scallops with salt. This part of the meat is called hire. There is less fat, and it’s more tender. Both are also delicious.」
(TL note: hire = tenderloin)

If a gourmet said that it was delicious that way, he would listen to them.
After sprinkling some salt on the scallop, he brought it to his mouth. As its sweetness spread through his mouth, he instantly reached for the "Toriaezu Nama"
The "Toriaezu Nama" of this shop had been investigated beforehand. It had been identified as beer that was brewed with a different method and was called lager. It had a crisp taste compared to ale, but there was also a faint bitterness.

However, it was still good.
After eating the scallops, he dipped the pork loin into the sauce. Since it was mentioned that double dipping was not allowed, he handled it carefully. He was sure he wouldn"t be kicked out of the shop if he double dipped, but it was better to be careful. It also wasn"t possible to suspect his ident.i.ty from such a trivial action.

Crunch.
Ah, this was delicious too. It was obvious. He guessed that it was because of the cut called hire. It was rare and expensive. Since the price was high even at butcher shops, it was not possible to eat it so easily.
He had thought that grilled pork or ham was the most delicious way to eat it until now, but he had been seriously mistaken.

Fried pork was justice.
On the next New Year"s Eve, he"d be sure to fry some pork. He definitely would.

From then onwards, the surging waves of kus.h.i.+katsu kept up the a.s.sault.
The system this shop used to serve kus.h.i.+katsu was to serve stick by stick until the customer was satisfied.
Konyaku, green pepper, salmon, lotus root, s.h.i.+shamo, bacon mochi, potato, squid, camembert cheese, asparagus, and chicken tenderloin were fried stick by stick.

Kus.h.i.+katsu

As the skewers added up, the amount of alcohol he drank also increased.
The cabbage that had come as a side dish was also good.
The kus.h.i.+katsu in this shop didn"t make him feel greasy, but at times, he wanted to cleanse his palate with the cabbage too. After cleansing his palate, he resumed eating the next skewer.
What followed after the weiner was shrimp.

「Have I gone through a full cycle?」

「Yes, you are correct. Our shop doesn’t specialise in kus.h.i.+katsu, so we would like to apologise for the number of selections available.」

「No, no, I’m not complaining, since I’ve eaten plenty of delicious things.」

His face was flushed, but his mind was surprisingly clear.
He had to pretend to be drunk and retreat quickly.

「Now then, I’ll have the bill…」

He tried to retrieve some silver sycees from the pouch hanging by his waist, but he missed. The sauce container, where double dipping was not allowed, toppled over.

「Ah, I’m sorry!」

Leontaine moved quickly while he panicked and tried to do something about it.
This kind of movement didn"t belong to a normal shop employee.
Her body was nimble, like that of a veteran mercenary, and she easily wiped away the sauce that had spilled.

「It’s alright, dear customer. Our customers and the employees of this shop prefer to keep it clean.」

Jean François Monte De La Vinnie couldn"t speak after watching Leontaine smile with a hidden emphasis.
He had been found out. The first time she had said "Keep it clean", it had been a warning.
This shop was not some place that a filthy Eastern Kingdom spy should dare approach. He was a failure. Receiving sympathy from an enemy was equal to failing as a spy.

「Dear customer? You look pale, are you okay? Or rather, is that make up? It’s getting washed off by your sweat…」

「Ah, no, I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong. Thanks for the meal!」

Jean abandoned his pouch and rushed out into the night. He shouldn"t have entered this dreadful shop. He had to write up today"s details immediately and deliver them to the headquarters of the Collector of Mysterious Tales. When it was done, he would resign. He couldn"t continue this kind of job anymore. Oh, right. He could withdraw into the countryside and plough the fields. He could probably buy a small field with his current savings.

Jean, who ran through the darkness of Aitheria, thought he"d like to eat kus.h.i.+katsu again, next time.

To the far south of Aitheria was the capital of the Eastern Kingdom, La Parisha.
This large city, which had existed since before the olden days of Aitheria, still stood prosperously as the centre of politics and business in the Eastern Kingdom.
In the innermost part of the city, in the office of the Royal Castle, the Princess Regent, Celestine de Oiria, was skillfully handling the reports of national affairs.
When she was looking over the reports concerning the pending diplomatic issues with the n.o.bles of the United Kingdom, the elegant black oak door was knocked on four times.

「Excuse me, Your Highness.」

「Come in.」

The Grand Chamberlain entered, carefully holding a sheet of parchment paper in his hands.

「This is the report you’ve been waiting for, Your Highness. From the Collectors of Mysterious Tales.」

「Ah, that.」

There was an interesting man in that organisation. It had been last year when Celestine had come across that information.
A commentary of extraordinarily delicious cuisine.
That kind of work could leave achievements similar to those of Crowvinkel.
The report on salad had been described so vividly that it was enough to make everyone want to try it.
It had been the Princess Regent herself who had decided to dispatch him again to Aitheria.

「What is it this time?」

「It seems to be kus.h.i.+katsu.」

「Hou, it’s not a dish I am familiar with. I look forward to reading it now.」

This was her small enjoyment amongst her hard work.
If only Jean François Monte de la Vinnie had known that his report was being treated this way.