【Idle Talk】An Unexpected Visitor (Part 1)It had been a long time since he had dreamt of his former restaurant.
For n.o.buyuki, it was the workplace where he had worked ever since he had graduated high school.
The previous generation"s manager pa.s.sed away, and his eldest son could not cope with the changing circ.u.mstances.
When a cog in the machine was out of place, everything else gradually went wrong as well.
That was the store that n.o.buyuki had worked at.
The octopus that Reinhold had handed over was patted with daikon.
He had learned this from his master in the kitchens of Yukitsuna.
The cold was harsh in the Old Capital. A snack that paired well with hot sake would be appreciated.
Although it was normal for s.h.i.+n.o.bu to arrive at this time, today, there had been no sign of her yet.
That matter was finally settled with n.o.buyuki agreeing to buy a slightly better pudding from the cake shop in the shopping district.
This had not changed from when s.h.i.+n.o.bu was still the ryotei manager"s daughter.
After he had finished adequately patting the octopus, he pulled up the das.h.i.+ to confirm its taste.
He wanted to make Izakaya n.o.bu blend in with the Old Capital.
n.o.buyuki constantly worried about this.
He didn"t want to make the same mistake as ryotei Yukitsuna.
The things he had learned from Yukitsuna, and the preferences of the residents of the Old Capital.
n.o.buyuki continued looking for a bridge that connected those two together.
While he was taking notes on the state of the das.h.i.+ in his college notebook, he heard a sound coming from the backdoor.
He thought about cracking a joke, but yesterday was yesterday and today was today.
He checked again to make sure that s.h.i.+n.o.bu"s pudding was in the refrigerator.
However, the sound at the backdoor strangely continued.
Then, could it be that it wasn"t s.h.i.+n.o.bu at the backdoor?
n.o.buyuki recalled the guest who had visited the store last night.
Even though her disciple said that her being a witch was just rumor, her words were strangely on his mind.
"Only necessary people can pa.s.s through."
Now that he thought about it, there had never been any solicitations from sake dealers, and no postal or newspaper deliveries. Somehow, they had never stepped foot into the store before.
If someone tried to forcibly enter, they would stumble forward a step or two, or fall down with terrible timing.
Anyways, he needed to go check the ident.i.ty of the person at the backdoor.
Even though he had no recollection of receiving it, he somehow concluded that it had been offered before the s.h.i.+nto altar this morning. It was a mystery.
He stuffed the amulet into his pocket and opened the door slightly.
「Hey, it’s been a long time.」
n.o.buyuki went speechless for a while.
Standing in front of him, was Tonoharu, the head chef of Yukitsuna, and the master whom n.o.buyuki idolized.
After n.o.buyuki invited him in, Tonoharu smiled and looked around inside the store.
Tonoharu, who was wearing a jumper and sporting a crew cut, didn’t seem to have changed much, one and a half years after n.o.buyuki had rushed out of that restaurant.
It might have just been his imagination, but Tonoharu looked slightly shorter than before.
「Head chef, what happened to the restaurant?」
「Hey, hey, calling me Tonoharu is fine. You are a proud, independent person now. The restaurant has been left to Oyamada today.」
「Will Oyamada-san be alright…?」
When n.o.buyuki was still working for the restaurant, the head chef was in there almost every day. He still remembered that even when the head chef was on holiday, he would peep into the restaurant and take care of various tasks.
Oyamada, who was in a position right below the head chef, had the skills too, but he had the habit of skimping on the fine details as much as possible. Had something changed, with him leaving the restaurant to Oyamada and coming out?
「No, well, that’s because we have an issue of unreserved seats today.」
「An issue?」
「That’s right. It’s a point of pride that we have never had a day without reservations, since the times of our predecessors.」
The situation at Yukitsuna seemed to be much worse than n.o.buyuki had thought.
It was reasonable that this would happen after s.h.i.+n.o.bu had left.
「Well, let’s stop with the serious talk. Even if you’ve not started business, can I have a gla.s.s of beer?」
「Yes, right away.」
n.o.buyuki took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and uncapped it.
The beer made a "Glug, glug" sound as it was poured into a gla.s.s, which put a smile on Tonoharu’s stern face.
「I never thought that I would be able to drink beer poured by Yazawa again. It was worth it to come all the way here.」
「How did you find this place?」
「Both the young president and the senior proprietress know about this place, you know. They hired a private detective agency and found it. Well, it seems that they could never bring themselves to take a quick look, even if it’s nearby.」
n.o.buyuki smiled vaguely and didn’t respond as he served a small bowl of otos.h.i.+.
It was meant to be served tonight, but it was certainly ready to be sampled.
(TL note: octopus and edible seaweed pickled in rice vinegar)
~Octopus and wakame sunomono~
「Hoh, this is delicious. Is it fine to give me octopus for free?」
「Yeah, I found a new supplier.」
「I see. It’s a big deal to be able to serve octopus in a pub during an inflation period.」
「Thank you for the compliment.」
Even though he had left of the store selfishly, he was delighted by the praise.
Tonohara splendidly drained the gla.s.s of beer and, with foam still hanging on his moustache, finished up the rest of the sunomono.
「Now then, what would you like to order today, Tonohara-san?」
「Then, how about you decide? Today, let’s have Yazawa n.o.buyuki provide the dish he most wants to feed me.」