Oysters (Part 1)
「At any rate, this is thrilling.」
Berthold cheerfully drained his first gla.s.s of ‘Toriaezu Nama’.
He had managed to capture ten thugs, who hadn’t shown their true colours until now, all at once. It would be difficult not to drink while in this cheerful mood.
「I would like to give my thanks to that guy, Arnoux, as well.」
「I don’t think Arnoux-san would appreciate this kind of thing.」
s.h.i.+n.o.bu cut the lemon while smiling.
It was alright to report the incident tomorrow, since he planned to go directly home today.
That was the reason he could drink to his heart’s content now.
「Even though there was a fuss about the Archbishop coming, in the end, he brought along a few escorts of his own, so the sentries are back on normal duty.」
「What kind of business did he have in the Old Capital?」
「Well. It was the story about the ‘Witch’.」
s.h.i.+n.o.bu and Eva looked at each other upon hearing the word ‘Witch".
They probably had an inkling about it, but that discussion only concerned the Archbishop. It had nothing to do with Berthold.
「There were rumours that there was a witch aimlessly wandering around the Old Capital, but that doesn’t mean that she has done any harm. Even the story about the witch hunt of Wilgem is from over a hundred years ago. I don’t think this is something so troublesome that the Archbishop would purposely poke his nose into.」
「T-that’s right.」
「Come to think of it, s.h.i.+n.o.bu san. Where’s Taisho?」
Berthold asked that while his new wife, Helmina, was pouring ‘Toriaezu Nama’ for him. s.h.i.+n.o.bu made an apologetic expression.
「To be honest, he had a sudden craving for something, so he went to buy it.」
「Taisho having a craving for something? That"s interesting.」
While he was expressing his interest, Berthold made a rough guess as to what it was.
Perhaps he had found an excellent chicken. When he saw s.h.i.+n.o.bu cutting a large amount of lemons, he thought there might be karaage tonight.
He unconsciously smiled, but since Helmina gave him a strange look, he quickly made a more serious expression.
「I’m back.」
Berthold peered into the back, since he heard a voice coming from the back door. It was Taisho, who came in while carrying a big bag.
Helmina, who had a good nose, stirred as she thought the same thing. Since she was originally a fisherman’s daughter, that smell was probably familiar to her.
「Oh, Berthold-san. You came?」
「Taisho, are you not going to make karaage today?」
「Karaage…? I can make anything you like, but today I’m cooking kaki.」
(TL note: kaki = oysters. romanised this solely for the next part)
Ka-ki?
The contents of the bag clanked around as Taisho poured them out onto the chopping board.
They were somewhat large sh.e.l.lfish.
「Oh, it’s just gun sh.e.l.lfish.」
「Do you recognise this, Berthold-san?」
「Yeah, I ate this often in the port city near the Eastern Kingdom, back when I was making easy money there.」
While answering s.h.i.+n.o.bu, Berthold’s memory wandered to the faraway Eastern Kingdom.
He nearly drooled just from remembering the rich taste from when he had slurped it up.
It was delicious. It was good if it was grilled, but eating it raw was fine too.
「However, why do you call it gun sh.e.l.lfish?」
「Oh yeah, if one is unlucky, you will find out.」
「Yeah, it’s the same here too, isn’t it?」
「Occasionally, some people die too. It is rare though.」
Amongst Berthold’s former war buddies, there had been a guy who had died because of this gun sh.e.l.lfish.
Even though he had died from from getting sick after eating a gun sh.e.l.lfish, he would probably start eating them again if he was revived, so in a sense, it was probably kind of satisfying in a way for him.
「Now then.」
While he was cleaning his hands with the warm towel, he stared at the gun sh.e.l.lfish with high hopes. Their size was also wonderful. If that was the case, white wine would definitely help.
「Berthold-san, I have a feeling that you want to start drinking already.」
「It’s not just a feeling, Taisho. I am already determined to start drinking immediately. Perhaps my feelings are leaking out from my body.」
「No, but this oyster is for tonight.」
「Don’t be stubborn, Taisho. Making me wait while dangling such a delicious-looking gun sh.e.l.lfish in front of me is outrageous.」
Berthold was correcting his sitting posture as he gave the pondered Taisho a little push, when Helmina tugged on his sleeve for some reason.
「Hm? Do you want to eat the gun sh.e.l.lfish too, Helmina?」
When he asked that, she just shook her head.
He wondered if she had her circ.u.mstances, but he couldn’t help if she didn’t respond when he asked. He was concerned, but the gun sh.e.l.lfish came first.
「Taisho, I do not need any dish that is time-consuming. Just two or three pieces of the fresh, raw gun sh.e.l.lfish will do…」
Helmina tugged on his sleeve again at the words ‘raw’. This time, it was a little stronger than before.
When he turned around, he could barely see faint tears in her eyes for some reason.
「Hey Helmina, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?」
Still, his wife shook her head slightly and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.
「If you have something to say, you can tell me, Helmina.」
Then, Helmina whispered in a soft voice that she didn"t normally use.
「I…don’t want Berthold-san dying from eating the sh.e.l.lfish.」
「Helmina…」
Certainly, you could get ill by eating gun sh.e.l.lfish.
As far as Berthold knew, only one person had died after getting ill.
「You don’t have to worry, Helmina. Even if I get sick, I will only get an upset stomach at most.」
「You can’t. Even if it is a one in a thousand chance, I don’t want you to die…」
Worried about the surrounding people, Berthold hugged Helmina, who was burying her head in his chest, while patting her back when something flashed across his mind.
「H-hey, Helmina…don’t tell me, you…」
Helmina nodded without opening her eyes.
She smiled shyly while caressing her belly, which did not look different from normal yet.
「Yes. It seems I’ve been blessed.」
「OOOOOOOH!」
Berthold himself was surprised at the volume of his unintentionally raised voice.
He didn’t know this kind of feeling existed. Even then, this was real.
Taisho, s.h.i.+n.o.bu, and Eva clapped as well.
It felt pleasant to receive congratulatory words from them.
「Helmina, we should celebrate! You have to eat nutritious things!」
「So, you can’t eat gun sh.e.l.lfish, okay?」
「Obviously! But, n.o.bu is serving gun sh.e.l.lfish today…」
s.h.i.+n.o.bu smiled at Berthold, who was happy yet fl.u.s.tered.
「There is a way to eat it without getting sick, you know.」