The Other World Dining Hall

Roast Cutlet

Even when she lied down on her back, she couldn’t see the sky.

Finally, Yomi realized that all was over.

—The world, I wonder if it was destroyed.

Feeling utterly exhausted, with the body that couldn’t move at all, Yomi’s body trembled in terror.

There was a response… it was there.

The demon with enough magical power to be regarded as the demon king was finally dead, with his life as the sacrifice… the Evil G.o.d worshipped by the demons and feared by the G.o.ddesses was revived.

While it had a tremendous power surpa.s.sing any demons that she had encountered so far, its intelligence was that of a newly born baby, something unsuitable to be called a G.o.d.

Filled with endless gluttony, it would even devour the world itself, a thingthat could only be regarded as a ma.s.s of life.

She poured out all of her remaining darkness power, she casted a calamity spell with her sword made from the fang of the black G.o.ddess that personified darkness and death to end the ancient existence. At that time she felt a response, but if she made a mistake, then the world would be destroyed and devoured.

(No, it’s useless to think about it anymore.)

There was no way to confirm whether Yomi’s last blow was enough, or perhaps it was insufficient and the world was then devoured.

The Yomi who lived following her instinct kept away things that gave her pain.

Breaking the walls of s.p.a.ce-time, she was on the way to a different world; she could never go back to her world anymore.

Yomi fell down to just above the sea that stretched endlessly.

From the place where only a horizontal line could be seen, Yomi abandoned all of her equipment with the exception of her sacred symbol and underwear.

She then continued to swim towards the direction of sunset for 7 days and 7 nights before reaching a beach and managed to survive somehow.

(At least those three people can survive.)

After she survived, Yomi thought of the three people worth pondering.

Arto who was more intelligent than Yomi and was skillful with magic, Alex who boasted swordsmanship better than Yomi after polishing it over years of battlefield, and Leo who received protection from G.o.ddess of Light that was stronger than the protection Yomi received from G.o.ddess of Darkness.

Yomi was “made” from the belly of a priestess of temple of darkness and the s.e.m.e.n of the most notorious ogre of Mountain Country’s history who possessed robust body, the priestess died when she gave birth to Yomi as she had frail body even if she had tremendous divine protection.

For Yomi, even if the world was destroyed, as long as her companions survived, then “that too is fine”.

(No, apart from that, it’s more important to think what I should do from now on.)

She switched her thoughts and pondered on her future.

The task bestowed on her from the temple, the biggest reason of why Yomi was made, it was over. In other words, there’s no further reason for Yomi to live.

The future spreading in front of Yomi was empty like the sky she was looking at.

(Is it better to end here as it is… un?)

A shadow casted before Yomi’s eyes, and she blinked.

A man’s face appeared before her.

(What, so there’s humans in this world too?)

From the looks of it, the man seemed to be the same age as her and his face was similar to people of Mountain Country, he spoke in otherworld language that she didn’t understand.

The man’s expression was somewhat sad, he then placed his wooden bucket filled with something similar to black stones beside him.

She was able to gues

s that rather than l.u.s.t, he was perhaps worried about her who was lying almost naked at a place like this.

(I can’t understand him at all. Well, it can’t be helped.)

Even Yomi who understood the languages of both Eastern and Western Continents, she couldn’t understand his words at all.

Considering that this was a different world, Yomi invoked a magic.

A magic that Arto created during their journey allowed a magician to be able to communicate directly to another person’s consciousness.

Although it couldn’t read memories or emotions, it was a magic that allowed one to communicate their intentions even with beasts and monsters without knowing each other’s languages, and she could know what the other party was saying.

[Miss, if you sleep in a place like this, you’ll catch a cold… it’s no use. Can you understand Chinese or English? I don’t even know German.]

If she listened to his words while reading his intentions, she knew exactly what he said. Apparently he was repeating the same words in different languages.

[It’s fine. I understand those words.]

Yomi spoke in Eastern Continent language while exerting her intentions. That’s why the man was able to understand otherworld language, he blinked and replied.

[What, so you can speak j.a.panese normally? Maa, that’s good.]

He exhaled his breath while saying his words, and then he spoke again.

[Anyway, you can’t sleep in this place. You’ll catch a cold… look, the war is over and you’re very beautiful, so there must be one or two things you can live on… that’s right.

Please eat this if you don’t mind. My parent’s house is a large western restaurant, and after I ran away, I worked as a western cuisine chef in Shanghai until the end of the war.

I just came to the countryside and bought good pork, and I don’t need a fee.

Maybe this is somewhat of a fate, let me treat you.]

The man said many words with an impatient smile.

[…Food, huh.]

Hearing those words, Yomi’s stomach grumbled.

Seeing as Yomi did not eat anything except for salt water for 7 days, she felt hungry now.

[…Sorry to bother you, but I’ll take your offer.]

When she thought about it, her wallet must have sunk to the bottom of the sea too, so she had no money. She had no choice but to rely on his kindness.

With that thought, Yomi stood up slowly.

For the time being, she would eat.

And Yomi walked while wearing the man’s jacket that he gave her.

[Aa right, I haven’t mentioned it yet. My name’s Yamagata Daiki, it’s written the direction towards mountain. Then my name means look for a big tree when searching for shelter. My father said that he gave me my name so that everyone can depend on me.]

[I see. My name is Yomi.]

The man… Daiki, while exchanging words with him, she firmly walked on the land of different world.

(But why is this man so kind to me?)

Why did Daiki, who did not know of Yomi’s true nature as “demon king killer”, care about her?

…Daiki thought that Yomi tried to drown herself after losing family members or lover due to the war, but then several years later, at the j.a.panese government office she told that she was an orphan born at a Western Continent and was alone, she was greatly sympathized and her name was changed to Yamagata.

Hearing the sound of taxi stopping, she returned to the present after she remembered the beginning of her long memories.

[Wife-san, we’re here. The building of Nekoya near the shopping district.]

The taxi driver told her with a courtesy smile.

[…Aa, we’ve arrived. Thank you.]

After being engrossed a little bit, she saw the familiar building outside the window, took out her wallet from her bag with wrinkled hands, handed him money and thanked him.

[Yes, thank you. Here’s your change.]

The driver was familiar with this process, handed the change to Yomi and opened the door.

[Well then, I await your next service.]

After confirming that she exited the car, the taxi sped away, Koyomi1 then gazed at the building before her eyes.

(Truly… it had not changed.)

As for the name, the signpost on the first floor had the picture of a winged dog with the words of Flying Puppy written on it.

Even after Daiki’s death more than a decade ago, Koyomi looked almost unchanged, she descended down the stairs to the bas.e.m.e.nt while feeling a little nostalgic.

Before her eyes was a door with a familiar picture of a cat and a sign saying “Closed today. We look forward to seeing you again” next to it.

She glanced at it, took a bra.s.s key from her bag and used it to unlock the door.

The door unlocked with a sound and at the same time, the magic of the magic tool connected to the door was cut off.

(Well, let’s go.)

She turned the doork.n.o.b and opened it, ‘Karankaran’, the sound was nostalgic.

(Aa, this place is… the otherworld dining hall.)

At the same time she went through the door, she gazed at the customers both strange and familiar before her eyes.

(Un, no change after all…!?)

While feeling the distinctive atmosphere and bustle, Koyomi looked satisfactorily before noticing it and grimaced.

(That stupid grandson, what on earth has he brought in!?)

She breathed in seeing the thin difference… it possessed such a thin presence that an ordinary person wouldn’t notice it, Koyomi gazed at it with maximum vigilance.

At first glance she looked like a female elf with jet black hair and for some reason wore a black version of the waitress uniform while slowly eating bread with curry.

However, Yomi realized that it was not so simple.

(That apparition is similar to “Red”…)

Koyomi was convinced that it was almost the same existence as the red monster that started to appear several years after otherworld dining hall was established, a person that did not have hands and feet like herself.

(If it is handled unskillfully, not just Nekoya, even j.a.pan can be destroyed…)

Fortunately “Black” did not intend to do anything, she just continued to eat curry without showing any pretense of caring about anything.

(Well, I have to restore the door.)

If she didn’t restore it, who knew what “Red” would do.

Even if Koyomi was slightly impatient, she placed her hand on the doork.n.o.b of the entrance door and locked it to restart the magic.

[Ano, sorry for the inconvenience, but is this your first time here?]

She locked it and invoked its magic, and then a voice called out to her.

[Ee, its fi…ne. Un, it’s just that it’s been a while since I last came here, so I was surprised.]

She noticed the girl talking to her wore the waitress uniform, she then saw the small black goat horns peeking from her blonde hair and Koyomi swallowed her second surprise of the day.

Even if her grandson inherited Daiki’s cooking skill, he did not inherit Koyomi’s battle talent at all, so she was a bit uneasy that her grandson did not feel the sense of danger.

[Then, the seat…]

[No, that’s unnecessary.]

She shook her head lightly towards the girl that tried to guide her to a seat and approached the corner seat where an old man sat.

[…Do you mind sharing your table, Roast Cutlet?]

She smiled while she asked, the old man’s eyes widened in surprise.

[…Yomi, you’re still…]

They had parted ways 70 years ago and met again 30 years ago, but she had not met her former comrade for the last 10 years.

And then she suddenly appeared again in front of him.

[…No, it is fine. Please, wife-san. Let’s have fun together.]

[Ee, thank you.]

After sitting down, Koyomi placed an order to the waitress who was watching the situation.

[Roast cutlet with large bowl of rice please.]

It was the first food she ate in this otherworld, and she was sure it was still the best dish.

[Ye, yes, please wait a moment.]

Perhaps she was silently intimidated by Koyomi’s order, as soon as she confirmed the order, the waitress immediately retreated back to the kitchen.

She felt a bit scared by the quiet hostility emitted from Koyomi.

[Don’t hate her too much. Time has changed.]

Looking at her, Roast Cutlet advised her with a wry smile.

[…Ee, I know. You yourself have changed a lot too right?]

She realized that the past 70 years of her life spent in the otherworld was great because in her home world, she only knew how to kill demons.

Everything would change dramatically as long as time pa.s.ses.

[Aa, well, I guess I spoke about it a bit 30 years ago. The new country of Empire joined hands with the demon tribe and was born anew. That Empire is now tremendously powerful, to the point of being one of the largest countries of Eastern Continent. Because of that, demons can even live accordingly in the Kingdom and Princ.i.p.ality, and they all lived together.]

Recalling about the battlefield of the past where humans and demons mutually kill each other, Roast Cutlet felt the flow of time again when he met his former comrade.

(For elves, 30 years flowed in just a few blinks, but it is long enough for human beings… I’m getting old.)

With a wry smile, they chatted while waiting for the meal.

Roast Cutlet… the great sage Artorius, the hero of Evil G.o.d war, met with Yomi, his former comrade, 30 years ago… when otherworld dining hall was first established.

A long time ago, elven invaders also advanced into this different world before the “serious illness battle” caused the number of elves to largely decline due to unknown diseases that seemed to be brought in from the different world.

A magic world seemed to be brought in into the world at that time and connected the world to Roast Cutlet’s world, but it circulated in the market as a mere antique because magic was uncommon.

It was after Yomi had spent 40 years in that world and her grandson obtained it by chance, or perhaps it was G.o.d’s divine protection.

It connected the otherworld where she currently lived and the world where she used to live… Yomi, who had the magic tool that could enable her to go back and forth, consulted with the owner of otherworld dining hall who was her own husband and the only person that knew of Yomi’s true ident.i.ty.

And at the time, the previous owner said this.

[In that case, do you want to invite people from otherworld as customers? Though I don’t know the feeling of wanting to know what happened to my hometown.]

The idea of the previous owner was to change this ordinary restaurant into an “otherworld dining hall”.

And the first to be invited by the magic tool coordinated by Yomi with her skillful magical talent was Artorius who had superior magical skill than her.

(That surprised me quite a bit.)

When a strange black door suddenly appeared in his room just in front of his eyes, he entered with vigilance and met his supposedly long-dead former comrade who was waiting for him, he then ate unknown otherworld cuisine.

It was the most mysterious and surprising thing even for Artorius that was experienced with the Evil G.o.d war.

(No, I was really surprised 30 years ago.)

Artorius knew.

The existence of this restaurant and its cuisine caused a lot of changes in his world for the last 30 years.

The influences ranged from large to small, and even Artorius did not know everything until they happened.

Perhaps without this restaurant the Empire wouldn’t obtain the Cobbler’s fruit and would not have the same power as now.

There was also such a big influence.

(Indeed, things will be variously different if involved with this place.)

While swallowing such feelings, Roast Cutlet asked his friend.

[So, how did you spend the last 10 years since the previous owner died? Since you didn’t show up for a long time, I thought you already travelled to the Netherworld.]

[Ee, after that, I’m supposed to live at my grandson’s house…]

They exchanged words to fill in her long absence.

It continued until Koyomi’s order of roast cutlet came.

While they were talking, the meal was placed in front of Koyomi.

[Thank you for waiting. Here’s your order of roast cutlet.]

[Ah, thank you.]

After reminiscing with her friend, she was able to naturally thank the demon waitress now.

A freshly fried roast cutlet placed on a metal net so that it did not touch the moisture of the cabbage, and a lemon placed beside a heap of shredded cabbage.

Steam rose from a large bowl of rice.

Koyomi narrowed her eyes in pleasure while she smelled its fragrance along with the scent of miso.

(Umu, a set meal of pork cutlet should be like this after all.)

She picked up a pair of chopsticks and joined her hands. It was the correct way to devote herself to eating.

[…Let’s eat.]

She prayed before her meal and gently picked the middle piece of loin cutlet with her chopsticks.

It was her style to eat the first piece without adding anything.

The roast cutlet with its freshly cooked aroma. The meat was so thick she could see the grey and white flesh in between the colourful coating.

She brought it to her mouth and bit it.

(…Aa, it’s so delicious.)

Beneath the coating was thick, soft meat. The fat seeped out from the meat and mixed with the meat juice.

Savoury coating and fresh meat. In order to properly taste these two first, she did not add anything to it.

It was a commitment that Koyomi followed for the last 70 years.

(Next is…)

After eating her first piece of crispy loin cutlet, she added her favourite seasoning.

She squeezed the lemon and drizzled its juice onto the meat.

Then she took the bottle of sauce and poured plenty of it on top of the meat and shredded cabbage.

She picked up a middle piece of loin cutlet that was stained black with the sauce and took a bite.

(Un! It has to be the sauce after all.)

With the taste of meat and savoury coating, Koyomi nodded to the sweet sauce, the sharp acidity of the lemon and the spicy mustard that tickled her nostrils, she then ate the rice while the flavours still remained in her mouth.

The warm and sweet rice wrapped around the strong taste of cutlet garnished with sauce and lemon juice.

(Rice! It’s a must have with delicious pork cutlets!)

Koyomi who had spent the last 70 years of her life in j.a.pan was originally born in Mountain Country which staple food was rice.

Rice was much more wonderful with roast cutlets than beer.

That was her conclusion.

In a blink of eye, her plate was empty.

Not just the rice, even the miso soup too.

[Fuu…]

After swallowing her last bite, with the remaining flavours lingering in her mouth, Koyomi sighed satisfactorily.

Now, she knew that the roast cutlet made by her grandson was more delicious than Daiki’s from the way it’s fried, the coating, the thickness of the meat and the deliciousness of the sauce, but her heart said that Daiki’s roast cutlet was still more delicious.

Because she had not eaten it for the last 10 years, the taste only remained in her memories, so there’s no comparison really.

[…When you come here, you really eat deliciously, don’t you?]

Roast Cutlet who watched her while drinking beer was half-amazed, saying with a bit of nostalgia to Koyomi while looking at the beautifully eaten dish with no rice grain left.

When she was travelling with her companions, the hero who was called the demon king killer was not agitated by anything, did not feel any joy or sadness, she was just like a blade that hunted demons.

Whether it was because 70 years had pa.s.sed, or perhaps she was blessed with good environment here, she became quite a human.

He was pleased with her change and was sad that he couldn’t see her much for the last 70 years.

[Ara, isn’t it natural to eat delicious food deliciously?]

While saying so, she beckoned for the demon waitress.

[Excuse me. If it isn’t difficult, can you call the owner here? There’s something important that I have to tell him.]

[Yes?]

Being called so suddenly, the girl widened her eyes.

[…There’s a customer calling for him. You can see it this way, right?]

As she said so, Koyomi laughed cheerfully and sealed her objection.

As soon as the waitress entered the kitchen, the owner came and sighed slowly at Koyomi.

[…So it’s baa-chan as I thought.]

He had predicted this development. The customer who asked for roast cutlet was usually the regular customer in front of him, but at the same time, if a customer ordered a big bowl of rice with the roast cutlet, it must be his grandmother.

[That’s right. There’s something we need to talk about.]

[Aa, I heard about it. It’s about older brother’s daughter Saki who wants to part-time job here right? I’m going to interview her, but I’m thinking about it.]

He knew a certain extent about his brother’s child, his niece.

She went to college and lived alone and was an aspiring chef, and that her cooking was somewhat good.

As the owner, he would welcome her as a part-timer if she had sufficient skills and was willing to work hard.

[That’s right. You can say that it’s good, but this is more important.]

However, Koyomi shook her head and gently took out a golden key from her bag.

[…This is the master key of the front door. I’ve came to hand over this.]

She brought it because she thought that it would be good opportunity for her grandson to keep the key that Koyomi had managed over the years since her husband’s death.

[I already have a duplicate though?]

[It’s no good if it’s a duplicate. There’s something important about this key.]

To the owner who curiously asked, Koyomi shook her head again and explained while gently stroking the key.

[…If the time comes when you think that “I’d like to end the otherworld dining hall”, please break this key. If so, the magic of the door will disappear.]

10 years ago, she had the mind to “end it” when Daiki died.

But that was not the case.

On the next Sat.u.r.day shortly after the funeral ceremony, the owner who still had a piece of youth opened the restaurant as usual.

[…Jii-san said “if something happen to me, I leave it all to you. It’s fine if you sell it, but please continue it as much as possible.”]

Her grandson who had lived with Daiki that was a genuine cook ever since childhood practiced cooking as a matter of course, and he showed her fine Western cuisine.

He did various things that the previous owner didn’t, made the restaurant more popular than the previous owner’s, and had new regulars.

…This Western restaurant was no longer Daiki’s. So then it was time to entrust him with everything.

[…I understand. I’ll keep this.]

Perhaps he grasped Koyomi’s feelings, the owner gently received the master key and placed it in his breast pocket.

[…Well then, please come again. I’ll be waiting.]

Then he deeply lowered his head towards the customer who had supported the restaurant longer than anyone.

[Ee. Perhaps next time I’ll visit during weekday or public holiday… sorry, but can I use the back door?]

If she went through that door, would she stay in this world, or would she go over to that world?

Koyomi did not plan to try it.

(My home is this world. This world is fine. I want to die in this world where Daiki lived and died.)

Koyomi thought without any hesitation.

TN: So now we know why the restaurant is like this. The only mystery left is only the owner’s name. I translated the last part while listening to Fluquor. Imagine the feels.