TN: Seems like the author skipped Christmas. Makes sense since it’s unlikely that the other world celebrates it.
Kakiage Soba
The time was 10 p.m.
The owner finished cleaning muttered while feeling liberated.
[Yareyare. It seems that we finished this year successfully.]
For the otherworld dining hall "Nekoya", special days like New Year holidays, Golden Week1 and Obon2 festival were holidays.
During New Year holidays, nearby offices, high schools and universities would close, so opening the restaurant would cause a huge deficit.
That was almost the same for all the stores in the shopping district with the exception of soba restaurant "Bamboo Thicket Retreat", as customers would be visiting the shrine for Hatsumode3 from 3 p.m. to midnight during New Years.
[Well, this year"s Sat.u.r.day is at a good time.]
However, there were no New Year holidays for otherworld dining hall.
There seemed to be a custom to celebrate New Year at the other world, but it seemed that there"s no day off from work like in j.a.pan.
People from other world would still come to the restaurant no matter if it"s New Year"s Eve or New Year Day.
Rather, it was not uncommon for them to order more than usual, in the name of celebrating the arrival of a new year.
As a result, usually he did not have any other chefs to help making the preparations for Sat.u.r.day, so he decided to start the preparations during the previous day and his holiday became nonexistent.
If he thought about it, the last day of work this year was on Sat.u.r.day, and this year"s New Year"s break was also on Sat.u.r.day.
…For some reason, he received orders of birthday cakes for someone"s twin nephew and niece, a friend"s n.o.ble daughter, one of the three disciples with their caretaker and the Flower Country.
(My childhood friend on the upper floor was laughing "this was the first time birthday cakes are sold when Christmas day is over".)
In addition, there were many orders of hors d"oeuvres for New Year"s celebration.
With the customer"s appet.i.te being stronger at that day, the number of orders increased.
That"s why the last day of the year for otherworld dining hall was extremely noisy.
However, it also ended with selling a potful of beef stew as usual.
Once he finished the last clean up, there was only 1 task left for him to do.
[Well, let"s get to it.]
He muttered so while preparing for the closure of this year.
He took out the raw soba noodles and soba soup that were delivered by the eight generation of Bamboo Thicket Retreat that afternoon.
While boiling a pot of water, he prepared the ingredients.
He chopped that day"s leftover scallops, shrimps and vegetables finely and dipped them in coating.
(Coating has to be thick so that it doesn"t melt in the soup.)
While remembering the way he was taught to make thicker coating for tempura by the uncle of the soba restaurant long ago, he dropped it in oil.
He kept watching carefully so that it didn"t unravel, lifted it with a strain and left it to cool.
(Oo, next is…)
He dropped the soba into the boiling water.
He warmed the soup with a saucepan until it boiled and put it in a preheated warmer.
Then he put the boiled soba into the soup and lightly placed the freshly fried Kakiage on one side of the bowl.
[Yoshi, it"s finally finished. Nekoya"s special Kakiage Soba.]
He smiled satisfactorily when it"s finished.
This year"s Toshikoshi4 soba was earlier than usual.
Making soba was out of his expertise, but as both the noodles and soup were made by professionals, it should be delicious.
[Well, let"s take this.]
Although he didn"t dislike cooking, he"s still happy that he"s going to have a week-long holiday.
The owner went to the dining area with slightly lighter steps than usual.
At the dining area, Aletta who had finished her after-work shower felt relaxed.
[Fuu…]
Her sigh was a mix of fatigue and relief.
That day, she was so busy.
All the customers were looking forward to New Year and more orders had been given.
The owner was cooking in the kitchen all day long and Aletta also continued to deliver the finished food.
But the day was over. She just wanted to eat the owner"s cooking and go home.
[Well, this year is over…]
It was hard for her last year during this time period when she thought about it.
She trembled in the coldness of the Empire"s winter and was frightened that she would freeze to death.
[…G.o.d of Demons, I appreciate Your mercy.]
It had been one year from then. Aletta prayed her grat.i.tude for her fortune.
The G.o.d of Demons… humans said that that was the Evil G.o.d defeated 50 years before Aletta was born.
The demons that lost their G.o.d"s protection had their strength greatly reduced and lost to human beings.
There"s no helping it. By the time Aletta was born, demons either lived in poverty or betted their lives in order to get rich.
If the protection given to Aletta was useful for fighting, maybe she would choose the latter path.
The protection given to Aletta… the small goat horns had the power of faith.
If she had stronger and bigger horn, she could be a priestess serving the Demon G.o.d.
Yes, it was said that the priest of her village hometown had a pair of horns 3 times larger than hers.
She guessed it was because of that. The G.o.d watched Aletta properly and blessed her with good fortune.
After believing so, Aletta started to devote her prayers more properly than before.
[O-i, Aletta, it"s ready.]
[Yes!]
See, she had divine protection.
A wonderful dish to satisfy her hunger had arrived.
To that, Aletta smiled when she replied.
[Did something good happen?]
[Yes, just a little bit.]
She replied with a mysterious expression.
Although she couldn"t see it, surely the Demon G.o.d had a similar figure to the owner, though there"s no benefit in thinking that.
And today"s supper was gently placed before Aletta.
[Etto, what is it today?]
Looking at the food, Aletta asked the owner.
It was a noodle dish of gray noodles floating in brown soup and served in a deep bowl.
And a large fried food placed on one side of the bowl.
It was similar to the pasta dishes served at the restaurant, but she had a feeling that this was different.
[This is Kakiage Soba.]
[Kakiage Soba?]
[Ou, this is made by Takebayashi-san. The soba he made is delicious.]
Saying so, the owner sat down and picked up the chopsticks he brought with him.
[Well then… let"s eat.]
Aletta also picked up the chopsticks that she had become proficient in handling lately and also said her prayers.
[Demon G.o.d who watches over us… I thank you for giving me food today as well.]
She prayed a little more carefully today.
[…Ok, let"s start.]
[Yes!]
Then these two people who became independent from their fathers laughed and began eating their end-of-year food.
Unfamiliar cuisine (though almost all of the dishes in the restaurant were like that) that Aletta had never seen before.
(Etto, soba is a form of noodles.)
When the owner used his chopsticks to lift a lump of noodles, Aletta imitated him.
She lifted the noodles with her chopsticks and slurped it lightly.
(Un… it"s different from the previous one, but it"s still delicious!)
The fragrant scent of soba and the soup spread in her mouth.
She could taste the strong flavours shoyu and umami (which the owner said was extracted from a gra.s.s named Kombu5 or dried flaked fish).
It was different from the Tanmen noodles she ate before, probably because of the Wafu sauce.
[Fuu… as I thought, the soba made by that uncle sure is delicious.]
The owner who took a bite was also convinced.
(Next is… this Kakiage, I guess.)
She swallowed her saliva and reached toward the main act… the Kakiage.
Aletta who had never seen the sea before deduced that this was probably made with chopped squids and shrimps, and maybe Oranie was also included too before the combination was coated.
Unlike the usual deep-fried food, the colour was pale yellow instead of deep brown, but the Kakiage had a unique presence in the food.
She tore a little portion off the Kakiage which had become soft in the soup.
She carried it to her mouth… and reflexively exhaled.
The moment she ate it, the soup absorbed by the Kakiage leaked out.
It complimented the strong taste of seafood and Oranie.
Surely the bottom half of Kakiage which absorbed the soup had different taste compared with the upper half that displayed the flavor of deep-fried food.
(Master sure is amazing.)
Not only was it delicious, but he also had a variety of ideas. Aletta"s respect to him was renewed.
And she thanked him at the same time.
The owner who was a foreigner and a great cook.
She was picked up by such a person and was able to stay like this.
[N? Is something the matter? Does it not fit your palate?]
While she was thinking such, it seemed her chopsticks had stopped so the owner asked a little anxiously.
[No. It"s really delicious.]
She lightly replied the owner and continued to eat.
Perhaps she should eat the noodles with the Kakiage now…
She was thinking such.
[Fuu. Thank you for the meal.]
The owner placed down his chopsticks after a while.
[It"s delicious isn"t it?]
A little later, Aletta also put down her chopsticks.
Both bowls were empty of soup.
As Aletta said, it was delicious.
[Aa, eating soba once in a while is nice.]
The owner also laughed.
And the end of year at otherworld dining hall slowly finished.
Golden Week(ゴールデンウィーク Gōruden Wīku, Gōruden Uīku) (or GW) is a week from the 29th of April to early May containing a number of j.a.panese holidays.Obon() or just Bon (盆) is a j.a.panese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors. This Buddhist-Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors’ graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in j.a.pan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori.Hatsumōde(初詣 hatsumōde) is the first Shinto shrine visit of the j.a.panese New Year. Some people visit a Buddhist temple instead. Many visit on the first, second, or third day of the year as most are off work on those days.Toshikoshi soba(年越し蕎麦), year-crossing noodle, is j.a.panese traditional noodle bowl dish eaten on New Year’s Eve. This custom lets go of hardship of the year because soba noodles are easily cut while eating.Kombu is edible kelp from mostly the family Laminariaceae and is widely eaten in East Asia. It may also be referred to as dasima or haidai.