It had been raining since morning.
The rain was heavy. It was possible that Shinobu and Nobuyuki’s shop was connected to the old capital for the very first time during such a downpour.
The rain, which had started early in the morning, gradually picked up wind, rattling the glass doors.
By noon, it had become a small storm, so they decided to cancel the eel bento boxes for the day.
“It’s a good thing we hadn’t cooked the rice yet,”
Eva, who had recently started learning simple calculations from Deacon Edwin, was also showing interest in inventory management.
She gets angry with Nobuyuki if they buy too much, even if it is Nobuyuki, so she contributes a significant portion of the workload. Nobuyuki doesn’t really get the message when Shinobu tells him something, but he seems awkward when Eva says something. As a result, he has made fewer mistakes when buying.
“We’ve already prepared some of the eel, so the staff meal today will be eel.”
“Really? I want to eat hitsumabushi.”
Translator’s Note
Hitsumabushi is a Nagoya specialty dish where grilled eel is served over rice, and eaten in several “stages” – first as-is, then with condiments, and finally with broth poured over it.
Hermina, who was gradually getting used to the shop, has recently taken a liking to hitsumabushi.
Hitsumabushi is traditionally served in a wooden container called an ohitsu, and the eel and rice are divided into three or four portions, each eaten in a different way.
However, since they can’t serve a staff meal in an ohitsu, Hermina simply pours hot broth over her portion and eats it quickly.
She’s even learned how to use chopsticks with remarkable speed, and the way she eats is quite impressive.
“Hermina-chan, didn’t you have hitsumabushi yesterday too?”
“I could eat hitsumabushi every day!”
Hermina only had a few days left of commuting from the inn, but she has said she wants to continue coming here even after moving to her new home.
Shinobu and Nobuyuki were relieved, since they still needed Hermina’s help to keep the shop running until the eel craze subsided.
Even after nightfall, the heavy rain continued outside the glass doors, making it impossible to operate as usual. Eva tried to peek outside through a gap from time to time, but the sound of the rain was so loud that she had to close it immediately.
That being said, it wasn’t impossible that some eccentric customer might come in this rain.
Just in case, they had the “Open” sign out, but the inside of the shop was completely silent.
Once they finished the staff meal, there was nothing to do, and time passed idly.
“Taisho, what do you call this kind of situation again?”
Shinobu asked, slumping against the back of her chair. Nobuyuki, who was sharpening a knife, replied lazily, “Kankodori ga naku.”
Translator’s Note
“Kankodori ga naku” literally means “the cuckoo is singing,” and is an idiom for a shop having no customers.
It was true that no customers were coming, but “kankodori” didn’t quite fit. For some reason, when the entrance was first connected to the old capital, the situation was much worse. Shinobu remembers jokingly saying it was a breeding ground for “kankodori.”
“No, it was something else.”
“I don’t know.”
Eva, who was dozing off with her head on the table, and Hermina, who was intently gazing at a ship in a bottle, were of no help in this situation. Shinobu was trying to remember a word from their original world.
“Ah, I got it! ‘The calm before the storm’.”
“The storm is already here.”
Shinobu puffed out her cheeks at Nobuyuki’s heartless retort.
She knew that. But something was prickling in the back of her chest.
She didn’t know what it was. Just as Shinobu was trying to kill time by imagining what might happen, she heard the sound of a carriage stopping outside.
“…A carriage?”
Eva raised her head, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Shinobu and Nobuyuki exchanged glances and hurriedly prepared to greet the customers. Without being told, Hermina, who looked quiet but was indeed a fisherman’s daughter, prepared a fluffy bath towel.
The glass door was pulled open with a clatter. At that moment, the fierce, driving rain poured into the shop.
“Welcome!”
“…Welcome.”
While they gave their usual greetings, the glass door was slammed shut.
Two customers entered the shop, dripping wet.
Hermina immediately handed them the bath towels, and the larger of the two customers accepted it with a generous gesture.
Although large, he wasn’t very fleshy.
He was dressed in lavish clothes, but he was as thin and willowy as a scarecrow.
The other man, in contrast, was short and had a meager face with a mustache.
She definitely remembered that mustache. And it was not a good memory.
“This place is still as filthy as ever.”
Shinobu smiled and endured the small, mustachioed man’s low insult.
“Welcome. Did you enjoy the sandwiches?”
The man hunched his shoulders in annoyance at the question.
“Because of that incident, I was dismissed from Baron Branton’s household. It’s a dish I’d never want to eat again, even if I thought it was loathsome.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that.”
Now that he mentioned it, the man standing behind him was a different person from Baron Branton. The baron had been unpleasant, but this customer had an even worse aura.
He didn’t look like a nobleman, but judging from the rings shining on all ten fingers of both hands, he was probably a merchant or something.
As the daughter of a ryotei owner, Shinobu was confident in her ability to read people.
Translator’s Note
A ryotei is a traditional, high-class Japanese restaurant.
She had once mistaken a man for a woman, but she rarely made mistakes when guessing someone’s profession.
When she served the otoshi, the two men ordered draft beer.
They were served the usual draft beer. But these two drank in a strange way. They drank the beer as pretentiously as a sommelier tasting wine.
She thought that such a way of drinking would make the beer taste bad, but the thin man in particular emptied his mug as if he were confirming something.
“I heard that you prepare eel in an interesting way at this izakaya.”
The order was eel.
He was trying to look young, but up close, he looked surprisingly old, somewhere in his late forties or early fifties.
“Backeshoff-sama desires eel. Serve it quickly.”
The small man, using a menacing tone, called out a name Shinobu had heard before.
If she recalled correctly, Backeshoff was the current chairman of the city council.
It was a rotating position, but she remembered someone saying that Backeshoff was the wealthiest merchant in the old capital.
Shinobu quickly glanced at Nobuyuki. Nobuyuki’s eyes smiled, telling her to do as she pleased.
“I’m terribly sorry, but our eel is only available for lunch.”
Shinobu bowed deeply, expressing her utmost apology.
They had eel. They could cook rice.
These customers had come all the way in this rain. She intended to serve them eel. Even so, Shinobu would refuse them once.
This was also because the other party was the most powerful person in this city. Everyone is equal inside the izakaya.
That’s why she would refuse once, to show respect for her regular customers, and then give in. That was her plan.
“Then, I’ll take this entire shop.”
When Backeshoff said this, the mustachioed small man took a leather pouch from his pocket and dumped it on the table. The contents were silver coins, a large amount.
“What does this mean?”
Shinobu asked, trying to keep her smile. Backeshoff rubbed his brow and let out a low laugh.
“Apparently, this shop is the talk of the city council. I was raised in the Imperial Capital, so the food of the old capital doesn’t suit my palate, but I thought it would be interesting to have a shop or two like this.”
“…I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
At Shinobu’s words, Backeshoff opened one eye wide and feigned surprise.
“I’m saying I want to buy this shop.”
Shinobu couldn’t understand what this man was saying.
He came out of nowhere and said he wanted to buy the shop. Was such a ridiculous thing even possible?
“I don’t know where you foreigners came from, but it must be difficult to open a shop in the old capital without any backing. The Backeshoff Trading Company will support you.”
Backeshoff’s eyes, looking at Shinobu and Nobuyuki, were completely looking down on them.
It was more like he didn’t see them as fellow human beings.
“Of course, we can’t have a low-class business like an izakaya as part of the Backeshoff Trading Company, so Damian-kun here will be the nominal owner.”
“I cannot accept such an offer.”
Shinobu stated firmly.
No matter how much money they piled up, she had no intention of accepting such an offer.
The small man, called Damian, sneered at Shinobu.
“Little lady, it’s good to be strong-willed… but you should consider who you’re dealing with. Backeshoff-sama is the most important person in this old capital right now. He’s saying he’ll buy your shop. Don’t be foolish.”
“The whole shop?”
“That’s right. We’ll even hire you guys, too. Of course. What we want is the chef of this shop. It’s a run-down place, We can just demolish this place.”
“What are you saying?!”
Shinobu raised her voice. Backeshoff looked at her with vulgar eyes, as if he were licking her up and down. He looked like he was about to lick his lips.
“What a spirited young lady. My concubine has grown old, so I sent her back to her family… how about it, if you’re willing.”
“Wha…”
Shinobu was speechless, hit with words even more rude than she had imagined.
“Please stop saying strange things to our employee.”
Nobuyuki’s voice, as he stood there with the half-sharpened knife, was like a growl from the depths of the earth, but the merchant and his servant didn’t seem to care.
“Well, I prefer quiet ones myself. How about that flaxen-haired young lady over there?”
At the sound of his voice, Hermina trembled. Eva stepped in front of her, spreading her arms wide to protect her.
“Hermina-chan is newly married. There’s no way she’d become a mistress!”
“Newly married? That’s quite interesting. Marriage procedures can be manipulated anyway.”
Backeshoff smiled, one corner of his mouth turned up, and Hermina weakly shook her head.
“That makes it even more tempting. If you hand over that young lady, I might even be willing to keep quiet about that matter.”
“…That matter?”
Damian stepped in front of Nobuyuki, who had come out from behind the counter with the unsheathed knife hanging down.
“This, this.”
He held out the mug that had been filled to the brim with draft beer until just a moment ago.
“What about the mug?”
“The mug has nothing to do with it. What I’m concerned about is the contents.”
Backeshoff continued, drying the bit of foam that remained at the bottom.
“You seem to be selling this as ale. Toriaezu Nama, was it?”
“Is there something wrong with that?”
“It’s a big problem. Because this isn’t ale at all.”
“It’s not ale?”
Shinobu dug through her knowledge of beer. Ale is a type of beer, but it’s true that the beer currently distributed in Japan is not ale.
“That’s right, this is lager. Definitely.”
Backeshoff declared triumphantly.
Not understanding what he was trying to say, Shinobu and Nobuyuki remained silent.
It was true that the beer served at Izakaya Nobu was lager. But the people of the old capital called all beer “ale.” That’s why they hadn’t been concerned about it until now.
Outside the shop, the heavy rain continued, and the sound of the rain filled the shop.
“What do you mean?”
Shinobu asked, steeling herself. Damian burst into laughter, holding his stomach.
“This is hilarious. Backeshoff-sama, these guys don’t know anything.”
“No, they’re just playing dumb. They must know that lager is prohibited by law.”