A customer reached for the sliding door to enter Izakaya Nobu, but promptly shut it again.
Shinobu, the server, didn’t even have time to greet them.
This was already the fifth group of customers to do this. Lorenz glanced at the table in the back that was the source of the problem, and shook his head.
Three figures were glaring at each other across the table:
A bald, menacing-looking man. A listless, handsome man. A beautiful woman who looked utterly bored, filing her nails.
The mere presence of any one of them would be enough to make the people of the old capital flee the scene. These three were the masters of the three major water transport guilds of the old capital, wielding immense power within the City Council.
“Lorenz-san, about those customers over there…”
Shinobu, who had been idly wiping down the counter, shot Lorenz a reproachful look.
“Sorry, Shinobu-chan. My bad.”
“I’m not sure what I can do even if you apologize to me.”
Even as she said that, Shinobu’s tone was sharp. Ever since Lorenz brought those three here, Izakaya Nobu had essentially been closed for business. No customers were coming in. Even if Lorenz was the father of Hans, a regular, there were limits. Customers who accidentally wandered in would quickly finish their otōshi and a glass of ale and then clear out.
The Taisho had been obsessively focused on making elaborate salads for his own meal since earlier, and Eva, who was in charge of washing dishes, was diligently practicing her reading and writing. And Shinobu, bored out of her mind, was picking a fight with Lorenz.
“To begin with, why are you holding a water transport guild meeting here? There are plenty of more suitable places.”
“I looked, but they all turned me down.”
“All of them?”
“Yeah, all of them.”
“All of them” was an exaggeration; in reality, there were only so many establishments that could accommodate the masters of the water transport guilds. Lorenz himself wouldn’t have brought those three here if he hadn’t eaten here once before and if Gernot, known as the City Council’s foremost gourmet, hadn’t recommended it. That’s how troublesome those three were.
“Like I’ve said many times, this has gone beyond the point where an apology will suffice.”
Godhart, the bald, menacing man, leaned close to Reinhold, the listless, handsome man, and intimidated him. They were almost spitting distance apart. It looked like a roughneck boss was threatening a noble’s spoiled son, and the reality wasn’t far off.
Countless water transport operators ran through the canals that crisscrossed the old capital, but all of them were controlled by one of these three people gathered here. “Water transport operator” might sound respectable, but in the old capital, the reality was that they were little more than day laborers. These three, who controlled quarrelsome and problematic migrant workers, were regarded as influential figures in the City Council.
“But, Godhart-san, we’re saying we’re willing to make concessions too. Can’t you please accept the terms we’ve already discussed?”
“Reinhold-san, we’re not trying to pick a fight with your people either. We’re just saying that the terms of your settlement are too cheap.”
Lorenz, the honorary master of the glassmaker’s guild, had been asked to mediate because he had no stake in their conflicting interests, but he couldn’t interrupt them as they were. It would have been ideal if Eleonora, the other water transport guild master, could help, but there were reasons why that couldn’t happen.
Two people shouting at each other, neither touching their drinks or food, and one person indifferent. Overwhelmed by the atmosphere at the table in the back, the three staff members behind the counter were also restless. But there was nothing they could do.
“Lorenz-san, what are those two arguing about?”
“Reinhold-san’s subordinates were taking jobs in Godhart-san’s territory. And for quite some time, too.”
“Oh, that’s bound to make Godhart-san angry.”
Lorenz nodded as he bit into a piece of seared bacon that had just been brought out. The bacon here was cut as thick as a shoe sole, requiring considerable jaw strength to eat, but Lorenz, who loved bacon, couldn’t be happier. When he ate the bacon, with its abundance of fat, with mustard, he could drink ale forever.
“Reinhold’s guild is the oldest water transport guild in the old capital and has a certain prestige. But when his predecessor suddenly kicked the bucket, Reinhold himself, barely more than a kid, was forced to run the guild.”
“A lack of experience, huh? Didn’t the adults around him help out?”
“If they could have, there wouldn’t be any trouble… That Eleonora woman, her mother uprooted all the executives. Using her feminine wiles, you know?”
“Ugh, scary.”
“And that’s how Reinhold’s subordinates, who had fallen on hard times, ended up taking on all sorts of troublesome jobs.”
Lorenz ordered his seventh ale and then peeked at the table behind him. The discussion was still going nowhere, with no sign of a resolution.
“So, if Reinhold-san apologized to Godhart-san, shouldn’t that be the end of it?”
“It would be simple if that were the case, but Reinhold doesn’t have any assets to compensate them with.”
They heard a loud crash and turned to see a beer stein had fallen over. Godhart must have slammed his fist on the table.
“That’s why I’m saying no one needs the fishing rights.”
“But Godhart-san, the only thing our guild can use for payment right now is the Imperial Charter regarding fishing rights.”
“If charters could fill our bellies, we’d gladly take it, but no one wants fishing rights to a canal where you can only catch crucian carp, catfish, and eel, Reinhold-san.”
“If you two don’t want them, may I have them?”
“Eleonora-san, please be quiet for a moment.”
Godhart cut off Eleonora, who was trying to interject. Godhart’s guild was the largest water transport guild in the old capital, but Eleonora’s guild had the most money and authority. Godhart and Reinhold had no intention of letting Eleonora profit any further. That’s why they deliberately called her to this meeting.
“Speaking of which, I saw eels being sold at the market in the old capital.”
The Taisho looked up at Shinobu’s words.
“Ah, I saw one once. It was quite a delicious-looking eel.”
“Eel looked delicious?”
Lorenz was surprised by their words and nearly spat out his ale.
“Eel is delicious, isn’t it?”
“What’s so good about that fake snake? You can only chop it up and stew it or set it in jelly.”
“I’ve never heard of eating it like that.”
Eels swam upstream in the old capital’s canals in enormous numbers, but they weren’t popular as food at all. Not only did they have slippery bodies that were hard to hold, but their raw blood was even poisonous. Lorenz, who had traveled around to various places as a wandering glassmaker, believed that only the eccentric people of the Allied Kingdom liked to eat eel.
“Well, anyway, this discussion is going nowhere.”
“Are you talking about whether or not eel is delicious?”
“No, I’m talking about Reinhold’s apology. I don’t think Godhart-san would be satisfied with fishing rights to a place that only yields bad-tasting eel.”
“But eel is delicious…”
Shinobu puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, and Efa timidly spoke up.
“I’ve never eaten delicious eel either.”
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t been stocking up on eel lately because it’s expensive.”
As the Taisho said that, Shinobu’s face lit up.
“Then let’s have eel for today’s meal!”
“But at this hour, there won’t be any domestic eel left.”
Shinobu grinned confidently at the hesitant Taisho.
“It’ll be fine. I’m sure there’s still some at the market over there.”