“Welcome!”
“…W-welcome,” came the somewhat subdued reply.
The interior of the restaurant looked as it always did. Familiar regulars were enjoying delicious food with their drinks, the peaceful atmosphere making it hard to believe there had been a thief incident just moments before.
Perhaps because it was late, the restaurant wasn’t crowded, and the tables and counter were neatly cleaned. Izakaya Nobu was sometimes so busy that they couldn’t keep up with the dishes, but tonight seemed to be a slow night.
Nikolaus and Edwin exchanged glances.
Could it be that nothing had really happened? If they were told it was just the mischief of a drunk, it was easy to believe.
“Well, you two, there’s space at the counter.”
As prompted, they sat at the counter, and Shinobu brought over the otōshi.
Before Nikolaus was placed a dish with slices of red fish. However, it was somehow different from the sashimi he’d had at this restaurant before.
“Nikolaus-san, your otōshi is katsuo no tataki.”
“Tataki?”
“The fish is lightly seared before being sliced like sashimi. It’s delicious.”
It seemed to be pre-seasoned with sauce, as there was no small dish of shōyu.
T/N: Shōyu is Japanese soy sauce.
He took a bite. Indeed, it was different from sashimi.
“This is delicious!”
The tenderness of the fish remained, but a fragrant aroma spread through his mouth. It might even be easier to eat than sashimi.
Although he had grown accustomed to it and now liked it, Nikolaus, like many other regulars, had initially disliked sashimi.
The thought of eating raw fish had always made him feel a sense of fishiness. But with this tataki, he felt none of that. It went perfectly with the toriaezu nama that Shinobu had thoughtfully brought without him even ordering it.
He noticed that Edwin had been served a different otōshi from the tataki. It was a small bowl with a sticky, strong smell. And without Nikolaus noticing, his drink was sake, not toriaezu nama. His expression was that of a kindly old man, making it hard to believe he was the same person from just moments ago.
After eating half of the katsuo no tataki, Nikolaus suddenly realized why he was here. It was to investigate the unscrupulous thief who had entered Izakaya Nobu.
He turned to Edwin, who seemed to have shed his solemnity as a priest the moment they stepped through the noren, and spoke in a low voice.
T/N: Noren is the traditional Japanese fabric dividers hung in the entrance of a shop.
“Deacon.”
Sensing the nature of his business from Nikolaus’s tone, Edwin drained his choko cleanly.
T/N: Choko is a small ceramic cup used to drink sake.
“Ah, yes, sorry. To refuse what is offered would be against God’s will, you see,” he said without the slightest hint of remorse, straightening his clerical collar.
Waiting for Shinobu to finish serving other customers, Nikolaus beckoned her over with a small wave. Even though the restaurant wasn’t crowded, there were still other customers. He didn’t want to reveal that a thief had broken in.
“Shinobu-chan, I have a question for you.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“…Did a thief break into this restaurant today?”
Nikolaus didn’t miss the moment Shinobu’s eyes darted around when she heard those words. She was trying to appear calm, but something had clearly happened. He glanced around the restaurant, but there was nothing suspicious.
“Something did happen, didn’t it?”
“Well, yes, a thief, so to speak… Right, Taisho?”
Suddenly addressed, Taisho started coughing violently behind the counter. Nikolaus saw something move next to Taisho.
“Who’s there!”
The shadow trying to escape seemed to freeze in fear at his voice, stopping in its tracks. Nikolaus peered into the counter and saw a red-haired girl of about twelve years old cowering in fear like a small animal.
“Oops… I’ve been found,” Shinobu muttered, ignoring Nikolaus, who addressed the girl.
“Are you the thief who broke into this restaurant today?”
The girl nodded repeatedly while still crouching.
“What’s your name?”
“Um, it’s Eva.”
Looking at the trembling girl, Nikolaus was inwardly puzzled. She didn’t look like the type to steal. Seeing Taisho and Shinobu protecting her, he guessed there was something going on, but Edwin was here, so he had to at least appear to be doing his job.
He looked at Taisho, who was scratching his head in a “what can you do?” manner.
“Taisho, who is this girl?”
“She’s the thief Nikolaus-san is talking about. In the sense that she tried to take something from the restaurant without permission, that is.”
“If that’s true, then according to the law, she’ll have to go to the guard barracks and be judged by the city council.”
Taisho panicked at Nikolaus’s sternness.
“It’s not that big of a deal. In the end, nothing was stolen.”
“Even attempted theft is a crime, Taisho. What did she try to steal?”
Taisho shrugged slightly and pointed to the sink in the counter.
“Eva tried to steal our faucet.”
As he said that, Taisho opened and closed the faucet to show Nikolaus. Water came out and stopped each time it was twisted. Edwin let out a sound of admiration at the sight.
“So, you’re putting pressure on the stored water to make it easy to turn on and off? That’s an interesting idea, Taisho.”
“This girl, Eva, tried to take the faucet home with her. She must have thought that if she had this, water would come out endlessly.”
Nikolaus interjected at Taisho’s words.
“You can just draw water. From the river or the canal.”
“Nikolaus, you can draw it, but you can’t drink it. You have to boil it first.”
As Edwin said, the water in the old capital was terrible. The smell was so strong that even the common people boiled the water before drinking it if they were wise. Only the wealthy could afford to dig wells.
“Then boil it. There’s no need to steal something like a faucet from the Izakaya.”
“That’s not so easy. Especially with the price of firewood this year.”
Shinobu nodded in agreement with Edwin’s words.
“Our customers have also been saying that the price of firewood is high this year because spring is late.”
The price of firewood was indeed rising. Nikolaus was aware of that too. The price of firewood would probably stabilize once the weather warmed up in spring. But the cold spell continued even tonight. Spring would still be a while away.
On top of that, Baron Branton, who owned land near the old capital, had banned firewood gathering in the forest this year, causing the price to rise even further.
“Even so…”
He looked at the girl, Eva, who was looking up at Nikolaus with large, tearful eyes. She looked like an abandoned cat or something.
“So, what are you going to do, Taisho? Even if you let her go here, she might break into another store for firewood money.”
“It’s okay!”
Shinobu said that instead of Taisho and took a plate from the sink.
“We’ve decided that Eva-chan will do the dishes here!”
“Dishwashing? Does that mean you’re hiring her at Nobu?”
“That’s right, Nikolaus-san. Thankfully, we’ve been getting more customers lately, and it’s been hard for me to handle both serving and dishwashing alone.”
Come to think of it, the restaurant was tidier than usual today. Shinobu must be able to move around more freely because Eva was taking care of the dishes.
It might be a good idea. The restaurant didn’t want to make a fuss, and the girl could earn money for firewood honestly. And if he could drink booze in a clean restaurant, he had no complaints.
Nikolaus scratched his head vigorously and let out a loud sigh.
“If Taisho and Shinobu-chan are okay with it, then I’m okay with it. Anyway, the city council probably doesn’t have time to judge a girl like this.”
Shinobu jumped up slightly, and a smile returned to Eva’s face.
Taisho, with a grin on his face, was preparing the next dish.
“Now then, Deacon.”
“What is it, Nikolaus?”
“I’ve been wondering all along, but why did you come to the scene today of all days?”
Edwin’s hand holding his choko stopped.
“What are you talking about? I just wanted to see how the guards were doing, which is why I came along like this.”
“Come to think of it, you can only eat simple food in the church until the vernal equinox, right?”
“W-well, that’s how it is, I suppose.”
The impression of Edwin as being uptight had completely dissipated in Nikolaus’s mind.
“You’ve been to this restaurant before, haven’t you?”
“N-no… What are you talking about?”
“Otherwise, you wouldn’t know about the sake at this restaurant, would you?”
The sake at Izakaya Nobu, which wasn’t ale or wine, was well-known among the regulars as a drink that was hard to stop drinking once you got hooked. But outside the restaurant, almost no one knew about it.
He heard giggling, and when he looked, Shinobu was holding her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter.
“What’s wrong, Shinobu-chan?”
“Well, Nikolaus-san. Deacon Edwin is a regular here. He comes in quite early, so I don’t think he’s met the guards. And the otōshi is always shuto for the deacon.”
“Shuto?”
“It’s pickled guts from the katsuo that Nikolaus-san ate earlier. It goes so well with sake that it’s often called the sake thief.”
“Hee, it would be terrible if a clergyman had his sake stolen.”
There were some unbelievable clergymen out there. He came up with the excuse of watching the guards work, but in the end, he just came to drink sake.
“Deacon, I’ll need a thorough explanation on the way home.”
“Alright, alright. By the way, what are you going to report? After all, we’re supposed to have been dispatched because of a report of a thief…”
“There is a thief, isn’t there?”
Saying that, Nikolaus took the remaining shuto.
“This is a serious criminal who stole sake. The guard will take responsibility for arresting this small bowl.”
“Oh, but there was still some left…”
Only Eva stared blankly at the sight of the dejected deacon as Taisho and Shinobu burst out laughing.