Isekai Izakaya Nobu 69: Osusume

“You’ve really started to look the part, haven’t you?”

When Nikolaus said this, Hans nodded, a little embarrassed.

It had only been a few days since Hans, with his messy brown hair and big eyes, had quit the guard corps and started helping out at Nobu. But the uniform suited him surprisingly well.

“Do I look okay?”

“Much better than you did in armor.”

Nikolaus had bumped into Hans, dressed in Izakaya Nobu’s blue uniform, at the edge of the old capital, at the entrance to Coachman’s Lodge Street. Two moons floated in the cold winter sky, seemingly huddling together for warmth.

The hustle and bustle of the great market, which heralds the arrival of winter, had subsided, and the old capital Aitheria was about to enter its quietest time of the year as the New Year approached. In this cold, thieves and thugs had completely quieted down, and the guard corps was practically closed for business. Nikolaus was also able to enjoy a drink from a relatively early hour.

During this time of year in the old capital, logistics almost completely stopped. People in their homes waited for the new year to dawn, living off the food they had bought in large quantities, but they would get bored of preserved food every day.

For those who set sail in the old capital at night, carrying a hunger in their hearts that could not be satisfied by hard-baked bread, dried meat, and pickled cabbage sauerkraut, the light of the izakaya was like a lighthouse illuminating the dark night.

Merchants with little to sell during the winter and craftsmen who had finished their work early went out into the streets of the old capital in search of delicious sake and snacks. Some of the people going back and forth on Coachman’s Lodge Street would be drawn in by the warm light spilling out from Nobu’s glass door.

“Nikolaus, are you heading to Nobu now?”

“Of course. I’ve been worked twice as hard to fill the hole left by a certain someone. My stomach feels like it’s stuck to my back.”

He said it jokingly, but he was actually hungry.

Rigorous training is the best seasoning. On days like this, there’s nothing better than eating a lot of delicious food at Nobu.

As the two of them started walking towards the restaurant, their footsteps naturally fell into sync. It was no surprise, since they had been partners for a long time. Now, one was a customer and the other an employee. Strange things do happen. Before long, an appetizing aroma wafted over. It was the scent of simmered food from Izakaya Nobu.

“Welcome!”

“…Welcome”

Shinobu and Taisho’s voices greeted them as they ducked under the noren.

Izakaya Nobu was full of seats and lively as usual. It was packed, but conveniently, two seats at the counter had just opened up.

“I’m back from break.”

“Welcome back, Hans.”

Hans, who had been walking beside him just a moment ago, had a professional look on his face as he entered the restaurant. It was strangely reassuring.

Nikolaus, who had successfully secured a seat at the counter, was tickled by the aroma of the simmered food.

Wiping his hands with the oshibori, he could feel the blood slowly returning to his fingertips, which had been frozen by the biting cold. This warmth was incredibly comforting on a cold night in the old capital.

What should he eat today? His eyes followed the words on the menu posted on the wall, imagining various flavors in his mouth.

Should he start with toriaezu nama, or should he go straight for atsukan? The way the meal is constructed changes depending on which sake he chooses, but both are equally appealing. However…

“Shinobu-chan, toriaezu nama again today!”

“Yes, one draft!”

He ordered the toriaezu nama, giving in to the temptation of the smooth drink. Until recently, warm wine was Nikolaus’ winter staple, but Nobu’s toriaezu nama is best drunk chilled, even when it’s cold. The other regulars in the restaurant also start with a toriaezu nama.

A well-chilled toriaezu nama in a warm restaurant on a cold winter day. What a luxurious combination.

He immediately checked the cold feel of the delivered mug and took a hearty gulp.

Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp.

Even the sound of his own throat was pleasant. He could feel the toriaezu nama flowing from his mouth, down his throat, through his esophagus, and into his stomach.

This is it. This one drink is what he needed.

Although it’s the season when the cold of winter chills you to the bone, Nikolaus’s first drink is still this. As the well-chilled golden liquid passes through his throat, he feels like the fatigue of the day is flowing away with it into his stomach.

He nibbled on the otōshi, chicken wings that had been carefully stewed, and took another sip.

He can endure the rigorous training if he thinks of it as being for this one drink.

“You’re drinking it well.”

The serious Hans uses polite language even to Nikolaus inside the restaurant.

But it doesn’t feel unpleasant. Looking at Hans, who is preparing dishes in the same uniform as Taisho and Shinobu, makes you think that this was more suited to his personality than being a guard.

At first, Nikolaus, as a customer, was worried about what would happen, but he is very attentive and, perhaps because he inherited it from his glassmaker father, he is also dexterous. At least to Nikolaus, it seemed to suit him better than putting on armor and swinging a sword.

Both familiar faces and first-timers alike relax their cheeks when they receive a warm oshibori from Eva. Seeing the moment their expressions melt is somehow pleasing even for Nikolaus, a customer.

While watching the face of his former colleague at work, he brings the toriaezu nama mug to his lips.

Once he’s settled in with his first toriaezu nama, the hunger pangs he’d been suppressing start to kick in.

He was about to look around at the menu to decide what to order, when he turned back to Hans.

“That’s right, Hans. What’s today’s recommendation?”

“Today is konabedate-… no, the buri daikon is well cooked.”

Buri daikon. The sound of the name is quite nice. It must be a dish of simmered daikon.

“Then I’ll have that. And atsukan too. The recommended brand, please.”

“Buri daikon and atsukan, got it. Shinobu-san, please recommend an atsukan.”

He takes the order and immediately relays it to Shinobu. He seems to understand the food a little better now, but recommending sake is still too much for Hans.

Lately, “recommendations” have been popular at Nobu.

There are customers like the tax collector Gernot, who stubbornly sticks to ordering his favorite dishes, but there’s an atmosphere of trying out various combinations of food and sake. The variety of Nobu’s menu, where recommendations change depending on the season, weather, and the day’s stock, is now so well known in the old capital that there is no one who doesn’t know about it.

“Atsukan, huh. What would be good?”

Shinobu, the poster girl, puts her index finger on her chin and thinks.

She’s probably remembering not only what goes well with buri daikon, but also Nikolaus’s sake preferences. Shinobu, who is rumored to remember every order since the restaurant opened, rarely makes a mistake with her recommendations.

“How about Kuroushi?”

The suggestion came from Leontaine.

She was quickly clearing an open table, but she was also paying close attention to the conversations throughout the restaurant.

She had been working as a mercenary despite being a woman, but for various reasons, she was now working as a waitress at Nobu. She has a bold side, but since she comes from a knightly family, she knows how to hold back when necessary.

“Black Bull, that might be good.”

“I tasted the buri daikon earlier, and I thought Kuroushi’s nurukan would go well with it.”

Nikolaus had heard from Hans that Leontaine, who is also a heavy drinker, tastes various kinds of sake after closing the noren. It’s probably training that combines taste and practical benefits for Leontaine, who laughs and says, “I don’t like not knowing the taste of what I’m selling,” but thanks to that, her knowledge of sake has been deepening rapidly in a short period of time.

The reason Hans has a slightly sullen expression is probably because he thinks Leontaine is getting ahead of him.

Hans and Leontaine started working at Nobu at almost the same time. It was easy to see from the side that he probably felt like he was being left behind.

Leontaine has completely filled the hole left by Hermina, who is taking time off due to pregnancy.

If Hermina’s customer service is quiet and flawless, Leontaine’s is gorgeous and fun. And yet, it’s not pushy, which is to be expected from someone who comes from a knightly family.

Hans is a serious person at heart. He must be thinking that he wants to do what Leontaine can do. As someone who had watched him as a colleague since his time in the guard corps, Nikolaus could understand it perfectly.

That said, Hans is doing a great job.

Even if he switched from a sword to a kitchen knife, he wouldn’t be able to get into the kitchen so quickly. Taisho, who is serious about his work, recognizes Hans.

“So, Nikolaus, is Kuroushi nurukan okay?”

“If Leontaine recommends it, it sounds like an interesting combination. I’ll go with that.”

“Alright!”

Shinobu’s recommendations are always spot-on, and Leontaine’s combinations offer unexpected discoveries. Either way, you can go home satisfied, so some regulars choose which recommendation to go with depending on their mood that day.

When you’re torn between the two recommendations, asking Eva is also an option.

It’s become almost common knowledge among the regulars that if you let Eva, who is small but observant of the customers, choose for you, she’ll choose the one that suits your mood at the time.

When the buri daikon, arranged on a plate with a subdued color, and the tokkuri were brought to him, Nikolaus rubbed his hands together as if he had been waiting for them.

“Doesn’t it look delicious? Did Hans make this?”

“I only did the plating.”

“Oh, so Hans plated this?”

Hans looks away, perhaps thinking he’s being made fun of.

“No, it’s quite something. You’ve only just started working in the kitchen.”

“Is that so… I mean, is that how it is?”

Nikolaus smiled at the corner of his mouth as he cut the daikon into four pieces with his chopsticks.

“It’s quite something that Taisho, who seems to be strict about cooking, lets you handle the food that goes into the customers’ mouths. You should have confidence.”

Taisho, who is cutting fish for konabedate next to Hans, just smiles wryly and doesn’t say anything, but he probably acknowledges it to some extent.

He carries the cut daikon to his mouth. The sweetness of the daikon, which has soaked up plenty of flavor, spreads in his mouth, enveloping him in a happiness that almost makes him sigh.

“…The flavor is really soaked in. This is delicious.”

He also smacked his lips at the buri meat, and took a sip of the nurukan Kuroushi. He had drunk Kuroushi once before, and its richness certainly goes well with buri daikon.

The flavorful buri daikon is a welcome treat for the tired Nikolaus. He can tell that his body is craving something flavorful. The recommendation was the right choice.

Come to think of it, it’s interesting that Nikolaus, who had hardly eaten any fish before coming to Nobu, has now become a fish lover.

His hashi movements don’t stop, going from the fatty buri to the Kuroushi, then from the daikon back to the Kuroushi. This combination is a winner.

Nurukan instead of atsukan is also good. It brings out the flavor of the sake well. The rich flavor goes really well with the strong flavor of the buri daikon.

It’s the recommendations at Nobu that allow you to discover these kinds of encounters.

Leontaine, who makes suggestions without hesitation despite her short time here, is probably suited to customer service.

“Even with Hans joining and Leontaine becoming a waitress in place of Hermina-san, Nobu is still Nobu, after all.”

“It’s nice to hear that from you, Nikolaus, a regular.”

Taisho, who has finished preparing Deacon Edwin’s konabedate, rubs his nose.

Delicious snacks and delicious sake. That hasn’t changed since the day he first ducked under the noren.

“I guess it will be about a year after the New Year since Nobu was established.”

“Ah, it will be about that time.”

It will soon be a year since Taisho opened this restaurant on Coachman’s Lodge Street. A lot has happened in the past year, and some things have changed, but Nobu is still Nobu.

“Speaking of which, Hans, why did you recommend the buri daikon to me instead of the konabedate?”

When he asked, popping the last piece into his mouth as if savoring it, Hans’s hands stopped.

“Well, that’s because konabedate is for one person.”

Just as he was about to ask what he meant by that, he heard the sound of the glass door being pulled open.

“Is there a seat available?”

The moment he heard the dignified voice, Nikolaus knew who had come.

“Nikolaus, is it okay to let a customer sit next to you?”

Asked by Leontaine, he could only respond, “Ah.”

“Oh, we meet again.”

The person sitting next to him was Eleonora, the master of the water transport guild <Mermaid’s Aria>.

“Y-Yes, we do.”

For the past few days, for some reason, he’s often been seated with Eleonora.

Nikolaus doesn’t mind, but it’s strange that these coincidences with Eleonora, who is out of his league, keep happening. It’s too good to be a coincidence.

He glanced at Hans, and saw his shoulders shaking slightly as he plated the otōshi.

He was laughing. At that moment, Nikolaus realized why Hans hadn’t recommended the single-serving konabedate to him.

Hearing the recommendation, Eleonora also orders the buri daikon.

He doesn’t know if he’s being supported or teased, but perhaps this is also Nobu’s “recommendation.”

Thinking about this, the nurukan he gulps down makes him feel more intoxicated than usual.