Chapter 29

That day, it had been raining since morning.

The rain was heavy. Perhaps the connection between Shizune and Shinji's shop and the ancient city was the strongest. The rain that started in the early morning gradually turned into a wind, shaking the glass doors.

By noon, it had turned into a small storm, and the eel bento for the day was canceled.

"It's a good thing we hadn't started cooking the rice yet."

Recently, Epha had started learning simple calculations from the subdeacon Etvin and had begun to take an interest in inventory management.

Even if the supplier was Shinji, he would get properly angry if the order was too much, so his contribution to the shop was significant. While Shizune's words wouldn't bother Shinji, Epha's comments made him feel awkward, and his mistakes in buying supplies decreased.

"The eel we've already prepared will be today's staff meal."

"Really? I want to eat Hitsumabushi."

Hermine, who had gradually become accustomed to the shop, recently favored hitsumabushi.

Hitsumabushi is traditionally served in a wooden rice container, divided into three or four portions, and each portion is eaten in turn.

However, since it wasn't practical to serve the wooden container as a staff meal, Hermine would pour hot broth over it and eat it casually. She had quickly learned how to use chopsticks, and her eating posture was now quite refined.

"Hermine, didn't you eat hitsumabushi yesterday?"

"I want to eat it every day!"

Hermine had only a few days left before she would stop coming from the inn, but she had said she wanted to continue coming even after moving to her new home.

The shop couldn't run without Hermine's help until the eel's popularity cooled down, so both Shizune and Shinji were relieved.

As the day grew dark, the rain outside the glass doors continued to pour heavily, making it impossible to operate as usual. Occasionally, Epha would try to peek outside through the gaps, but the rain was so loud that she had to close the door quickly.

There was no guarantee that no eccentric customers would come in such heavy rain.

The "Open" sign was out as a precaution, but the shop was completely quiet. After finishing the staff meal, the time passed in a daze.

"Boss, what do you call this kind of thing?"

Shizune, leaning back in her chair, asked, and Shinji, sharpening his knife, replied with a lazy "dead silence."

Indeed, no customers were coming, but "dead silence" didn't quite fit.

When the shop first connected to the ancient city, it was even worse. Shizune remembered jokingly calling it a "dead silence breeding ground."

"That's not it. There was another word for it."

"I don't know."

Epha, who had started dozing off on the table, and Hermine, who was intently looking at the bottle ship, were no help. The word Shizune was trying to remember was from her original world.

"Oh, I got it. 'The calm before the storm.'"

"The storm is already here."

Shizune puffed out her cheeks at Shinji's heartless comment.

She knew that, but something felt uneasy in her chest.

She couldn't tell what it was. Just as she was trying to imagine what might happen to pass the time, the sound of a carriage stopping outside was heard.

"…A carriage?"

Epha, rubbing her sleepy eyes, looked up.

Shizune and Shinji exchanged glances and hurried to prepare to welcome the customers. Hermine, who quietly prepared fluffy bath towels without being told, seemed like a gentle girl but was indeed a fisherman's daughter.

The glass door slid open with a loud noise, and the heavy rain poured into the shop.

"Welcome!"

"…Welcome."

While responding as usual, the glass door was rudely slammed shut.

Two customers entered the shop, dripping water.

Hermine immediately handed them bath towels, and the taller one accepted it with a casual gesture.

Although he was tall, he wasn't well-built.

He was dressed in luxurious clothing but looked like a scarecrow, thin and frail.

The other was short and had a poor, bearded face.

Shizune recognized the beard, but it brought back unpleasant memories.

"You still have a dirty shop."

Shizune endured the low insult from the bearded man with a smile.

"Welcome. Did you enjoy the sandwiches?"

The man, asked, frowned.

"Because of that incident, I was fired from the Brantano Baron's household. I never want to eat such a hateful dish again."

"I am deeply sorry."

Upon closer inspection, the man standing behind was not the Brantano Baron.

The Baron had his own unpleasant traits, but this customer exuded an even more unpleasant aura.

He didn't look like a noble, but the ten rings on his fingers suggested he was a merchant.

Shizune, raised as a restaurant girl, had a good eye for people.

She had once mistaken a man for a woman, but she rarely made mistakes in guessing professions.

After serving the appetizers, the two ordered draft beer.

The beer served was the usual draft beer. However, the way they drank it was peculiar.

They sipped the beer as if they were wine tasting.

Shizune thought such a drinking method would make the beer taste bad, but the thin man, in particular, drank the beer as if he was verifying something, emptying the mug.

"I heard that this izakaya has an interesting way of preparing eel."

Their order was eel.

He looked younger but, upon closer inspection, seemed to be in his late forties or early fifties.

"Bakkeshof wants eel. Serve it quickly."

The small man, with a threatening tone, mentioned a name Shizune recognized.

Bakkeshof was the current chairman of the city council.

While the position was rotational, Bakkeshof was known as the wealthiest merchant in the ancient city.

Shizune quickly signaled to Shinji.

Shinji's eyes were smiling, giving her the go-ahead.

"I am very sorry, but our eel is only served at lunch."

Shizune bowed deeply with the utmost sincerity.

There was eel, and the rice could be cooked.

She intended to serve the eel, but she wanted to refuse first.

The customer was one of the most powerful people in the city.

Everyone in the izakaya was equal.

That's why she planned to refuse once, show respect to regular customers, and then yield.

"Then, I'll take the entire shop."

When Bakkeshof said this, the bearded man took out a leather bag from his pocket and spilled its contents on the table. The contents were silver coins, but there were many of them.

"What do you mean by that?"

Shizune asked, trying to maintain her smile, and Bakkeshof rubbed his forehead, letting out a low laugh.

"I hear this shop is quite famous in the city council. I was raised in the imperial capital, so the food in the ancient city doesn't suit me, but I thought it would be interesting to own a few shops like this."

"…I don't understand what you mean."

Shizune's words made Bakkeshof open one eye in a deliberately surprised manner.

"I mean, I want to buy this shop."

Shizune couldn't understand what this man was saying.

Suddenly coming in and buying the shop. Could such a ridiculous idea work?

"I don't know where you came from, but running a shop in the ancient city without a patron is difficult. The Bakkeshof Chamber of Commerce will support you."

Bakkeshof's eyes looked down on Shizune and Shinji.

It wasn't just that he looked down on them; it was as if he didn't see them as human beings.

"Of course, you can't be part of the Bakkeshof Chamber of Commerce as a lowly izakaya. Damian here will be the nominal owner."

"I cannot accept such an offer."

Shizune firmly refused.

No matter how much money was offered, she had no intention of accepting such a deal.

Damian, the small man, leered at Shizune.

"Miss, being strong-willed is good, but you should consider who you're dealing with. Bakkeshof is the most powerful person in this ancient city. He's offering to buy your shop. Don't be foolish."

"Buy the shop?"

"Yes. And you and your partner will be employed. Of course, we want the chef, not the dilapidated shop."

"What are you saying?!"

Shizune's voice rose, and Bakkeshof looked at her with a lecherous gaze, as if he was about to lick his lips.

"You're a lively girl. I sent my mistress back to her family because she got old… How about it? If you're willing, I can take you in."

"Wha…?"

Shizune was speechless at the even more disrespectful words.

"Please stop making inappropriate remarks to my staff."

Shinji's voice, holding a sharpened knife, echoed from the depths of the earth, but the merchant and his subordinate were unfazed.

"Well, I prefer gentle girls. How about the blonde girl over there?"

Hermine, called out, trembled.

Epha stepped in front of her, spreading her arms protectively.

"Hermine is newly married. She won't become a mistress!"

"Newly married? That's an interesting twist. The marriage can be dissolved easily enough."

Bakkeshof smiled, raising one corner of his mouth, and Hermine weakly shook her head.

"That makes it even more tempting. If you hand over that girl, I might keep quiet about that incident."

"…That incident?"

Shinji, holding a knife, stepped out from behind the counter, and Damian interrupted.

"Look at this, look at this."

He held out a mug that had been filled with draft beer earlier.

"What's wrong with the mug?"

"The mug is irrelevant. The problem is the contents."

Bakkeshof continued, drying the last bit of foam at the bottom.

"You're selling this as ale. It's called Triazena, right?"

"What's the problem with that?"

"It's a big problem. Because this isn't ale."

"Not ale?"

Shizune pulled out her knowledge of beer from the back of her mind. Ale is a type of beer, but the beer currently circulating in Japan is not ale.

"Yes, it's lager. No doubt about it."

Bakkeshof declared triumphantly.

Shizune and Shinji were speechless, not understanding what he was getting at.

Indeed, the beer served in the izakaya was lager. But the people of the ancient city called all beer "ale," so they hadn't thought much about it.

The rain outside continued to pour, and the sound of rain filled the shop.

"What do you mean?"

Shizune, determined, asked, and Damian burst into laughter.

"This is a masterpiece. Bakkeshof, they don't seem to know anything."

"No, they're just pretending. They must know that lager is a prohibited substance by law."