Chapter 80

The broth was rich with the deep umami of fish.

Today's Hans' meal was a stew that imitated oden, seasoned with the fish sauce from Bolganga. No soy sauce was used.

"Isn't it good?"

Taisyo, who had tasted it, nodded in satisfaction. This was the best reaction Hans had received in the past few days since he started being in charge of the midday meal. The effort he had put into thinking hard in bed last night had paid off.

The potatoes that were now being sourced directly from Eifa's family had, as expected, a sticky and interesting texture that was enjoyable.

"How about you, Shinobu?"

He tried to ask Shinobu, who had been silent, deep in thought. He had never been praised by Shinobu for the meals he prepared.

And today, as usual, the words from Shinobu's mouth were harsh.

"I think the saltiness of the Bolganga fish sauce is a bit too prominent. As a flavoring, reducing the amount a bit would still have a sufficient effect, and it could be even better depending on how it's combined with other broths."

"Is that so? Thank you!"

While trying to remember it, he was a little disappointed inside.

If this wasn't good enough to be praised, he wondered how much effort he would need to put in.

Of course, he didn't expect to be able to make dishes that could be served in the restaurant overnight, but the uncertainty of not seeing any progress was hard to shake off.

Today's oden-like dish was much more delicious compared to the oden pots sold at the street stalls in town. Still, not being praised was a bit harsh.

Unlike the training of the guards, he knew that the path of a cook's apprenticeship was long and arduous, but when the future seemed uncertain, it was natural to feel anxious.

"Why don't you use soy sauce, Hans?"

Eifa asked, still chewing on the last egg she had saved.

"That's because we're planning to open a branch someday."

Shinobu answered instead. Taisyo had explained that "noren-wake" meant opening a branch.

"Oh, if we do a noren-wake, we can't use the back door anymore."

"As long as Nobu continues, we can still share ingredients and soy sauce."

The back door of the izakaya Nobu connected to another world, a story Hans had already heard.

While the straightforward Leonitine didn't seem to mind much, for Hans, it made sense and even gave him a sense of relief.

The unfamiliar ingredients, the dishes he had never tasted, and the tools he had never heard of—all the mysteries he had felt since his first visit to the shop with Nikolaus made sense now, knowing that the shop was connected to a fairy tale world.

Even though it was mysterious, Hans had no sense of rejection.

As a child, he had traveled west and east with his father, a traveling glassmaker, and was quite used to encountering different cultures. His father had ventured to lands far beyond the Empire and the Eastern Kingdom, where other craftsmen rarely went.

Compared to Taisyo and Shinobu, the nomadic people of the distant west and the wild people of the northern territories were even more different in their way of life, so it wasn't something to worry about.

At the same time, he realized that he had more to think about.

Relying too much on ingredients from the other world meant that if something happened and the back door couldn't be used, he wouldn't be able to do anything. That would make his apprenticeship as a cook meaningless.

So, while absorbing Taisyo's techniques, his current goal was to make delicious dishes using local ingredients as much as possible.

But it wasn't going as well as he hoped.

Taisyo understood what Hans wanted to do, but Shinobu's palate was strict. At the izakaya Nobu, a dish couldn't be added to the menu unless it was approved by Shinobu.

While telling himself not to rush, Hans realized he was a bit frustrated.

"What do you think, Leonitine?"

When Taisyo asked, Leonitine folded her arms and grunted.

"It's still a bit of a dilemma."

"What do you mean by a dilemma?"

"I think it's better to pair it with a warm sake rather than a cold one, but the brand is the issue. Should it be Kamozuru or Kikumasume?"

That was it.

While just eating the meal, Leonitine was thinking about what kind of sake would go best with the dish if it were served in the restaurant. They had entered the shop at the same time, but the gap between them had widened.

It wasn't exactly jealousy.

He was frustrated with himself for not being able to produce results despite his efforts.

Even in the guard corps, he had achieved satisfactory results through extra effort. He envied the efficient Nikolaus, but since he was a senior, he didn't mind much.

But Leonitine was a complete contemporary.

Being outperformed by a contemporary and not being able to produce results himself, the frustration built up like a snowdrift at the bottom of his heart.

"But Hans is amazing."

Leonitine, who had finished the last of the hiraten soaked in broth, sighed deeply.

"What's amazing about it?"

It's not amazing at all. Leonitine is the amazing one, he almost said, but held his tongue. Saying such a thing wouldn't help.

"Because, you know, I've been eating Hans' meals for a few days now, and they keep getting better every day. Isn't that amazing?"

Laughing heartily, Leonitine drained the broth from her bowl.

Now that he thought about it, it might be true. He could feel that today's dish was better than yesterday's.

"Hans might not realize it, but Shinobu drank all the broth today."

"Really?"

Looking at it, he saw that Shinobu's bowl was indeed empty. The way she ate was so clean that it looked like it didn't need to be washed. He was sure that some broth had been left in the bowls of the previous meals.

"Was it just that you were hungrier today?"

When he asked tentatively, Shinobu shook her head slightly. Seeing this, Taisyo's face became unusually serious.

"Hans, at the ryotei Yuki-tsuna where I trained, 'Shinobu's leftovers' were greatly feared."

"Shinobu's leftovers?"

"Yeah. The great-grandfather of Yuki-tsuna was known as 'the tongue of the gods' for his sharp sense of taste, and Shinobu inherited that the most in the family. When even a confident dish was left uneaten by Shinobu, everyone in the kitchen would desperately try to figure out the cause."

Shinobu, with a red face, pinched Taisyo's upper arm. They seemed to have a good relationship, almost like siblings.

"Your meal has definitely improved a lot from yesterday. So don't worry."

"But Shinobu..."

She didn't say it was delicious, he was about to say, but Taisyo laughed.

"If the Hans who started aiming to be a cook last year could get a 'delicious' from Shinobu, I'd have no standing."

"What do you mean?"

"It took me five years to get a 'delicious' for the meal."

Feeling a cold sweat trickle down his spine at the hidden intensity in Taisyo's smiling response, Hans realized it had taken Taisyo the same amount of time to get to where he was now.

Strangely, he didn't feel discouraged. On the contrary, it felt like a weight had been lifted.

Until now, he had no one to compare himself to.

That's why he had developed a strange sense of competition with the efficient Leonitine.

He had no yardstick to measure how long it took to become a full-fledged cook, which was the source of his anxiety and lack of confidence.

He should have asked how long it took for those who had become cooks before him, whether it was five years or ten.

Suddenly, it felt like the fog had cleared in front of his eyes.

"Hans, you suddenly look much better."

Eifa laughed as she served herself another egg. This was the first time Eifa had asked for a second helping.

A small thing, but it made him feel lighter. He felt motivated to keep going.

"By the way, did Hans make up with his father?"

Caught off guard by Leonitine's sudden question, he almost choked. The broth had gone down the wrong pipe.

"What do you mean, out of the blue?"

"Well, on the way here today, I saw Gernot Naples with his brother."

"Oh, those two finally reunited, huh."

"So I thought maybe Hans' situation might have improved."

Hans could only respond with a wry smile.

Although he went home every day, he hadn't spoken to his father, Laurenz, in a while. It was more like a war than a quarrel. Both Laurenz and Hans were stubborn, and there was no sign of either of them budging.

His kind-hearted brother, a glassmaker, kept his distance to avoid getting caught in the middle, and the house had become a bit of a battlefield.

The cause was Hans' decision to quit the guard and become a cook.

Laurenz seemed to view this as a form of running away. While he didn't expect Laurenz to bless his career change, he wished he could be left alone, but Laurenz kept throwing sarcastic questions at him, and Hans finally lost his patience.

"...It looks like it will take a bit longer."

"Well, I'll take my time with it."

He sipped the remaining broth in his bowl. As Shinobu had said, it was a bit too salty. How could he make it smoother? He tried combining different flavors in his head, but no solution came to mind. What kind of flavor would result from combining different broths?

This is what training is, he thought.

Finding his own problems and figuring out how to solve them in his daily work. The clues were already given. He had to build on them one by one.

"Oh, by the way, there's one more dish today."

Shinobu took a container from the refrigerator. This was also magic from the other world.

"It's a soft-boiled egg marinated in braised pork belly broth!"

Leonitine's exclamation of how delicious it looked and Eifa's scream overlapped. Eifa, who had already eaten three eggs today, was probably a bit hard-pressed.

When he cut the egg in half with his chopsticks, the runny yolk almost spilled onto the plate. The plate Shinobu had prepared for the soft-boiled egg was a light green, which complemented the color of the yolk.

Cooking is also about enjoying with the eyes, he thought as he brought it to his mouth, and the rich flavor of the egg spread.

The creamy yolk and the deep flavor of the braised pork belly that had seeped into the white complemented each other, enveloping his tongue smoothly.

"Delicious."

He muttered, then looked at his empty oden bowl.

He wanted to hear the word "delicious" from someone. But he wanted it to be a natural expression, not an evaluation of his efforts, but a sign that the dish had made someone happy.

He served himself another potato from the oden, added some mustard, and took a bite.

The first day he came to the izakaya Nobu, he was moved by this dish.

Actually, from that day on, he had the idea of becoming a cook. He wanted others to experience the happiness he felt from eating delicious food.

"Soft-boiled eggs are great. They're perfect with a drink."

"Ugh... I'm going to eat another egg!"

"Hey, that egg was the one I was aiming for, Eifa!"

Watching the three of them noisily fighting over the soft-boiled eggs, Taisyo and Hans nodded at each other.

Coming to this shop was a good decision.

Today, he would try to make something for Laurenz. With that thought in mind, Hans began preparing for the opening of the shop.