Chapter 8

"Boss, the usual." Just past six, Inari walked in. However, today's Inari was slightly different from yesterday. Kuroki Ryuji noticed a faint black mark on his face, but it was very light. If Kuroki Ryuji hadn't looked closely, he probably wouldn't have seen it.

"Sure." Kuroki Ryuji nodded and took out the natto jar from the cabinet. After all, Inari only needed this; he didn't need anything else.

"Boss, did someone wet their pants here?" Inari frowned slightly and glanced at the entrance with disdain.

"Lord Inari, your nose is that sensitive?" Kuroki Ryuji was speechless. Inari's action made Kuroki Ryuji suspect that perhaps Inari was actually a dog-like yokai.

But no one had ever said that foxes had a worse sense of smell than dogs, so it seemed to be more of a knowledge gap on his part.

"Of course, after all, I am a god." Inari found a seat and sat down. Kuroki Ryuji noticed that this cleanliness-obsessed fox sat as far away from the urine smell as possible.

"Yesterday, two delinquents with cloudy minds came to my izakaya to cause trouble, but Miss Slit-Mouth happened to come in, so she helped me deal with them." Kuroki Ryuji shrugged and brought over a bucket, then mopped the floor.

"Slit-Mouth, that little one was quite lucky yesterday, but mopping like this won't work. I'll give you something; light it up." Inari covered his nose and placed a twig on the table.

"Sure, thank you, Lord Inari." Kuroki Ryuji took the twig. He couldn't smell anything, but since the customer had pointed out the problem and provided a solution, it would be inappropriate not to do anything.

The twig was light, similar to an ordinary twig, and quite thin. Kuroki Ryuji lit it with a lighter, and the twig emitted a white smoke. Kuroki Ryuji smelled a scent similar to sandalwood.

"Phew, much better now." Inari lowered his hand from his nose and sighed in satisfaction.

"How long will this burn?" Kuroki Ryuji was curious. He had to admit that the scent of the twig was wonderful, and the key was that it didn't produce an open flame, much like mosquito coils.

"About a week if you burn this one continuously." Inari gave a straightforward answer.

"Alright, I'll go make your natto rice bowl." Kuroki Ryuji naturally placed the twig in a small incense burner, which he had bought at a second-hand market.

"You take things for granted." Inari glanced at Kuroki Ryuji.

"Of course, would Lord Inari use something that someone else has used?" Kuroki Ryuji took the natto jar from the cabinet and started preparing the natto rice bowl for Inari.

"Hmm, you have a point. I wouldn't use it either." Inari nodded.

"Would Lord Inari like to try the shrimp paste I've been making recently?" Kuroki Ryuji, looking at the finished natto rice bowl, couldn't help but ask.

"Shrimp paste? Give me a small dish of it." Inari tapped his fingers on the table. He wasn't a yokai who liked to try new things, but he was willing to try anything from Kuroki Ryuji.

"Sure." Kuroki Ryuji took another jar from the cabinet, scooped out a small amount of the purplish-red, sticky shrimp paste with a spoon, and served it along with the natto rice bowl to Inari.

"It looks good." Inari smiled gently and picked up his chopsticks to mix the natto.

Kuroki Ryuji watched from the side, saying nothing. He had put a lot of effort into making this shrimp paste, using carefully selected shrimp, but he didn't know how Lord Inari would find it.

However, Kuroki Ryuji didn't have the habit of watching customers eat, as it was impolite, so he took out a small pot he had left in the cabinet that morning.

"Almost done." Kuroki Ryuji opened the pot and saw that it had turned a coffee color.

Kuroki Ryuji pressed it with a spoon, and it felt like pressing on jelly.

Kuroki Ryuji nodded in satisfaction. Now it had reached the state he needed.

"Still need one or two more hours." Kuroki Ryuji glanced at the clock on the kitchen stove.

"Are you still going to feed those little ones?" Inari took a bite of the natto rice bowl and then sipped the sake in his cup.

"Yep, I've gotten used to it." Kuroki Ryuji nodded and picked up a knife. Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to carve a small statue.

"If I say you did a good job, would you think I'm just being polite?" Inari tasted the shrimp paste, and his expression didn't change.

Kuroki Ryuji pinched his brow. It was really something, this cleanliness-obsessed fox had even learned to speak like him.

"It's not that, but is it really okay for Lord Inari to come here every day to eat?" Chen Ze glanced at Inari. This guy had a large shrine but often came here to eat.

He wondered what the people who worshipped Inari thought.

"What's the problem? I don't have much to do, so I just wander around. It's rare to find a place where I can eat in peace." Inari finished the remaining shrimp paste and focused on his natto rice bowl.

"Besides, I don't really like the offerings they give me, and no one has ever offered me natto rice bowl." Inari ate slowly.

He would pull a chopstick of natto, put it back, pull it again, and put it back again. Inari seemed to particularly enjoy watching the natto strings.

This made Kuroki Ryuji suspect how many hidden quirks Inari had.

But Kuroki Ryuji didn't care. After running the izakaya for so long, he had become used to the quirks of some customers.

Compared to Inari, some customers' quirks made Kuroki Ryuji want to call the mental hospital to ask if any patients had escaped.

"It's getting cold." Inari's hand paused with the chopsticks.

"Yep." Kuroki Ryuji nodded. The temperature was indeed cold today.

He had installed heating equipment in the izakaya; otherwise, no customers would come to a cold place.

"It's snowing." Inari added.