Chapter 2:
Teriyaki
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The cold air poked and prodded at the man through his thick mantle as he opened the out-of-place door sitting atop the mountain.
Looks like it’s winter over there, too, he thought.
Tatsugorou let the warm air from beyond the door wash over him. He could always tell what season it was at the restaurant based on the temperature of the air coming out from beyond the door. If it was cold, that meant it was summer. If it was warm, it was winter. The strange, otherworldly contraption known as the “air conditioner” was truly a miracle of sorts. Summers were cold, and winters were warm. How magnificent!
In fact, this Restaurant to Another World couldn’t be compared to your everyday inn or tavern. Tatsugorou had many connections, which meant that he’d been able to visit all manner of royalty and nobility in their castles. Even those places stood no chance against this tiny restaurant.
“Master, I’m here,” he called.
Hating the notion of being dependent on others, Tatsugorou had taken his family’s most prized blade and set off when he was young, away from his country in the Western Continent. He depended on the sword skills that he’d spent years refining in his homeland, defeating monsters and evildoers alike for the past thirty years. Now, as he announced his presence to the master, his own country’s dialect had faded away over the years.
“Welcome!”
The once young, now middle-aged man who’d inherited the restaurant from its original, older owner greeted him in return. Upon hearing his voice, Tatsugorou immediately thought of the previous master. When Tatsugorou had first started coming here many moons ago, that man looked much older than even he did now.
“…I suppose time affects us all.” He let out a pained laugh.
Now that Tatsugorou thought about it, ten years had already passed since the new master took over the restaurant. Back then, you could still argue that he was just a young man, but now he had a look of dignity about him and the belly to back it up. His face had matured quite a bit as well.
In the ten years that had passed, old dishes that the previous master used to cook eventually vanished, replaced by new recipes and meals. Old timers Tatsugorou had gotten to know when he first started coming here stopped coming, giving way to all manner of newcomers.
“O-ho, excuse me, little lady. Just passing through.”
On his way to his normal spot, Tatsugorou slipped past a new face: a familiar-looking female adventurer with a big smile on her face as she dug into a minced meat cutlet and cabbage doused in a healthy portion of sauce. His regular seat was all the way in the back of the restaurant, closest to the kitchen. He placed down his samurai sword, his treasured partner for many years, and took a seat. Tatsugorou let out a sigh of comfort as he settled in as usual.
“…It’s been a month, eh, ‘Teriyaki’?”
The customer sitting next to him spoke. Out of everyone still coming to the restaurant, this man was the oldest of them all. The elderly gentleman wore a tattered robe of sorts, his thin body barely filling it out. Despite looking like he could break at a moment’s notice, the older man was nursing a glass filled with golden beer, enjoying the sounds of oil popping from the kitchen.
“Yeah, I’ve been busy with work. Looks like you’re doing the same as always, ‘Pork Loin Cutlet,’” Tatsugorou replied to the other regular, whom he’d known the longest of anyone here.
A tradition at the restaurant was to call each other by nicknames, typically the person’s favorite food. Nobody was quite sure who started this or when, but it quickly became the unspoken rule.
“Ha ha ha. The day I can’t drink beer or eat cutlet is the day I die!” Pork Loin Cutlet let out a hearty burp after taking a bite of his sauce-and-mustard-drenched meat. It was simultaneously gross to watch while undeniably appetizing.
Absurd. I can’t believe he’s actually a sage of great wisdom. Tatsugorou quietly laughed to himself. He knew that the poorly mannered man sitting with him, “Pork Loin Cutlet”, was none other than one of the four heroes who had led humanity to victory during the Demon War. He had mastered all kinds of magic, gathered profound knowledge, and was known by even those in the boonies as a legendary sage. He was undoubtedly a household name.
In his thirty years traveling across the world, Tatsugorou had used his sword to cut down a variety of monsters, saving towns and people everywhere as a foreign swordsman. He was fairly certain the man next to him knew his true name as well. However, none of that mattered. The only people here were a guy who loved teriyaki and another man who loved pork loin cutlet. Just two drinking buddies.
“Sir, are you ready to place your order?”
“Ah, yes. I’ll have the usual. Teriyaki chicken, please. Oh, and bring out the rice first. A side dish of pickled veggies, too. Let’s see… Some seishu as well.”
Tatsugorou gave his order to the master, who came out with just the right timing.
“Yup, you got it. The usual.”
Long since used to this, the master went to the back and quickly brought out what was asked of him.
“Here you go. A bowl of rice, some pickled vegetables, and today’s miso soup with tofu and wakame.”
The master placed the aforementioned foods on the table in front of the swordsman. The arrangement of dishes in front of Tatsugorou was perhaps the main reason why he adored this restaurant so much. He couldn’t help but nod with glee, thrilled at the sight.
Now this is what I’m talking about.
Tatsugorou quickly grabbed a pair of chopsticks, picked up the rice bowl, and took a bite. The sweet and gentle aroma of the rice spread throughout his mouth. The clear, hot, white grains he was chewing on were a far cry from the flavorless brown rice he used to eat in his homeland.
Each bite of rice served to spread its sweetness further throughout Tatsugorou’s mouth. After getting the full experience of its flavor, he swallowed it down and took a bite of the pickled vegetables off to the side. Each bite of the bran-pickled yellow radish, traditionally crafted during the winter by the craftsmen in the “shopping district,” produced a crunching noise. The strong saltiness washed away the sweetness left behind by the rice.
“Phew…” Tatsugorou let out a sigh of satisfaction without even realizing it. Unlike the Eastern Continent, the tradition of baking bread hadn’t yet spread to the west, so these flavors reminded him of his days of eating rice back at home across the ocean. While he certainly didn’t dislike the delicious white bread one could only eat here, he couldn’t help but feel that the rice was more delicious, perhaps because it reminded him of the home he hadn’t returned to since he left.
If anything, the rice here is so good that I can’t imagine returning home to a place without miso or soy sauce.
Tatsugorou continued to enjoy his rice, thinking his silly thoughts. White rice, miso soup, and pickled vegetables. It was a habit of his to enjoy these to their fullest before the main course arrived.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here’s your teriyaki chicken and seishu.”