Chapter 9: “Noela Hate Fish!”

Chapter 9:
“Noela Hate Fish!”

 

THIS WORLD’S INHABITANTS mostly boiled or fried fish; there was no tradition of eating it raw. That’d been the case ever since I arrived in Kalta, and frankly, I had a hankering for raw fish—not fried dried fish but proper sashimi. (Craving carefully rolled sushi would’ve been greedy.)

After lunch, Mina peered into the fridge Paula and I had made and posed a question. “What would you like for dinner, Mr. Reiji?”

“Sashimi.”

“What’s that?”

I figured she wouldn’t know. “Bite-sized pieces of fresh fish, basically.”

“Do you fry it?”

“Nope. You eat it raw.”

“That’ll upset your stomach.”

“Not if it’s fresh.”

“Hrm?” Mina gave me a confused look.

I understood. If you’d never had sashimi, it was hard to imagine. Even the Rabbit Tavern usually served fried or boiled seafood.

“Let’s fry some dried fish for dinner,” Mina suggested.

No, Mina! That’s all wrong. I didn’t actually say that aloud, though. Mina was the one cooking, after all; I didn’t want to burden her with my selfishness.

The workday ended. Come evening, I smelled the delicious scent of fried fish. Noela, who was watching me tidy the drugstore, also caught the scent. She tilted her head. “Groo? Today fish?”

“Smells like it.”

“Noela hate fish! Want meat!”

“Don’t be like that.”

Now that I thought about it, Noela really wasn’t a seafood person. It made sense that a werewolf preferred meat, but… “How come you hate fish, Noela?”

“Hate bones.”

Ah. When I was a little kid, I’d been like that too. It was simple to debone fish if you knew where their bones were, but if you tried to eat them as fast as meat, the bones would definitely get stuck in your throat and hurt you. On top of that, deboning fish was just extra work.

“Meat tasty taste. Fish different.”

That’s really not true. Wait, since she’s a werewolf, is it possible that she prefers raw meat? When we’d held our riverside barbecue, Noela had grabbed and eaten a slice of meat basically seconds after we started cooking it.

Heh heh… I think I’ve got a shot. I’ll make Noela my partner in crime! “Have you ever had fish sashimi, Noela?”

“Tasty taste?”

“Yeah, super tasty! Sashimi’s so sweet, it fools you into thinking you’re eating meat. The fat content depends on the season, but as soon as you put a piece in your mouth, the fat melts away.”

As I described the best sashimi I’d ever eaten on Earth, Noela started to drool. “Master…sashimi smelly?”

“Not when it’s fresh.” Raw fish from Vivi’s lake smelled, so serving ocean fish as sashimi would make the most sense.

“Bones?”

“Not in sashimi.” If you tried to fillet bony river fish to serve as sashimi, the pieces would be way too small. Noela seemed fascinated. “Want to try some sashimi, fluffball?”

“Yeah!”

Perfect. I’ve got her on my side.

 

***

 

The next day, I found Mina and suggested riding Griffy to the nearby port town, San Logro.

“Noela feels like sampling fish for once,” I explained. “This could be a great chance to get her to chill out about eating it.”

Mina glanced at Noela. Last night, she’d barely touched the fish fillets Mina served; she wouldn’t take any bites from spots near bones in case more bones were hidden within. Once I helped the werewolf girl enjoy raw fish, though, she’d turn over a new leaf.

“You’re right—this could be a good opportunity!” Mina agreed. “I’d like to eat fresh fish as well.”

“Then it’s decided. On our next day off, let’s go back to San Logro.”

With that, I’d successfully roped everyone into my selfish sashimi craving.

 

***

 

On the morning of our next day off, Mina, Noela, and I hopped on Griffy and made our way toward San Logro. Unfortunately, Griffy couldn’t enter the town, since the locals might attack a griffin. We had it wait a short distance away.

“Kyuu! Kyuu!” Griffy shrieked sadly as we left.

“Noela bring back sashimi, Griffy. Hang tight!” Noela said.

“Kyuuuuu…” Looking downcast, Griffy turned and hid in the forest.

No worries, buddy. We’ll get you some treats.

After walking down the road for about an hour, we finally arrived in San Logro. I could smell the seashore, and now and then I heard seagulls.

San Logro’s hustle and bustle was pretty much picture-perfect for a port town; all kinds of people were going to and fro. The last time the three of us had visited, we’d done barely any sightseeing, so we took our time looking at the ships on the pier.

“That’s a fishing boat,” I told Noela.

“Wow! Look strong.”

“It doesn’t fight.”

“Groo?” Noela cocked her head.

Mina giggled warmly, holding her wide-brimmed, ladylike hat so it didn’t blow away.

A guy who looked like a fisherman was cleaning the boat interior. I get why a landlocked town’s residents wouldn’t eat raw fish. But what about a fisherman here in San Logro?

“Um, excuse me,” I called. “Could I have a moment?”

“Hrm? What can I do ya for, lad?”

“Do you know what species of fish is best for sashimi?”

“‘Sasheemee’? Whazzat?”

“A fish fillet you eat raw and—”

The fisherman’s hands froze. He peered at me cautiously. “Boy, are you talkin’ about you-know-what?”

I nodded, smiling at him. “Yup. That’s the stuff.” I knew it! Fishermen have the best fresh fish at their fingertips. Of course they know how delicious sashimi is!

The fisherman smirked. “Have ya said a word about it to anyone else?”

“Just these two young ladies.”

“Good.” He nodded. “Don’t gossip too much about it. If too many folks get to learnin’ about it, war’ll break out!”

Okay, maybe you’re exaggerating a little? Sashimi isn’t some kind of ancient weapon.

“I’m looking for a restaurant or something where I could order some,” I added.

“Between you and me, west from the main street, there’s an old pub,” the fisherman told me. “It’s the sorta back-alley joint only local fishermen know about. Head there an’ say Yazan the fisherman sent ya. I reckon they’ll give ya whatcha want.”

I take it this fisherman past his prime is Yazan. Man, it sounds like we’ll be doing something really sketchy. I hope the stuff in the pub actually turns out to be sashimi.

“Thanks very much,” I told Yazan, and we left the port.

Mina and Noela looked nervous.

“I had no idea sashimi was worth starting a war over, Mr. Reiji!” Mina exclaimed.

The sashimi I’ve had never caused wars. Little squabbles, at worst.

“Noela still want.”

Me too, fluffball.

We headed west off the main street into a narrow alleyway, as Yazan had instructed, and discovered a small pub.

This is it. The pub looked old, as Yazan said; even the sign out front was unreadable. Who knows what this place is called?

It was still morning, but since we’d gotten up early, I was already starving. Beside me, Noela’s stomach let out a familiar, laser-gun growl.

“Somebody’s hungry.”

“Hurry, Master! Noela want sashimi!”

The pub’s closed door made barging in seem extra awkward. I peeked into the window near us; no one appeared to be sitting inside. If this place serves fishermen, it might already be closed.

I tried knocking first. Since there was no response, I placed my hand on the door and slowly pushed it open.

A man with gray hair stood behind the counter. He honestly looked just like an old-fashioned gentleman, mustache and all. If this pub had smelled like coffee and had jazz playing in the background, it would’ve been a perfect café.

“Well, look at this. New faces!” he said. “I apologize, but we’re closed for today.”

“Oh, really? Sorry for barging in like this,” I replied. “I heard about this place from Yazan the fisherman.”

The gentleman paused. “Yazan, you say?”

Ah, did I pique his interest? I nodded. “He told me about this pub because I wanted to eat a certain dish.”

“Is that so? Please forgive me! I had no idea.”

“No, no! It’s fine.” I waved away his apology.

“Please, have a seat. If Yazan told you about this place, I can’t very well turn you away!”

Noela, Mina, and I took him up on his offer, sitting at the bar. We glanced at one another. Who the heck is Yazan?

“I’m terribly sorry to make you go out of your way,” Mina told the fellow.

“Noela want eat sashimi!” The hungry monster that was Noela snorted loudly, as if attempting to ingest the smell of the pub itself.

“In San Logro, we call this dish ‘katsugyo,’” the old gentleman revealed.

That’s literally “live fish” in Japanese. “Could you serve us three varieties you recommend?”

“Of course!”

The gentleman clearly prepared the pub’s sashimi himself; his knifework was impeccable. He carved an unfamiliar red fish, sliced up a green fish, and then set the first plate of translucent white sashimi on the bar.

“This fish, Master?”

“Yup.”

“So, this is what sashimi looks like,” Mina murmured.

Noela stared at the plate curiously and then leaned closer to smell it. She sprinkled salt on the sashimi at the plate’s edge and took a bite. “Groo? Arrooooo! Crunchy, tasty, no bones!”

“Isn’t it good, Miss Fluffball?” The older gentleman smiled.

“Groo! Compliments to chef!”

Acting like a sashimi connoisseur, are you?

“I’ve done this for quite a long time,” the gentleman replied.

He’s super humble.

Mina took a bite of sashimi herself. She had the same reaction as Noela. “This is raw fish…? But it’s delicious!”

“Indeed! The fish is so fresh, it can be eaten uncooked,” the gentleman explained.

Noela was wolfing the sashimi down, so I rushed to eat some before it all disappeared. Yeah, this is delish. It’s been ages since I had good sashimi.

“Do you drink, lad? How about a glass of white wine?”

“Ah, sure. Just a little.”

I slowly indulged in the wine as I ate. It complemented the fish’s savory aftertaste; the delicious flavors brought out the best in each other.

“Noela drink.”

“Not wine, you’re not.”

“Arroo…”

Although I was fine with visiting San Logro for sashimi, I wondered whether we could figure out a way to import fresh fish to Kalta. If so, restaurants like the Rabbit Tavern could help popularize sashimi, and I’d be able to eat it whenever.

“I need to discuss something with you, sir,” I told the gentleman. “There’s a little town called Kalta north of here.”

“Now, that brings me back! I’m actually from Kalta.”

“What a coincidence!” Mina piped up warmly.

Right. I totally forgot that Kalta is Mina’s hometown.

“Did something happen there?” the gentleman asked.

“Not really. But I was wondering whether we could find a way to eat katsugyo there too.”

“Ha ha ha! Now, that’s a good one, lad. You can’t make fish into katsugyo if it’s not fresh.”

“So, what if we could keep it fresh?”

“That’s…”

“Impossible? Is it really?” My eyes sparkled as I pulled two products from my bag. “This right here is a preservative. It keeps food from rotting. And this icy gel chills anything you apply it to.”

The preservative was designed to go in a refrigerator, but someone transporting fresh fish could just put it in a crate. If you applied the icy gel inside the crate as well, you’d have a makeshift fridge.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I think we could use these products to ship fresh fish from San Logro to Kalta without a significant drop in quality. If you aren’t full of hot air, that is.”

I totally understood the old gentleman’s suspicions. After all, he had no clue who I was.

“Please give them a try,” I urged. “Apply the icy gel inside a crate and add the preservative. Then, wait a day…no, two days.”

We put the preservative in a crate with some fish. (Needless to say, I purchased the fish from the pub first.) The crate was wooden, so it wasn’t airtight. That would normally have been a problem, but fortunately, the fish were wrapped in large leaves; I applied icy gel to the leaves and rewrapped them.

“That’s it?” The gentleman seemed doubtful. Nevertheless, I told him I’d be back the day after tomorrow, and we left.

“Are you certain those products will work?” Mina asked, clearly worried.

“It takes a horse and carriage one day to get from San Logro to Kalta,” I pointed out. “Or, if we’re talking about a merchant transporting inventory, it takes two days at most. That should be fine.”

If this worked as planned, we’d start a food revolution, not just in Kalta but in San Logro too.

“Noela want more sashimi.”

Fluffball’s on board. “That’s what fish really tastes like, Noela,” I reminded her.

“Fish tasty taste!”

I think the strongest selling point is that she doesn’t have to pick bones out of sashimi, but that’s hardly worth mentioning.

At Noela’s request, we ate lots of fish in San Logro. The only restaurant to offer sashimi, however, was the old pub. I guess only a handful of people have tried katsugyo.

The sun was finally setting, so we rode Griffy home.

 

***

 

Two days later, I left the drugstore to the other staff members and rode Griffy back to the pub, as I’d promised the old-fashioned gentleman.

When I went inside, I found him staring at something in his hands. “Th-this is just…”

“Pardon me,” I said. He noticed my presence. “How’d it work, sir?”

He hurried to show me the fish we’d left in the crate. “L-Look! Sure, compared to the first day, it’s a little less fresh. But just a little! And it’s been two days!” He looked at me and then the fish, bewildered.

“I’d love to try a bite.”

With his beautiful knifework, the man sliced the fish into three sections and served it as sashimi.

I bit into the first piece. “Mmm! It’s great.”

I had the gentleman take a bite too. “Delicious!”

“I do have a feeling the flavor’s ripened,” I admitted. “That’ll vary with the type of fish.”

“You’re right—it’s not rotten, but the flavor’s a bit stronger,” he mused. “So, that’s what happens if you preserve fresh fish for a couple days. This… This…”

I watched him quizzically.

“This is revolutionary! It will change everything about the fish market!”

“With the preservative and icy gel, Kalta and San Logro will be sashimi hot spots,” I agreed. Satisfied that my idea for storing fresh fish had worked, I started to leave.

“L-Lad! Let me get your name, at least!”

“Reiji! I run a drugstore in Kalta. I’ll be back!”

Mina and Noela would be so excited now that we could eat sashimi at home.

 

***

 

As I restocked the lab, I heard a booming voice from the drugstore entrance. “Yoo-hoo!”

Noela’s quiet footsteps moved toward the source of the voice. “Groo! Arrived!”

I dropped what I was doing and went to look. Vin the trader was handing Noela a wooden crate which, judging by its unique raw scent, contained the good stuff.

Noela was already excited; she probably imagined that the crate held pre-sliced sashimi. “Mina! Mina! Tasty arrived!” she cried, disappearing into the kitchen.

“Thanks, Vin.”

“No problem at all! I had to deliver something to Paula anyway, so this worked out,” the lively young man said with a grin.

I paid the delivery fee for the crate of fish, then handed Vin a package containing my “fish-market revolution kit”—preservative and icy gel. I was sending it to the old-fashioned gentleman who’d shipped us this crate of fish.

Fresh fish could be a little expensive, and since Vin brought it, we had to pay for delivery. But hey, if it meant the drugstore got regular shipments of fresh fish, then it was worth it. This really is revolutionary.

“Man, now that I can sell fish from San Logro, I’ll make extra money just by heading there for work!” Vin said with a guffaw. “Later!”

He left, driving his cart of goods toward the center of town. Apparently, he was also delivering fish to the inn’s pub, the Rabbit Tavern, and three other spots.

I knew that Rena at the Rabbit Tavern was delighted about the fresh-fish deliveries—as was Vin, obviously. If it meant I’d made so many people happy, coming up with the “fish-market revolution kit” had been worthwhile.

“Shall we have sashimi for dinner?” Mina suggested.

“Garoo!”

The gentleman from San Logro had taught Mina and a number of Kalta’s other cooks to make sashimi. When he visited town, he’d run a cooking class for anyone who wanted to learn. Not long ago, Kalta only had two options when it came to fish—fried or boiled—but now, restaurants served all kinds of sashimi dishes.

“Thanks to the fish-market revolution kit, lots of folks enjoy sashimi now, and I get to eat it whenever,” I reflected. “There’s no downside!”

It was a happy ending indeed.