Chapter 17: The Magic Sauce

Chapter 17:
The Magic Sauce

 

THE HOUSE WAS low on food, so I decided to eat lunch out. Noela and I made our way to the Rabbit Tavern, where we’d delivered the dish-soap prototype the other day.

As soon as we entered, the barmaid Rena greeted us. “Welcome, Mr. Pharmacist, Li’l Wolf!” Noela nodded, seeming happy that Rena used the nickname that the drugstore customers had started calling her.

Hrm…wait a second. It’s midday, but we’re the only people here. It’s not like the Rabbit Tavern’s always packed, but it’s rarely this empty.

When Rena came by our table, I gave her our order. “Quiet today, huh?”

“Ah…ha ha ha…! More like recently.”

“Really? It’s been like this for a while?”

Rena grimaced and nodded. “It’s that new restaurant—Combdale, I think it’s called. They supposedly have some extremely delicious meat dishes on the menu.”

On my way to the Rabbit Tavern, I’d picked up the pleasant scent of cooking meat. I guess that must’ve come from the new joint.

Noela began to drool, seemingly remembering Combdale’s aroma as well. What a handful. I took out my handkerchief and wiped her mouth.

“So, Combdale’s made it tough for you guys?”

“Exactly. They get even busier at night. More and more folks go there just to drink.”

In other words, Combdale was competing in the exact same niche as the Rabbit Tavern.

“Dad’s down in the dumps these days,” Rena added. I noticed him hunched over the counter, looking completely downtrodden.

“Rabbit Tavern food tasty!”

I also liked the food here quite a bit. The Rabbit Tavern’s menu might’ve seemed a little plain compared to the decadent meat over at Combdale, but it was consistent and delicious.

“Thanks, Li’l Wolf,” replied Rena. “It’s not like we’re getting zero business. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

So she said, but even I could tell that Rena was down.

“Combdale’s owner came by once. He wanted to buy the whole tavern from us. Of course, Dad refused. When he left, the guy said he’d make sure we regretted turning down his offer.” Unable to hold back tears any longer, Rena started to cry freely. “I just…I… What’re we supposed to do? Th-the Rabbit Tavern’s always been here! We could never sell it. What would we even do without it?”

“Grrr! Rena feel better!” Noela gently stroked the barmaid’s head.

Rena hugged the werewolf girl tightly in return. “Thanks, Li’l Wolf.”

Probably sensing that something was wrong with his daughter, the owner approached us. He looked to be in his late thirties, and he was as big as a bear.

“Sorry, Mr. Pharmacist. Looks like my daughter let the cat out of the bag.”

“Don’t apologize,” I replied. “It seems like you guys are in a tough spot.”

He let out a pained laugh. “Combdale’s main location is in the capital, you see. They’re going to towns all over, opening new spots.”

“Which is why they’re in Kalta…?”

“Yeah. Thing is, they never used to serve booze.”

Selling alcohol at only this location was clearly a move to crush their competition. I get it, business is business, but this still seems shady.

The front bell rang, and another guest came in.

“Welcome!” exclaimed Rena’s father.

“My, oh, my. I see this place is as messy as ever.”

The visitor had an impressive mustache; I’d definitely have nicknamed him something snooty like “Pierre.”

“I can see why you have no customers,” guy-I-thought-of-as-Pierre said bluntly.

The Rabbit Tavern’s owner shot him a glare. “Why’re you here? Trying to buy us out again?”

“No, not at all! That boat’s long since sailed,” Pierre replied. “I’m here on business. You see, despite what you may think of me, I find your cooking impressive. What would you say to working at Combdale?”

Obviously, if Rena’s father went to work for Pierre, the Rabbit Tavern would be no more. Okay, this guy’s enjoying this way too much, with that conniving grin. I was just an observer, and even I was getting pissed.

“There’s no point in sticking with a restaurant that won’t last, right?” Pierre added.

“It’s not just about profit,” Rena’s father replied. “I’ve poured my everything into this place. I won’t shutter it so easily. Get outta here.”

Pierre chuckled. “You’ll come to regret this, sir. ‘If only I’d sold the tavern back then,’ you’ll say to yourself! It won’t be long until you come begging me to hire you. Until then, good luck.” Pierre waved and exited the Rabbit Tavern.

“Do you have a plan, Dad…?”

The owner sighed and hung his head.

I totally understand, man. I own Kirio Drugs, after all. If someone told me to sell my store, I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t agree. It wasn’t about the cash. The drugstore was Noela and Mina’s home, and it was full of all kinds of memories I’d shared with the townsfolk.

“Is there nothing you can do, Mr. Pharmacist…?” Rena asked.

“Grrr…Noela ask too, Master.”

Both girls looked up at me.

“I really like this place, you know,” I reassured them. “I don’t want it to go out of business.”

Still, at the end of the day, food was totally out of my wheelhouse. Combdale uses meat’s delicious scent to lure people in. I get why it’s tempting.

“Wait,” I said to myself. “Meat’s scent…?”

It was said that a human’s sense of taste was more closely tied to smell than any other sense. Meat and grease smelled great, but it wasn’t like you wanted to smell them constantly, or eat the same thing every day.

“I wonder…”

“Mr. Pharmacist, do you have an idea?” inquired Rena.

“I do. Just the other day, I got my hands on a bunch of rokushou nuts. Think you could use them?”

“Where’d you get such a gourmet ingredient? Rokushou nuts take a long time to prepare. They’re typically used to make sauces, but even with the right ingredients, if you don’t know the recipe…”

So, Rena’s father can’t make rokushou-nut sauce?

The older man let out a small sigh. “Although I do have a recipe, making the sauce without losing the nuts’ flavor is really difficult.”

I nodded, thinking. Ever since my little run-in with the kodola, the dragon dropped by once every three days to deliver rokushou nuts. They may have been a “gourmet ingredient,” but I had plenty. We could afford to make mistakes. Plus, I had my medicine-making skill. To me, difficult recipes were nothing.

“In that case, leave it to me,” I said. “Focus on coming up with a recipe to beat the new joint.”

As soon as I left the Rabbit Tavern, Rena called out from behind me. “Didn’t you drop in to have lunch, Mr. Pharmacist?”

“Look, I can do that later! I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

I turned around to see Noela with Rena, waving at me. She clearly had no intention of tagging along. She must really want lunch.

I headed back home quickly, holing up in the laboratory so I could use the rokushou nuts. With my medicine-making skill—which honestly felt like cheating—I had no issue cooking the supposedly impossible-to-make sauce.

 

Rokushou Sauce: Gourmet sauce made of rokushou nuts. Rich, unique aroma. Sour flavor. Refreshing aftertaste. Even the king himself rarely has a chance to enjoy it.

 

“All right. Now we can show Pierre what’s what!”

 

Meanwhile, across town…

 

Kalta’s new Combdale location was doing excellent business. Pierre—or, as he was actually called, Fernando—sat and counted his earnings from the restaurant. He thoughtfully stroked his curly mustache.

“If the numbers stay like this for the next few days, that cruddy little Rabbit Tavern doesn’t stand a chance,” he smiled. “Hee hee hee!”

Once the Rabbit Tavern closed, Combdale would be the only eatery left in town. When it came to villages in the middle of nowhere, there was never much competition, which made it easy to monopolize diners once other restaurants shuttered.

Earlier, Fernando had declared victory to the Rabbit Tavern’s owner. He’d asked whether the man would like to work for Combdale, but he’d known full well that his rival would turn him down.

“I can just imagine him caving once things get a little bit worse for him,” Fernando mused. “I wonder how he’ll feel about coming to beg after turning me down once already. Hee hee hee…!”

However, things changed over the next few days. Curious about profits at Combdale’s Kalta location, Fernando dropped in to see what was going on.

“Hrm. Business seems to have leveled off,” Fernando remarked to the manager.

Combdale’s manager could only respond with a shrug. They’d advertised in nearby towns, so there should have still been room for growth. At lunch, however, no guests had lined up. The nearly fifty empty seats inside Combdale’s dining room stood out like a sore thumb.

Things like this were bound to happen occasionally, since people don’t eat out every day—or that was how Fernando explained the situation in his head. But for the next three days, the number of guests dropped off sharply. Not just during the day, either, but also at night.

That, of course, meant that profits went down. What was going on?

For the first time since declaring victory over the Rabbit Tavern, Fernando decided to take a walk through Kalta. As he walked, he could made out some delicious aroma wafting through the air of the tiny, podunk town.

“W-wait. No way!”

There was no mistaking that smell. The rich scent resurrected memories deep inside him—memories of an incredible sauce he’d encountered at an aristocratic dinner party.

A famous chef belonging to the palace staff had made that sauce. He’d told no one its secret, and left no recipe behind before passing away. The king was said to have only a small amount stored, and he served it at only the most important occasions.

Handling rokushou nuts was exceptionally difficult. Even the most talented chefs were often incapable of preparing them without ruining their rich flavor. Whenever anyone attempted to make the royal chef’s sauce, it wound up being a pale imitation or worse.

Fernando could tell that the aroma he inhaled was the real deal. “Wh-who made that sauce?!”

Following the scent’s trail, he eventually reached a line of villagers in front of the tacky Rabbit Tavern.

“I-Impossible!” However many times Fernando rubbed his eyes, reality failed to change. Ignoring the line of villagers, he strode into the tavern.

The thirty-or-so seats inside were packed. The manager’s daughter, along with the beast girl and young man who’d been there the other day, rushed around.

“Ah, if it ain’t old Pierre,” said the young man, a dirty plate in his hand. “If you want a bite, you gotta line up with the rest! You cut in front, right?”

“Urgh!”

Frowning, Fernando made his way to the back of the line. How had this happened? The Rabbit Tavern had been on the verge of closing, and yet now here it was, more alive than ever. It was his responsibility to learn exactly what had happened.

After a long wait, Fernando’s turn finally arrived, and the manager’s daughter guided him to his seat.

“We’re not letting you speak rudely to us anymore,” she cautioned him. “May I have your order, Mr. Pierre?”

“Who the hell is Pierre?” he retorted. “Er…you’re serving rokushou sauce, right? Give me something with that on it.”

The young woman nodded and turned around, giving the order to the manager behind the counter. The black-haired young man soon came out with Fernando’s food. He set down a plate of steamed chicken, then poured on some light-red sauce.

“Sorry for the wait, Pierre.”

“Again, who the bloody hell is Pierre?”

It didn’t take the dish’s aroma long to find its way into Fernando’s nostrils. Unable to hold himself back, he swallowed loudly.

He’d caught its scent on his way to the Rabbit Tavern, but experiencing the rokushou sauce up close was entirely different. Its smell was an aromatic explosion.

Fernando stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork and took a bite. His nose filled with the rich scent. The sour tang of the sauce cooled the back of his tongue.

“Mm-mmm…” Fernando had never tasted steamed chicken this delicious in his entire life. His fork just wouldn’t stop moving.

“Hey, Pierre. You’re gonna choke if you keep shoveling it down that fast.”

Rokushou sauce had another name. Because it went with pretty much any meal, people referred to it as the “magic sauce.”

Before long, Fernando had torn through the chicken he’d ordered. Finally able to wrest his attention away from his plate, he looked at the diners around him.

Combdale’s diners tended to be young men. Because they served meat dishes with greasy sauces to match, the food was heavy, and nobody really ate a whole lot there. However, the guests here at the Rabbit Tavern were of all demographics—young, old, men, women.

Thanks to the chicken’s rich, sour flavor, they couldn’t help wanting to eat as much as possible. The meal complemented alcohol perfectly; it even went well with bread. Plus, a single dish cost a measly five hundred rin. Selling rokushou sauce at that price was revolutionary.

“Wh-who cooked this rokushou…no, this revolutionary sauce? Nobody should be able to make it anymore! Was it you, Mr. Manager?!”

One glance told Fernando no. If the Rabbit Tavern’s manager could make rokushou sauce this whole time, he would’ve served it a while ago. For the same reason, it was unlikely that the manager’s daughter had anything to do with it.

That meant it had to be the young man who’d also been there the other day. “You’re the one who cooked the rokushou nut sauce?”

“Hmm, I wonder,” the young man shrugged.

“Well, let’s strike a deal! I’ll buy a single bottle of your revolutionary sauce for fifty thousand rin! How about that? Isn’t that a great offer? Quite a price, right?”

“What’s with you guys and the word ‘revolutionary’?” the young man muttered. Grinning, he added, “Look, Pierre. I made this sauce for the Rabbit Tavern. If you want some, you’re gonna have to ask the manager and his daughter. Hey, maybe if you grovel, they’ll share it. Not everything in the world can be bought with cash, buddy.”

Slam! Fernando smacked the table. “Damn it all!” He forced the rest of the meal down his throat.

“Delicious, right?” the barmaid asked Fernando as she collected the bill.

“Nnnggghhh!” Fernando threw the money at her and exited quickly, only to realize that he’d left his bag behind.

“Wait, Pierre!” The beast girl trotted out of the Rabbit Tavern with Fernando’s bag. “Forget.”

“Oh. Thanks for bringing it out.”

His attempt to pat the charming beast girl’s head was met with resistance. She slapped his hand away. “No touch, Pierre. Harassment!”

“You damn beastling!” Fernando remarked under his breath.

But apparently he wasn’t quiet enough. “Noela not beastling!” she yelled while kicking him hard in the shin.

“Gah!” Fernando crouched in pain as the beastling fled the scene. “What did I do to deserve this…?”

This was all because that young man had made rokushou sauce. He’d said something about money not being the answer to everything, but that wasn’t true. Everyone loved money—that was a simple fact.

Therefore, Fernando prepared a large sum of cash. It was one thing to say you’d pay fifty thousand rin, but it was something else entirely to offer someone the cash in person. To sweeten the deal a little, he added an extra thirty thousand rin on top.

Fernando waited in the shadows for the young man to leave, planning to negotiate after the tavern closed. He’d gone out of his way to prepare a backup plan as well. There was no way his strategy would fail.

“Heh heh! Once I get my hands on that sauce, the Rabbit Tavern will be no more!”

Soon, the black-haired young man left the restaurant.

“Greetings! Lunch truly was wonderful.”

“Gah! Pierre’s back,” the young man mumbled. “What do you want?”

“About what we discussed earlier…” Fernando flashed his money bag. “How about it? A cool fifty thousand rin. I even have the cash here with me. What do you say to parting with a bottle of the sauce?”

The young man didn’t appear remotely interested. He even yawned. “Didn’t I tell you already? It’s not for sale.”

“Then what do you say to sixty thousand rin? Actually, no. Seventy thousand! Wait, make it eighty thousand!”

The young man’s reaction didn’t change, signaling to Fernando that now was the time for his trump card. Tossing the bag away, he smoothly transitioned to his hands and knees, bowing his head.

“Please, sell me the sauce! I beg you!”

“Ah, perfect timing!” The statement’s meaning wasn’t clear until the young man suddenly sat on Fernando’s back, saying, “It’s been a long day, and I’m tired. Been wanting a comfy chair to sit on.”

“You’re sitting on me?!”

Reiji stretched. “Didja say something?” he asked the living chair.

“Uh…no, of course not. So, um…how much do you want for the sauce?”

“I’d sell it for a million rin.”

“A-a million?” In other words, the young man had no intention of parting with it. “Well, c-could you at least tell me where you got the rokushou nuts?”

“Oh, well, I’m friends with this great guy who drops in every morning to leave some. I give him a potion as thanks, and he just keeps coming back.”

“At least introduce me to your friend!” Fernando begged, his forehead against the ground.

However, the young man’s reply wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “I mean, sure, but he’s a literal monster. A really rare species, too. If you aren’t careful, he might eat you.”

Meeting a dead end, Fernando smacked the ground. “Damn it all!”

As long as the Rabbit Tavern had that sauce, it was game over for him.

The young man finally rose to his feet, looking down at the sobbing “chair.”

“C’mon. Aren’t you a grown man? Why’re you crying? Look—I’ll give you this, so cheer up, okay?”

Fernando took the bag. It didn’t take him long to recognize, based on smell alone, what the gift was: steamed chicken in rokushou sauce.

“See ya.” The young man left.

Fernando devoured the chicken. “Damn it… It’s so good!”

Kalta’s Combdale location had completely and utterly lost to the Rabbit Tavern and the young man’s sauce. The chain’s sales gradually declined, and they never managed to monopolize the market the way they’d hoped.

They had enough customers to stay open, but the Rabbit Tavern quickly took back the throne.