Chapter 80: Pork Loin Cutlet

Chapter 80:
Pork Loin Cutlet

Hearing her taxi stop, Koyomi opened her eyes. She’d been thinking back on her long, long journey.

“We’re here, ma’am. The Nekoya Building near the shopping district, right?”

The cab driver smiled as he spoke.

“Yes… That’s right. Thank you.”

Coming to her senses, Koyomi looked out the window at the familiar building. She thanked the driver, pulled her wallet from her bag with her wrinkled hand, and passed him some money.

“Much obliged. Here’s your change.”

The driver, a true professional, handed Koyomi the coins and opened the door for her.

“Please consider driving with us again.”

Making sure that Koyomi had exited the taxi, the driver quickly pulled away. Koyomi watched the cab leave and then narrowed her eyes at the building in front of her.

It hasn’t changed at all.

Despite its name, the small structure’s most identifiable trait was the “Flying Puppy” sign on the first floor.

Koyomi gazed at the building nostalgically. Not a single thing had been altered since Daiki had passed away over ten years ago.

Walking down the basement steps, she found a familiar door illustrated with a cat, as well as a nearby sign that read, Closed for today. Please visit us again.

Koyomi pulled out the door’s key and slowly turned the handle. With an unlocking noise, the magic tool connected to the door temporarily deactivated.

Now then, time to head in.

The nostalgic sound of the door opening filled Koyomi’s ears.

This really is the Restaurant to Another World.

Koyomi let the unique atmosphere wash over her. Her eyes scanned the room. She spotted something and immediately froze.

That idiot grandson of mine. What in heaven’s name did he summon?!

Koyomi held her breath, eyes locked on the being with the impossibly humble presence. A regular person would have been incapable of even perceiving the creature.

At first glance, it appeared to be a young elf girl with pitch-black hair, wearing a black waitress uniform. She carried food across the room quickly and gracefully.

Koyomi kept her guard up. She knew the creature was no elf.

That thing is on the same level as Red.

Several years after the Restaurant to Another World opened, a red monster had appeared there. Koyomi was certain that the beast in front of her was of the same ilk. It was something she could never defeat.

If I make the wrong move, Nekoya…no…the entirety of Japan will be finished.

Fortunately, Black appeared to have no ill intentions and didn’t pay her any mind. It simply continued doing its job.

Figuring it was safer not to engage at all, Koyomi decided to ignore the creature. She just wished her grandson would minimize the surprises. She was in her twilight years, after all.

Oh… I mustn’t forget to return the door to normal.

If she didn’t, who could tell what Black might do? Slightly panicked, Koyomi placed her hand on the doorknob gently, activating its magic.

Immediately after casting the spell, Koyomi heard a voice call out to her.

“Welcome, ma’am! Is this your first time here?”

Koyomi would never have mistaken the horned blonde girl wearing Nekoya’s waitress uniform for anything but a demon—the very same race that Koyomi had killed hundreds, maybe thousands of. Reeling from the day’s second surprise, Koyomi mustered a smile.

“Oh, I’m…fine.” she replied. “This isn’t my first time here. It’s just…been a while, is all. I was surprised by how much has changed.”

Koyomi’s grandson had inherited Daiki’s cooking skills but not her swordsmanship. Nevertheless, Koyomi’s blood flowed through his veins, so it was incredible how poorly he seemed to sense danger. It worried her.

“Let me take you to your…”

“No need for that, young lady.”

Koyomi shook her head slightly and walked toward an old man sitting in the corner.

“Might I sit here, Pork Loin Cutlet?”

She flashed a smile at the old man enjoying his usual with a mug of beer.

His eyes opened wide. “Yomi…? You’re still…?”

It was his old comrade-in-arms. Some seventy years ago, they’d parted ways, only to reunite thirty years back. Then, a decade ago, she’d disappeared. He was obviously shocked by her sudden presence.

“Of course you can… Come, sit. Let’s enjoy ourselves.”

“You have my thanks.”

Sitting down with her old friend, Koyomi gave the demon girl her order.

“Pork loin cutlet with a large rice, please.”

That was the very first meal that Koyomi had eaten in this world. Even now, she truly believed it to be the absolute best.

“O-of course. One moment, please.”

Collecting Koyomi’s order, the demon girl ran to the kitchen right away. She seemed scared. Perhaps she sensed the overwhelming pressure and quiet, antagonistic intent dripping from Koyomi.

“Now, now. Take it easy on the lass. Times have changed,” Pork Loin Cutlet warned his old friend, smirking.

“You’re right. I know. A lot has changed over there, eh?”

Koyomi was only familiar with the state of the world at the end of the great demon war.

In other words, she knew demons only as evil beings who needed to be struck down. She found it strange that a demon was working peacefully at the restaurant.

This reminded Koyomi that the seventy years she’d spent in this world were long ones, especially for someone whose entire vocation was killing demons. Things had, of course, changed greatly over that time.

“Yes. I believe I told you a bit about it, thirty years back. A new country, the Empire, was created when the demons united with the humans. Well, that nation has become much more powerful. It’s one of the largest countries on the Eastern Continent,” Pork Loin Cutlet explained to his old friend, who only knew demons as beasts to kill or be killed by during the war. “So, demons now live together with humans in towns and villages, even in the Kingdom and the Duchy.”

The elves might see thirty years as a blip in their lives, but for humans, it’s quite a long time. I’ve gotten old.

Pork Loin Cutlet grinned. While Yomi waited for her food, he wanted to tell her about all sorts of things.

***

Pork Loin Cutlet, also known as the great sage Altorius, was one of the heroes of the great demon war. He had reunited with his old friend Yomi thirty years ago, when the Restaurant to Another World first opened.

Far, far into the past, long before the elf population had declined severely due to an unknown disease they’d brought back from the other world, they’d once tried to invade that world.

They’d brought with them a magic tool that connected the worlds. Since the other world’s society lacked magic, however, the tool simply did the rounds as an antique.

As fate—or perhaps the gods—would have it, that antique eventually fell into Yomi’s hands. At the time, she’d already spent forty years of her life in the other world and even had a grandson.

The tool was a way to connect the world she lived in to the world she’d come from. It could grant her immediate passage back and forth. Yomi had discussed the matter with her husband, Nekoya’s previous master, the only man who knew her true origins.

“In that case, how about we welcome the folks from your side as customers? I completely understand what it feels like to want to know what’s happening at home,” the previous master had said.

This seemingly out-of-the-blue suggestion was the spark that eventually became the flame. It was the first step toward creating the Restaurant to Another World.

Using her first-class magical skills and the tool, Yomi summoned to Nekoya the most talented magic user she knew—Alto, also known as Altorius.

At the time, I was stunned.

A door had suddenly appeared in his room. When he’d cautiously crossed through, he’d found Yomi waiting for him on the other side. He’d then indulged in a tremendously delicious otherworldly meal.

Altorius had experienced many mysterious things during the war. But even for him, the restaurant was a constant string of surprises. He’d thought that his old friend had passed on long ago.

Not that the following thirty years weren’t dripping with surprises, too.

Altorius knew that this restaurant’s very existence, and its many recipes, had caused all kinds of changes in his world over the past three decades—changes large and small alike, although Altorius wasn’t capable of perceiving every single one.

He knew for a fact, however, that the Empire would never have gotten its hands on cobbler’s tubers were it not for Nekoya. Without it, the nation wouldn’t have gained the power it now had.

That was a testament to the Restaurant to Another World’s influence.

Jeez. Way too much has changed since our world got involved with this place.

Keeping those thoughts buried in his heart, Pork Loin Cutlet asked his old friend a question.

“So, where have you been the last ten years? How’ve you spent your time since the previous master passed on? After you disappeared, I thought for sure that you’d left this life as well.”

“Well, I moved into my grandson’s house.”

The pair exchanged stories as if filling in blank parchment, continuing until Koyomi’s meal arrived.

As they spoke, the waitress gently placed a plate on the table before Koyomi.

“Sorry for the wait. Here’s your pork loin cutlet.”

“Oh, thank you so much.”

Perhaps thanks to her old friend, Koyomi had grown more comfortable with the situation. Now, she was able to thank the demon girl naturally.

The aromatic, freshly browned pork loin cutlet rested on netting, so as to avoid the moisture of the mountain of cut cabbage. A lemon leaned against this mountain, and a large bowl brimmed with steaming rice.

The scent of the miso soup and pickled vegetables made Koyomi narrow her eyes gleefully.

Mmm. This is how a pork loin cutlet has to be.

She picked up her chopsticks and brought her hands together. At times like this, she knew she should give her full attention to the food before her.

“Thank you for the food.”

She offered a brief grace and then grabbed a slice directly from the middle of the cutlet. Koyomi’s personal policy was to eat the first piece without putting anything on it.

The freshly cooked pork loin cutlet smelled amazing. A thin strip of bright pink meat, complete with translucent white fat edges, barely peeked out from the golden-brown surface. Koyomi brought the slice to her mouth and chewed.

Oh, my. This is certainly delicious.

The thinly sliced meat underneath the fried surface was incredibly tender and mixed together with its juices.

To properly enjoy the aromatic breading and fresh meat, Koyomi opted not to put toppings on them. That was her way of doing things, which she’d established over the past seventy years.

All right. Next is…

After crunching through the first piece of meat, Koyomi used her favorite toppings. Picking up the lemon off to the side of the plate, she squeezed it over the cutlet. Then she reached for the sauce on the table, pouring it over both the cutlet and cabbage. With her chopsticks, Koyomi picked up a brown and black slice of cutlet, putting some mustard on top before taking a bite.

Mmm. It’s all about the sauce!

The sour, salty sauce and acidic lemon juice she’d added didn’t affect the meat’s savory flavor or the taste of the breading. Meanwhile, the mustard’s heat went right to Koyomi’s nostrils.

She nodded to herself as she piled rice into her mouth. It wrapped the strong flavors of the sauce, mustard, and lemon juice in a warm, sweet embrace.

There’s no better way to enjoy pork loin cutlet than with a bowl of this rice!

Koyomi had been born in the Mountain Nation, where rice was the primary food. After battling the dark lord, she’d spent seven decades in Japan, which couldn’t have been more perfect.

It was a fact—and Koyomi’s own personal motto—that you couldn’t have pork loin cutlet without rice.

It didn’t take long for the meat and cabbage on her plate to disappear. Soon, the rice and miso soup vanished as well.

“Phew…”

The last piece of cutlet was tender from absorbing all the sauce. Bringing it to her mouth, Koyomi let out an extremely satisfied sigh.

She felt that her grandson’s pork loin cutlet was even more delicious than Daiki’s. Her grandson had made his own alterations to the recipe in terms of frying, breading, and the thickness of the meat. However, she also felt that he still wasn’t quite a match for her husband.

Sadly, Koyomi hadn’t tasted her husband’s cooking in ten years. The flavor remained but a memory deep within her.

“You’ve really learned to enjoy food since coming here.”

Pork Loin Cutlet drank his beer, watching his friend clear her dish completely. He was both exasperated and filled with nostalgia.

Long ago, back when he and Koyomi had traveled together, the hero known as the Demon King Slayer had expressed no joy, no sadness, nothing. She had existed simply to hunt and slaughter demons.

She even seemed to think of food merely as a necessity for staying alive.

Thanks to the last seventy years, however—and perhaps because Koyomi had been blessed with fortunate circumstances—she’d become truly human. Pork Loin Cutlet was happy about this change but saddened that he hadn’t been present for any of it.

“Oh? I would think it quite obvious that one should enjoy delicious food.”

Koyomi called the demon waitress over.

“I’m sorry, dear, but could you call the restaurant’s master for me? I have something important to talk to him about.”

The girl blinked, somewhat confused. “Excuse me?”

“Just tell him that a customer’s calling him. He should understand. Okay?” Koyomi smiled, ending the conversation.

The demon girl entered the kitchen, and the master came out soon after. He walked to Koyomi’s side slowly.

“I knew it was you, Grandma…” He sighed.

The master had seen this coming. The older man in front of him was the go-to guy when it came to ordering pork loin cutlet. However, only one person requested the dish with a large side order of rice—his grandmother.

“So, what’s up? What’s this important thing you wanna talk about, Grandma?”

In his grandmother’s presence, perhaps out of nostalgia, the master automatically reverted to the tone he’d taken as a child living with his grandparents.

“Well, actually, it’s about the front door’s master key. I came to give it to you.”

When the previous master died, Koyomi had held on to the key for safekeeping. Now that her grandson was managing the restaurant just fine, she felt it was the perfect time to entrust the key to him.

“I have a duplicate, you know.”

“That’s not enough. This key has a special ability.” Koyomi shook her head at her baffled grandson. “Should you ever decide to close the Restaurant to Another World for good, break this key. When you do, the magic in the door will disappear.” She caressed the master key gently.

Truth be told, Koyomi might’ve been better off if she’d shut this place down ten years ago, when Daiki died of a heart attack.

But she hadn’t closed it then.

***

It was a Saturday not long after Daiki’s funeral. Her grandson, still a young man at the time, opened the restaurant as usual.

“Gramps told me, ‘If anything ever happens to me, I leave it all to you. You can keep running this joint, close it down, or even sell it off. But to be honest, I hope you keep it going.’”

Koyomi’s grandson had lived with Daiki—a bona fide chef—since he was just a young boy. He’d trained as a chef and inherited Western Cuisine Nekoya as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Her grandson went on to do all sorts of things the previous master had never done. He even helped make the restaurant more popular than it ever was back in the day.

He had captured the hearts of new and old regulars alike. Western Cuisine Nekoya was no longer Daiki’s restaurant, so it was time for Koyomi to give her grandson everything.

“Understood. I’ll take good care of this.”

Seemingly understanding his grandmother, the master took the key and slipped it into his breast pocket.

“Thank you for your patronage. We look forward to your next visit.”

With all the reverence in the world, the master bowed deeply to the one regular who’d supported Western Cuisine Nekoya longer than any other customer in its history.

“Of course. Next time, though, I’ll be swinging by on a weekday. Sorry, but do you mind if I use the back entrance?”

If Koyomi left using that door, would she come out the other side still in this world? Or would she exit into another world entirely? She had no intention of testing that.

This world is my home. It’s where I belong. I want my life to end where Daiki’s life ended.

These were Koyomi’s true feelings, and she didn’t harbor even a shred of doubt.