Chapter 87: Chinese Congee

Chapter 87:
Chinese Congee

 

The Restaurant to Another World closed up at nine in the evening, after all its customers had gone home.

“I shall return again.” The last regular left with a giant silver pot in hand; she made it look light.

Farewell.

“Thank you so much!”

Kuro and Aletta saw her off. The restaurant’s atmosphere immediately felt more relaxed.

“Well done, ladies. Good work today.” The master complimented the young women.

They responded in kind. “Thank you, Master!”

You too.

Some time had passed since Kuro had begun working at Nekoya, and it seemed as though she and Aletta had finally broken the ice.

“All that’s left is to eat, clean up, and head on home!”

I can’t wait for the curry.

As the trio chatted with natural smiles, the door’s bells began to ring, signaling a late customer’s arrival.

 

***

 

The road connecting the Kingdom’s capital with its port town was incredibly important to the nation’s commerce.

Countless merchants with goods in tow, knights on beautiful horses, and adventurers and mercenaries they’d hired as bodyguards crossed paths on that lane in a single day.

All kinds of inns, bars, and places for adult entertainment lined the main route, making it bustle. Ulrich, a former mercenary, lived in a town along that road.

About three years ago, he’d fallen in love with a girl he met in town. He’d decided to retire, using his skills and experience as a former mercenary to work as a town guard instead. Although the pay wasn’t great, he rested easy knowing that his life was in no danger. Thugs and hoodlums were all he had to deal with, which let him lead a peaceful life.

As a town guard, however, he often got wrapped up in the area’s nonsense.

 

***

 

Ulrich couldn’t help but frown, repeating the man’s request back. “You want me to look for a restaurant?”

In front of Ulrich, the old man with the white beard—Soujun—nodded in response. “Yessir.”

Three days ago, after drinking at a friend’s house, the old man had staggered into some restaurant on his way home.

According to Soujun, the restaurant served a certain dish he’d wanted to eat for years but couldn’t. He wanted to go back. There was a problem, however.

“I drank so much that day, and, well…” Soujun looked at Ulrich.

It didn’t take Ulrich much to figure out what the old man wanted to say. “You must’ve blacked out after eating your fill. When you came to, you were home already. That’s why you can’t remember anything about the restaurant, right?”

“Precisely! I remember eating some delicious porridge, but that’s about it.”

Soujun had drunk so much that his memories were a total wash. He had no clue what restaurant he’d gone to that day.

Worse, his kids had already grown up and gone off on their own. When his wife had passed away some years ago, Soujun had used the opportunity to move, so now he lived alone. That meant nobody knew what restaurant he’d visited that night.

“Look, old man, have you considered just dropping by all the restaurants in town? It’s that simple. Why do you need my help?”

As far as Ulrich was concerned, as long as the restaurant Soujun had visited was in town, all the man had to do was ask around a bit.

Soujun seemed to disagree. “I’m not sure that’d do much. That night, I drank till late. If it wasn’t for the moonlight, I probably wouldn’t have gotten home.”

“I get it.” Ulrich immediately caught on to what Soujun was implying. “No restaurant around here is open that late, as far as I know.”

The town was full of places for tomfoolery, but the only joints open that late were in the red-light district. Once night fell, restaurants closed up shop. Bars served small meals until fairly late, but that was about it.

“I barely remember that evening, but I do remember the restaurant being bright as day! Even though it was the middle of the night, you see.”

Despite his scrambled memory, Soujun recalled the restaurant being so bright that he’d seen the wood table’s grain. The old man figured there was no way folks wouldn’t know about a place that stood out that much.

Ulrich had been a town guard for some time, but he’d never heard of a restaurant like that. “Hmm. I got the gist, but I’m sorry, old man. I don’t think I’m gonna be much help.”

He sighed. The old man must’ve drunk himself into a tizzy and dreamed it all up.

Soujun himself almost seemed to have the same thought. “Curses. I was hoping a town guard might know something.”

He let out a sigh but didn’t seem all that disappointed. He’d probably seen Ulrich’s response coming.

“Well, if I hear something, I’ll let you know. Anyhow, I gotta get back to work. Take care,” Ulrich replied, feeling kind of bad for the older gentleman.

“You have my gratitude, youngster,” Soujun smiled, perhaps happy to hear the young man’s considerate words.

The two parted ways. Little did either know that Ulrich’s promise would bear fruit sooner than they expected.

 

***

 

A few days later, while doing his rounds in town, Ulrich caught a thief. The halfling man called himself Tedd and dressed like an adventurer.

As fate had it, he was attempting to sneak into the house of the old man Ulrich had dealt with a few days earlier.

The halfling’s excuses after Ulrich caught him were nothing if not pathetic. “No, I swear I wasn’t trying to steal anything! I just wanted to drop by, is all!”

“That doesn’t explain why you tried to break in,” Ulrich said. “An old man lives here. He doesn’t have anything worth stealing.”

Tedd took a moment to think and then apparently decided to explain his intentions. “Well, you see, a door appears in a closet of that there house. The house used to be empty, but a few years ago, an older gentleman moved in. Since he doesn’t seem to know about the door, I figured I’d just go ahead and use it.”

“A door? What the blue blazes are you talking about?”

The halfling’s explanation puzzled Ulrich, but the town guard later heard the same story from Tedd’s adventurer comrades. (Yes, he was actually an adventurer.)

That was how Ulrich learned of the restaurant that Soujun had found himself in on that fateful night.

 

***

 

Soujun, Ulrich, and Tedd headed to the barely used closet and quickly found the door, a cat plaque on its front. They turned the knob and, as the door opened, were met by the sound of bells ringing.

Although the three men were in a small, dark room, the space beyond the door was bright as day. It really was a restaurant. In exchange for guiding Soujun and Ulrich there, Tedd was pardoned for his crimes and avoided getting locked in a jail cell.

“Right! I’m gonna eat over there,” he told the guard and the old man. “Oh, and keep this a secret, aye?”

Seemingly familiar with the restaurant, Tedd quickly found an empty table and began to give his order to the blonde-haired waitress nearby.

Soon after taking Tedd’s order, the waitress noticed Soujun. “Welcome! Wait…huh? Aren’t you the older gentleman from the other day?” She raised her voice in surprise.

The waitress remembered Soujun all too well. The other evening, just when the restaurant had closed, he’d wandered in drunkenly, partaken in the staff meal the master had made, and then gone home full and satisfied.

Soujun looked at the young waitress. Judging by her features, she was clearly from the Western Continent. A wave of nostalgia washed over him.

“Oooh! So, this was the place! No wonder I couldn’t find it!”

He finally remembered exactly what had happened that day.

Soujun had gone to drink with an old friend who’d been a sailor on the same ship as him, back when they were both younger. After finding out that his friend was retiring, he’d dropped by to say hello. The pair wound up indulging in the goodbye gift Soujun’s friend had received upon leaving the ship: a bottle of booze made of rice from the Western Continent. It was extremely rare, so the two had drunk well into the night.

Eventually, Soujun had wandered home, stumbling into the restaurant when only its master and waitresses were there. Of course, he’d thought he was asleep, so he’d ended up making a rather ridiculous order. Hungry after drinking all night, he’d requested a large meal, specifically one from the Eastern Continent that included rice.

“I know this order’s unreasonable, but could I get the same thing I had the other day?” Soujun asked the demon waitress.

“Um…hold on one second. It was just the staff meal, and it takes quite a while to make. I’ll go ask the master,” replied the girl.

She went to the kitchen and soon returned with an answer. “Um…it’ll take an hour. Er, I believe that’s half a moment by the old timescale. Is that all right with you?”

Soujun nodded. “Of course. I’ll happily wait.”

He didn’t quite understand how long the dish would take. However, he did know that the food would come if he waited. He was an old man with free time anyway; a little waiting wouldn’t kill him.

“There you have it, Sir Guard. I’m going to wait. But what will you do?”

“Since I’m here already, I suppose I’ll join you. I’ll just grab something to drink and wait, too,” replied Ulrich.

The halfling had tickled Ulrich’s curiosity. He wanted to see just what the restaurant’s delicious food and drink were all about.

“Understood. Let me take you to an empty table,” said the waitress. “Um, sir? We have a menu with all our selections and descriptions of each of them. Can you read?”

“Indeed I can. Bring one, please. Oh, and do you have any ale?”

“We don’t have ale, but we have something similar called beer.”

“Beer it is, then. Oh, and bring some sausages or something!”

Ulrich and Soujun arrived at their table, wiped their hands using the moist warm cloths the waitress gave them, and quenched their thirst with the slightly fruity ice water.

It wasn’t long before the waitress returned with drinks in hand. Ulrich immediately sipped from the glass mug of yellow liquid topped with pure-white bubbles.

“Hoh! Now, this is some good drink! Little lady, could I get another? Something that pairs well with this stuff to munch on!” Ulrich dug into the brownish snacks the waitress had brought.

Watching his companion chug and eat away, Soujun gulped. Urgh! Patience. Patience…

Soujun was quite a drinker, so truth be told, he wanted to indulge his cravings immediately. However, he’d already decided that he wouldn’t drink today.

I can’t afford to sully my tongue with alcohol before I eat that porridge. I’ve got to at least wait till after.

Since he’d been so drunk during his previous visit, Soujun barely remembered what the porridge tasted like. All he knew was that it had a delicious, nostalgic flavor. That’s why, today, he was going to partake in the stuff without a drop of alcohol in his body.

Eventually, a man who looked to be the restaurant’s master came out with the porridge in hand. “Sorry for the wait, sir. Here’s your Chinese congee.”

The master placed a wooden trivet on the table and then set a small, thick clay pot atop that. He put thinly sliced, golden-brown bread and pickled vegetables nearby.

“The pot’s very hot right now, so try not to touch it with your bare hands,” said the master. “Put its contents into this bowl here when you eat, okay? Feel free to eat the pickles and toast however you like. Enjoy!”

The moment the master removed the pot’s lid with a moist towel, the gentle-but-sweet fragrance inside made Soujun gulp.

This is it. This is the scent!

The smell of hot, fresh rice was altogether different from any fruit. Soujun recalled inhaling the congee’s aroma and feeling as though he’d immediately sobered up the last time he’d come to the restaurant.

“That soup looks pretty damn good,” Ulrich said.

“I’m not sharing! I waited for this!”

Despite having eaten and drunk his fair share already, Ulrich looked jealousy at Soujun’s meal. The old man simply ignored him.

With the large white spoon next to the pot, Soujun poured some porridge into his bowl. As he filled it, he saw lots of chicken meat and round, pink shripe floating within.

He scooped some hot porridge up with his spoon, blew on it to cool it down, and put it into his mouth.

Mm…mmm! As the porridge’s flavors exploded, Soujun couldn’t help nodding his head.

The savory tastes of the shripe and chicken melded with the porridge’s salty seasoning. The rice had absorbed oil and broth, but maintained a sweetness. The tender chicken and delicate shripe’s unique textures gave the porridge a mouthfeel all its own.

The other day, all Soujun had remembered was that the porridge was delicious. Now, however, he’d be able to recall each and every delicious flavor there was to experience in the dish.

But I’m not done yet.

After indulging in the porridge for a while, Soujun reached for the pickles. They were tremendously crunchy and a dash sour and salty. Their unique flavor reminded him of his hometown’s fish sauce.

Their flavor was slightly too strong by itself, but when mixed with the porridge, the pickles melded well with its gentle taste. In a word, they were delicious.

Soujun dropped the small pieces of fried bread into the porridge and took another bite.

The bread had obtained a lightness from oil-frying that allowed it to slowly absorb the meal’s juices. It was a satisfying, if rich, treat by itself. Eating it after it soaked up the broth, however, meant that the bread’s oils mixed with the broth itself, creating a brand-new, amazing taste.

It wasn’t long before the once-full bowl of porridge was empty, leaving Soujun with only the feeling of satisfaction.

“Whew!” he sighed. Next time, he’d have booze on the side while he ate. Now, however, he’d indulge his thirst.

“Excuse me, could I also get something to drink?” he asked the waitress. “I’ll try the beer my companion has.”