Special Chapter 3: Curry Bread

Special Chapter 3:
Curry Bread

It had been 150 days since I started working at Western Cuisine Nekoya in the country of Japan. In the other world.

The promised time… I confirmed that six days, eight hours, thirty-two minutes, and forty seconds had passed, and opened my eyes.

I turned my gaze to the door in front of me, using my magic powers to take the shape of an elf. This was one of the humanoid races, and the form I took when I first visited the restaurant. One of my scales became a black waitress uniform; the rest of them turned into long black hair that draped past my waist. Transformed, I opened the oak-wood door.

The sound of ringing bells filled my ears as I passed through the entrance.

Good morning.

“Yo, top of the morning. Punctual as always, eh?”

“Good morning! Let’s do our best today!”

As soon as I announced my arrival, two creatures greeted me in return—the master of the Restaurant to Another World, and Aletta, a girl who was contracted to work under him like me.

The looks in their eyes were so different from the faces I remember gazing with amazement on our battle with “it” so many years ago. So different from the eyes that, after the battle, looked upon us in fear and resented us. And so different from those who bathed in our blood and transformed, worshipping us with intense passion.

Instead, they looked upon me as if I was their equal.

“I got your breakfast curry all ready for you,” said Aletta. “You’re gonna eat, right?”

Yes.

For some reason, I could sense something odd in their eyes. While not altogether unpleasant, it made me feel something I’d rather not feel. I bowed my head.

I didn’t understand. What was this thing I was sensing?

However, there was nothing more important than the aromatic chicken curry sitting in front of me.

I decided to stop thinking about the strange feeling and sunk my spoon into the curry’s brown sauce.

***

My old comrade of 35,688 years, Red, introduced me to the master here. That was the reason I started working as a waitress at the Restaurant to Another World.

When I discovered that the food here—specifically the dish called “chicken curry,” made with a type of bird meat called chicken and a variety of herbs and fruits—was served in exchange for currency, Red made a proposal.

Red, who had visited me at the end of the sky, made their intent clear.

“I want you to work there as a waitress and protect the restaurant from any who might do it harm while I’m not around,” Red told me.

The master, who was a being of another world, in addition to being my boss, and Aletta, my coworker at the restaurant, were apparently both extremely weak. They would be in danger if they were not protected.

According to Red, one of White’s pets had tried to start trouble here in the past.

And so Red, sensing trouble, had dealt with the problem themselves. But if the master had died before they could step in, the restaurant would have ceased to exist.

“I know that if someone were to cause trouble, you would at least be able to head them off until I arrived… Plus, when I take care of things, they tend to become a big deal,” Red explained.

In that sense, I was the optimal guardian for this restaurant. I could easily hide my magical powers. I could almost entirely erase my presence.

So I agreed with this plan and went to work at the restaurant in exchange for chicken curry.

***

Western Cuisine Nekoya operated under the calendar system devised by this world. There were seven days in every week. Every seven days it opened to our world, apparently.

The master used the day after it opened to our world as a break, then spent the remaining five days serving people from his world. As far as I was aware, that was a fairly standard practice for businesses on this side. It seemed to work well.

This impression was all based off of information I gathered from the customers at the restaurant, as I carried food to and fro.

According to what I’d heard, it did not appear that our world had been discovered or detected by the residents of this world.

Elves had invaded this world in the past, and so while the concept of a different world existed here, it was treated as a product of the imagination. As pure fiction.

Additionally, humanity, the race that most resembles the elves, had a very low threshold for magical power. There were very few humans who could use magic, if there were any at all.

In spite of this, Nekoya had a magical door that connected it to locations all throughout our world—the world on the other side. Why that was, nobody knew.

If I’d searched Altorius’s memories—he was one of the humans who frequented Nekoya—I might have discovered the truth. But I did not think that was necessary for the time being, so I didn’t attempt it.

In any event, I decided that there was no need to learn more about this world outside of the confines of Nekoya. I concluded that I could put off my investigation of this world for the next one hundred years, until the master’s natural life reached its end.

***

With that thought in mind, I attended to my work. My actual job was not that difficult.

I read the orders from the customers’ subconscious minds, informed the master so that he could prepare the dishes, took out the food, and then cleaned up any dishes left behind.

Because I wasn’t particularly skilled at communicating with customers the way Aletta was, I left the first order taking to her.

I only needed to operate in the background. Considering the request that Red made of me, it wouldn’t be good if too many people were aware of my presence.

On occasion, there were customers who noticed me in the restaurant. But they recognized what I was, to some degree, and they didn’t take any hostile action.

That being said, fights of any kind didn’t happen here.

***

Red was the final customer of the day. As I watched them exit the restaurant, I noticed the master doing something strange, not his usual end-of-day routine.

He took out an oblong white object with a rough-looking surface and proceeded to start preparing to cook.

It was a type of food I’ve never seen before—certainly something I’ve never seen the master here make.

“Hm? Ah, good job today, Kuro.”

The master noticed my curiosity watching him cook and offered some words of encouragement. He then turned his attention back to the white food.

“Oh, you’re wondering what this is, eh?” The master said after a few moments. “This is curry bread.”

Curry bread?

I had never heard of this food before. I was aware that bread was a type of food made from grinding a sort of plant into powder, kneading it together, and baking it. Much like the rice, which was also made from a kind of cooked plant, bread was a common side dish here.

I knew full well what curry was, but I did not know of this curry bread.

“I got these from Kimura’s place because they liked our chicken curry so much. Apparently they’re best when they’re still hot, so I’m getting ready to cook ’em up,” the master said. “To be honest, there’s way more than I can eat here, so I was thinking this could be our dinner tonight.”

The master started chucking the white oblongs into the oil-filled pot.

The oil bubbled and the sound of sizzling filled the air. When the master eventually took the curry bread out of the pot of oil, they were golden brown like the various other fried foods he served. Wafting from the curry bread was the faint smell of curry itself.

Are they tasty?

“Heck yeah they are. The curry bread at Kimura’s place has been super popular for ages. Everything they make is great, to be honest. Would you like to try one, Kuro?”

I immediately nodded my head.

My sense of curiosity was alive and well. Just what does this curry bread stuff taste like? I wondered. Will it be delicious like chicken curry?

***

Altogether, the master fried twelve pieces of curry bread. He placed them in a cage wrapped in paper to drain the excess oil, then set them down on the table, still sizzling.

“Wow!”

Next to me, Aletta smiled with wide eyes when she saw the bread.

“For drinks, I decided to go with lassi,” said the master. “If you want refills just pour some more for yourself.”

The master placed three glasses in front of us, each filled with white, translucent liquid. Nearby was a pitcher filled with more of the lassi.

“Curry bread is good cold, but it’s best when eaten hot, so get to it!” the master said. “Let’s eat!”

As the master finished setting the table, Aletta offered a simple prayer to her deity. “Thank you, oh god of demons, for this, my daily bread. I offer you my gratitude!” She then took one of the curry beads.

Aletta puffed her cheeks out, letting out some steam. She had tears in her eyes as if she’d burned herself, but nonetheless announced from a full mouth that the curry bread was delicious.

“Eeee! It’s so hot and spicy! …Bhut it’s goof!”

The master, apparently used to eating curry bread, showed no signs of being burned. “Yup. Ain’t nothing like freshly fried curry bread from Kimura’s joint.”

Watching the pair eat, my interest was piqued.

I reached out and took one of the breads for myself.

I could feel the freshly fried curry bread’s warmth through the palms of my hands, smelling of both curry and cutlet.

After enjoying this aroma for a time, I finally took a bite of the curry bread.

The oily, crunchy surface of the bread popped as I bit into it. The breading was thicker and slightly harder than that of the other fried foods served at the restaurant, but its insides were as soft as anything.

The slight sweetness of breading and oil was immediately contrasted by the interior of the bread.

Curry.

The amazing, hot sauce that I’d fallen in love with completely erased the sweetness of the bread, changing the entire flavor profile to spicy deliciousness.

The curry inside of the bread was filled with ground herbs and meat (likely from a cow). It also contained all manner of plants, which had been cooked down and added into the gooey sauce. It wasn’t as spicy as the chicken curry I was familiar with.

Overall, I thought I preferred chicken curry.

…However.

“Freshly fried curry bread really is the bee’s knees,” the master said, chewing.

“You’re right… May I have another one?” Aletta asked.

It would be a shame if I just let the master and Aletta finish off all of the curry bread in front of me.

I stealthily reached for another one.

And after inspecting the white liquid briefly, I took a sip of the drink that the master referred to as lassi.

The sweet and sour flavor of the drink, seemingly made from cow’s milk, washed over the taste of the curry and settled in my stomach.

Now I can enjoy more curry bread!

With the aftertaste of the curry bread gone from my mouth, I was prepared to enjoy another piece, like it was the first time all over again. I sunk my teeth into the bread.

…This continued, over and over, until the curry bread was all gone.

***

After our meal, my work day came to an end.

“I’ll be countin’ on you both next week!” The master bid us goodbye.

With all the remaining chicken curry gone, my contract for the day was complete. The time for me to return to the end of the sky had arrived.

Aletta changed out of her uniform into the clothes she normally wore, accepting both a bag of silver coins and a bag filled with cookies (which were some sort of confection) from the master. She then prepared to head home.

As I myself readied to leave, Aletta called out.

“Of course, Master! And Kuro, be careful on the way home, okay?”

Her concern was unnecessary. I was the only living creature that called the end of the sky home. And there were only a handful of beings on this planet that can do me harm.

Nonetheless, I didn’t correct her, and instead responded in kind.

I will. You too, Aletta.

All the while, I was thinking about how I kind of didn’t mind being worried about.