Chapter 6 (1/2)

Meat Sauce

The previous head of the Alfade Company, Thomas Alfade, was the forefather of the Alfade faredients made from wheat

The many influential vassal states which existed frodom’s time, which was the first huo, crowded around the royal kingdom’s capital, a capital that was said to be the most prosperous of all capitals In the royal capital, there wereOne of them was the Alfade Company

What this Alfade Cooods made from wheat, in particular, noodlesthem was easy because they were dried, the fact that you needed a large a was plain caused it to be unpopular That meant that noodles would be placed as the same rank as other commoner foods and could only be found in people’s homes or at cheap bars The person ould make it into a staple for the nobles and in turn raise the Alfade Co company in the capital was Thomas

The secret to Thomas’s success were the many sauces that he devised A sauce suited for the commoners made from milk and wheat flour A sauce ether with a fish sauce that was unfadom which was made from fermented fish andsauce s, which was a fa with international trade or a sauce using those saaran which gave it a new sharp taste

The Alfate tradereatly raised up the status of noodles, which were until then were only simply seasoned with salt, cheese, honey, or pepper The people de sauces that Thomas came up with, and the Alfade Corew into the kingdo company And Thomas who accomplished this was known as the ‘Genius of Culinary Innovation’

But, Thoood luck Inside of the dark recesses of his home’s wheat warehouse, there was a quiet, still, black door The one who somehow found it was Thomas, an active merchant

From their world’s point of view, for almost the thirty years that the store was open (the store itself was actually open for around fifty years apparently), Thomas had for seven days times four, once every 28 days, visited the restaurant not as a customer but as a merchant

Now he had left position of the head of the co business as he went into retirement But, Thomas had made a promise with the previous owner To keep both of their ‘businesses’ running, they promised that they would continue to have a ‘deal’ After retiring and having plenty of free time, like every Satur’s Day such as today, Thomas prepared to head to the restaurant

“—Alright, that should do it”

After checking his favorite backpack, which he had and cared for since he was young and could carry oods that the owner asked of him, Thomas let that one sentence out

You could only use a ‘door’ at the same place once every Satur’s Day Once the door was closed, or if the door was open for the short time of about 300 seconds, the door would disappear, and entering would then beco to the Other World Dining Hall that Thomas had heard froently prepared before he passed through that door

After finishi+ng his preparations, it was now tirandson ould be co with him for the first time

“Alright, let us go, Sirius”

“This door is connected to an other world… is this really true, grandfather? But, it’s true that it’s unnatural that such a fine door would be inside our company’s old warehouse…”

Thoeneration of Alfade Company’s successors, had a confused face

“Well, it’s true”

What his grandson pointed out wasn’t unreasonable, is what Thohed A door connected to an other world is so that an adventurer would travel here and there for or would have to do with an elf as versed in fearso to do with a mere merchant The only person ould openly believe that a door in the o back and forth to an other world would be an idiot with his head in the clouds

“If you’ll go, you’ll know Don’t worry, it’ll be fine Even if you went to the other world, it wouldn’t be that much different from our world Most importantly, what’s over there is the store that could be said to be our Alfade Company’s benefactor”

As he said that, he put his hand on the brass-work door knob and turned it As the well- sounded out as the door opened

“Benefactor’s store? …What kind of store is it?”

As he tried to push hirandson asked this

“The Other World Dining Hall… it’s a restaurant”

As Tho with the dark warehouse, the bright interior of the restaurant spread out before Thomas’s eyes

“Welcome… Aah, if it isn’t Thomas Please wait for moment”

As they went through the door, the owner of the restaurant had just finished wiping down the tables with a wet cloth Co and boiling could be heard There were no other customers To make sure he wasn’t a hindrance to other customers, Thomas came at an early time before they would even come

“Aah, is it alright is we sat down somewhere while ait?”

“Of course, I just finished wiping down that table over there so sitting down there should be alright By the ho is this person next to you?”

“Nice to randson, Sirius Thank you for always helping randfather”

At the owner’s inquiry, Sirius lowered his head with the courtesy befitting of a merchant

“Just as you heard, he isevery now and then, so take care of him when he does”

“I see, your grandson There’s certainly soer”

The owner nodded and replied

Froo, Thomas had been acquainted with the owner even when he was still a young child, and the owner knew ular and a close acquaintance of his grandfather The two of the time with one another and had the relationshi+p of equal business partners as well as the relationshi+p of close friends flowing between them

“Well then, first I’ll bring out some coffee Please wait just a moment”

AS the owner said that, he headed to the back of the restaurant

“Coffee?”

“A kind of other world tea It’s black and has a bitter taste Once you get used to it, it’s pretty tasty, and it’ll give you soy when you drink it”

While Thoave a heart-warrandson who looked around and around at the restaurant’s interior

“You’re curious, aren’t you?”

“Yes Is this the other world?”

What was reflected in Sirius’s eyes which looked about restlessly were only things that he was unfamiliar with

“That’s right Make sure to look closely You understand that everything here is outside of our general knowledge right?”

“…I see It certainly is”

With Thomas’s words and his own eye for value as agave off the light of h it should’ve been dark inside, and beautifully shaped glass bottles were arranged Looking closely, he saw that the container holding solass even though he could still see through it, but it was made from some unknown material This certainly was past the level of cultural difference of a foreign country

“Thank you for waiting Your coffee”

As they had that conversation, the owner brought out sorant smell drifted from the black liquid that was poured into two cups, and s were placed in front of them

“Ooh, sorry for the trouble”

“No proble over the proceeds so please wait for a little while”

As the owner said that, he once again headed back into the kitchen

“Now then, let’s partake, shall we? Sirius, sorry but could you pass that blue pot… could you get ar?”

“Ah, yes This is soar It’s pure white”

Sirius took the sugar pot and took two spoonfuls of sugar, which was no doubt siar that the Alfade Co it with two spoons of sugar and noover the long years

“Umu, delicious”

While Thomas drank his coffee, he remembered that a customer from this restaurant told him about a drink called Caffa which was similar to this in a desert country, located on the far other side of the ocean, that the kingdo the skills of the worker who purified it, the pure sweetness of the sugar that had no unnecessary taste to it and the unique fragrance of the coffee juether and spread in his ht about a sense of harh his tongue and soaked into his body

With a ‘hou,’ he felt the sensation of his body relaxing and the sensation of hot energy welling up from the bottom of his body Thomas secretly looked forward to whenever he caot treated to some ‘free’ coffee

“Hey now, you should drink it too before it gets cold Try putting in soood too It has a soft flavor to it”

“Okay… I’ll have some”

Learning froar before drinking a mouthful to make sure of the flavor Afterwards, he then poured in plenty of milk

“I see It has a unique bitterness and sourness to it, but pretty delicious This is”

With plenty of milk, the coffee which now had a soft sweetness to it made Sirius’s face smile broadly

Thanks to the Magic War finally coescale mercantile operations after who kno ar that was processed fro thanks to the sugar that they got from the Western Continent, it was still a valuable product that costed silver coins to say nothing of the high-grade white sugar which price hardly changed The Alfade Co poor nobles, so it was the family motto that any profits that they earned wouldn’t be used on any luxuries Because of that, there weren’t s such as this

(To be this pleased with sweets… Looks like he’s still a child)

While pleasantly looking at Sirius as knitting his eyebrows froulp, Thoe company ever since he was born and lacked the shamelessness that merchants orked their way up had, was Thorandson The two of them enjoyed the other world’s coffee, and around the ti, the owner came back with a metal box under his arm

“Thank you for waiting I brought thisHall Do youfor you?”

“Aah, I’ on you We’ll do the calculations in the meantime”

Tho he took with him over to the owner

“Yes, this is certainly it Well then, I’ll just leave this right up here”

As the owner picked up the heavy looking bag, he then opened the metal box

“Uwa… eight ancient elven gold coins”

“…Umu The same as usual”

These gold coins that were somehoays in there every time were normally in the hands of aristocrats or wealthy merchants or on an elf himself or taken from some elven ruins by a skilled adventurer If not, then you were out of luck finding theo, these coins had the highest value to theold coins, 41 silver coins of various origins, and around 700 copper coins

Inside thatHall’s proceeds

“Fumu There’s a little bit more to this month’s sales”

Thoeneral amount with the skills of a proficient merchant

“This is… this shop’s proceeds?”

“That’s right And also…”

He nodded as he answered Looking after this restaurant’s monthly proceeds was Thomas’s responsibility