「Could this be the Izakaya n.o.bu that Crowvinkel sang about?」

A handsome and flas.h.i.+ly dressed man asked, while peeking in through the half-opened door . He had the air of an actor, though his gentle and smiling expression gave off a sense of amiability .

「Yes, this is that Izakaya n.o.bu . 」

The man heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief at s.h.i.+n.o.bu’s response . As she had thought based on his theatrical gestures, he was definitely an actor .

「Ah, that’s a relief . Crowvinkel’s ballad only mentioned ‘As I go down Inns & Stables Street’ . I noticed this quaint place immediately, but I don’t know what I would have done if I was wrong . 」

He scratched his head sheepishly while slipping through the door, dismissing s.h.i.+n.o.bu’s ‘No customers in the afternoon’ and somehow making his way to the counter .

As he wiped his face with a warm towel, s.h.i.+n.o.bu felt like his smile looked familiar, but she just couldn’t place it .

s.h.i.+n.o.bu remembered every customer she had served . Not just their face, but also their voice, height, and the aura around them . She was certain that she had never seen him before, she began to wonder if he resembled another customer .

The customer smiled and began to chat merrily when s.h.i.+n.o.bu tried to take his order .

「I do enjoy drinking wine during the day, but to tell the truth, there’s a play scheduled at the square in front of the church later today . The play is called ‘August’, a strange coincidence, because the name of the leading actor, me, is also August . Bad rumours would spring up if the lead actor got himself drunk before showing up, don’t you agree?」

Was he what one would call a chatterbox? Left to himself, he would probably go on forever, so s.h.i.+n.o.bu asked for his order again . He came to his senses and lightly cleared his throat .

「Please give me something filling . 」

「Something filling, huh…」

Even though she had received the order, the timing was a little inconvenient . s.h.i.+n.o.bu turned towards n.o.buyuki, who also looked troubled . Since lunch had ended, there was no dish

that could be served immediately .

For some reason, the regulars had come in one after another that day, so the previously prepared tempura, yuki onigiri, and grilled fish had all been sold out .

There were some rice b.a.l.l.s made from yesterday’s takikomi gohan, but he was saving it for Eva to eat tonight . As he was thinking, Gernot, who was sitting facing the wall and looking down, caught his eye .

n.o.buyuki noticed, and began to boil water in a pot .

「Aitheria is such a nice place isn’t it? No wonder my older brother loves it . 」

August commented while looking around the shop, after he had quickly polished off the kakuni appetizer .  (TL note: kakuni = j.a.panese braised pork)

「Oh, you have an older brother, dear customer?」

August nodded to Leontaine’s question with a large smile .

「Yes, my prided older brother . He’s working as a va.s.sal to a n.o.ble that lives near Aitheria, it seems . 」

「 ‘It seems’?」

「I haven’t seen him for a long time, though we exchange letters every month . I don’t think he’s rich, but he sends me a sizeable amount of money every month… . 」

「He must be a wonderful older brother . 」

「Yes, indeed . But he objected to me being an actor, so we quarreled . 」

「You must really respect him… . 」

「Yes, I think he’s a really great older brother . 」

When he mentioned n.o.bles in the vicinity of Aitheria, Arnoux’s Sachnussenburg family or the Branton family came to s.h.i.+n.o.bu’s mind . She had met the va.s.sals of both houses before, but she could not recall anyone that looked like August .

「My wife is rather frail, so I’m very thankful for the money my brother keeps sending me; it allows me to buy medicine for her . . I wish to personally meet him after all this time to thank him . 」

n.o.buyuki added pasta to the boiling water in the pot, the same Napolitan pasta that was prepared for Gernot every time he came by . The noodles danced about in the boiling water . By making Napolitan, they could serve August without having him wait too long .

「If you’re looking for someone, you can ask the people

people who work here . Truth be told, this shop has helped reunite many people who had been searching for a long time . 」

「Is that true? Well then…I should ask as well…」

「What’s your older brother’s name? It may be harder if he has a common name, like Joseph . 」

「I believe it’s an uncommon name around these parts, though . His name is Gernot . 」

n.o.buyuki choked, but managed to pa.s.s it off as a cough .

「O-oh, my apologies . It’s probably the dry weather . 」

s.h.i.+n.o.bu mentally thanked n.o.buyuki . If he hadn’t reacted, she would definitely have turned to look at Gernot .

Gernot was drunk, but he wasn’t asleep . He may have had his reasons for not revealing himself .

「H-heeh, Gernot, huh . That really is an uncommon name~」

Leontaine’s voice had become rather stiff too . She immediately decided not to speak about the person in question, who happened to be sitting next to August .

「Does it sound familiar…?」

「You see, we don’t really get the names of all the customers that come to the shop . 」

「I guess that’s true . And it’s not like you can remember them all, right?」

There was no one that didn’t know Gernot’s name, a regular of Izakaya n.o.bu, but no one could voice that thought, so s.h.i.+n.o.bu returned to her task of drying the rice bowl that would be used for the day .

「Perhaps some other clues…?」

「Well… He once fell from a tree while trying to save a cat a long time ago . The incident affected his vision in one eye, so he uses a monocle . And he went to the University in the Imperial Capital to study law… . 」

「This is the first I’m hearing of this… . 」

「Well, isn’t that because you don’t know his brother?」

「Y-yeah . This is the first time I’ve heard of him . Yep . 」

While wiping the rice bowl after Leontaine’s not so suave save, s.h.i.+n.o.bu stole a glance at Gernot . He was trembling quite a bit .

The story might have been one he did not want known . Climbing a tree to save a cat most definitely did not match the image of a strict

a strict and by-the-books tax collector .

An awkward silence filled the shop as Leontaine reached her limit of feigning cooperation in the search for the brother .

n.o.buyuki used a colander to drain the water from the boiled pasta .

「Now then, the dish is almost ready . . 」

n.o.buyuki put the ingredients into a frying pan and quickly cooked them before adding the pasta . The pasta was followed by the ketchup based sauce, which had been prepared in advance, and the mixture was then stir-fried .

「Thank you for waiting, here’s the Napolitan with thick sliced bacon . 」

On seeing the dish placed before him, August let out a small sigh .

「I never thought I’d be able to eat pasta here in Aitheria… . But this dish seems strange . I’ve never seen red pasta before . 」

August nodded and smiled while commenting that pasta was his elder brother’s favorite food as well . n.o.body could tell August that his elder brother still loved that dish .

「Here you go, please enjoy our pasta a la Aitheria . 」

Gernot, who was still facing down snuck a quick glance at the fork-wielding August . He was wondering what his younger brother’s reaction would be to his favorite food .

Everyone was concentrating on August, who was bringing the pasta laden fork to his mouth .

「What?… . This is…」

August’s rather fixed smiling face turned into one of surprise .

This was most likely a genuine reaction . He opened his eyes wide in surprise, and he ate another mouthful .

「What in the world…」

His fork became a blur of motion, and August didn’t even notice that the area around his mouth was now soiled .

He greedily devoured the thick and sweet Napolitan .

At that moment, Gernot, who was still facing away, calmly pushed the container of tabasco sauce and powdered cheese towards him .

「Hm? Thanks . 」

Bros

August looked confused for a moment, but quickly understood Gernot’s intentions . After sprinkling powdered cheese and tabasco sauce on the Napolitan, he took a bite, and instantly fell silent .

「It’s miraculous…」

He murmuring this thanks in somewhat of a daze, he continued eating it

continued eating it hungrily .

It was reminiscent of when Gernot had first visited the store, right down to the way he ate the dish . When they saw someone eat it like that, they knew that it was definitely worth the effort to make and serve it as the shop’s side dish .

「It’s delicious… . It’s really, truly delicious . 」

August smiled widely, his mouth and its immediate surroundings stained a sticky red . His smile as he patted his full stomach was much more genuine and pleasant compared to the false one he had shown until now .

Judging from how August had completely annihilated the dish, he was definitely Gernot’s brother .

Before s.h.i.+n.o.bu managed to hand August a wipe cloth, Gernot had already handed him a white handkerchief .

「Ah, thanks brot…no, I mean, kind sir . 」

August quickly corrected himself when Gernot coughed violently .

「Thank you, it was delicious . Crowvinkel’s song was definitely not exaggerated . I will come by to eat here again if I have the chance . I want to enjoy food with drinks next time with my brother, if possible . 」

August stood and left the shop hurriedly, leaving behind a few extra silver coins and the late afternoon atmosphere .

「Oo-oh right . Mr Gernot?」

At Leontaine’s call, Gernot looked up while hesitating,

「When did he notice…?」

n.o.buyuki smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt at Gernot’s mumbling and pa.s.sed him a cup of water .

「He knew from the beginning . He may have come here after asking around . . 」

「But that didn’t seem to be the case when he came in . 」

「True . But think about his job . 」

He was an actor, after all . He was probably quite skilled .

「With just that…」

Gernot muttered as he emptied the gla.s.s of water and stood up .

「Gernot-san, is that all for today?」

「Yeah . Apologies, s.h.i.+n.o.bu-san, but I remembered that I had some urgent business today . 」

「It’s at the square in front of the church, isn’t it?」

「Wh-who said anything about watching the play… . . No, I will go to see it . 」

As s.h.i.+n.o.bu listened to Gernot’s voice trail off, she quietly made a reservation for two that night .