Hans folded his arms as he stared at the chopping board .

He had been thinking in this posture for a while now . Inside his head, he had been thinking about the crisp yet slightly bitter taste of ‘Toriaezu Nama’ .

Taisho had a.s.signed a task to Hans who had happily reconciled with his father, Lorentz, the other day .

Hans was tasked with thinking of a new dish to add to the menu .

He was still not in a position to make something that could be served at the shop, but being tasked with thinking up something new for the menu was significant progress . Taisho had at least this level of expectation for him .

The topic was “something to pair with Toriaezu Nama . ”

Although there was no time limit, he wanted to complete his task as soon as possible .

That was why he had recently been staying after Izakaya n.o.bu’s business hours everyday and thinking with his arms folded .

「Did you come up with any good ideas?」

Leontaine stroked the ice floating in her Taketsuru pure malt with her finger, and a pleasant clinking sound could be heard from the gla.s.s . Recently, she had started entertaining herself with the other liquors in n.o.bu . Leontaine seemed to enjoy them very much, to the point of exclusively having Taketsuru or Tantakatan as drinking companions every night .

(TL note: Taketsuru and Tantakatan are liquor names . )

「None . 」

「You can’t possibly have nothing . You’ve been standing there for days . 」

「I want to make something that is completely new . 」

「There you go again, aiming high as usual . 」

It went without saying that making a whole new dish required a lot of thought .

Every dish in Izakaya n.o.bu was delicious and refined . In order for a dish to be added to the menu, it had to be something new .

Hans wouldn’t be making full use of this hard-earned opportunity that had been given to him if he just imitated Taisho’s dish and added his own spin to it . Above all, Hans himself wouldn’t agree to it .

「How about you at least decide on the ingredients first? How many of them do you think will go well with ‘Toriaezu Nama’?」

「I’d like to try using pork . 」

Pork was a widely popular ingredient in Aitheria, but it was surprisingly uncommon in Izakaya n.o.bu . It was used for tonkatsu, kus.h.i.+katsu, and braised pork, but it wasn’t used as much as chicken was .

The pigs that had been released to graze in Branton’s forest had fed on a twin diet of acorns and fruits from the medicinal dwarf chestnut tree, and they were currently lined up in the markets . He wanted to make something with one of those pigs .

「Pork, huh . It would go well with ‘Toriaezu Nama’ even if it’s stewed, grilled, or deep-fried . I think that’s a good choice . 」

「The question is how to cook it . 」

Leontaine was able to quickly a.s.sess that it would pair well with ‘Toriaezu Nama’, whether it was stewed, grilled, or deep-fried – which meant that those kinds of dishes already existed .

There was no meaning in Hans coming up with a dish that wasn’t available in Izakaya n.o.bu, if it was already being served in other shops in Aitheria .

Now then, how to proceed?

He took the pork out of the refrigerator and put it in front of him . Since pork absolutely couldn’t be eaten raw, it was necessary to cook it .

Was there anything he could do besides stewing, grilling, or deep-frying? He thought about it while staring at the pork from various angles when, suddenly, there was a rapping sound on n.o.bu’s gla.s.s doors .

He spontaneously exchanged looks with Leontaine .

The sign curtain had been put away a long time ago, and Taisho was watching his detective dramas upstairs . If s.h.i.+n.o.bu had forgotten something behind, she would come through the back door, and Eva wouldn’t come at this hour .

Was it a thief?

Leontaine already had a broom in hand . She took a stance while facing the door . It was a graceful stance that one wouldn’t think could come from a veteran mercenary .

Hans nodded to Leontaine and lowered his own posture before placing his hand on the gla.s.s sliding door .

He adjusted his breathing and pulled it open in one go .

He adjusted his breathing and pulled it open in one go .

「Who’s there?!」

「Uhyaa!」

The visitor yelped in response to Leontaine’s question and fell on their bottom .

Hans recognised that face . Rather, he saw that face every day .

「Big brother…?」

Hans’ elder brother, Hugo, was sitting on his bottom on the miserable, snowy ground of Inns & Stable street .

「Hans, aren’t you finished with work at this time?」

「That’s true . Hasn’t the sign curtain already been put away?」

「It was still bright inside, and I was hungry, so I thought of…」

For now, Hans let Hugo into the shop and lit the stove in response to his brother saying that with upturned eyes . He brought the soup in the “yukiharanabe” to a boil and tossed cold rice into it .

Since Hugo had come after business hours, he was not a customer . It wouldn’t be a problem if Has was the one who served him something .

The injury on his finger had already healed .

(TL note: yukihira nabe is an aluminium hammered pot, commonly used in j.a.pan . )

「You should come earlier next time . 」

「Sure . I will do so if possible . But I’ve been busy lately . 」

It seemed the work that had been contracted by Thomas from the church was surprisingly difficult . Hugo and Han’s father, Lorentz, were the foremost gla.s.s smithing specialists in Aitheria, but it seemed that polis.h.i.+ng it to the thickness specified by the customer was not an easy task . Apparently Hugo and two other people had been a.s.signed to concentrate solely on this task now .

It seemed the work that had been contracted by Thomas from the church was surprisingly difficult . Hugo and Han’s father, Lorentz, were the foremost gla.s.s smithing specialists in Aitheria, but it seemed that polis.h.i.+ng it to the thickness specified by the customer was not an easy task . Apparently Hugo and two other people had been a.s.signed to concentrate solely on this task now .

Leontaine grinned widely when she saw that they were able to chat with each other normally .

「You two are close, aren’t you? It’s the first time I’ve seen Hans open up so much . 」

「Is that so?」

They had not realized it themselves, but perhaps they had been building a wall between them somehow .

From an early age, they had lived as travellers .

Even though they could make friends in places where they didn’t understand the language, in the end, it was his brother Hugo who became his best friend . Therefore, Hans still had a close relations.h.i.+p with his elder brother, even at this age .

Hans cracked an egg into the pot, resulting in an egg porridge . He figured something light would be better for his elder brother, who had digestion problems .

「Here, enjoy . 」

「Thanks . 」

Hans looked at his elder brother’s face as he slurped up the porridge deliciously, and he was reminded of the times when they had travelled to the west . Hans’s mother had already been gone by then, so it was a trip with only the two brothers and Lorentz .

If he remembered correctly, it had been a trip to meet their uncle .

They had ridden on horseback for days, through a meadow that was as vast as the eye could see . They had been with a trade company, travelling with caravans that were on their way to buy pepper, but Hans and his brother had been the only children around .

Even now, he still remembered the delicioud mutton they had eaten under the starry sky, in the middle of a plain that stretched to the horizon in all directions .

After finis.h.i.+ng the porridge had filled Hugo up, his facial expression relaxed . After introducing himself to Leontaine, whom he was meeting for the first time, he spontaneously started chatting with Hans .

「Hans, you have been coming back home late recently . Is something the matter?」

「Yeah, I can’t think of a new item for the menu . 」

As Hans mentioned that he was going to use pork, Hugo picked up his wooden spoon with a thoughtful expression . He didn’t stir at all .

This was an old habit of Hugo’s to become like this when he started to think .

As Hans mentioned that he was going to use pork, Hugo picked up his wooden spoon with a thoughtful expression . He didn’t stir at all .

This was an old habit of Hugo’s to become like this when he started to think .

「Looks like it’s going to take a while before we can return home…」

「What do you mean?」

「Ah, this will take a long time once it starts . 」

Hans was proud of his elder brother, who could do anything skillfully, but this was the only downside . When Hugo focused on something, he would ignore his surroundings . He wouldn’t respond even if someone yelled at him .

Hans gave up on him returning home, so he went to try some things out . What if he tried slicing the pork in a different way? When he sliced the smoked squid that Berthold brought, it changed the texture completely . Maybe doing the same to the pork would be interesting .

Leontaine had also planned to stay for a while long, so she poured another gla.s.s of Taketsuru on the rocks .

Time slowly and quietly pa.s.sed .

Since snow had not fallen today, a dog’s howl could be heard in the distance .

「How about…ground meat?」

Hugo returned to himself sooner than they had expected . Hans had been prepared to stay up until morning, so he was a little thankful for that .

「Ground meat? To make sausage?」

「No, no . Do you remember, Hans? The wrapped, boiled lamb . 」

「Ah, pelmeni!」