Chapter 51: The Girl with a Knife
Ren watched Nakano Ichika leave, the door chiming softly as it closed behind her. He stood there for a moment, shaking his head with a gentle smile.
"She's surprisingly interesting," he murmured to himself. "Not at all like the stereotypical actress. It seems they're not just twins—she mentioned 'younger sisters' in plural. Triplets? Quadruplets? Or maybe just a very lively household. She's quite a busy older sister."
He turned around and looked at the empty Restaurant. The silence returned, but it felt warmer now, filled with the lingering energy of the interactions he'd had.
"It seems tonight's guests are all night owls. Sylas, then Ichika... I wonder if any other interesting guests will arrive before dawn."
Ren quietly returned to his room on the second floor to swap his finished book for another. He moved silently along the hallway, the floorboards well-maintained and creak-free. Before reaching the bottom of the stairs, he turned to glance at the closed doors of Lucifer and Cerberus's rooms.
He chuckled softly. They're sleeping like the dead. Or the undead, in their case.
However, Lucifer and Cerberus couldn't possibly know he was checking on them, because both of them went to sleep unusually early, exhausted by the day's emotional rollercoaster—from stage play trauma to spicy tofu tears.
After Ren came downstairs, the Restaurant was still as quiet as ever. Under the gentle, warm-toned lighting, the interior looked hazy and inviting, a beacon of comfort in the void. It was as if the shop itself was always waiting for a passing traveler who should appear, a lighthouse in the sea of dimensions.
Ren sat back down at his counter. Suddenly, he paused, his finger tapping against the cover of his new book. He remembered something.
"Kirari... she said she would come to find me in the next two days."
The memory of the Momobami clan head and her cryptic offer surfaced. It seemed to be about hiring him as a Combatant for the Kengan matches. While Ren didn't mind a good fight—his muscles practically itched for one after so long in retirement—he still had a practical problem.
He had to keep the Restaurant open.
"I can't just close up shop every time there's a match. My regulars would riot. Especially Rindou."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I remember… Cerberus seemed to have mentioned some kind of door ability in the game lore... I wonder if it's the kind of door I'm imagining… Can she create a portable entrance?"
Ren could only place his hopes on his dog now, hoping she could give him a surprise with her Hellhound abilities. As for Lucifer, he always felt that Lucifer probably wouldn't do such a thing. She was more likely to demand he build a palanquin for her than offer a convenient travel solution.
Ren smiled, dismissing the worry. He was the type to warmly entertain guests when there were any, and not mind when there weren't, quietly enjoying such moments of solitude. For him, both a lively Restaurant and a quiet life were things he loved equally. Balance was key.
"Ah… it's gotten cold…"
Ren looked at the fragrant lavender tea in front of him. It no longer emitted any steam or aroma. The vibrant reddish hue had darkened slightly.
He felt a bit helpless but also a faint joy at the passage of time. Ren returned to the kitchen, and when he came out again, he didn't have fresh hot water. Instead, he had a single, fresh bamboo leaf in his hand.
Ren placed the bamboo leaf in the cold teacup. He watched the green leaf float gently on the surface, supported by the surface tension of the tea. It spun slowly.
"It's been a long time since I tried drinking it this way~. Wabi-sabi in a cup."
Just as Ren was about to lift the cup to taste the cold infusion, the main door suddenly lit up.
Ren froze, the cup hovering halfway to his lips. He looked at the door in confusion.
"This is the second… no… the third guest from Another World today, wasn't it?"
The door had lit up once before Sylas arrived, but no one entered. Then Sylas came. Now, the light was back. It pulsed with a sharp, disciplined energy.
Ren put the cup down. "How strange… usually it's not this busy."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door handle turned. It wasn't pushed open violently like Sylas, nor timidly like some others. It was opened with precise, controlled force.
A young girl stepped in.
She had long, straight black hair that fell to her waist, and she was wearing a school uniform—but not a modern one. It was a dark, traditional sailor style. Her eyes were sharp, red like crimson moons, and her expression was one of intense vigilance.
But the most striking thing was the katana she held in her hand, unsheathed and ready.
Seeing Ren sitting calmly behind the counter, the young girl paused. She didn't attack, but her grip on the hilt tightened. She frowned, scanning the room for threats.
"Where is this?" she asked, her voice cold and commanding.
Ren stood up slowly, raising his empty hands to show he meant no harm. He smiled gently. "She seems like a very cautious guest. Relax, Miss. This is a Restaurant. A night Restaurant."
The young girl looked around, her red eyes darting from the tables to the kitchen entrance. She felt the inherent warmth and faint aroma of food—dashi, rice, tea—that lingered in the air. It clashed with her defensive stance.
She lowered her sword slightly, though she didn't sheathe it.
"The layout here is a bit different from what I remember…" she muttered. "I was just in the Capital… investigating…"
"Because this is Another World~," Ren supplied helpfully.
"Another World?" Her eyes narrowed. "Is this a Teigu's ability? Dimensional manipulation?"
Ren shook his head, looking at the door. "That's right~ It's Another World, but not a weapon. You stepped through the door and came into the Restaurant. Whether you're here to dine or just rest, you're a guest, not a combatant."
The young girl frowned deeply. She looked back at the door behind her. "Can I still go back? I have a mission."
Ren said with a smile, "Of course you can. Just open the door and walk back through it. I said this is just a Restaurant that can connect to other worlds. I don't kidnap people."
The young girl stared at him for a second, assessing his truthfulness. Then, she tentatively reached back and pulled open the door.
Instead of the street outside Ren's shop, she saw a flash of the familiar, dark, cobblestone streets of the Imperial Capital she had just left.
Only then did she relax. She let out a breath she had been holding. She closed the door and sheathed her katana with a sharp click.
She bowed slightly, her manners impeccable despite the weapon. "I apologize for my rudeness just now, Owner. In my line of work, caution is necessary."
Ren shook his head and said, "It's fine. I prefer cautious guests to reckless ones. And if you're so polite, I actually feel a bit pressured."
He looked her up and down. "But I have to say, Miss, you have good taste~."
"Hm?" The girl looked confused.
"I can smell the faint scent of sea bream on you. Not the fishy kind, but the savory kind. You were thinking about food just now, weren't you? Specifically, Tai Chazuke (Sea Bream Tea on Rice)?"
The girl's eyes widened in genuine shock. "How did you…?"
"Because both snapper bones and snapper heads are excellent ingredients for making broth, and the chazuke made with them will have a unique aroma. You have the look of someone who appreciates the simple elegance of such a dish. So, you're quite the connoisseur, customer~."
The girl paused, then a hint of excitement flashed in her red eyes, replacing the coldness. She chuckled, a soft, rare sound. "Rather, it's your culinary intuition that's exceptional, Shopkeeper. You read my mind perfectly. That is exactly what I was craving after a long night."
Ren smiled and tied his apron. "Thank you for the compliment~. Please wait a moment then. I will prepare the best Tai Chazuke you've ever had."
With that, he turned and walked towards the kitchen.
The girl—Akame, of the Night Raid—looked around the Restaurant. She walked to a table and sat down, placing her sword, Murasame, gently on the seat beside her. The faint warmth of the shop gave her a sense of ease she hadn't felt in months. It was as if she had returned to the base, surrounded by friends, completely relaxed.
"A nice place... Hm?"
Akame suddenly noticed the cup of cold fragrant tea on Ren's table. She could smell a faint aroma from where she sat, but she also felt that the tea had lost all its warmth. A single green leaf floated on top.
Being able to order a dish like Chazuke, she naturally had an opinion on tea as well. Tea was meant to be drunk hot or iced intentionally. Stale, cold tea was sad.
Why would he drink that? she wondered. Someone who can identify a craving by look alone shouldn't settle for cold tea.
While the girl was pondering, Ren came over with a steaming glass cup. The liquid inside was a beautiful, translucent purple-red.
After placing the cup in front of her, he smiled and said, "Have some water to warm your stomach first~. The broth will take a few minutes."
Akame looked at the cup in front of her, her brows relaxing as the steam hit her face. She sniffed it. "It smells very good. What is this?"
"Rose tea," Ren explained. "I added a little blueberry to it. It can beautify and nourish, relieve fatigue from battle, and regulate the digestive system. Blueberries can also protect eyesight—important for a swordswoman—and enhance the taste. It should be quite suitable for you~."
Akame nodded, touched by the thoughtfulness. She picked up the cup.
Just as Ren was about to leave to tend to the fish, she heard her soft voice stop him.
"Shopkeeper, there's a question I'd like to know the answer to."
"What?" Ren paused.
"I can feel that this tea is very fragrant and mellow," Akame gestured to her cup. "And I can also smell the aroma from your cup over there. Someone who can brew such tea would surely not choose to drink a cup that has completely cooled, would they? It seems... wasteful."
Ren smiled, looking at his own cup with the bamboo leaf. "Ah, that question. It's very simple. Because tea is like life. Drinking tea is savoring life."
Akame tilted her head, listening intently.
"If your tea gets cold, and you choose to reheat it, it won't be the same taste and feeling as it was initially. The bitterness will increase. If you pour it out, you'll just lose a cup of tea for nothing. That is waste."
Akame asked in confusion, "Then what do you mean by putting a bamboo leaf on it? Is it for brewing tea? Does it change the flavor?"
Ren paused, then shook his head with a smile and said, "Of course not. Because with only one bamboo leaf added now, in cold water, it won't impart any flavor at all. It's just for aesthetics."
"Hm? Aesthetics?"
The girl became interested in this strange philosophy.
Ren said gently, leaning against the adjacent table, "I said that drinking tea is savoring life, and tea water is life. Sometimes, life goes cold. Things happen that we didn't plan. Since life has already taken a bad turn, no matter how much you try to make it like before—reheating it—you will only get a different result. It won't be the same as it once was, and it won't have the development you desired."
Akame's hand tightened slightly around her warm cup. She thought of her sister. She thought of her fallen comrades. She couldn't "reheat" the past.
"Since that's the case," Ren continued softly, "why not try to decorate it? Why not take the cold reality and add a bamboo leaf? Make the already bad tea water look better. Accept it for what it is, but find beauty in it. After all, the past cannot be controlled, but the present can influence the future~."
"What about brewing a fresh pot?" Akame asked quietly. "Start over?"
Ren shook his head. "Wasting time to make a cup of tea that isn't exactly the same as the first will only make one feel depressed. You will always compare the new pot to the memory of the first. Sometimes, you just have to drink the cold tea and appreciate the leaf."
After speaking, Ren bowed slightly and returned to the kitchen to slice the sea bream.
Akame sat there in silence. She looked at the cup of cold tea on Ren's table with a complex expression. The bamboo leaf spun slowly.
Accept the cold tea...
After a long while, she sighed, a sound that carried a heavy burden leaving her chest. She picked up her own cup of warm Rose Blueberry tea and took a small sip.
The sweetness of the fruit and the floral scent of the rose bloomed on her tongue.
"Ah... it really is fragrant...." she whispered.
"I will enjoy this cup while it is warm."
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