「Could this be the Izakaya Nobu that Crowvinkel sang about?」
A handsome and flashily 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 Nobu.」
The man heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief at Shinobu'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 Shinobu's 'No customers in the afternoon' and somehow making his way to the counter.
As he wiped his face with a warm towel, Shinobu felt like his smile looked familiar, but she just couldn't place it.
Shinobu 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 Shinobu 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 Shinobu 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. Shinobu turned towards Nobuyuki, 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 balls 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.
Nobuyuki 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 = Japanese 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 vassal to a noble 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 nobles in the vicinity of Aitheria, Arnoux's Sachnussenburg family or the Branton family came to Shinobu's mind. She had met the vassals 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.」
Nobuyuki 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 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.」
Nobuyuki choked, but managed to pass it off as a cough.
「O-oh, my apologies. It's probably the dry weather.」
Shinobu mentally thanked Nobuyuki. 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 Nobu, but no one could voice that thought, so Shinobu 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, Shinobu 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 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.
Nobuyuki used a colander to drain the water from the boiled pasta.
「Now then, the dish is almost ready..」
Nobuyuki 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. Nobody 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.」
BrosAugust 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 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 Shinobu 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…?」
Nobuyuki smiled in amusement at Gernot's mumbling and passed 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 glass of water and stood up.
「Gernot-san, is that all for today?」
「Yeah. Apologies, Shinobu-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 Shinobu listened to Gernot's voice trail off, she quietly made a reservation for two that night.