Isekai Izakaya Nobu Chapter 58Chawanmushi (Part 1)

The light rain that had started falling before dusk had soaked Inns & Stables Street.

A young torchbearer had been continuously pacing back and forth in front of Izakaya Nobu and its signboard the whole time.

Enrico Bellardino. He was one of the confidants who served the archbishop.

When he was young, he had been known as an outstanding priest, and he was well known in the Holy Order as someone who supported the Archbishop’s traditionalist view and kept his distance from the Holy Kingdom.

Enrico was observing Izakaya Nobu because of a tip off.

‘Izakaya Nobu is the witches’ lair.’

Recently, a short man called Damien had brought this information to the Archbishop, who Enrico was close with.

Even though he had thought that the man would be snobbish, like the boss of thugs, the man had surprisingly been a refined person. The Archbishop had decided to use him, since it was convenient and his pawns didn’t have to decrease.

「Could there really be a witch?」

As a traditionalist, it was important that witches existed.

By hunting witches in this land, he could prove that the Holy Order was corrupt and force it to revert to following the ancient teachings.

If they went back to the ancient teachings, the wicked would disappear immediately.

That was why Enrico’s responsibilities were important.

He had to make sure that witches really gathered at this bar.

He had been exposed to the rain for quite some time now, but he still had not found any clues.

He did not think that the witches would reveal their identities that easily, but he was currently in a stalemate.

It was dangerous for him to stay here for a long time.

Considering the situation was like this, he pulled the glass door open. At that moment, Enrico was wrapped in a mysterious warmth.

「Welcome!」

「…’elcome.」

After being drenched under the cold rain alone, hearing the greetings comforted him.

「I definitely won’t be deceived,」 Enrico muttered under his breath.

The lovely waitress, the young dishwasher girl, and the girl wiping the table who looked to be newly wedded…all of them could be witches. Even the male store owner could potentially be a witch.

According to the witch hunting legends, male witches weren’t uncommon.

He would not be deceived.

(ED: The English equivalent for witch in this context is probably warlock, but since I don’t know the terminology too well, I’m just leaving it as the literal translation.)

Once he had settled down by the counter, a warm cloth and some appetizers were brought out without his prompting. They seemed to be called oshibori and otoshi respectively.

He was grateful for the hospitality, as his hands were wet and frozen to the bone. Was this possibly a strategy to lower his guard before creeping into the depths of his mind?

「What would you like to order?」

「Warm, plain water… I’m not fond of alcohol.」

After he said that, he regretted it.

Would a torchbearer say that?

Enrico, who had dedicated himself to asceticism for a long time, had entered a bar for the first time today. Would they lashed out at him for his impoliteness in entering a bar and not ordering alcohol?

This sort of anxiety gradually grew within him.

However, that sort of anxiety seemed to merely be a groundless fear.

The waitress smiled and brought out some plain water in a porcelain cup.

When he wrapped his hands around it, its warmth gradually melted his frozen hands.

The appetizer was nitsuke kozakana.

Even though Enrico wasn’t used to eating food with a strong flavor, the small sweet and simmered fish strangely suited his palate.

He wanted to request the same thing again, but he suppressed the desire with the self-restraint of a stone statue sculpture.

‘Attachment is corruption, and corruption is the fall of faith.’ While he warmed his body up with the warm plain water, he secretly examined the store.

~Nitsuke kozakana~

This really was a witches’ lair, wasn’t it.

There were strange decorations and furniture that he had never seen before, not even in records, occupying various places in the store.

The menu was written in a foreign language, and there were colorful sake bottles and models of ships in bottles.

In particular, he was able to sense a strong energy coming from the altar of a foreign god, which was enshrined on the wall in the inner part of the store.

There was a rational reason why the upright Enrico, who had never set foot in a bar before, was chosen to go investigate this store.

He was able to sense the energies of this world.

However, it was neither an evil energy nor a holy energy.

Various energies beyond the power of man filled up naturally, and it was always transforming.

In truth, even if there were priests who had undergone strict training, the number of people who were able to sense energies could be counted with one hand.

That was why the mission assigned to Enrico was important.

「Would you like to order something?」

Although the waitress from a short while ago came and asked, Enrico couldn’t answer.

Come to think of it, he did not know what was served at this kind of store.

When he had been undergoing the traditionalist faction’s rigorous training under the Archbishop, his meals had been modest and consisted of bread, stew, and wine diluted with water. The most they had gotten for dessert was some pudding.

They had hardly consumed meat or fish; rather they had paid more importance to vegetables.

「Something… to warm myself up.」

He thought it was a dumb order after he said it.

However, the waitress unexpectedly nodded with a smile.

Had the disguise of being a torchbearer fooled them into thinking that he was a young man who was unfamiliar with this kind of store? Anyway, it was a good thing that they didn’t seem to suspect him.

Fortunately, no suspicious gazes had been directed at him yet.

He couldn’t be careless. There were strong possibility that this place, which was filled with paganistic beliefs, was the witches’ lair.

However, Enrico was not able to declare that the strange energy he sensed from the pagan altar was an evil one.

「Sorry for the wait, this is chawanmushi!」

「Thank you.」

~Chawanmushi~

He received the bowl and was nearly overwhelmed by the waitress’ bright smile.

The dish called chawanmushi seemed to be a pudding with other ingredients inside of it.

The name sounded exotic, but if that was the case, then it was something he was familiar with.

Besides, this pudding with ingredients would be the perfect tool to judge whether or not this place was the witches’ lair.