What Was This?

His completely unruffled attitude only made me even more worked up.

“How am I supposed to eat this!? I don’t know what this ‘veggie-potage style’ or ‘Chinese-style ramen’ of yours is… but whatever it is, ‘ramen’ is not some bizarre sludge that looks like a lump of scum! I absolutely refuse to recognize something like this as ‘ramen’! …Hey, Ouri! You say something too!”

Then Ouri, who had been frozen beside me staring into his bowl, moved.

He picked up his disposable chopsticks and—snap!

I stared at him in confusion.

“H-Hey…? Ouri! What are you doing!?”

Ignoring my attempt to stop him, Ouri plunged his chopsticks into the bowl, gathered up some noodles, and put them into his mouth. He chewed twice, then three times.

After a moment, Ouri’s eyes widened and he grunted, “Mm!” before plunging his chopsticks in again and bringing another mouthful of noodles to his lips.

Then he shot me a sideways look and said,

“Yeah… just like Rinsir said, I can’t call this ‘ramen.’”

At Ouri’s words, I surged with confidence.

“See!? Just as I said! Something like this is obviously—”

Ouri cut me off with a shout.

“This ain’t ramen! But… it’s insanely good!”

Overwhelmed by his forcefulness, I fell silent.

After a short while, Ouri gave a wry smile and spoke.

“I’m the kind of guy who’ll try just about any unusual food. I was shocked when that bastard Ren served this up and called it ‘ramen’… It looks awful, all thick and sludgy, and it smells bad too. It’s nothing like Taisho’s beautiful ramen… I can completely understand why you got angry, Rinsir.”

He resumed eating, glancing at me from the corner of his eye as he continued quietly.

“But you know? This is pretty damn good in its own right… Rinsir, try thinking of it as ‘a completely different dish from ramen’ first, then give it a taste.”

“……..A-All right.”

If I backed down without even trying it after being told that much, I would disgrace my reputation as a gourmet.

I quietly sat back down.

Ren said nothing and remained in his usual arms-crossed, chin-raised pose. His eyes were still half hidden beneath the cloth, making it impossible to tell whether he could properly see me or not as he stared in my direction.

I snapped my disposable chopsticks apart and plunged them into the bowl, pushed through the mud-heavy soup, gathered up some noodles, and put them into my mouth.

…! Th-This was astonishing!

Its appearance was certainly bad. The smell was peculiar too. But what about the flavor of this thick, viscous soup clinging heavily to the noodles!?

The flavors of countless ingredients blended together smoothly, bound into one by sticky fat, while just the right amount of saltiness wrapped around it all. The noodles were good too. Their wheat aroma was strong.

When I pressed the soup against my tongue, I felt faintly gritty particles… almost like potato potage, except the flavor was vastly more complex. I could taste seafood in it as well.

The noodles seemed to have softened a little while we argued. But the thick soup did not cool easily and remained piping hot even now.

There was a great deal of fat in the soup, but because there was so much garnish piled on top, its freshness offset the richness, leaving the aftertaste surprisingly light…

The thinness of the roast pork was good too. It had been sliced thinner than Taisho’s, but that was probably deliberate to balance the intensity of this soup.

In contrast, the bamboo shoots were cut thick… The refreshing quality of the bamboo shoots paired well with the rich soup. With this combination, perhaps fish cake really was unnecessary.

As I continued eating, the smell I had first thought foul gradually stopped bothering me. No—if anything, the peculiar aroma passing through my nose was becoming addictive… Hmm, this was troublesome indeed.

B-But… this soup… it was creamy… Mmm, what an extraordinarily intricate and mysterious flavor.

Layer upon layer of deep richness and savory flavor built upon one another, washing over me in waves of deliciousness… Mmm… w-what exactly was this taste…?

The meat essence was thick and silky, pleasant on the tongue and salty… yet it had a profound sweetness and mellowness, and afterward my lips felt so moist they almost stuck together… Huh? No, seriously, what in the world was actually in this!?

…Before I knew it, not a single drop of soup or a single strand of noodle remained in the bowl.

Ah. How I hated my own inability to resist fine food!

At last, I raised my face.

Ouri and Ren were staring fixedly at me.

Frustrating though it was… I had no choice but to admit that I had become completely ‘absorbed’ in the dish Ren had made.

I loved unusual foods too, after all. I simply could not forgive him for calling this ‘ramen.’

So I declared in a quiet voice,

“…It is delicious. Exceptionally delicious!”

Ren’s face lit up.

“Right!? It’s good, isn’t it!? My ramen!”

I shook my head.

“No! Even so, I still cannot recognize this as ‘ramen’!”

Ouri nodded deeply as well.

“Same here. This stuff’s delicious, but it ain’t ‘ramen.’”

Then he stood up and jerked his thumb in invitation.

“Hey… got some time? Come with me and let’s go eat some ‘ramen’!”