Prologue — Encounter With Ramen (2)

A lamp hanging inside the cart cast an intense white light, completely driving away the surrounding darkness.

How strange. Just what sort of technology had been used to create it…? I could sense no mana from it, so it surely was not some kind of spirit… Oh, wait, no!

I had let myself become interested in something other than the food!

The man in white looked around and gave a wry smile.

Then he began speaking in a strange language.

“Yaa, kon’ya waa, mata ooi naa!”

With that, the man took several square stools out of the cart and began arranging them nearby.

Yet even though the rumored man had finally arrived, everyone remained frozen in place.

Well, I could hardly blame them… Everyone was overwhelmed by the man’s utterly bizarre appearance.

Eventually, however, someone who seemed to be a regular stepped forward from among those watching from a distance.

He looked around smugly, raised one finger, and proclaimed,

“Taisho, ramen iccho!”

Ooh!? Th-That had to be the legendary incantation for summoning Ramen that I had heard about!

The man in white flashed him a broad grin.

The regular sat down on one of the stools the man in white had arranged, then casually reached toward a table-like section of the cart and took one of the wooden sticks from a container set there.

H-Hmm… Damn it, w-what were those sticks…? I had no idea! Nothing I had heard in the rumors had mentioned anything like those!

Like most of the others, I had been too intimidated to move.

But allowing myself to fall behind here would disgrace my name as a gourmet! Was it not the very spirit of a true epicure to leap even into a Fire Dragon’s nest for the sake of delicious food!?

Steeling myself, I stepped forward from among the cowering men, raised one finger just as the regular had, and spoke.

“Ahem… T-Taisho… ramen… i-iccho!”

Seeing my cheeks flushed with excitement, the bald man in white flashed me a broad grin and pointed toward one of the stools. I sat down and, just as the man before me had done, picked up one of the wooden sticks provided on the cart.

But… what exactly was this stick supposed to be?

I truly had no idea!

Looking closely, it appeared to have been carved from wood. Despite having no varnish, it was so finely crafted that there was not even a single splinter, clearly the work of a skilled woodworker. A slit ran down the stick from one end, gradually separating it into two prongs, while the opposite end remained joined together.

As I stared at it in bewilderment, the man in white began cooking.

First, he brought a large pot of water to a boil and tossed in some yellow, string-like objects.

Next, he poured a dark brown liquid into a deep bowl, then added a golden broth ladled from another pot.

The yellow strands bubbled vigorously in the pot… The man took out a flat strainer, scooped them up, then flicked it through the air two or three times.

Splash, splaash!

A large amount of hot water spilled onto the ground.

After shaking the strands through the air like that, the man dropped them into the mixture of dark brown liquid and golden broth he had prepared earlier.

Then he arranged several toppings over them and placed the bowls in front of the regular and me.

“Here ya go, eat it while it’s hot!”

The man’s words were completely unfamiliar to me, so I had no idea what they meant, but he apparently wanted us to eat.

Driven by curiosity, I accepted the deep bowl he offered me.

Still… without a fork or spoon, how was I supposed to eat this…?

Steam was rising from the soup, so surely he did not expect me to eat it with my bare hands…?