Another Side (2)

Just as Ren finished packing up the Yatai and was about to leave, Rinsir came running up to him, out of breath.

“Hey! Wait, Ren! Before you go, could you let this man have some ramen!?”

Ren turned around and looked over.

A slightly elderly man stood a short distance behind Rinsir.

He had graying hair, wore an indigo cloak, and carried himself with an easygoing, carefree air.

Ren stared at him for a moment before asking Rinsir,

“Who’s that? Was he one of my old man’s customers?”

Rinsir shook her head.

“No, he was not one of Taisho’s customers. He is the man who saved my life about twenty years ago.”

“Rinsir-san’s lifesaver, huh… Sure, bring him over. I’ve still got ingredients left for shio ramen, so I’ll make him a bowl!”

“My thanks. Hey, Tenzan! Ren says he will make you some ramen, so come over here!”

The man called Tenzan approached the Yatai and sat on the chair Rinsir had set out.

Rinsir spoke to Ren.

“Tenzan comes from an island nation in the Far East. He has been traveling across this continent for more than twenty years.”

While reheating the broth and hot water, Ren asked,

“Really? Why’s he been traveling for that long?”

“He is searching for someone. A woman called the ‘One-Winged Witch.’ Apparently, she is the enemy who slew his lord.”

“Huh. Looking for someone, huh… I don’t know anybody in this world besides you guys, Rinsir-san… Sorry, but I don’t think I can help much.”

At Ren’s apologetic response, Rinsir laughed and waved her hand.

“No, no! I intended to rely on a different connection for the search from the beginning. I brought Tenzan to the Yatai because I wanted him to taste some delicious ramen… During his long travels, he has experienced all manner of fine cuisine. I am certain he will appreciate your shio ramen as well.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll put everything I’ve got into it!”

As he spoke, Ren boiled the noodles, blended the salt seasoning sauce with the broth, added the toppings in smooth, practiced motions, and completed the shio ramen before setting it in front of Tenzan.

“Here you go! One exceptionally delicious bowl of shio ramen—order up!”

Rinsir addressed Tenzan.

“Go on, eat, Tenzan! Ren’s ramen is delicious on an entirely different level!”

Tenzan picked up the disposable chopsticks, snapped them apart, and lifted a bundle of noodles. His expression changed after the first bite, he leaned forward after the second, and by the third he was practically clutching the bowl in his arms as he devoured it. In barely three minutes, he had finished everything… Ren stared in admiration at the ferocity of his appetite.

“Whoa… That was incredible!”

After finishing in no time at all, Tenzan carefully aligned his chopsticks, placed them across the bowl, and offered it back to Ren.

Rinsir laughed as she spoke to Ren.

“As you can see, Tenzan is a man of very few words… He rarely speaks, but it appears he was extremely fond of your ramen!”

Ren accepted the bowl from Tenzan with a broad smile.

“Yeah, after watching him eat like that, I can tell!”

Tenzan straightened his back and bowed deeply to Ren.

Ren smiled at him.

“Tenzan-san! If you liked it, come eat at the Yatai again sometime!”

Tenzan gave a large nod, stood up, and disappeared into the darkness of the alley together with Rinsir.

Once the two were gone, Ren put away the chairs and once again prepared to return to his own world… when an astonished voice suddenly came from behind him.

“What!? N-No way… Is this a ramen cart!?”

Ren turned toward the voice and saw a petite young woman with silver hair standing there.

She was a new visitor.

“Hey, welcome! Were you one of my old man’s customers…? Wanna have some ramen?”

Ren set the chair he had been putting away back down on the ground.

The woman spent a while scrutinizing Ren suspiciously from head to toe, but eventually nodded and sat down.

“So it doesn’t seem to be a dream or some kind of illusion… In that case, I’ll have a bowl.”

“Sure! I’m out of most ingredients right now, so I can only make shio ramen. That okay?”

At those words, the woman smiled.

“Shio ramen is one of my favorites! I used to make it for late-night snacks all the time. I liked cracking an egg into it and stirring it vigorously into egg-drop soup… Oh, and make the noodles firm, with extra green onions, please.”

Ren tossed the noodles into the hot water and spoke with an impressed expression.

“…Your Japanese is really good! I thought Rinsir-san and Ouri-san were the only ones who could speak it that fluently.”

The woman narrowed her eyes with a nostalgic expression.

“Really? It has been several decades since I last had a proper conversation in Japanese, though.”

“Huh. Several decades…? You look younger than me.”

“Hehe. I’m actually quite old, you know? I majored in biotechnology back in university, so I used what I learned then to develop a special magical formula that stabilizes cells using mana. …Hey, does my Japanese sound strange?”

Ren shook his head while finishing the noodles.

“Nope, not strange at all. It feels like I’m talking to a Japanese person. That’s pretty impressive!”

Before long, Ren set the finished shio ramen in front of the woman.

“Here you go! Shio ramen with firm noodles and extra green onions—order up!”

The woman reached for the disposable chopsticks with her left hand, took one side between her teeth, and snapped them apart.

…Only then did Ren finally notice.

“Ah! Your right arm…?”

Indeed. The woman’s right arm was missing from the shoulder down.

She gave a wry smile.

“Yes. I lost it a long time ago, after various things happened.”

“Sorry, that was thoughtless of me. Here, use this.”

Ren took out a ramen spoon and placed it in front of her.

“Thank you. Well then, itadakimasu.”

The woman skillfully used the chopsticks with her left hand and carried the ramen to her mouth. She savored each bite as though it were precious, occasionally letting out a wistful sigh and narrowing her eyes happily as she continued eating… Eventually, after using the spoon to drink every last drop of the broth, she stood up.

“Thank you for the meal! That was a wonderfully refined and delicious shio ramen. I’ll leave the payment here. And this too… The magnetic strip is probably long dead, so I doubt it works anymore… but if you’d like, keep it.”

As she spoke, the woman placed “something” on the counter.

“Sure, come again!”

Ren said this as he lifted the empty bowl, and the woman answered brightly.

“I will. I’ll definitely come eat again! I never imagined I’d get to eat shio ramen here in addition to soy-sauce ramen. I’ll be staying in this town for a while… It looks like I need to investigate things a little more thoroughly. If I’m lucky, I might even find a new ‘gate’… Thank you, truly.”

By the time Ren put away the bowl and looked up again, the woman had already disappeared.
Then, picking up the small objects left on the counter, Ren muttered,

“Huh? This is a five-hundred-yen coin and… a card? What the heck, is this a phone card!?”

Indeed. What she had left behind was a tarnished five-hundred-yen coin and a battered old telephone card.

Apparently, it had been some sort of commemorative item marking the anniversary of a bank’s founding. Part of the text had been rubbed away and was no longer legible. Printed on it were the words “Yatosaki Bank, Showa Year **” together with an image of Doraemon.

Ren turned it over, held it up to the light, and tilted his head in puzzlement.

“That customer… why’d she have something like this? …Did my old man give it to her?”

His mutter faded into the empty darkness of the alley, and no one answered.