The Other World Dining Hall Chapter 11

Sat.u.r.day morning. After finis.h.i.+ng the preparations for beef stew and eating a simple breakfast, the owner relaxed in the kitchen for a little while. It would be fine for him to go back to his home on the third floor for a bit, but every Sat.u.r.day at around this time, a ‘visitor’ would come. He waited for a bit.

“Yo. Morning. I brought today’s share.”

A thin man along with a wagon filled with provisions for the kitchen came out of the elevator that was used to bring in foodstuffs.

“Ah, sorry about this every time.”

The owner gave him a greeting in a familiar manner. The man was his friend since elementary school so they very familiar with one another.

“It’s fine. I’m gonna come over to the restaurant on weekends anyway so it doesn’t really change anything, and I’m getting paid for it.”

While saying that, the man went over to the large refrigerator used to store provisions for the kitchen in a familiar manner, took out cakes and sweets that he made himself from the wagon, and crammed them inside.

On the first floor of the three story building where the Cathouse was located, there is a cake shop with a sign that has a puppy with wings called the ‘Flying Puppy.’ The man inherited the cake shop from his father who was a pastry chef and became the second generation shop manager, and he was also the owner’s childhood friend. As a middle-aged man the same age as the owner, he already had two children.

The Flying Puppy’s manager knew about the Western Style Cathouse’s secret Sat.u.r.day-only special sale. Around the time the manager went to the same elementary school as the owner, he would receive money from his parents who were too busy to prepare dinner, and he would frequently come over. The previous owner took care of the manager as though he were his own grandchild, and in time, he came to know about the secret that this restaurant the previous owner managed held.

The manager also had a debt of grat.i.tude. During college, he was in a motorcycle accident. During the time he was paralyzed from the bottom down from the after-effects of the accident, he was saved by the suspicious ‘Otherworldly medicine’ that the previous owner brought him. (The doctor said that he had made a miraculous recovery. In truth, it was somewhat of a miracle)

Along with that bond, after he studied how to be a patissier, the manager, who inherited the shop where his parents worked in his childhood friend’s building, decided to ‘cooperate’ with the familiar Other World Dining Hall. He made the wholesale merchandise for the weekdays for his shop during Sat.u.r.day as well.

“Alright, and that’s the end. Fuu, as I thought, it’s a little tiring when you get to be this age. Ah, that’s right. Before I forget, I’ll pa.s.s this over to you.”

After putting the cakes that needed refrigeration into the refrigerator and the cakes that had to be kept at a fixed temperature into fixed-temperature storage cabinet, the manager took a paper box from the wagon and gave it to the owner.

“What’s this? Cake?”

The owner tilted his head at the long, thin paper box with the silhouette of the Flying Puppy’s trademark puppy with wings. The st.u.r.dy paper box that was used for gifts was a little heavier than it looked. What came from it was the faint smell of brandy. It seemed like quite the amount of it was used. There were cakes that used liquor in the cakes that the Flying Puppy put out, but there weren’t supposed to be any cakes that gave off the definite smell of liquor like this.

“One of our giveaways. You should know about it too right? If you buy one hundred pieces of cake from the Flying Puppy, we’ll give you a whole cake of whatever you’d like.”

The manager frankly replied to the owner’s question while laughing. It was a giveaway from the stamp system that he had at his store, the Flying Puppy. One piece of cake meant one stamp. If you gathered twenty stamps, you’d get a piece of cake, and if you gather one hundred stamps, you’d get one whole cake as a present. For the purveying office women in the neighborhood who have a pa.s.sion for sweets, he had heard that the store’s stamp service was very popular.

“One hundred pieces… Don’t tell me, is it that person?”

Listening to the manager’s answer, it came up in the owner’s mind. The face of a single ‘regular,’ an otherworldly customer in her early twenties that could easily eat one hundred pieces of cake.

“That’s right. I told you before right? About there’s a cutie who’s been coming here every week for about a year who would eat two pieces of my pound cake. Give that to her. There doesn’t seem to be any refrigerators over on the other side so just in case, I made it so that it would keep for a few weeks if you store it at a fixed temperature, but make sure to tell her that if you unseal it, that she should eat it as soon as possible.”

“Got it. If she comes, I’ll hand it over.”

At the manager’s request, the owner gave a single nod and took it. Thinking about that woman, last week, she had troubled face for some reason. Something bad could have happened. To take her mind off of it, this gift should do some good.

Coming once every seven days, the day of tribulations.

“Aah, so this day has come once again…”

While looking at the black door with a picture of a cat drawn on it which appeared from the corner of the training ground and shaking her attentively-groomed blonde hair and clear, blue eyes, Celestine, the high priestess of the G.o.d of light, frowned.

This was a training ground made for high priests. Currently, the only person allowed here was Celestine who was serving as this monastery’s director at age of twenty-one due to the personal order of his holiness the pope a year ago after she was recognized as a high priest at the young age of twenty when normally people were recognized at the age of forty or fifty… Therefore, the only people who knew about this training ground’s secret were only the already retired previous director and Celestine.

“Today… today will…”

She purified her body and gently stood in front of the door. Just looking at it made her saliva well up… as she tried to endure it. The ‘one year of enjoyment’ had already ended… at this rate, she would have to recognize her own weakness.

The G.o.d of light which she followed honored temperance, self-control, and sought abstinence. And for a priest that should be more pious than an ordinary believer, especially for a high priest that would lead the organization, abstinence after the ‘one year of enjoyment’ would be requested.

The G.o.d of light that they followed and the G.o.d’s faithful servant that was one of the four legendary heroes, his holiness the pope, preached to them. It was easy to withstand that which you did not know. That is because you never thought you wanted it. He wanted to tell them that being triumphant over desire would grant them purer souls. Bearing the knowledge and the allure of various things that would disturb abstinence would be true discipline, is what he said.

What was born from that belief was the custom called the ‘one year of enjoyment.’ Liquor, tobacco, sweets, makeup… Because they valued chast.i.ty, sensual pleasures were not allowed, but all the apostles of the G.o.d of light, especially those aiming to be high-ranking priests, would have to bathe and indulge in all the various indulgences that existed in this world besides that for only one year out of their whole lifetime. After that, they would have to cut all of them away and carry on their discipline of abstinence.

Of course, there were many that failed this practice. There is a line of thinking that it is necessary to fulfilled abstinence with only one’s own will, and people who became high priests could get ahold of as much indulgences as they wanted. Because of that, to sever themselves away from them was difficult, and it was normal for high priests to have in interest in at least one indulgence or other. At any rate, the G.o.d of light’s highest priest, the pope as one of the four heroes who many decades ago with just four people challenged and defeated the evil G.o.d that was trying to remake the monsters in the world, was a tobacco lover who wouldn’t let go of his pipe even for a moment. Having one or two vices was something that was considered human weakness and forgivable by the organization.

Out of all them, Celestine was an existence that emitted conspicuousness. Following the tradition, she bathed herself in various pleasures for one year… and one year and a day after, she cut herself off from all of them two years ago. From there on, she became someone with an iron will who never put even one of those indulgences into her mouth… It is because of that will and apt.i.tude of faith that she was recognized as a high priest, and putting aside her rich one year rebellion, she was the youngest high priest and had earned many achievements. What stood in front of Celestine who was in charge of one of the nun’s meeting cloisters was a door.

“…Aah, this won’t do…”

Slowly, Celestine rose up and unsteadily approached the door. On the other side of this door was vice. Devilish otherworldly goods that couldn’t be obtained in this world. The previous, aged director informed her of this hidden door before he left, and she was fascinated with it for a year… and now that her second ‘one year of enjoyment’ has pa.s.sed, Celestine couldn’t cut away her attachments to it.

Celestine opened the door frustrated, and with the ring of a bell, the sound of defeat rang out.

“Welcome.”

The face of the middle-age owner who greeted the slowly entering Celestine with a bright smile seemed to her like a devil luring her into depravity.

(It’s, it’s not too late…)

That’s right. She could just leave the store and return. She was different from the vulgar people who stuffed their cheeks with this restaurant’s dishes as though they were the most delicious things ever. She was a high priest of the great G.o.d of light, so she had to bear it! As she was desperately telling herself that, Celestine who was about to turn around was dealt the final blow by the devil… No, the owner.

“Would you like your usual pound cake? Aah, by the way, today’s pound cake is rum raisin.”

Suddenly, Celestine’s feet stopped.

(Ru, rum raisin!?)

Including the first time she visited this restaurant, she had only tasted it three times… a phantom flavor that Celestine have unceasing love for. Out of reflex, her saliva seemed like it might overflow from the revival of the memory of that vivid taste on her tongue.

“Well, how about it?”

“I, I will partake!”

“Understood, welcome back.”

Reflexively answering, Celestine was confronted the owner’s bright smile which was just as if it was the smile of the devil of temptation. While reflecting on her defeat, Celestine sat down in a nearby chair.

(…I ended up losing… I’m such an idiot!)

The faces of the high priests in the organization pa.s.sed through her mind. They were her seniors who held power befitting of a high priest while dyeing their hands in luxuries that they couldn’t bear to throw away. Celestine who secretly held them in contempt was a.s.saulted disgust for herself. She was sick of hearing about her iron will. To herself, she was no different from any other high priest. Isn’t she just a weak person, is what she thought.

(In, in the first place, this restaurant is also that restaurant! If only if it were the same flavor every week, I would’ve gotten sick of it!)

Right, the ‘pound cake’ that tempted Celestine had a different flavor every week.

At some times, it would be filled with plenty of dried fruits. At other times, it was made with something called ‘chocolate’ that was bitter but very sweet. At other times, it was something that was bitter and bright green, and it had sweet beans that were cooked in sugar in it. And finally at other times, it had something thick and yellow in the middle of it that had the flavor of eggs… This restaurant’s pound cake changed every time she came back. The same flavor would only come out once every few months.

Also, there was the yellow ‘Halloween Pound’ which had the sweetness of vegetables, or the ‘Hina Matsuri Special’ which had pink, yellow, and green-colored different pound cakes on top of each other, and others which she only saw once throughout this year. And coupled with the fact that they were s.p.a.ced out one every seven days, Celestine couldn’t stop being charmed by them.

(Besides, it’s unfair that they went out of their way to bring out rum raisin today, the day the ‘one year of enjoyment’ ended!)

Bringing up the practice that Otherworlders would have no idea about and partway venting her anger, she reminisced about rum raisin… and once again swallowed her saliva.

All the ‘pound cakes’ here each have a good otherworldly flavor to them, but rum raisin was something else. When she first ate it, she reflexively thought ‘this is the food of the G.o.ds,’ and on the rare rum raisin days, she always ate twice the amount.

(…Is, is it here yet?)

Having thought about rum raisin, Celestine had started to become restless. Waiting was painful. And then, the time had come.

“Thank you for waiting. Your pound cake and black tea set.”

“Y, yes!”

She unintentionally gave him a smile. With the pound cake topped with a white, fluffy something placed in front of her eyes and lined on the plate, she unintentionally smiled widely.

“I’ll bring out seconds very soon too.”

The owner was also quite informed himself and raised his voice knowing the Celestine would order it once again. He then went back to the other customers.

“Oh G.o.d higher than the heavens watching over me. I give my thanks for bringing about the food that I will partake…”

Letting out the words of prayer from her mouth, she then took a silver fork in hand… and ate.

“Haah…”

She unknowingly let out her voice from the pound cake with rum raisin in it that she hadn’t had in some months. That’s how good it was. The mellow sweetness of the pound cake and the texture that resembled bread but was extremely different in terms of softness. When placed into the mouth, the faint aroma of alcohol spread out. By sucking plenty of that alcohol, it brought back the sweetness of the dried grapes which then brought forth sweetness when they were crushed on top of her tongue. On top of that, the softly spreading white, sweet fluff began to softly wrap around the flavor of the dried grapes and the sweetness held in the pastry itself.

Yellow cake, black dried grapes, and white fluff. Three things that weren’t too sweet, but they definitely melted and mixed in her mouth, bringing forth a wonderful flavor. At that extravagant taste, Celestine was intoxicated for a short moment. Towards the fact that she tore the ban she placed on herself, she felt regret and resentment for her own weak will. After all that is said though, they dissolved in the middle of that sweet flavor.

Now that she had her first bite, there was no escaping. Celestine continued to eat fiercely. Without stopping her hands, in the blink of an eye, the pound cake disappeared from her plate.

“Fuu… Excuse me, could I have one more serving of pound cake?”

After that, she added one serving of sugar to the black tea that had a particular bitterness to it and used it to cleanse her palate before ordering seconds. People who knew the usual graceful Celestine would be shocked to see her greedy manner. Even more so if they knew that it was because of sweets.

To begin with, Celestine was not very fond of sweets. When she was eighteen and took on the ‘one year of enjoyment,’ she regularly had sweets that used plenty of sugar or honey, but after that, it was as if she no desire for them. Because of that, Celestine thought she didn’t really like sweets… Right, she had thought that.

But that was wrong. After encountering this Other World’s devilish, fearsome food known as pound cake, she realized this. She didn’t dislike sweets… She just didn’t know about sweets that were truly delicious, and her force of will to refrain herself from those sweets was weak.

It was easy to withstand that which you did not know. Celestine understood those words with her body. Celestine had continued to wait impatiently for the door to appear to travel back and forth from this place ever since she knew about it one year ago using the excuse of the ‘one year of enjoyment.’ Seven days ago, she realized that it had been one year since the first time she came to the Other World Dining Hall and fell into despair. And today, for the first time in her life, she had lost to her own desire.

“Fuu…Uuu.”

After eating down to the last crumb and eating an extra serving than the usual two, Celestine was finally satisfied… and regretful. She couldn’t withstand it. She had done it. That feeling whirled around her.

(Next, next time I should just not come here…)

As if to smooth things over, she thought that while placing down several silver coins before standing up. She never thought the final blow would be dealt there.

“Oh, are you heading back… Please wait just a moment.”

Seeing that Celestine was standing up, the owner started to panic slightly before pulling back into the kitchen… and brought that out.

“Please take this. As thanks for always coming here. This is gift of grat.i.tude.”

What was brought out was a thin, long box with a picture of a puppy with wings drawn on it.

“Um… what is this?”

With its appearance, Celestine felt a seed of hope… and dread as she asked the owner. As if seeing through her, the owner grin and laughed harder…

“It’s a specially-made brandy cake that’s not normally seen, a cake that uses a large amount of liquor that has the flavor of rum raisin. Rum raisin. You seemed to have taken quite a liking to it so I’m sure you’ll enjoy this as well.”

Celestine who was thrown into despair said one thing.

“Br, brandy cake…?”

It was something she never heard of. But, from the meaning packed into her tone, the owner explained, and Celestine understood. This was something dangerous. If she got her hands on it, she couldn’t turn back, a devil’s deal.

(I never eaten it before. If I like rum raisin, I’ll enjoy it…)

At those words, she felt her stomach that was full of pound cake move. I want to try, that feeling started to well up.

“I was told that if you left it somewhere dark and cool, it should last for a few months. Well, he also said that after you open it, eat it fast, so you should eat with some friends.”

(I have to refuse. If I don’t refuse…)

While she was thinking that, Celestine received it. She ended up receiving it.

“…Thank you very much.”

As a smile floated on her face, she said her thanks.

“Alright, until next time.”

“Yes. Next time…”

And then Celestine finally turned around and left through the door. While part-way convinced that she would come once again.

And, that Otherworldly thing would be unseal the very next day.

The next day, Celestine resolved herself to taste the brandy cake. A cake with dried grapes and a stronger alcohol content than rum raisin. The moment she tasted it, she understood everything. She could no longer turn back, and so, she started to move.

“Lady Celestine! What… what kind of liquor is used in this!?”

The first one who asked was someone who was a nun and a commoner while also being a candidate for a high priest that Celestine had her eye on… and also at the same time was a dwarf that was rumored to be quite the alcoholic, Carlotta. The deliciousness of this pastry was magnificent, but on top of that, the aroma of this unknown liquor that filled this pastry was wonderful. She honestly felt that she wanted to try drinking it.

“Bitter. But, sweet. Delicious.”

The person who mutter few words while wholeheartedly gulping down cake was a half-elf changeling born between human parents, Anna, who boasted a long lifespan and strong magic. For Anna, from the time she was born to when she lived in the organization, this was her first experience. Pastry with a sweet aroma and bitter taste… which then turned into an overwhelming sweetness. Anna, who was being raised at the monastery before she became old enough to realize it, had no idea that this kind of food existed.

“Lady Celestine. It’s really tasty, this. I had some sweets in the kingdom before, but this is the first time I’ve had something this delicious… Who and where exactly did it come from? For someone to have made this…”

Anna wasn’t the only person who was unfamiliar with this pastry. As someone who was high-cla.s.s descent in the kingdom, Julianne, who had a full knowledge of the capital’s luxuries, asked Celestine. Julianne did not know this pastry. To Julianne, the fact that it was unknown meant that n.o.body, never mind the Eastern Continent, the whole world including the Western Continent did not know. There was no doubt that it was a ‘special gift,’ but as to who or what made it was completely unknown.

The sharing of the special gift. Hearing that, three elite people at this monastery had just gathered here. And what was brought out was this. A thin, long, beautiful box made from st.u.r.dy paper that held a mysterious, transparent bag that had no seams or holes. The moment it was opened, a faint, unknown, alcoholic smell wafted out around them carrying the taste of grape liquor.

And with Celestine’s own hand, she divided it with a polished silver knife and lined the baked good in front of the three of them… Its taste was not normal.

“This is… right…”

At Julianne’s question, Celestine had a smile rise to her face that had a sense of defeat drifting about it and said this.

“It’s the cake of the devil. Right, I received it from a devil.”

As she muttered that, Celestine, who was eating a piece of the baked good that was twice as large as the disciples, somehow had her smile brighten up. Celestine had decided within herself.

(Right, I must overcome this myself. This is G.o.d’s trial. To do that, I must see though the truth behind this baked good and savor it until I’m tired of it.)

The decision to part-way put the cart before the horse.

…Afterward, the holy woman who rose up and became the pope even with the body of a woman, Celestine Fregran. With a mighty magical apt.i.tude and a wide heart filled with compa.s.sion, she was a follower of the G.o.d of light. She had a vice that she could not stop loving called the ‘cake of the devil.’ One day, a devil pa.s.sed this phantom cake to her and her three disciples that she was fond of.

It was a very sweet cake that was filled with alcohol, had a savory smell, a bitter taste, and never mind the disciples, even that Celestine was overcome by the temptation of its deliciousness, and it is said to be the cause of the temple of light becoming well-versed in making sweets and changing it into a place of fervent wors.h.i.+p for pastry chefs.

With the disciples’ cooperation, when she could finally eat it, Pope Celestine was said to always have a smile on her face. Now that she had become the pope, the fact that she couldn’t sever herself away from it was embarra.s.sing for her… but even still, she smiled broadly at its devilish tasty flavor.