At the foot of Village Five.

-0-

Two men.

「Senpai, are you sure we’ll find it in a deserted place like this?」

「Of course. We’re already close.」

「I heard that from you a number of times.」

「We’re almost there. Hey, can you smell it? Before, they used to go to places where there are a lot of people but the residents that smell their products can’t help but go to them so there’s always a commotion. It even involves the guards.」

「Right. If you smell this in the middle of the night, you won’t be able to resist…..there it is. That’s the food cart, right?」

「That’s it desu. However, you haven’t forgotten what I said, have you?」

「Of course, there’s no way I’ll tell this to anyone desu yo ne.」

「One more thing. The manager?」

「I’ll call him general.」

「Good, let’s go. Ah, I’ll do the order for you so you only need to remain silent.」

「I understand but….can’t I order myself?」

「It’s difficult if you’re not used to it. Look at how I’ll order first and learn it.」

「By your will.」

「General, how are you? Eehhh, it’s a cold night so I’m going to warm up with ramen. Two bowls of soy sauce ramen, please. Both with char siu. Ah, we’ll use chopsticks too. As for alcohol….I originally wanted some Village Five alcohol alternative but beer is best for ramen after all. Two glasses of beer please.」

-0-

A man and woman couple.

「How is it? Delicious, right? This is my secret store.」

「It’s delicious alright. However, why don’t you open a store during daytime even though it tastes like this? Given how delicious it is, you can even go to the ramen street.」

「Do you want me to get involved in the faction conflict?」

「Faction conflict?」

「There’s a faction battle on ramen street. To put it simply, there are three big factions namely soy sauce, pork bone, and miso. There are also small union factions like soy sauce pork bone, soy sauce miso, and miso pork bone below or at the same level as them. They are in conflict over which one is supreme. Ah, salt is a small force and on a different league.」

「Heh, I didn’t know. Who’s the present strongest?」

「Until a while ago, pork bone soy sauce, not soy sauce pork bone,….was the strongest. Soy sauce pork bone and pork bone soy sauce are different forces so be careful.」

「A while ago?」

「Yes, pork bone soy sauce was the most popular until vegetable-based ramen was introduced. You’ve tried it once, right?」

「Vegetable…..ah, that store that gives big serving?」

「That’s right. It is delicious and addictive but there are a lot of people that can’t eat that much. Leftovers became a problem. Because of that, license was introduced but only limited to vegetable ramen.」

「License? You mean you need to get a license to serve vegetable ramen?」

「Ah, it’s not like that. The license is not for the store but for the customer. Only those who can finish one serving in one go can get one.」

「Heh, that smile. Could it be…」

「I have a license. Moreover, an advance third level.」

「Advance third level?」

「License has rank. From the bottom, beginner, intermediate, advance, advance first level, advance second level, and advance third level. I tried my best because there are ramens I can’t eat if my rank is low. 」

「Did you really do your best? 」

「Yeah. However, I’m still far from the ramen queen which has a rank of advance seventh level.」

「Just eat it moderately. Though ramen itself is not expensive, the side dishes will kill you.」

「That only means I have to earn more.」

「Though you are working, you have to consider about us too….」

「Won’t it be nice to have a family where you can eat as much ramen as you like?」

「Are you telling me that we’re going to have ramen every day?」

「Only when you like it.」

-0-

Two women.

「Okusan, have you heard about it?」

「Are you asking about the teleportation gate?」

「There’s that too but the rumor that I want to discuss is about the underground shopping street desu. I heard that full-scale operation will begin in spring but in fact, several stores are already operating desu.」

「Ah, I heard about it desu ne. However, isn’t that a pre-sale for nobles?」

「The pre-sale is only during the first day. From the second day onwards, they started normal operations in secret.」

「Secret?」

「Yeah. I also went there because I was curious but I couldn’t find the open store.」

「Are you sure it’s secret and not only a rumor?」

「No, there’s definitely business going on. The evidence is that the husband of the hardware store headed in the direction of the underground shopping street in the middle of the night and the young master of the bakery was seen alone at the entrance of the underground shopping street in the evening.」

「Hardware store, you mean Goburi-san?」

「Yeah, isn’t it weird for a hikikomori to go out all the time? Also, the young master of the bakery is always with his underlings and then, he goes there alone….」

「Sounds like alcohol-related. Instead of thinking like that, why don’t you just talk to the south side store owners association?」

「D-don’t get mad. That place is under the direct control of the acting village chief (only a bit) so I think it’s unnecessary to talk to the store owners association.」

「You’re right but haven’t you thought about the past practice? It’s not just this time that there are…..amusing things are happening desu ne.」

「Amusing, is it?」

「Think about the time when the acting village chief was being pushy. She always does what will benefit the village in the end. To suspect something like this…..it sounds like you don’t know the acting village chief too well.」

「That’s what you concluded?」

「That’s what I concluded……general, what’s wrong? Eh? There’s a dwarf tavern on the underground shopping street? It is not officially in business but just a gathering for alcohol lovers so there’s no need to publicize it….? What’s with this karaage? Service? Thank you.」

-0-

Researcher-type man and woman.

「Hey, ramen is popular in Village Five, right? That’s the main reason why everyone’s trying to make ramen and start a business…..though not that much, even dishes that can’t be called ramen are served under the name of ramen.」

「That’s terrible. But what you are trying to say is, it is the ramen guards’ duty to crack that down.」

「Yeah. However, a problem has appeared.」

「Problem?」

「In case that it is obviously another kind of dish, it will be easy to crackdown. However, if it has a vague similarity to ramen, all the owner has to say is “this is my ramen” and there’s nothing that can be done even if the guards argue.」

「I see. That sounds rough.」

「And even the ramen guards don’t have the answer to the question “what is a ramen”.」

「Ramen…..noodles that are soaked in a hot soup….that’s the basic definition. However, there are a lot of dishes like that.」

「There are many kinds of noodles, soup, and ingredients so there’s no definite definition of what ramen is. And of course, that has caused dispute even during a crackdown.」

「Sounds rough desu ne. Ah, how about having the manager of Noodle Shop Britoa, the ramen pioneer of Village Five, certifies ramen?」

「Even with those kinds of things happening, Noodle Shop Britoa remains completely unaffected so they won’t bother. Just look at their line outside. It’s getting longer and longer as day goes by.」

「Noodle Shop Britoa is too popular that you can’t eat there unless you line up early in the morning….then, is there anything else that can be done?」

「I’ve already thought of something but I don’t think it is a good idea to ruin the reputation of ramen a little since it is the signature dish of Village Five, right? Because of that, I can only appeal to the acting village chief.」

「You appeal to her?」

「Yes, I did.」

「…..what happened?」

「The acting village chief consulted the village chief and the answer that came out is this ramen.」

「………are the noodles and soup different from ramen?」

「They said that it is called tsukemen. This is different from the ramen we used to have but it is still a kind of ramen. By the way, it’s currently winter so they are not serving it but it seems like there’s also cold ramen.」

「Cold ramen? The definition of ramen becomes more and more complicated. But yeah, it’s delicious. The balance between the noodles that were washed with cold water and the hot soup is good. However, won’t that make the soup lukewarm?」

「Eat it before it becomes lukewarm. Or so I want to say but you can just tell the clerk she’ll reheat the soup.」

「That would be great. However, the soup will be thick and I won’t be able to drink it.」

「You can just have her add the hot soup after you’re done eating noodles.」

「Soup slitting huh….I see. They got it all covered. However, what’s the acting village chief’s plan to start serving tsukemen and cold ramen?」

「I don’t know too but having a definite definition of ramen seems to be unnecessary.」

「Right, if you define it poorly, new ramen like this will not come out.」

「Right right. Manager….I mean, general, can I have another tsukemen noodle, please? One ball.」

「Ah, me too……tsukemen hasn’t been popularized yet, has it? Even so, this food cart has it….」

-0-

Two adventurers.

「Adventurers from the royal capital have found several working teleportation gates. Amazing, right?」

「Ah. I’m envious of them. I’m an adventurer too so I wanted to be involved in discovering such relics.」

「Right but there are also strange rumors about that.」

「Strange rumors?」

「I heard that the discovered teleportation gates will be handed over to the demon king. The demon king then planned to connect the royal capital to Shashaato City and Village Five using those teleportation gates.」

「I heard that too but….aren’t those only rumors?」

「Not really. In fact, there are rumors that negotiation of the land where those teleportation gates are to be installed has begun since autumn.」

「……is that news reliable?」

「No, I’ve only heard about it. But hearing that kind of rumor is strange, right?」

「That’s right. It is as if they already knew that the teleportation gates will be discovered.」

「You mean they already discovered it….after that, they purposely called the adventurers from the royal capital to pick it up….is that it?」

「………..I really don’t know.」

「You know, I don’t know either. In addition, why do they even have to do such a troublesome thing?」

「Then, it is indeed a rumor. They are probably negotiating for the land for some other reason but their purpose changed upon the discovery of the teleportation gates. 」

「Change of plan in short…yeah. I wonder if I can also discover….hnn? General, what’s with this pickle? Service? Good.」

「Eating pickles after eating ramen is refreshing. I’ll have another beer.」

「Me too, me too」

-0-

Three beastboys.

「Village….I mean, general. We finally found the said golem.」

「It has become a rumor among adventurers so it was not hard to find. Catching it is another story though.」

「Right right. Vender golem doesn’t need combat ability, right? I certainly think that it is necessary to be somewhat capable of defending itself against petty thieves but…that was not on a level petty thieves.」

「Its mobility is already strange. Why does it even need to be able to jump that high….ramen, please. Is this char siu an extra? Thanks.」

「By the way, mother Ramurias….I mean, neesan, is it alright for you to work as a clerk here? I thought you stopped helping here. This boiled egg is delicious.」

「This is both an information gathering hub and an experiment place for new flavors of ramen? Eh? You only plan to open this until today? We’re lucky then….areh? General, the customers over there have a despairing expression. It looks like you haven’t announced it…until now. Ramen is noodles after all.」

「Hey, give me your char siu….yeah, sorry. I won’t get from other people’s plates. So, please, don’t stare at me too much, mother Ramurias….I mean, neesan. Look, someone’s ordering over there.」

「After we’re done eating, we’ll help village chief….I mean general. Today’s your last day and it looks like someone left to call some acquaintances might come.」

「Are we going to help with the clean-up?」

「It looks like it is impossible to clean up yet because the remaining customers are ordering non-stop. There are still some noodles and soup too.」

「Then, let’s get ready.」

「Okay. But I think we still have time so we can have another drink.」

「I think so too.」

「Good. General, one more!」

-0-

AN: Tsukemen is hot noodles(after tightened the noodles with cold water, it will be warmed again)