The noodle factory was up and running ahead of schedule.
A flood of orders had poured in from every shop that had signed a contract. Inside the facility, the air stayed choked with flour dust day and night as the workers scrambled to keep up.
"Everyone, thanks for the hard work. But I have one warning," Ryu Landmark said, pausing the line. "Watch out for dust explosions!¹"
The employees stopped what they were doing. The word sounded ominous.
"Explosion?" the workers cried in unison.
"Yes, a dust explosion," Ryu explained. "If you use fire while the air is full of this powder, the whole place will ignite. We're under a strict no-flame policy. If you need to light a fire, do it outside the building."
"Is it really that dangerous?" one man asked.
"If this place goes up, there won't even be a shack left to bury," Ryu replied with a bright smile.
The workers shuddered at his grin. From that moment on, the ban on open flames was followed with religious intensity.
The pasta became an instant hit. The Landlady of the local eatery had pushed it as the star of her new menu, and the customers couldn't get enough. In this world, the staple was bread, but the commoners were stuck with black bread - a loaf so rock-hard it was inedible unless soaked in soup. Compared to that, the chewy, filling texture of pasta was a revelation. Before long, black bread in the Landmark territory was relegated to the status of emergency travel rations.
As an experiment, Ryu suggested Udon and a "mock-okonomiyaki" to the Landlady. He was particularly meticulous with the Udon, providing deep bowls and chopsticks² while insisting they try it his way. He'd struggled to recreate the savory sauce for the okonomiyaki, eventually giving up and committing the culinary atrocity of slathering it in tomato sauce and cheese. Surprisingly, it was a hit, and the name "Mock-Okonomiyaki" stuck. Pizza? Ryu didn't know the girl.
Currently, the tomato sauce pasta reigned supreme, with the savory pancakes a close second. The Udon trailed behind at a distant third.
"...Udon. At least I know how good you are!" Ryu muttered to himself. Some say he shed a private tear for the noodles, but he'd never admit it.
From then on, whenever Ryu ate out in town, he was seen using chopsticks to eat nothing but Udon. The sight quickly drew the attention of the locals.
"What are those wooden sticks the Landmark young master is using?" a citizen asked, watching him work. To the people here, eating meant a knife, a fork, and a spoon. They had never seen anything like the sticks.
"Those? Ryu-bocchan calls them 'hashi,'" the Landlady explained. "Look, you hold them like this... then you pinch."
She gave a quick demonstration for the curious crowd.
"You can use them too, Boss? That's some nimble finger work," a regular remarked.
"It's actually pretty handy once you get the hang of it," she said, using the chopsticks to snatch a piece of meat from the man's soup. "See? You can grab small things with one hand."
"No way... Hey, it really works! Teach me how to hold those things, will ya?"
Slowly but surely, the culture of the chopstick began to spread, though its full takeover was still a long way off.
The flour-based revolution was underway. Within the Landmark Knight-House, the new dishes had already become a point of family pride. However, getting his family to hold the bowls to their faces while eating Udon had been a challenge.
Seeing Ryu's genuine disappointment, the eldest son, Landmark Tauro, took the lead. Landmark Jiro followed his brother's example, and once the youngest, Landmark Hanna, started practicing with all her might, the parents finally gave in.
"Bringing the dish to your mouth is usually poor form," their father, Landmark Faza, admitted as he slurped a noodle. "But it's much easier to eat this way. Since Ryu thought of it, I suppose we can overlook the manners within our own walls."
He seemed to have recognized the sheer utility of the chopsticks.
"Yes, convenience is a virtue in its own right," their mother, Landmark Cecil, added. She handled the chopsticks with surprising grace. "I'm always amazed by the things children come up with."
Ryu watched them, unable to tell them that these "ideas" had thousands of years of history and culture behind them in his old life. Still, seeing his family embrace them made him swell with pride.
With the production of Kohin beans, the noodle sales, and the loan repayments all moving along, Ryu was already looking forward to next year.
"I can't wait to see next year's protection money," Ryu mused. "Ah, I mean... tax revenue."
Old habits died hard for the former mobster.
Trivia:
- The danger of dust explosions in the noodle factory.
- Black bread is so hard it requires soaking in soup to eat.
- Ryu's 'Mock-Okonomiyaki' is actually a bizarre fusion of tomato sauce and cheese.
- Holding a bowl to one's face is considered poor manners in this world's noble culture
Character Insight:
Ryu shows a mix of entrepreneurial brilliance and a lingering criminal psyche. His emotional attachment to Udon shows a nostalgic side, while his 'protection money' slip-up highlights that he still views the world through the lens of a territory boss.
Behind the Scenes:
The author uses the 'Pizza' joke to acknowledge that Ryu's creation is essentially a pizza-fied pancake, subverting the typical 'I made perfect Japanese food' isekai trope.
TL Notes:
1 ↩ Dust Explosion: A rapid combustion of fine particles suspended in the air within an enclosed space.
2 ↩ Hashi: The Japanese word for chopsticks, appearing here as a foreign invention in a Western fantasy world.
Notes:
• Ryu - Formerly Yokohama Ryusei, a yakuza. Reincarnated as the third son of the Landmark family. Has red hair and blue eyes. Possesses memories of his previous life and the ability to see names of objects.
• Hanna - Ryu's younger sister.
• Tauro - Ryu's older brother. The eldest son of the Landmark family. He has the 'Knight' skill and is proficient in various melee weapons. Described as kind and supportive of his younger brother.
• Jiro - Ryu's second older brother. He has the 'Priest-Warrior' skill, combining martial arts with healing magic.
• Faza - The Lord of the Landmark Domain. A slender but sturdily built man with red hair and brown eyes.
• Cecil - Wife of the Landmark Lord. A blonde woman with deep blue eyes.