Three sets of eyes gazed into him as the conversation between them died down. Ludwig just stood there with a smile on his face, unflinching. Then the silence cracked, the red haired woman—Kushina was the first one to speak.
"I don't see any menu, though."
Ludwig maintained his smile even after the question was up in the air. When he saw the other two guests just nodding at Kushina's words, he realized that they were of one mind with her. So, he explained. "To be honest, I don't plan on opening the restaurant today. But since you are here, I decide to serve you anyway. Just tell me what you want to eat and I'll see what I can do."
The guests gave Ludwig a meaningful look and a nod. The silent restaurant hummed as Ludwig could feel the contemplation from his guest. As expected, the guests finally gave him their order.
"Something easy to eat for me, please. I think I'll get indigestion if I eat heavily now." The black-haired woman, whose name was still a mystery to Ludwig, said her order while telling him her concern. A valid concern, the presence of the restaurant was simply beyond the capability of anyone, at least from what Ludwig knew.
"What do you think about smoked fish? I already have that ready, so you can eat it now."
"I'm okay with that." The woman answered again and Ludwig quickly blinked towards where he stored the smoked fillet salmon. With another pop he was back in front of the guest. His hands then moved to place the food in front of the black-haired woman, cutlery quickly followed right after.
"Enjoy." Ludwig smiled, earning him another nod. Now, he looked at the couple who was looking at him with shining curiosity in their eyes. "What about you two? Anything particular you want to eat?"
Probably sensing Ludwig's attempt to avoid the question, at least for now, the blonde man looked at his wife before looking back at him and opening his mouth. "Do you have ramen here?"
"I can make you a bowl quickly." Ludwig gave them his answer, tone confident.
Ramen, a noodle dish with savory broth and various toppings. A dish famous across Asia with so many twists depending on which nation one eats it at. Something which Ludwig had no confidence in making from scratch to be honest. However, what Ludwig had in mind for their orders was nothing like the original ramen. It was instant ramen. But not just something ordinary any people could find, it would be an instant ramen dish with a recipe from South Korea, a nation that called Ramen, Ramyeon.
"Then please make two bowls of it." Minato beamed, his burning anticipation palpable.
"Do any of you have some shellfish allergies?" But before he started the process, he had to ask the question first. After all, he didn't want to send the customers to hospital after they eat in his restaurant for the first time. Though, he was not sure whether ninjas could have allergies because of the Chakra they had. Even if they had, he was sure Konoha' Hospital couldn't cure it, but that's beside the point. It's about sincerity of opening a restaurant.
"Allergies?" Minato cocked his head to the side. "As in something that could make our body hurt because our body makes a mistake and thinks those things are dangerous? If so, there's none."
"Understood. Please wait a bit." Ludwig popped from where he stood into the kitchen area. With a flick of his wrist, two big metal bowls got dragged into the countertop. His other hand was moving through the air—scrolling through his shop.
As soon as he clicked on a particular panel, white clams with brownish tint sat piled in the bowl, shells glistening with a wet sheen. It was closed shut, like a mother protecting its baby, but Ludwig knew the tender, salty flesh tucked safely inside each shell was waiting to be freed.
He took a brush from his storage dimension and cleaned the outside of a few clams before moving it to the next metal bowl. Once he deemed the number to be enough, he took the weight of the metal bowl towards the sink and activated the water rune etched into it.
Once the piles of Manila Clams got submerged in fresh water, he poured a generous amount of salt into the water and stirred it. His mana bubbled at that moment, moving to enveloped the metal bowl and did its master bidding to quicken the time. Once 30 minutes passed inside the influence of his mana, he let it disperse. The process repeated for 2 more times, though without the time being fast forwarded through the chef's will.
After chugging the pile of clams into the refrigerator, Ludwig dragged another metal bowl from where it was stored. After some scrolling and clicking he did with his fingers, 4 items appeared on the countertop.
Ludwig first moved towards the big brownish six-legged creature of the sea. He brought it into the sink and let his experience let the knives separate the creature into pieces. Then, he put two pots filled with water on top of two sets of runes before infusing the runes with his mana to activate it. He then pulled the two ramyeon packets open and poured all the seasonings into the two pots.
Ludwig rolled his sleeves up, his scars became visible under the light. In front of the simmering pot of ramyeon broth, aromatic steam drifted. His eyes narrowed in focus as he cracked open a glistening snow crab, its shells clattering. The kitchen hummed with quiet urgency and he plunged crab legs into the two pots evenly. Noodles followed into the bath of red broth right after, absorbing the savory dance of crab essence.
His eyes looked at the broth like it was his prey to hunt, a silent assassin preparing to put an end into his enemy. Finally, he poured the eggs he had whisk on the bowl into the broth, giving it a simple yet elegant touch, elevating it even more.
Once he felt the dish was finished, he plated the golden noodles into the two black bowls with deft hands, draping the pieces of snow crab atop the steamy mound. With a dash of chopped green onions and chili pepper to complete the presentation, he served it in front of the couple.
"Your ramyeon, please enjoy."
Ludwig didn't linger in front of his guest for long. Part because he didn't want to make them uncomfortable and part because he was quite nervous about whether the food was to their liking or not. He gathered all the dirty utensils he had used to cook and moved towards the sink. However, his mind was not completely focused on cleaning the dish. His ears were open to all kinds of sound while his space manipulation ability wired into the restaurant was feeding him information about the guest through his mana.
Minato and Kushina's shoulders sagged quite a bit as they slurped the red broth as well as the golden noodles into their mouths. Their hands moved quickly, as if they couldn't get enough of the food in front of them. From time to time, he could see them fanning their faces, probably because of the spicy base from the ramyeon.
The other guest had also become visibly more relaxed than before. However, she was not eating anymore. Not because she couldn't or because the food was not to her liking. After all, the plate in front of her had been polished clean. Looking at that, Ludwig put the dish he just finished washing into the drying rack and moved towards her—one step at a time, not through the void behind reality. "How do you find the food, Miss? Anything I can help you with?"
A small smile appeared on the woman's face as he looked at Ludwig, her first smile ever since she entered the restaurant. "The food is delicious. It even made me forget about this weird restaurant for a bit, no offense. Can I have more of the whiskey, please?"
"None taken." Ludwig chuckled as he dragged the whiskey bottle into his hand and poured the light-brown liquid into the empty glass of the woman before moving away from her. "You can call me if you need anything."
But before Ludwig could return to the sink, Kushina shot her hand into the air and shouted. "Chef, one more bowl of this ramen, please!"
Ludwig looked at her and answered. "Coming right away!" Before he walked towards the kitchen again. But as he opened his shop to buy another bag of Ramyeon, another order came. This time, it came from Minato.
"I would like to have another bowl too, Chef."
"Sure!" Ludwig answered and changed the amount of Ramyeon he was about to buy into two. He also bought another Snow Crab because he had used every part of the last one for the previous bowls.
As he repeated the action from earlier step by step, he started to hum a familiar tune. The fact that the couple ordered an additional portion meant that his nervousness regarding the food was unfounded. For a chef, fledgling as he might be, that was the best complement he could get.
Once he plated the ramyeon into two bowls and garnished it with a dash of green onions and chili peppers, he served it again. At the same time, he refilled the whiskey for Minato and the tea for Kushina. He also served them cold water since the broth seemed to be a tad too spicy for them.
Once they were done and Ludwig put the last dirty plate into the drying rack, he moved to the countertop with a wet towel in hand. As he wiped every inch of it, annihilating all the impurities clinging to it, Minato's voice rang around the silent restaurant. "Chef, can I ask you some questions?
Ludwig raised his angled head to look towards Minato. "Sure."
"Earlier when you teleported around the kitchen, I couldn't feel your anchor at all. How did you accomplish that?" Minato delivered his question. But rather than wariness, Ludwig could see intense curiosity lighting up his eyes.
"First of all, what do you mean by anchor?" Ludwig still asked even though he knew the method Minato used to fly around the continent with his Flying Thunder God jutsu.
"Well, it's like a beacon. I used it to pull myself quickly into that point through the void." Minato answered.
"I see." Ludwig nodded a few times before folding his arms. Of course it was nothing but an act. "I don't need any anchors. Even in the void, I could still see the world. Well, it's more like my sight traveled faster than body in the void. After seeing it, I just folded the void to shorten the path between me and that location. Though, the farther the place is, the more mana is used."
"Is that so? It seems like our void is different. Mine is completely dark. Without the anchor I can't see nor feel anything." Minato sighed, probably thinking he couldn't learn anything because of the difference.
Ludwig crossed his arms in front of his chest, mind running at the speed of light. Even though both Ninja World and Ortus were worlds where humans could do things beyond the capability of normal humans, the underlying rules of both worlds were bound to be different.
However, even though the fuel to use a technique was also different in the two worlds, he knew that Mana and Chakra were at least similar. They were everywhere in the world. If he could come in contact with Minato's void, he was sure that he could offer some pointer to Minato. Probably strengthening him than his canon counterparts.
Ludwig moved his gaze between Kushina and Minato. In the future, these two would have a blonde child. A boy whose life was riddled with tragedy. Losing his parents on the day he was born, scorned and shunned by the villagers, stripped away of his legacy, and manipulated to be the weapon of the village.
With the power of his restaurant, he had come into a chance to make the kid's life a better one. No, he had no hesitation in changing a story. After 18 years of swinging his sword in the battlefield, he had come to a realization. If a chance to eliminate the source of the tragedy presented itself to him—like the hypothetical question of whether someone would kill baby hitler if someone could return in time—he would take it. War was just ugly like that.
"If you want, I can take a look at your void. Maybe, I can offer you some insight?"
Minato's eyes went wide, his sunny smile instantly illuminated the dim restaurant. "You are willing to do that for me? C-can you take a look now?" Minato said in rapid succession, but in his tone, Ludwig could feel both happiness and anxiety.
Anxiety? Is the Third Great Shinobi War already close to happening? Or has it happened already? Ludwig asked no one in particular.
From what he remembered, the war was the stage where Minato would be known throughout the Ninja World. It also happened way before he became a Hokage. Judging from the attire Minato and Kushina donned, it was clear that Minato was not the Hokage, he was still a Jounin.
Neither of them should have married yet. But from how Minato and Kushina looked in front of him, it seemed like the war was close. After all, they looked the same as their portrayal in the original works. So give or take, Ludwig had six to seven years from saving Minato from the ultimate simp seeking revenge.
"Sure." Ludwig shrugged. However, before he could even take one step from where he stood, Kushina opened her mouth.
"Not now, you idiot! It's already late!" She proceeded to slap Minato in the back of his head.