When I woke the following morning, the space beside me was already empty. Yoshi-san was nowhere to be seen.

Startled, I hurried through my preparations and went looking for her.

I found her in the kitchen. She was already at work.

"I'm sorry," I said, bowing my head.

"I just woke up."

"Good morning," she replied with a warm smile.

"You could've slept a little longer, you know."

"No, I'll help!"

Yoshi-san laughed softly at my enthusiasm.

Apparently, her mornings began long before sunrise.

Before the first light touched the horizon, she would head into the mountains and forests nearby to gather edible wild greens and mushrooms.

Though gather might have been too generous a word. She only collected enough for herself. The customers rarely saw any of it.

Most mornings, those mountain vegetables ended up in a simple rice porridge.

Dinner, too, was usually much the same. The previous night's meal had been a thin gruel of brown rice and wild greens, seasoned with little more than salt.

I couldn't honestly call it delicious.

Still, if I intended to survive in this era, then I would have to grow accustomed to meals like these.

Complaining would change nothing.

As it happened, breakfast was exactly the same. The realization that this might become my daily routine left me feeling slightly uneasy.

Could I really manage here? The thought lingered in my chest.

Even so, I swallowed the rest of my meal in silence.

After breakfast, we prepared to open the shop.

Yoshi-san set a pot of brown rice over the fire.

Beside it, water simmered gently.

According to what she had told me yesterday, the shop served only one thing.

Yuzuke.

Brown rice with hot water poured over it.

That was all.

Not long after opening, our first customer arrived.

A man who looked to be somewhere in his forties.

I greeted him with the polished customer-service smile that had become second nature in my previous life.

"Welcome."

The man appeared thoroughly familiar with the place.

He settled onto one of the benches outside and ordered a bowl of yuzuke.

For some reason, I could feel his gaze lingering on me.

Still, I was working.

There was no point paying attention to it.

Not that there was much work to do.

All I had to do was pour hot water over rice.

As I prepared the bowl, a thought slipped through my mind.

This really doesn't taste like anything…

Even so, I carried it over.

"Thank you for waiting."

The man accepted the bowl and immediately lifted it to his lips.

Then he shoveled the contents into his mouth with astonishing speed.

At that point, I wasn't entirely sure what purpose the chopsticks were serving.

His appetite was impressive.

He must have been starving.

Within three minutes, the bowl was empty.

And once again, he stared.

Directly at me.

Beside me, Yoshi-san released a small sigh.

"Honestly," she said with a chuckle.

"Just because she's pretty doesn't mean you should stare so much, Yasu."

Pretty?

The unexpected compliment caught me completely off guard.

Even if she was only teasing, hearing those words from Yoshi-san made me strangely happy.

Across from us, Yasu grinned.

"Ah, forgive me, forgive me. It's not every day a beauty like this shows up around here."

Then he looked at me.

"A little look's fine, isn't it?"

Please don't ask me.

If possible, I'd rather not be stared at.

It was embarrassing.

Very embarrassing.

In the end, I hid behind my professional smile and pretended not to hear.

Watching the easy exchange between them, I had a feeling Yasu was one of the shop's regulars.

Since I would be working here from now on, I decided I should properly introduce myself.

"My name is Sai," I said.

"I'll be helping out here at the shop from now on. I hope we get along."

Yasu immediately straightened his posture with exaggerated seriousness.

"The pleasure's mine."

After resting for a short while, he returned to his work.

More customers arrived throughout the day, though not many.

Perhaps ten in total.

According to Yoshi-san, that was actually considered busy.

"I bet it's because you're pretty," she teased.

"Oh, come on."

I couldn't help laughing.

There was no way that was true.

No one had ever said such things to me back in the modern world.

Especially not men.

By the time we closed for the day, a question had been lingering in my mind for hours.

"Yoshi-san," I said carefully.

"Would it be alright if I tried the yuzuke myself?"

"Of course."

She agreed immediately.

And so, that night's dinner became a bowl of the shop's signature dish.

I took a sip.

Warm water.

Nothing more.

No broth.

No seasoning.

No flavor.

I tried eating the rice together with it.

The texture was easy enough to swallow, and I could see why busy laborers appreciated it.

It went down quickly.

Required little chewing.

Filled the stomach.

But delicious?

Not really.

As I sat there struggling to hide my reaction, Yoshi-san let out a quiet laugh.

"It's not particularly good, is it?"

I hesitated.

Part of me wanted to be polite.

But honesty won in the end.

"To be truthful... no."

"Small places like mine can't afford to worry too much about taste," she said with a smile.

"The important thing is serving food quickly."

Thinking back, Yasu really had eaten and left almost immediately.

Apparently, he and the others were building a bridge nearby.

Once the bridge was finished, they would move on to another location.

"Up until now, that's been enough to keep customers coming."

Yoshi-san looked down at her hands.

"But once the bridge is completed…"

Her smile wavered.

"It'll get lonely."

For the first time, I saw the anxiety she had been hiding.

The uncertainty.

The fear.

My chest tightened.

Was there anything I could do?

Improving the food would be ideal, but it was still too soon.

I barely understood the ingredients and seasonings available in this era.

If I rushed in now, I'd only make mistakes.

For the moment, perhaps service was the better place to start.

Something simple.

Something inexpensive.

Something that might make customers happy.

Then suddenly, an idea struck me.

The weather was hot.

Very hot.

And because of that…

"Yoshi-san," I said, sitting up straighter.

"Would it be possible to get a few more clothes?"

She blinked.

"Clothes?"

"Yes."

Her surprise only made me smile wider.

"I want to make something customers can use to wipe their hands and faces. On hot days, I think people would appreciate a cold cloth."

In my previous life, it would have been nothing special.

A wet towel.

An oshibori.

But here?

Perhaps it could become something memorable.

And there was one more thing.

The shop possessed more teacups than it actually used.

Outside stood a well filled with cool water.

Which meant…

"There's something else I'd like to try."

I pointed toward the stack of cups.

"What if we offered customers cold water as well?"

The two ideas were simple.

Almost embarrassingly simple.

Yet sometimes the smallest kindness lingered longest in people's memories.

Part of me worried I was overstepping.

After all, I had only arrived two days ago.

Who was I to interfere with how someone else ran their business?

But I couldn't bear seeing Yoshi-san look so worried.

If there was a chance to improve things, it had to be now.

While customers were still coming.

Yoshi-san thought quietly for a moment.

Then she smiled.

"Let's give it a try."

That evening, we cut up some of her old clothes and turned them into towels.

The cups were washed and prepared for the next day.

Whether any of it would make a difference, I didn't know.

But as I drifted off to sleep that night, I found myself praying that even these small efforts might help keep the customers from disappearing.

Jyzciel~

Yo! Hats off to those veterans who translate historical novels out there.

Thank you for reading! Your comments, likes, and support mean a lot to me and help keep this series going.