After Ayame left, the grilled food wouldn't be ready immediately. Since there were other customers' orders before theirs, Alistair and Kasumi Haruno's food couldn't be prioritized. So, Alistair simply started observing the interior of the izakaya.
The inside of this izakaya was small to medium-sized, capable of seating about twenty to thirty people. On the left side, against the wall, was a row of simple private rooms, about six in total.
Based on the visible empty room at the end, Alistair estimated each room could seat a maximum of six people of normal size. There were three on the left side of the entrance and three on the right.
The other five private rooms had opaque curtains drawn, ensuring a degree of privacy for the customers inside. Colleagues or people with close relationships often chose these.
In the main hall, the area where the chef—Mr. Koyama—was grilling was shaped like a "U." On the left and right sides were skewers of meat and vegetables, prepped for grilling. The horizontal section in the middle was a grilling table, much larger in both length and width than a typical grill.
Alistair looked at the menu on the table. The prices here weren't expensive. The difference from his pre-transmigration area was that vegetables were pricier, while seafood was cheaper than other meats. This was normal. Given that Japan was an island nation, seafood was abundant. Supply exceeded demand, naturally driving the price down, while other items often had to be imported, making them more expensive.
In the main hall and towards the right, there were rows of square tables. The large tables were in the center, and the smaller tables, enough for about four people, were against the right wall. The table Alistair and Kasumi Haruno sat at was more than spacious enough.
"Kasumi, what would you like to eat?"
Alistair looked through the menu, asking for Kasumi Haruno's opinion, but heard no response.
"Kasumi?"
Alistair looked up at Kasumi Haruno, who was sitting opposite him, and found her staring towards the private rooms. Following her line of sight, he saw a conflict erupting between a customer and a waitress from one of the rooms.
Judging by the stains on the customer's clothes, the waitress might have had an accident. She kept bowing and apologizing to the customer, but the customer seemed to be unreasonably pressing the issue, refusing to let the waitress leave.
This izakaya typically served only twenty to thirty people simultaneously, so there weren't many waitstaff—three was enough. If the flow of customers was slower, one or two would suffice. However, this was a peak time for customer traffic, and Ayame had just gone out to buy their drinks, creating a temporary staff shortage.
Mr. Koyama also saw the situation and was about to intervene when he suddenly saw Alistair raise a hand. He looked towards Alistair, who pointed at himself, then at the conflict, signaling that he would handle it. At the same time, Kasumi Haruno was also walking over, ready to temporarily help out as a waitress.
Mr. Koyama gave Alistair a grateful look and rushed back to the grill. Because of the large quantity of food, he had ramped up the fire. Grilling requires constant attention to avoid burning, and stopping would delay other customers' orders. Thus, Alistair and Kasumi Haruno's help came just in time.
Since the curtain had blocked some of the view, Alistair hadn't paid close attention before. Now, walking closer, Alistair realized just how remarkable the customer's appearance was.
This was the first time Alistair had seen such a grotesque person in reality—or perhaps not reality, since this was the inner-dimensional world.
The customer was very fat, with a prominent beer belly, and his face was grotesquely ugly—a high hairline, a pig-like face, and sausage lips.
In short, he was purely nauseating. Alistair felt disgusted just looking at him, but the man's presence also put Alistair on alert.
Many male protagonists in hentai manga and inner-dimensional fanfic were these kind of repulsive old men. Alistair couldn't understand the mindset of people who drew the protagonist as such a disgusting person. How was anyone supposed to self-insert?
Or perhaps those people simply enjoyed the feeling of beautiful things being tainted and ravaged by filth? Regardless, this type of character had left a very deep impression on Alistair. And now, in this inner-dimensional world, Alistair encountered someone with such a memorable, abstract appearance.
Alistair shifted his attention to the other people in the private room.
On the other side were a woman and a man. The woman was clutching the man's arm; they must have a very intimate relationship, likely husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend. Given they were working adults, the former was more probable.
The grotesque customer was still ranting incessantly as Alistair approached. The couple sitting opposite him remained silent, the woman even shrinking into her husband's side.
From this, Alistair guessed that the abstract man was probably a high-ranking manager or leader, and the couple didn't dare to interrupt him.
As Alistair walked over, the abstract man finally noticed him, and a sentence instinctively blurted out.
"How can you let little brats just wander in here?"
"..."
Alistair wanted to punch him, but he was here to solve a problem. Punching him wouldn't solve anything; it would just create more trouble. Besides, izakayas generally didn't allow minors, and Alistair's face looked youthful—no one would doubt he was a slightly tall junior high student. So, Alistair merely frowned.
"Huh? Koyama Young Master? Young Master, what are you doing here? I was blind just now, my mistake, I apologize profoundly!"
Just as Alistair was about to speak, the abstract man froze, looking at Alistair's appearance, and then immediately fell to his knees, performing a dogeza (deepest bow) to apologize, completely disregarding the stares of others.
In Japan, the meaning of dogeza is profound. Roughly speaking, it expresses one's deepest apology and the abject humility of their status. How abject? It signifies a situation where the other party essentially controls your life, and you've provoked them...
Thus, the abstract man's action shocked everyone, including Alistair.
This abstract man was dressed quite well; he was at least a low-level manager. Why would he perform a dogeza to a young man, especially in an izakaya? This was unbelievable, something even novels wouldn't dare to write. Yet, it happened in reality.
Alistair was also stunned. This abstract man, who was ninety-nine percent likely to be the protagonist of some hentai manga or inner-dimensional fanfic, was performing a dogeza in front of him, calling him Young Master. Did he just trigger some Dragon King Returns plot?
In any case, the scene was pure melodrama: a well-dressed middle-aged man performing a dogeza to a young man and calling him Young Master. People usually only saw this in fiction. It happened in reality, of course, but placing it in such a "humble" location felt wrong, almost like a staged play.
"Uh, stand up first. We'll talk about this later. Don't cause a scene here. Just be quiet for now."
Alistair looked at the people staring at them, frowned, and ordered.
Since this abstract man called him Young Master, regardless of whether he had mistaken him for someone else, the priority was to make him behave. This made solving the immediate problem easier, though the situation had just become significantly more complicated.
He thought it would be a simple "peacemaking," but he inexplicably became a "Young Master."
Alistair's mood became complicated at this thought.
After vaguely calming the surrounding people and diverting their attention, and allowing the waitress to resume her work, Alistair returned to his seat, resting his head on his hand in thought.
Although the incident was cliché, titles like "Young Master" still existed in this world, Alistair just hadn't taken them seriously before. He never expected to be addressed this way now.
In this world's Japan, humans and demi-humans coexisted. Ignoring the demi-human district for a moment, the human side was largely similar to his pre-transmigration world, except that some noble systems still persisted. However, most families that could be called "noble" had disappeared, and the remaining ones were not particularly powerful. Relative to the entire country, this was negligible, but that was relative to the country.
Alistair wasn't sure if his family was noble, as he was an "instant winner" (orphaned with a sister and property) upon transmigration. Moreover, this was a small, regional city, not a major metropolis. Alistair never cared about nobility or big corporate conglomerates. After all, titles like Young Master or Young Lady were usually reserved for the heirs of noble or financial families.
So, since he was called that, assuming the man hadn't mistaken him, Alistair really was some kind of noble. But why didn't Alistair know anything about it? All Alistair knew was that he owned two high-rise apartment buildings, one in the regular district and one in the demi-human district. That level of wealth didn't even compare to a single hair of those corporate conglomerates. Of course, his grandfather might have been part of it, but he wouldn't have kept completely silent about it. So, was Alistair from a noble family?
And what kind of high-status name was "Koyama" anyway? Alistair only recalled Japanese noble families in anime having surnames like Ichijō or Kujō.
Alistair rubbed his chin, feeling his mind overwhelmed. But if he couldn't figure it out, no matter. He would just ask his grandfather.
Alistair took out his phone and sent all his questions to his grandfather.
"Huh? What happened? I just went out to buy some drinks. What did I miss?"
Ayame returned with several bottles of drinks and approached Alistair's table, asking curiously. When she came in, she noticed everyone was whispering, though their voices seemed deliberately lowered, which was strange.
"Nothing much. Someone mistook me for a Young Master."
Alistair said with seemingly no concern.
"A Young Master? That's funny. We've never heard of any nobles around here. So, you must be our first little noble Young Master~"
Ayame said playfully, chuckling and making a small joke.
"Mmhmm~"
Alistair shrugged.
"By the way, where is that girl?"
Ayame asked, seeing Kasumi Haruno was missing.
"Over there."
Alistair pointed to Kasumi Haruno, who was helping out on the other side.
"Ah, she's a real help. I'll give you both a discount later. But since I'm back, we're not short-staffed anymore. Thank your girlfriend for her hard work."
Ayame covered her mouth and said.
"Okay, I'll call her back."
Alistair nodded, then raised his hand and waved at Kasumi Haruno. Kasumi Haruno saw Ayame next to Alistair, nodded, finished serving the meals in her hands, returned the plates, and came back to Alistair's side.