Surviving on the Northern Front with Gukbap Chapter 100 : Into the Storm (2)

Into the Storm (2)

As I ladled the steaming broth into the bowls,

I found myself wishing—once again—that these bowls were black earthenware pots.

'Ah! I should have asked Gerald about getting so earthenware.'

It hadn't even been a day yet, and already I was starting to regret the way I'd treated Gerald.

Still, even amid these idle thoughts, my hands were skillfully making soup rice after soup rice.

'It's not like I've only been making soup rice for a day or two.'

Though I followed exactly the sa process as when I first presented the original Happiness Gukbap to Plerine,

as ever, the broth recipe was the key.

'I hope it's at least a little better this ti than before.'

That I'd taken another step closer to my father's broth.

With that earnest hope, I finished twenty bowls of soup.

Soon after, I began dishing out the rice and called out loudly.

"Clara! Plerine!"

The two best servers in our shop started bringing out the food.

After a quick cleanup, I left the kitchen and saw that the specially invited guest, Flaco, had arrived too.

I was about to greet him, but quickly dropped the idea.

'He couldn't take his eyes off anyone but Naba anyway.'

Like the doting uncle (not really), he couldn't look away from Naba.

"Oh, well done, kid! Why don't you show again? Kha-hat!"

"Of course!"

Naba twirled the dagger he'd received as a gift from Flaco, showing off his skills.

His display was so flashy that not only Flaco, but the other employees, watched with interest.

But still—

'From now on, the real star of this company dinner is the original Happiness Gukbap.'

I made sure every employee had one soup rice in front of them, then cleared my throat.

"Khhm! Hm!"

At the rather loud sound, all eyes—including Naba's—turned toward .

The quick-witted employees knew this ant 'the boss's words of wisdom' ti was starting, so they closed their mouths, except for—

"Hurry up and get it over with, Ian. The fewer words from an upper-ranker, the better."

Flaco, who treated most casually in Granfen, said dryly.

Of course, even if Flaco hadn't said that, I had no intention of dragging this out.

'I don't speak as well as a battalion commander anyway.'

Still, there were things I had to say to my employees.

"You all already know: I—the boss—am heading to the frontline in four days. If the war isn't over this ti either, I'll probably see you again in six months."

At my words, Naba and Harper's faces dropped suddenly into gloom.

Facing a reality they wanted to avoid,

yeah, their faces looked as if they'd just been drafted.

'Why do you two seem more down than I am?'

Plerine, on the other hand, was still expressionless.

But I could see she was subtly upset, so I stifled the urge to smirk and continued.

"That's why, before I go, I wanted to present the dish that will beco our shop's signature. This dish that's my life and my ultimate goal."

Then, all the employees except Plerine looked at the 'Original Happiness Gukbap' with puzzled eyes.

'They're probably wondering how this is any different from the Korean dishes they've been eating so far.'

It reminded of Plerine's reaction last ti.

I was curious to see if they'd end up writhing in delight the way she had. Suppressing my curiosity, I said—

"I hope everyone enjoys the al. You too, Flaco. Please, enjoy your food."

At that, Flaco snorted and said,

"All this talk about leaving before the war—ugh. That's why I told you—let train you as a hunter! If you'd accepted, you wouldn't have been conscripted for the war, isn't that right?!"

Flaco still hadn't given up on making his disciple.

But honestly—

'Even if I'd changed professions to beco a hunter, the battalion commander wouldn't have left alone.'

That's how useful my food buffs had proven to be.

Besides, now I also wanted to help achieve victory.

'Because I have to protect my shop and my employees.'

That's an obligation and responsibility that cos with the title of 'boss.'

—or so I was thinking, when—

"Hnnnng!!"

A high-pitched hum filled the shop.

Everyone's attention snapped to the source, Plerine.

The only white part on her face was the eye patch;

her cheeks were bright red, and she kept making sounds of bliss as she enjoyed her soup rice.

'She's redder than last ti she ate it.'

Just a mont ago, she'd seed so expressionless that one could have mistaken her for being angry;

but now, all of that was gone, and she was enjoying her soup rice with abandon.

'How satisfying.'

As I basked in this feeling for just a mont, all the employees suddenly burst out in exclamations.

"Boooooss!!!"

The standout was definitely Harper.

I'd never realized his eyes could get so big.

"What, huh? Wha—what is this flavor? Uh?!"

Harper, originally from Texas on another earth,

seed completely shocked by 'real soup rice' for the first ti.

Even after calling over, he seed at a loss for words, floundering.

I waved my hand at him and said,

"Just eat for now."

"Yes!!!!"

Naba, sitting next to him, said nothing.

Instead, the kid just rapidly alternated between the broth and makgeolli, his face quickly drenched in sweat.

'They're all lost in ecstasy.'

Everyone was madly imrsed in shoveling spoonful after spoonful into their mouths.

They kept going, "Haht, hahtt,"

sweat and steam pouring out as they devoured their soup rice with passion.

Except for Dunbell.

The chef through and through, Dunbell looked aggrieved as he spoke to .

"Boss. Why didn't you teach this to until now?"

"......."

"The dishes you've shown —the taste can't even be compared to the other dishes from your world! Huh?!!"

Soon his expression changed to one of confusion mixed with elation.

"For real, I—hmph, jjeop! Umoolumool. Boss, I'm not going to let you off! Sluuurrp!"

If only he'd choose between eating or talking, anwhile, our proud fire mage approached and spoke.

"More. Boss. Now."

I'd thought twenty bowls would be enough, but now I wasn't so sure.

*

After the typhoon-like soup rice ti died down,

the employees, regaining their senses, all belatedly gave their reviews.

Pretty much what I expected—they said things like:

'A fantastical taste you'd never get tired of, not even every day.'

'So good, I'd be happy to die as long as I could have this with makgeolli.'

'Such an overwhelming flavor, I can't imagine why we never sold this before!'

Honestly, I'd seen plenty of 'dieval' guys react to my food with big complints,

and after seeing Plerine's reaction before, I'd expected as much, but—

"Boss. If I may speak frankly..."

Even Harper, who had worked at a Michelin restaurant in the modern era, said this.

"I think I was born to run a soup rice shop with you, boss."

It was such embarrassing praise, it almost made my skin crawl,

but honestly, I felt like I was walking on clouds.

Although, compared to my mory of my father's broth, it still fell short.

'Still, it was better than last ti.'

This ti, I'd chosen to use 'Ice Bear' flank at, aiming for both flavor and grade instead of just texture.

It seed to work.

But this only deepened my concerns.

'If I got an even higher-grade edible at, would it taste even better? But then, would it beco different from my father's broth secret? Hm.'

With frustration building, I let out a sigh without realizing it,

when a very tipsy Flaco ca up to , his steps unsteady.

"Hey, Ian! What's got you so worried? Scared to go to war, huh?"

"Aren't you going hunting tomorrow?"

"The delivery quantity's about to drop a lot. Hick!"

True, with most of Granfen's soldiers heading to the frontline, the demand for at would decrease sharply.

Thud.

Flaco sat down across from , staring at silently.

Of course, it made uncomfortable,

but I tried to act nonchalant.

"Even if there's less work, you should avoid drinking too much. If you get hurt, Naba's going to be sad."

"Bullshit. Don't use Naba as an excuse. Cut the crap, you bastard."

Well, it'd been a while since Flaco cursed at .

'How did he know I was lying? Is his 'sense' kicking in?'

Honestly, after reaching 3rd-rank, I hadn't really worried about talking to Flaco.

'Sense' and 'intuition' trigger much more with low-rankers.

'On the other hand, with high-rankers, the activation rate is very low.'

I decided to brush it off as coincidence and improvise again.

Surely, the odds of his intuition triggering twice in a row were slim.

"What do you an, lying? You know how much Naba likes you, Flaco."

Even so, Flaco didn't reply right away.

The mood subtly shifted, but there was no hostility, so I waited.

"No."

Breaking the sad silence, Flaco spoke again.

"Naba doesn't like . I'm the one who likes Naba."

My heart dropped in that instant.

In front of , the staff were laughing, chatting, and dancing,

but it was like Flaco and I were in a different world entirely.

"But Naba likes you. That's why he pretended to like . Isn't that right?"

Hearing that, I realized.

Maybe Flaco—

'Maybe he knew the truth from the first ti I entrusted Naba to him on my way to Grey Fortress.'

Even if I could fool Flaco,

Naba probably couldn't have completely deceived him.

If so—

'Did Flaco care for Naba all this ti without expecting anything in return?'

If that was the case, then why?

Damn. My mouth tasted bitter.

I took the makgeolli I'd decided to abstain from tonight and tossed it into my mouth.

"Go on."

At first, I intended to listen to what Flaco had to say before sorting my thoughts,

but Flaco threw a question back at .

"So why did you invite here today? I'm not your colleague, not even one of your employees."

"......."

"What's the reason you called ?"

Suddenly, I rembered my first battle in this world—

drawing my bow, and Flaco searching for his friend.

'By killing Burt, maybe the person who was left loneliest was Flaco.'

I was disgusted with myself.

The guilt toward Flaco welled up inside .

Of course, even if I could go back to the mont I killed Burt, I'd do the sa again.

So, I could only answer awkwardly.

"Does there need to be a reason to invite a friend to have good food together? I just invited you."

Saying that, I turned to look at the employees.

Clara and Naba were throwing my utility knife at a target, competing with each other.

Bickering as usual. Whatever they'd bet, they both seed deadly serious about it.

I then heard Flaco's voice.

"Don't go and die out there. If you co back as a corpse, I'll kill you myself!"

Flaco's eyes were still glued to Naba.

I wasn't sure if his words were for Naba or for .

"Understood."

Just like that, I found one more reason to survive and co back from the battlefield.

*

After the wild night ended, everyone went to bed.

I lumbered up the stairs to my room, too.

'Haah, damn. Maybe it's just the alcohol, but I really miss elevators more than ever.'

Of course, my physical performance now was vastly superior to when I was in the modern world, and I had mana, too.

Still, human laziness didn't just disappear.

Flop.

I collapsed onto the bed.

Nothing was closer to heaven than my bed tonight.

Should I just sleep now, like these Northn of the dieval ages?

—That thought lasted only a mont.

"... Let's wash up."

More than my instinctive laziness, the power of habit I'd acquired over ti proved its worth as I went down to the kitchen.

I picked up a dry rag and wetted it.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

I ant to just clean off quickly,

but once I started wiping myself down, my modern side kicked in and I got thorough again.

"Phew, that's better."

I felt refreshed, sobering up from both drink and drowsiness.

Still, once I lay down, the fatigue would crash over and I'd fall asleep in no ti.

I tossed the rag in the laundry basket and headed up to my room.

Kkiik.

I closed the door.

Hmm. I closed the door, but—

"...."

Both the backs of my ears broke out in goosebumps.

A sudden, unexplained chill gripped , leaving unable to move.

'There's... sothing here.'

I couldn't see it, but there was soone else in the room.

And of all the people I knew, the best at this kind of eerie trick was—

'Schutmann?'

I quickly ca to that guess and was just about to call for Plerine when—

「Don't make a single sound. If you do, starting with the girl in the blindfold, I'll kill every last one of them.」

Schutmann's figure erged from the shadows.