The vacant-looking individual gazing into the building interior was none other than Sang-ah.
In the anti, I have also finished the peeling and trimming of the vegetables.
I descended from the tank and approached her.
Wondered what she had discovered to be standing there so dazedly.
“What are you… ah.”
Standing in front of the building, it beca imdiately clear why she was there.
[Wolgyegwan Tailor Shop]
A tailor shop.
Sang-ah was a [Seamstress] by profession.
Her pre-awakening occupation had been a clothing designer at a tailor shop, if I recall correctly.
In other words, this place was…
“It’s my forr workplace.”
She replied while staring vacantly at the storefront.
“Forr workplace.”
“Yes. I never imagined I’d be able to co back here.”
“Didn’t you say you were active in the military camp before our unit arrived? You must have had opportunities many tis.”
“That’s true, but there were just too many monsters concentrated in this area, especially around that market over there.”
Following her gaze, I understood the situation easily.
‘Ah, right next to where Ariella had just cleared out a monster nest.’
A powerful monster colony.
Even with Ariella and her servants deployed, substantial casualties had occurred.
Indicating the formidable prowess of the monster nest at that location.
She had been leading a regular survivor group.
A group that lacked a significant number of awakened.
For her, returning here would have been nearly impossible.
Creak.
“Going inside?”
“Well, why not? The door’s already broken anyway.”
The glass door was already shattered, but she deliberately opened it and stepped inside.
I too was curious, so I peeked inside.
‘It’s surprisingly intact?’
Perhaps due to the monsters that had taken over the area early on.
The interior seed to have maintained its past appearance even more so than expected.
As for anything remarkable, well…
There was a zombie corpse lying in the middle.
“That’s the zombie I killed.”
“…Yes, the scissors are still stuck in its neck.”
“I had awakened after killing that zombie. Didn’t even realize it was a zombie at the ti.”
Sang-ah sighed softly as she looked around the interior.
“This place was like a second ho to … and now it ended up like this.”
“A second ho?”
“My relationship with my family wasn’t very good.”
An unhappy ho life.
She had wanted to leave ho early, so she had beco independent sooner than most.
But living alone at a young age couldn’t have been easy.
The ones who had helped her a lot were…
“The shop owner and his wife. They were so kind to …”
“And now?”
“In the beginning, I was active alongside them. But after they fell in an accident, I’m not sure what happened to them. They were already quite old and in poor health, so…”
“….”
“But still, I at least managed to survive in this world. I should be grateful for that.”
Her face held a bitterness that she couldn’t quite wash away.
I glanced further inside.
In the area hidden from view, there was a small break room-like space.
On the table were now-rotted dishes.
“What’s that?”
“Ah, those were the lunchboxes the wife would bring every day. She’d even share them with the other employees, so there was quite a lot.”
“They’ve all spoiled.”
“Yeah. The wife was a really skilled cook. They were so delicious… but now, sadly…”
I briefly glanced at the dishes.
Decayed beyond recognition after all this ti.
But,
I’ve beco quite an experienced chef myself these days.
Identifying the original dishes wouldn’t be too difficult.
‘Sadly, huh.’
With a nu like this,
Hmm.
“If you miss it that much, why don’t I make so new ones?”
“…Huh?”
Sang-ah turned back with a bewildered expression at my words.
“Getting the exact sa ingredients may be tough in this situation, but I should be able to find so monster at that can make sothing similar… no, even more delicious than before.”
“What are you suddenly saying?”
I shrugged.
“You said this place was like a second ho, right?”
“That’s true, but…”
“Fortunately, that’s in the past tense.”
If this place used to be a second ho,
then from now on,
“Couldn’t you think of our unit as your third ho?”
“…Huh?”
“The fact that it’s the military is a bit of a flaw, I admit… but I also make ho-cooked als too, you know. Military cuisine is mostly Korean dishes after all.”
Sang-ah stared at with a bewildered expression.
I spoke confidently.
“Once you’ve taste my ho-cooked als, I’m sure you’ll feel like this is your true ho.”
“Pfft!”
Though I had spoken sincerely, she burst out laughing in bemusent.
“Was it that funny?”
“No, no, it’s not that.”
For sothing “not that”,
she was struggling to hold back her laughter.
“It’s just, you’re so focused on the cooking aspect. You really are a quintessential army chef, aren’t you?”
“….”
Damn.
Had my interests really beco so skewed towards cooking?
A little embarrassing, but…
“Hehehe…”
Still, seeing the gloomy soldier’s face light up with a smile,
I suppose that’s not a bad thing.
“You’re right, a ho.”
After subduing her laughter, she said calmly.
“This tailor shop wasn’t really my true ho to begin with. There’s no problem seeing the unit as my new ho.”
“I guess the concept of ‘ho’ can be pretty flexible, huh.”
“Ah, who cares? Just think of it however suits you best.”
She spoke lightly, as if a weight had been lifted.
“Thank you for the consideration, Commander.”
“I was just joking around, no need to be so polite.”
“Look at you, getting all embarrassed.”
It seed she had only planned to take a quick look around.
With a lightened step, she exited the tailor shop and headed back to the battlefield.
‘A ho, huh…’
I had said it lightly to her,
but the concept of ‘ho’ is quite an important keyword for as well.
‘Not just for , though.’
Most of the unit mbers are from elsewhere.
They must be curious about the fates of their hotowns and families.
Knowing the truth would likely bring them pain, as there are far more who have perished than those who have survived in this world.
In such cases, if the unit could beco a second ho for them that would be no small thing.
Stepping out of the tailor shop, the outer area was still embroiled in a chaotic battle.
Boom!
It’s breached! Infiltrating, infiltrating!
Requesting fire support here!
The trajectories of mages’ spells and artillery shells flew across the city.
The enemy had simply transford into monsters.
The sounds were not so different from what one would hear in a war film.
And at the edge of my vision, the central area of this region began to co into view.
Not in a geographic sense, but a symbolic one.
Aged and weathered, but above all, the building that symbolized this area.
‘The city hall.’
Our destination was in sight.
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