Chapter 31: It's a Festival, Not a Funeral (6) "The village chief came earlier and said he's thrilled because their income doubled compared to last year. It's all thanks to you."
"I only did what I always do here."
"You're these people's benefactor. Don't forget—we were in a situation where this could've turned into a funeral, not a festival."
"Still, it's a bit of a shame. I wanted to try the local specialties here, but everyone's only making the recipes I taught them…"
"Isn't it better this way? Now your bunsik has spread here too." At the voice cutting in, Jinseo turned his head to the left.
It was Fedora, staring at the tteokbokki on the griddle with eyes full of anticipation.
"Ah, you're here. Did the festival memorial Mass go well?"
"Thanks to you."
Maybe because she was wearing the T-shirt and track pants Jinseo had given him, along with a baseball cap—none of the customers seemed to realize she was a cardinal of the Heirem Order.
"One seafood tteokbokki, please. Ah, and…"
"With the special sauce, right?"
A moment later, seafood tteokbokki with a sauce made just for her appeared in front of her.
Then Fedora, with an even more serious and solemn expression than when she conducted Mass, made the sign of the cross and took a bite.
"Mmm—mm!"
The moment the sweetness disappeared, the spicy heat that struck her tongue was exactly the flavor she ate every time.
On top of that, the springy texture of the shrimp and the chewy texture of the garaetteok she always enjoyed crossed over each other in her mouth.
"Today's tteokbokki is… more special than usual."
"That's thanks to Orte Harbor's seafood. I'm glad you like it. Honestly, the local seafood here feels exceptionally fresh to me, and also—"
Jinseo kept explaining, but Fedora didn't hear a word.
Her eyes were fixed solely on the tteokbokki drenched in bright red seasoning.
Her hand clenched the fork with a fixation that refused to miss a single piece of rice cake.And her tongue kept craving the heat buried in the sauce.
With those three elements merged into one, Fedora devoured tteokbokki relentlessly without drinking even a single cup of CoolX.
"His…."
Before she knew it, Fedora had cleaned the plate spotless. She gripped the fork in her right hand and began trembling.
"His voice again…!"
—Fwaaash.
With a burst of intense light, Fedora's blessing flamboyantly decorated the festival's peak.
Gripping the steering wheel in the driver's seat, Jinseo's heart felt lighter than ever.The long-yet-short journey he'd shared with Oswald's escort unit.
The unexpected adventures he'd experienced while roaming across this otherworld—doing more than just selling bunsik.
All of it still remained vivid in his mind.
At first, he thought of it as a chance to gather teleport points and spread bunsik more widely.
And as a bonus, he planned to properly enjoy traveling and relieve mental fatigue.
But now, on the day he reached the end of that trip, what he gained was far beyond what he'd expected.
The food truck being designated a holy relic, something he never anticipated, and his meeting with the marquis's family, who could become a solid patron, among other things.
His bond with the escort soldiers—who had been "food truck owner and customers"—also became very close.
Of course, once he arrived at Falstead Castle now slowly revealing itself beyond the horizon, he would return to his everyday routine of selling bunsik again.
But it was certain that a day different from before would begin.
Driving with that anticipation, Jinseo blinked at an unexpected sight.
"Hm? What's that?" He raised his left hand to his brow and stared ahead. "It's only 6 a.m. …"
Oswald had sent a messenger ahead to notify Falstead Castle that they would arrive today.
So Jinseo expected there would be some customers waiting.
But he never expected this many people to be gathered in front of the castle so early in the morning.
While the food truck was away, Falstead Castle's residents couldn't forget bunsik, and they craved it.
After hearing the day before that the food truck would arrive today, they gathered before sunrise near the castle gate where Jinseo always did business, forming a packed crowd.
So the guards broke out in a sweat, struggling desperately to prevent anything from turning into chaos.
"Huh? It's the food truck! Big bro is here!"
"It's really him! Let's go!"
Jason and Foltan were the first to recognize the food truck, and they charged forward first.
They had completely forgotten that they were guards.
"Hey! If you two run off, what are we supposed to do?"
Other guards ran after them toward the approaching food truck, and the citizens who had been left unattended only followed behind after the fact.
"Wow… this is…"
Jinseo braked and turned off the engine.
Just watching the people sprinting from far away, he could feel the madness.
In the blink of an eye, the crowd surrounded the food truck, and a fear beyond what he'd felt fighting the kraken washed over Jinseo.
Oswald, seated calmly in the passenger seat, simply finished the canned drink he'd been sipping.
"Big bro! We really missed you!"
"After we couldn't taste bunsik, every single day felt like a whole year! If I'd known it'd be like this, I should've begged my way into the escort unit!"
Jason and Foltan kept complaining bitterly, starved for bunsik.
But only for a moment—when they saw the faces of their colleagues who had joined the escort unit, regret turned into jealousy.
"Look at those guys! Their faces are practically dripping with grease!"
"Shouldn't they have lost weight and gotten gaunt? That wasn't escort duty—that was a gourmet tour!"
At their comments, the guards who'd been drafted into the escort unit just looked away as if nothing happened.
"Alright, quiet! Quiet down!"
Amid the commotion, Oswald stepped down from the food truck.
"From what I see, everyone… ahem!" Oswald cut himself off and cleared his throat.
People glared resentfully at the lord who had taken Jinseo along for nearly three months.
It was completely different from how they usually bowed and greeted him the moment they saw him.
This isn't going to turn into a rebellion, is it?
A rebellion caused by not being able to eat bunsik.
For some reason, it felt like something that could end up recorded in a history book, and Jinseo broke into a cold sweat.
"Lord, will you be alright?"
"This kind of reaction, I expected. Now, everyone, listen carefully. Ahem!"
At Jinseo's worry, Oswald gave a bitter smile and cleared his throat again.
"Tomorrow… no, it would be better after you've rested properly."
He thrust out his right hand with his index finger raised toward the citizens.
"Half a day! For half a day! For those residing in Falstead Castle, I will pay the fees on behalf of anyone who uses the food truck. Not with taxes—out of my own pocket!"
A long silence followed at the outrageous declaration that no one expected.
"Don't like it?"
"N-No, sir!"
"T-Then really… free? Free? For half a day?"
"Waaaaah!"
"As expected of our lord! We believed in you!"
As if nothing had happened, cheers exploded and the mood flipped instantly.
At Oswald's bold promise to "ring the golden bell" for half a day, the quiet blame aimed at him turned into noisy praise.
(Translator's Note: Golden Bell (골든벨) —a reward/welfare food truck visit, usually arranged by a unit, company, or sponsor; when the "golden bell" comes, people eat freely and heavily as a morale treat.)
"Lord, will you be alright?"
"Father! Isn't that too large a sum?"
"Don't worry. I still have plenty of money I earned in my younger days. And the profits from the capital were fairly substantial too." Oswald smiled as he patted Aston's shoulder.
After watching the cheering citizens for a while, Jinseo went into the food truck and began preparing to do business.
"Looking at the mood, I think we need to start right away."
"Will you be alright? You're not tired?"
"I'm fine. It's early, but it's what I do every day. But since so many people came… Aston, please help for one more day."
"Understood!"
Together with Aston—who quickly changed into cooking clothes—Jinseo began preparing.
Tteokbokki cooking on the griddle.
When he opened the steamer, long soondae appeared, steaming hot.
Freshly fried food lifted out of the fryer.
Bunsik finally appearing in front of the crowd, and the smell spreading everywhere, drove the people—who had starved for bunsik for so long—into a frenzy.
"Tteok-twig-sun! Tteok-twig-sun! Tteok-twig-sun!"
"Cola! Cider! CoolX!"
"MeXna! NuXbar! MegaXbar!"
The citizens chanted the foods they hadn't been able to taste and poured out their passion for bunsik.
The madness didn't subside—it only intensified.
As the bunsik neared completion one by one, the citizens' eyes blazed with hunger, burning with the desire called appetite.
"Ah, I almost forgot this. Everyone, look at this!"
Oswald suddenly stretched out his right arm and pointed at the driver's side of the food truck.
"Huh, that's…!"
"That's the Heirem Order's sacred emblem! Then—don't tell me…!"
Those who recognized what Fedora had given them opened their mouths wide, unable to continue.
"Yes, that's right. Not long ago, the food truck received the Order's official approval and was designated a holy relic."
Turning toward the emblem, Oswald slowly dropped to both knees.
Then everyone gathered around the food truck quickly followed his lead.
"So from now on, when you use the food truck, keep a reverent heart."
Oswald looked up at the emblem and made the sign of the cross.
Everyone surrounding the food truck also made the sign of the cross, closing their eyes without a single person speaking.
Only the sound of Jinseo and Oswald chopping, and the sound of frying, spread quietly around them.
Anger, happiness, madness.
Then solemnity.
The uncontrollably shifting atmosphere was chaos inside silence.
"...If I come out in a situation like this, it'll just get worse, won't it?"
Fedora, who had been in the extra trailer, couldn't find the timing to get off and could only sit there.
Eating potato chips that were still half left in the bag.
________________________________________
After Oswald rang the Golden Bell, Jinseo spent a three-day vacation in Korea before resuming his business.
Perhaps because so many people had already indulged in street food on the day of his return to Falstead Castle, fewer people than expected were waiting in line.
Among them, an elderly man with a long white beard stroked his chin as he approached the food truck.
"Huh? Dean, is that you?" Seeing the familiar face after a long time, Jinseo greeted him warmly.
Painfolt cleared his throat and briefly lowered his gaze. His eyes gleamed intensely as they fixated on the fridge—the one storing his favorite treat, ice cream.
"I heard you completed your journey safely. I also heard that my students owed you quite a debt."
"If anything, I received a lot of help from them. What can I get you? Would you like ice cream first?"
"First, take this." Sitting at the counter, Painfolt pulled something from his robe and placed it on the table with a firm thud. "And these as well."
Several peculiar objects, each small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, came into Jinseo's view.
As Painfolt's hand passed over them, the objects responded to mana, glowing in different colors.
"When you defeated the Kraken, didn't you give me valuable materials from it? I crafted a few useful items with those."
"Wow, thank you so much."
"No need for thanks. These rightfully belong to you."
"But… what exactly are these—" Just as Jinseo was about to ask about their use, a message window automatically appeared, providing names and descriptions.
One particular item caught his eye.
{-Name: Condensed Rune Inscribed with Kraken Ink-Effect: When installed on a mobile cooking unit, increases mana recovery for both the unit and its operator.}
'So this works like the emblem the cardinal gave me? Just attaching it activates its effect?'
Jinseo stepped out of the food truck and hung the rune on the door above the passenger seat.
"Oh? You figured out what it does even before I explained? Impressive." Painfolt stroked his beard, a pleased smile forming on his face. "You truly are more of a magician than a chef. If the opportunity arises, I'd love to have an in-depth discussion about magic with you."
"But right now, you'd rather have this, wouldn't you?" Jinseo took a Nuxbar from the fridge and handed it to Painfolt.
"Hmm, it's been a while since I last enjoyed this. Alright, then…"
The chocolate coating cracked as he took a bite, releasing a delicate vanilla aroma that spread through his mouth.
Deprived of this taste for nearly half a month, Painfolt couldn't help but smile in pure satisfaction.
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