Chapter 55: Never Ignore Appetizers Again (2) (55/225)
"Appetizers?"
"What's an appetizer?"
"Is it a newly added menu?"
At the unfamiliar word, everyone's gaze turned to Jinseo.
"In my country, it's rare to drink alcohol by itself. We always eat food that pairs well with alcohol. In Korea, we call that an appetizer."
You can't neatly divide all bunsik into categories, but when it comes to tteok-twi-sun, there are two types.
Spicy, or greasy.
Both fall squarely into flavors suited for drinking snacks.
Those who had been eating Jinseo's bunsik for a long time felt a rising anticipation that it would pair perfectly with beer.
"Then was the thing we ate at Orte Harbor also an appetizer?"
When Hayward asked casually, Jinseo smiled.
"Yes. It's one of the most typical beer appetizers."
"Then bring that out first! There's no other beer appetizer worth thinking about!"
"We'll start with other appetizers first. The real joy only gets better the longer you save it for, doesn't it?"
The moment the words "real joy" came out of Jinseo's mouth, the mages drinking beer lit up.
"Isn't this the first time we've heard Jinseo say something like that?"
"It's definitely not just tteok-twi-sun. I'm looking forward to it."
"He said he left only the branch behind and went off to find new ingredients, right? Are we about to see the results here?"
The mages kept sipping beer, but their eyes stayed on Jinseo as he prepared the food.
And as Jinseo silently focused on cooking, ignoring the attention around him, the anticipation for this new "appetizer" only grew.
"Appetizers? I don't need that!"
Geshtain, however, stayed unimpressed.
He'd been disappointed by the canned beer Jinseo gave him earlier, so his expectations for Jinseo's food had dropped along with it.
"Hmph. The only thing that brings out the taste of alcohol is the taste of the alcohol itself. Everything else just gets in the way."
More than anything, his pride in beer wouldn't allow bunsik to barge into his lively drinking party.
Is that so?
Jinseo looked down at Geshtain with a confident expression.
To start, something light is best.
He judged that ordinary bunsik might not be enough to neutralize Geshtain's blunt reaction.
So he changed tactics and decided to serve a proper appetizer first.
Jinseo opened a can of sweet corn from the fridge.
Next came cheese and mayonnaise.
Then he added finely chopped vegetables and stir-fried everything together in a wide frying pan.
Fwoooosh.
A rich, savory smell rode the wind and spread far.
"The smell is… good."
"Isn't it?"
At Geshtain's careless remark, Jinseo gave a faint smile.
"N-no! I spoke nonsense! Ahem!"
Geshtain cleared his throat and took another drink of beer.
He deliberately turned his head away, refusing to look at the food truck, but his eyes still kept drifting toward Jinseo.
"Here you go."
It looked like a foreign dish, but it was surprisingly an appetizer born in Korea.
Corn cheese.
Jinseo looked down at the steam rising from the sweet corn wrapped in cheese, then lifted his head.
"Nero, Owl. I let you two keep fighting, didn't I? Then you know what you're supposed to do now, right?"
Still circling above the food truck mid-chase, the two spirits snapped back to attention at his words.
They repeatedly carried plates of corn cheese, setting them down among the people, then flew back to the counter.
"Oh, this is pretty good."
"That savory taste goes great with beer!"
"So that's why people in Korea eat alcohol with appetizers?"
"..."
Geshtain took a spoonful of corn cheese into his mouth, then drank beer.
He nearly let out a shout of admiration, but barely managed to cover it by pouring beer into his mouth instead.
Even with the praise coming nonstop around him, he said nothing.
He just started drinking a little faster.
His tongue admitted the appetizer, but his head was still denying it.
"It definitely goes down easier."
Unlike him, Craid reacted honestly, enjoying the harmony of beer and corn cheese.
"Hey, Jinseo! What's the next appetizer?"
"I'm preparing it now."
Ignoring Hayward's prodding, Jinseo pulled out pre-trimmed, finely cut potatoes from his subspace storage.
Then he dropped them into the fryer and fried them until crisp.
"Alright. Next appetizer."
French fries.
Jinseo set down a small cup of ketchup beside the plate piled high with fries.
"Dip it in ketchup."
Potatoes were a familiar ingredient even to people of the Francia Continent.
But this was their first time eating them fried—and their first meeting with beer turned out exactly as Jinseo expected, satisfying everyone.
"Third appetizer."
This one was actually more famous as a beloved side dish in the military.
On the day it appeared, it could make people think it was the division commander's birthday, and it could even perform the miracle of forcibly waking up a senior soldier who'd been sleeping.
An appetizer made by stir-frying Vienna sausages with vegetables in ketchup.
Sausage-and-vegetable stir-fry—shortened to "soya."
"This sausage—small, but it's springy!"
"It's way better than the sausages we used to eat!"
"This would be good in tteokbokki too."
"..."
Even as the praise continued, Geshtain stayed silent.
But with the fork in his right hand, he kept stuffing soya into his mouth.
And he shamelessly picked out only the sausages, leaving the vegetables behind.
"Jinseo, how about bringing that out soon? I can't take it anymore."
"I think it's time."
"Jinseo, knowing that's coming, it's too much to keep filling our stomachs with other appetizers."
The trio had enjoyed the three appetizers with beer.
But it wasn't enough to satisfy the craving of people who had already tasted that.
No matter how good the beer was, without it, it just wouldn't do.
"Alright."
Jinseo decided there was no need to drag it out any longer, and brought out the final weapon.
Chicken—the best pairing with beer.
The moment Jinseo answered, Craid's group stopped eating the earlier appetizers.
They didn't want to fill their stomachs with anything else before chicken.
Seeing the trio's unusual behavior, the other mages quietly set down their forks too.
In the tense silence, they only sipped beer while listening to the sound of chicken frying.
"Thank you for waiting. It's ready."
The mages sprang up and crowded around the counter seats.
At the sight of chicken clad in dazzling golden batter, they reflexively swallowed.
"This will be the first time I'm serving it here. It's chicken. The ingredient is meat from the Cockatrice King."
At Jinseo's added explanation, the mages' eyes widened as they examined the chicken closely.
"Cockatrice? That chicken-looking monster?"
"No! He said Cockatrice King. That has to be way stronger than a normal cockatrice."
"Just hearing the name, it doesn't sound like a pushover. Jinseo hunted that and turned it into chicken? Is that even possible?"
"He went with the Lone Swordsman. And Jinseo is strong enough to defeat a kraken by himself."
"But cockatrice meat… what does it taste like? I've never had it."
Being mages, they grew even more interested in the new ingredient, cockatrice.
So instead of eating, they just kept observing.
"Move aside! You're seriously not going to eat with this right in front of you?"
Unable to stand it, Hayward pushed through the mages.
Then he boldly speared a piece of boneless chicken with his fork and shoved it into his mouth.
Craid and Julien followed, also eating without hesitation.
They wanted to eat even one more piece before everyone else learned how good it was.
Crunch.
"Mmm… yes. This is it. This is the one."
Crack-crunch.
"When we were in Korea I tried seasoned chicken too, but I like plain chicken more. That doesn't mean seasoned chicken is bad, of course."
Crunch.
"I'm both. If it's called chicken, there's no way it tastes bad."
No words were needed to persuade the mages who hesitated.
Countless forks began stabbing down into the chicken that the three had been monopolizing.
A drinking table is supposed to be lively.
Geshtain's beer party had been exactly that.
But from the moment chicken came out of the food truck, silence settled over the drinking party in front of the mage tower.
The mages—tasting the combination of chicken and beer for the first time—were focused solely on eating and drinking.
Unable to understand them, Painfolt watched with a puzzled face, then finally brought chicken to his mouth.
"Greasy meat is hard on the body, but one bite should be…"
Crunch.
Without thinking much, Painfolt bit into a piece of boneless chicken.
Then he glared at Craid's group, who were zealously massacring the chicken together.
"Listen here."
In the blink of an eye, after eating three pieces, his eyes sharpened.
"So you ate something this delicious first—without me?"
"I-it just happened that way. Hahaha…"
Julien hurriedly swallowed the chicken in his mouth and answered in a fluster.
"If I'd known it would be like this, I should've followed you when you went off to do that dungeon exploration or whatever."
This time, Painfolt looked at Jinseo with regret.
"But is it really okay to postpone the exam by a day?"
"Not just a day—I might have to postpone it even longer. With chicken as an appetizer, the disciples will probably drink even more. So for today, we'll let them eat and drink as much as they want. And in that case, I'll pay for all of today's chicken and beer."
"But the beer isn't mine."
Jinseo pointed at the real owner of the beer.
"What are you talking about!"
Bang!
Geshtain slammed his beer mug down hard.
"I have no intention of selling beer for money to the first friends I made after coming to the human world! Hey! Humans! Listen up! Beer's on me!"
He raised the beer mug in his right hand high, while in his left was a fork speared with chicken.
"Then I only have to buy chicken and the other appetizers."
"Waaaah!"
"Dean! We love you!"
"Right! For today, let's just eat and drink!"
With cheers, the drinking party's mood began to heat up again.
"How is it? I might lose when it comes to alcohol, but when it comes to appetizers, I won't lose."
"..."
At Jinseo's words, Geshtain—about to put chicken in his mouth—froze.
The man who had been shouting so boldly just a moment ago clamped his mouth shut again.
But the past, when he denied appetizers in silence, couldn't simply vanish.
He had already eaten three servings of chicken by himself.
Far too much to lie and claim it tasted bad.
"Fine. I…"
Realizing that stubbornness would only make him look uglier, Geshtain slowly opened his mouth.
"You're right. I was wrong."
"I can't hear you."
"I'm apologizing! I'll never ignore appetizers again!"
"Then take it in one shot."
"One shot? What's that?"
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