Chapter 74: I Expected It All (3) Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.
Jason cut the donkatsu into small square pieces, just as Jinseo had taught him. Then he brought the piece with the most sauce to his mouth.
Chew, chew.
"Yeah. This is the taste."
He had tried it several times for tasting purposes, but even now, it was the kind of flavor that made him smile without thinking.
"The sauce is good, but it's also great dipped in ketchup…"
Jason squeezed a generous amount of ketchup onto the edge of the plate he had brought, then lightly dipped a piece, ate it, and dipped another. The moment he started to feel tired of the greasiness, he ate the salad that came with it together with the pickled radish, cutting through the heaviness.
"Oh, right. I didn't eat the rice."
He ate a bit of the white rice here and there, enjoying the tenderness of the meat and the crisp texture together.
Perfect effect.
Jinseo kept frying donkatsu while watching Jason from behind. He couldn't see his face, but from the surrounding customers' reactions alone, it was easy to imagine what kind of expression he was making.
Donkatsu was a classic bunsik shop staple, right up there with tteokbokki set items. Back when Jinseo was running Jinseo's Snack Bar, his most popular menu item had been none other than donkatsu.
What he made wasn't Japanese-style, but the kind commonly found at a bunsik shop: Western-style donkatsu. He gave up thickness in exchange for frying pork that was thin and wide, and the moment meat met frying, the result was something that simply couldn't taste bad.
Then, when he poured on the donkatsu sauce he had learned from his father, it evolved into an even better flavor. Finally, once rice and salad were added, it became a solid meal.
If he served cream soup before the meal, it would become the true completed form, but since he planned to add that after Aston joined, he had put it on hold for now.
"Just watching is torture, isn't it?"
Jinseo started cutting up the pile of freshly fried donkatsu with kitchen scissors. When a large plate was heaped with square-cut donkatsu, he set it down on the seat beside the table where Jason was eating.
"Here. Everyone, have a taste. I'll take orders after the tasting is over."
The moment Jinseo placed a bowl of donkatsu sauce beside it and turned around, the gathered customers began grabbing donkatsu from the plate and eating.
Crunch.
Crackle, crunch.
The sound of biting into the breading—without any sauce—rang out from all sides.
"It's my first time eating fried meat, but the texture is completely different from the fried foods I've had before!"
"I've never seen this sauce. Let's see… oh!"
"Wow, this sauce tastes nothing like soy sauce or ketchup!"
"It's good even plain, but dipping it makes the flavor deeper."
Since chicken—the iconic fried food—had only ever been served to a specific customer, donkatsu was the first time ordinary customers experienced the combination of meat and frying. An irresistible feast of flavor spread through their mouths as they tasted.
But then an uninvited guest slipped silently into the crowd.
"Ugh!"
"Where do you think you're sneaking a bite? You go eat the free bunsik over there. This is for the customers."
Jason smacked down the bunsik carriage attendant's hand with his fork and jerked his chin toward the bunsik carriage. Unable to endure the customers' sharp glares after interrupting the tasting, the attendant scurried back to the bunsik carriage.
There was a brief commotion, but the piled-up donkatsu all vanished into the customers' mouths. Only crumbs of breading remained on the plate.
Even so, they weren't satisfied. They wanted more, and they turned their heads toward Jinseo, who was still frying donkatsu.
"I'll take orders now. And for your information, you can also order a large portion."
"A large portion?"
"One and a half servings."
One serving always felt just a bit lacking, but eating two servings felt a little burdensome. That was when the best choice was the middle ground: a large portion.
"Donkatsu, large portion!"
"Donkatsu, two large portions! No—two of them!"
"Can I get it to go? Oh, I can't? Then I'll eat here! Donkatsu, three servings!"
As donkatsu orders poured in, Jason—done tasting—turned back toward Jinseo and gave a thumbs-up with his right hand, licking the crumbs stuck at the corner of his lips.
It took only half a day for the craze over the food truck's first bunsik menu in a long while—donkatsu—to sweep through Falstead Castle. Customers surged in to a degree that even Jinseo's cooking speed couldn't keep up with, and the orders exploded so hard that he had to urgently call Aston.
A mage who came to buy ice cream ate donkatsu, immediately teleported back to the mage tower, and then brought back a whole crowd of fellow mages. Almost no one could resist that taste.
Finally, even Lord of the Castle Oswald showed up, finished a large portion of donkatsu, and left. It was a shame there was no ramen, but he said he could endure it for just one day.
In the end, the opposing carriage couldn't sell even a single plate of tteokbokki and left in loneliness. Meanwhile, Jinseo extended business hours until eleven p.m., recorded the highest sales he had ever had, and returned to Korea.
"..."
Figures who had been secretly watching the food truck from beyond the bushes revealed themselves.
Lergon, Marquis Horus's adjutant, had rushed over after receiving a report that a new menu had been introduced to the food truck. Wearing a cloak enchanted with invisibility magic, he walked to the spot where the food truck had been parked.
The people with him were ten mages hired from another mage tower. They, too, hid themselves with invisibility magic and placed their hands on the ground where the food truck had been.
If it had returned using teleportation magic, traces of mana would surely remain where the food truck had stood. They were trying to track those traces and find out where Jinseo lived.
"Th-This is…"
"How can this be?"
"It's that far away?"
The mages, flustered, placed their hands on the ground again.
"What's going on?"
"J-Just a moment, please."
They started tracing the mana from the beginning again, but before long, they gave up and let out long sighs. Their entire bodies became drenched in sweat from trying to trace mana that stretched into a realm beyond reach.
"It seems the place where the owner of the food truck lives is far beyond the Francia Continent."
"So… detecting the coordinates to follow it is beyond our ability."
"Even your ability isn't enough?"
"Unless it's Headmaster Painfolt of the Doren Mage Tower, it's absolutely impossible for us."
"Even if you gathered all the archmages who died in that incident before… it's to the point where you wouldn't even know if it's possible."
"Was the country called Korea really on a continent that far away?"
With a dumbfounded expression, Lergon looked down at the mages. If they could travel to Korea, he had even planned to send people there to pressure Jinseo—but from the mages' reactions alone, he had to admit it was a meaningless plan.
"If you say that much, then further pursuit is pointless. In that case…"
Lergon abruptly stopped mid-sentence and lowered his head to look down at his own stomach.
Grrrkk.
"..."
The donkatsu smell left behind where the food truck had been stirred up a fierce hunger. Hearing the sound from his stomach, Lergon had no choice but to press his lips tightly shut.
"So it really happened."
"I tried every way I could to stop it, but… I'm truly sorry."
Even with a donkatsu set meal steaming in front of him, Oswald looked so apologetic toward Jinseo that he didn't eat right away.
"The reason is obvious without even looking, isn't it?"
Today, one week after Jinseo started selling donkatsu, he saw Oswald visit the food truck with a gloomy face and already had a rough idea of what had happened. Because things had unfolded exactly as expected, he accepted it without much reaction.
"I never expected him to cut off the trade outright. I thought he'd raise prices to a level we couldn't bear, but… I think I underestimated him."
Oswald held out a document listing the merchant groups and cities that had supplied Jinseo with ingredients. Jinseo couldn't read it, but most of the entries were marked with Xs, so there was no need to check the details.
"Then aside from what we can source in Falstead Castle, and what we can still get from the cities that didn't cut ties… I can just keep buying the rest in Korea like before."
From Jinseo's perspective, it was a little regrettable, because using local ingredients meant fewer benefits of earning extra mileage. But it was only regret—nothing more. It was never enough to tighten his leash.
"This doesn't even count as a blow to me, so you absolutely don't need to suffer like this."
"Still, I wanted to help somehow, but I couldn't, so it's depressing."
"Then may I ask you for one favor?"
"A favor? Speak. What do you need?"
"Could you operate a carriage? In a form that can carry a lot of people."
"People? What kind of shape?"
"As for what kind of design…"
Jinseo continued while recalling the truck he had ridden to death during his military service.
"One donkatsu set meal! And cola for dessert, please!"
"Two spaghetti set meals, and cider and HwanX!"
"One donkatsu set meal and one spicy pork rice bowl set meal. Oh, can I get MacX too?"
Now, two weeks after Jinseo started selling donkatsu, additional menu items had been introduced. Thanks to that, the food truck was packed with customers.
He temporarily halted sales of the existing bunsik menu that had been closer to snacks, and instead shifted to set meals built around the concept of a full meal, which exploded in popularity.
Cream soup served first.
For the main, choose one: donkatsu, spaghetti, or spicy pork rice bowl.
For dessert, one can of carbonated drink, with the type selectable.
He served all of that together under the name "set meal" and sold no other bunsik at all. He also kept sales locations limited to three places—Falstead Castle, the Doren Mage Tower, and Kaysus Cathedral.
As a result, even customers who used to enjoy bunsik at the other sales spots traveled long distances to Falstead Castle.
"We've arrived! Everyone, get off!"
At Foltan's shout, the people riding in the carriage poured out. The carriage he drove had been made in a rush based on Jinseo's suggestion, and its green-painted exterior was striking.
The design motif was simple.
A Republic of Korea military truck, the vehicle known by the nickname "Dudonban."
They could have used a normal carriage, but Jinseo requested a design that would look unusual to people of the Francia Continent, so it would be obvious that everyone riding the carriage were customers heading to eat at the food truck.
"Jason, here are the order sheets."
"Good work!"
"What do you mean, good work? I'm just glad I can help you even like this. Oh—and I'll drink this well."
Foltan caught his breath as he drank the cola Jason handed him.
"Boss! I got the order sheet. Four donkatsu, thirteen spaghetti, and five spicy pork rice bowls!"
"Aston, spaghetti orders are backed up, so please start with that. Jason, please make more salad so we don't run short."
"Understood."
"Understood!"
Because they asked the passengers for their orders in advance before boarding, they were able to reduce time wasted on ordering.
As Jinseo coated donkatsu in breadcrumbs, he glanced at the bunsik carriage across the way. When the bunsik carriage responded to Jinseo introducing donkatsu by adding two more menu items, Jinseo countered by adding spaghetti and spicy pork rice bowl.
I'm glad things are going more smoothly than I expected. But still… not a single person is eating over there?
"Free" was definitely attractive. But Falstead Castle's residents had been eating Jinseo's earlier bunsik for nearly a year. No matter how tasty and free something was, eyes were bound to go to the newly introduced menu over the old ones.
And since they couldn't bring themselves to betray their loyalty to Jinseo, they continued their boycott of the bunsik carriage.
The method was simple. After eating Jinseo's set meal until they were full, they only needed to glance once at the bunsik carriage before leaving.
Of course, the customers who came by carriage didn't have any particular loyalty to keep. But they had come all this way to taste the food truck's new menu, so they didn't feel any need to use the bunsik carriage.
"Blegh! What is this?"
"Why is this in here?"
"You're selling this for people to eat? Owner, come out!"
Three men came surging up to the counter holding half-eaten donkatsu plates and began protesting at Jinseo.
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