Chapter 110: D-Town? K-Town? (4) After feeding the children until they were full with jjajangxguri and leaving the orphanage, Jinseo spent time stopping by the various shops and buildings inside Dwarf Town.
Before he knew it, night had fallen, and for the final destination of his day's schedule, Jinseo stopped by a tavern that sold dwarf-made beer.
"Good thing business is going well."
Jinseo ate the peanuts that came out as the basic snack and looked around.
All five dwarf taverns were packed with people.
Most of the people there were tourists.
During the day, they toured Dwarf Town with a travel guide, and when evening came, they enjoyed dwarf craft beer at a dwarf tavern, savoring the final leg of their sightseeing course.
Besides tourists, mercenaries and dwarves who had finished a day's work also came to the tavern to wet their throats.
"Falstead Castle seems to have gotten lively again, too."
"Truly fortunate."
Geshtain, who had come to the tavern after finishing his routine, lifted his beer mug and drank down the remaining half.
"It's important that we do well, but shouldn't the neighborhood right next door make a living too?"
Dwarf Town provided tourists who poured in from all over the continent with plenty to see, plus souvenirs and food.
But it didn't provide lodging.
Instead, through the regular operation of carriages that departed from Dwarf Town and toured various parts of nearby Falstead Castle, it was designed so tourists would naturally stay overnight inside Falstead Castle.
Dwarf Town wasn't large, so in a day or two you could see everything except certain restricted areas.
So tourists who came from far away also enjoyed the previously developed tourist courses centered around Falstead Castle.
As a result, a virtuous cycle continued where both Dwarf Town and Falstead Castle benefited.
"At first I wondered why they served this with beer, but once you get used to it, it's pretty good."
Crunch, crunch.
Geshtain nibbled on the dried-snack set supplied by Jinseo and took sips of beer.
Since it didn't require any cooking, it was incredibly convenient to sell, and for the eater, it was just as convenient—just pick it up with your hands.
Peanuts, almonds, raisins, dried squid, and so on, all popular items that paired well with beer, sold well.
There were even plenty of customers who bought it separately packaged to go with their beer.
"Still, not this black and mushy thing. Everything else is fine, but why is this in here? I can't believe there are humans who like this."
Before tossing a handful of dried snacks into his mouth, Geshtain picked out only the raisins and put them back on the plate.
"What? Raisins are an excellent snack all on their own, aren't they? It's a shame you don't understand the true value of this soft, chewy texture you can't get from other snacks."
In contrast, Aston picked out only the raisins from the assorted dried-snack set and popped them into his mouth one by one.
"Heh heh... Aston, are you already drunk? Well, I suppose someone who refuses to wrap dried squid around peanuts wouldn't possibly understand snacks properly."
"That's not it. Not at all. And peanuts and dried squid achieve true harmony with beer when eaten separately."
With different tastes putting them at odds, Geshtain and Aston stared at each other without speaking.
Aston was usually gentle, but when it came to food, he was sometimes fussier than anyone, and the person whose tastes clashed with his most sharply was usually Geshtain.
"Alright, you two, that's enough."
At Jinseo's intervention, Geshtain and Aston cleared their throats and stopped the standoff.
They were both stubborn men, but they listened obediently to Jinseo.
"Anyway, Jinseo, ever since meeting you, my mouth has been happy every day. We dwarves know how to work iron and brew beer, but we're absolutely hopeless at cooking."
Geshtain lifted a sausage on his fork and took a big bite.
"If we had to boast about something, it'd be sausages. That's all."
Before Jinseo's snacks appeared, the dwarf-made specialty sausages dwarves ate with beer only truly made their debut after Dwarf Town was built.
Because the dwarves had been intimidated by Jinseo's street food and hadn't put them out at all.
But anyone who tasted them didn't spare their praise, and Jinseo ended up using dwarf-made sausages generously in various street foods and dishes that included sausage.
"It's here! Come on, everyone, eat!"
Even the budae-jjigae Jason brought out fresh from the kitchen had plenty of dwarf-made sausage in it.
It was the kind of dish that suited soju better than beer, but rather than serve soju—which got nothing but bad reviews on the Francia Continent—dwarf-made beer was far more appropriate.
"Hm, let's see..."
Geshtain scooped up broth with a ladle and tasted a sip, then looked at Jinseo and Jason's faces once each before nodding.
"Impressive. At least when it comes to snacks with broth, you're not far behind Jinseo."
"Hehe, I'm still a long way from Brother."
"You worked hard making this, so you sit down and have a drink too."
Of the four men seated around the round table, the three besides Jinseo—who had to drive the food truck—enjoyed their beer.
But Jinseo wasn't disappointed.
Just taking a big spoonful of instant rice warmed by Geshtain's magic, topping it with sausage soaked with broth, and tasting it was enough.
"But Jinseo, you've looked a bit shaky lately. Are you alright?"
"What are you concerned about?"
"It's good that you have more customers than before, but I'm worried you passed the number you can handle with a food truck a long time ago."
"I'm trying not to lower the quality of the cooking, but there are so many things to worry about that it's hard to keep up."
Jinseo thought it would be impossible to personally manage the territory around Falstead Castle that Philip III had granted him.
So he leased it to the dwarves—but as a result, Jinseo's workload increased even more.
And while he was starting to feel he'd hit his limit, Geshtain's point hit Jinseo painfully hard.
Jason and Aston felt the same, so they only ate their beer snacks in silence.
"You've got countermeasures planned, right?"
"That's why I consulted Lord of the Castle a while ago, and he said it would be resolved soon."
"If Oswald said that, then that's a relief. I feel like I can finally breathe again."
In a way uncharacteristic for a dwarf, Geshtain stood up after emptying only three mugs of beer.
"You're leaving already?"
"I'm going to the mage tower. Painpolt asked me to come, even if it's late."
After touring the Ashred Continent, Painpolt had been so absorbed in research that he didn't even stop by the food truck and shut himself away in the mage tower.
"You've all worked hard."
"Worked hard, my ass… I do it because I like it, so it's fine. Honestly, pulling all-nighters doing research with that old man is far better than boring embassy work. Though it doesn't seem like Julian thinks so. Hahaha!"
Jinseo only listened to Geshtain's hearty laughter.
He couldn't bring himself to laugh along, remembering Julian, who not long ago had come with hollow eyes and bought a bulk set of ice cream and 300 mix coffees.
"I'm more worried that you've been pushing yourself too hard lately, Mr. Geshtain."
"Me? If I just drink a bit less, I'll have plenty of time left, so there's no problem. It's just a shame to cut down on drinking. It's different for you. You don't even drink, and you've been working hard running your business from the start."
"Want me to give you a ride?"
"Why would I, when I can go by teleportation magic?"
Geshtain hopped lightly, tapped Jinseo on the shoulder, and walked out of the tavern.
After loading the drunk Jason and Aston into the additional trailer, Jinseo parked the food truck near the eastern side of Dwarf Town.
"Looks like I'll have to stay here tonight."
Jinseo lowered the glass door and quietly looked toward Dwarf Town.
Even as it neared midnight, Dwarf Town—bright with torches installed everywhere—was a city that never slept.
"Back when I first started selling here, I never imagined a sight like this..."
Street food sales in another world that began with selling tteok-twig-sun to Jason and Foltan.
He met many customers, and even gained regulars who weren't human—other races.
And eventually, he reached the point of even serving a dragon as a customer.
Later, he even had an audience with a king, and received land so vast it would have been unimaginable in Korea.
Jinseo stroked the food truck's door with his hand.
The food truck's rank, which started at Level 1, had reached Level 60 before he knew it.
To achieve the true wish Jinseo wanted, he still had to raise it another 40 levels.
The higher the level, the more the experience required for the next level-up continued to increase.
So he had no idea how much street food he would have to make and sell from here on out.
In the end, just as he always had, there was no other way but to devote himself and make and sell more street food and food items to more people.
"Tomorrow I need to restock frying batter, trim the rest of the kraken flesh and tentacles Lady Charlotte gave me, and then..."
Muttering his to-do list out loud, Jinseo slowly reclined the driver's seat.
"Ugh..."
A groan slipped out of Jinseo's mouth after spending the night lying in the driver's seat.
He got out of the food truck while massaging his stiff body here and there.
The time on his smartphone read 6:30 a.m.
Jinseo played the background music he'd been sick of hearing during his military days on his phone and started calisthenics.
"One, two, three..."
He was still groggy, half-awake, and even though it had been years since he'd been discharged, the moment he heard that familiar background music, his body started moving on its own.
After finishing the calisthenics, naturally, the memories of military service came back and made his mood foul, but it was undeniably effective at waking him up.
"For breakfast, should I do soya and seaweed soup for the first time in a while? With seasoned laver, too..."
As if his appetite had returned to that time, Jinseo unconsciously recalled the menus he used to prefer during his military service and looked around.
It was still early, so the inside of Dwarf Town was quiet, and the mercenaries guarding the entrance yawned while waiting for the next shift.
"No, I should make toast and bring it to them."
Since he was making breakfast anyway, thinking it would be nice to eat with others too, Jinseo entered the kitchen.
"I'll finely chop dwarf-made sausage and add it—what is that?"
After spotting something, Jinseo raised his right hand to his brow and narrowed his eyes.
A moment later, the instant he saw dozens of carriages kicking up dust as they raced toward him, Jinseo hurriedly got out of the food truck.
"What is it? Why are there carriages at this hour...?"
This was the first time he'd seen so many carriages charging in at once at such an early hour.
One of the guarding mercenaries rushed into Dwarf Town to report, and the lead carriage slammed to a stop near the entrance.
"So that's Falstead Castle over there. And this is Dwarf Town."
A middle-aged man stepped down from the carriage, stroking his curled mustache as he closely examined Dwarf Town's entrance.
Walking forward, he widened his eyes the moment he spotted the food truck, then turned his gaze to Jinseo standing right beside it.
The tall stature and black hair matched exactly what his subordinates had described.
"Is that carriage over there indeed the holy relic recognized by the Heyrem Order—the food truck?"
"Yes, it is."
"And are you the owner of the holy relic, Mr. Lee Jinseo?"
"Yes. I'm Lee Jinseo."
The instant Jinseo answered, the middle-aged man grabbed both of Jinseo's hands.
"I've truly wanted to meet you! I am the royal court head chef, Paulo! I came here under His Majesty's orders!"
"Huh?"
"Mr. Lee Jinseo, please teach me the true essence of street food!"
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