Chapter 201: Forty Years of Life in Another World (1) "Little Grandfather, about the rune letters used in this spell formula. If we want to maximize mana efficiency, wouldn't it be better to replace them with something else?"
"That is because when we began construction, we planned to spatially transfer at least twenty-one people. We could not allow a disaster where even a single one of the twenty-one would be left behind in Korea because the output was insufficient. To eliminate that possibility entirely, we had to value stability over efficiency."
"Then I understand a structure that focuses more on output and stability than efficiency. And even so, I keep thinking how amazing it is that you managed to pack such a complex spell formula into such a small space. It's true of other spell formulas too, but the spatial transfer spell formula especially makes me admire it every time I look."
"Of course. It is only natural when famous magicians of the age put their heads together and made it."
While grandfather and granddaughter exchanged a deep, technical conversation about magic, Lee Jinseo stood behind them and looked into the hood.
As someone completely ignorant about magic, Lee Jinseo had no way of knowing whether the food truck was being repaired properly.
From the atmosphere of their conversation, he could only tell that things seemed to be progressing well.
Still, they really are twins. He looked older than Painfolt-nim, but the way he immerses himself in magic is exactly like him.
Lee Jinseo recalled the time Painfolt first appeared as the food truck's first customer.
After tasting the ice cream Lee Jinseo had offered lightly as a palate cleanser, Painfolt displayed astonishing focus. Right there on the spot, he completed a spell formula he hadn't been able to finish for a long time, and after that, every single mage in the mage tower became a loyal regular of the food truck.
That spell formula he completed back then… was it a spatial transfer spell formula to go to another continent in search of his younger brother? Once we get back to the Francia Continent, I should ask.
Until he met Rainfolt, Lee Jinseo had been restless, unable to even promise himself they could return to the Francia Continent. But now, having regained enough composure to watch a grandfather and granddaughter repair the food truck, Lee Jinseo's lips curled into a small smile.
Also, the air here is really good. I'm glad I didn't go back to Seoul.
Taking a deep breath, Lee Jinseo fully enjoyed the clean air of a mountain valley in Gangwon Province.
Lee Jinseo had planned to stay only one night, but he had already been staying at the junk shop for a week.
Even if he returned to Seoul alone, there was nothing in particular he needed to do. And he was worried that if he left the two of them, who were focusing solely on restoring the spatial transfer spell formula, they would keep skipping meals, so he stayed and cooked for them.
He also couldn't bring himself to leave because he worried someone might discover what the food truck really was. He was slightly worried that the two of them might cause an accident while using magic to repair the truck. In the first place, no one deliberately came to a junk shop deep in the mountains, so it was only needless worry, but still.
"Ah, it should be all dry by now. Grandfather, I'm going to go bring in the laundry."
"Why are you washing blankets that aren't even that dirty...."
"Oh, come on. It's not good for your health!"
When Rainfolt grumbled about why she was doing such troublesome work, Fedora scolded him sharply and then hurried toward the drying rack.
Thanks to the sunlight pouring down from a sky without a single cloud, she began bringing in the blankets that had dried fluffy-soft, along with the other laundry.
"Honestly. I thought I was living comfortably on my own, and now I've gained another nag."
"But you're happy, aren't you?"
"Well… I don't know why you're asking something so obvious. But there's one thing I really don't like."
With a deeply dissatisfied expression, Rainfolt pointed at Fedora.
"Why is my granddaughter wearing those baggy mom-pants, of all things?"
"You said they were comfortable."
"You didn't trick me into thinking that's Korea's latest fashion, did you?"
"No. Actually, Your Eminence likes comfortable clothes more than you'd think from her appearance. And those pants are a popular item on the Francia Continent. Even elves wear them often."
"Elves? Tsk… you've fooled everyone."
Even with Lee Jinseo's explanation, Rainfolt didn't let go of his suspicion. He glared at Lee Jinseo with narrowed, axe-like eyes.
"Let it slide that the girl doesn't know much about Korea. But don't try to fool me, a man who's practically Korean. I'll say it again—I've lived in Korea longer than you."
"Hahaha… yes."
Lee Jinseo answered casually, but he broke into a slight cold sweat at Rainfolt's sharp point.
"By the way, is the restoration going well?"
"I expected two weeks, but it's been a week since we started repairs, so… three more days should be enough."
"That fast?"
"It's thanks to her. It would've been hard with just me. Now that I say it, if I were alone, it would've taken at least a month. Without realizing it, my magical skill had rusted quite a bit."
Even though Fedora had been away from magic for over ten years, she demonstrated her ability as a mage fully while restoring the spatial transfer spell formula.
After looking at his granddaughter's back with satisfaction, Rainfolt soon wore a pained expression.
"She should have kept walking the path of a mage, not a priest… but her fate twisted because of me. Who could I blame?"
"It seems you really don't think well of the Heirem Order."
"From the day my nephew and his wife died, I stopped believing in gods. So I don't like the Order's existence itself."
When a heavy topic suddenly surfaced, Lee Jinseo shut his mouth, and Rainfolt watched Fedora hurry off to grab towels blown away by the wind, letting out a bitter smile.
-meow!-
At that moment, Nero and Owl, who had been sitting on top of the food truck, swiftly flew over to help, each clamping one towel in their mouths.
"Still, I didn't expect the two of you to come along too. I saw creatures like you until I was sick of them on Keinua Continent, but seeing you again like this—it feels strange."
"Keinua Continent truly has many creatures like them. The magicians who came with you couldn't keep their heads straight."
"I was the same. Oh dear—these little ones… do you like me that much?"
After helping Fedora and returning to the food truck, Nero and Owl perched neatly on Rainfolt's shoulders, one on each side.
"Such peculiar little ones. For creatures like you, you come up to people so easily."
Rainfolt raised his right hand and stroked the two of them in turn.
Perhaps because Rainfolt's face looked almost identical to Painfolt's—whom they had often met as a customer—Nero, who usually held herself aloof around customers, didn't reject Rainfolt's touch either.
"Keinua Continent was good in every way, but having to eat only grass was miserable. You did well spreading meat-eating. One reason I didn't stay long in Keinua Continent was because I missed the taste of meat from home."
"If Interspatial Storage had been functioning properly, I would've made bunsik for you with ingredients from your homeland, Rainfolt-nim. It's a pity."
"Homeland..."
Rainfolt repeated the word to himself and looked up at the sky.
"Then while we're fixing the spatial transfer magic circle, we should also take a look at Interspatial Storage."
He opened the hood again, found a spell formula tucked deep beside the engine, and began restoration work.
After sticking his face into the hood and struggling for nearly an hour, Rainfolt wiped the sweat from his brow and let out a long sigh.
"Alright. It's done. You should be able to take things out of Interspatial Storage now."
"Oh, really? Thank you!"
"But you still can't put anything in yet, so take things out carefully. My back can only take so much."
Rainfolt pounded his stiff lower back and flopped into the counter seat.
Just then, Lee Jinseo's smartphone rang to signal midnight, and Lee Jinseo went into the kitchen area.
"What shall I make for you?"
"Hmm..."
Rainfolt stroked his clean-shaven chin as he recalled all kinds of bunsik he'd eaten so far.
"Omurice with eggs from my homeland."
"But it's fine if I use Korean vegetable varieties, right?"
"I don't care."
"Then what about you, Your Eminence?"
"I will have the same as Little Grandfather, please."
Grandfather and granddaughter sat side by side at the counter seats and quietly watched Lee Jinseo make the omurice.
A little later, when two plates of omurice came out with steam rising, Rainfolt naturally chose ketchup and drizzled it over the top.
"Child, don't tell me you're thinking of pouring that on omurice."
"Huh?"
"Omurice is for ketchup. I don't want to see you breaking that rule."
"Ah, yes!"
Fedora, who had been about to pour tonkatsu sauce over the omurice, hurriedly switched to ketchup at Rainfolt's remark.
Then Rainfolt's stiff expression loosened, and he smiled brightly.
"Yes. Omurice from a bunsik shop needs that red ketchup. You can pour sauce over tangsuyuk, shovel down toothpaste-flavored ice cream, or even commit the shameless act of putting pineapple on pizza—I won't care. But I cannot give up ketchup on bunsik shop omurice."
"Yes...."
"Then let's see..."
After taking a spoonful of omurice, Rainfolt tilted his head.
"Hm. I'll have to eat more to know."
Still looking puzzled, he ate spoonful after spoonful slowly, and even after finishing half the plate, he still wore that strange expression.
"Curious."
"Does it not suit your taste?"
"No, the opposite. It's truly delicious. It's just curious, as I said. The eggs came from chickens raised on the Francia Continent, and the vegetables are Korean varieties, yet… both taste like home to me."
Realizing his tongue had become completely accustomed to Korean flavors, he put the kimchi that came with it into his mouth.
"The kimchi… is well-fermented."
"Little Grandfather eats kimchi well."
"Well, I've lived in Korea for forty years. You still can't eat it well?"
"Yes. Unless it's kimchi fried rice or stir-fried kimchi, it is still difficult to eat kimchi plain."
"When I first tasted it, I couldn't understand why people ate something so spicy and foul-smelling. I even lamented how they would serve delicious bunsik, yet bring out this kind of thing as a side dish. But now, as you can see, I eat it well."
Rainfolt, whose tastes had become fully Korean, ordered an extra plate of kimchi.
"Rainfolt-nim, there is something I have wondered for a while. May I ask?"
Lee Jinseo cautiously asked, recalling a question he'd held for some time.
"Ask."
"I'm curious why you chose to make a means of traveling between worlds in the form of a food truck."
"Food, clothing, shelter."
"Huh?"
"You don't know 'food, clothing, and shelter'? The three essentials humans need to live."
"R-right."
Lee Jinseo looked dazedly at Rainfolt, who suddenly brought up food, clothing, and shelter.
"Clothes? You won't die just because you're not wearing them. Sure, you can't go outside, but if you stay holed up indoors, it doesn't matter."
He lifted the sleeve of his worn clothes as he spoke.
"As for a home… of course it's nice to have one, but plenty of people live without one. If you don't have one, you can borrow someone else's place. Besides, it's too hard to get a place in Korea. Even renting is hard, and it's just as hard to get jeonse..."
Hearing Korea's realities pour so smoothly from Rainfolt's mouth—someone not just a foreigner but an otherworlder—Lee Jinseo couldn't hide his awkwardness.
"But eating is different. Skip one meal and your stomach raises hell, begging you to feed it. Keep ignoring it and not eating, and you'll die in pain. Of the three essentials, even if you give up everything else, nothing is as important as food."
Rainfolt continued in a serious tone and finished the remaining omurice.
"…That's what one of the companions who came to Korea kept insisting nonstop."
"Was the person who said that, by any chance, from the Girvante Kingdom?"
"How did you know?"
"People from that kingdom seem especially serious about food."
"Is that so? That fellow certainly acted like that, but I didn't realize everyone from that kingdom was like that. Anyway, under his lead, we wanted to equip our means of transport with cooking functions so we could continue enjoying the many foods we learned in Korea even after returning home… and around then, a vehicle called a 'food truck' was invented. The moment that fellow saw a food truck on TV, he shouted, 'This is it!'"
"I see. But there is another unresolved question. Now it can make all kinds of dishes, but at first, why was it limited to a food truck that could only make bunsik?"
"There isn't some grand reason. It's simply because the first food we ate after coming to Korea was bunsik."
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