Chapter 37: The Solitary Glutton (2) "Promotional video?" Crade tilted his head as he set down the fork and knife he had been wiping with a roll of paper towel. "That's a new one to me."
"Well, what it means is…" Jinseo explained it step by step.
As the explanation continued, the burly man kept nodding, yet he couldn't take his eyes off the smartphone screen Jinseo held out.
"A metal plate as mysterious as the food you make. Is it some kind of magical tool?"
"Something like that."
"So you're saying you record me eating the food from the food truck on that small metal plate, then let other people see it?"
"Yes. If you're uncomfortable with your face becoming known, you can refuse. But if you agree, I won't charge you for today's food. No—actually, I won't charge you for a while."
After hearing Jinseo's offer, Crade crossed his arms and fell into thought.
"A promotional video, huh…"
"Is it not possible?"
"You can use footage of me. But I'll still pay. Eating food this good without paying goes against my principles." Crade placed a pouch of money on the table. "But when I come again next time, I can ask for a little extra service, right?"
"That's possible even now."
"Then five hot dogs, just lightly, as a palate cleanser."
"Yes."
"And…" Crade pointed at the sign that said balloons were only given to children who ordered hot dogs. "That too."
After the three-day festival ended.
Oswald hurried to receive Crade in the reception room after his sudden visit.
Naturally, the guards inside looked at him—the hero of the Girvante Kingdom—with eyes full of admiration.
Oswald, on the other hand, sat across the table from him with a clearly tense expression.
No one spoke first, and an awkward silence settled in.
Then a subordinate returned with tteok-twig-sun, and the atmosphere shifted.
"So, you're saying you want to stay at Falstead Castle?" When Oswald asked again, Crade nodded.
He lifted tteokbokki with the fork in his right hand, while his left held the string of a deflated balloon.
"If someone as famous as you stays in my castle, that's welcome from a lord's perspective. But I don't quite see why you'd want to stay here. From what I've heard, the king of the Girvante Kingdom offered you the position of knight commander…"
"That's right."
"And didn't you refuse? Then you were offered a general's seat in the royal guard, and you turned that down as well. After that… well, something even higher, if I recall."
"That's correct."
The civil war in the Girvante Kingdom had lasted over five years.
With massive monster attacks on top of it, the kingdom had truly been on the brink of collapse.
The one who saved it amid that chaos was Crade.
In just one year, he joined the kingdom's army and led them to victory after victory.
On top of that, he personally exterminated the monster hordes that attacked the kingdom, becoming a hero in the truest sense.
The king offered him a high position, but Crade refused without the slightest hesitation.
It could have looked like he was dissatisfied with the rank, but instead it became the catalyst that spread his reputation even further.
"I don't need status. One house with a clean room is enough."
"And yet you want to stay here. That's hard to understand."
"The food here is much better."
"Here? You mean…?"
Instead of answering, Crade quietly gazed southward, toward the castle gate.
"I thought it might be so, but to think it's true. When I heard the rumor, I doubted it."
Crade, a swordsman famous enough to save an entire kingdom.
In truth, he was a gourmet—and at the same time, a glutton.
His obsession didn't stop at simply eating a lot of good food; it took a peculiar direction.
He sought out a blacksmith to commission forks and knives made of materials that wouldn't interfere with flavor, then asked a mage to enchant them so they would never rust.
He didn't stop there. He kept his hair cut short and shaved every single day.
Long hair could interfere with eating, and growing stubble might catch food.
In the end, he needed only one thing.
The desire to eat as much delicious food as possible.
"After hearing the rumors about the food truck, I came all this way. The moment I saw this food called bunsik, I felt destiny."
A shop that served dishes that matched his palate uncannily well, at cheap prices.
And on top of that, the skill to handle orders without being overwhelmed by his enormous appetite.
In over twenty years of wandering, he had never found a place that satisfied both.
Roaming all across the continent, he finally discovered a paradise he was willing to give up his freedom for.
"My only talent is using a sword, so I'm often sent into battle…"
"There is that."
"In those situations, enjoying delicacies alone draws too much attention."
When battles intensify, the quality of meals inevitably declines.
If there's at least enough food to eat, that's still better.
But when stockpiled rations run out and soldiers are starving, watching Crade devour ten servings by himself every time naturally breeds resentment.
Even if the food is bought with his own money.
"More than anything, I heard that man's food truck isn't fixed in one place and can move anywhere. If I'm with the food truck, no matter what battle I join, food won't be a problem."
"I see."
After hearing the explanation, Oswald nodded.
"In that case, there's nothing to be done."
Oswald himself genuinely loved Jinseo's Snack Bar—especially the ramen—to the point of bringing Jinseo along on a journey that lasted nearly two months.
"How about coming with me to the food truck next time? There's a special ramen I only serve when I'm there."
"Interesting."
"And while we're on the subject, I'm planning to hold a new competition at next year's festival. Would you be willing to participate?"
"If it's a sword duel, I'll decline."
"No, the result would be too obvious to mean anything. I'm talking about a competition to see who can eat more of the food truck's bunsik."
"Oh… I'm really looking forward to it."
The two middle-aged men faced each other and grinned.
A week had passed since the solitary swordsman Crade decided to stay at Falstead Castle.
He visited the food truck every single day without fail.
He avoided peak hours, waiting until things quieted down.
As a result, his visits often coincided with Oswald's, and before long it became natural for the two of them to come together.
After repeatedly showing his gluttonous side on each visit, Crade agreed to the filming he'd promised.
Oswald joined the shoot as well.
Once the eating broadcast was finished, Jinseo visited an unfamiliar village, seeking a new sales location instead of the usual three.
It was about two hours by food truck from Falstead Castle—a quiet, unremarkable small village.
When the food truck appeared in this remote place rarely visited by outsiders, the villagers gathered in curiosity.
At first, they merely stared at the strange carriage, but once they noticed the religious emblem attached to the food truck, they drew holy signs in reverence.
After that, they kept their distance and only watched.
"Is that the cart selling the bunsik that's been popular in big cities lately?"
"I'm curious what it tastes like. You tried it once at that new place before, right? How was it?"
"I ate it out of curiosity, but… it definitely wasn't worth that kind of money. Just wasted it."
"They say what that cart sells is the original."
"Original or not, food's food. How different can it be?"
After a shop in Peyden Castle that clumsily imitated bunsik appeared and disappeared, there were quite a few attempts to recreate bunsik through local effort.
They managed to copy the appearance with great effort, but the taste fell short in many ways.
Even so, the prices were several times higher than the food truck's, so ordinary people couldn't even try it.
Perhaps because of that.
Despite the delicious smell of bunsik spreading around the food truck, not a single person stepped forward to buy any.
Jinseo didn't rush. He silently prepared for business together with Jason.
"Hyung, we're ready!"
"All right, just a moment."
Instead of opening immediately, Jinseo turned on the large TV first.
"Huh? What's that?"
"There's… a person inside?"
"There's sound too. What kind of thing is that?"
"It's obviously magic! And it's a holy relic, right? It needs at least that much mystery."
Amid the confusion, the villagers focused on Crade as he appeared on the large TV screen.
Because the village was so remote, no one recognized who Crade was. But his massive build, and the huge amount of bunsik laid out on a wide table.
Soon, the eating broadcast showed him devouring the food at speed, and silence fell over the area.
On screen, Crade said nothing, focusing solely on eating.
Instead, captions were added so viewers could easily understand what bunsik was.
More precisely, Fedora had written text in characters used across the Francia Continent, photographed and inserted into the video.
For those who couldn't read, narration was added as well.
"The charm of tteokbokki lies above all in its spiciness. At first it may feel painful, but if you endure just a little, you'll reach a completely new realm."
Fedora's gentle yet precise pronunciation flowed smoothly into the villagers' ears.
The explanation continued—what kind of flavor the food had, how to eat it—and even included cautions.
"Freshly made ramen is hot, so never eat it as fast as this man. Eat slowly—don't forget."
The video shifted through front, left, right, and rear angles, drawing everyone in.
Just watching him eat deliciously and without pause made mouths water.
Especially when the crisp crunch of fried food sounded, people swallowed unconsciously.
"Delicious."
Hearing Crade's short yet powerful first—and last—line, the villagers felt a sense of fullness like his.
But it lasted only a moment, before an inescapable hunger welled up inside everyone watching.
Right on cue, prices for bunsik and drinks appeared on the screen with Fedora's narration, and the villagers couldn't hide their shock.
"As the lord of Falstead Castle, I, Oswald, strongly recommend it. Trust me and try it."
When a scene of Oswald sitting with a serious expression was added, the villagers couldn't hold back anymore.
"What? That price?"
"That's less than half—no, not even half—of what I paid at another castle!"
"At that price, it's worth trying at least once."
"And the lord himself guarantees it!"
Without Jinseo needing to explain anything, playing the eating broadcast once was enough to solve the problem of attracting new customers.
"Um… that red food is called tteokbokki, right? You really sell it at that price?"
"Then I'll take tteok-twig-sun!"
"That fizzy drink—is it sold from that machine? How do you use it?"
"Dad! Buy me that thing called a hot dog!"
The residents who had once stood back reverently before the holy relic were gone.
All that remained were customers burning with desire for the new food known only by rumor—bunsik.
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