Chapter 41: A Cup of Leisure (1) (41/225)
"Are there any remaining problematic points?"
"No. I've checked everything."
At Jinseo's reply, the representative of the merchants from Lis Castle wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. The other merchants who had come with him also let out relieved sighs, patting their chests.
"It's a bit late to say this, but when it comes to your meticulousness, Mr. Jinseo, we completely give up—hands and feet both raised."
"I'm just glad you understand now."
After putting all the ingredients into the subspace storage, Jinseo closed the rear door of the additional trailer.
He was suddenly reminded of when he had first started trading with the merchants, but since this was food meant to go into people's mouths, it was not something he could compromise on even slightly.
Because of that, unlike their previous trading partners, Jinseo was extremely strict when selecting ingredients, and the merchants began to complain.However, once Jinseo used those carefully chosen ingredients to treat them to bunsik, their dissatisfaction melted away like snow.
In truth, I was just doing things the same way I did back in Korea. But by this world's standards, that really does count as being strict.
When Jinseo said that strict ingredient selection was necessary for delicious bunsik, they nodded in unison while eating.
After concluding the deal, Jinseo considered taking a leisurely look around inside the castle while he was there, but unfortunately, that plan fell through.
Residents who had only been watching from afar as people ate began to swarm in.
In the end, it was only after spending the entire day on unplanned bunsik sales that Jinseo was finally able to leave Lis Castle.
"Next time, I hope we can have a smoother transaction. You know what my standards are now."
"Yes. We'll be looking forward to it."
Jinseo climbed into the driver's seat, started the engine, and set the food truck in motion.Watching the food truck fade into the distance, they drew the sign of the cross with solemn expressions, black plastic bags filled with bunsik hanging from their other hands.
Jinseo's food truck, delayed by a full day longer than expected, was racing toward its next destination. Moving at a speed incomparable to ordinary carriages, the wild animals hiding beyond the bushes scattered in all directions in alarm.
Yet inside the food truck, things were more peaceful than ever.
"Nice."
Craid, sitting in the passenger seat, rested his neck on a pillow and leisurely enjoyed various drinks.
In the back seat, empty cans of DeX, DocX Pepper, and MacX were piled high.
"This is my first time traveling in such comfort."
A mode of transportation that moved at an incredible speed—something that was a carriage, yet not a carriage.
A storage compartment filled with a wide variety of drinks and snacks he had never experienced before, despite traveling across the continent. Colorful, delicious meals Jinseo prepared for him at every mealtime.
And finally, an additional trailer that guaranteed safe sleep.
What he could never obtain before no matter how much money he spent, he was now enjoying for a relatively modest price. To him, this was practically heaven.
In this environment, which could not be better, he slightly reclined his seat.His expression, however, did not change.
"Everything's great, but it's a shame the bed's too narrow to use."
On the first night of the journey, when Craid was about to prepare for sleeping outdoors as usual, Jinseo pointed toward the trailer.
At first, Craid had thought the trailer was simply being used as subspace storage. But once he went inside, it turned out to be a perfect space that kept out the night dew.
He could wash himself, sit on the sofa, watch TV, and pass the time leisurely.
However, the bunk bed was too small to accommodate his large frame, so he had no choice but to lay out bedding beside the bed and sleep there.
Even so, it was far more comfortable and safe than sleeping outdoors, so he was more than satisfied.
"At this rate, we'll arrive much earlier than scheduled, just like you said."
"Still, knowing my companions are already waiting makes me uneasy."
"Then it'd be nice if we could use that nitro booster thing some more."
The motion sickness he had felt at speeds fast enough to secretly frighten Craid only lasted on the first day. After experiencing the thrill of the nitro booster several times, Craid had unknowingly turned into a speed junkie.
"Unfortunately, at the moment, about three times a day is the limit."
"Three times at that speed… As expected, it wasn't designated a holy relic for nothing."
"Since it came up, let's use it once. We still have two left."
Vroooom.
With a thunderous roar, the food truck shot forward, leaving long tire marks behind.
The place where they were to meet Craid's companions was near the entrance to a dense forest.
"Huh? What's that?"
"A carriage… right?"
The two men sitting side by side on a tree stump stood up when they saw the food truck.
"It's been a while. Hayward, Julien."
Stepping down from the food truck, Craid called the two men by name, placing one hand on each of their shoulders.
However, their gazes were fixed not on Craid, but on the food truck behind him.
"Looks fascinating, doesn't it? I was the same the first time I saw it."
Seeing the food truck—something that was not a carriage yet was treated as one—Hayward and Julien stood there with their mouths hanging open.
Jinseo stepped down from the driver's seat and carefully observed the two of them.Hayward was a middle-aged man dressed like a typical bandit one would often see in fantasy stories.
Julien, who looked to be in his early twenties, wore a robe like the mages from a mage tower.
What set him apart was the guitar-like instrument slung diagonally across his back.
A mage? A bard? *
Jinseo had seen bards come by as customers a few times before. But he had never expected to end up going into a dungeon together with one.
And they probably didn't expect to be going with a cook like me either.
"Just like you wrote in your letter—it really is a holy relic."
After nodding while looking at the sacred crest affixed above the driver's window, Hayward suddenly noticed Jinseo's gaze and hurriedly drew the sign of the cross.
"This isn't some kind of punishment for not making the sign of the cross, is it?"
"It's fine. I'm not even a believer of the Heirem Order."
"And yet it still got designated as a holy relic? That's strange. But the more I look at it, the more peculiar the structure is. That carriage attached to the back—huh?!"
—Meow.—
When Nero flew out through the open window of the additional trailer, Hayward recoiled in surprise.
"What the hell? A flying cat?"
"Could it be… a spirit?"
Among those seeing Nero for the first time, mages reacted especially strongly, and Julien was no exception. Like the others, he didn't just stop at looking—he even tried to reach out, only to hurriedly pull his hand back.
"It's overflowing with mana. Is it truly a spirit?"
"Yes. Another mage said so too. Is it really that rare to meet a spirit?"
"I've never seen one like this outside of books. And a spirit that follows a person, at that… I can't believe it even while seeing it."
Julien couldn't take his eyes off Nero as she flew back and forth above Jinseo's head.
"We haven't even entered the dungeon yet, and it's already full of surprises. So, this time it's the three of us going together again, right?"
As Hayward spoke with a shrug, Craid pointed at Jinseo with his right hand.
"No. It's four of us."
"He's coming too?"
"Four? Not just the three of us?"
Hayward slowly swept his gaze over Jinseo from head to toe.
"He's fairly tall, and his body looks decently trained… but wasn't he a driver?"
"He's a cook."
"A cook? Hey! Craid!"
The moment he heard Jinseo's answer, Hayward's face twisted into a scowl.
"No matter how serious you are about food, if you're going to bring a cook into a dungeon, I'm out! This isn't a joke—"
Craid always pursued good food no matter the situation, but he had never brought a cook along on something as dangerous as dungeon exploration. It was a line he had set for himself—one he would not cross—and Hayward, who had gone with him many times, knew that policy well.
"No matter how good he is, this isn't right. Let's not create a situation where someone innocent gets killed."
"Jinseo won't be a burden. He's from a regular army background."
"Huh? Really?"
When Hayward looked surprised, Jinseo nodded.
"That's right. I served for about two years."
Having been discharged as a sergeant from the Republic of Korea Army, it wasn't a lie.
"Not only that, I heard he also learned a powerful martial art called taekwondo while he was in the army."
Craid tilted his head slightly and glanced at the tree standing tall behind Jinseo.
Jinseo understood what he meant, but hesitated to act as Craid wanted.If these were people skilled enough to travel with Craid, his own strength might look insignificant by their standards.
"Do I really have to?"
"With your skill, you'll be more than enough to convince my companions."
Fine. Whatever.
Jinseo forcefully kicked the tree with his left foot.With a sharp impact, the thick tree snapped—but that wasn't the end of it.
If I'm showing them anyway…
"Hah!"
With a shout, Jinseo leapt high and brought his right foot down, splitting the already-broken tree cleanly in half.
Craid crossed his arms and nodded as if he had expected it.
"Will that be enough?"
Jinseo asked as he turned around, but the two men remained silent.
Judging by their reaction, I guess I'm strong even by their standards. That's a relief.
"D-doesn't that hurt?"
"Not at all."
Jinseo even took off his shoe and sock, showing Julien his perfectly fine foot.
"He's… stronger than me. No—he definitely is."
After checking the thickness of the broken tree, Hayward stared at Jinseo in disbelief.
"Uh, what was it… your name?"
"My name is Lee Jinseo. Family name Lee, given name Jinseo. Please just call me Jinseo."
"Jinseo, are you some kind of fighter? You're not really a cook, are you?"
At Hayward's incredulous question, Jinseo shook his head.
"No." He brushed the bits of wood stuck to his pants. "I'm just an ordinary food-service worker. Now then, please get on."
With the two new members aboard, the food truck traveled for half a day toward the dungeon located at the center of the forest.
Normally, they would have moved slowly while staying alert for monsters or wild animals that could appear at any time in such dense woods.
However, thanks to the food truck's detection capabilities, they avoided all unnecessary battles and broke through along the shortest route.
Upon arriving at the dungeon entrance, Jinseo's group began their meal at Craid's request.Hayward's suggestion to just make do with jerky was, naturally, dismissed.
The moment he took a bite of the bunsik Jinseo served while grumbling, his complaints vanished.
"Damn… this broth is incredible! No wonder Craid brought you along!"
Exclamations poured nonstop from Hayward's mouth as he slurped down his third bowl of ramen, having completely forgotten that he had opposed Jinseo joining them.
"Hmm, I should stop here, unfortunately."
Craid ate only five servings of tteok-twig-sun, citing that overeating would dull his movements.
"Amazing! This dessert called ice cream really does restore mana."
"Then take a few with you. Just don't forget to cast magic so they don't melt."
"My concentration feels sharper too… I never imagined you could gain benefits like this from food. I wish other mana potions tasted this good."
Julien, who had a small appetite, settled his meal with a single roll of gimbap and a cup of fish cake soup. However, when it came to the ice cream served as dessert, he was more enthusiastic than anyone.
He packed away five milk-flavored SolX Snow ice creams, his preferences firmly set.
"Now that we're full, and we arrived much earlier than planned…"
With lingering regret on his face, Hayward alternated his gaze between the dungeon entrance and the food truck.
"Without that carriage called a food truck, it'd be hard to make the bunsik we just ate, right?"
"It'd be difficult to get the proper flavor."
"And we wouldn't be able to eat the food stored inside either. What a shame. Honestly, if I'd never eaten that bunsik in the first place, I wouldn't be feeling so regretful now."
The taste of the ramen broth still lingered on his lips.
Hayward desperately wanted to eat bunsik inside the dungeon as well.
But no matter how he looked at it, there was no way the food truck could comfortably fit inside the dungeon.
"Then what are we going to do with the food truck? Leaving it here would make it stand out too much."
"Should I conceal it with my magic?"
"That wouldn't last long anyway. And it'll take at least half a month just to reach the lowest floor of the dungeon. We should conserve mana as much as possible before even entering."
Unlike Hayward and Julien, Jinseo and Craid showed no regret at all.They had already prepared countermeasures when planning this trip.
"There's no need to worry. Please wait a moment."
AI, switch to lightweight mode.
{ Acknowledged. }
Paaah.
A brilliant light illuminated the area around the dungeon entrance.When the light faded, the large food truck had transformed into the shape of a scooter.
{ Transformation complete. }{ In lightweight mode, some functions will be added or disabled. }{ Disabled functions: Additional trailer and functions linked to the additional trailer (some exceptions), Nitro Booster (A Grade). }{ Additional functions: One-person tent (C Grade), Portable shower (B Grade), Simple cooking facility (A Grade), Mini cat tower (S Grade), Mini nitro booster (S Grade). }
The food truck's lightweight mode was a function installed by default, much like instant movement, without requiring a separate upgrade.However, because it consumed a large amount of mana, it was unsuitable for frequent use.
Fortunately, thanks to the accumulated mana from bunsik sales and quest completion, it could be used without worry even in the current situation.
"Huh…"
Rubbing his eyes, Hayward stared fixedly at the scooter placed beside Jinseo.
"Simple cooking should still be possible. You don't need to worry about food anymore."
"Craid, did you bring a mage instead of a cook…?"
"His bunsik is magical enough as it is."
Crunch.
Craid calmly bit into a chocolate bar.
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