Chapter 82: That Was Far Too Big to Be Called a Customer (2) Jinseo and Jason hurriedly moved Marco into a hospital room at Kaysus Cathedral.
Just looking at his roughened hair and hollow cheeks, his condition didn't seem normal, so several clergy members gathered around and examined him thoroughly.
The diagnosis showed that, contrary to their worries, he had no external injuries or illness, so there was no need for a blessing.
However, perhaps because he had grown so weak, he still couldn't wake up even after a full day had passed.
"We'd have to ask him directly to know for sure, but it seems like he's refused food and drink for a long time. It also feels like he suffered a lot mentally."
After hearing Leira's explanation, Jinseo looked down at Marco lying on the bed.
"Half-and-half MuMani… pizza… I have to make it... I have to recreate it into a taste even more magnificent than what my tongue can perceive..."
"..."
Listening to his sleep talk, Jinseo could roughly guess why he had been suffering.
Don't tell me he fell into despair because he couldn't make chicken? The more I think about it, he really is someone who's deadly serious about cooking.
To fall into despair over being unable to make Half-and-Half MuMani and pizza until he ended up like this.
Jinseo also made his living through cooking, but he had never been so consumed by it that he reached this point.
But it also doesn't feel like that alone would reduce him to this state. It feels like there's something else going on too...
Unlike before, there was also the possibility that Marquis Horus had abused him for failing to replicate Jinseo's bunsik.
Even without using violence, there were countless ways to grind someone down, and Jinseo knew that well from what he'd experienced in the military.
On top of that, the contents of a recent letter Hayward had sent—while carrying out Duke Layton's request—kept nagging at him.
It said the mansion where the hired people, gathered to imitate Jinseo's bunsik, had been staying was now completely empty.
It was highly likely they had left for somewhere else to plot something bigger, and in that process, Marco—whose personal conviction about cooking was firm—would no longer have been useful.
That led to the suspicion that Marco had been discarded.
This is troublesome.
Jinseo had saved him only because someone on the verge of dying was right in front of him. Beyond that, he didn't want to involve himself in Marco's circumstances.
If he brought him in as a helper, Marco would more than fulfill his role on cooking skill alone, but in every other respect, it was obvious he would cause problems.
Either way, what mattered more right now was what Marquis Horus—who had vanished—was actually doing.
"He's not the type to acknowledge defeat and quietly back off. I don't know what he's plotting, but I've got a bad feeling. If we don't move first and stop him, we have no idea what might happen."
Recalling Oswald's words, Jinseo left the hospital room.
"I heard that chef showed up again."
Painfolt, who had come to the food truck alone, asked casually while eating tteokbokki.
"Yes. It was completely unexpected, so I was really thrown off."
"And he stayed quiet over there for more than a month, too. I thought maybe nothing was going on for a while, but something feels off."
After eating a fish cake soaked in tteokbokki broth, Painfolt downed a cup of CoolXs to soothe his burning tongue.
"I might have to suspend takeout sales again soon."
"Then my disciples will be quite disappointed. They said they've been living for the joy of having pizza with beer these days..."
"I really wish this would end for good."
Even though he had resolved to respond decisively if Marquis Horus returned to scheme again, Jinseo had, over time, let his guard down.
In reality, aside from Marco's sudden appearance yesterday, the food truck's daily life had been passing without incident.
But because it was so peaceful, it made him even more anxious that something bigger might erupt.
"Hey! Move!"
At someone's shout that shattered the peace, Jinseo snapped his head toward the sound.
"Lord Painfolt!"
"Tsk, tsk. Here we go again."
Without even looking at it, Painfolt raised a gust of wind to stop the soccer ball flying toward him in an arc, then sent it back the way it came.
"I've dealt with this so often, you see."
"It seems they kept at it even after you left. I thought everyone would lose interest over time, but it's the complete opposite, so it surprised me."
"They played soccer until it got sickening to watch. I'm old now—I can't do such violent exercise."
Having finished all the tteokbokki and left only broth, Painfolt wiped the sweat on his forehead with a roll of toilet paper.
"As expected, this is spicy for me."
"Should I make it less spicy for you next time?"
"No, it's fine."
Among bunsik, Painfolt didn't particularly like tteokbokki.
And yet, lately, seeing him eat tteokbokki every time he stopped by the food truck felt meaningful to Jinseo.
"Then I'll be going. If you ever need my help, come find me anytime."
"Just hearing you say that is already enough. Thank you."
"Mr. Jinseo! Marco woke up..."
At someone's voice calling out to Jinseo cheerfully, Painfolt—who had been about to stand—froze in place.
"Woke up..."
Fedora, having spotted Painfolt as well, trailed off and only stared at him.
Since there were many customers around the food truck, the two had noticed each other far too late, and it was an awkward situation where neither could simply leave as if nothing had happened.
"..."
"..."
As silence stretched between grandfather and granddaughter, tension filled the air.
The customers, reading the mood, retreated farther away from the two, and even the dwarves—who had been playing soccer with gusto—paused their match.
"Painfolt, what is it? Is it that Marquis Horus or whatever his name is trying something again... Ah, I see."
In the middle of this, Geshtain—walking toward Painfolt without reading the room—caught Jinseo's urgent hand signal, then turned around on the spot and went back to where he had been.
The customers pretended to watch the drama playing on TV, stealing glances as they waited to see what the two would say.
"Your Eminence..."
Painfolt spoke first, looking at Fedora with sorrowful eyes.
"I know you feel uncomfortable around me. But there are many eyes on us, so set aside our feelings for now."
"Understood, Headmaster."
A brief exchange far calmer than everyone expected passed between them.
In the end, they still didn't call each other granddaughter or grandfather, but Jinseo had believed their distance had narrowed somewhat during the Holy Festival before.
Seeing them slide back into the same standoff again felt pitiful.
He was curious what had happened between them, but he didn't ask, only stirring the tteokbokki in silence.
"We can't pretend what happened between us never happened. But are you going to keep living like this?"
"You don't know! You have no idea what I felt all this time as I..."
"Huh? What's going on?"
"The screen isn't showing."
The scene where the man and woman in the drama were trading fierce words froze, then changed into a black-and-white screen with static, and the customers began murmuring.
"Hyung! Isn't the TV broken?"
At Jason's shout, Jinseo climbed down from the food truck and repeatedly turned the power off and on with the remote.
But nothing changed. Only the static screen and noise remained.
AI, is there a problem with the TV?
AI didn't answer Jinseo's question.
Anxious that it wasn't the TV but the food truck itself that had broken down, he kept calling for AI.
AI? Can you hear me? Can you tell me what happened?
{—In a moment, an unknown entity will appear at a location close to the Mobile Cooking Facility.—}
What?
{—Warning! For unknown reasons, the unknown entity is in a state of significant anger. Evacuate immediately!—}
"An unknown entity?"
Paaaht.
A magic circle large enough to cover an entire soccer field was drawn across the ground, pouring out light—so enormous it made the teleportation circles used to send dozens of people to another continent at once look shabby.
"W-what is that?"
"You said no magic during soccer! Was it you?"
"N-no!"
"Then who was it?"
The dwarves standing on the field bickered over who the culprit was, but they hurriedly fled out of the soccer field to avoid getting caught up in the magic.
"Uh… that..."
When the light faded and the colossal presence revealed itself, Jinseo's eyes widened.
A massive body the size of a soccer field.
Thick scales covering its entire body, and a pair of gigantic wings.
It was a being he had never seen before, but Jinseo recognized it instantly.
"That's a dragon, right?"
Looking at the enormous creature that appeared exactly like something from games or movies, Jinseo asked Painfolt.
In a fantasy world, there couldn't be anything that huge besides a dragon.
But Painfolt was so shocked he didn't even think to answer, only staring blankly up at the dragon.
Fedora beside him was the same.
"A d-dragon?"
"A dragon? That thing?"
"Really? The supreme being, a dragon… appeared here?"
"Insignificant creatures..."
When the dragon opened its eyes, vertical pupils—red, the same color as the scales covering its body—glared down at the humans below.
"Why do you enrage me!"
Koo-woong!
The moment the dragon slammed down its right forepaw, the ground shook and deep cracks tore across the earth.
"Aaaah!"
"S-save me!"
"I… I can't move!"
Tables toppled with a crash, dust billowing everywhere, and screams erupted from all sides.
The fallen customers, terrified, couldn't even stand, only trembling violently.
"For over thousands of years, I have not lightly set foot in your domain. By what right did you dare attempt to trespass into mine!"
"Damn it! The soccer field got completely wrecked!"
Geshtain, caring more about the soccer field than the dragon's appearance, clutched his head while sprawled on the ground, his face crumpled in misery.
"Answer me! Why did you humans trespass into my domain!"
Despite the dragon's relentless demand, the people and dwarves only flinched with their ears covered. No one answered.
"If it's a red dragon… it slept for centuries… why?"
Painfolt, having endured the shock through magic, stared up at the dragon with eyes that couldn't believe it.
Why did it have to awaken now, and come not somewhere else, but to Falstead Castle?
And of all emotions, why was it releasing rage?
He couldn't guess any of it.
But if this continued, not only everyone here, but Falstead Castle itself might be erased under the dragon's power.
Painfolt made up his mind and walked toward the dragon.
"It's d-dangerous!"
"Fedora! Do not follow!"
Painfolt struck away his granddaughter's hand as she tried to stop him and slowly walked toward the dragon.
With his left hand extended behind him, he gestured for them to run far away.
Forcing himself to endure the overwhelming terror, Painfolt reached the area near the dragon's forepaw and lifted his head.
The dragon was so enormous he had to tilt his head up until it was nearly vertical to the ground just to see its face.
"I dare ask the supreme being before me. We have no way of knowing why you are so enraged. What happened that...."
"I never permitted you to question me. I wanted an answer to the question I asked."
Despite Painfolt's respectful manner, the dragon's rage showed no sign of easing.
"If you do not realize the sin you have committed against me to the very end..."
The dragon lowered its massive face until it nearly touched the ground and opened its mouth wide.
"Lord Painfolt!"
"Grandfather!"
On the verge of spewing its breath, Jinseo and Fedora rushed toward Painfolt.
"…And pay the price you deserve... Hm? What is this."
The dragon's majestic voice abruptly turned light as it noticed something on the ground.
A mini tteok-twi-sun set—ordered and left untouched because of the dragon's appearance—had, by sheer luck, remained upright on its plate without spilling.
"I've never seen this before. Is this a new human dish that appeared while I slept?"
With the tip of its long tongue, the dragon flicked the plate up, then wrapped tteok-twi-sun in its tongue and swallowed it in one gulp.
"Hm? Hmmm?"
The dragon blinked as it savored the taste.
But compared to the dragon's enormous body, the portion was far too small.
For a human, it would have been like placing a single drop of honey on the tongue.
"Who is the human who made this!"
At the dragon's shout—back to its original majestic voice—Jinseo raised his right hand.
"I-it was me!"
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