Chapter 79: Jinseo's Counterattack (4) "Mmm! Delicious."
"These dumplings… they're good even on their own, but once they go into a broth dish, they give you a whole different flavor."
"To think there are this many bunsik dishes that the bunsik carriages don't have… My mouth is living well."
After finishing their meal at the dedicated table for tourists, the tourists stood up, rubbing their bellies.
They were the ones who had come to Falstead Castle to enjoy a bunsik trip on a three-nights-and-four-days itinerary.
What they wanted, even to the point of traveling a long distance by carriage, was an encounter with new bunsik.
And beyond that, they were more than satisfied just by the fact that at every meal, they could eat various kinds of bunsik without waiting.
"All right, has everyone finished eating? Please take your empty bowls and place them over here. After that, we'll begin the tour inside Falstead Castle. Before that, if you have any questions, ask them now."
Of course, they couldn't fill all twenty-four hours of the day with eating alone, so the travel guide finished preparing to lead them to the sights.
After a brief Q&A, the guide raised the flag that had been hanging at their waist in their left hand.
The tourists began moving in a line toward the castle, following the flag bearing Falstead Castle's emblem, and neatly dressed guards matched their pace, following along on both sides.
All guests were important, but since these were people who had come from far away just to taste bunsik, they naturally required even more attention.
And since most of them were nobles, Oswald, the Lord of the Castle of Falstead Castle, even came out personally to greet them when they first arrived.
However, the guests who required even more care were the ones who would be eating the bunsik Jason was carefully packaging right now.
"Hyung, the delivery food packaging is done!"
"You didn't forget the wooden forks and spoons, right?"
"Yes, I didn't forget, and I added extra, too!"
Jason placed three large paper boxes filled with bunsik into a white plastic bag and set it on top of the counter seats.
To avoid getting caught up in Marquis Horus's schemes, takeout sales for regular customers were currently suspended.
Instead, they had recently begun deliveries using a spirit's special ability, and the response had been very good.
"Aul!"
At Jason's shout, Aul, who had been sitting on the perch, flew down and landed in the middle of the counter seats.
Jason served tonkatsu cut into bite-sized pieces on a plate so Aul could eat easily even with its beak.
"I'm counting on you again!"
In the blink of an eye, Aul finished the tonkatsu, grabbed the plastic bag's handle with its talons, and flapped its wings.
A moment later, Aul's whole body began to glow as it hovered in midair, then vanished from everyone's sight.
Aul's teleport destination was the mansion of the Marquis of Hasrak, where Aston's matchmaking meeting had taken place before.
Once the mansion received the food, it would be divided into set portions and delivered to Duke Layton and the royal palace.
"The fact that His Majesty is eating the tteokbokki and fried food I made…"
"It's already the third delivery, but it still doesn't feel real."
"I feel the same. I added a bit more ham to the omelette rice as requested—hopefully it suits his taste."
Jason and Aston looked toward Colses Castle, where Aul would have gone, smiling with satisfaction.
It was unavoidable that they felt tense every time they sent a delivery, but more than the pressure, they felt proud.
The cooking showdown between Jinseo and Marco, through the food truck and the bunsik carriages, naturally became a major topic even in the Doren Kingdom's capital.
Since the place that began full-scale bunsik sales outside Falstead Castle was the capital, Colses Castle, the renewed bunsik boom there couldn't help but feel even more intense than in other regions.
King Philip III of the Doren Kingdom, who had personally experienced tteok-twi-sun through Painpolt.
After hearing about the bunsik carriages, he wanted to taste bunsik once again.
Marquis Horus tried, as if he had been waiting, to supply bunsik—but he failed.
Duke Layton, one of Jinseo's reliable connections, blocked his approach with various reasons, and as a result, Jinseo ended up supplying bunsik to the royal family instead.
"Hyung, it's really strange. Even with the interference, why does business keep getting better?"
"Yeah… it is."
"The atmosphere in the castle has gotten way better than before, too."
The residents of Falstead Castle started making and selling local specialties and ornaments to tourists, and young scholars were brought in as travel guides.
For those who had long been wondering how to use the knowledge they had built up, a position where they could explain history, geography, and religion to many people was exactly what they wanted.
And since they even received decent pay, there was no way for dissatisfaction to take root.
"Come to think of it, it's tomorrow."
The day the dwarves' delegation would set foot in the Doren Kingdom was right around the corner.
Originally, the entire dwarven delegation was scheduled to spatially transfer to the Doren Kingdom's capital, Colses Castle.
But after all the dwarves, including Geshtain, strongly insisted that they had to taste Jinseo's bunsik before going to the capital, it was decided that the delegation would stay at Falstead Castle for a while.
"You've helped me a lot as it is, but tomorrow, you'll need to pay special attention."
"Yes! Of course."
"I'm nervous, but I'll do my best."
At Jinseo's request, the two assistants calmed their excitement and answered seriously.
"There's a high chance Marquis Horus will appear in person. And Chef Marco will definitely show up as well."
Right now, the bunsik carriages weren't overwhelming the food truck—they were the ones being cornered—so it was obvious they would try to use the delegation's visit as much as possible to break the current situation.
"Still, I'm not that worried."
Jinseo planned to deal with them by making the most of the fact that the guests they were welcoming this time were not humans, but dwarves.
And because he had learned quite important information through Hayward, who had been temporarily hired by Duke Layton, he was fully prepared.
With that dish he had practiced little by little in Korea and on the Francia Continent, he was certain he would win.
Fwaaat.
A powerful light burst forth over the enormous magic circle drawn in front of the Doren Mage Tower.
"S-success! It's hard to believe a large-scale spatial transfer spell succeeded twice!"
"There are that many dwarves…"
"They really are all small? It wasn't just Geshtain!"
All the mages of the tower, who had been waiting to watch the delegation arrive by spatial transfer, looked down at the dwarves with fascinated eyes.
They had known dwarves truly existed through Geshtain, but seeing so many appear before them made it impossible to hide their excitement.
"So this is the humans' land—the Francia Continent!"
"Humans really are tall. Same with their buildings."
"And… it's bright. So the humans' world was this bright of a place!"
Meanwhile, for the dwarves, who were stepping into the unknown world of the Francia Continent for the first time, the human world was just as mysterious.
They looked up at humans towering above their eye level and marveled.
And they were amazed that the sun—something hard to see from their perspective—was shining brilliantly in a cloudless sky.
"It's been a long time."
Standing among dozens of dwarves, Painpolt inevitably stood out. He stroked his long-grown beard and looked up at the Doren Mage Tower.
Perhaps because he had spent so long inside buildings built to fit a dwarf's height, the tower he was seeing again after months felt bigger than before.
"You've worked hard."
Painpolt approached Julien, who had served as the Acting Headmaster.
"You can't keep working hard forever, can you?"
"That's… difficult. Didn't you say it was only temporary?"
"Haha, I was just joking, so don't look so serious."
Painpolt patted Julien's shoulder, and his expression was gentler than before.
"Did the research go well?"
"We've definitely secured a lead. Of course, we still need to continue the research."
As Painpolt spoke with Julien about the results so far, Geshtain, visiting the Francia Continent for the second time, walked out of the magic circle.
"Hmmm! The air here really is fresh."
This time, having crossed over as the delegation's representative, he lifted his head and inhaled deeply through his nose.
"And…"
Lowering his head again as he exhaled, he charged straight toward the white food truck, and the other dwarves began running after him.
"Yes, this! I wanted to see the food truck!"
Geshtain almost pressed himself against the food truck, looking it over everywhere, and only then did he approach Jinseo.
"And your bunsik too!"
"What about me?"
"Do I even need to say it? Hahaha!"
With his arm stretched as high as he could, Geshtain vigorously pounded Jinseo's back and roared with laughter.
"I'm glad you arrived safely. Have you been well in the meantime?"
Oswald, who would host the delegation until Duke Layton arrived, greeted Geshtain with polite respect.
"Why are you being awkwardly formal? Didn't we agree to speak casually?"
"W-well, we did, but this is an official setting…"
"Hey now! Don't forget you're one of the first friends I made after coming to the human world. And it's still a private setting for now."
"O-okay. Fine!"
The two men blew away the brief awkwardness and enjoyed the joy of reunion.
Right up until they learned that an unwanted guest was approaching by carriage.
"Hm? What's that?"
Geshtain leaned his head out slightly beside Oswald and looked toward the road leading west.
A line of several carriages coming wasn't particularly strange.
But the fact that a massive crowd was surging along behind them was ominous.
"Those people came to see you, and the people riding those carriages are Marquis Horus and his lot."
"The human you mentioned before… is that human?"
"That's right."
Oswald briefly explained what had happened before the delegation arrived, and the space between Geshtain's brows twisted more and more.
"To think such things happened… he truly is a despicable human."
"But since there's no definite proof yet, just keep in mind that something like that happened."
"Anyway, bunsik made by those bunsik carriages—carriages that imitate the food truck—shouldn't we just ignore them completely and not touch them?"
"No. Please eat it properly and share your thoughts."
"Huh?"
At Jinseo's request, cutting into their conversation, Geshtain was noticeably flustered.
"But that could be bad for you."
"I'm going to put a definitive end to it this time."
Answering with determination, Jinseo looked toward the approaching carriages.
Soon, the carriage carrying Marquis Horus arrived in front of the Doren Mage Tower, and the people who followed formed a circle around the food truck and the bunsik carriages.
They had gathered to see Marco cook with their own eyes, and to confirm that dwarves truly existed.
Marquis Horus stepped down from the carriage, gestured to push back the surrounding crowd, then led his subordinates toward Geshtain.
As he forcibly suppressed the sneer that threatened to rise at the sight of a truly small dwarf.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am—"
"Enough. Bring out the bunsik first."
Geshtain cut off Marquis Horus's greeting and went straight to business.
For a moment, the tip of Marquis Horus's eyebrow lifted slightly, but he couldn't get angry at the delegation, so he forced a smile and stepped back.
Either way, if they ate Marco's bunsik, praised it, and proved in front of everyone that it was superior to Jinseo's, that would be enough.
"All right, everyone—taste the bunsik made over there, from the bunsik carriages."
"Huh? What are you talking about? We're not eating Jinseo's bunsik?"
"Jinseo asked us to try their bunsik first."
"Really? Then it can't be helped."
Persuaded by Geshtain, the other dwarves sat down one by one at the tables in front of the bunsik carriages, still puzzled.
Bunsik cooked by Marco during their travel time was arranged by type on plates that looked luxurious at a glance.
Its appearance, refined by Marco's skill, was clearly different from Jinseo's bunsik they had encountered before.
"Hoh… I never thought bunsik could be this beautiful."
"If it tastes as good as it looks, that would be great. Let's eat first."
Geshtain took the first bite of tteokbokki, and the other dwarves followed him and began eating.
Not long after, the dwarves lifted their heads sharply and stared at Marco inside the bunsik carriage.
"Ho. It's a taste not inferior to Jinseo's bunsik."
"To think there was another with skill equal to Jinseo's… humans really are incredible at cooking."
The plates of bunsik emptied at a rapid pace, and the workers focused on carrying more bunsik out.
Yes, keep eating. Until you no longer feel like eating more.
Watching the dwarves devour bunsik in an instant, Marquis Horus smiled.
Contrary to his worries, Marco's bunsik was receiving praise, and since they had eaten so much, he judged they wouldn't have room to eat Jinseo's bunsik.
"Burp. That was good."
"Unlike what we made clumsily, it felt special to eat authentic bunsik again after a long time."
"This should be enough to cleanse the palate, and…"
But Marquis Horus didn't know.
The dwarves' appetite—enormous beyond imagination for such small bodies.
And that what they truly wanted wasn't simple bunsik.
"We're about ready to eat anju, right? Let's really go hard for once—it's been a while."
"Of course, of course."
"I tried making anju after the food truck left, but it was never as good as what Jinseo makes himself."
At Geshtain's words, members of the delegation nodded.
"Anju?"
"Is it dwarf food?"
"No, it sounds like new bunsik."
But most of the humans didn't understand what the dwarves were saying.
Since Jinseo only served it on special occasions, unlike bunsik, anju hadn't spread widely in the Doren Kingdom.
"New bunsik…"
Only Marco stared at the food truck with shining eyes.
He had never once seen Jinseo make new bunsik in person, so he couldn't hide the anticipation swelling in his chest.
"Then let's move."
After finishing Marco's bunsik, the dwarves all stood up and began moving to the tables in front of the food truck on the opposite side, sitting down in a tight cluster.
"Half-and-half MuMani, please, Jinseo."
"I prepared it in advance because I knew you would. Please wait a moment."
"We prepared too. Come on—everyone, take it out!"
At Geshtain's shout, the dwarf mages in the delegation opened subspace spaces all at once.
When humans saw beer barrels larger than dwarves pouring out endlessly, they were struck speechless.
"Everyone, look at this."
The moment Jinseo opened the additional trailer, one hundred half-and-half MuMani sets in paper boxes revealed themselves in a majestic display.
In truth, he had made even more, but due to space issues, most were still kept in subspace storage, and he brought out only part of them.
Normally, he would have made them in front of everyone, but since he didn't know what kind of interference might happen during cooking, he had prepared and stored them in advance.
"Yahoo! That's all chicken! Chicken! And it's half-and-half MuMani!"
"I'm so glad I joined the delegation…"
"O-our share exists too, right?"
The dwarves who knew the taste of chicken cheered, and the mages who, like them, had experienced chicken swallowed their saliva, believing they would also get a chance to taste it.
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