Chapter 95: Latte is horse...(3) The village chief stared blankly in the direction Charlotte had flown, looking like he could not believe it.
A dragon that huge could not help but stand out, and the fishermen and tourists near the pier all began gathering on the beach.
"What in the world was that that shot up into the sky just now? What kind of monster was it?"
"Not a monster… they say it's a dragon."
"A d-dragon? A dragon that only shows up in legends—really?"
Many people gathered along the shore and started murmuring, but when the dragon's majestic form appeared again in just ten minutes, they clamped their mouths shut.
The sight of it flapping its wings with a giant Kraken head clenched in its jaws was overwhelmingly imposing.
"It's dropping! Everyone, move!"
At Charlotte's warning, they hurriedly scattered in all directions.
A moment later, sand and dust billowed around the Kraken's corpse as it fell onto the shore.
Charlotte, back in her human form, reached behind her neck and flipped up her long red hair.
"How's that? Now this is truly fresh Kraken!"
Tourists feared Charlotte as she confidently planted her foot on the tip of a Kraken tentacle.
And on top of that, the intact Kraken itself—rather than Kraken served chopped up and fried—was terrifying too.
"To think a monster like this existed… what an extraordinary experience!"
"And it tastes good, doesn't it? That fried Kraken we ate before was unforgettable, so freshly caught Kraken must be even more special, right?"
Meanwhile, the dwarves, who had lived in a place without a sea, were shocked by the Kraken's gigantic bulk and grotesque shape, yet felt curious enough to approach.
"Wow, so this is a Kraken. It's truly amazing."
Jason, seeing a Kraken in its whole form for the first time rather than chopped meat, could not stop marveling.
Beside him, Aston patted Jason's shoulder as he recalled the first time he had seen a Kraken.
"To think Hyungnim beat a Kraken this big to death with his bare hands..."
"It was luck. And bringing one back that easily and quickly like Lady Charlotte did is absolutely impossible."
"Right? Only I can do that."
When Jinseo praised Charlotte, she shrugged, looking smug.
"A Kraken that would take ten of us clinging to it to catch… for you to bring it back alone, and so easily… you really are a dragon!"
The fishermen, awed by the might Charlotte displayed, looked at her with reverent eyes.
"Ha, I love this atmosphere! You all know my greatness so well! Insignificant creatures—today, I shall bestow upon you the Kraken I caught with my own hands, so enjoy it to your hearts' content!"
Snap.
When Charlotte snapped her fingers, countless invisible lines carved across the Kraken flesh, dividing it into palm-sized pieces that rained down onto the beach.
"I cut it up so it's easy to use, so grill it, fry it, boil it, steam it—eat it however you like."
"Yes! Understood!"
"Let's go! Today is a Kraken party!"
The moment she gave permission, the fishermen sprinted toward the warehouses by the docks.
"Then I'll make it too."
Jinseo went into the food truck's additional trailer and pulled out frying batter he had prepared in advance, while his two helpers, Aston and Jason, fired up the fryer.
In the meantime, the fishermen set up simple stalls along the shore, and an unplanned Kraken festival began.
"Mm! Fresh Kraken really is even tastier!"
"The fish here are far more diverse than where we live, so it's fun choosing what to eat."
"When we go back to the Ashred Continent, should we make a sea with magic once?"
"Hey, quit talking nonsense and eat your fried Kraken."
On the beach under the blazing sun, the dwarves were indulging in fried Kraken and all kinds of seafood dishes.
Naturally, the dwarves wanted to start with beer, but they accepted Jinseo's advice that drinking was forbidden if they wanted to enjoy the sea safely.
On top of that, they were wearing the clothes Jinseo recommended and fully soaking in the summer-beach vibe.
Hawaiian shirts, swim trunks, and sandals—plus sunglasses.
At first, they could not understand why they should wear sunglasses when it made everything look dark, but when told it protected their eyes from the intense sunlight, they started putting them on one by one.
"Those clothes… are they dwarves' traditional outfits?"
"Yeah. They look pretty cool. Can we get them too?"
Even though Charlotte's dramatic appearance overshadowed everything, dwarves were still mysterious beings to humans.
And seeing dwarves in such unusual outfits made tourists stare, baffled yet drawn in.
"How is it? How much are they?"
"I asked… but they said they don't have any more stock, so no."
"Tch. Let's just eat more of what we ordered. Honestly, even just this makes the trip worth it."
Tourists soothed their disappointment with food from the food truck and the nearby stalls.
"Khh… nice. Very nice."
Charlotte lay back on a beach chair under a parasol, sipping canned cola.
Even if she had transformed into a human, there was no way the harsh sunlight could burn her skin.
So there was no real need for her to hide under a parasol, and since she was savoring the experience of "enjoying the sea" itself, it was not a problem for her at all.
"Burp… I've already eaten this much."
Geshtain, who had demolished several plates of fried Kraken at the counter seats, rubbed his protruding belly and chugged some cider.
"Jinseo, is there a sport you can enjoy at the sea? This is a sandy beach, so it doesn't seem suitable for soccer."
Was it because he had done nothing but eat?
Geshtain, who played soccer every day, could not stand how restless his body felt.
"There's beach volleyball at the seaside, but..."
"Beach volleyball?"
"It's a sport derived from volleyball, and the rules are similar to jokgu."
"Is that so? Nothing completely new?"
"Well. Let's see… what was there..."
As Jinseo searched for something more new, his gaze landed on the waves rolling over the blue sea.
"Ah, there is that. How about surfing?"
"Surfing?"
Rather than explain in words, Jinseo searched for surfing videos on his smartphone and showed them to Geshtain and the other dwarves.
"Wow! That's really cool!"
"What? You can float on water without using magic? Just with that one board?"
"A sport where you ride waves… what a clever idea."
Seeing someone place their body on a surfboard and cut across the rolling sea felt refreshing and cool just to watch.
"Uh… ahem!"
"Ahem… this is..."
The dwarves who had been watching with interest suddenly started clearing their throats and turned their heads away.
Even so, their eyes were still pointed at the smartphone.
"Such a bold outfit for a human woman."
"In a country called Korea, is it fine to dress like that?"
When a clip appeared of a woman surfing in a bikini, the dwarves gathered around the phone had, at some point, taken off all their sunglasses.
Others reacted the same way, and even Fedora—who was used to modern women's clothing through dramas and movies—blushed.
"For humans, that would be an embarrassing outfit, wouldn't it?"
The only one who took it in stride was Charlotte.
"Yes, even in Korea, you can't walk around dressed like that unless you're at the beach or a pool."
"But that restriction is only for humans, right?"
"Huh? Th-That's true, but..."
When Jinseo answered hesitantly, Charlotte unhesitatingly placed her left hand at her neck and swept down.
In an instant, the clothes she was wearing changed into the bikini swimsuit from the video.
"How is it? Isn't it great?"
"I-It is... but."
If a dragon wanted to wear it, there was no way a human or a dwarf could stop her.
Still, after Jinseo begged her to please be mindful of the stares around them, Charlotte compromised by referencing another woman's outfit in the video and putting on a rash guard and dolphin shorts.
"Tch. That outfit earlier looked way more comfortable."
Muttering, Charlotte tucked the surfboard Jinseo gave her under her left arm.
"This isn't Korea, so please hold back."
"No, I'm being way more conscious of my surroundings than I was three thousand years ago! Back then, when people went into the water, everyone—men and women—stripped completely!"
"Ohh, I'm floating! I'm really floating!"
"M-Me too! It works! It works!"
As the dwarves precariously balancing on surfboards began riding waves one by one, they shouted in triumph.
"You did it too! Well done!"
Having trained their athletic sense through soccer, they crisscrossed the rolling waves together with Charlotte.
Even without Jinseo teaching them separately, the dwarves learned surfing so fast they were already replicating advanced techniques from the videos.
"Hey! Ten minutes are up! Stop and come out now!"
"Let me ride some waves too!"
Unfortunately, Jinseo had only brought five surfboards.
The other dwarves had no choice but to wait for their turn, doing nothing but licking their lips.
But when the waves calmed and surfing became impossible, the waiting dwarves' shoulders drooped.
"This won't do. We need bigger waves!"
Then Charlotte returned to her dragon form, saying she would make waves herself.
"Here I go!"
"Lady Charlotte! I said it earlier too… gently, gently!"
"I know! Then here I go for real!"
Hovering in the air, Charlotte's massive right front paw lightly skimmed the surface of the water.
A tall wave surged up and rushed quickly toward the shore.
"Wahaha!"
"Yes! This is it! This is it!"
Standing on the five surfboards, the dwarves fully enjoyed the artificial waves Charlotte created.
But there were, of course, those who did not like moving their bodies too much.
For those people, Jinseo took out modern fishing rods from subspace storage and taught them how to use them.
"Ohh! I caught one! I caught another!"
"Father! I caught one too!"
"Hyungnim! Do you see it? It's a big one!"
Oswald, Aston, and Jason took spots on the cliff beside the beach and laughed warmly as they showed off the fish they caught.
"This fishing chair is really nice. What I like most is how easy it is to carry."
Oswald, who had never been particularly interested in sports, baited his hook while listening to seagulls and waves.
Meanwhile, more and more people played beach volleyball on the sand, and the shore filled up with tourists renting beach chairs from Jinseo and sunbathing like Charlotte.
Evening came as everyone enjoyed the sea, and the dwarves were finally able to taste the beer they had wanted so badly.
Together with banban-mumani, the perfect match for beer.
"Th-This is the true complete form of chicken..."
"It's frighteningly delicious! Jinseo, I can't see where the end of your bunsik is!"
The fishermen of Orte Harbor could not hide their shock after tasting yangnyeom chicken mixed with red seasoning.
The boneless fried chicken they had tasted last time had stunned everyone, but in Jinseo's words, that had only been "unfinished."
The fishermen, who had not understood back then, finally realized today why Jinseo had said that.
Yangnyeom chicken made with basilisk meat.
Pickled radish that cleansed a mouth filled with oil.
Dwarf-made beer of such high level it made every beer they had drunk until now taste like dirty wash water.
When those four elements combined into one, the fishermen—experiencing true chimaek—repeatedly ate and drank in a daze, just like the first time they ever tried chicken.
"Then I'll be counting on you."
"Yes, understood."
"Hyungnim! Get some good rest and come back!"
While everyone was swept up in banban-mumani, Jinseo left the food truck to Aston and Jason and walked alone toward the outer edge of the shore.
It had already been a month since he could not return to Korea.
It was time to catch his breath and have some time alone.
After walking far enough that he could no longer hear everyone's voices, Jinseo spread out a picnic mat on the sand.
Then he set down sliced raw fish he had prepared himself, cho-gochujang, and a soju bottle.
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