Chapter 152: The Road to the Sacred Land (2) "My left arm injury is completely healed…."
Colette, captain of the Royal Guard Knights, raised his left arm to his chest and tightly clenched and opened his hand.
A week ago, the injury he suffered during sparring made it difficult to lift a shield with his left arm, but now it had fully recovered.
Not only that—his subordinates' chronic aches caused by injuries, both major and minor, also cleared up completely.
"I've received blessings a few times before, but it was never to this extent. The Cardinal's blessing really is different."
"And that's not all! My body feels truly light, like I got a deep night's sleep!"
The royal guards and soldiers were exhausted from holding back the citizens who swarmed the food truck the day before.
Even though King Lanster II specifically ordered them to rest through the morning, the fatigue they couldn't completely shake off vanished thanks to the priests' Blessing.
Grrrkk.
As their revitalized stomachs let out a unified cry of hunger, the corners of King Lanster II's mouth lifted slightly.
"Watching food like this without eating can only make you hungrier. Aside from the guests, those who are full should give up their seats to those who are hungry."
After finishing the Stir-Fried Rice, King Lanster II rose from his seat and beckoned the royal guards to come over, and the officials who had finished their meal stood up at the same time and yielded their seats to the soldiers.
The royal guards and soldiers hesitated, but in the end they couldn't endure the hunger and sat down.
However, no matter how hungry they were, they couldn't abandon guard duty, so they decided to eat Jinseo's instant tteokbokki in turns, setting an order.
"It's ready. Please eat."
When Jinseo opened the lid of the pot, white steam rose, and the royal guards and soldiers swallowed hard.
"Your Majesty, thank you for the meal!"
"Mr. Jinseo, thank you for the meal!"
After offering their disciplined thanks before eating, they picked up their forks at the same time and began eating the tteokbokki placed on their small plates.
"S-spicy."
"I've never eaten food this spicy…."
All the royal guards and soldiers trying tteokbokki for the first time flinched at the heat striking their tongues.
But once they pushed through that spiciness and kept eating, it did not take long for them to realize tteokbokki's appeal.
Bunsik they only got to watch—yesterday because they were protecting the food truck, today because they were guarding the audience chamber.
And among it, tteokbokki, drenched in red, was the dish that drew their eyes as they could only watch others eat it over their shoulders.
Now that it was in their mouths, it was hard to come to their senses.
"How is it? Jinseo's instant tteokbokki?"
"I-it's delicious!"
"It's spicy, but even accounting for that, the flavor is more than worth eating!"
"Yes. You should be enjoying this too. Eat as much as you like."
King Lanster II went from table to table, personally ladling out tteokbokki to the knights and soldiers as he encouraged them.
The soldiers and knights, in the prime of their youth, quickly devoured the tteokbokki in the pot, and they polished off the Stir-Fried Rice as well without leaving a single grain.
After everyone in the audience chamber finished dinner, King Lanster II sat on the throne and twisted open the cap of a 500 ml plastic bottle of Carbonated Drink.
Gulp, gulp.
After draining half the bottle in one go, he looked down at Jinseo with a refreshed face.
"The pork cutlets we ate yesterday were delicious, but the instant tteokbokki you showed today was also excellent. It was an extremely satisfying dinner banquet."
"Your Majesty, it is more than I deserve that you enjoyed it."
"On top of that, being able to enjoy Stir-Fried Rice as well, so not a single drop of broth is left behind—it is a dish that suits the Girvante Kingdom perfectly."
In the Girvante Kingdom, once food was placed on the table, whether it tasted good or not, it was proper etiquette to finish it cleanly.
In that sense, Stir-Fried Rice—which turned even leftover broth into another cooking ingredient—was a very polite food.
"Jinseo, I wish to praise your merit for pleasing the mouths of me and my countless subjects. If you have something you want, say it—anything. But I will say this in advance: I will not allow an answer like 'I only accept your goodwill.'"
You pay what you owe for what you eat.
Faced with a rule that could never be broken in the Girvante Kingdom, Jinseo deliberated.
I should receive something… Ah. How about that?
Having been through situations like this many times, Jinseo knew there was no point taking more money than the value of the instant tteokbokki and bunsik he had just made.
Instead, Jinseo decided to use the authority granted by the king of a nation for selling bunsik.
"Going forward, I ask that you grant convenience regarding bunsik sales within the Girvante Kingdom. And…."
"And?"
"I earnestly ask that Your Majesty appear in an advertisement."
"An advertisement?"
"It's complicated to explain in words, so I will show you directly. If you see this, you will be able to understand easily."
Jinseo opened the seat compartment of the food truck, which had transformed into scooter form.
Then, from inside the seat compartment, a palm-sized TV slowly rose, and as it rose, it gradually expanded in size up to 30 inches.
"Hoh. This seems similar to the large TV in the food truck. Though it is far smaller in size."
King Lanster II stepped closer to the 30-inch TV in admiration, and the officials also began gathering in front of the TV to watch.
"I will play the advertisement video."
The video Jinseo played was a bunsik introduction video featuring Craid, Oswald Hamilton, and Fedora Artran, filmed back when he was in the middle of a bunsik contest with Marquis Horus.
"Spicy Pork Rice Bowl? Was there bunsik like that as well?"
"Can we not eat the bunsik shown in that video too?"
Even though he played the advertisement video as a reference, King Lanster II and the others became absorbed before they knew it.
"Oh… the Cardinal appeared."
When Fedora Artran's face—wearing a refreshing smile as she bit into Kraken Tempura—filled the center of the screen, everyone's eyes, including King Lanster II's, shifted to the "real" Fedora Artran standing beside Jinseo.
"W-when it's like this, it's rather embarrassing."
She blushed, lowered her head deeply, and hid behind Jinseo's back.
"I did not know an advertisement video could be this interesting. Indeed, compared to explaining with words or writing, watching an actual person move like this pulls at the heart far more."
Perhaps deeply impressed, King Lanster II replayed the advertisement video—just over a minute long—again and again.
"Your Majesty, you will be appearing in a promotional video for my bunsik like this. Would that be acceptable?"
"Would I be ashamed or afraid to show my face before strangers? Moreover, if not while you are staying here, when could I ever have an experience like this? It makes me want to film that advertisement immediately."
Jinseo's expression barely changed at King Lanster II's reaction, but inside he was grinning broadly.
If the king of a nation—especially the king of the Girvante Kingdom, famous for cooking—appears in an advertisement, the effect will surely be enormous.
"Truly impressive. To promote cooking in this way—Korea's magic is truly ingenious. This ingenuity is something Girvante needs as well."
"Is there really any need to go that far? I understand the Girvante Kingdom is a nation unrivaled when it comes to cooking."
"That is true. We devoted great effort, enough that we are widely known as the nation of cooking."
The Girvante Kingdom people's desire to eat more delicious food in greater quantities did not stop at simply making delicious food.
To protect the territories that produced ingredients, they built military strength that boasted the highest level on the continent.
On top of that, to import ingredients produced in other regions without hesitation, they also possessed economic power strong enough to be counted among the greatest on the continent.
And even so, to prevent anyone in their country from going hungry, they strongly restrained the prices of goods related to food and supplies.
"However, it is also true that the current Girvante Kingdom is stagnant in many respects. There are many ways to break this situation, but one of them would be to pioneer a new genre of cooking we have never eaten before."
King Lanster II drank the remaining Carbonated Drink and then set the empty plastic bottle down on the throne's armrest with a thud.
"In that sense, I wish to formally introduce Korean cooking, including bunsik, into the Girvante Kingdom. Jinseo, no matter what amount it takes, I wish to purchase the recipes for the bunsik and dishes you make. What do you say?"
"Your Majesty, before purchasing the recipes, there is a major problem."
"A problem? What problem?"
"Unfortunately, there are far too many difficulties in reproducing the bunsik and dishes I make using only ingredients from the Francia Continent."
"Then how are you making the bunsik?"
"I am making most of it with ingredients brought from Korea. It is not impossible to make bunsik with only ingredients from the Francia Continent. However, if I do so, the price could increase by at least several times, and in severe cases, by tens to hundreds of times."
In short, making bunsik using only ingredients from the Francia Continent was far too poor in cost performance.
And since it was physically impossible for Jinseo to cover the ingredient volume that all Girvante Kingdom people would need by bringing it from Korea, he did not propose that from the start.
"Instead, I will try to set up an on-site catering branch inside Selphier Castle, so at least the people inside the castle can enjoy bunsik."
"For now, that must be the best. A branch plan… I will cooperate actively! But you will not be operating the branch yourself, correct?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"If I were greedy, I would want to always eat bunsik you made yourself, but…."
King Lanster II's gaze settled on Marco, who had kept his mouth shut since entering the audience chamber.
"With a cook of skill no less than yours right beside us, there is no need to worry about the taste. In any case, we will discuss the complicated matters later. For now, that advertisement—yes? Can you begin filming the advertisement right away?"
"Pardon? Th-that is difficult. There is a lot to prepare in many ways."
"I see… that is a pity."
Seeing King Lanster II look dejected, Jinseo recalled a storyboard he once intended to use for an advertisement.
I think I should at least make him practice the lines… In that case, should I use that this time?
Jinseo pulled out a notebook he had stored in Interspatial Storage and showed Fedora Artran again the storyboard he had written with her before.
"Your Eminence, this part, and…."
"This part needs to be corrected as well."
Fedora Artran adjusted parts of certain words among the lines written in both Hangul and the Francia Continent language, then handed the notebook directly to King Lanster II.
Since it was an advertisement storyboard he originally planned to ask King Philip III of the Doren Kingdom to do, then abandoned, revisions were necessary.
"Welcome to the food truck, stranger. I am the eating king, Lanster II of the Girvante Kingdom… should I say it like that?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Pick up the pork cutlet with a fork and hold it out toward the smartphone, then chew as loudly as possible."
"Your Majesty, you do not need to read that. Just act as written there."
"I-I see. Understood. Then the next line is…."
The storyboard King Lanster II received was an advertisement that introduced various bunsik while delivering cautions about using the food truck in a Q&A format.
"Fifth question. Is it possible to buy on credit at the food truck?"
"Ridiculous! The food truck travels here and there to do business—if you buy on credit, when and how would you repay it? Therefore, prepayment is the rule at the food truck!"
"Final question. I have never eaten a dish called bunsik before. Is it truly delicious?"
"Hoho… to still have never eaten bunsik, you are a pitiful and unfortunate soul. To such people, I recommend the very basics of basics in bunsik: tteok-twig-sun. If you have a small appetite, tteok-twi-sun alone is plenty."
Because he was nervous, King Lanster II's lines turned into stiff, unnatural delivery—what people call reading from a textbook.
And since most of King Lanster II's lines were things Jinseo wrote half as a joke, from Jinseo's side, listening beside him, he was right on the verge of bursting into laughter.
Unaware of that situation, King Lanster II practiced his lines with utmost seriousness and sincerity.
"You will fall to your knees before the overwhelming taste of bunsik!"
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