Chapter 205: Forty Years of Life in Another World (5) Fedora came to Korea unintentionally and was happy with the life she had only ever imagined, enjoying the joy of tasting all kinds of food.
But after she regained her memories, she suffered, realizing there was no way to return to the Francia Continent right away.
Fortunately, she met the creator of the food truck and could return, and when it was revealed that the creator was her little grandfather, Rainfolt—whom she believed she would never see again—she shed tears of overwhelming emotion.
When she lived with the heart of simply enjoying a vacation, each day flew by in a blur. But once she became someone who could do nothing but wait for the day she would return to the Francia Continent, time instead crawled unbearably slowly.
On the day that marked her second month in Korea, Fedora changed out of the Korean clothes she had worn until then and stood before Rainfolt in the vestments of the Heirem Order.
"Little Grandfather. Now we must part again."
"You truly are a cardinal."
Rainfolt looked pleased as he saw his granddaughter's vestments bearing the Order's emblem.
He disliked the Order for personal reasons, but seeing his granddaughter stand tall at the very core of it, carrying her own conviction, he set aside his former feelings and felt proud and happy.
"Little Grandfather, do you truly intend to remain in Korea?"
Unlike Rainfolt, Fedora couldn't simply be happy while looking at him.
He had come to this other world, Korea, with his companions, yet he stubbornly insisted he could not return home alone.
During the five days Lee Jinseo was away, Fedora talked with Rainfolt many times, trying to change his mind.
But Rainfolt refused her persuasion each time with the same answer, waving her off, and even on the day his granddaughter was leaving, his stance did not change.
"It is… such a pity."
In the end, failing to change Rainfolt's mind, Fedora forced a smile and looked up at the sky.
Rainfolt walked up to his dispirited granddaughter, hugged her, and patted her back.
"Lee Jinseo, thanks to you, I was able to meet my granddaughter. I cannot express how grateful I am."
"No. Rather, I should be grateful to you, Rainfolt-nim. Because of the food truck, I gained so much—far more than when I ran a bunsik shop alone in Korea."
"Is that so..."
Seeing Lee Jinseo sincerely grateful, Rainfolt wore a complicated expression.
He knew what Lee Jinseo would choose among the many wishes available if he raised the food truck's grade to the maximum of 100.
And because he also knew that choice would erase many of the things Lee Jinseo had just said he gained, he couldn't shake his tangled feelings.
"So this will be the last time I see you in Korea."
"The last time… I see."
Understanding what Rainfolt meant, Lee Jinseo nodded.
Lee Jinseo too wished Rainfolt would return to his homeland, but since even his granddaughter's persuasion hadn't worked, he judged that saying more would be meaningless and quietly turned away.
Then the face of someone connected to him surfaced in Lee Jinseo's mind, and he turned back toward Rainfolt.
"Right. I kept forgetting to ask this. Do you know Julien-nim?"
"Julien? You mean that little Julien?"
"He is a proper young man now."
"That child… already..."
Hearing that the disciple he always thought of as a child had become a young man, Rainfolt's eyes grew moist.
"Yes. Over ten years have passed, so he wouldn't be a child anymore. Is Julien doing well? He must have gone to another mage tower. It's too early for him to be a dean, but with his skill, he should have secured at least a professor's post."
"He quit the path of magic and is working as a bard. Ah, he didn't completely abandon magic itself."
"That child? With that much talent—why?"
The moment Rainfolt heard that Julien, like Fedora, had stepped away from the path he was originally walking and chosen another, his chest felt tight.
But he didn't need to hear the details of why.
He could tell just from Lee Jinseo's expression.
"I see. Because of a worthless teacher, even a brilliant disciple was harmed."
Rainfolt put a hand to his forehead and sighed.
The more he learned how the people connected to him were living now, the heavier the guilt in his chest grew.
"Lee Jinseo-nim, I will speak with Little Grandfather one last time before we go."
"Yes. I will wait."
Lee Jinseo climbed into the driver's seat of the food truck and closed the door.
"I do not think you made a mistake, Little Grandfather."
"A mistake?"
"From what I know of you, I cannot believe you would mishandle magic that deals with time and space. I think that if it were you, you would have realized long ago that regression magic only turns back the time of Korea."
"I am still human. Of course I can make mistakes."
"Was it not another person's mistake? When I examined the regression spell formula carefully, I judged that it could not be completed in a short time by one person alone. Am I wrong?"
"...."
At Fedora's sharp point, Rainfolt pressed his lips shut.
Perhaps because he was desperate to return to the past as quickly as possible and prevent the tragic death of his nephew and his wife, he asked other companions to complete parts of the spell formula that made up regression magic.
Because of that, he only learned later—after being forcibly spatially transferred to Korea—that regression magic activated that way.
"As I thought."
Fedora looked at Rainfolt, who answered not with words but with his expression, and she felt sorry for him.
"But what use is that now? I am the one who dragged companions who were living peacefully into unfamiliar land. That alone is a great sin I committed against them."
"Did they resent you?"
"Resent..."
Repeating the word, Rainfolt recalled the things his companions had said when they were still alive.
'You were the one who kept telling us we might all die if we fail, and that we could give up and go back even now. We were the ones who answered that it was fine.'
'Children? I never married, and I didn't even have children—so I had no family. I was an orphan to begin with. If I die in a place like this, nobody will even care.'
'Why are you so sorry? Because of you, we became young again, and we lived longer than before regression. If anything, we should be grateful to you. Strictly speaking, we lived at least sixty years longer than our original lifespan. Do you even know how huge that is?'
'Regression magic! Turning back time and returning to the past—that's an incredible achievement as a magician. It's a shame we can't tell our homeland, but do you know how proud I am that I helped even a little with regression magic?'
'The ones who should be sorry are us. If I had interpreted that part properly....'
'So you have no reason to be sorry to us. Stop making that face.'
After coming to Korea, his companions—seeing him suffer under guilt and unable to rest even a single day—consistently told him it was fine.
They would complain sometimes about not being able to return home, but not a single one truly resented him.
Instead, they would laugh it off, saying they had been given a new life—on the land called Korea, a place they had never seen even once.
"Little Grandfather, then… I will go."
"Alright."
Fedora said goodbye, but she couldn't let go of Rainfolt's hand and kept holding it.
For over ten minutes, Fedora clutched Rainfolt's hand in silence, then finally released it with a face full of lingering regret and boarded the food truck.
Paaaat.
A brilliant light wrapped around the food truck.
A moment later, when the food truck vanished without a trace along with the light, Rainfolt trudged back into the deeper part of the junk shop, piled with miscellaneous items.
Alone again, he collapsed in front of his companions' gravestones and let out a deep sigh.
"I had resolved to atone here in Korea until the day I go to the place you all left for first, but..."
His resolve was wavering, because his granddaughter's last face—after meeting again only to separate again—would not leave his mind.
"Tell me what I should do… please, tell me."
Staring at the photograph he took from his chest, he repeated the same words again and again, studying each companion's face, smiling toward the camera shutter.
"You're back!"
Charlotte shouted loudly, the first to spot the food truck suddenly appearing at the entrance of Dwarf Town.
"Hyuuung!"
"Lee Jinseo!"
"Lee Jinseo! You're finally back! I've been waiting!"
Along with Charlotte, the people who had been praying for Lee Jinseo and Fedora's safe return ran over, calling Lee Jinseo's name.
From the day they heard from Charlotte that Lee Jinseo and Fedora would return soon, they pitched camp in front of Dwarf Town and waited all day.
And the time they spent like that had already reached a full week.
After a long wait, they finally met Lee Jinseo and Fedora and welcomed them exuberantly.
"I really missed you! Both of you came back alive—really… hhk...."
Jason was the first to run to Lee Jinseo. Sniffling, he gripped Lee Jinseo's arm tightly, and Lee Jinseo patted Jason's shoulder with an awkward smile.
"Unni..."
"You were worried a lot, weren't you? My memories are back properly, so you can relax now."
To calm Veronica, who looked like she might burst into tears any second, Fedora gently clasped both of her hands.
Painfolt stood silently behind Veronica, watching.
"You're back..."
"Great-grandfather..."
When Fedora called him "great-grandfather" instead of "dean" like before, Painfolt's eyes widened.
"You… call me great-grandfather."
"Yes, Great-grandfather."
"Great-grandfather? You—don't tell me..."
Sensing something ominous in the nuance of "great-grandfather," Painfolt tried to ask what had happened in Korea.
But as people came rushing over in a flood at the entrance of Dwarf Town, he lost the chance to speak and instead had to stand behind Fedora and protect her from being swept up in the crowd.
"What? Lee Jinseo's back? Where? Where?"
"They say the Cardinal came back safely too!"
"Where are they—ah! There they are! This way! This way!"
As word spread that the two had returned, a sea of people formed around the food truck.
"Alright, everyone, calm down! Calm down! If you do this, you'll startle them and they'll run back to Korea again! I need to talk with Lee Jinseo first, so everyone step back!"
At Charlotte's shout, the people surrounding the food truck hurriedly stepped back.
"Whew… now I can finally meet you. You really worked hard."
"Thanks to you, Charlotte-nim, we were able to return without any major trouble."
"Thanks, my ass… honestly, I didn't do anything. Even if we exchanged messages, in the end you and Fedora solved it yourselves. Right—did you bring ingredients and food in bulk like I asked?"
"Yes. I stuffed Interspatial Storage so full it was about to burst."
"Good. Then first..."
"This first?"
When Lee Jinseo held out a can of cola, Charlotte snatched it and popped the tab open.
Gulp, gulp.
"Kkhuu… this is the taste. I had to endure this stinging carbonation for a whole month. It was a time so painful I can't even put it into words."
"Want more?"
"I'll take a whole box later, so this is enough for now. Anyway, you really came back. Partly because I can confirm with my own eyes that you and Fedora are safe, but also because I need your strength to properly seal that damned niece of mine."
"Huh? Me?"
Lee Jinseo pointed at himself and looked around.
"You're not saying you'll lure her with bunsik, are you?"
"It won't be that simple."
"Well… right. Of course."
Lee Jinseo wanted to say that a case that simple was sitting right in front of them, but he swallowed the words.
"For now, feed the kids gathered here a hearty amount of bunsik you made yourself. They did eat bunsik while you were gone, but if it isn't made by you, it just doesn't satisfy me."
"Hahaha, understood."
"And there are still rulers of countries who haven't attended the meeting yet, so after they all arrive, I'll tell you why I made that request."
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