Chapter 220: Time to Say Goodbye (4) After returning to Falstead Castle, Jinseo thought about how he should repay the customers who had loved the food truck.
He did not forget that while his own efforts had certainly mattered in raising the Mobile Cooking Facility's level to 100 so he could choose Regression, he also owed a great deal to the customers who had eaten his bunsik and loved it.
After considering various methods, Jinseo chose the one most fitting for a chef.
He would sell all of the food truck's bunsik and other food for free.
For one week, until the day he left for the past.
Once word spread that the food truck was selling bunsik for free, customers came flooding in. But after learning that this was Jinseo's final business in the other world, they did nothing but repeatedly beg him not to leave.
However, they could not change Jinseo's resolve, and the only thing they could do was eat every last bit of the bunsik he made without leaving anything behind, then bid him farewell and thank him for everything until now.
The rumor that Jinseo was doing one last round of business spread quickly even to very distant places, and customers traveled long roads from all over the continent to visit the food truck.
There were even so many people borrowing the power of mages to use teleportation magic just to come eat there that it became a spectacle in itself.
And so, on the final day of the free sale, which had been held to express his gratitude to all his customers, bunsik sales ended earlier than usual, at 6 p.m.
"So this really is the last cheese pork cutlet made personally by Mr. Jinseo. Thank you so much for everything until now."
With the order of the regular customer who had a particular love for cheese, Jinseo finished his bunsik business in the other world and looked around at the people gathered at the food truck.
The people who had formed especially deep bonds with him during his time selling bunsik in the other world had gathered there to see him off.
"Jinseo, I will remember you and the bunsik you made forever."
After placing a hand on Jinseo's left shoulder and exchanging farewells, Craid stepped back and gave the others room.
"Jinseo, can't you stay just until I finish dieting?"
Hayward said that while rubbing the belly that still stuck out, and Jinseo smiled lightly at the sight.
"Julien, did you like my gift?"
"Thank you very much. But it truly pains me that I will never be able to see you again."
For him, a bard, Jinseo had gifted all kinds of records and sheet music regardless of genre.
Normally, he would have stayed up all night listening to the songs Jinseo had given him, but instead he had stayed awake the whole night in another sense, unable to bear the sorrow of parting with him.
"The taste of the Half-and-Half MuMani you taught us, we'll remember it forever together with you."
"Jinseo, that bunsik called curry which you gave to the centaurs… it will remain forever in the hearts of the centaurs together with you. It is deeply regrettable, but since this is the road that will make you happier, it is only right that we bless it."
"Mr. Jinseo… I truly regret this. Even if a human life is fleetingly short compared to that of an elf, this parting has come far too soon and leaves only sorrow behind."
The dwarf Geshtain, Princess Angelica of the centaurs, and the elf Allensia exchanged their final farewells with Jinseo.
Though they were greatly shaken and saddened by the sudden parting, after learning the circumstances behind it, they gave up trying to stop him and instead prayed that the new life he was beginning would be a happier one.
After exchanging farewells one by one like that, Jinseo finished with a final handshake with Oswald, Lord of Falstead Castle.
"You already said your farewells to Lady Charlotte beforehand, didn't you?"
"Yes. She said that if she joined in, things would only grow noisy, so she deliberately did not come to this gathering. Sir Beryllus also greeted me earlier for the same reason."
I thought I'd be fine since I've always watched lesser creatures leave before me, but… this is my first time parting with a lesser creature from another world, so my chest hurts. Since you're going back anyway, you'd better live even happier! You made us very happy, so you deserve to become even happier than that! Oh, and take pride in the fact that you are the only lesser creature who has ever seen a dragon's tears! Nghh....
Remembering Charlotte's final words, Jinseo gave a bitter smile.
He had wondered whether he truly had to leave when so many people regretted his departure, but he could not give up the choice of Regression.
"Uncle Jinseo… are we really never going to meet again?"
"I don't want you to go… please don't go..."
The children from the orphanage who had come with the Raven Mercenary Group started whining, unable to accept their separation from Jinseo.
In the end, when the children could no longer hold back and burst into tears, Jinseo hugged them tightly one by one.
"So… you really are leaving in the end."
Paulo, who had come with the cooks from Bunsik Street, mourned this last meeting with Jinseo with a bitter smile.
The cooks standing behind Paulo were no different, their eyes reddening as they tried and failed to hide their sadness.
Though they had once met him as enemies, the cooks who now stood as dependable members of Bunsik Street were grateful to Jinseo for accepting them.
Believing that the way to repay the grace they had received from him was to make delicious bunsik, they had devoted themselves wholly to bunsik business. They still insisted they had not repaid even half of what they owed him and tried to stop him, but Jinseo's decision did not change.
"I heard you already greeted His Majesty in advance."
"Yes. Prince Charles kept trying to stop me, so it was quite difficult for me to leave the castle."
"That only means you are precious to him. Still… I heard that after you leave, Aston will take over the food truck."
"Yes, that is what has been decided."
After Jinseo's persistent persuasion, Aston agreed to take over the food truck and stepped down from his position as captain of the knight order, deciding that from now on he would sincerely devote himself to cooking alone.
Originally, Jinseo had thought of passing it to Jason, but since the food truck was a sacred relic, it would have been far too great a burden for a commoner like him to take responsibility for it.
Taking that and various other circumstances into consideration, Jinseo decided that Aston was the most suitable person to become the next owner of the food truck.
"Jinseo..."
Jason, one of the food truck's earliest regulars and one of his helpers, had moist eyes.
"Can't you stay for just one more year? No, even one more month would do! If not that, then at least one more week..."
Right now, there was only one thing Jason wished for.
He simply wanted to keep selling bunsik happily together with Jinseo at the food truck.
Jinseo also wanted to spend more time with him and teach him more dishes, but Rainpolt, one of the creators of the food truck, had said something to him while inspecting it, and because of that, it had become difficult to delay Regression any longer.
In principle, the food truck had been set up so that only its owner could travel between Korea and the other world through interspatial transfer.
But because the trio of Craid and his companions, and even Fedora, had all used interspatial transfer through the food truck, the lifespan of the Mana Core, one of its key components, had been consumed much faster than expected.
In that situation, Rainpolt had seriously warned him that if too much time passed, the Regression magic might not work at all, and that warning solidified Jinseo's resolve that he had to leave.
And besides, he had a feeling that if he yielded even once to the pleas for him to stay just a little longer, lingering attachment would remain and he might never be able to leave at all. So he chose to leave decisively.
"Jason."
Jinseo stretched out his right hand toward Jason, intending to offer a handshake.
But then he changed his mind and placed a hand on Jason's left shoulder.
"No… Jason."
Even after they began working together at the food truck, Jinseo had always spoken to Jason with formal politeness.
But now, in a low voice, as if he were addressing a real younger brother, he called his name.
"With Aston and you, I can leave it in your hands without worry. Please take good care of the food truck."
"J-Jinseo...."
In the end, Jason could not hold back his tears and began crying bitterly, and Poulton threw an arm around his shoulders and led him behind the food truck.
To a place where no one else's eyes could reach, so he could cry as much as he wanted.
"Jinseo, it's already been three years since you first came to Falstead Castle."
"So much time has already passed."
"The time we spent together eating your bunsik was truly enjoyable, and all that remains now is regret that it must end. I will never forget your bunsik. And of course, I will never forget you either."
Oswald shook hands with Jinseo, his expression alone telling him to stay, but Jinseo could only shake his head and refuse.
"Is that so… Jinseo, I have one last request."
"Please, go ahead."
"That bunsik called ramen, which you introduced to this world, was for me a most precious food, one that awakened the vitality I had once lost. Even if I go on eating ramen after you leave, I doubt I'll ever be able to enjoy it as deliciously as the ramen you cooked for me yourself."
"I doubt I will ever meet another person who eats ramen as wonderfully as you do, my lord."
"That is why I ask. For you, when was the ramen you found the most delicious, and how did you eat it?"
"As for the ramen I found the most delicious..."
Jinseo sank into recollection, remembering his time in military service.
"It would have been then. Back when I entered boot camp to fulfill my military service..."
Jinseo gave Oswald a detailed explanation of a memory he could never forget.
"I see. In such a situation, it really would taste delicious. I shall definitely try it myself later."
After finishing that farewell in a way that was distinctly like him, Oswald stepped aside so that his son and daughter-in-law could speak with Jinseo.
Standing beside Stella, Aston looked at Jinseo with a grave expression.
"I would not dare say that I will make food equal to your bunsik, Mr. Jinseo. But I will strive to come even a little closer to the kind of bunsik that can satisfy everyone, like yours did."
"Please take good care of the food truck."
{ -Hero Quest: "Please guide Aston, the lord's son, so that he becomes a chef" has been completed.- }
{ -The level of the Mobile Cooking Facility has already reached its maximum, so even if you gain experience, its level will no longer rise.- }
"Ah… so there was still this."
"Pardon?"
"Ah, it's nothing. Aston, I ask once more. Please… take good care of the food truck."
And so, one by one, those who had exchanged their farewells with Jinseo left the food truck and went back inside Falstead Castle.
If they had followed their hearts, they would have stayed with Jinseo until the very moment he returned to the past with Regression magic, but for the sake of the one person who still had not said goodbye to him, they deliberately left the place to her.
Nero and Owl, who had been with the food truck all this time, went inside with their spirits utterly crushed by the thought of parting with Jinseo, and once everyone had left, only one person remained before him.
It was Fedora, who had come first of all to see him off, yet had kept silent the entire time while everyone else took their leave and departed.
"..."
"..."
Was it because the feelings the two of them held for each other were too painful?
Even after they were left alone, neither of them could bring themselves to speak easily.
More than thirty minutes passed in silence like that, yet Fedora still kept her head lowered and could not even meet Jinseo's eyes, while Jinseo quietly closed his eyes and called the AI.
AI....
{ -Yes, Lee Jinseo.- }
Activate the Regression magic. My chest hurts… I can't hold out any longer.
{ -Understood. Please wait a moment.- }
After ordering the Regression magic to activate, Jinseo reached a hand toward Fedora's face.
"Mr. Jinseo..."
Just before his hand touched her left cheek, Fedora slowly lifted her head and spoke in a trembling voice, her expression full of pain.
"For my sake… for me, who wished to return to my original world, you tried so hard, Mr. Jinseo. You allowed me to meet my little grandfather again when I had believed we would never see each other for the rest of our lives, and you worked so hard so that I could return to my homeland like this. I am only grateful to you."
Fedora gently wrapped both hands around his hand and brought it to her face.
"So when it comes to you, Mr. Jinseo… to you, who wants to go to the past and see your parents again, I do not think I have the right to hold you back. Rather, I should bless you. There was once a time when I too desperately wished, somehow, to see my parents again after they had passed away. I could not achieve it in the end, but you… you have been given the chance, so you absolutely must meet them again."
{ -Beginning activation of the Regression magic that will return you to the designated point in time.- }
{ -Please be advised that from the moment the Regression magic is completed, ownership of the Mobile Cooking Facility will be transferred to the designated individual.- }
{ -Please be advised in advance that after the Regression magic is completed, some functions of the Mobile Cooking Facility may no longer be available for use.- }
System messages kept appearing in the Status Window, but the only thing Jinseo could see was Fedora's face looking up at him with tear-filled eyes.
"Jinseo… I have one request."
Calling him by name, Fedora tightened her grip ever so slightly around the hand of his she had wrapped in both of hers.
Because she wanted him to remain on the Francia Continent even one second longer.
"Please… please… please..."
Her emotions surged up, and her voice trailed off, so she could only repeat the same words over and over.
Flaaash.
An intense light burst from Jinseo, blanketing Fedora's vision in white.
"Please… don't forget me."
After finishing those words, Fedora loosened both hands that had been wrapped around Jinseo's.
Tears streamed endlessly from Fedora's eyes as she looked down at the place where Jinseo had been standing.
"..."
When Jinseo opened his eyes, he slowly lifted his head.
In the narrow room where he was standing, his eyes caught the familiar stain in the corner of the ceiling.
"Jinseo? Are you asleep?"
Hearing someone's voice from beyond the door, Jinseo's body trembled.
It was his mother's voice.
The voice he had wanted to hear so desperately.
"Food's ready."
Jinseo did nothing but stand there blankly as he listened to the sound of his mother's footsteps moving farther away.
Did I really…?
Jinseo slapped both cheeks with his hands.
As warmth spread across his slightly burning cheeks, he realized this was not a dream, but reality.
The desk in the room, the singer's bromide poster pasted on the wall, the MP3 player lying in the corner of the floor...
Everything was exactly as he had seen it in his childhood.
"It really happened."
After checking the year and date on the calendar, Jinseo stood before the mirror hanging on the wall.
Seeing himself in a high school uniform, Jinseo smiled brightly as he confirmed that he had returned to the past, fifteen years earlier.
"I came back… to the past."
To a point in time when his parents were still healthy.
To a point where he could change the future in which they died too early.
"And..."
As Jinseo confirmed that he had returned to a past point in time from which he could never go back to the other world again, the corners of his eyes began to moisten.
"I parted from them...."
Tears ran down Jinseo's cheeks as he was swept up by two emotions that could not coexist: joy and sorrow.
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