Because It's the First, the Most Special Taste
Because It's the First, the Most Special Taste
Seeing all 202 members of the penal unit sprawled about here and there, completely drunk,
I feel the greatness of the US military supply system once again.
'They said it got even better with the next-generation logistics system overhaul, but seeing it in action, it's no joke.'
Even before, customized meal plans for cultural diversity had been gradually implemented.
Just enough to show an effort to respect individual soldiers as much as possible within budget limits.
But with the Defense Core, it's like they deliberately went and made the potential explode.
'Is this a military meal plan or the Walmart food section? Come to think of it, didn't Walmart actively participate as a supplier in the Defense Core overhaul?'
Just looking at the item list, it's like a world food expo.
Hard to find anything that's missing.
'Luna ate a lot too, I see.'
The woman who had been picking at her Chil-do Jumbo Lunch Box devoured over 3kg of samgyeopsal all by herself.
If I'd given her lettuce or perilla leaf wraps too, she probably would've eaten even more.
If I had my way, I would've broken out the Andong Soju, but that's way too expensive.
"Captain Luna, was the meal satisfactory?"
"Yes! It was the best meal ever! Truly, truly...."
Luna, who had been dazed and drunk, sprang to her feet and reacted with her bleary eyes now sparkling bright.
"It was such a fantastical taste that I wondered if it might be the flesh of Kanureus, the mythical cow said to be raised by the gods for fine dining. I've never had meat with a floral fragrance before!"
"It's not that it has a fragrance. It's that it has no gamey odor."
"Gamey odor? What's that?"
"Ah, it refers to the foul smell that comes from meat where mongrel livestock raised on poor-quality feed was clumsily slaughtered and not properly bled."
"I've never heard of such a thing before."
To the people here, the concept of 'gamey odor in meat' is unfamiliar.
Gamey odor must have been as natural as air and water to them, so there would have been no reason to give it a special name.
"And what you ate was not beef, but pork."
"Pork! H-how can that be!"
Luna was utterly startled.
"I've had pork before too, but it was terribly tough and there wasn't much worth eating! Is this truly pork? Not a cow carefully raised to be offered to the royal family?"
"It is indeed pork. For its entire life, its feed was solely...."
I was about to bring up formula feed but paused.
Wait, what would be a good way to phrase it so Luna can understand in one go?
"Meat obtained from a pig raised on nothing but white wheat flour and yellow soybeans."
"Wheat flour and yellow soybeans! You fed it such expensive things its whole life?"
"That's right. Nothing else is fed to it."
Since it's true that soy and wheat go into pig feed, it's not exactly a lie.
"...If only someone like you, Major-nim, had been with our 1st Army, they wouldn't have all died so pointlessly like that...."
Luna's drunken eyes grew clear, and soon filled with tears.
Tears carrying devastated memories beaded up and trickled down her pale cheeks.
Then she bowed her head, and her shoulders began to shake.
Seeing her stifle her sobs, forcing down her cries, my own mood turned deeply foul.
'Damn, after I went to all the trouble of feeding her well....'
I had wanted today to run from start to finish with nothing but happy memories.
I guess it can't be helped.
In the end, do I have to bring out 'this'?
'Fine. She's already bound to me for life because of the Sword of Subordination anyway. What's there to be stingy about over something like this.'
【Requesting supply of chocolate chiffon cake.】
When a woman cries, first show her a high-sugar dessert. That dessert will devour her tears.
I ended up testing out that urban legend.
***
"Captain Luna, eat this."
"Major-nim?"
Luna lifted her tear-soaked face, and the moment she saw the cake, her entire body froze.
'Wh-what is this?'
An unfamiliar appearance she had never seen before.
A sparkling, pretty, mysterious form that she couldn't even begin to guess what it was.
She could tell it was food.
But what ingredients and cooking methods were used to make it, she couldn't even begin to imagine.
A neatly round shape, as if cut from a cylinder.
A dark brown sauce, as if hardened, covered the entire top surface.
"This... is it something to eat?"
Before she knew it, Luna had completely forgotten her sorrow from moments ago, her heart utterly stolen by the beautiful exterior of the chocolate chiffon cake.
"Of course. Try it."
"It looks hard...."
"Not at all. Here."
When Piel brought a knife and cut the cake, a pure white interior, like inner flesh, was revealed.
'Bread?'
No. It was similar, but something distinctly foreign was mixed in abundance.
Luna opened her mouth as if entranced, toward the cake that Piel skewered with a fork and offered to her.
The sweet taste, completed by cocoa batter laden with meringue enduring tens of minutes in the high heat of a 160-degree oven, mercilessly bombarded her sense of taste.
The sweetness, so intense it felt like her tongue might melt, was outright violent.
If samgyeopsal had shown her the ultimate pinnacle of greasy meat flavor,
The cake showed her what the final form of savory sweetness truly was.
Amid the maddening explosion of neural hormones bursting pop-pop in her head, Luna cried as she ate the cake, bite by bite, as Piel fed her.
When she finally finished the cake.
Luna was no longer crying.
With tear stains still remaining on her face, she was smiling brighter than anyone in the world.
"Major-nim, it's delicious... so delicious...."
It was amazing.
The sorrow from moments ago had subsided as if it were a lie.
What bloomed within her chest was an indescribable happiness and tranquility.
Luna gazed at Piel with eyes lost in rapture, then spoke shyly.
"Major-nim. This... when can I eat it again?"
***
Drawing out loyalty with a whip (the Sword of Subordination) is what amateurs do.
The carrot is what earns you proper loyalty.
An irreplaceable carrot is even better.
'Now that I've shown them the taste of samgyeopsal, the penal unit will follow only me from now on. But was the cake a bit overkill? No. Luna's completely won over too.'
Anyway, the dessert effect is seriously overpowered.
The samgyeopsal was insane too, but as expected, for a woman, dessert is nuclear warhead-level.
After all the knights had come to their senses, I ordered them to rest.
I plan to formally notify them of the detailed unit operation plan tomorrow.
The knights, having finished cleaning up, each dispersed while preciously cradling their grill plates.
"Captain Luna, then have a comfortable night's sleep."
"Yes, Major-nim."
In her softly smiling face, that wounded, devastated shadow from earlier was no longer visible.
'The cake effect is seriously incredible.'
With that light heart, I returned to the Official Residence and checked the kitchen.
Because of the company dinner today, I had left Hildea's beef brisket combat ration dinner to the orderlies.
'Is Hildea already asleep?'
No sign of anyone. She seems to be asleep.
Having finished getting ready for bed, I stacked up burgers on the table in advance.
'Since it's a late-night snack, about 20 should be enough.'
With the setup complete, I went to sleep.
And the next morning.
I could see the traces of Hildea having visited my bedroom last night.
'What? What is this? What's going on?'
I was shocked when I saw the traces.
The hamburgers had all disappeared, but one beef patty had remained.
'Did an undercooked one get mixed in? No, there's no way Hildea would leave it uneaten just because it was undercooked.'
I tore off a piece of the cold patty and tasted it, but the flavor was fine.
'What on earth happened? It's just one patty, but for Hildea to leave a burger uneaten...'
When I stepped outside the Official Residence, I realized the reason.
'Why is the smell of samgyeopsal reaching all the way here... did the wind change direction?'
The wind blowing toward the training grounds exits along the valley outside the barracks.
So the smell of samgyeopsal never enters the barracks.
But now, the samgyeopsal smell that had soaked into the training grounds yesterday was wafting through the Official Residence.
I hadn't noticed it yesterday since I was there too, but after sleeping and waking up, I could clearly tell.
'Even now the smell is this strong, so just how intense was it yesterday when the samgyeopsal party was in full swing...!'
I felt a chill run down my spine.
Hildea must have smelled this too.
She would have at least known it was the smell of delicious meat being grilled, and she would have realized it was a menu I had never fed her before.
'But she didn't wake me up to ask for samgyeopsal...'
She quietly came in, ate only the burgers, and left.
Could that single patty she left behind be a sign of her disappointment toward me?
Damn, this is an emergency.
***
When Hildea smelled the mysterious meat-grilling aroma, she felt a shock as if the world had been turned upside down.
'What is this smell? Major Piel, what on earth are you feeding the 1st Army knights?'
She desperately suppressed the urge to join the training ground feast right then and there.
She knew Piel was striving to genuinely win their hearts, not through the Sword of Subordination.
She could not sabotage that sincerity.
But...
'I have never smelled something this delicious before...!'
It was a completely different kind of aroma from the grilled chicken skewers and lamb skewers.
Even without seeing it, she could vividly picture the appearance of the meat in her mind's eye.
As she imagined the jageul-jageul bubbling juices, the juljul dripping oil, and the clearly visible noreut-noreut cooked flesh, she became ravenously hungry.
That night, Hildea, who had salgeum-salgeum crept into Piel's room, was startled.
Dozens of burgers were conspicuously stacked on the table.
In that moment, Hildea sank deep into the swamp of paranoia.
'So I'm supposed to be satisfied with Marshall Burgers...'
The disappointment was brief. She decided to understand Piel's position.
Even providing unlimited Marshall Burgers must have been a burden for him.
Hildea's expression became composed.
'As Commander-in-Chief, I cannot abuse my authority over a Duty Officer.'
Hildea ate the Marshall Burgers with a grateful heart.
At the end, she deliberately left one patty behind.
'Major Piel, you can reduce the number of burgers... You don't need to give me this many every day...'
That one patty, left behind with such feelings pressed firmly into it.
As Hildea turned away, a single tear ttoreureu rolled down her cheek.
That night, Hildea dreamed of chasing after the leftover beef patty all night long.
***
"Commander-nim Hildea, are you not hungry?"
"I'm fine. I already ate 10 Marshall Burgers."
"You've only eaten a mere 10."
"Hmm, 10 is sufficient. This Commander is far removed from gluttony."
"..."
Damn, it seems Hildea is seriously sulking.
Deliberately leaving one beef patty behind.
Eating only 10 burgers for lunch today and stopping there.
It all feels like she's throwing a tantrum, wanting me to notice that she's upset.
"Is there perhaps something you would like to eat?"
"Well, not particularly?"
She's not just sulking, she seems really angry.
Could she have found out about the chocolate chiffon cake too?
'Nah. I made a pact with Luna to keep it secret, no way.'
"Still, if you eat so poorly, it will be difficult to keep your strength up. Even if you're full, please eat a little more."
"In that case... no, never mind. I am already sufficiently full."
It's frustrating that she won't even give me an opening to reconcile.
For now, I assembled the 1st Army knights to explain the future operational plans, but...
"Major-nim! Major-nim! The Commander-in-Chief is currently in the mess hall drinking corn soup by the cauldron-full!"
"What?"
I almost ran straight to the mess hall.
But I mustn't.
I calmly restrained myself.
'Let's wait for tonight.'
Night came.
I waited with everything fully prepared, but Hildea didn't come even as the night grew late.
'No choice. I'll have to make the move.'
I carefully knocked on the door of Hildea's room next door.
"Commander-nim Hildea, are you asleep?"
There was a brief udangtang noise.
"Ah, I'm not asleep yet! What is it?"
"I'm worried because you ate so little today. May I come in for a moment?"
"J-just a moment!"
I sensed a flustered tidying-up.
The door opened with a kkiik.
"C-come in."
"Excuse me."
I've grown accustomed to Hildea's sleepwear by now.
The design is rough and soldier-like, but it can't hide her soft curves.
"Wh-what is it, Major?"
"As I mentioned, your meals today..."
In that moment, I saw it.
The half-eaten Snack Bar she had failed to hide.
Hildea, who had followed my gaze, also saw the traces of the Snack Bar and her expression became dumbfounded.
"M-Major. Th-this is just... my mouth felt bored while sleeping..."
She fidgets and makes excuses in her rough sleepwear that has zero sexiness whatsoever.
I felt a sense of crisis.
'Hildea really is seriously upset. As I thought, it was good I came to see her before the night was over.'
"Commander-nim, I have a belated report. Yesterday, in order to build camaraderie with the Penal Unit, I fed them a dish called samgyeopsal at the feast."
"Hmm, samgyeopsal. What a curious name."
"In truth, I wanted to serve it to you, Commander-nim, first, but yesterday the dish was not yet complete."
"Not complete?"
"Yes. Because the supplementary ingredients—lettuce, perilla leaves, and fried rice—had not yet arrived."
I pretend not to know that Hildea had smelled the samgyeopsal and push past it.
"Fortunately, all the supplementary ingredients arrived today, so I am now able to serve the dish in its complete form.
Please allow me to serve you, Commander-nim Hildea, the complete samgyeopsal lettuce ssam grilled set full course 'for the first time' right now."
She's softening, softening.
Hildea's gaze sareureu softens... what? Tears?
She's crying?
"Major Piel... so you were trying to show it to me in its most perfect form, and that's why you hadn't given it to me until now?"
"Th-that is correct."
"You did something unnecessary."
I learned for the first time today that Hildea could smile with her eyes in such a feminine way.
"Beef brisket is the greatest flavor you have ever introduced to me. No dish could ever surpass it."