Picnic
Picnic
Since I was in front of Elenoa, I decided to use White Charcoal instead of the field Kerosene burner.
When she saw the grill plate, Elenoa's eyes sparkled with keen interest.
"Piel, what is this iron plate? I've never seen a cooking iron plate made of this material before."
"It's commonly used in the North. I can't share the details."
At my words, Elenoa looked at Hildea.
As previously agreed, Hildea gave a meaningful smile and shrugged her shoulders.
"Sir Elenoa, you will naturally come to know once you settle in the North."
Good acting.
At the polite line-drawing, Elenoa smiled and backed off.
'Even this grilled iron plate alone is beyond a treasured sword by this era's standards.'
Elenoa also showed immense curiosity about the firepower of the White Charcoal.
"Wow, what kind of charcoal has this much heat? What kind of charcoal kiln do you even use to make this?"
White Charcoal made at temperatures over 800-1,000 degrees must just look amazing to Elenoa's eyes.
"This level of heat, yet there's barely any flame or smoke. That's truly remarkable."
"Heh heh, this is all the hidden power of the North."
Just as I had asked, Hildea flaunted it to her heart's content.
If Hildea eagerly soaks up all the aggro from the US military supplies, I don't have to worry about Elenoa catching on, which makes things comfortable for me.
Elenoa's composure, which she had somewhat maintained, came crashing down when she saw the plump, savory Samgyeopsal with its rich layers of lean meat and fat.
"This is pork? That's absurd! What part of a pig has this kind of meat?"
"The wild boars of the North have developed plenty of meat and fat to overcome the cold."
Top-quality Samgyeopsal you could never get from an unimproved domestic pig breed.
Elenoa brought her face close to the raw meat and even sniffed it, going "sniff sniff."
"How can this be? How does the meat smell like flowers instead of gamey?"
It couldn't possibly actually smell like flowers, but everyone trying Samgyeopsal for the first time describes it as a floral scent.
Because the livestock breeds, the slaughtering and storage techniques for removing the gamey smell are on an entirely different level.
I can't wait to see my biological noona's reaction that's about to unfold.
'Heh heh, once she tastes a single piece, she'll toss her territory and everything else aside and cling to me, begging to come up to the North and live together.'
I did make my noona the next countess, but I'd love it if she changed her mind now and came up to Ainshuvan to live together.
Just with the US military PX supplies alone, the quality of life changes so dramatically.
Right now, Hildea and Rebecca are crazy about toothbrushes, toothpaste, body wash, and basic cosmetics — I know it all too well.
Chiiik. Jigeuljigeul.
"Here, Noonim. First, try a piece of pure grilled Samgyeopsal with nothing else on it."
I picked up a piece of Samgyeopsal, nicely grilled to a golden brown, with tongs and placed it into Elenoa's mouth.
As she chewed slowly a few times, Elenoa's pupils trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
Her eyelashes scattered like reeds battered by a storm.
The convulsions surging across her entire face made her look like a patient about to take her last breath.
"Piel, how can meat taste like this?"
The ultimate reaction, no, the highest praise.
I love that kind of full-body eruption of surprise paired with the most refined words possible.
"Noonim, the North is filled with these delicious-tasting wild beasts. So how about entrusting the territory to a steward and coming up to the North to live together?"
***
"...filled with these delicious-tasting wild beasts."
At Piel's nonchalant remark, Hildea nearly burst out laughing with a "pfft."
She was holding it in, suppressing it hard, when she suddenly spotted Luna glaring at the Samgyeopsal as if it were her mortal enemy.
It was like watching a military dog growling, just waiting for the command "Go bite them!" to drop.
"Hildea-nim? Please eat quickly. Luna, you're eating too, right?"
"Thanks for the food."
"Thank you, I'll eat gratefully!"
Piel, who had been enjoying Elenoa's lively reactions while placing a few pieces of Samgyeopsal into her mouth, found it odd that the other two were quiet and encouraged them to eat.
Only then did Hildea and Luna hurriedly start making their Lettuce Ssams.
'First, place rice on the lettuce, then three pieces of Samgyeopsal dipped in Ssamjang... no, no, one piece. Grilled garlic and raw garlic, chives fried in oil and kimchi, bean sprouts, and finally top it off with a perilla leaf... Oops, I forgot to put the rice on.'
Hildea carefully made a Lettuce Ssam exactly as Piel had taught and put it in her mouth in one bite.
In her heart, she wanted to pile on several pieces of meat.
Occasionally, she wanted to stuff herself in a hearty, meat-centered frenzy like Rebecca.
'But this is the secret delicious-eating method Piel taught me.'
The moment she placed the carefully made Lettuce Ssam into her mouth and bit down, an indescribable happiness overflowed inside her mouth.
She had eaten the Marshall Burger every day, but a sense of fulfillment washed over her all at once, compensating for all the past days when she couldn't eat Samgyeopsal at all because of the smell.
Beside her, Luna was also eating vigorously.
She chewed the meat, put rice in her mouth, ate the garlic and chives and so on in sequence as if deconstructing them, and finally chewed the lettuce, gulped it down, and cleared her palate.
'Samhae Gwiju would be perfect here...'
'If only there were Soju...'
As if he had read the two women's minds.
Piel clapped his hands and quickly took out liquor from his Subspace Magic Tool (actually the Supply Cheat).
"Since it's a hot day, how about a glass of cool beer?"
Hildea and Luna's eyes sparkled with excitement.
Samgyeopsal and beer. Another combination they were experiencing for the first time.
'The Rebate beer tasted decent too. Though it was hard to get drunk on.'
But the beer Piel took out wasn't a Rebate beer keg. The pattern on the container was different.
Elenoa flinched when she saw the keg.
"Piel, what's this now?"
"Dwarves live in the Carlton Marquisate, you see."
"...Heh heh, Sir Elenoa. Do not try to pry too deeply into the secrets of the North."
Hildea, who had nearly blanked out wondering what kind of alcohol that was now, quickly chimed in.
When Piel sent her an eye-smile that said "well done," Hildea felt utterly satisfied.
The moment they poured the cool, refreshing sensation of the standard-issue PX Beer at 4% ABV—without any Rebate—down their throats, all three women's eyes went wide.
The thrilling fizz of the cool carbonation resonating in their throats was a freshness they had never once experienced before.
"Oh my, oh my! Piel, what kind of beer is this? And what's this feeling, like it's popping in my throat?"
Hildea barely held back her urge to pour out the reaction that it was 'far more delicious than the Rebate beer.'
She wanted to burst out with a storm of endless praise and admiration, but having to pretend all of this was perfectly natural in front of Elenoa made her whole body itch.
Unaware of that inner struggle, Luna was letting out exclamations of ecstasy to an almost spiteful degree.
"Supply Officer-nim! Supply Officer-nim! It's so, so delicious! Wow, what kind of beer is this? I've never had a beer this strong! I feel like I could get drunk off just one glass!"
A 4% alcohol beer is quite high in alcohol content by this era's standards.
That's because the regular beer made for drinking purposes—even children drink it—is closer to barley tea with just a tiny hint of alcohol mixed in.
By PX standards, it was a cheap product, but beer containing the refreshing fizz of cool carbonation was more than enough to deliver an indescribable shock to the three women.
Chiiik. Jigeuljigeul. Chiiik. Jigeuljigeul.
"The meat is burning. Please, hurry up and eat."
"I should try eating it like Sir Valkenhart too."
And so, trying the Ssam for the first time, Elenoa kept showering it with praise.
"Such an incredible taste! I can see why Sir Valkenhart eats it so meticulously, following every step of the formality! Eating it this way makes the flavor of the meat so much richer!"
"It's the grill plate formality of the North."
"Yeah, I don't care about any of that. I'm just going to eat however I want."
At some point, the three women sitting side by side stopped talking.
Seated opposite them, Piel would diligently flip or cut the meat on the individual grill plates placed in front of each woman.
And they would busily either wrap it into Ssam or just pop it directly into their mouths.
The cool summer taste of the refreshing carbonated beer, gulped down noisily, was also indispensable.
Elenoa finally came to her senses in the middle and asked.
"Piel, aren't you eating?"
"I'm picking up pieces here and there. I'm fine, so don't worry about me."
"Now that I think about it, ever since you were young, you loved delicious food but didn't eat a lot. You also liked yielding to others."
"I've just always been a small eater. Maybe that's why I couldn't achieve Mana Awakening?"
Hildea suddenly felt ashamed.
A memory flashed through her mind: all the while she had been busy frantically eating whatever Piel fed her, she had never once paid attention to whether Piel himself was eating well.
Only when she looked up did she finally see how sincerely Piel prepared the cooking.
'Piel really doesn't eat much himself...'
He did pick up a piece here and there, but he paid more attention to how well the women were eating.
Like a mother bird bringing food to her chicks.
There was a minor incident in the middle where a monster showed up, drawn by the smell of meat.
"Yup, Wind Cutter."
With a single gesture from Luna, it went "yipe" and ran away.
Not wanting the meal disrupted, Luna only struck it enough to chase it away without making it bleed.
The long meal came to an end.
All three women lay down, embracing their bulging stomachs (outwardly undetectable for everyone except Luna), filled with complete satisfaction.
The light buzz they had built up, rising just right, was pleasantly good.
Hildea and Elenoa lay with the crowns of their heads touching, each resting on one of Piel's thighs amicably.
Luna was floating about one meter in the air with levitation magic, napping soundly with a "kulkul."
"It's a bit hot. Hildea-nim, may I bring that out?"
"Bring it out."
She didn't know what it was, but as prearranged, Hildea chimed in as if she knew everything.
Piel took out a large cylindrical cardboard box.
【Choco Vanilla Ice Cream 1 Gallon】
【Pink Strawberry Ice Cream 1 Gallon】
【Mint Choco Ice Cream 1 Gallon】
The two women who had been lying on his knees sprang upright, eyes wide open.
And Luna, who had been napping soundly, also opened her eyes wide in a flash after smelling the mint choco scent.
"Hildea-nim, have the Choco Vanilla Ice Cream, just as you always do. Noonim, you have this Pink Strawberry Ice Cream. Luna, here's Mint Choco Ice Cream."
"Kyaaahk!"
Luna cheered with a scream-like shriek, hugging the huge one-gallon tub and starting to shovel it down.
Hildea's eyes shook violently.
'Ice cream? What in the world is this now?'
The moment she took a bite.
The cold, clear, high-quality flavor of choco vanilla overflowed inside her mouth.
Nobles said they enjoyed cool ice even in midsummer by casting magic themselves or employing mages, but...
This was a heavenly food that couldn't even be compared to mere ice.
It was like the dessert the gods themselves would enjoy to cap off a banquet.
"Piel! Piel! Piel! Sir Valkenhart! How can there be such a delicious dessert! What kind of place is the North?"
Elenoa harbored no questions about the supply situation of the North. Now was simply the time to focus only on the delicious food.
'Ugh, I want to praise it freely and give a reaction just like Sir Elenoa...'
The commander, robbed of her reaction, felt her facial muscles stiffen solidly.
That solemn-looking expression made Elenoa think, 'Sir Valkenhart must enjoy this sort of thing frequently. What kind of change has occurred in the North's food supply situation?'
"Sir Valkenhart, may I have a taste of yours as well?"
"I shall have a taste of yours as well."
When about half was left, the two women tasted each other's, then quietly exchanged ice cream tubs.
Both were delicious, but since they had eaten about half, they wanted to enjoy a different flavor for the remainder.
"Both of you try mine too. This one is really delicious."
"Kyaahk! How can ice cream taste like this!"
"P-Piel Second Lieutenant. Did you perhaps secretly mix toothpaste into this?"
Luna, who had been spreading the flavor happily, hugged her ice cream tub with a forlorn expression and plunged her spoon deep into it.
"This is really delicious, though..."
It was summer.
***
I was taken aback.
【You have become the Commander of the Juanbuk Army Anbelrum-Ainshuvan 3rd Army.】
【Rank: Colonel】
【Position: Ainshuvan 3rd Army Commander-in-Chief's Duty Officer, Supply Department Head, Commander of the Garrison (Alliance: Count Anbelrum Territory)】