Another Farewell
Another Farewell
"Today, I will attempt something called steak."
"Hamburg steak?"
"No."
At Hildea's question, Piel firmly shook his head.
Elenoa and Luna watched with eyes brimming with anticipation.
Ten pans heating over blue flames.
As faint wisps of smoke rose from the shallow layer of grapeseed oil, Piel placed the 2.5cm-thick cuts of American tenderloin, sirloin, and strip loin onto the pans.
Chiiik! Chiiik!
Over the oil laden with intense heat, the thick beef sizzled noisily as it cooked, bubbling and crackling.
"M-meat being boiled in oil!"
"It's searing."
The moment exactly 30 seconds had passed.
Piel flipped all the steaks one by one.
Whereupon the browned crust layer on the surface proudly displayed its robust form, further stimulating the three women's hunger.
Piel dropped thick chunks of yellow butter into the oil.
Bubbling up golden foam, the butter melted into the oil in an instant.
Then he placed green herbs into the pans.
Using a ladle, Piel continuously scooped the oil and basted it over the steaks.
It was the process of evenly coating them in butter aroma while simultaneously applying heat to the upper portions not submerged in the oil.
The green herb stems touching the oil infused the scent of the forest within.
And a savory, sweet aroma like roasted nuts mercilessly teased the tips of the three women's noses.
"Wind Cutter!"
"Hm? Luna? What's the matter?"
"Just some trash mob that caught the scent!"
"Ah, well done."
Piel skillfully flipped the meat every 30 seconds.
After 3 minutes, he removed the tenderloin first, wrapped it in foil, and set it on the cutting board.
After another minute passed, he lifted the sirloin and strip loin from the oil and wrapped them in foil as well.
Then without regret, he discarded the oil from all 10 pans, poured in fresh oil, and as the smoke rose, placed new cuts of meat onto each.
Hildea grew anxious.
'Piel-daeryeong, why aren't we eating right away?'
Conscious that she needed to maintain proper decorum in front of Elenoa, she could only fidget restlessly, unable to ask.
Fortunately, Piel resolved her anxiety.
"This is called resting. We're waiting for the heat to distribute evenly and the interior to cook a bit more."
Piel opened the lid of the pressure rice cooker, from which the steam had finished venting, and used a rice paddle to stir the rice evenly.
It was a product heated by fire, not an electric cooker.
Into a large, heated wok, he heaped pre-sliced onions, garlic, and button mushrooms, then stir-fried them with a long spatula.
"Pi-Piel? Don't tell me you eat mushrooms in the North?"
"These are safe, edible mushrooms, so it's fine, noona."
In this era, mushrooms were for poisoning.
It was only natural that Elenoa was horrified.
With that, he divided the 10 rested steaks among 3 plates.
For Hildea, who was a Sword Master, 4 steaks.
For Elenoa, 'as far as Piel knew' an Expert-level knight but his noona after all, also 4 steaks.
For Luna, a mage with a small appetite, 2 steaks.
He piled the sautéed onions, garlic, and mushrooms generously beside the meat, and next to that, neatly scooped a rounded mound of rice releasing wisps of warm steam.
If they tried plating like this in a restaurant, the chef would chew them out.
But, 'Our women eat a lot, so this heaping plate style is right.'
"Luna."
"Yes!"
No sooner had he spoken than a gentle breeze wafted over and carried away the 10 plates.
Their teamwork was seamless by now.
Continuing to grill steaks across the 10 pans, Piel urged the women.
"Please, eat up."
As previously instructed, Hildea picked up her knife, cut a piece of meat, speared it with her fork, and elegantly placed it in her mouth.
Elenoa and Luna simultaneously took a bite as well.
"...!"
"...!"
"...!"
Sparks flew in the three women's eyes.
Elenoa, her pupils trembling uncontrollably, glanced back and forth between the meat on her plate and Piel.
"Lo-Lord Valkenhart... does everyone in the North eat like this...?"
"Isn't the meat flavor exceptionally distinguished, fitting for wild buffalo of the cold regions? Th-This is a special meal we cannot enjoy often even in the North. Ha-ha-ha."
"It's delicious! So delicious! How can meat be like this! It's unbelievable! Kyaaaah!"
That day, Piel diligently grilled over 100 steaks in total.
But seeing the three women satisfied with fullness, he didn't feel tired at all.
The three women were eating a gallon of ice cream each, chosen to their individual tastes, by the spoonful as a post-meal dessert.
Piel, who had stealthily seated himself behind Elenoa, wrapped his arms around her and grabbed her belly.
"Our noona, your belly's gotten all plump like this."
"What do you mean? For what I ate, it barely shows, you know?"
"If you come to the North, you can eat these kinds of things often. Hildea-nim, isn't that right?"
"O-Of course. Lady Elenoa, if you come to the North, I will arrange for you to enjoy samgyeopsal, steak, and ice cream whenever you wish."
Immense agony spread across Elenoa's face.
After a long silence, she shook her head.
"...No. A lord must remain in their territory."
"Wow, you're resisting even this? Noona, you really do hate the cold, huh."
Piel kept kneading Elenoa's slender belly, which had only swelled slightly considering the amount she'd eaten.
"Just, once you've secured your territory, leave it to a proxy and come live with us in the North, yeah? Hm?"
"...Stop tempting your noona. Lord Valkenhart, please remember the promise we made between us women."
"...I have not forgotten."
"Huh? What promise did the two of you make without me?"
"There's just such a thing. You don't need to know yet."
"...Lady Elenoa, there is no guarantee it will necessarily be fulfilled. As you can see, my circumstances..."
"I'll trust and wait, Lord Valkenhart."
The steak party was Piel's hidden trump card, brought out to tempt Elenoa before departing the homeland he hadn't visited in so long.
Since even this had failed, Piel decided, regretfully, to leave for now.
"It was absolutely delicious, Piel. As expected of my cooking-loving dongsaeng."
"I'll come again next time."
"You'll really come more than three times a year?"
"Yes, I plan to spend at least three months a year here. After all, I am the Commander of the Juanbuk Army, am I not?"
The escort unit for the Marquis Hapscorten faction had already departed for the capital.
Piel and Hildea planned to stop at the capital, cut off the marquis's head at the Noble Council tribunal, complete their schedule in the capital, and then return to the North.
The remaining Ancient Tree Monsters were scattered throughout the inland regions causing havoc.
But most of the specimens had been annihilated by the incendiary package bombardment while cultivating the Elf Forest in Marquis Hapscorten's territory.
Any future Elf Legion attempting to land in Count Anbelrum's territory would first have to break through the concentrated barrage of 120 units of 120mm mortars.
"Luna, I'm counting on you."
"Don't worry!"
Naturally, Luna was staying here.
Because she needed to serve as an aerial reconnaissance plane for mortar coordinate measurement.
"Please take good care of the PX too."
"Yeaaah!"
Incidentally, Luna had also taken on the new post of PX Officer.
Since she carried the subspace ring extorted from Marquis Corbel the Military Inspector General, she could visit the North to resupply whenever inventory ran out.
"Inventory management is the lifeblood of the PX. Make sure they strictly adhere to the daily exchange ticket usage limits."
"Don't worry. I'll push it through with my rank."
Hildea interjected a minor point.
"But Luna, you're not a brigadier general anymore."
Elenoa, who had briefly stepped aside to allow their conversation, approached again.
With a bright smile, Elenoa hugged Piel with all her might.
"Our Piel, you'll stay healthy and well even without your noona, right?"
"Yes. You stay healthy too, noona."
"Lord Valkenhart, please take good care of my dongsaeng."
"Do not worry. I will protect him more preciously than my own life."
"Thank you."
"Noona, take care."
Piel waved his hand and began walking side by side with Hildea.
Luna rose high into the air, watched the two fade into the distance, and then swiftly flew to the western coast for reconnaissance.
Elenoa, who had waved until Piel's back was no longer visible, quickly climbed to the high watchtower.
The backs of Piel and Hildea, walking side by side in the far distance, came into view.
Piel no longer turned to look this way or waved his hand.
Standing alone on the watchtower, Elenoa remained in that spot until Piel's figure was completely gone from sight.
At last, Piel's form disappeared.
And only then did moisture begin to drip, drip from the corners of Elenoa's eyes.
"Piel... Piel... you must stay healthy..."
Each time she spoke her dongsaeng's name, the stream of tears grew thicker and blurred her vision.
An empty watchtower.
In that familiar space of solitude, Elenoa sank down, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed.
In the same place as the day Piel had been taken away to the North as if dragged, she forcefully swallowed down the wail that threatened to burst forth.
***
When I felt we were sufficiently far from people's view, I climbed onto Hildea's back.
"We can reach the capital by half a day."
"The moment we arrive, we'll need to look into a capital residence."
"A residence? You're buying a residence in the capital?"
I could feel Hildea's voice trembling.
It seemed that acquiring a house in the capital held a special resonance for a frontier noble.
"Yes, since we have plenty of gold coins."
Some of them had come from Rebecca as payment for food expenses and supplied materials.
And some were shaken down from the Military Inspector General.
Anyway, we had enough gold coins.
'I've been diligently saving gold coins for times like these.'
In the North, gold coins aren't particularly useful, but in the central region, they certainly are.
"What did I say we need to do about the Noble Council in the long term?"
"Smash it all, and the five of us become the new Noble Council."
"We'll naturally need a foothold in the capital. Perhaps Hildea-nim may end up staying longer in the capital than in the North later on."
"Th-Then what about managing the territory?"
"The head butler is handling it on his own even now, isn't he?"
"Ah, I see."
"With communication magic tools, controlling the territory from the capital is no problem at all."
Now that I thought about it, we had nowhere to stay in the capital right away.
We did have my family's villa, but Luna and the 1st Army knights burned that down during the riot last time.
'Should I rent out an entire lodging house? To show Hildea's dignity, that'd be good.'
It occurred to me to look at the basic vehicle I still hadn't received.
【Unclaimed Basic Supplies】
【HMMWV High Mobility Tactical Vehicle】
The Humvee, the means of transport issued as standard when I became a colonel.
But I hadn't taken it out even once so far.
Because the terrain wasn't suitable for driving wheeled vehicles, and riding on Hildea was far faster.
Entering through the capital gates aboard a Humvee would probably kill everyone's spirits magnificently.
'Forget it. There's no benefit in revealing the existence of the supply cheat to those Noble Council bastards, even indirectly. It'd only heighten their wariness for nothing.'
But what if I'd been issued an M3 Bradley armored vehicle instead of a Humvee as transport?
I might not have been able to resist and taken it out.
"This is your first time coming to the capital in five years, right?"
"It is. The last time was when I came to receive my countship and the commission for the Northern 3rd Army commander. I worry whether His Majesty the King is faring well."
"If... what would you do if His Majesty the King issued an order that harmed the North?"
Five years ago, the King had given Hildea his final command.
To think only of the wellbeing of her territory and Ainshuvan.
Before entering the capital, I needed to confirm once more just how far Hildea's resolve extended.
"If an unavoidable decision to uphold that final command caused harm to His Majesty the King and the royal family, what would you do?"
Seeing her profile biting her lip made me want to see Hildea's face from the front.
"In accordance with His Majesty the King's final command... I, my person, will prize only the wellbeing of my territory."
It seems I can rest easy.
Though I don't know when, even when the moment of choice comes, Hildea seems unlikely to hesitate.
'Hildea must become queen for me to become a minister. No, wait, in this era, would that be chancellor?'
But if I become a minister, would the nuclear missiles actually unlock?
I'm curious, so I really must become a minister.
<Elenoa Anvelrum>