Not Much of an Operation
It wasn't really an operation worthy of the name. All I needed to do was give the people over there a good scare.
"Asne, could you lure about ten Sea Groks over that way to set the mood?"
"That is a very simple task."
Asne swam around the sea for a bit and then announced she was done. I watched from a short distance away. In the distance, ten Sea Groks burst out of the water, radiating a ferocious aura as they headed straight for land.
"It's Sea Groks!"
"One, two... ten! There are ten of them! We don't have enough people to handle this!"
"Grab your gear and retreat immediately!"
The guild master of the Land's End Guild was 6th grade. Naturally, the strongest member always took the position of guild master. That meant the rest of the guild members were lower ranked. Only the guild master could realistically take on a 6th-grade Sea Grok in a one-on-one fight. Even their elite members would need to team up to handle just one. And now there were ten of them? They had no choice but to run.
The Land's End Guild hurriedly gathered the equipment they'd been using to investigate the traces and began their retreat. Of course, in such a rushed situation, they couldn't take everything. They only grabbed the important items and moved in an orderly fashion.
"That should have given them a proper sense of caution."
"My lord, would you like me to let the Sea Groks live around here instead?"
"It's a bit selfish of me to say, but this place is part of my territory now. I don't want to see it get destroyed."
"If I give them a little mental training, they will only threaten humans who try to approach the area."
"Oh, that's perfect. Let's do it right away."
While watching the Land's End Guild retreat, I decided to have Asne give the Sea Groks some mental training as well. When I heard the words "mental training," I imagined a scene straight out of a cartoon—something like a drill sergeant in a bright red hat yelling, "Owl Number One, pay attention!" But reality was quite different.
All Asne had to do was look at the Sea Groks, and they would foam at the mouth while their entire bodies trembled. Then, with a simple gesture from her to designate their territory, they stayed rooted in place without moving an inch. According to Asne, they would only move if humans tried to cross into that designated zone. She even said there was no need to manage them separately.
It struck me once again—Asne really was on another level.
"Once they confirm this, they probably won't come back anytime soon. And even if they do hunt the Sea Groks, I can just replace them."
I decided to use those creatures as the territory's first line of defense for now. The sea was vast and full of monsters. There would be more than just Sea Groks—plenty of other species too. It would mean a bit of work for Asne, but she seemed happy about it, saying it would actually help me.
After that, we decided to have lunch on Heugildo. Since we needed to deal with the meat from the Big-Mouth Saw, I figured we might as well try eating it.
"For the preparation... Miya, could you help me out?"
"Yep! Got it!"
Even though it was a different species, it was still essentially whale meat, so I looked up recipes for whale dishes. There weren't any specific cooking methods listed, but I found a few things worth trying.
"Last time we cut open the area near the heart, right? Could you slice off some of the rib meat from around there?"
"Okay!"
According to what I'd read, the rib meat had the best freshness and could be eaten raw in thick slices. It was supposed to let you enjoy the taste of both premium beef and high-end sashimi at the same time. Since it wasn't particularly difficult, I asked Miya to cut it for me.
Because we'd already drained the blood, Miya didn't come back covered in it like last time. Instead, she returned carrying a chunk of meat nearly the size of a person.
"Whoa... That alone would be enough to fill someone up."
The meat had a color similar to beef sashimi—a deep, appetizing red. Even though it was supposed to taste like both beef and premium sashimi, it definitely looked like red meat.
Since it was far too big, I first cut it down to a size that would fit on a cutting board. Then I sliced it into appropriate pieces with a knife and plated them. My sashimi-cutting skills weren't the best, so the slices were a bit uneven, but as long as it tasted good, that was all that mattered.
"Asne, do you know if there are any parasites or anything like that in it?"
"As far as I know, there aren't any. It is a lower-ranked water dragon, after all. Mere insects would have a hard time getting close to it."
"Really? Then since it's fresh, it should be fine to eat raw. For the dipping sauce..."
I'd eaten a lot of yuk sashimi—also called mungtegi—whenever I went down to my hometown. The cattle market there was famous, so the quality was far superior to the overpriced, mediocre stuff you could get in the city, and it was much cheaper too. They usually served it with an oil sauce or a seasoned one. Since the seasoned version was based on gochujang and might be too spicy for everyone, I started by making only the oil sauce mixed with salt and sesame oil.
"Let's try it plain first, then dip the next piece in the oil sauce."
A large amount of meat was spread out beautifully across the plate. I picked up one piece and ate it as it was. The texture was similar to mungtegi. The meat was chewy at first, but it melted away gently as you chewed. The flavor felt closer to mungtegi than to regular sashimi.
Well, it's not exactly whale meat, so I guess that makes sense.
What set it apart from regular mungtegi was the subtle, elegant sweetness that rose up, like high-quality sashimi. The first taste was like mungtegi, but the aftertaste was pure sashimi.
"Wowww! So water dragons were this delicious!!! It's chewy but melts and disappears when you bite it!!!"
"I always thought of them as nothing more than annoying pests invading my territory, but if they taste like this, I suppose I should catch them whenever I see them again."
The two members of the Black-winged tribe had been horrified at the mention of a water dragon. However, since it was food I had prepared, they couldn't refuse it. Their reactions after eating were...
"Ruin... I feel like I've wasted half my life..."
"Lei... I feel like I've wasted my entire life..."
They were both tearing up with emotion. It was delicious even on its own, but dipping it in the oil sauce made it even better. The richer, slightly salty flavor brought out an even deeper sweetness. And amazingly, this meat went with absolutely any sauce. Soy sauce, ssamjang, vinegar gochujang, chili sauce, mustard—even tartar sauce. No matter what you dipped it in, the flavors harmonized perfectly and created a synergistic effect. It was truly a cheat-like meat.
At this point, I was curious about the other cuts too. But the amount Miya had sliced was already the size of a person. In terms of portions, that was at least enough for twenty people. We ended up dipping it in all sorts of sauces until we were full, and there was still meat left over, which I stored in my status window. So even if I wanted to try other parts, I couldn't right now.
I'll have to try cooking it in different ways over the next few days.
After trying the raw meat, I could tell the meat itself was excellent. The other cuts probably wouldn't be a disappointment either. Even though Asne was keeping it as fresh as possible, we couldn't leave it indefinitely.
Once everything was cleaned up, I checked my phone and saw that my little sister had sent me a message.
She was using that overly dramatic historical drama speech again, probably because I'd given her the allowance. I thought about calling her, but figured that if she weren't busy, she would have contacted me first, so I just replied to her message.
The age gap between us was pretty big, so we rarely fought. We were a genuinely close brother and sister. Teasing each other like in that message was completely normal for us.
When we went out together, people usually thought we were father and daughter rather than siblings...
I liked to think I still looked fairly young, but my sister was just that beautiful. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she got all the good genes. She inherited our mother's lovely appearance, which played a big part. Our father had slightly rugged features, and I took after him. If I could have chosen, I would have preferred to look like Mom, but since I was already born this way, what could I do? I just had to live with it.
In a rush, I went out and took care of twelve Sea Trolls this time as well. I used the magic stones to expand the territory and put the corpses up for auction like yesterday. The price was a bit higher than yesterday, averaging around eight thousand something gold each, which brought in nearly a hundred thousand gold total. In Korean won, that was instantly a billion won.
When you think about it, it's my ability... but if it weren't for everyone else, I wouldn't have been able to do this...
There was a part of me that wished I could achieve something completely with my own power. But realistically, that wasn't going to happen. If I had that kind of talent, I wouldn't have worked a regular job—I would have lived off it. The only special thing I had was becoming a Lord and the Summon Inhabitant skill I gained from that awakening. If I hadn't had that ability, I wouldn't be able to do any of the things I was doing now. Or maybe I needed to think of ways to make better use of everyone's abilities.
Miya didn't have any special abilities per se. She simply possessed enough raw power to deal with anything up to 6th grade in a single second. In that case, the best way to utilize her would be for heavy labor. But unless it was territory I created with my own power, it felt like I was blocked by a wall and couldn't go further. Even if I wanted to clear gates and dungeons, I could only do so within my own territory. So heavy labor was out.
And besides... she's cute. Yeah. Really, really cute.
I gazed softly at Miya, who was sitting beside me. She looked back at me. After about a minute, she tilted her head to the left. So cute. When I kept staring, she tilted her head to the right. Still cute. The warm feeling in my chest made me smile, and she beamed right back at me with a bright grin. She really was the cutest thing in the world. Wasn't that enough? Just looking at her made me feel good.
As for Asne...
To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure. I didn't know the limits of her physical strength, but it was enough to make even Miya afraid. She had the power to kill an 11th-grade water dragon with just a few notes of her song. The ability to control the sea at will. The power to turn monsters into perfectly trained soldiers with a single glance. I still couldn't see the end of her capabilities.
And... she's elegantly, nobly beautiful.
I looked at Asne, who was wearing a flowing dress she'd made from the fabric I gave her. When she noticed me watching, she gave me a gentle smile and met my eyes. Beautiful. Whether I looked for one minute or longer, she was beautiful. Seeing me smile because of how pretty she was, Asne's own smile grew even deeper. She really was the most beautiful woman in the world. Wasn't that enough? Just looking at something cute and beautiful made me feel good.
The two from the Black-winged tribe...
They got along so well and were always being lovey-dovey with each other. Having been a queen for so long, every single gesture they made was elegant. They were like noble, beautiful ornaments. As for their abilities... Lei's trait was downright overpowered. It seemed to benefit everything around her in some way. I still wasn't sure about Ruin. But judging from how she treated both Lei and me, she seemed like the type who could do anything well—a perfect all-rounder.
When I looked at the two of them, they naturally looked back at me. Lei now seemed to have completely opened her heart and gave me a bright, bashful smile. Ruin still wore her expressionless face, but even that looked like a painting. They really gave off the feeling of a successful princess and her loyal knight.
It feels like my eyes are getting twice as healthy just from looking at them.
To be honest, whether it was strength or anything else, just looking at our inhabitants made me feel good. Money? It was nice to earn it. But I didn't really feel like I was lacking any. If I was in a pinch, I could just sell the remaining Sea Trolls for seven thousand gold each and that would be plenty. And it wasn't just the Sea Trolls. There were the creatures occupying the two islands and those in the sea. Plus, thanks to Lei's trait, there were gold and mithril veins on Heugildo too.
Yeah. No need to overthink it.
I just needed to take good care of our inhabitants. That would be enough. At the very least, I would make sure that the new inhabitants who joined us in the future wouldn't have any complaints. I would put in the effort to make sure everyone could live well.