Episode 37
Episode 37
After waiting a bit, the tteokbokki came out.
It came served in an instant tteokbokki pot made of stainless steel, just like the ones I had in Korea.
I wondered why stainless steel existed in a medieval fantasy world, but decided to just let it go.
With all sorts of magic creating refrigerators and ondol heating systems, stainless steel should be nothing.
A single line about the Dwarves making it would suffice, wouldn't it?
'It's a game world anyway. There could be a Joseon-era SF Western urban fantasy.'
As long as it's fun, that's all that matters.
Since it's not a real existing world, the reasons just need to be plausible enough.
"Hmph..."
I decided not to think about such trivial and unimportant things for now.
Elves could appear in the Joseon era, so what.
If you look at their characteristics, you could even call Joseon-era people the Earth version of Elves. Most of their land is forest, they're good with bows, and they enjoy a variety of vegetarian dishes.
But more importantly, the tteokbokki.
"Looks delicious. What should I try first? Everything looks good."
I stared intently at the tteokbokki bubbling and cooking in front of me.
Since I ordered various types, the colors were all different.
'I should try the original first.'
I picked up the chopsticks and fidgeted with them for a moment.
The chopsticks felt a bit awkward after not using them for so long, but having used them for 20 years in my past life, I quickly got the hang of it.
Meanwhile, Aron, who's from a Western fantasy background, was seeing chopsticks for the first time.
After fiddling with them for a while, he asked me.
"How do you even use these? I have no idea."
"Like this."
I reached out my hand and lightly moved the chopsticks.
The thin two fingers moved the chopsticks deftly.
Aron watched intently and tried using the chopsticks again but failed. Eventually, Aron put down the chopsticks and picked up a fork.
"I'll just use a fork. I didn't see these when I went east before. They made something strange."
"Strange? These are actually really convenient."
Pouting my lips, I skillfully picked up a rice cake with chopsticks and brought it to my mouth.
The bright red rice cake chewed delightfully chewy as the sauce coated my tongue.
The spicy flavor hard to find in medieval times. Followed by an equally strong sweet taste. It's different from the always greasy, salty, and bland food here.
"Now this is real spice... The feeling of dopamine and sugar rushing through my body is the best."
"Sip. This is delicious? It's really spicy to me."
Unlike Aron who was struggling with the burning sensation, this was the most delicious food I'd had so far.
The tteokbokki's intense stimulation filled a void that had been missing.
"It's good because it's spicy."
I watched Aron gulping down water for a moment before putting more tteokbokki in my mouth.
Gukbap, jeyuk, tonkatsu? Of course they're delicious.
'But this is much tastier. Is it because it's stimulating? I think it could even be a bit spicier.'
I heard women often eat tteokbokki, and I could see why.
Just as men have soul food, women have their soul food too.
And among them, mala tteokbokki.
The spicy and sweet tteokbokki with an additional pungent kick created an even more intense flavor.
'I should try mala tang later too.'
I had that thought as I emptied my fourth pot of tteokbokki.
I used to dislike mala's characteristic pungency and aroma, but with my sensitive nose now, I actually liked it more.
While eating voraciously, I made eye contact with Aron who was watching me from across the table.
"...What are you looking at?"
"Just watching you eat so well. You know you've eaten over 10 servings of food in front of me, right?"
Did I eat that much?
I thought I ate just a moderate amount.
"It wasn't that much! You probably stole most of it. I didn't eat much."
With my mouth full of tteokbokki, I mumbled while looking at the pots.
Six pots piled up like a mountain.
Aron only tasted a bite of each, so there's no way he ate that much.
After staring at them for a moment, I glared at Aron.
"Why did you eat so much! I barely ate any."
Feeling self-conscious about being piggish, I unreasonably got annoyed at Aron.
Even I knew what I said made no sense, so I hurriedly got up from my seat.
"Let's pay and go get dessert. I want chocolate."
I turned my head away pretentiously and walked toward the store exit first.
Glancing back, I saw Aron walking to the counter to pay.
"Did I gain weight? I haven't been exercising much lately..."
For the first time since boldly claiming it was fine because I was a Transformed Bishoujo, I worried while poking my stomach.
Even though my abdomen looked no different than usual, my gaze lingered on my smooth stomach.
Leaving the store, Mia made a resolution.
"I'll just eat today and start managing myself from tomorrow."
Shortly after making that resolution, Mia bought 10 chocolate coral buns.
*
I returned to the lodging with my hands full of bread and snacks.
I was carrying two paper bags as big as my body, and even that wasn't enough so Aron's hands were also full of my food.
I even had a chocolate coral bun in my mouth.
Beaming with joy, I placed the snacks on the table in the lodging.
"I had fun today! It feels really good after such a long time."
Filling up on sugar, one of the essential elements of modern humans, left me in an excited mood that wouldn't settle.
Isn't this the real government-approved drug?
"Glad you enjoyed it. I didn't expect we'd spend most of the money the Merchant Leader gave us on food though."
When he tossed the noticeably thinner money pouch, the bag that had jingled heavily just this morning was now completely deflated.
All that money disappeared on mere food expenses.
"But you enjoyed it, right? So... let's do that now."
My stomach was full, I was comfortable, and my body was gradually craving it.
I wanted to rest embraced by a safe person who would protect me.
As I spread my arms and naturally tried to embrace Aron, he stopped me with his hand.
"...Why won't you do it?"
My voice was mixed with irritation at Aron for stopping me at this crucial moment.
Seemingly flustered by my sudden and blatant irritation, Aron pointed toward the bathroom.
"We couldn't properly wash during our travels. Let's go wash."
"Then we can go while embracing."
At my still irritated response, Aron immediately pulled Mia into a tight embrace.
Unlike before, when he hugged her, he could feel her chest.
"Ssuuuh... Phaahaa... Good..."
She used to try not to show it before, but now she openly sniffed his Scent.
Rather, she tried to sniff it longer and more frequently.
Lightly carrying Mia who was completely focused on sniffing his scent, he headed to the bathroom.
"Shall I take your clothes off?"
"Yes."
Supporting Mia with one hand, he undressed her with the other.
While being held, the outer clothes came off first.
After the loose outer clothing was removed, and the long-sleeved clothes underneath were taken off, only thin undergarments remained.
"You know your chest has gotten really big lately?"
"Really? Then it must be almost time. Soon I won't need to sniff your scent like this anymore."
She spoke as if pleased and lightly lifted her leg.
Her flexible leg rose high toward the ceiling without showing any sign of strain. Her smooth, pale white leg reached beside Aron's face.
Aron also skillfully removed her pants and finally took off her remaining underwear.
With the last sound of fabric brushing against skin, she was completely naked in Aron's embrace.
"Aren't you too good at this? You're like a real pervert."
"You asked me to undress you."
"That's true."
During the long journey, we encountered wild beasts or bandits several times, and each time after fighting, I would get tired.
Perhaps because I restrained my Aura usage as much as possible, the physical exhaustion was significant.
'And on top of that, my period was coming soon, so I wasn't feeling well either.'
I was extremely irritable, my body felt heavy, there was no delicious food, so I was in a very angry state, and I couldn't be bothered to wash.
But sleeping without washing felt too uncomfortable, so I left it to Aron.
After experiencing that comfort once, it became like this every time.
"You've probably touched this much while embracing other women anyway. So focus on me now. It's not like I'm asking for much."
"...Right. Then let's get in now."
When the person who required more care than any other woman said that, Aron hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to accept it.
If he argued pointlessly here, her hard-won improved mood would obviously crash to the ground in an instant.
"How is it? Is the water warm?"
"Yes... Good... When did you draw the water?"
"I prepared it all while you were sniffing my scent in my embrace. More importantly, is it still not enough?"
"Just a bit more... Just a bit..."
At first, since her body was so frail, Aron didn't mind much.
The Beastkin were originally quite instinct-driven and open about sexual matters, so he thought Mia might have a similar personality.
But there was a different boundary with her compared to the Beastkin.
'It's fine to enter the bath together naked... but she still refuses sex. She even runs away if there's any reaction down below.'
While being completely driven by instinct, the moment there's any hint of sex, she immediately regains her rationality.
Then she says she's not ready to do it with a man yet and runs away.
'Do I need to wait a bit longer...'
Aron never wanted to force it from the beginning.
He had a firm belief that sex is best when both parties want it. So he usually leads the atmosphere to take them to bed, but that didn't work with Mia.
Should he say she has a strange aversion toward men?
But she plays around well.
Literally, she only has boundaries when it comes to sexual matters.
"Hey."
Aron looked at Mia who was inhaling his scent in his embrace.
Mia also looked up at him.
Her eyes were drowsily relaxed, her voice was drawn out, showing how melted she was.
"Whyyy? Should I let go nooow?"
"Not that... Do you want to have sex?"
Sex.
The moment she heard that word, Mia pushed Aron's body away with both arms and stood up.
Her face turned bright red as she shouted.
"Wh-what... What are you saying! There's no way I'd do that! You said you don't like forcing it either! I, I'm going to bed now to sleep!"
Mia spoke incoherently and hurriedly left the bathroom.
"Hmm... I shouldn't have said that."